125 | zach: the spaced out 70s
What do I know about the 1970's? Its aesthetics seem to blur in my mind with those of the previous decade, a lysergic swirl of flower power, bell bottoms, shag carpeting, and wood-paneled basements. From my uninformed perspective, the 70's seemed to function as a mass unpacking of the tumult of the 60's, with a large contingent of Boomers happily taking the pipeline from hippie to yuppie. In the United States, the beatific optimism of the Woodstock set had since curdled under a Nixon presidency and quagmire theory. People were still taking drugs, of course, but as a means of escape instead of revolution. It was a time to space out rather than tune in, on Star Wars, on laser light shows, on the Atari.
And there was disco, of course, an essential refuge for the oppressed and the main cultural signifier of the decade. As I selected music for this mix, it seemed a little too obvious to feature disco music front-and-center; why not explore other dusty corners of the era and show off some other sounds instead? But as I continued to dig through the endless reams of disco records in my collection, I felt obliged to pay my respects. Disco is forever linked to the 1970's, sure, but it has also brought immense joy and meaning to my own life here in the 21st century. If I wasn't going to put any disco in my 70's mix, what was I collecting all these records for?
The disco chunk takes up the middle 30-45min of the mix; I opted for a few selections that feature lush orchestrations and complex arrangements, stuff that might sound too busy or "cheesy" on a modern day dancefloor but hits just right during a home listen. The rest of the tracklist is filled out with trippy jazz excursions, psych-rock collages, and even a few stoner classics.
( jazz funk, disco, psych rock, ambient )