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I revived an old music blog from the early 2000s?

Maybe it’s been a foolish endeavor, and maybe I’m the only one who misses the blog ol’ days, but I’ve been giving it a shot. I’ve been working on restoring some of the old content, though much of it was lost. I’ve slowly been rebuilding the old remix sunday archives, and even posting the occasional new edition. And I’ve been writing again.

You can find all the label’s releases here, on bandcamp, or most anywhere you listen to music these days. I’ve still got copies of some of the old vinyl releases, and I recently released the first in a set of charitable cassette compilations to raise awareness about the continued [mis]use of broken windows policing methods.

Plus, I put together a playlists section with a handful of spotify lists that hopefully start to capture a [slightly] updated version of the moods we used to peddle. Give those a listen and a ❤ if you would be so kind. If you want to get in touch, just give me a holler. Oh, and if you prefer to just start playing all the music on this page before reading any further, go ahead and click ▶︎

– Haldan/Boody

  • From the Mailbox 44

    Alto Aria – Stars Align

    A stunning new record from Danish artist Alto Aria (Aria Leth Schütze). Schütze weaves together something really special here. While the vocals are front and center–and deservedly so, they’re beautiful–the production is equally nimble. Layers of strings and pads do the heavy lifting (to the sky, truly), but I keep coming back to Schütze’s use of shuffling drum breaks buried deep in the mix, essentially as a textural element more than a rhythmic one. It’s a clever device that subtly brings an otherwise dreamlike song back down to the familiarity of earth without shifting the energy of the song into something that would imply any real dancefloor utility. Instead of a comment on what’s happening in the club, it’s the POV of the passersby. This is a follow-up single to Alto Aria’s recent album Ephemeral, described as a “little tail” to that album. It’s out now on bandcamp, but also available below or for streaming. If you like this, definitely check the album too.

    Alto Aria – “Stars Align” (mp3)

    Tiny Little Ghost – Stories You Tell

    Next up is another set of lovely tracks from Milan’s Tiny Little Ghost (Vanni Casagrande), who I’ve now covered three times. Like the stuff I’ve covered from Casagrande previously, these two songs demonstrate again his penchant for finding the space where heavy shuffled rhythms meet theatrical ambient. It’s wonderfully romantic stuff, all covered in teal and rose hues; angsty fairies floating around in heartbreak acid trips. No bandcamp for these, but you can find them for streaming all over.

    Tiny Little Ghost – “Stories You Tell” (sc)
    Tiny Little Ghost – “Tiny Little Ghosts” (sc)

    Eric Angelo Bessel – Double Helix

    Finally tonight is a striking ambient piece from Portland-based artist Eric Angelo Bessel. This is from his recent 7,” featuring a set of b-sides from his album Mirror at Night, which came out late last year. Direct written descriptions of ambient music like this so often fail–straying into overt cliche and sap. But at risk of doing it a disservice, I really like this piece, so I’m going to give it a whirl. It’s stirring and fragile, and aptly named. The subtle tremolo Bessel employs to modulate the washes of synth atmosphere gives the otherwise oceanic piece a faint sense of structure–an almost biological quality that really does remind me of a slowly spinning strand of DNA, gently suspended somewhere deep within cell walls. This isn’t available for streaming, so listen below and grab the 7″ on bandcamp.

    Eric Angelo Bessel – “Double Helix” (mp3)

  • From the Mailbox 32

    Cussed Splint & Nick Genre – Here We Come

    Sharp collaboration between Swedish producer Cussed Splint (Patrik Nord) and Southwest Florida-based emcee Nick Genre. A half-time roller that’s clearly the product of a producer steeped in drum and bass aesthetic, it nonetheless manages not to succumb to the genre’s tropes at all. There’s no drop, never a full release—it’s all tense precision and careful automation, entirely in service of Nick Genre’s refreshingly good rap. As a middle-aged guy from New York, whose first teenage love was “real hip hop” (insert whatever shorthand is needed here to indicate I know this is and always was a goofy term), I find myself harder and harder to please when it comes to rap–a cliche if there ever was one. But I’m genuinely enjoying everything about the vocals here. Nick Genre’s timbre and delivery are appropriately gruff and precise. Lyrically, he manages that elusive feat of covering somewhat vulnerable subject matter without ever getting remotely sappy; he paints a picture without resorting to a series of similes. And it works particularly well in the context of Nord’s production aesthetic. This is out for streaming all over, and you can grab it on bandcamp, but Nord was also kind enough to let me post the mp3 here.

    Cussed Splint – “Here We Come” ft. Nick Genre (mp3)

    Tiny Little Ghost – A Memory to Follow

    Second up, two new tracks from Tiny Little Ghost (Vanni Casagrande), an Italian artist I covered a few weeks ago.. The first is a haunting semi-ambient piece that begins as reference to Barber’s timelessly bittersweet Adagio for Strings (from his Opus 11), under a veil of bird chips–ultimately building into a brief release of ecstatic bass and synth wail. The second continues Casagrande’s penchant for cinematic arrangement and sepulchral aesthetic, but this time with a second movement marked by sludgy, steppy drums and mutated wobble. No bandcamp for these, unfortunately, but Casagrande was generous enough to let me share the mp3s with you here, if you’re not the streaming type.

    Tiny Little Ghost – “A Memory to Follow” (mp3)
    Tiny Little Ghost – “It Moves” (mp3)

    Kodomo – Sisu

    Last but not least tonight, two chilling tracks from Brooklyn-based Kodomo (real name Chris Child). These are both from Child’s upcoming album, Sisu, and each threads the needle between pensive 2-step and minimalist euphoric electronica. “Light Rain” features disembodied vocals from vocalist tawnylawns saying something I can’t quite make out (box of pills, twisted wrist, I know the color of…). Even as nonsequiturs, when supported by a tightly restrained triangle wave bassline and sparse percussion, the words manage to nonetheless communicate a sense of apathy, dissociation, and resignation. It’s fitting energy for the current historical moment, and has that soul-soothing effect that only mournful music quite does. The second track Childs sent over, the album’s title track, is similarly emotive, but more hopeful and forward-looking; maybe an antidote for the detachment of the former. Sisu is out February 10th for streaming all over, and also on bandcamp; Childs was also nice enough to let me share with you the mp3s here.

    Kodomo – “Light Rain” (mp3)
    Kodomo – “Sisu” (mp3)

  • From the Mailbox 23

    Sawyer G. – See/Saw

    Stunning submission from Sawyer G. (Sawyer Gebauer), best known for his brilliant Catch Prichard project. Where the latter project has seen Gebauer primarily exploring the psychedelic sides of folk and country music, this current record succeeds in marrying similarly ambient sound-beds with caroming jazz and breakbeat. Gebauer feels virtuosic here; stitching together ricochets of collage drums with meandering sax and found sound. I hope he keeps down this path, I’ll be excited to hear what else he can mine from it. No bandcamp for this, but Gebauer was kind enough to let me offer the mp3 to you all here. (It’s also available for streaming all over.)

    Sawyer G. – “See/Saw” (mp3)

    Angélica Garcia – BUTTERFLY

    New music from LA’s Angélica Garcia, produced via collaboration with indubitable talents Dave Sitek and Ciel. “BUTTERFLY” tells the story of Garcia’s time in NYC working at House of Yes, and the inspiration she found in the confident and resilient staff and club kids. Garcia imagines the butterfly as a symbol of self actualization amidst a club culture characterized by intrinsic violence, and simultaneously as a metaphor for the daily subjugation experienced by Latinos and immigrants in the US. In resolving these countervailing concepts, the song elegantly straddles beauty and grit — balancing determined propulsion in the verse against a sense of ascendance in the hook. Grab it on bandcamp or stream it wherever you do that.

    Angélica Garcia – “BUTTERFLY” (bc)

    Tiny Little Ghost – Still Under

    Lovely work from Italian producer Tiny Little Ghost (real name Vanni Casagrande). “Still Under” is described by the artist as intended to capture the feeling of slipping into a lake at night. It’s an unpretentiously inky and aquatic piece. The third movement really tugs downward into colder water–where one’s body is forced to quickly adapt, pushing blood through the vascular system, ultimately warming one’s extremities. The song is from the Tiny Little Ghost’s upcoming album, Nocturnal, a concept album tracing the sunset to the dawn. No bandcamp for this one, but Casagrande was generous enough to let me share with you the mp3 here; the song is also available at all the usual streaming outlets.

    Tiny Little Ghost – “Still Under” (mp3)