trying something different for a mix. i was feeling nostalgic for 143, looking at my serato crates, feeling the harmony as i see some of my favorite transitions - so i thought, let's make some mixes and complicate those transitions with stems. this is the first iteration but i'm thinking about maybe two more of these. probably will break some of them out as separate edits. enjoy

field recording by Heinz Pichler

2.57 hours of chill and jazz and funk and folk and some house and generally had an idea that kids (and parents) should be exposed to unconventional/not pop music to open up their minds to the possibility and positivity of MUSIC, new and old. (copypasted from a text as I sent this out to some folks already)

I've got a teaching gig now, and for most of this year I was concerned with college kids at my alma mater and getting them to cram years of software knowledge in fourteen week stints. My thoughts before my first class were like: "Well, I've got lots of experience from contracting and working in this industry for the past sixteen or so years, I think I can distill those basics and give precise feedback." And I was getting there. But what I underestimated was their curiosity– or lack thereof. I don't mean to be an old head about this but it really disheartened me, and I had to push past "these kids and their dang phones" that was waiting to jump off my lips and I wanted to give it a big Think.

Growing up, my mom and dad brought over their musical tastes when they immigrated to America. So while I'm growing up with hip-hop as a big brother on the radio, Michael Jackson and 80s electro, I've also got Deodato, Sergio Mendes, & Chicago echoing in the living room (all rooms) while we're cleaning on a weekend. High school brought filesharing and mp3s which continued to expose me to music from all over the world in time and space. I was following the leads from albums and sampled artists and continuing to trace the threads to new threads. And DJing monthly for five years here in LA as well as small tours around the nation (and a few spots worldwide) really showed me music as a human experience that was fun, joyful, litty, enjoyable by everybody, anybody. Music and being curious about music has been central to my life. I'd like to believe that this inquisitive nature shows up in every facet of my life, and I couldn't be that way if I was listening to boring shit.

The students are, predictably, not very curious about many things. How can you blame them? Passive consumption of media was the way the world was presented to them. To be disciplined about that choice is to stoke curiosity. Having every possibility available numbs a sense of wonder, children and adults. And maybe the old heads aren't doing their due diligence in making sure the youth are curious. A student in my class used a Tribe song in his project, and I was like, hell yeah, I grew up listening to Tribe, they're sick as hell. He was like "that's dope, do you like any other East Coast Rap?" and I could not hide my eyeroll. I asked him who put him on, he said a Spotify playlist. I was like fuck the fuck off. (well, in my head.) He was a really good student anyway so I'm not shitting on him. Just shitting on the situation.

A lot of tracks on this are recent discoveries as well as rediscoveries. I've been in a UK state of mind, thinking about Margaret Thatcher, the defeat of trade unions, privatisation and deindustrialization, unemployed masses of youth looking for collective experience outside of her strict policies, finding their outlet in house music, played for said masses at illegal raves hosted in warehouses and factories, abandoned because of those same mandates. And drugs. The material circumstances repeat themselves, maybe? Time is a circle, etc etc.

Happy 2026!

I've been inspired by the Daft Punk drumless release of Random Access Memories, have been listening to lots of ambient electronic music, and have finally put 2 and 2 together for an experiment. I'm moving fast and hipfiring here, but I'm iterating and refining on the idea. I haven't given it a car test but I'm very eager. Eleven tracks. Enjoy.

Removing cobwebs, dusting off books, morning stretches, getting back on the bike. Here's a new mix with new edits, old stuff, new stuff, and transparency.

2:07
This track I put under the Usher vocal stem, Special Touch - Garden of Life I stumbled upon in a compilation and was compelled to build a mix around it. It's a wonderful and slow after hours groove with a message worth reflecting on. Usually this is how I approach making a mix, finding the one track, the patient zero, and working around it to complement it. Only midway in the process did I figure out with some time remapping and re-pitching that Burn would fit on top of it.

7:00
Finding out that Missing You would fit under Cheri Dennis was a happy accident. It's pitched up a fair amount, so I re-added kicks to keep it grooving in lower frequencies.

14:50
Akmed Lorence.

19:05
Raising awareness for David Morales and his monumental output.

23:36
Another serendipitous mix. Found out about Ashley Henry through some deep digging via Session Victim, no need to re-pitch to fit with Joyce.

33:48

The first edit I've made in years. Was having a chat with Yuri about blends, where he told me about vocal/stem isolation using AI, which has opened new opportunities and kicked me out of my funk, helped me to find my interest in music again in a synthetic way. I've employed the technique with all new edits in this mix.

Last
A track I was introduced to via a photographer buddy of mine from school who was also DJing for fun on the side with a Rane rotary mixer. He played this in a set in like 2009 maybe. I asked for the track and he delivered. Now as I'm doing my liner notes and researching every track and finding credits, provenance, etc, I notice this track is super super rare, a blocked release on Discogs that isn't allowed to be put up for sale. Why! I must know! I'm assuming it's a white label that never got an official release that made labels unhappy, but it strikes me that there are still blind spots like this on the internet due to licensing, copyright, censorship, whatever whatever. Glad to have experienced and acquired this through a physical connection. Thanks for the MP3 John Henry.

I was hanging out with a dj buddy recently and we were shooting the shit about all sorts of dj-adjacent topics, but it made me realize I hadn't really talked about any new music I've been listening to. Half because I haven't really been keeping up with new mainstream releases, but really getting lost in 'new to me' music. It's been more interesting for me personally, but then I feel like I'm pretty disconnected from what's popular lately. I'd like to frame it as a good thing though, because it allows me to keep focused on why music is so interesting to me, and part of the allure is self-directed learning, digging, following threads and recommendations, all happening in an unforced manner. A lot of tracks I've featured here have been things I've found in that manner, and I suppose it represents the 'destination' of the journey of digging at your own pace. If any of that makes sense. Shout to Tim for good recs recently. I know ppl are not really up on that Drake house album (ep imo) but I'm a fan. It ain't like AMAZING but it's just exciting to hear the 40 take on minimal, 90s-regurgitated house/techno/acid. And if you want to feel old, check the comments on Currents and see how the youth think Drake is making a spongebob reference. Ya love to see it. (interlinked thoughts on the immediate recontextualization of mainstream releases, of the reinterpretation of sample provenance, and the effect of highly voted youtube comments as faceless arbiters of truth/"VIBE" intensifies)

Enjoy.

There's much to say about COVID-19 dismantling all sorts of existing contexts that we all used to enjoy or rely on, but for my own experience, it really was a reckoning for why I listen to music. For the past six years or so, I think I was listening to music that was going to crack in the club. Listening to music solely for its crowd response. Not to say that this wasn't an efficient way to listen to music for the purposes of what I was doing(maintaining and djing a monthly R&B party), but as that context disappeared for me and everyone else, it gave me great pause. I kinda forgot how to listen to music! Midway last year I was realizing all sorts of things: spending every month in a dj pool, sorting and digging for gems, intently scrolling through soundcloud, looking for download links, testing music out loud in the whip during commute, all these choices were influenced by my djing contexts, in turn influencing my listening appetite. Last year I didn't know what to listen to. I spent most of last year listening to ambient, instrumentals, music that was specifically outside of my usual contexts. For all of us, it truly was a forced deceleration of music consumption, and I really only started listening to music with fresh ears around October. It took a few youtube rabbit holes to put me down a familiar path of exploration, of digging, of reflective listening, to remember that music has contexts that are not just related to partying - honestly! I started down a thread of music history, and searching for a 'why did this happen', or 'how was this artist influenced', and it's been reaffirming. It makes me think of when I first started making mixes, twenty or so years ago now (!), it was about excitedly sharing music I'd discovered. Now much farther into my life and musical journey I've come back to the same central drive, with a much larger consideration for historical context, which for the past few months - along with podcasts, conversations with other music nerds, an... (line truncated)

I'm excited to start making more mixes with that in mind, but this is an ultralong "mix" of soft music I enjoyed and learned about last year. Some ambient, some soundtrack/score gems, some general chill selections. Enjoy.

Short lil warmup dancey set for the weekend, and I was feeling it. I've got a bunch of other music to share too, so another one soon. I think I've finally caught up with myself, finally starting to really sit down and listen to things I had been collecting for years now. Sometimes as a DJ you get caught up trying to get all the hot bangers for club use, that you forget about the music you like to enjoy for other environments. I personally have been digging into obscure funk and progressive rock. I somehow always seem to gravitate towards the late 60s and early 70s in all my rabbit hole travel. But I'll save that for the next one.

Enjoy.

SIIK RADIO 003 bringing in the new year a month late. I drove up to the bay on a solo mission for New Years and had a bunch of music like this to really set an introspective tone, as such happens when you drive long distances with no interruptions. It really made me miss driving. In 2012 I leisurely drove across the country in about two and a half weeks, and this recent drive up the 5 reminded me of that feeling of just driving. Very zen-like, single purpose, hyperfocus. Although I can't even say if I was really focused on driving and being aware of my surroundings - I think most of those functions are muscle memory, autopilot even, and I'm left to just think. I wonder if there's a case for driving while in a meditative state. (as I type that, it sounded far less dangerous in my head)

Bonus love for Atmosphere on the first track.

SIIK RADIO 002 with a live re-recording of a set I just did for some newfound buddies from the 206, NIGHT SHIFT. Their inaugural Night Shift Los Angeles party popped off, grimey warehouse diy vibes. Whole set, in retrospect, feels like spiritually related to the bangups mixes I'd done a long long time ago, just lots of dancin and groovin. Thanks for having me yall.