Nathan's Small Delights: SD_016

Ayup, what’s good?

Like clockwork, my yearly existential crisis arrived right on schedule, and I find myself on the other side of it feeling particularly pleasant. In the aftermath, I am less disconnected from the world around me and have settled into an interesting flow state of creativity which I fully intend to exploit for as long as possible. Currently feeling perfectly whelmed and elated. All aboard for this month’s Small Delights!

The Delights

The month kicked off with another weekend slinging records alongside Rick Lara at the Vibe Artisan Market. Unlike the last time, this one required a trip to my old Space City stomping grounds, as it was our first of three Houston VAM appearances! At the market, we laid down an inexhaustible supply of the lushest jams from our collections. I was happy to see some familiar faces amongst the vendors and was tickled pink at a surprise pop-in from the all-around lovely Morgan and Ethan Klein. I had a wonderful time palling around with them between mixes and got a real kick out of Ethan’s reaction to me dropping the undeniably fantastic Ella Fue (She Was The One) by Fania All Stars.

After Saturday’s VAM set, I did a quick freshen up and then popped out to Eight Row Flint to catch up with the DJ homies Cesar Giovani and Esteban Kue (who I had not seen since the end of 2024). I did a few shimmies on the dance floor, had a delightful chat with a fellow dancer, and an old friend, who is definitely not a drum and bass DJ, unexpectedly made an appearance. Eventually, Gio, a Dedicated veteran and long-time friend, arrived, which meant the night had officially kicked into gear! After scarfing some grub, we made our way out to Ice House Radio.

An old car wash on Richmond Ave houses this community radio station, which has been spreading the good word of music for a few years now. Not sure how he managed it, but Rick locked us in for the closing spot that evening. Although I was running on fumes at the start of our set, I rallied a few records in and ended up jazzed by the end of our set. What a great night!

Back in Austin, I was whisked away by Shelbs to have my taste buds titillated by the Georgian cuisine at Bread Boat. Given its glorious name, I’m shocked I hadn’t heard of this place before, but I’m chuffed to have finally tasted authentic Khachapuri. In my humble opinion, Bread Boat has rightfully earned its perfect 5.0 stars Google rating.

While I am on the topic of boats…

Shortly after a recent trip to celebrate belated birthdays with the fam, my nephew sent me a thank-you card with a cool little drawing included that made me break into an ear-to-ear smile when I unpacked it from its rain-soaked envelope. He is such a cool kid!

The nautical theme continued into the weekend at my monthly Bestie Brunch. This month’s destination was Hank’s, and I am not kidding when I say they have THE BEST salmon benny I have ever eaten. I don’t even understand why other restaurants even bother; Hank’s has this one on lock. This benny was not only visually impressive (the contrast between the hollandaise and fish flesh is just *chef’s kiss), it made me do the thing where I took a short breath as soon as I bit into it (as if I was in disbelief that something could taste so good). Had I been standing, I would have slowly dropped to one knee in reverence.

Perhaps a baffling admission, but I have never attended the Austin Record Convention. Twice a year, the gathering of wax dealers from across the country makes its way through the City of the Violet Crown, and every single time I am cursed by my lack of foresight by either being out of town or not adequately budgeting for the occasion. This year fortune shined upon me, and I was neither broke nor out of town.

Day one of the convention served as an exploratory mission. I traversed the Palmer Event Center, casually perusing the various bins from the diverse assortment of vendors. As expected, a few were local acquaintances whom I had not seen in a while; it was quite nice to get a quick catch-up with them. Less expected was the realization that the vendor with the 80s Italian pop records was the same Pharr Out Records that I had visited during my trip to the valley back in 2023. Completely unexpected was discovering the chaps slinging the outstanding Brazilian records and Mr. Bongo merch were actually Gary, Karl, and Roman from the Mr. Bongo shop in the UK - fancy that! I capitalized on the opportunity to dig through their incredible selection and snagged some excellent represses from their Brazil45 series and a copy of the seminal self-titled album by Orlandivo (which may just well be a PERFECT album).

Utterly unexpected was catching the Mr. Bongo squad throw down some delectable cuts at Only The Wild Ones. These guys are truly first-class selectors. Start to finish, and with few exceptions, their set was a cornucopia of unheard musical treats that had me shaking my hips and nips the entire night. Any time I wiggled my way over to the booth for a track ID, the gents enthusiastically showed the record jacket and often provided extra info on the artist or label. These guys love music and they are excited to share it - Mi Gente! Definitely one of the best sets I have had the pleasure of getting down to so far this year.

Day two of the record convention was all about tying up the loose ends. I casually browsed a French booth (where they cleverly used QR codes for audio samples and adorned price tags with whimsical record descriptions) and walked away with some pretty tasty Balearic synth-pop 45s. I circled back to the Mr. Bongo booth to grab a copy of a Mr. Bongo Record Club comp that has a phenomenal Roman Andrén tune (which Gary played the night before). Then closed it out at the Phar Out Records booth to snatch up this lovely Lucio Dalla album (amongst others). Not bad for my first record convention!

What a delight!

Vinyl Jockey on the web

Hot off the press in the world of digital music is my latest release on Houston label Niche Market Music - Split The Difference. The main cut Things Can Change is a sleazy, 98 bpm shoulder bopper dripping with delayed keys and the digital b-side It’s Yours Baby is an upbeat, dance floor groover that is built around a mid-80’s boogie sample. Throw in a few remixes by San Antonio staple Josh Stone, and you have yourself a nice four-track package of *checks Beatport’s genre listing - House. Currently tagged as HYPE on Beatport, Split The Difference is now available on most digital platforms. Go get HYPE and grab yourself a copy!

In other digital music news, I am ecstatic to announce that my first solo excursion on Santa Fe’s Whiskey Pickle Records hits the streets later this month. Here’s the deets straight from the release write-up:

Returning to Whiskey Pickle for his fourth appearance on the label Nathan Stewart delivers a blazing hot three track EP drenched in a sultry deep and slow southern acid disco groove. Legendary Austin musician and producer Claude 9 joins the journey on “Another Orbit,” adding a stellar layer of spacey keys that help launch the track out of this world. “Bring It Back” follows with a dubbed-out, filtered acid love affair, while “Dream Sequence” delivers a deeply hypnotic modern-funk slow burner. Rounding out the release, DiY Sound System affiliate, UK expat and current Tokyo, Japan resident Max Essa lends his unmistakable touch to “Dream Sequence,” transforming it into a dreamy, sun-soaked Balearic excursion infused with his signature laid-back Walearic style.

Digital release goes live on June 26th with a vinyl release following some time after. Add the date to your calendars!

For those of you who can’t get enough of me being a certified ham and have been yearning for another chance to watch me bop around while playing records, I am pleased to inform you the set from the Ice House Radio gig in Houston is available for your enjoyment. Crank the volume up and enjoy two hours of some good old-fashioned House music curated by Kinn and Nathan Stewart.

Vinyl Jockey in the wild

If you liked what you heard in the Ice House Radio video above and you are in the Austin area on June 6th, then I invite you to swing by Howard’s* for a little Saturday soiree - (edited to the correct venue). Rick Lara and I will once again be digging out the choice cuts from our collections for your dancing pleasure. Music kicks off from 9pm to 12am.

At the end of the month, I am making my long-overdue return to New Mexico to sling some wax with Whiskey Pickle head honcho Adam Warped. June 26th you can catch us in Santa Fe at Remix Audio Bar laying down some sleazy mid-tempo grooves from 6pm to 10pm.

The following day, we head to Taos for a much-needed reunion with Heads Up Music owner Bonehead. Catch all three of us alongside Mr. Coincidence on June 27th at Revolt. The music bops from 9pm to 2am. This one is 21+ with a $10 cover before midnight, $20 cover after. Definitely feeling the excitement for both gigs!

That’s a wrap for now!

-Nathan Stewart