Some items really captured my attention in a way that spotify wrapped could not present. Including lots of items from other curators & friends
I spent a lot of time chasing depth within my library. Deep diving on artists, record labels, 'obscure' sub-genres. It has been lots of fun, and only the beginning of the journey
This is also the year I got really cozy with bandcamp, discogs, tidal, as well as reacquainting with soundcloud & mixcloud.
N.B: if this is your first time on here, be sure to quickly check how to use this site
Experimental slices
4AM energy
This Red Bull interview gives some good history on the footwork genre.
The Hoavi album was released by the label Peak Oil, home to Topdown Dialectic, whom I also really enjoyed listening to this year. I'm definitely going to do a deep dive of their releases at some point in the future
album
Mantecatura EP
Awo Ojiji
- experimental
- breaks
Awo Ojiji was definitely a highlight during the year. Love the sounds over there
These drums are amazing. Grateful to have bumped into Church & Matt's music. They have some music on bandcamp too.
DJ mixes
Blueish radio by Puma Blue constantly delivered quality. Very relaxed vibe, spanning across multiple genres. World-class curator, this gent.
music4programming by Datassette remains a refuge I adore. I enjoyed spending time on that site.
I had this one on repeat for quite a while. Was a very good mix for crate diggig, led me to quite a number of tracks that featured in my own mixes.
Silence
I embraced it a bit more than in the past. I have autoplay off on all my streaming apps, which resulted in me having lots of quiet moments.
Was weird at first, but I grew to enjoy it. This is a big step for someone who's used to having headphones on 90% of the time😄from a perpetual "won't do anything without music" to embracing silent moments felt serene.
Hip Hop, Grime
There's a month or two when I had Ghetts on repeat almost every day!
Ambient & work friendly bits
Pop
Random thought that flew into my head the other day -> "if you don’t enjoy pop, you’re just purposefully trying to be unhappy" 😂 I've had fun with a fair share of pop this year. Some Favourites
album
MK 3.5: Die Cuts | City Planning
Mount Kimbie, Dom Maker, Kai Campos
- pop
I particularly enjoy the short, interlude styled songs on this album! loved how complementary the two discs were. disc 2 was very Warp records which is a style I really fw
album
Renaissance
BOP, Subwave
- pop
- liquid
- minimal
real good dnb. made for lots of fun gym sessions, drives, & chill
Friends, fellow curators
My library has grown as a team effort. Really appreciate these tunes that have been shared.
Ajnkana releases
Ajnkana had a solid year of releases, I've enjoyed tracks from every single one of them. I've also played a bunch of them in my mixes this year, good times!
Superstein
album
Out Here. In There.
Sidsel Endresen, Bugge Wesseltoft
some warm sounds in here. rainy day, coffee in hand, & chill out by the window. Try is a favourite from the album worth highlighting.
::album{url="https://open.spotify.com/album/1lgP2SInd05DrnyhJ2KlRM?si=cYRvlhfATBeEaPu_58VlLQ" genres="strings, ambient" blurb="A must listen for ambient lovers. "played on the Norwegian National instrument the Hardingfele" - Stein"}
Adrian
dreamy, drones, jazzy drums, Boards of Canada sonics too.
playlist
Kuduro, Batida, Tarraxinha Music
This playlist introduced me to new genres & styles. Adjacent sounds to gqom, which is somewhat popular in South Africa. Everytime I pop into this playlist, I walk away with at least one new track added to my lib, very well curated.
album
Better Sorry Than Safe
Jack Dixon
- ambient
- experimental
thoroughly enjoyed this one. lots of styles, represented in here.
Johannes
The track above is what led me to Jazz Codes!