• OÍR / February 2024 — The Fox Is Black Mixtape


    Download the Mixtape →

    Love is a lot of things. Intoxicating, messy, nourishing, consuming, fleeting. And just like love, this mix is a lot things, and it really shouldn’t work, but I think it does. I set out to create a mixtape that contained a multitude of perspectives on love, coming at it from a number of different angles.

    It really started off with Crystal Castles classic “Not In Love” as Robert Smith’s vocals are incredible on it, and the way it builds at the end always gave me chills. From there I kept thinking of the Bee Gees’ “More Than A Woman” as well as Grace Jones, so then figuring out how I marry disco/post-disco together with Crystal Castles. I realized I needed to find a balance between with all the electronic and dance tracks, bring some breaths, some ups and downs, to give a sense of narrative. These parts are created through the instrumental tracks, Nick León’s “Love Potion” and “Puppet Talk,” a lil’ cutie from FlyLo, and ending with Carmen Villain’s epic 8 minute reprieve.

    I feel like I should add a quick disclaimer for when you get to the middle of the mix. Azealia Banks’ track “Fuck Him All Night” is absolutely filthy. I had to include it though because I’m obsessed with Galcher Lustwerk’s production on the track, it’s soooo good.


    Daft Punk – Something About Us (Cherokee Remix)
    oneboredjeu – Kiss Me More Than A Woman
    Grace Jones – Pull Up to the Bumper (Discomofo Remix)
    Nick León – Love Potion
    FKA Twigs – In Time
    Azealia Banks – Fuck Him All Night
    Perfume Genius – Jason (Planningtorock Remix)
    TDJ – I Drove All N8
    Andy Stott – New Romantic
    Flying Lotus – Puppet Talk
    Diplo – Into The Sun
    Crystal Castles – Not In Love (feat. Robert Smith)
    Carmen Villain – Only Love From Now On (feat. Joanna Scheie Orellana)

  • I love me a mix, especially when an artist truly does something unique and totally out-of-the-box. Enter DJ Python, who’s musical style has been described as “futuristic reggaeton” who comes out of nowhere with the most eclectic mix of 2024, and maybe, ever?! The range of this mix is unheard of. He describes it as “60-plus edited songs and unreleased stuff from friends and myself” but this literally spans nearly ever genre you can imagine. I can’t stop listening to this, and the ending, my god, it’s maybe one of the most magical things I’ve ever heard. I hope you enjoy it!

  • One of my favorite albums of 2023 came from Purelink, made up of Chicago musicians Akeem Asani, Tommy Paslaski, and Ben Paulson. Their album Signs was an instant classic in the world of ambient music, featuring the most luscious looping patterns, an album meant to be heard on repeat. Most recently they released an hour and a half long mix for Resident Advisor, which RA describes as “intricately textured downtempo, dub techno and even UK garage, all cut through with a floaty, almost drowsy quality, with plenty of exclusives and unreleased cuts from the likes of Nick León, James K, Downstairs J and more. It highlights Purelink’s position as a bridger of worlds, sounds and tempos.”

    Purelink - Ambient Music
  • The Fox Is Black's Top Tracks of 2023, A Mixtape

    Download the Mixtape →

    Honestly, 2023 was a fantastic year for music, a shockingly beautiful year that constantly surprised me. And I listen to music nonstop. It’s usually Apple Music, sometimes mixes on Soundcloud, or I tune into NTS when I’m feeling indecisive, and TikTok has been a valuable source for discovering new artists as well. Apple sent my end of year wrap report thingy, and on Music alone, I listened to 80,272 hours of music. That’s basically 56 days straight, which is so wild.

    So, I’ve compiled a mixtape containing some of my favorite tracks of the year, those songs that really stuck in my head, that I hum while I’m walking around the city. It was challenging narrowing this down but in the end I really love this mix, I feel like it’s one of the best I’ve made in a long time. There’s a really eclectic range to the tracks selected, I went all over the place for this one, which I think helps create a kind of musical journey. It’s a really joyful collection of songs, I think you’re really going to like it. By now I’ve listened to this mix a couple dozen times and I’m still not sick of it.


    YellowStraps — Slowdown (girl what’s up)
    Miksu / Macloud — Nachts wach
    Alice et moi — J’aime pas sortir
    Alex Sloane — Mine
    Barry Can’t Swim — Deadbeat Gospel
    Sampha — Dancing Circles
    Sofia Kourtesis — Habla Con Ella
    Troye Sivan — In My Room
    Jungle — Back on 74
    Natural Wonder Beauty Concept — Natural Wonder Beauty Concept
    Avalon Emerson — Hot Evening
    Eartheater — Pure Smile Snake Venom
    Oneohtrix Point Never — Krumville
    a.s.o — Love in the Darkness
    André 3000 — Ninety Three ‘Til Infinity and Beyonce
    Kelela — Enough for Love

  • 'Girly Pop' A Summer Mixtape by The Fox Is Black

    Download Girly Pop here →

    Because today is my birthday, I figured I’d be super cool and give you a little present. Back in the day, I used to make mixtapes pretty frequently, and I’ve been working hard on resurrecting this practice. All day I listen to a ton of music, always finding new artists and bands, so in theory this shouldn’t be hard for me to do. It’s like riding a bike again, yeah?

    Since we still have a couple more months of summer, I put together an hour long mix of pop hits, celebrating the pop girlies (and honorary girlies), with a bit of inspo from Barbie. As is the norm for any of my mixes it’s a pretty eclectic selection of tracks which I had a blast putting together. It’s not perfect, and maybe a little rough around the edges in spots, but that won’t matter when you’re driving with all your windows down blasting it.

    1. Isik Kural – Peaches
    2. Romy – Enjoy Your Life
    3. PinkPantheress & Ice Spice – Boy’s A Liar Pt. 2
    4. Charlie XCX – Speed Drive
    5. Shygirl feat. Tinashe – Heaven (Dante Edit)
    6. Kylie Minogue – Padam Padam
    7. Doss – Drugs
    8. Kim Petras & Nicki Minaj – Alone (AKA & BASSKILLERZ Remix)
    9. Troye Sivan – Rush
    10. Jacques Greene – Believe
    11. Kelela & Shygirl – Contact/Honey (Seth Lee Remix)
    12. Rosalía – Bizcochito (Never Dull Remix)
    13. Elkka feat. Jeigo – Body
    14. Peggy Gou – (It Goes Like) Nanana
    15. Jessy Lanza – Limbo
    16. Jayda G – Circle Back Around
    17. Seb Wildwood feat. Laraaji – Hear / Here

  • Let’s kick things off this week with a mix I’ve been enjoying lately. While looking for mixes by Roméo Poirier, a Brussels-based ambient artist, I inadvertently discovered pleasure gallery, a Bristol-based mix series and radio show. Now on their 4th season of mixes (really 12 episodes per season), Roméo actually kicked off the series with the mix below, an eclectic blend of found sounds and ambient din. I love working to Roméo’s music, and for me, mixes like these help me focus on my projects.

    Roméo Poirier Mix for pleasure gallery
  • Wow, Friday already! This week flew by for me, how was your week? Things were eventful, with the the sad passing of Sinead O’Connor, and aliens maybe exist for real now but and no one cares. Most non-reluctant folks are all saying, “will the aliens solve the housing crisis or dissolve student loans?” Prolly not, sadly. Next week I’m headed off to San Sebastián for a month with the fam and our friend Kate. Very excited to see what the north coast is like (definitely going to be much cooler), make a quick stop into France, visit Bilbao, see some museums, lay on some beaches. I can’t wait.


    Things To Read

    “We Deserve to Have Fun”: The Women Going All Out for Barbie
    Lots of stories around Barbie though this one has been my favorite. Author Tess Garcia shares how we can be both fully aware of the tough shit we’re all going through and how value it is to enjoy your life at the same time.

    The excellent Arc browser is now available for anyone to download
    I switched over to Arc for my desktop browser and I love it. They’ve made so many interesting refinements, quicker ways to organize your browser, and they make lots of incremental quality-of-life updates.

    Why Patrick Bringley Left His Job at the ‘New Yorker’ To Become a Museum Guard
    I love this story because Patrick did what many of us want to do. Quit having “careers” and focus on doing the one thing you love. One day!

    How Long Gone Ep. 518 with Geoff McFetridge
    The HLG boys chat with Geoff McFetridge, dishing about Carlyle room service, raising a horse girl, growing up on Canada’s Oregon Trail, back in the day when computers took all day to export a jpg, cheaper can sometimes be better, making the title sequence for Sofia Coppola’s Virgin Suicides, being a ski bunny, how he uses Instagram now vs. then, when brands stopped hiring artists and started “wanting to collab” with them, and why Greta doing Barbie is a good thing.



    Things To Hear

    Love Hallucination by Jessy Lanza
    Jessy’s album Love Hallucination is described as her “trust fall” as she embraces newfound confidence and personal authenticity after moving from the Bay Area to Los Angeles. The album showcases an evolved sound, with club-ready songs and downbeat, sultry works, exploring the depths of love while highlighting self-assuredness and trusting one’s instincts.

    Headlock by MoMa Ready
    MoMa Ready is not joking this year! This is his third release this year and the man keeps putting out consistently puts out hits. Headlock is no different, in fact, I had it on many times today and kept wanting to hear it on repeat. In his own words: PUTTING THE GAME INA CHOKEHOLD. Music for smoking dj’s and clubs. Use with caution. Not to be missed.

    Blackbox Life Recorder 21f / in a room7 F760 by Aphex Twin
    Getting new music from Aphex Twin is always a treat, and BLR21f (lol) is an energetic and pop-y affair. When I saw him play Sónar I believe he played a couple of these tracks, though it was hard to tell through all the noise.

    rRoxymore — Early Hours (DJ Mix)
    I love love love these Apple Music Early Hours mixes. They’ve had such a beautiful mix of artists, and the most recent release from French-born, Mexico City based rRoxymore is one of my faves. Like it says on the can, this in fact is a perfect get-your-day-going mixtape.

  • I’ve decided that on Fridays, I’m going to recommend some items to read, think long-form pieces, as well as some things to listen to, music that just came out or something I’ve been playing during the week. I like this idea because it gives me a spot to put some of the detritus I’ve been experiencing, bringing together the loose pieces into something more cohesive. Plus, you can revisit these items over the weekend. I hope you enjoy!



    Things To Read

    ANOHNI and Björk Talk Soul Music, Lou Reed, and Climate Collapse
    These two queens get together to chat about ANOHNI’s new album, and their shared concerns about climate collapse. They also talk about their admiration for Lou Reed, their love for soul music, personal loss, and pay tribute to the legacy of activist music.

    Everything I, an Italian, thought I knew about Italian food is wrong
    This fascinating piece from Marianna Giusti talks about how some of Italy’s most famous foods, such as panettone, tiramisu, and Parmesan cheese, have evolved over time and have been influenced by factors such as industrialization, migration, and changing tastes.

    Stop trying to have the perfect vacation. You’re ruining everyone else’s.
    I loved Rebecca Jennings take on how bad American’s are at traveling. There’s this gross desire to have a “perfect vacation” which highlights the entitlement and negative impact of this mindset on others. Instead of worrying about perfection, she advocates for travelers to have a more relaxed and enjoyable approach to vacationing. What a concept 🙄

    Kevin Kelly: Daddy Issues
    Some of you may know Kevin Kelly, he helped to found Wired magazine, as well as the Whole Earth Catalogs, all of which were on the cutting edge of tech and futurism. Yana Sosnovskaya and Aaron Gonsher sat down with Kevin to talk about Web3, DAO, blockchain, as well as his opinion on the big tech companies: “Let’s make it better, but let’s not get rid of it. That’s where I am. I’m interested in improving things rather than destroying things.”



    Things To Hear

    Sui Zhen (live from Naarm) — NTS
    I kept coming back to this mix from Sui Zhen, a Melbourne based producer and artist, who arranged a super mellow compilation including music from Strawberry Switchblade, Saint Etienne, Durutti Column, and many more. Great music to accompany a chill morning or hazy evening.

    The Greater Wings by Julie Byrne
    Julie Bryne’s new album, The Greater Wings, may already be one of the best of the year. A heart-wrenching folk album, it’s filled with breathy vocals and expansive strings which welcome you into their own magical realm. It’s a very special album, one you should totally listen to with headphones.

    Olof Dreijer — Recorded live from Pumping Velvet
    Hessle Audio on Rinse FM were able to get a recording of Olof Dreijer’s set at Pumping Velvet, in support of his new single “Rosa Rugosa”, and it’s a damn good. Maybe it’s just me, but this set is especially good for the girlies and the gays, featuring a lot of house, disco, Robyn, and Beyoncé.

    Kode9 + Burial — Infirmary / Unknown Summer
    The eagerly awaited new split EP from Kode9 and Burial dropped today, and it does not disappoint. Kode9’s track has kind of a drum and bass, jazzy tinge to it, while Burial, as he does, goes on a nearly 10 minute journey through sound. If you know and enjoy Burial, you’re gonna’ love it.