Improvisational Sphere :: A Roy Brooks Mixtape

The following mix is a tribute to the brilliant–sometimes misunderstood–artist, featuring a selection of albums under Brooks’ own name, as well as crucial collaborations. It ends with a blistering version of Woody Shaw’s composition, “Zoltan,” taken from the exceptional new collection, Understanding.

Monster Rally :: Volume III (A Mixtape)

Imminent summer approaches as we check in with with Monster Rally, whose “Imaginary Palms” drops later this week — a balmy dreamscape framed by harps, water, live drums, air and maracas.

This, our third mix collaboration [following Volume I (2012), and Volume II (2013)], finds Monster Rally’s Ted Feighan pulling from an appropriately humid crate. Press play, get lifted.

Horizon Music for Anytime of Day (A GROWING Mixtape)

20 or so years ago, Kevin Doria and Joe DeNardo emerged from the Olympia underground under the name GROWING, proffering a signature blend of noise and mood they refer to as “big amp ambient.” Their latest is called Diptych, a two-sided long form epic at once meditational but also ecstatic. To celebrate its release, DeNardo and Doria have assembled Horizon Music For Anytime of Day, a blend expansive jams.

Natura Morta (A Sven Wunder Mixtape)

Snapping at the heels of last year’s Eastern Flowers and Wabi Sabi lps, prolific polymath Sven Wunder returns this June with his third full-lengh, Natura Morta. In anticipation, Wunder recorded the following vinyl mix for AD, via his home studio in Sweden, leaning into aesthetic influences and inspiration.

Latin Grippe (A Mixtape)

Because it’s only getting hotter… our hermano in sound Mathieu Schreyer’s all-vinyl set from last May. All fire, via the Radio Free archives, previously solely available via our Patreon. Only the good shit.

Threat To Creation :: A Mixtape

Roots reggae is the music of the Rastafarian tradition. It speaks to the spiritual, political, and socially conscious message of God, called Jah by Rastafarians.

Press play for a celebration of roots stylings including the traditional, digital, and dub.

It’s Only Life, That’s All (A Nap Eyes Mixtape)

With his “It’s Only Life, That’s All” playlist, Nap Eyes guitarist Brad Loughead created a mix “mainly as a way to occupy myself, [to] get lost in beautiful music and turn my brain off.” It encompasses familiar themes—”of love, mortality, troubled times…’ya know, the light stuff,” but like Nap Eyes’ fourth lp, Snapshot of a Beginner, it achieves a powerful effect by just easing on by.

Got My Chips Cashed In (A Mixtape)

These laments to weary-eyed truck drivers, CB radio farces, and runarounds with highway patrolmen offer a shoulder to lean on as you travel the literal or proverbial road to the end of the line. Got My Chips Cashed In is a playlist that stretches from the genre’s origin to its modern counterparts, with a few stops along the way for a hot cup of coffee, some southern fried, and a slice of cherry pie. Those big old wheels keep rolling …and the hits just keep on coming.

Some for Bohannon (A Mixtape)

“Some for Bohannon,” a celebration and glance at the funky creations of Hamilton Bohannon: a drummer, song writer, and record producer who, as Ron Wynn noted, perfected a “formula of heavy, thudding bass accents and aggressive rhythms”. He passed away April 24, 2020. Rest in peace.

Sorcery in the Kingdom | A Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool Mixtape

Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool—now available on Netflix after a brief theatrical run and as an American Masters feature on PBS—is a beautifully directed film by Stanley Nelson, which guides us through the different changes of Miles’ life, smoothly handling the tale of an artist who refused any complacency throughout a long and undeniably brilliant career.

The Human Race :: An AOR Mixtape

Whatever happened to the human race? This mix explores the darker sides of the much maligned “AOR” genre, typically associated with 1970’s overly-produced pop excess, while embracing it’s playful and uplifting side. From Thin Lizzy’s Phil Lynott’s lamenting a “Fatalistic Attitude” to the Monkees’ Michael Nesmith’s time capsule to “People A Hundred Years From Now”, from Emitt Rhodes lamentable solo swan song “Farewell To Paradise” to true FM radio classic jam Starbuck’s “Moonlight Feels Right”, here The Human Race is represented in all it’s conflicted glory.

Music From First Cow and Other Films Real or Imagined (An Echo Magic Mixtape)

Just before the lockdown, filmmaker Kelly Reichardt released First Cow, the filmmaker’s seventh feature film. A slow and mediative movie, it features sounds by AD compatriot William Tyler, who recorded the soundtrack with Scott Hirsch at Echo Magic Studio. While composing and recording, Tyler and Hirsch put together a “mood board” of sounds they referenced while working. Here, Hirsch shares that mixtape, along with his thoughts about First Cow.