In sundry places | Winter 2026 mixtape

Mixtape: Winter 2026

My Winter 2026 mixtape maps the vibe-journey of my season, while showcasing some of the tracks I've found off the algorithm:

Side A opens with the spiritual high of advent and the hope of New Year, and then from the vice-examining track 2 on descends into the dark pit of winter, a deep grind of one-foot-after-the-other that eventually gives way to a more optimistic reflection. The winter solstice ends the side, out of its temporal place, but squarely in its affective one - a turning point to brighter days.

Side B starts sometime in late February and early March. This is where opportunities to defy the darkness become more frequent - soaking in slivers of good, finding minutes of solar warmth. The middle of the side marks the transition to late winter - when we're finally looking forward. But, as planning goes long it turns to something more like yearning. That's where this mixtape leaves the listener - in the liminal space between the end of winter and the beginning of spring.

Side A

Track #	Track Name	Found
1A	The Cosmic Tones Research Trio - Sankofa	KMHD's favourite albums of 2025.
2A	D.R. Hooker - Forge your own chains	Listening to Radio Alhara.
3A	Chat Pile & Hayden Pedigo - Demon time	In the Wire Magazine.
4A	Rafael Anton Irisarri - Hiatus	On The Wire Tapper 69 mix CD in issue #502 of The Wire magazine.
5A	Cool Calm Pete - Ghost time	On an end-of-year rap ablum list in The Wire magazine
6A	Julian Lage - Opal	Rachel told me that spotify told her that JL has a new album. I would have found out eventually anyway because JL is my fav, so I'm giving zero props to spotify for this.
7A	Yves Simon - Raconte-toi	Listening to Stalk Image on badradio.biz - Wednesdays at 6pm MST.
8A	Daisy Rickman - Winter Solstice	Article in the Wire.

Side B

Track #	Track Name	Found
1B	Nala Sinephro - Space 2	Listening to KMHD, I think.
2B	Anna Domino - Everyday, I don't	Listening to Stalk Image on badradio.biz - Wednesdays at 6pm MST.
3B	Susumu Yokota - Saku	DJ's intermission set at a Noise Cafe show at the Aviary
4B	Devin Shaffer - All my dreams are coming true	The Wire magazine.
5B	Bill Frisell - In Line	Not a new find, but was doing a Bill Frisell deep dive with CDs from the library, and was reminded about how much I really love this song. Top 10, maybe.
6B	Khruangbin - A calf born in winter	Watching Pluribus wtih Rachel.
7B	Yves Montand - Le temps des cerises	Listening to the Comfortable and Economical mixtape series that plays on badradio.biz when there's no live show.

Here's a spotify playlist (ugh).