What A Month.

FRIENDS! WELCOME BACK! What a month, right? Let’s celebrate those we’ve lost, enjoy who’s left (us included), and get this year back on track. To that end! Here’s your first installment of what I hope is another great year. Ladies and gentlemen: A BOY OR A GIRL: The Steel Ape Sessions Vol. 16 Pt. One […]

THE END OF A VOLUME, THE START OF A BLOG.

Hi All – Welcome to the first post at the new home of the Steel Ape Sessions, a distinction that matters to me, and few else! And what better way to start a tumblr than to observe the end of a thing? Let me explain – if you’re reading about this here for […]

2015: A Mix A Month, Pt. One

gradet: Hi, The Internet: As opposed to, or I suppose in addition to, or you could say leading up to my annual tradition of sharing a year-end playlist of my favorite songs from that year, I’m going to attempt to up my game; I propose, Cameron Crowe-style, to share a mix every month, made up […]

2015: A Mix A Month, Pt. Two

gradet: Welcome Back, Internet! Well, we’re two whole months (and a day) into 2015, and here we have the one resolution I’ve managed to keep: to make you (and me, but you, but also, me) a mix every month. Toward that end, welcome to sunny Baconfornia! 1. “Space” – Galt MacDermot2. “Everybody Gets to Go to […]

2015: A Mix A Month, Pt. Three

gradet: Welcome Back, Internet! Again! Here we are in the out-like-a-lamb days of March, except it’s still snowing back east, and in the 80s in L.A., so I don’t even know. But at any rate, a promise is a promise is a promise, and here, friends, is this month’s entry in the mandated-by-no-one Mix-A-Month series, […]

2015: A Mix A Month, Pt. Four

gradet: Yes, fine, thirty days hath September, and so on. Here, then, is a fond reminder of some April-fresh goodness for you, here in the dog-days of early May: Smile Your (Sic) Being Filmed! 1. “Witchi Tai To” – Fanfarlo2. “My Device” – WOOF.3. “King Kunta” – Kendrick Lamar4. “Need You Now” – Hot Chip5. “La Loose” – Waxahatchee6. “Everything I […]

2015: A Mix A Month, Pt. Five

gradet: And we’re back! For whom? Whom knows. But if that whom includes you, we’re back with another monthly installment in my new-mix-every-month plan for 2015. Here, then is the latest, Dear Sky – Please Consider Raining. Tracks (for posterity, since Spotify can be a fickle bastard): 1. “Amethyst” – Jonny Greenwood2. “Chateau Lobby #4 […]

2015: A Mix A Month, Pt. Six

gradet: It’s June (for the moment), so this counts! This month, I’ve gone a bit thematic, though in ways mostly geared toward myself; that’s to say this month’s mix consists of songs I associate with Junes present and past, at intervals of five years. So, if I was listening to it this June, or in […]

2015: A Mix A Month, Pt. Seven

gradet: JULY! NEW MIX! Namely: In a Cloud Is It Cloudy Featuring: 1. “Twelve Reasons to Die” – Ghostface Killah feat. Adrian Younge2. “Let Me Count the Ways” – Yoko Ono3. “Beach Comber” – Real Estate4. “Elevator Operator” – Courtney Barnett5. “Say” – Mikal Cronin6. “The Bully” – Richard Swift7. “Open the Door” – Magnapop8. “Backlash Blues” – Nina Simone9. “Down in the Southern […]

2015: A Mix A Month, Pts. 8 & 8 1/2

gradet: Friends, it occurred to me after last month’s entry, there comes a stretch in each of these mixes that descends into Mope. Now, I like dynamic range as much as the next guy, and sometimes the key is to chill a minute before hitting the roof again, but even so, I determined to make […]