COME ON GET DOWN
I'm very, very excited to present this month's mixtape, a collaboration with my longtime good bud Kevin Bauer. Kevin's one of my earliest and favorite collaborators in many artistic realms. We became great friends through comedy in college, but we became even better friends by sharing DJ duties (Kevin as GOODNIGHTMOON and me as HUGZENKIZZEZ) at all of our post-show parties. We would having living rooms and basements wall to wall with sweaty college kids dancing their asses off. Our parties were loud, lively, went late, and were well loved by regulars and guests alike.
Our parties were good.
Here we are close to 15 years later (hahaha fuck), and turns out the party still runs through our shared veins (hahaha fuck yeah), but we need a little more time to recover.
Like the mixtapes? Help me spread the love by throwing a few bucks my way via BuyMeACoffee. Thanks to everyone who has already supported me there. This really helps me not rack up a stupid amount of debt while making this passion project for you all.
And hey, if you like it, why not share the mix or this newsletter with a friend?
Oil
Created in collaboration with Kevin Bauer for midnight burning and AM healing.
A few words from Kevin:
*****
A couple months ago Brady did a mixtape inspired by his fond memories of Ohio State (go bucks). I just forced him to do it again.
We met in 2008 and bonded over music immediately. By 2009 he was DJing parties and a few months later I was right behind the turntables with him.
Our friends were more musically open-minded than you could hope for and they weren’t afraid to get eclectic: Electric Six and Peaches were almost too safe, and on more than one occasion I heard Brady blend Big KRIT into The Dixie Chicks to rapturous approval.
And even better, everybody DANCED. I grew up on stale beer and was raised on the feeling of dancing until the room’s so humid the posters peel off the walls. Nights like that lead to some serious bonding, and after a couple years working a booth with the guy, I’ll always consider Brady my brother in arms.
Those nights are the exact feeling we wanted to recreate: dancing the night away, having so much fun you don’t want to go to bed, and that unspoken pact to stay up all night. Around 5:45 you hit that moment where you almost regret it, then the sun comes up and powers you long enough to get breakfast with your friends, then crash into your bed, exhausted and as happy as you can possibly be.
I’m incredibly lucky to have had that experience not once, not twice, but more times than I can count. We wanted to bottle the feeling but we didn’t want to fall into a total nostalgia trap, so we used some of our favorite songs we’ve found in the years since. And honestly, we fucking nailed it. This is an accurate depiction of what it would sound like if Brady and I DJed a dance party right now. So toss it on, crank it up, and we’ll see you at sunrise.
*****
Love you all. Hope you enjoy!
Join Me: Lankum @ Warsaw, Thur 9/28 @ 8 PM
Lankum is my favorite band in the world right now. They combine a variety of sounds that on their own would be enough for me, but together sound unlike any other music I've ever heard. Imagine if doom/drone metal band Sunn O))) recorded an album of Irish folk tunes from The Clancy Brothers. They sound like an A24 period film. It's incredible.
Their music is haunted and beautiful. I bet this show will sound huge and get loud with moments of the sweetest quiet you've ever heard. I can't wait.
RIYL: Irish Trad Doom, Sea Shanty Drone, The general vibe of the film The Lighthouse
Check out Lankum's "Newcastle".
Some Other Things That Kevin Loves
(that you might love too!)
10,000 gecs by 100 gecs - The line I keep repeating when recommending this to people is that it sounds like Girl Talk, if Girl Talk was sampling music that he also made. It’s completely bananas and will make you feel like a cyborg. "Frog on the Floor" is the greatest song ever written.
Regular Show - This is my favorite TV show of all time. It’s all on HBO Max. Someone once tried to insult it in front of me by saying “all Regular Show episodes are just two dudes trying to buy concert tickets but then they accidentally summon a demon made of skateboards.” This is not an insult, but in fact a compliment of the highest order.
Honey Pearl Grapes - Trader Joe’s has hybrid grapes that taste just like Lychee. They’re incredible for if you’ve always wanted to eat Lychee, but don’t want to do all that… work.