🎶 2024 Winter Journey ~ DJ😇 New Music Radio
What is a DJ’s greatest fear?
Dropping a track that falls flat, of course!
The dance floor clears out. People get a drink, or go chat with their friends outside the club.
For radio or playlist DJs, we don’t get that kind of instant feedback. I have no sense of what people are doing or thinking as they listen to my playlists. Because my goal in sharing playlists is turning people on to some of their new favorite music, and because my playlists include tracks from different genres, my biggest fear is that a particular song will rub someone the wrong way, and they’ll move on and ignore the rest of the tracks. My hope is that if you don't like a track, you’ll skip and try the next one.
The fact that I group songs in a coherent way means that you may need to skip a few tracks before you find a vibe that you like.
And thus, you have a sneak peak into my process. I spend a fair amount of time organizing these New Music Radio playlists so that the ~2 hour experience is super enjoyable… to me! So that’s the secret. Your trusty DJ makes these playlists primarily for an audience of one: himself. I play these tracks over and over, and insert new ones in just the right place, as I rock out to my life- cooking, washing dishes, driving, working, relaxing.
And because I don’t want to have to skip any tracks, the songs that don’t find a place, or that start to annoy me after repeated listens, get the axe.
Every so often I comb through and sort the songs into other playlists by genre. But the truth is I keep these seasonal playlists in a folder and dig them out regularly, enjoying my curated trip through what was getting released at that particular time.
My hope is that other people enjoy these seasonal sonic care packages. But I realize my tastes are very much personal to me, and so I wonder if people listen all the way through with anywhere near the same enjoyment as me. If you think you do, I’d love to hear from you in the comments!
Scroll down to get to this season’s playlist. Or, if you’re enjoying reading, here are some Other Things That Are Going On:
I’m turning 50 in January, and I have a very top secret plan to get some members of my old band Pro Audio back together for a little reunion show at my party. Oops, I guess I just spilled the beans. Here’s a playlist of the songs we might re-work a little and play: Pro Audio reunion. Pro Audio is nerd prog-rock — think Ween meets Weezer meets They Might Be Giants. I was one of the main songwriters, and we will probably play mostly my songs. I’m excited. Our last show was in 2008!
My current band Bhakti Explosion is playing a gratitude concert this Saturday (11/23) in Boulder. We will be showcasing some newer material, and there’s a VIP dinner if you get tickets before Wednesday at 6pm. If you are in the area, and don’t already know us, here’s an introductory playlist: Meet Bhakti Explosion. Tickets are at bit.ly/bhaktigratitude
I’m a good way into a book that is already very clearly becoming one of my top 5 of all time: Existential Kink. I’d heard about it for years, and finally a podcast interview of the author, Carolyn Elliot, hosted by another of my favorite thinkers, Daniel Pinchbeck, came to my attention. I had a big smile almost the whole time. Part way through Carolyn starts coaching Daniel, which was really interesting and insightful. Anyway, the book is magical, and is probably more likely to help change your perspective on your life than almost any other you will read, by helping you celebrate the “bad” things in your life because those are things your subconscious mind actually wants.
This is making me think I need to publish a “playlist” of my top 10 books, with a rundown of the big ideas. Would this interest you? Let me know in a comment. (Warning: I read almost exclusively a variety of non-fiction that my family calls “esoteric nonsense.” There is only one work of fiction in my top list.)
Ok, thanks for reading, and subscribing.
In this time of thankfulness, I’m feeling grateful for how much great music has been released recently!
Here’s two hours of the most inspiring new releases, across a variety of genres, presented in a tasty flow.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone :)
~J