Category: One-Offs

Year: 2022
Original Format: mp3

When I finished “Over the Line” there were a bunch of songs left over, and it was hard not to notice the common thread among them: they were all songs by African-Americans (except one by Rodriguez, who is Mexican-American). Only then did I realize that everything on “OtL” was made by people of the Caucasian persuasion. So I started assembling a companion piece, and here it is.

I am of course against segregation in all its forms, and it’s probably in bad taste to call these two mixes “separate but equal.” Maybe they reflect the different ways drug issues manifest themselves in the lives of people of different backgrounds, or something like that. In any case, this is food for thought, hopefully.

Continue reading “Soul Stone Junkie”

Year: 2022
Original Format: mp3

I should probably warn you in advance that parts of this are kind of a downer. It’s a collection of drug songs, most of them of the cautionary variety. Some parts are funny and others go to dark places. I’m not really sure what compelled me to make such a thing — maybe just to feel better about my own bad habits — but I did, so here it is.

Continue reading “Over the Line”

Year: 2017
Original Format: mp3

Today my country celebrates its birthday, and the way things have been going, my inclination is to throw its cake out in the rain and give it a swift kick in the posterior followed by a big two-finger salute. I mean, for fuck’s sake, America — get your head out of your ass.

When I made this mix back around Thanksgiving 2017, I wrote:

 American dimness has reached its apotheosis this year. Is it possible that the wave will soon break and roll back?

Hilarious! Since then, things have just kept getting worse, of course. In the last few weeks we’ve tumbled several levels down the slippery slope to theocracy, and there’s not a whole lot of reason for optimism about the future.

But hope doesn’t require reason, so I hold out hope nonetheless, because what choice is there really? Better to make a playlist than to curse the darkness, isn’t that what they say?

This one could just as easily be called “Thanks for Nothing America” or “Fuck You America.” It’s a little cathartic, a little sarcastic, a little bittersweet. For whatever reason it seems to help.

Continue reading “Thank You America”

Year: 2021
Original Format: mp3

This one has been languishing on my hard drive for awhile awaiting the finishing touches. The idea was an experiment in pure musical hedonism, without regard to any other considerations. I find the finished product pretty successful, but then I would.

With that in mind, I’m going to forego the commentary and just post the playlist. Hope you enjoy.

For best results, play loud.

Continue reading “Aural Pleasure (All Other Priorities Rescinded)”

Year: 2018
Original Format: MP3

This is a test of the American Magic and Dread emergency broadcast system. If this was a real emergency, you’d already be dead.

This is a weird one. The brief here was just to try things, see how they work out. It goes to some strange places, but comes in for a soft landing eventually.

Playlist after the jump.

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