This mix was inspired by the alignment happening in outer space. People who know about this kind of stuff call it the "Grand Cross." This month, the planets Jupiter, Uranus, and Pluto all lined up. I don't know what that means exactly, but it inspired this spacey disco mix. I pulled the turntables and mixer outside to record this one under the twinkling stars. All of it was unplanned and mixed by hand. Space is the place but unfortunately there's no Sun Ra on here–I couldn't find the record in time.    

StarMan

This mix was made on the Imbolc. That's the day when the pagan's of old celebrated the mid point between winter solstice and spring equinox. They knew the importance of throwing a good party, especially in the middle of winter when people are losing it from lack of vitamin-D and having to wear wool, fur, and animal skins all the time. Christians appropriated Imbolc then it morphed into what many people know as ground hog day. What does any of that have to do with discos burning down, Blondie, or dance music? Listen and find out. This hour long set was mixed live, on a pair of very old record players.   

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Fire In The Disco

This mix contains music I listened to while writing my latest book.  Without these songs it wouldn't exist. Set in Detroit, Houston, and  Los Angeles during the late 70s and early 80s, it is a story about a young boy's experience with love, adversity, wildness, and rebellion. Fringe culture are saving graces to the boy, so I chose particular songs that would help me immerse into the sonic landscape of his story. These were played repeatedly, or I listened to the same side of a certain record for hours while typing a specific section. Occasionally loops from a track were made–maybe taking a few bars of distortion and feedback and letting it play until what needed to be said was expressed. Some loops became re-edits on this mix, and twice I felt it necessary to compose whole songs in order to help me tell this story. Though it's not a soundtrack, I find listening to this does enhance my experience of reading the book. These sounds are atmospheric and experimental–from psychedelia to first wave art punk. As always, this mix was spun by hand on a pair of old turntables and recorded live from the mixer in a single take. You will hear the pops and crackles of vinyl records and the airy quality of lofi demos. The book is called In Wonder and Warpaint. It was beautifully illustrated by Stephanie Kellett. If you are interested in reading it, contact me. 

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In Wonder And Warpaint (read description)

Way out here in the mountains there is a fabulous vintage clothing store called Rambling Rose's Second Hand Treasures. The shopkeeper is the wonderful and fabulous Rosemary. I found the boots you see pictured in her shop. She wouldn't let me buy them. Instead of money she wanted a DJ mix. Her request was that it contain at least a little late 70s/early 80s synth wave art punk. This is the mutant mix our exchange inspired. As always, it was spun by hand on two turntables, recorded in stereo with all the crackles and pops, and offered in trade.

New Kinda Kick

Re-edit/extension/addition of one of my favorite dance tracks from 30 years ago.

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YAZ/Situation (HONEYPAW re-edit)

A live mix of hard rockin' disco love from my set at Shambhala Music Festival's Living Room Stage, Aug. 2016. It's abbreviated because Nightmares on Wax (who played before me) asked for an extension to his fabulous set. I couldn't refuse. What is missing from the mix is the spoken word piece delivered at the end by the one and only Samuel Stevenson.

Shambhala Set 2016

A synth heavy mix that spits fire at border walls and flies fast into the unknown. As always, this transmission was spun live, by hand, using record players and cdjs, in a cabin under the shadow of British Columbia's Valhalla Mountains.

Divination & Strategy - Broadcast No. 2

A soft and pillowy blend of new and used psychedelia. 

Bellbottom Tangerine

Ambient soundscape composed of field recordings of natural phenomena sampled in the Chilcotin wild. Analog synth impressions were later added in the studio. The resulting sound is designed to function as an under layer to support the visual artist, Stephanie Kellett's work.

Firestarter

In keeping with the season and the insanity of the times, Dance This Mess Around is on the darker side of dance music. It spans the territories of acid, deep house, new disco, Afro house, minimal and synth wave. As with all my mixes, it was recorded live, straight out of the DJ mixer using CDJs and record players. No sync buttons were used in the creation of this.

Dance This Mess Around (DJ Mix)

Mixed live on turntables, a sampler, and a pair of CDJs, this hand spun transmission of ritual ambient music is designed for traveling deep into the within.

Into the Within

A mix of some of the darker and harder tracks I played in my DJ transmissions during 2018. As always, this was done by hand on rickety turntables and old CDJs. No sync buttons or controllers used.

Blaack & White Mix

This Detroit born multi-media artist has inhabited the north for two decades, studying grizzly bears and throwing bush parties within the vastness of Alaska and British Columbia, Canada. 

He has performed at international electronic music festivals like Shambhala, Basscoast, and Burning Man, yet his favorite places to play are the most unorthodox–the dark basements, abandoned barns, pop up-galleries, and far out zones of deep wilderness autonomy.

Robert's DJ sets reflect his love for underground music and culture which can be traced back to the the first time he heard Iggy Pop's "The Idiot," as a little boy in the Motor City, circa 1977. The music he plays ranges through territories of techno, cold wave, synth, house, new wave, post-punk, lo-fi, and disco, but he is also well acquainted with arcane experimental sonic realms. 

For music production, he employs the use of analog & FM synthesizers, drum machines, and field recordings taken from his wilderness journeys to create experimental dance tracks as well as ambient pieces enveloped in smokey atmospheric layers of sound. 

Robert has released music on labels such as Emerald & Doreen, The Black Lodge, Ombra INTL., Divination & Strategy, Trevor's Haus, Dead Channel, Underground Pacific, and Sons of Traders (forthcoming). 

Aliases: Divination & Strategy, HONEYPAW, Exit Source, Sugar Bear

For bookings, communicate here or via email at: robertlivingood@gmail.com

Robert E. Livingood

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