Nathan's Small Delights: SD_017

Ayup, what’s good?

The end of June officially marks 2026 as halfway complete, and my hope is for some rest after an exhausting few weeks. Alas, what I hope for and what I get will likely not be the same. Although I am teetering on the edge of being overwhelmed, I am not quite there yet. There’s a lot to cover with little time before I am back on the road, so sit back, relax, and let’s get this going.

The Delights

Last month was bookended with excellent gigs. The early month had me slinging records with Rick Lara at Howards (I had erroneously believed the venue to be Marlow’s - consider this the post-gig correction) and concluded with a westward excursion to Nuevo México for a weekend slinging wax alongside Whiskey Pickle head honcho Adam Warped. I landed in the City of Holy Faith, scarfed down a few empanadas, spent the early part of the day digging out a few treasures at The Good Stuff and Lost Padre Records, and then followed it all up with some casual adventuring around town. After a quick fresh-up, we packed the record bags and made our way through a torrential rainstorm to Remix Audio Bar where I indulged in an incredible bowl of ramen and afterwards, witnessed first-hand what a fantastic selector Adam is - oh, the tracks he played! *swoooon

With Santa Fe wrapped up, we hit the winding road to the place of red willows to meet up with music aficionado and all-around great human Bonehead at his record shop Heads Up Music Taos. We spent some time catching up before I dove into the HUM bins, and I cannot stress enough how flush with treats those bins were. The digging was good. So much so that I was concerned I would have issues getting the new records home (I did not have issues). With the digging wrapped up, we grabbed a quick dinner, and then reveled in a long night playing tunes at Revolt. It’s been at least a decade since I’ve seen Bonehead play, and right from the get-go he put on a mixing masterclass. His set definitely had me feeling like I need to spend more time behind the decks.

After a long night of loud music and minimal sleep, we began the journey back to Santa Fe. Adam was a gracious host and was kind enough to detour for a visit to Suicide Bridge. The bridge’s newly erected fence prevented viewing the gorgeous gorge from directly above; fortunately, the rest stop at the end of the bridge provided a decent-enough view of it all. Adam decided on an alternate path from the rest stop that spat us out into a dirt road which treacherously descended the slopes of the gorge and ended with a breathtaking view prior to traversing the Rio Grande. Now I think I understand how people can fall in love with a destination and uproot their lives with no solid plan - the feeling that they just have to get there as soon as possible and they can figure the rest of it out later. This experience stirred that feeling within me. I rate New Mexico a solid 10 out of 10. I will definitely visit again, but will absolutely not uproot my life with no plan and move there.

A recent sighting of a picturesque lone tomato had me thinking about the old Life imitates Art bit from Oscar Wilde’s The Decay of Lying. My intention was a quick dip into the origin of the quote as a setup for the picture below, but this quickly was derailed, and I am now on the brink of a deep-dive into mimesis. A deep-dive like this will require a lot of reading, so allow me to capitalize on this opportunity and segue into a plug for the Austin Public Library.

The Austin Public Library system is a treasure. Membership is free for Austin residents and grants you access to an unfathomable wealth of books, audiobooks, and magazines. You can check out up to fifty books at a time - FIFTY BOOKS! That is so many books to have at your fingertips. I plan to use the powers granted to me as a member of the Austin Public Library system to facilitate the deep-dive on mimesis. If you are not an Austin resident, then I encourage you to find your local library and become a member; you won’t regret it! That’s my pitch for the library, and this is the tomato.

After pulling into my driveway, shrouded in the darkness of night, I shifted the gear of my electric blue hatchback into park and removed the key from the ignition; I was out later than usual. Halted by a sudden motion in my periphery, I turned slowly, certain that my life was soon forfeit. The overbearing dread of my impending doom was short-lived (unlike me) and replaced with a bubbling cauldron of excitement: the murderous villain was no villain, she was a hapless stowaway! Protected by scales of the finest green, this enterprising trunk-crown ecomorph - wait a second! IT CAN CHANGE COLOR? She must have camouflaged her way into the car by shifting her colors to match the dirty interior, only revealing herself once we had arrived at our destination. Clever, clever girl! Much like the time little Private Ryan Gosling walked over my foot, a member of the animal kingdom has once again melted my ice-cold heart.

What a delight!

Vinyl Jockey on the web

Travel back in time with me all the way to SD_001 where I previewed a resurrected idea and marked it as a track that needs to be finished. Now, travel forward in time with me to this very moment, where I excitedly announce that I actually followed through and finished the track! So Dramatic has officially hit the streets, courtesy of Fresno label 4E&A Records and features delectable remixes by Austin’s own Cuillere and label head-honcho Jason Merle. Grab a copy of So Dramatic for your digital crates posthaste!

Vinyl Jockey in the wild

July has me back on the road with Rick Lara and the adventures begin with a weekend jaunt to the Third Coast for an evening slinging spicy joints on July 3rd at OK Hi-Fi in Corpus Christi, TX. If you were there yesterday, then you’ll know our set was from 9pm to 12am and you probably had a damn good time!

July 17th, you can find us in Alamo City for a very special edition of Ya Dig?! at Volta. This is another great opportunity to dig out the oddities and otherwise less-played records from my collection. Needle drops at 9pm and the last record finishes playing at 2am.

Finally, the month wraps up with a return to Distribution Hall in Austin for the summer edition of Vibe Artisan Market. I always look forward to this event. The vendors are plentiful, the space is fantastic, and Rick and I always have a blast laying down the fresh tunes all weekend. If you find yourself on the East Side on July 25th and 26th between 11am and 5pm, then do yourself a favor and drop in.

That’s a wrap for now!

-Nathan Stewart