Nathan's Small Delights: SD_013

Ayup, what’s good?

The final month of meteorological winter has wrapped up & we set our sights on the impending arrival of the first day of astronomical spring. This month, the sun will cross the celestial equator, officially ending the brisk, 80-degree winter days & ushering in what are sure to be muggy, 80-degree spring days. Oh boy. The trend from last month continues & I remain perfectly whelmed. Let’s hop right into it!

The Delights

About a year ago, I was aimlessly thumb-flicking my way through the Soundcloud feed when my attention was captured by a Sutro FM repost. Tagged as #Ambient & accompanied by an image of a chap enjoying a dewy treat from a flower, it was the latest installment of the Global Weirding series mixed by Izaak S. At the time, I had never heard of Izaak & was unaware that he is one half of the Bay Area DIY pop duo Loveshadow. Their jams are pretty crispy & def on my shortlist of albums I need to add to the collection. As I am always in the mood for fresh music, I was excited to give this one a whirl.

The mix delivered in spades & was easily one of my favorites of 2025. The first half is a fantastic push/pull of beatdown-type tunes that then rolls into a delish funk-stepper vibe, interspersed with jams straight out of left field. Around the 14-minute mark, Izaak drops a total barn burner that had me instantly on the hunt. I spent a fruitless few months trying to figure out a track ID, & I eventually put the hunt on the shelf. Fast forward some months & there I was again thinking about how great that song is, when it occurred to me that I could just send a message to Researcher to see if he had a track ID. I did & he did not, but he said he would reach out to Izaak, which he did, & he did & he was kind enough to send the track ID my way via Researcher.

So began the second phase of the hunt - locating a copy of the 1985 synth-pop maxi-single Spirits Fly by musician, composer, & noted recording engineer Arabella Bedini.

With track ID in hand, I popped over to Disco-Gs & ordered a copy from over the seas. It took a hot minute to arrive, but I am pleased to report that it appeared on my doorstep two days into the month & it sounds so dang good. *chef’s kiss

Big shoutout to Researcher & Izaak for helping me put this mystery to bed.

As long as I am talking about new records, allow me a brief moment to tell you about the latest release on Dublin label Wah Wah Wino: Officer John - The Return Of Officer John. I just got my hands on a copy of this, & it will not be leaving the bag for a while. How do I even describe it? It’s a stylish & dreamy shoegazer that feels like a little slice of the island of Balearia. In other words, it is dope to the max. Standout track of the six is the Morgan Buckley remix of Stay - Mon Dieu! Seriously, you should not sleep on this one.

As 2025 was wrapping up, I had become more consistent with my daily piano practice & decided that a calendar would be cool to have to help track time spent finger dancing across the keys. During a white elephant event, I had an unbelievable calendar in my hands, which was unceremoniously yoinked from my possession (as sometimes happens during a white elephant). After the fact, the giftee mentioned the calendar was purchased at local indie bookstore Alienated Majesty. I popped into the shop to grab a few calendars, & ended up also leaving with a copy of the English translation of Design and Visual Communication by Bruno Munari.

There is a lot to enjoy about this book. By no means would I consider myself a visual artist, but the principles & creative approaches to visual communication presented within the pages have me pondering how they can be applied to audio. The second half of the book is a collection of drawings & photographs that pluck at the creative hemisphere of my brain. One page shows a series of internal divisions of triangles that I find so intriguing. Most of the triangles are divided in an obvious manner, but there are two that stand out in the way the dividing lines are arranged - almost as if the artist realized at the last minute that there was a creative way to reimagine such a well-known shape. I find it incredibly fascinating & am already thinking of ways in which this reimagining of familiar shapes can be translated into sampling & sound design. All of that is just a drawn-out way to say that this book is a wonderful addition to my library of works that inspire creativity.

What a delight!

Vinyl Jockey on the web

Back in SD_004, I posted a link to a series I was working on called Origin Stories. The short recap is that this is a playlist which tracks how an idea develops from start to as close to finished as I can get it. I have finally found time to revisit Wait For It & have since posted Origin Story 003 & Origin Story 004. Give those cuties a spin when you have a few minutes!

Exciting news from across the pond! Last week, fabric London announced that Red Axes will be the next act on deck for the prestigious fabric presents mix series. Track list for the mix has been posted & it features a track by The New Black - Ayoooooooo!

For those out of the loop, The New Black was the pen name used in the early 2010s for some super spicy collabs between myself & production partner extraordinaire William Bowers. We made some legit bops in the studio & it is exciting to have a track from the past get resurrected in such a grand fashion. Pre-orders for the wax can be snagged from the fabric London shop, with a full release slated for March 27th. If you want a preview of the track, just head on over to the 1,000 Little Black Dresses EP release page on the Whiskey Pickle Bandcamp (link below).

Vinyl Jockey in the wild

March marks the beginning of the 2026 Vibe Artisan Markets season, & if you’ve been keeping up, then you know how much I look forward to these gigs. As usual, I will be joining San Antonio selector & longtime friend Rick Lara for two days of slinging the deep cuts from our collections while hammin’ it up behind the decks. The spring markets land at Distribution Hall on the 28th & 29th of this month. Music kicks off promptly at 11am both days.

If you are looking for something to do sooner rather than later in the month, allow me to cordially invite you to DAWA HQ on the 7th for a community engagement event with AIPP artist Dawn Okoro. From 1pm - 4pm, you can participate in a live reference photoshoot for her upcoming public art commission. Text below is from the official invite.

“Inspired by how music makes us feel, the work explores movement, rhythm, and the shared experience of live music. During the session, Okoro will photograph participants dancing, capturing gesture and expression to shape the figures in the final piece.”

I will be behind the decks with a jam-packed record bag full of funky cuts to move & groove your body to. I really dig Dawn’s art style & am excited to see how this project turns out. If you catch yourself in the neighborhood on Saturday afternoon, don’t be shy about popping in.

That’s a wrap for now!

-Nathan Stewart