Visions of the Unexcused

2017 was a challenging year. The bad guys won, and hate became law while our Manchurian President’s toddler tendencies numbed the World into being surprised by nothing and aghast at everything. Still there was music – and these 21 albums helped me get through too many long days. The mix was made live in the […]

I have an affinity for Detectives. I gravitate strongly towards the label of hopeless dreamer - and am enamored by both the Detectives search for truth as well as their beautiful flaws - they're such a hyperbolic yet real manifestation of what it means to be a walking talking breathing human. These are songs I think those with Detective hearts would enjoy listenings to.

1. Isaac Hayes - Walk From Regio's

2. Frank Zappa - Twenty Small Cigars

3. Sun Ra - Plutonian Nights

4. Piero Piccioni - Traffic Boom

5. Quiet Village - Circus Of Horror

6. The Ventures - The Fourth Dimension

7. Los Destellos - Pasión Oriental

8. The Hippy Boys - Seven Heaven

9. Adriano Correia De Oliveira - Rosa De Sangue

10. Focus - Janis

11. The Avalanches - Colours

12. Pantha Du Prince - Lions Love

13. DJ Shadow - Dark Days (Spoken For Mix)

14. King Curtis - Central Park

These are my 21 favorite albums of 2016. Aside from the opening sequence, the entire set was done live in the Mojo, and per every mix I put out – I hope you discover something new you love. Peace!

21. Samiyam – paddle boat

20. Terry Malts – When The Nighttime Comes

19. Whitney – No Woman

18. Tony Molina – See Me Fall

17. Woods – Sun City Creeps

16. White Night – Dr. Bellows

15. Wilco – Normal American Kids

14. The Avalanches – If I Was A Folkstar”

13. Aphex Twin – 2X202-ST5

12. A Tribe Called Quest – Melatonin

11. Angel Olsen – Shut Up Kiss Me

10. Oh Boland – Doctoring

9. Real Numbers – This Happy Sadness

8. Nice As Fuck – Door

7. Radiohead – Decks Dark

6. Mozes And The Firstborn – Till The Feeling's Gone

5. Cool Ghouls – Time Capsule

4. Morgan Delt – I Don't Wanna See What's Happening Outside

3. Car Seat Headrest – (Joe Gets Kicked Out of School for Using) Drugs With Friends (But Says This Isn't a Problem)

2. Gap Dream – Modern Rhythms

1. Mndsgn – Cosmic Perspective

Al Barry and The Cimerons - Morning Sun

Ranking Slackness - Give Me One Of Your Gal Friends

Yellowman Versus Josey Wales - Society Party

Jorge Ben - Meus Filhos Meu Tesouro

C.S. Crew - Doin' The Good Thing

William Onyeabor - Fantastic Man

Funkadelic - Can You Get to That

Frank Ocean - Sweet Life

Kendrick Lamar - You Ain't Gotta Lie (Momma Said)

Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - High

Gap Dream - Greater Find

Ty Segall - Mister Main

Gramatik - Make You Better

Mndsgn - Cosmic Perspective

Toro Y Moi - Lilly

Metronomy - A Thing For Me (Breakbot remix)

Empire Of The Sun - Walking On A Dream

PNAU - With you forever

The Avalanches - Because I'm Me

De La Soul - Eye Know

Beastie Boys - Root Down

Run-D.M.C. - Beats To The Rhyme

DJ Shadow - Organ Donor

Nas - The World Is Yours

James Pants - Cosmic Rapp

Beck - Wow

Sleigh Bells - A/B Machines

Run The Jewels - Close Your Eyes (And Count To Fuck)

RJD2 - Exotic Talk

Joey Bada$$ - Black Beetles

Heems - Tell Me (Feat. Childish Gambino)

Gorillaz - Rock The House

RJD2 - 1976

Cornelius - Count Five Or Six

Nostalgia 77 - The Goat

Flying Lotus - Camera Day

Samiyam - dartgun

The Poets Of Rhythm - More Mess On My Thing

The Pharcyde - Passin' Me By (Video Remix)

Lushlife - She's a Buddhist, I'm a Cubist (ft. Cities Aviv)

Chance The Rapper - Favorite Song (ft. Childish Gambino)

Company Flow - Vital Nerve

Cypress Hill - When The Shit Goes Down

Baron Zen - BZ Theme (Danny Breaks Remix)

Flying Lotus - Massage Situation

Madlib The Beat Konducta - Chrome Dreams

Flume - Sleepless ft. Jezzabell Doran

The Avalanches - Flight Tonight

Buffalo Daughter - Socks, Drugs and Rock'n'roll

Simian Mobile Disco - I Got This Down

LCD Soundsystem - Get Innocuous!

Aphex Twin - 2X202-ST5

Plaid - Dett

Mr. Oizo - Flat Beat

RUN DMT - Bass Drum

Fort Romeau - Insides

YG & Nipsey Hussle - Fuck Donald Trump

Gold Panda - You

Floating Points - Vacuum Boogie

Carbon Chic - A Broken Man (Redux)

This is a little over an hour of a live vinyl set I spun at State Park Bar in Cambridge on 7.28.16, and it perfectly represents who I am as a DJ. In just over an hour I bounce across numerous genres in Mint Pillow style inspired by the lack of rain & summer heat. Don’t think there’s […]

This election season & violent Summer has seen the shadows of ugly shine a dark light on how slow progress is - and as the mirror reflects back with a face of de-evolution - we sit cow faced while hate steals the headlines & votes.

I couldn't ask for anyone better than Gold Must Die to do a guest podcast to capture the anxiety, fear, and sorrow that dances off of satellites as we flick and like our privacy & dignity away. Hope still flickers though, and Gold Must Die helps expose the shadow back into light.

1. The Gentle People - Journey (Aphex Twin Care Mix) Excerpt

2. Cage The Elephant - It’s Always Something

3. Son Lux - You Don’t Know Me

4. Vince Staples - Birds and Bees

5. Sufjan Stevens - Impossible Soul (Stupid Man Excerpt)

6. Fifty Grand - Oh Well

7. Glass Animals - Wyrd

8. Clouddead - Dead Dogs Two (Boards Of Canada Mix)

9. Modeselktor feat Thom Yorke - Shipwreck

10. Radiohead - 33.3 Recurring (GMD Industrial Complex Mix)

11. Gil-Scott Heron - Work For Peace

12. Meat Beat Manifesto - STS 2006 (High Priest Anti Pop Consortium Mix)

13. Beck - Wow

14. M.I.A. Warriors

15. Lesser of Two Evils / Kids Show Interlude (Gold Must Die MashMix)

16. Economy - Underneath Me

17. Yasiin Bey - Niggas In Poorest (Gold Must Die Mix)

18. Saul Williams - Black History Month

19. DJ Vadim + Street Poet Monte Smith (a.k.a. King Poetic) - Bathe In Bleach

20. U.N.K.L.E. - Lonely Soul

21. Blur - The Universal

22. Jocelyn Pook - Masked Ball Eyes (Gold Must Die Secret Society Mix feat. Dead Famous)

Live Vinyl DJ Set @ State Park by Mint Pillow

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http://theunexcused.com

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1. Prince – Kiss

2. Earth, Wind & Fire – Shining Star

3. Toro y Moi – Lily

4. RJD2 – 1976

5. Bullion – I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times

6. Prince – When Doves Cry

7. Jimi Hendrix – The Wind Cries Mary

8. Funkadelic – Good To Your Earhole

9. Rikki Ililonga – Working On The Wrong Thing

10. Fuji – Revelations

11. The Dirtbombs – Livin’ For The City

12. Devo – Praying Hands

13. David Bowie – Panic In Detroit

14. Prince – Pop Life

15. Michael Jackson – P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)

16. Ohio Players – Jive Turkey (Part 1)

17. African Music Machine – Never Name A Baby (Before It’s Born)

18. Maceo – Soul Power ’74

19. Georgia Soul Council – Costanza

20. James Brown – I’ll Go Crazyby

21. Prince – Head

22. Parliament – Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof Off the Sucker)

23. Slave – Son Of Slide

24. Marvin Gaye – Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)

25. Blo – It’s Gonna Be A Good Day

26. Mebusas – Grooving Out On Life

27. Prince – Controversy

28. Chris Mba – Funky Situation

29. Bernard Wright – Just Chillin’ Out

30. Roy Ayers Ubiquity – Baby You Give Me A Feeling

31. Madlib – Robes (Instrumental)

32. Flying Lotus – Massage Situation

33. Frankie Smith – Double Dutch

34. James Brown – Blind Man Can See It

35. Prince – When You Were Mine

36. Parliament – Handcuffs

37. Jimi Hendrix – Crosstown Traffic

38. Os Brazões – Volksvolkswagen Blue

39. Dug Dug’sIt’s Over

40. Warren Zevon – Nighttime In The Switching Yard

41. King Curtis – We Funk (Low Down And Dirty)

42. Skull Snaps – Trespassing

43. Prince – Raspberry Beret

44. The Brothers Johnson – Strawberry Letter 23

45. William DeVaughn – Be Thankful For What You Got

46. The Blackbyrds – Rock Creek Park

47. B.T. Express – Peace Pipe

48. James Brown – Talking Loud And Saying Nothing

49. Prince – 1999

50. Curtis Mayfield – Superfly

51. Al Green – It Ain’t No Fun To Me

52. Sly & The Family Stone – Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)

53. Stevie Wonder – Sir Duke

54. The NIght Trippers – Did She Mention My Name

55. Nu Shooz – I Can’t Wait

56. DâM-FunK – I Like Your Big Azz (Girl)

57. Prince – Little Red Corvette

58. Funkadelic – Can You Get To That

59. Parliament – Flashlight

60. James Brown – Doing It To Death

61. Afro Funk – Obanya Special

62. The Rolling Stones – Let’s Spend The Night To Together

63. Redbone – Chant – 13th Hour

64. Wilson Pickett – You Can’t Judge A Book By It’s Cover

65. Bill Doggett – Honkey Tonk Pt. 1

66. Prince – Purple Rain

A survey on FaceBook asking the genre of my next podcast ended up a tie between DREAMY and HOUSE. I teamed those inspiration points together & careened towards the inside of my dreams - with the aim to make a podcast that was as familiar, surreal, gratifying, spooky, and strange as any dream I've ever had.

1. Episode 87 Intro - Follow You Dreams

2. Flying Lotus - MmmHmm ft. Thundercat (Cosmograma - 2010)

3. Tortoise - Why We Fight (Why We Fight - 1995)

4. Mac Demarco - DON JUAN (SOME OTHER ONES - 2015)

5. Sore Eros - In My Heart (Second Chants - 2009)

6. Dirty Beaches - Belgrade (Drifters / Love Is The Devil - 2013)

7. Carbon Chic - A Broken Man (A Broken Man - 2014)

8. Les Sins - Youth Gone (Lina - 2010)

9. Thievery Corporation - A Warning (Sounds From The Verve Hi-Fi - 2001)

10. DJ Shadow - What Does Your Soul Look Like (Endtroducing... - 1996)

11. Floating Points - Peroration Six (Elaeina - 2015)

12. Linda Perhacs - Spoken Intro To Leonard Rosenman (Parallelograms - 1970)

13. McKay - Know That I'm Not Alone (Into You - 1978)

14. The Dark City Sisters - Kulelo Lizwe (Soweto Never Sleeeps: Classic Female Zulu Jive African- 1986)

15. The Velvet Underground - I Found A Reason (Loaded - 1970)

16. Crispy Ambulance - Simon's Ghost (The Plateau Phase - 1982)

17. Dosh - We are the Worst (Milk Money - 2013)

18. Sun Ra - The Golden Lady (The Nubians Of Plutonia - 1969)

The energy within me is circling in a swift but exciting pattern as the glass lays firmly in half-full posture. I expect many good things in 2016, and episode 86 is an auditory springboard into that optimistic ether. I spun the mix live on a late weekend night in the West Medford Mojo. I traverse on many styles while providing thoughtful transition sentences that hopefully sprain you neck as you nod in enthusiastic accordance. Be on it.

1. Cookies - The Dream (Music For Touching - 2014)

2. Boards of Canada - Nothing Is Real (Tomorrow's Harvest - 2013)

3. Panda Bear - Principe Real (Panda Bear Meets The Grim Reaper - 2015)

4. Indoor Voices - Still (Indoor Voices - 2012)

5. Dog Bite - Wonder Dark (Tranquilizers - 2014)

6. Tomorrows Tulips - When (When - 2014)

7. Ty Segall - Swag (Swag - 2009)

8. The Sweets - Sister (The Sweets - 2014)

9. Woolen Men - Temporary Monument (Temporary Monument - 2015)

10. The Sound Barrier - Groovin' Slow (She Always Comes Back To Me - 1968)

11. Pugh Rogefeldt - Love, Love, Love (Ja, Dä Ä Dä! - 1969)

12. Tony Allen Plays With Afrika 70 - Afro Disco Beat (Progress - 1977)

13. Floating Points - J&W Beat (J&W Beat 12" - 2009)

14. Flying Lotus - MmmHmm ft.Thundercat (Cosmogramma - 2010)

15. Panda Bear - Tropic Of Cancer (Panda Bear Meets The Grim Reaper - 2015)

16. McKay - This Road (Into You - 1978)

16. Beck - Mattress (One Foot In The Grave - 1994)

17. Kurt Vile - Life Like This (b'lieve i'm goin down - 2015)

18. Ranking Slackness - Bath Room Sex (Slackest LP - 1979)

19. Yellowman Versus Josey Wales - Society Party (Two Giants Clash - 1984)

20. Winston Edwards & Blackbeard - Behind Closed Doors Of The House Of Commons (At 10 Downing Street - Dub Conference - 1980)

21. Starshine - All I Need Is You (All I Need Is You - 1983)

22. DâM-FunK - When I'm With U I Think Of Her (Adolescent Funk - 2010)

23. Gregory James Edition - Make It Easy On Yourself (Prophets Of Soul - 1973)

24. Ornette Coleman - C.O.D. (Ornette At 12 - 1969)

25. Weldon Irvine - Here's Where I Came In (Sinbad - 1979)

http://www.theunexcused.com/episode-85-top…albums-of-2015/

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2015 will go down as the most challenging & rewarding year of my life. Intense is the adjective I’d use to describe a year in which*almost* too much happened. It started with the birth of my Son Dylan – the best thing that’ll ever happen to me. Becoming a Parent is easy, becoming one worth his salt takes some earnest work & humbles you at every early turn.

I lent my Vision Vibes to some great people at WEMF Radio – a perfectly eclectic Family, shout out to Nash, Crespo, Far From Normal, and Andrew Lowery. I also navigated the waters of changing a long time job and career while buying my first Home. It felt like a lot.

All said, future eyes will gleam on 2015 with a favored smile – I’m a lucky man, and through it all, I had some killer music to push me over both the highs & lows. These 22 albums are what stood most out to me in this intensely fantastic year of 2015. Huzzah.