Back in early 2022, I knew that the 100th release for yk Records was around the corner. I wanted to do something special for it and just decided to throw caution to the wind and lob a Hail Mary to one of my favorite bands to see if they'd be interested in working together. It actually worked!

To rewind a little, waaaay back in the late 90's I worked at an indie record label called Spongebath Records. They had a small roster that included Self, The Katies, Count Bass D, Fluid Ounces and The Features (to name a few). Not unsurprisingly, early mixes and unfinished recordings would float around the office on various CDRs. One such treat was a full-length album from The Features recorded with Matt Mahaffey of Self. It was 10 songs and hit the sweet spot for the band's songwriting and Mahaffey's production style. I anxiously awaited its final form for release. But it never happened. The early 2000's rolled around and the album was mixed but Spongebath was dissolving quickly. The band had no label, no means of self-distribution and the tech was too immature to make it a meaningful digital release.

The recordings made their way outside of the Spongebath office and circulated amongst fans in crappy MP3 form for years. As YK-100 approached, I thought... what if those recordings were finally released properly? So, I sent my Hail Mary to The Features and they responded positively. For the entirety of 2022, I plugged away at getting all of the pieces in place for The Mahaffey Sessions 1999. This album has been locked in the vault for 24 years and I'm happy to report it has stood the test of time.

We sourced the original DAT tapes from Matt Mahaffey, got the whole thing mastered for digital and vinyl by John Baldwin at Infrasonic Sound, had artwork put together by Sam Smith and then actually got it pressed at PMP Vinyl; a plant that is about 20 minutes outside of Murfreesboro, TN where Spongebath (and the original recordings) were actually spawned.

I'm glossing over a lot of the details but it's been a fantastic ride. I'm proud that my little record label managed to release 100 things and I'm still blown away that the 100th is from one of my favorite bands.

If you are a fan of The Features, you probably already know the infamy of this record. It's streaming and on vinyl. If you're not familiar with The Features, I still feel confident that you'll enjoy the songs. They don't sound dated in the slightest - a real testament to everyone involved. I'll go as far as to say that I think "33 1/3" shoulda been a hit and still should be!

Having the 100th release out in the world is a big celebratory moment for me and it also unlocks the floodgates for a lot of additional releases I've had pending. I'm invigorated by the response to this release and looking forward to the future.

After dipping my toe into the realm of absurd DEA patches, I was sent a much deeper dive in the form of I Could Tell You But Then You Would Have To Be Destroyed; a publication from Trevor Paglen all about "emblems from the Pentagon's Black World." If that doesn't intrigue you, I dunno what possibly could.

HT Brandonnn

1936 photos of Brünnhilde; a "cat wearing a winged helmet and breastplate armor in the role of the valkyrie." Thank you Library of Congress.

Every year I start a new playlist to keep tabs on random tracks that I enjoy. I don't think this is a particularly novel behavior - I hope everyone does it and if you don't, you should! It's a nice to way to remember times and places you heard certain things or just pleasant surprises that the almighty algorithm fed to you. It's also an easy go-to if you're ever at a loss for what to listen to.

Anyway, here's my 2023 Enjoyables playlist. Follow if ya like.. maybe you'll hear something you also enjoy.

Throughout a calendar year, I constantly compile new releases from the Nashville music scene and share them on my podcast - We Own This Town: Music. It's a passion project that results in hundreds of songs for a given year. It's not everything released but it's a healthy amount.

At the end of every year I pick through all those tracks and make my own "Highly Enjoyed" playlist. It's subjective, of course, but it's a great compilation of songs. Every year the playlist is incredibly long but I just randomly pick 20 tracks and turn that into a "selective retrospective" episode for the show. But not this year...

This year I decided, why not put the entire playlist into one episode? Who says you can't have an eight hour podcast episode? Sure, the likelihood of anyone actually listening to the entire thing is slim to say the least but the end result will be a pretty robust document of the year's music. So, that's what I did.

The Eight Hour 2022 Celebration is exactly that. Eight hours of local Nashville music all compiled into one episode of a podcast. I chunked it out into hour segments and sequenced everything thematically. It's a good listen if I do say so myself.

It's not holistic as I can't physically hear everything released in a calendar year but it's a solid offering. I'm proud of it... even if I do recognize that eight hours is absolutely absurd.

Sometimes you encounter an image and just need to save it somewhere forever. This is that.