Sunday, August 15, 2021

The Frame Rates of Consciousness


Welcome to the thought experiment of a plant, dreaming about what the gardener is thinking and doing, and why. 



Actually, welcome to a fanciful idea that we humans ourselves are being invisibly pruned by a higher-level consciousness, like a garden that is being tended. 


To understand this thought experiment, we first need to explore the idea that the Universe is entirely conscious, and, more than that, the Universe is conscious at different speeds, or “frame rates,” producing different levels of awareness. 


Frame rate is the frequency (rate) at which consecutive images (frames) appear on some kind of visual display. Anyone familiar with motion picture technology knows that when a movie camera runs at a fast speed (meaning a high rate of image/frame collection), it can collect many still images. If those images are displayed consecutively at a slower speed/rate than the camera was running, any activity captured by the movie camera will be reproduced as if the activity were occurring slower, or taking “longer” to play out relative to the duration during which the movie camera was running. This is commonly referred to as a “slow motion” effect. If you increase the frame rate of the camera enough (for example 5,000 frames per second), then play back the images at a “normal” rate (for example 24 frames per second), the activity might appear to almost stop moving altogether. 


Frame rate is a useful metaphor for the “speed” of mental activity, and can help us examine how different levels of consciousness in the Universe might operate.

Level One (cosmos)

Imagine swirling, dancing waves of light and color, a veritable orgy of pulsating, undulating energy. An explosion of pure, abstract, playful imagination. Abstract, but not random! The movements here are orchestrated. They have a rhythm and a structure that is like a symphony, with resonances and harmonies. This is not mere chaos. 


Now envision a sudden phase shift, as if the “frame rate” of your perception has sped up.  


When we increase the frame rate of perception, Level One slows to a crawl, and we recognize that the playful dance of light and color is our cosmos. At a higher frame rate of consciousness, the stars and planets seem to be barely moving, and we can’t even appreciate celestial rhythms and harmonies, because the movement appears so slow. We might even think the cosmos is full of dead, inanimate matter. Funny that a faster speed of perception might lead us to mis-apprehend what is actually occurring! 


The frame rate of perception of the cosmos itself is hard to think about in measurable time, but the idea that the cosmos is a form of consciousness is shared by the ancient Vedic rishis, modern mystics like Rudolf Steiner, and post-modern thinkers like Amit Goswami and Bernardo Kastrup.

Level Two (earth)

Imagine waves, roiling and surging. Like a rich, thick canvas of moving modern art, there is color and light, and swirls of mist and pulsing, breathing, blood-red eruptions. It’s a dance of repeating and rhythmic separations, then breathtaking re-connections and intertwinings. Again, not mere chaos—here are hallmarks of a living and breathing system.    


Once again, imagine a phase shift where you massively increase the frame rate of your perception, and notice that what you’ve been observing is the planet Earth, with its mountains and circulatory systems, the breath of its climate, and the dance of its land masses. 


The frame rate of perception of Earth itself would be measured in epochs. The concept that Earth has a form of consciousness is shared by scientist James Lovelock and others (the Gaia hypothesis).  

Level Three (bacterial and plant life)

Upon the earth there is writhing, living, surging activity. A cornucopia of color. From above, you can see the land and the oceans surging with movement. Sometimes a struggle for dominance. Sometimes a clear collaborative dance.


Phase shift to a higher frame rate of perception, and become aware that this is the plant, fungal, and bacterial life of Earth. There is no question that these life forms respond to stimuli that we are familiar with (sunlight, darkness, water, etc). 


The consciousness of vegetation, mycelium, and bacteria cannot be well understood at the human frame rate of awareness. It is likely a consciousness that is spread across vast planetary networks. The frame rate of perception of these forms of life would conceivably be measured in periods of time ranging from hours to years.

Level Four (animals)

Animals, such as humans, are multicellular organisms with localized consciousness. Our frame rate of perception is measured in microseconds. We can think and react far more “quickly” than any plant, mushroom, or bacterium. 


The frame rate of human consciousness is the only one with which we have any actual experience, so it’s hard to imagine what a faster “speed” of consciousness might be like, or how we might look to beings at higher levels. But evolution has always been part of the Universe, so why wouldn’t there be another phase shift in consciousness still to come? Or perhaps it’s already here?   

Level Five (the field)

To reiterate the opening metaphor, please forgive what must be like the musings of a plant about the existence of a gardener. So much would surely be misinterpreted about whether the gardener is even there, and why, and what is important to the gardener, and so on. A plant simply cannot think like a human, in any way. 


Over a period of time in meditation, I have attempted to use our coexistence with plants as an analogy informing what higher order consciousness might be like.


Just as animal proliferation across the Earth only occurred in the last frame of the movie from a vegetative perspective of time, I imagine the next level of consciousness to have evolved relatively recently from the perspective of the frame rate of our own consciousness, in the later stages of human evolution, and perhaps connected in some way to our human consciousness becoming distinct from that of other animals. The evolution of this level of consciousness would be occurring at a massively accelerated rate compared to ours, just like every phase shift has involved much more rapid evolution than the previous level of consciousness.


What might be the characteristics of higher level consciousness, and its relationship to us? 


Plant life reacts very slowly from our perspective. So, I imagine we would react very slowly from the perspective of higher level consciousness, because the frame rate is so much faster. Or, to say it differently, we would appear to act slowly because higher level consciousness thinks (and perceives, and lives) so much faster. Just as many generations of humans live and die during the life span of a forest, many generations of higher level consciousness might “live and die” in the lifespan of a human. (These phase shifts are funny to think about—evolution occurs faster at higher levels, and birth and death is the primary mechanism of evolution. So it’s likely the lifespan of any one form of consciousness at a higher level, from the lower level’s perspective, would be short.) 


The different levels of consciousness in the Universe, as I’ve cognized them here, have all had a clear tendency toward becoming ever smaller and more localized. So, just as levels of consciousness have occupied smaller areas of space while progressing through the levels, I imagine a higher level of consciousness to occupy little to no “space” at all. Consciousness at this level would be unlikely to have a material body. Rather, it might have a subtle body, as a conscious energy field. For the sake of understanding, it may be important to note that smaller, local fields of consciousness are likely connected in meaningful ways to larger fields, including perhaps the wider field of all consciousness. So an energy field might simultaneously exist or “inhabit” certain local spaces the way we inhabit certain locales (even though we have the ability to travel), while also existing non-locally. I like to imagine that a human being might be a “home” to a conscious energy field (or many such fields). Again, the life span of a conscious energy field might be so short that “traveling” away from a home body might be irrelevant.


We are intimately connected to plant life. Like plants, we have a flesh body that circulates matter throughout our system to further life processes. We need the oxygen expelled by plants, and they need our CO2. Our food chain is based heavily on deriving energy from the consumption of plant life. I imagine that, just as we are intimately connected with plant life, the next order of consciousness will be intimately connected with us. It is a part of us, just as we are also a part of all life. The field presumably needs our energy as a source of its life energy. It likely will tend to us as we tend to a garden, pruning and caring for us, cultivating us. It is perhaps because of this cultivation that our central nervous systems have reached such depths of both rational and intuitive thought. 


The purpose of all life is to evolve toward higher orders of consciousness, and the different levels of consciousness cooperate together in co-evolution. Consider that we have impacted the evolution of plant life immeasurably. Humans have been shaping ecosystems for millenia. We’ve cross-bred and performed genetic engineering to cultivate more robust plants. We’ve used plants for our own ends. We’ve grown plants in order to further our own evolution. We smoke and ingest plants (and fungi) to plug into a broader and deeper form of consciousness. 


If local fields of consciousness are interconnected with larger fields, this frame of consciousness is likely to be an “integral” level (perhaps similarly to how Jean Gebser’s fifth structure of human consciousness is integral). At integral levels, the “whole” is more or less indistinguishable from “parts,” and therefore notions of right versus wrong, or conflict as we conceive of it, doesn’t really exist. I like to think that higher level consciousness is concerned primarily with beauty, and stewardship. We seem to be similarly concerned, when at our best. I like to imagine our human energy blooming from time to time, like spring flowers, when we are living our most healthy and authentic expression, perhaps thanks to the nourishment of our gardeners. Perhaps meditation is the state in which we are most likely to be in bloom. 


Just like we employ tools from the same substance we are made of (elemental minerals), higher level consciousness would perceive and interact with the environment purely through field effects. Our consciousness is probably not directly accessible to these fields, just like plant consciousness is not directly accessible by us. Rather, the outward manifestation of our energy, which is affected by our consciousness, is what is accessible. But consider that perhaps these fields are the primary mechanism for what we call “reincarnation” of the human soul, in that they might help maintain, and somehow transmit, the signature vibrations of a human consciousness after the body perishes.  


Can we affect the field? Like plants can sometimes hurt us, or poison us, or a venus fly trap can sometimes trap an unwary fly, our own energy systems surely impact and interact with the field. It would seem that earlier peoples were able to sense energetic lines and currents, and the remnants of ancient stone circles, pyramids, medicine wheels, and the like, attest to this. The “siddhi” powers of Indian holy masters may be a result of their ability to sense and interact with the field.


Is the energy field the ultimate level of consciousness? Perhaps, although "ultimate" consciousness would exist at the speed of light, at which point time collapses entirely, and nothing progresses or evolves further. This represents a frame of consciousness at the level of David Bohm's implicate order, or the Vedic unmanifest, or what Kastrup calls “Mind at Large.”


Could higher level consciousness as I’ve described it here in fact be a product of our own creation (i.e., a product of electronic or digital processes)? Some thinkers, as exemplified in this essay by Peter Diamandis, believe that artificial intelligence, perhaps combined with our organic consciousness, will drive the next step in evolution at a massively accelerated rate compared to prior evolutionary steps. Surely a quantum computer could operate at unimaginable speeds, and could thus exhibit a higher-than-human frame rate of intelligent processing. However, as Kastrup has argued pointedly in this essay and others, intelligent processing isn’t consciousness, and individual “consciousness” can be a product of nothing other than organic metabolism. And even if digitally-enhanced consciousness is a lot faster than normal human consciousness, it wouldn’t rise to the level I’ve described in this essay.


It is my hope that the ideas presented here provide the basis for a faith, in a semi-concrete image, that we are being cared for as we evolve together with the rest of the Universe. Jai Guru Dev.



John Hoelle is a student of vedic wisdom teacher Yashoda Devi Ma, and is a founding member of devotional band Bhakti Explosion. He studied cinema production at the University of Southern California in the mid 1990s, at a time when “motion pictures” were still created using chemical film strips. He is co-founder of Conscious Family Law & Mediation, a law firm dedicated to helping families use legal transitions as an opportunity for inner transformation.



Thursday, March 11, 2021

DJ Holy John’s Playlists Playlist

John’s playlist of playlists follows this entertaining memoir.


Visit holyjohn.substack.com for updates since 2022, and a more updated feel.


I remember my dad coming into my room—I had just turned on my stereo, probably to crank some Metallica so I could focus on my sophomore trig homework—and telling me I was “addicted” to music. 


Huh?


“You can be addicted to anything,” he said.


Dad was a psychologist, and he was only sort of kidding. 


I do occasionally turn off the music while I’m driving, so I can enjoy the quiet, but other than that I have never tried much to kick the habit. Mostly, when my significant others have wanted silence in the house, or even different music than I just turned on, it has only made me inwardly grumpy. I used to (and sort of still) take it as an affront if people don’t like my music. As if because they don’t like my taste, they don’t like me. Wait, maybe that’s kind of true. No wonder it gets under my skin ;)


My first music curation projects started in 1983, at age 8, after I realized the new boombox Santa brought me could record the airwaves directly onto a cassette tape! I felt like a pirate, surprised how easy it was to steal a song I loved, without having to pay for it. Sure, the DJ talked over the intro, and the outro was always cut, and I often only nabbed part of the song if I had just switched to the station, but I made tape after tape of songs that were awesome. Casey Casem’s countdown was a weekly ritual, and served up the best of the era. Billy Joel, George Harrison, Glen Frye, the English Beat, Sunglasses at Night… I often didn’t know the artist or the song name. 


I loved those tapes. I gave each one a creative name, like Midnight Crime or Dance Craze. 

  

My initial embrace of top-40 expanded into vast territory over the years. I inherited an original Walkman prototype from my mom, and around age 10 I used it to listen over and over to the Beach Boys greatest hits as my parents and I cruised around the western US and Canada on a 3-week road trip. I discovered the Kinks through a random purchase from a coffee shop display case. Exposed to musical theater in junior high, I sidestepped for a bit into showtunes (Camelot, Give My Regards to Broadway, Cats, etc). I also absorbed the easy listening, smooth jazz that my dad played on the radio. My dad, who studied music at a conservatory, composed, and had played with New York jazz groups, liked music that I slowly grew to detest. Sorry, Dad. But, then, you never sugar-coated your distaste for my music either. (I’ll never forget how you almost pulled the Violent Femmes tape out of my boombox to destroy it. Ha!) But Dad and I did bond over the prog-rock band Yes in the early 90s, and later over weird-jazz pioneer Stan Kenton. I really treasured these shared tastes with him. And now it tickles me when my son and I share a fondness for Green Day.


As I prepared to enter high school, it suddenly occurred to me that the music I had been listening to was not cool enough. I became determined, if a little scared, to find the hard rock station. Did kids really get into satan or hurt themselves because of heavy metal? I immediately heard Alice Cooper’s Poison, and liked it. This kickstarted my era of AC/DC, Iron Maiden, and a bunch of hair bands that of course I’m a bit embarrassed about: Motley Crue, Slaughter, Warrant, Poison, Winger, Cinderella. At least my first live concert was kind of cool: Damn Yankees opening for Bad Company. Well, Ted Nugent is kind of an asshole, so maybe this isn’t so cool. But “Feel Like Making Love” is a total classic, and I’m proud to be the one that suggested our band mash up that song and make it sacred, Bhakti Explosion-style!


At 16, a kid I respected loaned me Nirvana’s Nevermind. The world didn’t immediately change, but it definitely rang in a new era: I started really enjoying getting exposed to all kinds of obscure music, and I wanted to befriend the kids who liked this interesting and non-mainstream music. This music wasn’t being played on the radio, but it was broadcast loudly on the amazing t-shirts of the kids in the art classes and theater department. I even covertly checked out Black Flag, the Misfits, and other bands displayed by the goths to whom I gave lots of distance in real life.


The kid who joined me for the Bad Company show mocked my appreciation for the grunge bands I was coming to love. I’m not friends with him any more. On the other hand, the kid who introduced me to Ned’s Atomic Dustbin, Primus, and some other awesome bands is still one of my best friends, and he and I made some cool, unreleased music in later years.


In college, I got exposed to DC and California punk rock, and I was invited to sing for a ska band without even really knowing yet what ska was and how awesome of a vibe it was.


After college, I started my own band to explore, in a participatory way, my a newfound love for indie rock like Guided by Voices, Sukpatch, and Neutral Milk Hotel, and Quasi.


While living in Wellington, New Zealand for the better part a year, I totally soaked in the dub and reggae that permeates that town.


At 28, I discovered Burning Man and the power of electronic music. By the time I was DJing at Black Rock City a few years later, my sets either blended progressive house, breaks, and Bassnectar, or tasty, rare, classic funk.


These days, my car radio bounces around between indie stations, the jazz station,  modern rock, and the pop music station (not JUST because my kids choose that one a lot, but that’s a big reason).


As couldn’t be more obvious by now, music is a huge part of my life. Yes, you might even say I’m addicted. Oh well. I am constantly on the hunt for the latest and greatest sounds, and I love creating Spotify playlists each season with my favorite new music. I get excited about the next season’s list the day after I post the current one. With 70+ public playlists at current count, my Spotify profile is a bit like a museum, with dozens of genres and groupings.


And I sort of feel like the odd museum curator, who loves digging into the minutiae, and wonders if people think he’s a little weird. Like, even the other music lovers can’t possibly love the variety of stuff that he does.


Like, my first wife called me “Random Boy” with respect to my music tastes.


I’m a little surprised I didn’t veer at some point into becoming music director for a college-based radio station. (I did work in the studio for LA-based "tastemaker" station KCRW for a year, and would have stayed there if it weren't for the move to Colorado for law school.)


And who knows? Maybe my playlist curation will be increasingly meaningful to people (I know you're out there) who share my tastes. I have started getting some recognition for my curations. One of my popular playlists has 450+ followers, and a few years back a radio DJ asked permission to spin my offbeat Christmas playlist on air.


While it feels super good to be sharing the musical love with others who are appreciative, I’m now also realizing another huge potential benefit of putting out these playlists: other music geeks like me, who have grokked my tastes, can recommend even more music that I’m going to love!


Wow. I do sort of sound like an addict. Maybe this is a cry for help ;)


I keep wishing Spotify will make it easier to navigate what I curate there. Until then, I’m going to host this blog page as a place to browse my collections and learn more about them. And if you’ve been listening to my playlists for any amount of time, and know about a new track you think I might like, let me know by making a comment! 


Digital self-portrait courtesy of me, copyright 2004-ish.





DJ Holy John’s Playlists Playlist


"Save" or "Follow" any playlist so that it appears in your playlist library. Spotify is free, if you are willing to tolerate some ads. (If you notice a bad link, please make a comment to this post so I can fix it.)

 

GENRE and THEMATIC PLAYLISTS

Music sorted by genre or theme, often meant to be a "shuffle play" format versus an intentional listening order. These lists are ever-expanding, as I add the tracks from my seasonal playlists to these categorized playlists.



As in, if I could only take an iPod with 10 songs, these are it.



☆ Mystic Man Robert Plant ~ DJ😇

Part Englishman and part Romani gypsy, Robert Plant brings mystical depth and bluesy artfulness, while simultaneously embodying "rock god" as Zeppelin's former frontman. His solo work and later collaborations underscore his legacy. 




☆ 80s sexy like I like it  ~ DJ😇

While I've never been a big fan of "80s" aesthetics, I did grow up loving some of the music that emerged during this weird decade, and my favorite stuff are the sexy sounds. What else should be added here?




☆ Best Yes ~ DJ😇

In 1991 I was 16 and my dad and I went to a concert on the Yes Union tour. This band was the one major crossover in our tastes. Dad was a conservatory-trained composer and jazz player, and mostly he listened to smooth jazz, but he liked how, on every listen, he could hear different things going on in Yes’s unique brand of prog rock. For my part, I loved the epic, cosmic sounds and oddly sacred lyrics, and the groove of the 70s-era stuff. And Roger Dean’s cover paintings inspired me singularly as a young artist. I copied them in my own paintings and made derivative works. 


So here’s a 3.5 hour playlist of my absolute favorite material by this seminal band. Note: Owner of a Lonely Heart is a fine song, but I also don’t necessarily ever need to hear it again. These songs, on the other hand, I can listen to over and over. 





Not just "breakup songs," but equal parts upbeat, inspiring, reflective, humorous, and with a hint or two of indulgent melancholy. Music has the power to move energy and heal. Send me a track that's helped you recover or move through your own relationship transition!




In 1998, I was introduced to Guided by Voices by my friend Brandon. As the name implies, their songs seem essentially channeled, which would help account for the fact that they’ve released 35 albums. According to Wikipedia, frontman Robert Pollard has more than 2,400 songs registered to his name with BMI. While the only minor hit I’m aware of is 1994’s “I Am a Scientist,” the frequency of their studio releases has only picked up in recent years.
 
Overall, their material vacillates between inspired art rock and unlistenable, drunken chants. Early albums were recorded on four-track-cassette, the epitome of “lo-fi.” I find it hard to listen to their albums straight through.

So this year I took on the serious endeavor to catch up on their numerous releases, and make a playlist of their best material. If you’re a GbV fan, I hope you are as elated as I am to have this compilation of 7+ hours of quality output spanning more than a few decades, and let me know if you think there are some tracks that belong here. And if you’ve never heard of this band, I offer this up as a good way to dive in. I recommend Shuffle play, although I stacked some of my favorite material at the top. Enjoy.


Crunchy, screamy metal from the 80s and 90s. In high school I got into hard rock and heavy metal, in part because I thought it would make me cooler. But, no surprise, turns out my teenage testosterone self enjoyed this stuff. Blasting it from my boombox helped me focus and get through math homework.

Anyway, my son started listening to punk rock and AC/DC, and playing the drums, and I recently played him Metallica’s Enter Sandman. No surprise, he loved it. He asked me to make him a playlist of my favorite old stuff. So here it is, buddy! (Update: he loves it!)


Psychedelic Hard Rock ~ DJ😇

Starting college in 1993, I bid farewell to heavy metal and got more into this kind of stuff. Since my son liked my ole fashioned metal playlist, I made him this one, and he digs it too. Dad home run.


Synthwave and chillwave are electronic music microgenres loosely emulating 1980s electropop. The former is more associated with action and science-fiction, and the latter with dreamy nostalgia. My friend Ryan added the Magic Sword track. I can't help but paste Magic Sword's bio here, because it's so awesome:
In the beginning there was light… and darkness. A creation of perfect balance. As time passed, evil spread over the land like a plague, slowly consuming everything in its path. In the final moments before light was lost to the shadow for all time, a weapon of infinite power was created, the Magic Sword. Thus, restoring balance to the universe. The genesis of things are often small. As the single seed grows to a mighty oak, so too did the path of the Keeper begin as a single choice in an age long past. Once a humble king, he was manipulated into unleashing the Dark One. All of reality was torn asunder as the Lord of Shadow was released from their ancient prison, having been bound by the power of the the Magic Sword. From that day forth, the King was cursed to be the eternal Keeper of this powerful key. He has been compelled for millennia to find the Chosen One who will unleash the true power of the weapon and won't rest until the grand design is complete with the Darkness bound once again. The Keeper of the Magic Sword searches endlessly for the Chosen One. This prophesied being contains the ability to wield the power of the Magic Sword and seal the prison that holds Dark One for all eternity. Until the chosen one is revealed, search continues in this realm and many others throughout all of time and space. In what form will the Magic Sword manifest? Who is the Chosen One? Answers will reveal themselves as the need arises. A tale of high adventure as old as time itself.



Wonderful World of Ween ~ DJ😇

I was introduced to Ween decades ago by someone who knew I liked the supposedly similarly cerebral and wacky They Might Be Giants. Well, compared to the affable and nerdy TMBG, this new band turned out to be a bunch of seriously outlandish tweakers. But over the years, they kept putting out more and more musically interesting stuff, completely ignoring any genre limitations. And seeing them live was totally transporting. The creativity here, and the boundary-pushing, is inspiring to me.

If you’re a music lover and can get past some edgy, potentially offensive (or maybe just stupid) lyrical content about sex, drugs, and food, I trust you’ll find something to like about Ween. This playlist attempts to curate the best of their material over numerous albums. I hope you enjoy the Wonderful World of Ween.



☆ Music Kids Like That Parents Don’t Hate ~ DJ😇

You’re welcome parents.



☆ The Jazzy Lounge ~ DJ😇

Listening to Christmas classics and jazzy holiday music for the last few months inspired me to create a playlist of non-holiday jazzy lounge music that I can spin all year round. Great to work to!



🕉 Bhakti Get Down (upbeat yoga and kirtan dance music) 🕉

Bhakti-infused EDM playlist.



☆ Downtempo Deluxe ~ DJ😇



☆ Sexy Electric ~ DJ😇



☆ Far Out Fuzz+Shoegaze ~ DJ😇  and friends

Thanks to Rolf, Ryan, and other friends who suggested some great adds.



☆ Primo Punk ~ DJ😇

Wikipedia defines punk rock (generally) as short, fast-paced songs with hard-edged melodies and singing styles, stripped-down instrumentation, and often anti-establishment lyrics. Throughout high school and college I fed on a steady diet of this music, and loved it.

This playlist is a long time coming: a stroll through what I consider the golden age of punk as I absorbed it in the 1980s and 1990s (with a few more contemporary additions that lit me back up to this music). The subgenres here include melodic hardcore, skate punk, ska-punk, DC hardcore, post-punk, and more.

If you’ve never really given punk rock a try, maybe this playlist of “primo” punk will hook you. If you’re a punk fan, I hope you find some gems here that you didn’t already have in your file.


☆ Divine ElectroPop+Chill ~ DJ😇

A blend of my favorite EDM, glo-fi, indie pop, mid-tempo, et cetera...




☆ Only If It's Got SOUL ~ DJ😇

An eclectic blend of soul, roots, revival music, et cetera.



☆ Phat Funk ~ DJ😇



☆ Righteous Indie Rock ~ DJ😇



☆ New Wave Disco ~ DJ😇



☆ Classiest Classic Rock ~ DJ😇



☆ File Under: Roots + Branches ~ DJ😇

Hip hop, soulful beats, etc. A hard playlist to describe. It represents the evolution from early jazz and soul to contemporary remixing.



☆ Elevated EDM ~ DJ😇



☆ Sweetest GloFi ~ DJ😇



☆ Easy Tempo IndiePop ~ DJ😇



☆ Tasty Ska ~ DJ😇

In 1994, I met some college classmates from the east coast who introduced me to ska. I became an instant fan of this upbeat, danceable music, and joined a band they were forming as the lead singer. We called our group “One Legged Bob,” and maybe with a little more effort and the right connections, we might have ridden the wave that was just forming in the early 90s, and that was about to catch up other California acts like No Doubt, Reel Big Fish, and the Aquabats. I’m excited to add a couple of our old tracks to this list of some of my favorite ska tunes!



🤓 Quirk+Nerd Rock (part 1 of 3) ~ DJ😇

This playlist (and the two that follow) has been germinating over at my house for a minute: an anthology of seminal quirky and nerdy rock. Many of these songs come from early, influential releases by artists who may have gone on to wide acclaim, but not because they were pandering to mainstream (i.e., non-weird) sensibilities.

Part 1 might be categorized variously as Heady Prog Punk, Lo-Fi Highbrow, Goofy Weirdo, Academic Dreamy Dorky, and includes my personal favorite tracks from well-known acts like Weezer, Eels, They Might Be Giants, Ween, and Cake, alongside choice cuts by lesser-known pioneers like Vampire Weekend, Sukpatch, and the Unicorns.

A lot of this music influenced the output of my own band, Pro Audio. Our song, FU Robot, was the unsuspected hit off our second record. Written by Brianna Dellinger, her voice and unique nerd chic songwriting took our fans by surprise, and they loved it. Her song is a warning about making sure you don't let your robot servants get too uppity! People wanted a lot more of Bri than of either me or our other frontman Jason Fischer Fischer. Maybe if we had made her the frontwoman early on Pro Audio would be a household name.😀 
What are you waiting for? Share this with your nerd friends!


🤓 Quirk+Nerd Rock (part 2 of 3) ~ DJ😇

The second of my three playlists of seminal quirky and nerdy rock, this set traverses different kinds of geeky rock: fromJokey, to Sardonic Satire, to Surreal Tweaker, to Robo Spacey.

Here is some of my favorite early material from well-known artists like Beck, Primus, Ben Folds, Modest Mouse, and the Flaming Lips, as well as from a bunch of bands you’ve probably never heard of like Snmnmnm, the Bogmen, Don Knotts Overdrive, and Arlo. (Arlo are some old friends of mine, who played at Mr T’s Bowl in Highland Park with my band Pro Audio on numerous occasions, and later got onto Sub Pop records.)

Pro Audio’s We Were Uncool was inspired by nostalgia for an irreverent suburban childhood full of drawing robots and messing around with early personal computers and online "BBS" bulletin board systems where geeks had cool handles like Mastermind and Xenon.


🤓 Quirk+Nerd Rock (part 3 of 3) ~ DJ😇

The third (and final) of my seminal quirky and nerdy rock playlists explores these three general, geeky subgenres:
*Wacky* (from standbys Aquabats and the Minutemen as well as relative unknowns like Vulfpeck and good friends Cat Hair Ensemble);
*Avant Garde* (e.g., the weirdness of early MGMT, Pixies, and Sebadoh, along with lesser-knowns like Kleenex Girl Wonder, Western States Motel and Sunbears!); and
*Far Out Fantastical* (mostly the prominent Elephant 6 collective members Apples in Stereo, Elf Power, and Neutral Milk Hotel with their psychedelic weirdness, alongside more obscure Magic Castles and Electric Guest).

I should note here that my band Pro Audio is the only group featured in more than one (actually all 3) of these playlists. But this is completely and totally acceptable, if you were to ask me, for the following reason: each featured Pro Audio track was written by and sung by a different member of the band. So it’s really different-sounding material on each playlist, and all are 100% nerd rock!
I hope you enjoy the weirdness! 🤓


☆ Solid Dub+Reggae ~ DJ😇

If I could only have one genre with me on a desert island, there's NO QUESTION it would be reggae.



☆ Phantasmic Folk Rock ~ DJ😇



☆ Best of Fruit Bats  ~ DJ😇

I've been in love with the quirky folk rock of Fruit Bats since the early 2000s. Mostly the creative output of songwriter Eric D Johnson, the material has been pouring out like crazy recently. Here's a rich sampler of some of sublime tracks I've been rocking to over the years. You won't regret giving this playlist a spin.



☆ Top 311 ~ DJ😇

Sometimes I feel like 311 is a guilty pleasure, but their best work has undeniable positive vibes and great groove.



☆ Motown and friends ~ DJ😇



☆ World Wide ~ DJ😇

World music from all over!



☆ The Great Kinks Compilation ~ DJ😇

Growing up I was frequently on long road trips with my parents, and as an only-child, my best company on these journeys were the music-makers singing to me through the headphones of my Walkman. Too young to prowl record stores, I mostly bought cassette tapes at gas stations. For a time my favorite group was the Beach Boys. But then, in a hotel gift shop in Arizona, I discovered a band that I developed an immediate and long-term fondness for: The Kinks.

Van Halen’s “Jump” was my first favorite song. But the Kinks became, for many years, my favorite band.

The discovery actually occurred via a compilation of 80s hits (ironically released well before the decade of 80s were over), which included the song “Come Dancing.” Some time later in the same hotel I ran across the 1984 album Word of Mouth. I was mesmerized by the innovative sound and smart lyrics. Next was a live album called One for the Road.

I loved this 80s-era material, and it wasn’t until years later that my friend Joanna introduced me to some of their more influential, earlier work from the 60s and 70s, which felt like discovering a whole new face of my favorite band. I would probably place Ray Davies immediately behind Paul Simon and Lennon/McCartney on my list of best pop and rock songwriters.

The Kinks catalogue is staggering -- there are still albums that I haven’t spent time with. But I do claim to have a sense of some of their strongest material.

If you are interested in checking out this seminal group, I not-so-humbly offer my Great Kinks Compilation playlist as a beginning.

If you are a Kinks fan, give this a play and let me know if there’s any tracks I’ve neglected to include on this sampler.


☆ Beatles Best Work ~ DJ😇



☆ Paul Simon Top Picks ~ DJ😇

A long time coming, here's a playlist of some of my all time favorite Paul Simon material. I consider Simon to be the best American songwriter, and maybe a contender for best songwriter, period. I have sung his songs to my kids every night since they were born. I do replace numerous references to cigarettes (I say "silly things" instead, sorry Paul), and I sometimes wonder if the themes in the songs are a little too adult, but I started listening to this stuff in grade school and I turned out okay.
It's actually pretty funny to remember listening to Simon and Garfunkle for hours on end while playing Nintendo games. I wouldn't trade those hours for anything else.

If you haven't spent hours listening to Paul Simon, perhaps this playlist is a good first stop. Hope you enjoy!


☆ Sexy & Sacred ~ DJ😇



🕉 Love Love Ram Ram - Best of David Newman (Durga Das) 🕉



🕉 Mantra Magic (all star kirtan) 🕉



🕉 Bhakti Bedtime (peaceful yoga and kirtan chants and mantras) 🕉

Putting kids to bed worldwide with these gentle, sacred tunes and chants.



🕉 Bhakti Lounge (downtempo + chill out yoga and kirtan music) 🕉



🕉 Bhakti Rock (upbeat yoga and kirtan music) 🕉

Bhakti is the yoga of devotion. Western artists are infusing Indian devotional kirtan (lovingly calling in the names of divine energies) with a rock 'n' roll aesthetic that is moving bodies and souls worldwide.


☆ The New Americana ~ DJ😇

Pushing the boundaries of folk and country rock, blending it with new age, and 100% American. 


☆ Serious Lounge ~ DJ😇





☆ Some Decent Hits of 90s Alt Rock ~ DJ😇

I came of age loving this stuff, so I made this playlist. But I can't say I spin this one a lot.



☆ Grr... unge ~ DJ😇

See comments to previous list.


☆ Yay R.E.M. ~ DJ😇

Some hits, some deep cuts, and some demos. Making this one has me falling in love with these musicians again.


☆ Classic Green Day ~ DJ😇

My son's favorite band (as of age 12). I'm happy to key him in to their early masterpieces.



☆ Operation Best BritPop ~ DJ😇

Great stuff from the UK.


☆ BritPop Hits ~ DJ😇

"Hits" from the UK.


i ❤️ AC⚡️DC (70s-80s deep album cuts) ~ DJ😇

I first encountered AC/DC when I bought a pin with their logo in 2nd grade, at a school gift/trinket sale. I hadn’t even heard their music yet, but some of the other kids had creative ideas about the satanic references the name stood for. Later, in high school, I got into the band for real, and discovered these guys from Australia were, in fact, rather simply into: (1) Electricity, (2) Rock, and (3) Sex.

I was into those things too, although songs like “Let’s Get it Up” sort of flew over my head. Mostly, I just loved the hooks and licks.

A highlight of my high school years was getting sweat dripped on me by Angus Young at an arena concert, and then meeting the band backstage thanks to my friend who had connections in the concert promoter world. I also met “Pyro Pete” who was in charge of the bands exploding canons and fireworks. He had a few bad burn scars.

In memoriam of the death of Malcolm Young on Nov 18th last year (the rhythm guitarist and engine behind most of the band’s songs), I offer up this playlist is composed of my longtime favorite AC/DC tunes, which are actually all deep album cuts from the 70s and 80s, with at most a handful of radio plays among them.



🕉 Colorado Conscious Music 🕉

My meditation teacher, Yashoda Devi Ma, once remarked that while the ocean can be a space of profound healing, spiritual seekers classically travel to the mountains to attain enlightenment.

There is something special indeed about the rarified air in Colorado.

I had never heard of Boulder, Colorado before meeting Katie. We had both soaked up a lot of good vibes from the California ocean over the course of fifteen years, and she wasn't sure about moving back to her home town. But now, looking back after ten years, we can barely imagine having rooted down anywhere else but Colorado.

It seems a lot of other conscious musicians are getting magnetized here as well.

Seattle has been long-considered unique as a cohesive musical mecca (of alt-rock in particular). It's my belief that Boulder is the musical center of a blossoming sacred and conscious music scene, with impacts rippling out across the globe. Say what you will about the cultural bubble of Boulder. I personally am inspired by the unique cross-pollination of cultures here: the spiritual neo-hippies and outdoor adventure lovers infect the high-tech entrepreneurs, and vice-versa. The folks building Google's new products are singing mantra and blissing out.

I believe something magical is brewing here in the mountains. And it's not just the world-class craft beer.

The magic that's brewing in Colorado is a special brand of "conscious music." Conscious music elevates our consciousness. It wakes us up, lifts us, and hearkens to sacred activism, acts of love, connection to nature, spiritual evolution, mindfulness, self-actualization. It may challenge us, or its beauty may simply bring us joy.

Why would you listen to -- or sing along with -- anything else?

Colorado-brewed conscious music has a certain flavor from the land and history here. The mountains and the rivers infect the musicians with a certain vibration. I could try and say more, but music is so much more than what can be said about it.

Please enjoy this is Spotify sampler of high-vibration artists who call Colorado home.


★ Whole Lotta Love songs ~ DJ😇

The best covers and versions of LZ's Whole Lotta Love.


Updated each year with the best newly-released, quirky and/or lovely Christmas music, along with long-standing favorites, so you have a few straight hours of groovy holiday tunes to jive to while decorating the tree or navigating the online shopping.

Updated each year for your wacky spooky dance party vibes.



☆ Soul Tango - John and Katie's wedding playlist

Our favorite songs as of 2008 intertwined, and the tango song we danced to.


My source music for spinning world and funky music. (Scroll to bottom of this blog for links to my blended DJ mixes at mixcloud.com)


My source music for spinning funky and breakbeat dance music. (Scroll to bottom of this blog for links to my blended DJ mixes at mixcloud.com)


My source music for spinning ethereal electronic dance music. (Scroll to bottom of this blog for links to my blended DJ mixes at mixcloud.com)


SEASONAL NEW MUSIC RADIO

Each season, I curate the best of the new music I've discovered, in a variety of genres, creating a radio show that hopefully unfolds as an enjoyable listening experience, and a place for my followers to pan for some gold after I’ve already done the first sift.



🎶 2022 Fall Magic ~ DJ😇

I realized two things while assembling my seasonal new music playlist:

1. I’ve always wanted to be a radio DJ (I assisted several of the DJs at the “tastemaker” Los Angeles station KCRW years ago) and these playlists are essentially my quarterly broadcast of the classiest new releases to cross my path. So I’ve gone ahead and renamed it my “New Music Radio.”

2. My tastes are broad, and an actual 2-hour radio show based on a playlist like this might frustrate even fans of the long-running KCRW show that incorporates “eclectic” in its name. But the benefit of a playlist is that, if you don’t like a particular track or genre, you can just skip forward! I hope my followers give a listen, and pan for some gold, after I’ve already done this first sift.


Feels like fall actually started to roll in with some rainy days as school started back up here in Boulder, Colorado. We even saw a yellowing leaf yesterday. May this playlist accompany your journey to Black Rock City, or back to school shopping, or whatever you’re up to for Labor Day.



🎶 2022 Sweet Summer ~ DJ😇

Summer break snuck up on me this year. (Today was the last day of school for my kids.) It didn't help that we had 6 inches of snow last weekend here in Boulder...

Anyway, I hope this carefully curated playlist of the sweetest new releases that have crossed my path brightens up your Memorial Day Weekend, and the rest of the summer! 🌅⛱




🎶2022 Spring Loaded ~ DJ😇
For your Spring Break road trip or spring cleaning or just hanging out, here’s my latest seasonal batch of the new tunes that are keeping the stereo busy over here.

Notes and a few highlights for this Spring’s Loaded:

–Sorry if “Happiness Station” is just too uplifting for you. As I’ve said in the past, as a DJ I’m mostly looking to music to raise the spirits. Although playing bass on Katie’s recent tunes has almost forced a broadened appreciation for the beauty of the heartbreaking stuff. So who knows, we may have an arc here with more emotive stuff making it on my playlists.

–I guess Yola is up for a grammy this year, which is just so awesome given that her music is filled with so much classic soul. This track (“Dancing Away in Tears”) could have been put out before I was born.

–Actually, a lot of tracks in the progressive house or trance family made it onto this playlist, which exhibits a certain flavor of expressive/emotive music. As long as it has some beat to it, I can face into my tender side!

--The reason this playlist is 2+ hours is mostly because of a 22min instrumental funk composition called “1am Funk Dance Party.” There’s a big part of me that would love to play in a band like this, just laying it down for people to get down.

–My own band has played Makaysha’s “Calling Down a Blessing” many times live. She’s been releasing her own stuff steadily over the past few years and I’m really pleased to hear how well this track got produced in the studio. Congrats Makaysha!

Wishing you all a lovely spring!


 ðŸŽ¶2021 Winter’s Journey ~ DJ😇

It’s good to be back 😄 I’m absolutely loving this season’s new music playlist. (Ok, I pretty much equally love all of them.)

When I was learning to be a DJ, someone in the dance community made the comment that being a good DJ is 10% skill and 90% taste. I gained adequate skill behind the decks (including the challenging ability to read the vibe of the crowd, take in what the people are wanting and digging, and then at times doing the hard move of overriding one’s own preferences as to what to play), but the curation side of the game has always been my passion. Obviously, I fancy myself as someone with good musical taste. Why else would I bother making these playlists each season and pushing them out on the internet like they are a gift to the world?

So, I hope some of you are excited for this batch of 112 minutes of new releases, and will find at least a few tunes that vibrate in your soul like they do in mine. Anyone who has listened to my seasonal playlists knows that there’s usually an arc of genres and moods, but with a firm emphasis on the uplifting. (As with most DJs, I embrace music as a form of celebration, and don’t tend to look there to access my more tender emotions. Emotive music is a form of medicine I view with distant respect, and anyway I’m only beginning to embrace the healing and liberating potential of letting the heart break open on a regular basis.)

So if you’re in the mood to celebrate while prepping the turkey, or in our case the Quorn meatless roast, give yourself permission to turn the volume up. And for goddesses’ sake listen in headphones or through some decent speakers.

Notes and a few Highlights on this Winter’s Journey:
  • Since the extended warm weather here in Colorado has made it feel like summer kind of just ended, I’m delighted by both the Beats Antique version of “Cruel Summer” and a tasty new tune called Summer’s Over.
  • Sting just slaying it constantly. Did you all catch the news that he wrote “the ultimate all-round song (according to science)?” Google that phrase.
  • SEB with a lovely song about going on a picnic.
  • Tipper has only gotten more musically sophisticated as his popularity has increased. He’s a good example of someone I tried to spin at a law school dance party circa 2009-2011, but my buddy James (my first pupil who went on to become a well-known DJ around here) persuaded me that underground glitch hop was just way too esoteric for this mainstream dance audience.
  • Twenty One Pilots - not a group I’d expect to include on a playlist, but they took some cues from Foster the People and I like this track.
  • Some local Colorado artists killing it right now:
    • Little Trips exhibiting a mature sweetness of sound & lyrics not too common in the indie world
    • Magic Beans with a tasty blend of 808 drum machines and funk.
Wishing you all a peaceful and healthy winter. 🌞




🎶 2021 Fall Magic ~ DJ😇

Highlights of this batch of my favorite new releases:

-- A provocative, Beatles-esque collaboration between ambient/synthwave maestro Tycho and the heartfelt frontman of Postal Service and Death Cab
-- Tiesto making a danceable version of an already uplifting Coldplay track
-- Elijah Ray live with Equanimous presenting a 17min loopers groove meditation

Enjoy this fall season and stay safe!



🎶 2021 Sweet Summer ~ DJ😇

 



🎶 2021 Spring Loaded  ~ DJ😇 

2.5 hours of the new tunes that have been making me super happy. Wait, a groovy dance remix of "Owner of a Lonely Heart?" Hell, Yes. And not one, but two Beach Boys covers. See my little memoir above for more about why these tracks would be especially important to me.
Having some nice speakers or earbuds that can give you some bass will be crucial for the Lenno and Pitch Black cuts. Happy Spring, friends!


🎶 2020 Winter Journey ~ DJ😇

The new music that’s been keeping us especially joyful over at the Holy house.
If you’re keeping it tight this holiday season, think of me giving you a big hug while you’re listening.


🎶 2020 Fall Magic ~ DJ😇

As Andrew Harvey- talks of it, those who can cultivate "birth eyes" and remain focused on the newness and supporting its growth, will be able to withstand the global tumult of these times.
Newly released music that is keeping the stereo busy at my house, in a variety of genres. May it inspire you, raise your spirits, and deepen your awareness.


🎶 2020 Sweet Summer ~ DJ😇

May this be a summer of evolution into a better future together, across cultures and races.



🎶 2019 Winter Journey ~ DJ😇

Songs the magical musical elves brought to my consciousness.


🎶 2019 Fall Magic ~ DJ😇

Fresh tunes whether you or your kids need some on the way back to school or you’d like some curated jams on the drive to Burning Man.


ANNUAL PLAYLISTS

All the music that captured my attention during the year. The best of the new releases go in my seasonal playlists.




DANCE MUSIC SETS

(Not Spotify, but rather my blended DJ set on Mixcloud.com.)


★ Rare Funk
★ The Sound of the Subsurface
★ World Heart Beat

★ High Voltage at Black Rock City
★ Dim the Lamps
★ Glitch City Anthems
★ Beat Sandwich
★ Calling the Tribes