oystered 38

David Bowie "Starman" by B. Neptune on Mixcloud

I never put too much effort into David Bowie. As a kid, I enjoyed his radio hits, and in my 20s, I bought his used LPs when I could find them cheap enough but still never put much time into listening to them. Through the years, I've discovered some of the more lesser-known cuts from his '70's discography, and those songs are the inspiration behind this off-the-cuff chronological compilation, featuring one track from each of those '70's albums while skipping any live material or the cover's record, 'Pin Ups,' starting with 1969's 'Space Oddity,' and ending with his duet with Queen, "Under Pressure," (1980), which seems like as good a place as any to end, since after that he took a couple years off and came back with "Let's Dance," which definitely took some of the mystery out of the man, for me at least, with it's popularity on the then nascent MTV network.

A fun one for the car, with the windows down and the oncoming Spring.

oystered 37

Ecstasy Symphonies (4) by B. Neptune on Mixcloud

This one’s been on hold for a while. Volume four in my digital nostalgia series kicks off with a scorcher from Andreas Tilliander’s Rechord project. Next is the achingly gorgeous swarm of "Close” from To Rococo Rot’s Robert Lippok. Reinhardt Voigt’s “Untitled” sounds like slow steam rising from continents pulling apart at the dawn of time. Tim Hecker’s slow burning last track from his Mirages long-player is arguably my favorite thing he’s ever done. “Fulmar” finds the underrated Swedish folk-minimalist trio of Tape collaborating with esteemed Japanese improv-droners, Minamo. Fennesz's organ contribution, "La Petite Chapelle - Morning" is one of his softest, gauziest and longest glides to date. Taylor Deupree’s “Skimming” almost rocks as hard as some mid-to-late-period Royal Trux—it's true!—while Rafael Toral’s “Mixed States Uncoded” bends light and sound like only Kevin Shields can.