The Paywall Is Gone (For Now)
Also: KEXP Six Degrees Week and an update on Brownouts, The Book
I mentioned in my March 24 post that a disruption has hindered my weekly commitment to share music I’ve been up on every Friday. That was three Fridays ago. I’m re-evaluating the format and will soon relaunch a weekly post, most likely on a different day of the week than on Friday. In the meantime, I’ve decided to remove the paywall from every post in the newsletter archive (posts 69 days or older were previously only viewable to paid subs). With all posts available, paid subscriptions, for now, are completely optional (but appreciated).
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KEXP Six Degrees Week
My favorite week at KEXP is Six Degrees Week, and it’s happening right now. It started last Friday (with The Continent, 7pm-10pm) and ends this Friday (with the conclusion of Drive Time, 4-7pm).
For the uninitiated, it’s an annual tradition where, for an entire week, DJs link every song played to the one that came before it (and the one coming after). Each show highlights an artist of the DJ's choice. Por ejemplo, Street Sounds (Friday, 10pm-1am) artist was E-40, and Mechanical Breakdown (Saturday, 1am-3am) artist was Blondie. So each song played on Street Sounds, starting with E-40, has to eventually connect to a final song that connects with Blondie at the start of the next show. Real connections (guest vocals, relatives, shared producers and musicians, samples, etc.) are encouraged while weak connections (same genre, same major label) get the gas face. Some map their connections out, some completely construct it on the fly, some do a little of both. The challenge: to keep the chain unbroken for all 168 hours.
I love this shit, and lowkey already do a little of it in every show I do. So do many of my favorite DJs on the station. It’s particularly fun hearing DJs freak out in the last 20-30 minutes about how to perfectly time the last few songs/connections. I signed up to fill in or guest host on four Six Degrees shows, two of which were yesterday (Sunday, April 13) - streaming archive (available for two weeks) below.
Guest-hosting DJ Miss Ashley’s Self-Care Sundays show (12pm-3pm), going from Sade to The Replacements was dope. We mapped possible beginning and endpoint connections but had to wing it in the middle, which led to some real-time surprises, like learning that Linda Rondstadt (and her manager) were responsible for getting Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks connected to Mick Fleetwood, resulting in the Fleetwood Mac lineup we’re all familiar with. Or finding out that Sade and Maxwell share a major co-writer/producer/band member/saxophonist/guitarist. The saxophone you hear on both artists songs is played by the same lad: Stuart Matthewman aka Cottonbelly
After the show, I had six hours to kill until filling in on Expansions (9pm-midnight), where I had to link The KLF to Yann Tiernen. Instead of preparing for the show like I should’ve, I walked around Seattle Center in the sun, which I realized I don’t ever really do solo. Had a Dick’s Deluxe, which I only ate half of. Then I watched No Other Land at SIFF. Got back to the station while Lace was filling in on Sunday Soul and chopped it up with Kevin Cole about the future of noncommercial radio on his way out.
Then, it hit me. This was my first time filling in on Expansions. Along with Rap Attack (now Street Sounds), this show on KCMU was part of a Sunday night routine stretching back 30 years ago, when DJ Riz started the show in 1995. Later, when I went to UW, Kevin Cole became part of that sequence when he took over the slot right before Rap Attack, and the radio signal was much better from near campus than across the water in B-Town.
Later this week, I’ll be popping in to keep the chain alive on Overnight on Thursday April 17 1am-5am, where my featured artist is Joe Bataan, eventually connecting to REM on Early. On Friday, April 18 1pm-4pm I’ll be guest-hosting The Afternoon Show with Larry Mizell, Jr., where we kick off with Kendrick Lamar and eventually connect to Tears For Fears on Drive Time.
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An Update on Brownouts, The Book
If you’ve been up on this newsletter since 2021, you’ve seen your mans go on hiatuses (see: all of 2024), then return, but with a different writing focus. Brownouts started as updates and drafts of a book-on-progress that I started writing in 2017 (and still am). Then, photoessays adjacent to my once-thriving rap career and random musings, also for possible use for the book project. Most recently, I’ve been sharing music I’m coming across on a DJ journey that started with KEXP in 2023. Occasionally, I’ll write a topical long-form reflection.
I’ve honestly shelved the project emotionally, feeling distant from the 50-60% of of a draft I submitted in the early pandemic days. Feels like somebody else wrote that shit. But after learning some life lessons and a year of free-writing (mostly yapping on voice recorder and transcribing), resuming this newsletter, consulting with editors and the publisher, and re-evaluating the scope of the book, I’ve found a new direction. I have a new roadmap for this project, which I hope to share in the months ahead, as well as other projects, including new music, that I’ve begun working on.
Organically, all previous and current iterations of what this newsletter has been is what will inform the form and content of Brownouts, The Book. Thanks for sticking around. If you know me, you know I take long to finish things. Like the 3-4 year gap between full-length albums. Or getting my undergrad degree at 32 years old. Or cooking dinner. When I finally do tho, it’s glorious.