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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 66

    Jake Back – keep it simple/rytm start

    New music from Jake Back, the LA-based artist I covered a few months ago. I hesitate to call these two new ones from Back part of the subgenre ‘outsider house’ — partly because the term was always reductive, but also because these are really more in the world of the subsubgenre ‘lofi house’ with their shared focus on bleached chords, romantic vocal bits, and comparatively clean drums. But I have a hard time using that term either; don’t get me wrong, I do love when sound gets distressed and weathered, but ‘lofi’ feels too ambiguous at this point (and the lofi girl kinda ruined it, right?). Really, these are best described as deep house, but talk about a once-wonderful subgenre becoming associated with so much schlock. So we can’t call it outsider, we can’t call it lofi or deep either–let’s just describe it: both of these are warm, well-composed, and supremely pleasant. Maybe that just makes them effective house tunes in the grand old tradition. Grab these on bandcamp or find them for streaming all over.

    Jake Back – “keep it simple”
    Jake Back & Sabbia – “rytm start”

    Zach from sales – Want u back

    Speaking of good house music, we’re blessed by yet another new one from Dutch producer Zach from sales. This might possibly also suffer from the subgenre syndrome I described above, so let’s not rehash that again; instead, let’s learn from our mistakes and just describe the damn thing. Crisp piano stabs, a warning refrain (is it a threat?), a perfectly staggered 4th kick drum to keep you on your toes. This has gotta be my favorite bit from Zach thus far — so much so that I’ll even dispense with the ironic corporate speak this time — and that’s saying something, because I’ve really loved the prior ones I’ve covered over the past few months. Zach was kind enough to let me share the mp3 with you all here again, but you can also support him by grabbing this on bandcamp, or help him rack up the pennies on your streamer of choice.

    Zach from sales – “Want u back”

    never leave – Colour

    Finally tonight, we leave the realm of four to the floor for something a bit more ambiguous stylistically and shuffled rhythmically. Exactly two minutes of tightly packed, amorphous, and emotive bedrooom club music from Danish duo never leave (Leo Peter Larsen & Benjamin Konge Henriksen), this is full of accessible melodic character and enough mildly glitchy ear candy to fill a track twice as long. But none of us have super healthy attention spans these days, do we? Besides, 2:00 is the new 3:30. Kidding aside, this really is a nice one–a deservingly captivating finisher for an evening full of overwhelmingly hyggelig dance music. No bandcamp, unfortunately, but the duo was nice enough to let me post the mp3 for you here (you can also stream it in the usual places).

    never leave – “Colour”

  • From the Mailbox 54

    Zach from sales – Party next door

    After a long day at the office synergizing and level-setting, I need to leverage some low-hanging fruit: house music. Per my last post about him, Zach from sales and I are always on the same page. He’s motivated; he always gets the ball rolling, never forgets to circle back, and his music always moves the needle. I don’t have the bandwidth for a bigger brain dump on this, so I’ll put a pin in it there. You can grab this on bandcamp or find it for streaming. You can also grab the mp3 directly below.

    Zach from sales – “Party next door”

    Just Geo – INTO/THE/VOID

    Next up is a new one from London’s Just Geo (George Thomas). I’ve followed him for a minute, but have yet to write about him. He’s a say no more type guy, so I won’t belabor this with too many explanations. He’s a family man who makes lovely, balanced dance music in a fusion of styles, as is often the case with his countrymen. His stuff is straightforward but tends to have plenty of shuffle and crack– and also has enough tenderness to evince that he’s probably a pretty well-adjusted and emotive guy. He sent over this new one that I like a lot, and I’m also sharing an older one from his last long player that I found quite nice but neglected to post at the time. Grab his stuff on bandcamp or for streaming. He was also kind enough to let me post for you the mp3 of his latest track; if you like it, go support him on bandcamp.

    Just Geo – “INTO/THE/VOID”
    Just Geo – “IN/ESSENCE”

    Rony Rex & Mayela – Switch Off

    Last up tonight is a pair of high-energy collaborations from Rony Rex (Rony Vartio), a fixture of Helsinki’s dance music scene for the past decade. Vartio is known in Finland for his radio show on national radio–but also for lighthearted antics like taking a cold plunge in the middle of a DJ set (the only thing that could make that any more patriotic would be if he finished the set from the Sauna), and setting up a b2b with a reindeer (don’t ask me to explain). He recently sent over his newest single, a collaboration with Venzuelan vocalist Mayela, which is a sharp marching romp that falls somewhere in the realm between Latincore and midtempo 4×4 rave. I’m also including a single he released last year with Australian artist LÂLKA, a technicolor, breaksy heater that I also really like. Vartio was kind enough to let me share with you the mp3s of both below, but show him some love on bandcamp, or find his catalog for streaming all over.

    Rony Rex & Mayela – “Switch Off”
    Rony Rex & LÂLKA – “Dopamine”

  • From the Mailbox 51

    sander777 – life reprise

    First up today, a pair of tracks from LA’s sander777 (Sander Bryce), both from his recent LP the Real, named for the Lacanian concept of a state of unknowable objective existence, outside the limits of representation and symbolism, separate and distinct from any ontological state of being. It’s hard to imagine more difficult subject matter for a creative work, given “the real”‘s definitional quality as beyond depiction or portrayal, but Bryce addresses this nicely himself, saying that because the music on the record came together serendipitously, its process itself became representative of the unrepresentable, allowing the music to serve as a way to call attention to the “magical space that exists between the emotional intent and what ends up [as] the final product.” At risk of being reductive, it’s worth also noting that Bryce primarily plays in the general realms of ambient and footwork on the album, the latter of which is often underappreciated as a vehicle for true flow-state experimentation. Fitting for an attempt to capture something so illusive. Grab the album on bandcamp or for streaming all over.

    sander777 – “life reprise”
    sander777 – “poolrooms (no ladders)”

    Zach from sales – All gettin out

    Next up, a pair of nice curvy house tracks from Dutch producer Zach from sales, half of production duo not yes, whom I featured in this column a couple of years ago. Zach from sales is a sales professional delivering tailored solutions that drive business growth, so you know he’s not fuckin’ around when it comes to house music. The first song here is from his upcoming Resume EP; the second from last year’s Off the books EP. You can grab both from on bandcamp, or find them for streaming wherever. Like the good teamplayer he is, Zach was also nice enough to let me post both for you here.

    Zach from sales – “All gettin out”
    Zach from sales – “Talk to me”

    Savnko – imdone

    Last but not least is this brief cut of twitchy electronica from Milanese producer Savnko (Davide Gilli). This is from Savnko’s recent EP DONE; it’s an original, but it makes liberal use of the acappella from the Wale and LaTocha track “Complicated.” It’s one of those tracks that rides a constant crescendo without ever quite resolving–but it’s kind of better for it. Life often feels like a lot of preparation without enough finality, so why shouldn’t music reflect that sometimes? And while the song never quite resolves its instability musically, lyrically it ties a nice clean knot at the end, declaring in the last refrain, “I’m done.” No bandcamp for this, I’m afraid, but Gilli has generously let me post the mp3 below. You can also find it for streaming at your preferred outlet

    Savnko – “imdone”