Music For Insomniacs (The Playlist)
Music For Insomniacs (Episode 1 / 08.21.2025)
Seeing as how this here newsletter/blog/thingy has been least tangentially inspired by a college radio show that I did many, many moons ago, I thought maybe the next best thing to a radio show might be to share with you, from time to time, a curated playlist. (Will these original ideas never stop coming?) We could include the music, current and previous, that randomly appeals to my sensibilities, with maybe a little bit of commentary here and there to help guide the way (think of it in the deep baritone voiced back-sell of your late night DJ on the radio station of your choice - or something? - your mileage may vary).
Perhaps someday I will figure out how to put together a radio show on my own through modern technology and share that with you all here (how would that be for increasing levels of self-indulgence?).
Until then, a playlist from time to time could be fun.
The master playlist is included below from three different sources: Buy Music Club (with links to purchase any or all of the music included here via Bandcamp, should you desire to directly support any of these amazing artists) as well as Apple Music and Spotify. Hopefully one of these delivery systems will meet your fancy.
Enjoy and see you next time.
Martin
(Full track listing with comments are down below)
Details, details, details...
1) Our Air - Nathan Bowles Trio
From the LP Are Possible, released in July of 2025 on the Drag City label. Are Possible is the 2nd LP for this trio based in Durham, NC, right in my own back yard. Nathan Bowles (banjo/guitar), Casey Toll (double bass) and Rex McMurray (drums) create an easy rolling fusion of jazz, Appalachian folk and modern improvisational minimalism. This particular track features some groovy flute playing from one Skylar Gudaz.
2) Nocturnal Middle Rumbles - The Shadow Ring
If there were to be a competition to determine the house band of my mid-90s radio, The Shadow Ring would definitely be strong contenders. This UK duo and their droll, idiosyncratic anti-pop creations are perfect for late night considerations and reminiscing. This track comes from their 1994 album, Put The Music In Its Coffin on the Siltbreeze label.
3) African Blues - Amina Claudine Myers
Absolutely beautiful and subtly moving solo piano from NEA Jazz Master designee, the indomitable Ms. Amina Claudine Myers. From her new album, Solace of the Mind, released in June 2025 on the Red Hook label.
4) No More Kings - 700 Bliss
Collaboration from 2002 between the forward thinking duo of DJ Haram and Moor Mother, creating experimental rap with rolling percussion and poetic lyrical bravado. DJ Haram also recently released her first solo LP, Besides Myself, to much acclaim on HyperDub Records.
5) Go North - Sontag Shogun & Lau Nau
From the album Päiväkahvit, released on the Beacon Sound label in June 2025. The Canadian experimental ambient trio, Sontag Shogun, join up with Laura Naukkarinen (Lau Nau) a violinist/composer/performer from Finland for their 2nd collaborative LP. Acoustic guitar and electronic murmurs are centered by distant piano, as tape loops and found sounds linger..It all builds into a shimmering drone that feels like a soundtrack to overstimulated anxieties and lingering doubts.
6) Turn To Love - Parsnip
Groovy psychedelic dream pop from this Australian quartet, from their 2024 sophomore LP, Behold (Anti-Fade Records).
7) Hidden Place - Ekin Fil
Luscious lo-fi ambient experimental dreamscapes from Turkish composer Ekin Fil (Ekin Üzeltüzenci), featured on their 2023 album, Rosewood Untitled, released on the re:st label.
8) the abolition of art, the abolition of freedom, the abolition of you and me - Fred Moten / Brandon López / Gerald Cleaver
From the self titled debut album (2022, Reading Room) from this powerhouse trio - the inimitable poetry of Fred Moten combined with the wide ranging sonic palette of Brandon Lopez and Gerald Cleaver, two of the most dynamic and innovative collaborators in contemporary improvised music…a subtly combustible ensemble that bridges the worlds of jazz and spoken word in ways that recollect the works of Gil Scott Heron and Amiri Baraka, as well as the contemporary performances of Moor Mother and Irreversible Entanglements.
9) Folding Instructions - S.Hollis Mickey
Some very useful instructions. Haven’t tested to see how well it works. From the album, How To Fold a Fitted Sheet on Flag Day Recordings (2019)
(Note: Folding Instructions is not available on Apple or Spotify platforms)
10) Enfrente - Mabe Fratti
Over the last several years I’ve gone all in on Guatamalan cellist and vocalist Mabe Fratti. Her quirky experimental pop music transcends traditional genre tags, and she has collaborated with a wide variety of avant pop composers and musicians. I’ve yet to hear her take a misstep, even while constantly pushing her creative envelope. Enfrente is taken from her 2024 album Sentir Que No Sabe, released on Tin Angel Records. One of my top 5 releases of 2024.
11) Maggie na bhFlaitheas - lullahush
Lullahush (Daniel McIntyre) gives a contemporary electronic twist to traditional Irish folk music on his latest album, Ithaca (Future Classic, 2025).
12) The Evidence (LP version) - The Ex
The Ex formed in the Netherlands as part of the first wave of Dutch punk rock in the late 1970s. Over the last 45 years they have released over 20 albums ranging across genres - punk, no wave, post punk, world music, free jazz and freak folk. Their latest album is If Your Mirror Breaks, self released in April 2024, and its banging!
13) Machine Learning - danielfuzztone
Melodic ambient drone on the latest release from Orlando,FL’s Daniel Fuller, aka danielfuzztone. The new album is titled Negative Space (Illuminated Paths, 2025), and explores the spaces between, in music and in life. Forever seeking that perfect juxtaposition of drone, texture and melody.
14) Spangled - Fust
Hands down one of my favorite releases of 2025 so far is Big Ugly, the third album from Durham, NC’s Fust. Spangled is the opening track, first single and video from the new album. Its all strum and twang, fuzzed out guitars and whining pedal steel, sailing over Aaron Dowdy’s haunting ghost stories straight out of post-Faulknerian Southern Gothic. Maybe Barry Hannah fronting Drive-By-Truckers? Whatever, it’s sad its true and it’s beautiful. Crank it up!!
(I just realized that I began and ended this playlist with artists from Durham,NC - not at all on purpose or planned, but copacetic nonetheless.)
See you next time….