Music For Small Audiences

There is the theory of the Moebius, a twist in the fabric of space where time becomes a loop – but I cant say that I have experienced it personally. In my experience time is linear, and the further things recede into the distance in either direction, the fuzzier they become. They say it does not matter where you come from, it only matters where you are going. If this is true, then does it ma...

When I was a kid growing up, we would often spend weekends in what we called cottage country. We were a few hours north of the city, and seemingly a million miles from Torontonian suburbia. One of the few FM stations available on the radio dial was 93.1 CHAY-FM. It played elevator music, musak, terribly saccharin instrumental versions of popular songs with soprano saxophones in place of vocals, an...

The end of 2014 is here – and so is Episode 025 of Music For Small Audiences. This mix takes its name from an astute observation made by a good friend (and very good DJ) by the name of Andrew Campbell. As Andrew sees it, the likelihood of any rule being enforced is inversely proportional to how far down on the list of rules the actual rule in question is. The first few rules? OK, those we ma...

Packing up for a weekend away is always a mixture of emotions. Excitement for the adventure to come is mixed with anticipation and sometimes a bit of stress. Do I have time to do everything I need to do to get ready? What if I forget something? As we get older we learn a few tricks and techniques to help get out of our own way – post-it notes on the bathroom mirror, items we must not forget...

What is it about being stuck in a sea of traffic that puts us on edge? Is it the uncertainty of the stop-and-start? The inability to control the actions of others? The paradox of being alone in a crowd? From The Spoons to Satoshi Tomiie, musicians have long seen parallels between romance and gridlock, and so I hope you will forgive me for again pointing them out. One thing I will say, whether you...

Perspective is a funny thing. As humans I think we are conditioned to always want more. Louis CK has an insightful take on this, which you can find by Googling Everything Is Amazing, And Nobody Is Happy.  In some respects our desire to constantly self-improve is to be commended as having driven our survival as a species. With that said, aspiration for the future need not come at the expense of ack...

I have often been struck by the curiously polite silence of a packed early morning commuter train, where people are pressed closely together yet rarely speak to one another. As the city flickers by in the morning sunlight we share our physical space yet remain alone with our thoughts – at least until the silence is broken. As a soundtrack to urban living and exploration this mix is largely i...

Episode 020 of Music For Small Audiences is called Earth Tones. The title comes from a few different places. First, the recent expansion of my wardrobe. Melburnians are known for wearing plenty of black and dark grey, and I am no exception. I have however recently expanded my palette, returning to a few browns and greens. Similarly, I have been exploring very earthy sonic palettes, such as you wil...

Some memories can be called restorative nostalgia, where we long to return to a favoured place. Other memories are better described as reflective nostalgia, in which we focus on irreparable loss. In both cases, the memory of the past is a positive one. Perhaps Kurt Vonnegut had it right when he urged us – “please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point,...

This is Episode 018 of Music For Small Audiences. It gets its name from a recent weekend trip I took through South Australia with friends, relying heavily on the GPS and mapping features of my mobile phone and tablet in order to explore the world one spontaneous turn at a time. I remember a time before such technology existed, when directions were vital in order to reach an intended destination, a...

If we are to maintain balance, then for every period of tension there must be a release. But if life is about growth, about finding your limits and pushing beyond them, and building new settlements beyond ones existing barriers, then must we not also dig ever deeper into ourselves when it comes time to take a break? This mix is Episode 017 of Music For Small Audiences, and it is the product of a r...

Where to start? I spent a lot of quality time with a Sony Playstation during my undergraduate days. The James Bond-esque spy shooter Syphon Filter was a brilliant game, but I always wondered about where they came up with the name for the Syphon Filter virus around which the game was built. I suspected it was something a Japanese game designer came up with having seen the words syphon and filter to...

A wise man once said that the real purpose of setting a goal is what it makes you while you are pursuing it. We become our future selves through the challenges we encounter – which in many cases are the challenges we set up for ourselves. Per aspera ad astra et cetera, right? Sometimes being thrown in the deep end is the only way to fly, if you will excuse the mangled metaphor. I have spent...

I have often thought aloud that I would rather be busy than bored. In that context, the past few weeks have been quite enjoyable. Work and school are both meters-pegged-to-the-red in terms of workload as I write this, but as I see it you are never too busy to celebrate successes when and where they come along. Episode 014 of Music For Small Audiences is the fruit of a little celebration, a Friday...

Some things in life get more interesting the further away you get from them. Other things move so quickly that if you blink you can miss them. Perspective is everything – and while we all view the world through our own unique lenses, I think most would agree that there is an exciting and ephemeral magic in getting up close and personal with a fast-moving thing, be it a bird, plane, or person...

Sometimes just a little bit is enough – and sometimes too much is OK too. It is true with hot sauce, and it is true with life. Episode 012 of Music For Small Audiences is deep and moody mix. It gets its name in part from my ability to sometimes go hard on capsaicin-based condiments, and in part from the string of very warm late summer days we enjoyed here in Melbourne during the week this mi...

And so it is that Episode 011 of Music For Small Audiences is upon us. Here we have a two-and-a-half hour mix of melodic grooves – at once both sparse and emotive, with an easy beginning, a bouncy middle, and a thought-provoking exit. In here you’ll hear a bit of progressive house, a little bit of the more mainstream stuff, and a whole lot of love. Mixed live in Richmond, Australia in...

This is Episode 010 of Music For Small Audiences. Here in Australia, we are in the middle of a long weekend, thanks to a statutory holiday called Australia Day. It is a long-running tradition that the radio station triple j counts down its “hottest 100” every Australia Day counting down the hundred biggest tunes of the year. With that in mind, to celebrate having made it to ten podcast...

Summer is well and truly here in Melbourne, with today being the start of a forecast four day heat wave with temperatures in the 40C+ range. Here’s hoping my air conditioner can cope. Episode 009 of Music For Small Audiences is called Don’t Forget The Vouchers, and it is a collection of beautiful melodies – some simple, and some complex. For as long as I’ve been listening t...

Happy new year! The start of a new calendar year is always an exciting time. The past twelve months have been exceptionally pleasant for me, and hopefully they’ve been pretty good for you too. This is Episode 008 of Music For Small Audiences, and it’s called How Many Watts Is That Lightbulb? It’s just over two hours long, and it’s a largely instrumental mix of groove-driven...

This is Episode 007 of Music For Small Audiences. It’s a two hour and twelve minute mix, and it gets its name from the fact that, well, I like the idea of a girl with a bicycle. Bicycles are a unique form of transportation – fun and practical, they give you both independence and fitness. I like both of these traits in people. Hope you enjoy the mix!

Episode 006 of Music For Small Audiences is called Six Dishes Beats Four Decks. It’s a 90-minute mix of groovy tunes. The name comes from the acknowledgement that we are all good at different things, and from the understanding that anything we put our mind to and practice consistently, we will get at least passably good at. There are times – such as when I am hungry – that I wond...

Episode 005 of Music for Small Audiences is called Free And Clear. It was recorded as a live set a few days ago, and the title and content reflect my mood this week, having finished a rather challenging semester of study. Now, with the southern summer rolling in, the days are getting longer and the sunsets pinker, and I am feeling the relief of not having to juggle work, study and personal priorit...

Episode 004 of Music For Small Audiences was mixed live a few weeks ago, during the first week of Daylight Savings Time here in Australia. With the arrival of Daylight Savings Time, the sun returns to the evenings, opening up a whole world of weekday evening options. Spring in Melbourne being what it is, the weather changes quickly. ‘Four seasons in a day’ is a well-worn cliche that ac...

This is Episode 003 of Music for Small Audiences. I have called it Fonda and the Five Minute Banana Bread. Fonda is a Mexican restaurant. Five minute banana bread is troublesome, because it doesn’t take long to make and tastes very, very good. My intention in making these podcasts available was to showcase a broader side to my musical tastes. This mix covers a lot of ground in this regard, s...