New music to make your weekend better (free DL/stream for all Hot Takes subs)

For new subs, in free time I write & mix electronic and jazz music. Occasionally I share projects with readers here ... if this type of art isn't for you feel free to skip today's post

This week I finished a new music project to help set the mood of the rest of 2022 in a more positive direction (tracklist below). You can listen to or download the whole set free on SoundCloud by clicking here.

I work hard to surface interesting, unique or otherwise passionate artists in the hopes of helping people realize music (beyond the pop-industrial complex, which I’ve already aired my grievances on exhaustively) is quietly going through an amazing renaissance. I still believe the day will come the megastar is a thing of the past and we recognize there’s a massive tail of creatives taking risks and experimenting with the art form in new and interesting ways, while traditional labels stagnate.

Also, a handy playlist of all my previous mixes (>24 hours of music) can be found here if you need music to get through your day (I’m told a lot of people like to code or write to my work). These aren’t Spotify playlists, they are studio produced mixes I create with the intention of sharing obscure and creative artists I find inspiring with the rest of the world (crafted to be a longer, full progression and tell a story).

Of course, separately from curation/mixing, I also write my own music and have published 10 original albums over my 20 years as a composer all available to stream/dl here. These are different crafts but I make the distinction because it frequently is missed (some artists just do one, others both curate and create, for sure different skills, but I do think equally fulfilling).

Tracklist and embed

Today’s set is a produced mix including artists from a variety of genres I'm into lately. Created using Ableton Live. Plenty of re-edits, FX and vocals / samples added for good measure. I support all of below artists by purchasing their music from and hope you will do the same (in addition to attending their live shows, of course).

Again, hosted on SoundCloud here (best listening experience to go to the site/app, but I’ve also embedded below too for convenience).

Tracklist:
1. Blood Orange - Something To Do
2. Bob Moses - Nothing But You (DJ Tennis edit)
3. Nytron - Never Gonna Give You Up
4. Majestic, Boney M - Rasputin
5. Start The Party - I Feel Love
6. Paul Parsons - Take Me To Funkytown
7. Bob Moses - Back Down (Hayden James remix)
8. Richard Grey - Slim Is Alive
9. Block & Crown - Never The Same Again
10. Ghostmasters - Funky House Music
11. Chelsea Singh - Enjoy The Silence
12. Real Estate - Ribbon
13. Porches - Rangerover
14. Matthew E White - Let's Ball
15. Cinesmatic Orchestra - Lessons (Diran Concept rmx)
16. Four Tet - Unspoken
17. Hayden Thorpe - Unknown Song
18. Middle Kids - Summer Hill
19. Georgia - Never Let You Go
20. Solatic - Grabbing Life (Oberst & Buschner Remix)
21. Hard Feelings - Love Scenes
22. Austra - I Am Not Waiting
23. Sergey Nomad & Shadow Wano - Stardust