As the Late Fall sun begins to washout on the coast of Southern California, the Summer heat is replaced by marine layer, and Santa Ana winds blow across empty beaches, I stop to soak in the act of living in Los Angeles. It would be almost cliché to begin to think about the passing of time, or to be overly nostalgic about the recent past, but there is something very powerful about looking back at recent history, about understanding the context of significant events and their cultural artifacts.

As a cardholding member of Generation X, I’m very careful not to be too steeped in the artifacts of my cultural history. At best, it seems antithetical to our ethos, and at worst it just seems lazy.  (Although I’ll take Chuck D any day, over 99% of what passes as Hip Hop these days.) While I can appreciate the occasional #TBT, as a rule, I’ve taken it upon myself to continue to dig for new music, while always returning the comfort of the familiar. This season’s playlist does both.

This Architects and Heroes curated playlist, from Stephen R. of Zygote, is our own unique view of the world here in Late Fall 2024. A tumultuous political season ends, harvest time begins, and darker days are the norm as the world begins its cool and slow progression into Winter.

There is a slowing down, a hibernation, and natural end to one phase-of-life. This dark and ghostly mystery, one that’s universal, timeless, and utterly unavoidable in the cycles of nature, giving us space for inner reflection.

Playlist:

1. Ablaze – Floating Points
2. Polygonum Perfoliatum – Prefuse 73
3. Instances of Silence – Alejandro Cohen
4. Gandhi, Dalai Lama, Your Lord & Savior JC / Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, And John Wayne Gacy – André 3000
5. For Blackset – Jay Glass Dubs
6. Klein Zage X Joey G II – A Little Dissonance (DJ Python Remix) – Klein Zage X Joey G II
7. Disig – Carmen Villain
8. Saunter – Lowfish
9. Rainlines – Actress
10. A Ghost At Noon – Sam Prekp, John McEntire
11. Looking for Freedom (For All Mix) – Gerald Peklar
12. Next 2 You (Reprise) – Dave Aju & The Invisible Art Trio
13. Zig – Sean Deason, Claude Young
14. Electric Counterpoint – Steve Reich, Pat Metheny