"dude, you gotta start sharing these"
"dude, you gotta start sharing your curations more often"
My friend Woody was sitting next to me, yet nearly shouting this! (ok... that's because the music was painfully loud 🙉). But he had flown from Playa del Carmen 🇲🇽 to Saint Petersburg Florida to express his thoughts (OK.. OK.. we were actually there to celebrate the marriage of dear friends Sarah & Matthew - but his implication was strong)
This was almost a year ago, and since then the idea has been floating around my mind like Joy from Inside Out, just waiting to be tapped in.
And then one day this week - amidst the deafening chatter of AI music - it hit me:
genuine connection and human curation. these are the two things in music that AI can’t meaningfully replicate
So it's my goal with this casual, weekly inbox care package to foster both ✨✨
As you may know, my love language is sending Shazams and DMs on Spotify. So this is partly to share great art & ideas - but mostly to keep in touch. (please tell me what you're listening to!)
Here's the format, following the K.I.S.S. / James Clear method:
3 songs to check out
2 articles/ideas to ponder
1 DJ mix or great album
That's it.
Maybe with some mildly spicy commentary, memes, or random photos from the wild. But this is not a New Music Friday roundup (for that, I recommend The Shape Of Music To Come or Pitchfork). It's meant to be a quick read (I will try to resist my verbose tendencies! this will be the longest one just due to the intro ◡̈). I hope you'll stick around - but I totally understand if you want to dip (no hard feelings) - unsubscribe is easy at the bottom of this email.
So without further ado, welcome to ƒriday ƒeels - let's get into this first edition:
3 SONGS
"Dammi Dammi" // La Vacanza
Italian indie-soul band from Bergen, Norway. (intrigued yet?) i listened to this track on loop for a full hour the first time i heard it (s/o my man Adam Brosky for the rec). the rest of the EP is great too
"I NEED YOUR LOVIN'" // MATRODA
a nostalgia-tinged house music earworm from an artist who partly inspired me to start a bass house radio mixshow back in 2016 (what a time..). love that he's still crushing it with these absolute dancefloor heaters
"LET ME KNOW'" // THE WOODS
a phenomenal pop-leaning 3-step anthem from brand-new artist (brother/sister duo) out of Cape Town, South Africa. (Tyron is a good friend - and occasional collaborator - of mine)
2 ARTICLES
Nearly 150,000 Tracks Are Added to Streaming Services Every Day, Luminate CEO Says
And on Deezer alone, up to 90,000 tracks a day are fully AI-generated - more than half of all new uploads at their June peak. This is rapidly approaching fever pitch, creating a strain on the DSPs and confusion for listeners like you & me. Many possible solutions are being rolled out simultaneously: AI labeling, demonetization for fully-generated tracks, increased spam/bot content flagging, and (hopefully soon) an "ON/OFF" toggle.
Your taste is the only thing nobody can copy
After hearing about that glut of music unleashed on society every day, I wanted to ground us with the reminder that your taste is still wholly yours. While the algorithms do push us towards echo chambers of self-isolating music recommendations, we are in control of this - through literally changing our Spotify algorithms, but also staying curious, thinking outside of the box, finding music across different media, and generally being more conscious about what you're being fed passively.
1 MIX OR ALBUM
wilfy d on aprtment life // soulful house, uk funky, afro house
aprtment life mixes are a sunday morning staple in our house. this mix absolutely delivers! i think if i moved to the UK, my DJ sets would sound just like this. i first became a fan of Wilfy from his debut aprtment life mix a few years ago and then i played his original tune “day + nite” in my GARDEN CLUB 004 set. vibes are soulfully euphoric 🙏
Thanks for reading, and for making it this far! Please let me know if you have any thoughts or suggestions for this mailer in general 🙏
Much love,
Jonathan
P.S. you may notice, this is not via Substack - my goal is to cultivate more of a tight-knit community rather than a large group of internet strangers. that said, if there's someone you think would love this, please do forward this to them or add them here. if you or a friend made something great that I should know about - please send! my greatest joy is sharing great art, especially from people I know and care about 🫶