Dear friends,
After all these years, I still am a loyal user of iTunes. This is absolutely not out of any brand loyalty or endorsement of Apple products or of Apple of a company. Rather, it’s some sort of combination of my slow pace of change and an amount of skepticism. One of my favorite things about iTunes is that it catalogues music from when it was added. I can scroll endlessly back to 2008 to see all the music I’ve added over the years. Doing this frequently is one of the more poignant and nostalgic trips down memory lane I can take. When I see the Junior Kimbrough compilation You Better Run, I remember that time in 11th grade when a close friend and I traded thumb drives at school of our current music obsessions. Or when I see We Invented the Bop, the DJ Moondog album that catalogues the short lived Chicago hip hop scene, I’m reminded of riding my bike around in college. I had spent so much of my high school years worshipping self serious word salad rappers and this was one of the moments that opened up my taste to more lighthearted and fun rap.
Another feature of scrolling through my iTunes is that I can vividly see moments of discovery in my musical journey. There are times where I barely listened to anything new, followed by an opening of the flood gates. In 2015, for example, I listened to Hank Williams’ 40 Greatest Hits for the first time. Following this revelatory intro to country music, I rushed to get as much as I could. Hank was followed by Roy Acuff and the Carter Family and the Louvin Brothers and Lefty Frisell and Townes Van Zandt and Dwight Yoakam and well you get the idea. It’s fun to follow my various rabbit holes and try to construct a genealogy of how I got to where I am today. It’s not only a musical journey, but a personal one as well. Each album comes with a memory of when I heard it for the first time or who introduced me to it. Each of these discoveries helped change the way I think about things. They represent times of curiosity and wonder.
Sometimes going into my past can motivate me in funny ways. Starting in 2017 (after I graduated college), the volume of new music in my iTunes shrank. I was definitely in a period where I sought out more familiar comforts rather than foray into the unknown. Even though it’s only my 20’s, I sometimes worry about falling into ruts. I worry about losing that same curiosity that defined my musical journey growing up. But, this year has been one of growth. I’ve discovered more new music than I had in years and that’s partially due to what people bring to Real Deep Radio. Finding music can sometimes feel like a solitary activity of browsing label discographies, lists, Bandcamp pages, etc. But Real Deep Radio has brought me a community of listeners that has been a great source of comfort. Discovering new music, for me, isn’t just about variety. It’s about continually pushing my sense of wonder and of possibilities. It renews my sense of empathy and of curiosity for the human spirit. I enter this week excited about where my journey will go next.
Yours,
Adam (and Hugh and Kevin)
P.S. Are you interested in producing a broadcast on Real Deep Radio? If you have an idea for one-off or recurring programming that you’d like to pitch, contact us at realdeepradio@gmail.com. Let us know your concept or give us an idea of a typical broadcast. While much of our programming is based around music, we’re open to any and all aural experiences. All we ask is that it’s real deep, none of that fake deep.
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Tuesday, 4/13
8-10PM – Hedonistic Summer Culture with Adam Brill
A lot of things have been said about the upcoming Summer of 2021. Whatever this summer may mean to you, I will be providing a sunny and poppy musical prelude to the upcoming adventures that may await.
Saturday, 4/17
8-10AM – Hypnopompia Morning Show with Michael Cormier
Music to soundtrack the fragile moments right before reaching for your phone and realizing the world has gone on without you while you slept.
RECOMMENDED
KEVIN: I recently listened for the first time to Frank Bretschneider’s abtasten_halten, which came out in September of last year. The liner notes tell us that abtasten_halten is a “self-generating composition for synthesizer modules whose sole sound source is the movement of two VU meter needles.” I have only a vague idea of the technical ideas behind this music, but I’m not interested in dwelling on that aspect too much. To me, what matters here is how perfect a piece of sound design this album is, so tactile, present, and satisfying. This week, I’ve also been jumping back into the catalog of Príncipe Discos, a dance label based out of Portugal. I followed their new releases religiously in college, but lost track over the last few years. Two releases I loved from 2020: DJ Lycox’s Kizas do Ly and Nídia’s Não Fales Nela Que A Mentes.
ADAM: This week, I’ve been listening to From These Shores, which is a lovely compilation of folky psychedelic music from Hawaii. I also have been exploring the discography of Knud Viktor, which is some absolutely gorgeous and tactile sound paintings. If you like the sound of water gently trickling over rocks, this may be for you.