Herb Sundays: 3 For Sunday
As Herb mixes are evergreen, here's three to visit/re-visit.
Taking a “bye week” so a good chance to share some mixes from season one for those just catching up. Herb Sundays mixes are geared to stand the test of time by design, so no expiration date. Thanks for listening.
If any Herb playlists move you, let me know and I’ll pass along the love.
- Sam
Herb Sundays playlist 03: Jocelyn Brown
🪴 "A cozy mix meant for spending weekends in. Pair with oolong and stir." Jocelyn Michelle Brown (Pensacola/Chicago) is a dear friend and one of the most dedicated (read: encyclopedic) and open-minded music heads I know. She works in music licensing and supervision which for those who don't know is the job where you get to help decide on music in TV/movies/commercials/etc. She's the founder of @realityclubgang - a music consultancy that does supervision, licensing, clearance and research services adding essential historical, cultural and critical context. Bonus: Jocelyn also works with the beloved @intlanthem label who you must follow for jazz and more. Art by @michaelcina.
Herb Sundays playlist 08: Carl Craig
🪐 A perfect soul playlist from the Techno expander. If you follow my posts you know “C2” looms large in my musical mind. From the first time I saw a Carl do a live PA in 97, to watching him play a Harry Bertoia sculpture at Cranbrook, to DJing alongside my friend Matthew Dear, it's always spot on and future forward. Carl is part of Detroit Techno’s “second wave” which built on the acheivements of the Belleville Three and has been responsible for pushing the psychology and innate style of Detroit Techno far beyond just music. His Party/After-Party show at DIA:Beacon is a powerful meditation on club/rave culture that prophetically launched on the eve of the pandemic and has won him huge acclaim. Craig is a Midwestern Modernist in the truest sense. His Planet E label has helped introduce the world to artists like Moodymann and Recloose, and his Detroit Electronic Music Festival (which lives on mightily in the form of Movement) was his ultimate love letter to the city. Craig productions are genres unto themselves, filmic and expansive, but never losing touch with the elemental soul. Carl shares a perfectly relaxed soul playlist that is gonna get rinsed all summer long. Art by Cina.
Herb Sundays playlist 09: Claire Rousay
🌱 San Antonio-based Claire Rousay is a rising voice in experimental music circles. Her compositions breathe noisily and throw off detritus like “voicemails, haptics, environmental recordings, stopwatches, whispers and conversations” which glint upon discovery, but never with judgement. Her 2021 breakout album, a softer focus, a collaboration with visual artist Dani Toral, is a fragile and colorful starting point to her work. The album combs the faraway beaches of ambient with a metal detector, pulling up fragments of the human experience. Rousay is a great on social media and her appreciation for powerdreck like Switchfoot made me realize she had the Herb Spirit. And so we embark on a playlist of country, outsider folk, and modern pop, in a concise and direct 10 cuts. Art by Cina.
Massively supportive of any Substack normalising “taking a week off.” Bravo.