The Fox is Black

  • OÍR - January 2024 Mixtape - The Fox Is Black


    Download the Mixtape →

    Happy New Year! I’m so excited it’s 2024. As a part of the new year, I’m starting to do some new things with the site and the newsletter, including more new content, collaborations, interviews, TikTok content, there’s a lot to come. The first thing excited to roll out is a new monthly mixtape series called OÍR, simply the Spanish verb for “to hear” or “to listen to”. The series will highlight the music I’m currently listening to, themes I’ve been thinking about, or songs that express my mood.

    This month’s mix is an ethereal collection of songs to help ease into the new year. It’s a great time to figure out some new goals, new projects, or what changes you want to make in your life, so why not have a mix that helps? The tracks here are from some of my favorite ambient musicians with a Japanese influence to everything. I even managed to throw on an old Atlas Sound track. Hopefully when you listen to this you’ll get a sense of calm and peace. And as a reminder, you can find all my current mixtapes in this Drive folder. I plan on uploading old mixtapes this month, stay tuned.


    Imaginary Softwoods — Destination Stone
    Masahiro Sugaya — Future Green
    Mark Pritchard — Beautiful People w/ Thom Yorke
    Kara-Lis Coverdale & LXV — Grigori in Jakarta
    The Kyoto Connection — Inoue
    David Edren & H.Takahashi — Ghost Count 木霊数え
    Masakatsu Takagi — Smell Up On The Moon
    Whatever The Weather — 10°C
    Visible Cloaks, Yoshio Ojima & Satsuki Shibano — Atelier
    Young Marco — Sacred Space
    Nosaj Thing — Condition w/ Toro y Moi
    Zander Raymond — Gap in the Breakwater
    Atlas Sound — Quark Part 2

  • One of the collaborations I did not see showing up this year is the recently announced collection from British clothing brand Folk and the iconic swim brand Speedo. The Cold Water Swimming collaboration features a wide range of pieces for both swimming (obviously) as well as staying warm before and after your icy plunge.

    Folk & Speedo - Cold Water Swimming Collaboration

    As Folk founder and Creative Director, Cathal McAteer, describes it:

    “Losing yourself in nature has always appealed to me – hiking up mountains, dancing in a field, floating in the sea – all big positive moments. So naturally we have admired and been part of the love for cold water swimming, these small groups & communities of people taking to the rivers, ponds, lakes & coast to get the elemental rush of being outdoors in the water wanting to introduce a lived-in sense of ease to the kit that people use, the aim was to make an excellent range of swim and warm-up gear. So we designed robes, fleeces, base layers, hoodies, hats etc plus partnered with swimming icon, Speedo, for performance quality swimwear. We have tackled the outer cold to help deliver the inner peace.”

    I love what they done with the patterns and colors for the collection. I think the combinations work so well because they contrast so nicely with the water and earth tones. The photoshoot does a great job of selling the idea of cold water swimming, I’m almost convinced it’s something I would do.

    Folk & Speedo - Cold Water Swimming Collaboration
    Folk & Speedo - Cold Water Swimming Collaboration
    Folk & Speedo - Cold Water Swimming Collaboration