faces in the clouds podcast

Here's a fun re-working of a re-edit of an edit of a bootleg mashup edit that I did. Grooves, beats, rhymes and piano keys.

People like it, maybe you will too. I think it's funky fresh, ya heard?

"You already know who it is, so the name is irrelevant... ya dig?"

#jurassic5 #hiphopedit #hiphouse

(tracklist below..) This is the eleventh edition of a series that's as near and dear to my heart as anything could possibly be. If you can love this, you can love me. If you don't love this, I won't be mad. I love you anyhow.

This series started in early 2013 and has continued over the years in its original concept: to be a true reflection of what I am feeling and experiencing in life at the moment of each chapter's conception.

What you feel or experience through listening to this is up to you, however. This is me, wearing my heart on my sleeve...

I hope you enjoy. One love, always...

Kev

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Tracklist:

01. Kev Obrien - Basically Spoken Facts and Opinions [No Label]

02. Metropolitan Soul Museum - Eton’s Mess [Dionysian Mysteries]

03. ticktock - A Violence of Innocence [hfn]

04. Stefano Testa - Empire of the Light [cadenza]

05. Traks Boys - Weekend Lights (Original Mix) [Internasjonal]

06. Invisible Conga People - Can’t Feel My Knees [DFA]

07. Kalabrese feat. Sarah Palin - Kafi Lied [Bar 25]

08. José González - Stay in the Shade (Pablo Fierro Edit) [No Label]

09. Daniel Bortz - The Misery (NU & Acid Pauli Remix/Kev Obrien Quantum Edit) [Bar 25]

10. Ritz - Monkeys [Piston Recordings]

11. Duccio - Sambao [Greta Cottage Workshop]

12. High Heels Breaker - Come Easy feat. Sarah Palin (Kalabrese Remix) [Drumpoet Community]

13. Nu feat Jo Ke - Fool (Pippi Ciez Remix) [No Label]

14. Daniel Steinberg - No One Can Change Me (Nick Holder Remix) [Left Handed]

15. Matthew Herbert - it's only (dj koze remix) (Jaap Ligthart Reconstruction) [Pampa /No Label]

16. Markus Nikolai & Nina - Mr. Big Star (Dubloner's Big Mix) [perlon]

17. Falki Hoz - Hipsters [Lo-Fi-45]

18. Feathered Sun - Me and My Entourage [Platon Records]

18. Fritz Kalkbrenner - Was Right Been Wrong (Sascha Funke Edit) [Baalsaal]

19. WhoMadeWho - Keep Me In My Plane (DJ Koze Remix) [Needwant]

20. Footprintz - Uncertain Change (Original Mix) [Visionquest]

21. Oona Dahl - So Cruel (Nite Version) [Hallucienda]

22. Stavroz - The Finishing [Délicieuse Records]

23. Termoment - Four Seasons (Original Mix) [Systematic Recordings]

24. Alan Watts - What Do You Desire (from 1974 lecture) [No Label]

25. Traumpinz - 2 Bad (Metatron What if Madness is our only relief Mix) [Giegling]

26. Jason Singh - Harmonium

27. Kev Obrien - Basically Spoken Facts and Opinions [No Label]

Cover photo was taken by me in Dumbo, Brooklyn, December 2013, as part of a series of photos which were taken around Brooklyn utilizing the heart seen in the photo (which was discovered in a trash heap.) The goal was to find more fitting places for the heart than in the trash, as no heart should be discarded in such a manner. Every heart should have a home.

This is the tenth mix in the <3onMySleeve mix series. The Title is pretty self-explanatory for anybody who's read the book or seen the movie Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. This set was recorded in the darkest hour of my life.

The details of my state of mind are not really something I feel like divulging, all I will say is that it was recorded on my phone using a DJ app while I was walking around Brooklyn, in the rain, very late at night.

The only question is, who is it directed toward? At the time I recorded it with someone else in mind, someone who'd taken advantage of my kindness while I was in a very vulnerable state.

But since this dark night of the soul, I realized it was really intended for myself, a subconscious message which I was unable and unwilling to realize that I needed to hear.

Its a very sloppy and eratic mix using FX styles Ive neved used before and likely never will again.

I've tried re-recording this to perfect it, numerous times.. as I felt the track selections were good, and I thought the recording was too raw and rough to post. However, after several failed attempts I realized I was trying to do the impossible. The imperfections are part of the message.

The erratic nature of my mixing and use of FX tell a story that are completely separate from the overall message, and so I realized after several attempts to try to mix the same tracks at a later date always ended up to my pressing stop knowing that despite perfect mixing, something was off. Sometimes we need to be true as artists and just unleash the rawest form of ourselves, otherwise the moment is completely lost in time. I realized that trying to cleanse this hotbed of sin only diluted the entire essence of insanity that this mix depicts.

The more I've listened to it, the more my entire idea of its message has changed and the more I've realized it's not something I could ever even consider replicating. Its probably one of the most honest and true to myself mixes that I've ever recorded, all in my darkest hour. And I'm not using hyperbole when I say "darkest hour"... it truly was exactly that.

Enjoy!

Fear and Loathing In NYC by Kev Obrien

Another throwback, this one goes back 7 years and includes some of my first releases as a producer.

Here is the first of a number of old throwback mixes I have found which I am uploading to add to the archives. This was in my stage where most of what I was playing was more "techno" focused -- it was the sound of the time, and though I may be known more for house these days, versatility is an important aspect to remember as a DJ...

so, techno: never leave home without it!

I've been waiting years for a magical night like this, where the stars aligned perfectly and I could be able to truly play everything I could imagine and even some tunes which I have been yearning to play for YEARS but never had the right crowd, in the right place at the right time, to fit in.

Nothing felt forced and seeing my favorite room in Brooklyn that alive and in tune with whatever I threw out there felt amazing.

many many thanks to TBA, Newhouse Grooves and the Momentum/Rite of Wednesdays crew for having me back one last time before I set sail on my nomadic voyage....

One love. - Kev

This is dedicated to and intended for YOU. You, meaning whoever happens upon this mix and listens to it. Love for the music has been the defining force and feeling which has led me down the path I have chosen over the past year + after my return to music -- and in a world so full of hate and discouraging acts of everything that is the antithesis of love being blasted in our faces via social and mainstream media outlets... I feel we all need to reminded that we are LOVED. So, this is my first love letter to YOU.

It is delivered to you In all of it's imperfect glory, as I recorded it live on a very late morning and chose after much deliberation to release it as-is; mistakes be damned... because as with everything in life, we are human and even love has it's imperfections and shouldn't be perceived as anything perfect.

I decided to start this series a few weeks ago when a chance encounter online led me to realize that sometimes we all need a little more LOVE in our lives. Sending a message to a complete stranger to remind them that they MATTER and they are loved can make all the difference in their lives, if even for but a fleeting moment or period in time. (coincidentally the encounter occurred on the EXACT Sept 25 date that the cover-art's postmark indicates, which was the only one I could find on Google (little synchronicity to go along with a lot of love means something!)

The love I speak of here isn't of the romantic nature as we often seem to correlate the word, though it's up to the listener, you, to interpret it however it best suits you, as the recipient.

With all my love,

Kev Obrien

Oct 9, 2017

I decided to do a decade mix filled with music from the past ten years that I have lived in New York. The approaching end of summer tends to make me feel nostalgic, so here you go.

Four hours of pure deep house spanning my collection, all released between 2007-2017, within the ten years and summers I've spent in this beautiful concrete jungle which we call New York City.

I did this mix this afternoon totally impromptu and it's really one of my favorite sets that I've done, as it includes so many of my favorites from such a wide time-span.

**disclaimer: at some point during these 4 hours of mixing, there was one technical slip-up in mixing which I had to bail out on to keep the ball rolling. I am human. and there's no way in hell I would go back and be able to re-record an entire set that I played on the fly, in order to project some false image of perfection to the world. I can't remember where the slip up is, and it really doesn't matter (to me) -- let's be honest, laptop DJs and sync buttons have taken something away from the art of DJing as well as dancing. It used to be claps and fist bumps to hear a DJ working their way out of a bad situation to fix a mix that veered off the tracks. Nowadays? Chinstrokes and sighs abound when someone is even slightly loose on a mix. Just stating facts, because we shouldn't be ashamed of our errors, we should see them as indicators of our being human, not computer.

Includes music from Henrik Schwarz, Jimpster, Jay Shepheard, Martin Dawson (RIP), John Tejada, Christian Prommer, Eagles & Butterflies, Niko Schwind, Erefaan Pearce, Mr. V, Manuel Tur, Motor City Drum Ensemble, Daniel Steinberg, Zepherin Saint, Justin Martin, Dplay, Chopstick & JohnJon, Ron Basejam, Soukie & Windish, Keira, DJ Metatron and more.

In November, I'll be setting sail for Europe (Berlin) to be closer to colleagues, clients, etc. It's going to be a bittersweet move, as I love this city dearly (Brooklyn, namely), and the past year has been one of pure magic, following 2 and a half years away from music, it's been filled with surprises around every corner, and amazing friends both near and far have been gained, while some others have moved in the direction of their dreams as well.

Just an impromptu mix I threw together of the type of stuff I like to play to make people dance and whatnot. Don't mind the couple of times when the stupid scratching FX from Traktor is there, I don't use a computer for actual gigs so sometimes, I am not knowing WTF to expect from the FX on that software when I record something!

TRACKLISTING

01. HVOB - Pay As You Go Mobile Phone

02. Feathered Sun (feat. NU, Raz Ohara, jO.K.e, Acid Pauli, Christopher Schwarzwalder, Iannis Ritter) - Me and My Entourage

03. David Keno - Stars Above

04. Daniel Steinberg - Paranoia Bar (Original Mix)

05. Mark Spence & GAWP - Barkmore

06. Marcin Czubala - Jedwab (Traktor sucks edit)

07. Nima Gorji - Keep on Getting Down

08. Michael bibi - Magic Carpet (Huxlley Remix)

09. Kev Obrien - Grindmode 247365

10. Phonique feat Eddie Fowlkes - Reality Check

11. Marlon Hoffstadt, Dansson - Shake That

12. Robot Needs Oil - Little Leo (MOLLe Remix)

13. Mollono.Bass - In the Middle of the Park

14. Daniel Steinberg - True Romance

15. Class 71 - Alba Adriatica

16. Kalbrese - Independent Dancer

17. Zovsky & Schauffer - Synphonie (Mollono.Bass Remix)

18. Archie Hamilton - Driven to Distraction

19. Daniel Steinberg - Save My Darling (Extended Mix)

20. Kev O E-40 - Give a Fuck if You Don’t Like Me ( Edit )

21. Stavroz - The Finishing

22. Niko Schwind feat Durwich & Serge Rege - Higher Love