The title of this month’s Outer Frequencies Spotlight playlist might sound a little strange at first, but it comes from a very specific moment that’s stuck with me.

I was living in Brooklyn at the time, going to school at Hunter College in Manhattan. I’d been up late studying the night before and was running on very little sleep, heading back home to Ditmas Park on the Q train in the middle of winter.

As the train pulled into Canal Street, “Half Light I” by Arcade Fire came on in my headphones. In that moment, sleep-deprived and a little out of it, it sounded just right. The song kept building as we moved on and just as it reached its peak, everything opened up onto that incredible view of Manhattan you get as the train crosses the bridge into Brooklyn. (If you’ve ever taken the Q, you know exactly what I’m talking about.) The timing felt almost unreal, like the whole journey hit in perfect sync with the music.

I’m sure we’ve all had moments like that. When whatever’s playing in your headphones lines up perfectly with what’s happening around you, and for a second it feels like you’re in a movie.

That’s what this month’s Outer Frequencies Spotlight playlist is all about.

Ten songs for those big, cinematic moments. Expect a mix of sweeping indie pop, ’90s electronic, and newer songs that feel made for epic, widescreen occasions.

A small note about access: this playlist is for subscribers only. Please don’t share the private links. If you want to get a friend listening, the best thing is to invite them to subscribe or gift them a subscription. Keeping the playlists exclusive helps me keep doing this work.

Playlists are available on Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal and YouTube (see links below). If the link to your preferred platform doesn’t work for whatever reason, try the YouTube version (included below), or shoot me an email at info@outerfrequencies.net and I’ll help sort it out.

Thanks for listening, I hope you enjoy it!

✌🏼🛸

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Hey friends - As part of my ongoing mission to share more of the music I’m listening to day to day, this week I wanted to try something new with a small selection of songs that have been stuck in my head lately. These are some tracks I’ve had on repeat for one reason or another, and this list also doubles as a short preview into the world of Outer Frequencies Radio. If you’ve already listened to those playlists then you’ll have an idea of what to expect, and if not, then this is a good place to start.

Thanks for listening ✌🏼

1. Fleetwood Mac – You Make Lovin’ Fun (Trailmix)

Found this flip from San Francisco producer Trailmix recently and it’s been in heavy rotation ever since. The perfect twist on a classic track, it takes a Fleetwood Mac staple and transforms it into something groovy, super spacey, and whole lot of fun. I’ve been replaying this song probably more than any other lately.

2. Betty & The Code Red – Wishful Desire

Can’t get enough of this one! A private press gem originally released in the 1980s by Nigerian artists Tunde Obazee and Betty Ajagun, it’s a brilliant blend of Afrobeat, soul and highlife with an extra helping of DIY charm and hopeful energy. My favorite springtime listen right now.

3. Judy & Asier “Piña” del Álamo – It’s Been A Dub World

This song is just fun! A dubby, orchestral flip on the James Brown classic with a groove that feels made for warm days.

4. Jerry Paper – Somewhere New

Jerry Paper makes some of the most gloriously bizarre, off-kilter pop around, and this one off his BOiNK! EP is a perfect example. It’s a bit softer and more subdued than some of his other stuff, but the magic is still there in the wonky synths and loose songwriting.

5. Carla Dal Forno – Going Out

Australian artist Carla Dal Forno’s music often straddles the line between dream pop and something a bit more unsettling, and this new single leans fully into her darker side, with minimal guitar and synths, and lyrics that tell a story of jealousy and obsession. A gorgeous, haunting track I can’t get enough of lately.

6. ARTU.mp3 – Jaguar Jagun

This one from Brazilian artist Arthur Bastos (aka ARTU.mp3) pulled me in right away with its hazy, intimate vibe. It’s really beautiful but also a bit melancholy. Lovely stuff from an artist I can’t wait to hear more from.

7. MORI – Is It Forever

Spanish artist MORI’s debut album El Niño Bola is full of warm, introspective, experimental indie pop songs, and this one is my favorite of the bunch. If you’re a fan of artists like King Krule, this one’s a must-listen.

8. Kronstad 23 – Menigheten

Norwegian act Kronstad 23 are new to me, and I’m really digging this lead single off their upcoming third album. It’s got the kind of lush cinematic jazz vibe that I love, and it was recorded live to tape so it really feels like you’re sitting in the room while it’s being recorded.

That’s a snapshot of what’s been in rotation for me lately. Some of these might make their way into this month’s Outer Frequencies Radio playlist later this month, so be sure to check that out. Until then, I hope you enjoy these songs and I look forward to hearing what you think about them.

I’m excited to share the second Outer Frequencies Radio playlist. Two hours, 25 tracks of new favorites and deep cuts from across the musical spectrum.

I sequenced this one with a bit more flow in mind. It unfolds slowly, opening in a reflective mood, stretching out with some warm, upbeat springtime jams in the middle, and closing in with some more meditative grooves.

Highlights include:

• Timmy Thomas’ Why Can’t We Live Together, a timely message of peace and unity that still feels ahead of its time

• Some beautiful Ethio-jazz and global cuts from Admas, Les Frères Diabaté, and Charif Megarbane

• And some deep, late night gems from White Elephant, Pender Street Steppers, and John Carroll Kirby that really lock into the mood of the playlist

As always, my hope with these is that you find something that resonates and sends you off digging a little deeper. A lot of these tracks come from records that are worth spending more time with, so if something catches your ear, follow it.

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White Elephant – World Elephant Day

Genre: Balearic, Disco, Krautrock

White Elephant is a trio formed by Jim Baron and Chris Todd of Crazy P, and Ben Smith of Smith & Mudd (two great bands worth checking out if you haven’t heard them already). Their debut album, World Elephant Day, was recorded over the course of a decade, and you can hear the patience in how naturally it moves between styles, from mellow acoustic numbers to more rhythm-driven, Krautrock and disco-leaning songs. It’s really fun and unpredictable from front to back, and a perfect album to throw on as the weather gets warmer and the days get longer.

ZENA – TEMESGEN

Genre: Ethio-Jazz / Jazz Fusion / Downtempo

London duo ZENA’s debut EP reimagines traditional Ethiopian music through a modern London lens, blending Ethio-jazz with dub, psychedelia, and slow-burning R&B for a sound that’s fluid and completely hypnotic. This one just dropped last Friday, and I’ve had it on loop ever since. Can’t wait to hear more from these guys.

ELUCID & Sebb Bash – I Guess U Had To Be There

Genre: Experimental Hip-Hop

NYC rapper ELUCID and Swiss producer Sebb Bash’s collaborative debut straddles the line between sounding timeless and futuristic. ELUCID’s lyrics are as cryptic as they are captivating and he rides over Sebb Bash’s cinematic beats with precision. This is a dense and experimental hip-hop album with enough groove to make your head bop, and choice guest appearances from artists like Billy Woods and Shabaka Hutchings add enough flavor to make the whole album highly re-playable.

Greg Foat & Sokratis Votskos (w/ The Giorgios Pappas Trio) – Impressions of Samos

Genre: Folk, Jazz

British pianist and composer Greg Foat has always had a knack for cinematic jazz records, and this one feels especially transportive. Written during a trip to the Greek island of Samos where Foat linked up with local players Sokratis Votskos and the Giorgios Pappas Trio, it blends grand piano and synths with traditional Greek instruments and field recordings. The result is an impressive fusion album that should appeal to fans of acts like El Michels Affair and The Heliocentrics. Brilliant stuff.

Cosmique Hypnotique – Cosmique Hypnotique

Genre: Exotica, Psychedelic

A new project led by Michigan multi-instrumentalist Andy Catlin, Cosmique Hypnotique pulls together a loose collective of players who tap into a classic exotica sound and stretch it into something surreal. Vibraphones, bongos, and smoky sax lines drift in and out of hypnotic, slow-motion grooves that play out like an acid trip. It’s the kind of album I’ve been throwing on when I want the world to feel a little softer around the edges.

JJ Whitefield – Exotic Meditations/Sloppy Souls

Genre: Library Music, Soul, Ethio-Jazz

JJ Whitefield’s funk and soul-injected sound has been shifting and evolving since his early days with Poets of Rhythm, and this record feels like like one of his most fully realized solo statements yet. The album is split into two sides, one leaning into globally-tinged grooves with Ethiopian and Middle Eastern influences, the other shifting into slower, more soulful instrumentals. A perfect blend of hard-hitting and head-nodding.

Resavoir – Themes for Dreams

Genre: Ambient / Modern Classical / Jazz

Resavoir is the long-running project of Chicago-based producer and trumpeter Will Miller, whose music often blends jazz, electronic, and orchestral arrangements into something big and beautiful. With Themes for Dreams he strips things back, building around drifting piano lines, trumpet, and soft, layered textures, with no drums to guide the music. It’s lush and mellow but never static, and I keep coming back to it when I want something that helps me slow down and reset.

To kick things off, the first Outer Frequencies Spotlight playlist is a collection of songs built for the kind of mornings where you’re in no rush to get moving.

Maybe it’s a quiet Sunday, maybe the weather is starting to warm up and you’ve got the windows open, or maybe it’s one of those mornings after a big night out and you just need something gentle playing in the background while the coffee kicks in.

That’s the idea behind Slow Mornings, a playlist of mellow songs that ease you into the day without asking too much of you. You’ll hear tracks like “Skylarking” by Bitchin Bajas, “As the World Turns” from Jessica Pratt, a bit of blissful soul courtesy of Lonnie Liston Smith, and some more warm grooves that move like a slowly unfolding morning.

If you’re a paid subscriber, you can find the full Slow Mornings playlist linked below. Put it on, make some coffee or tea, and take your time with it.

If you’re reading this on the free tier, the Outer Frequencies Spotlight playlists are part of the paid subscription along with the monthly Outer Frequencies Radio playlists. They’re a small way for me to share more of what I’m listening to and help support the digging that goes into finding this music in the first place.

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One of the main reasons I started this Substack wasn’t just to recommend music, but to also share the different ways I discover it. Running a record shop means I’m constantly listening and digging, and more often than not it’s a small independent label that puts something unexpected on my radar. A release appears out of nowhere, I press play out of curiosity, and suddenly I can’t stop listening.

That’s exactly how I found Stereophonk.

Marrrtin, who runs the label out of Rennes (France), sent me a message about a Deheb release called Soul Visions. I didn’t know about it, but within minutes I was hooked by its mix of cinematic, Roy Ayers-leaning soul filtered through a hip-hop producer’s ear. I bought a few copies for the shop and they disappeared quickly. That sent me digging through the rest of Stereophonk’s catalog and the deeper I went, the better it got.

Photos: Deheb with a copy of ‘Soul Visions’ (top) and Marrrtin (bottom)

When I spoke with Marrrtin about the label’s origins, he told me Stereophonk is less a traditional imprint and more a loose collective. He grew up in the suburbs of Paris, moved to Rennes in the mid-’90s, and came up through graffiti, DJing and tight creative circles where being independent as fuck wasn’t a slogan but a practical necessity. You pressed your own records because you wanted them to exist. You built your own label to release your friends’ music because no one else was going to do it for you. Stereophonk is a natural extension of that mindset.

The label really began in 2009 when Marrrtin and Deheb were producing tracks for breakdance battles under the name Funky Bijou and used the name Stereophonk to press their own 7-inch. (Those records are still played at battles around the world.) From there, releases grew organically through friendship and word of mouth. Projects by Lord Paramour (Ajax Tow and Marrrtin), Aktshun (Marrrtin and Marotti) and Misha Panfilov’s Estrada Orchestra expanded Stereophonk’s catalogue without diluting its core identity.

There’s also a strong visual language running alongside the music. Marrrtin handles much of the design himself and collaborates with graffiti artists like Chaos, NIHAO and Migwel. Recently he’s been screen printing covers in his own kitchen, introducing small variations so no two copies are exactly the same. It’s tactile and personal. You can feel the human hands behind it.

When I asked Marrrtin what the label specializes in, he said groove. In his world that stretches from soul and jazz to breaks, hip-hop and house. It’s less about genre and more about feeling. If it makes him vibrate, it’s worth pressing to wax.

That variety and curiosity is exactly what I love about Stereophonk. All of the music Marrrtin releases has a timeless quality to it, and it moves freely between genres so it never feels boxed in. Each record feels like the kind of future classic crate diggers will be searching for 20 years from now. And it reminds me why I still get excited when some unexpected music lands in my inbox.

If you like groove-driven records that age well, Stereophonk is definitely a label worth keeping on your radar. If you give their catalog a listen, let me know what stands out to you. I’m curious which records hit the hardest on your end.

Follow Stereophonk: Bandcamp | Instagram | Facebook

Where To Start With Stereophonk

Funky Bijou – “Funky Bijou Anthem”
The song that started it all. A collision of drum breaks, funk basslines, Bollywood samples and live instruments.

Funky Bijou – “Cold Blood”
Jazz-funk built from keyboards, guitar, drums, flute, and bass recorded separately, then assembled into something cohesive and awesome.

Lord Paramour feat. Naufalle Al Wahab – “Agamikal”
Indian samples, psychedelic guitars, and Arabic rap above a groove-heavy foundation.

Hello to all the new subscribers and thanks for being here!

Every month I’ll be pulling together a short list of albums that been on heavy rotation but haven’t shown up on Instagram or on the shop shelves (yet). This first group is full of some absolute gems I’m excited to share with you. Hopefully there’s something here you haven’t heard yet. Dive in and let me know what you think!

Natural Magic – II

Genre: Krautrock, Space/Psych Rock

Portland duo Natural Magic delivered something truly special here, a sprawling road trip of an album that’s euphoric and deep. It was the final record JD Twitch of Optimo Music put into production before his passing, which adds weight, but even without that context the music stands tall. I love how unpredictable it is; just when you think you know where it’s headed, it transforms into something stranger and more beautiful.

Dina Ögon – Människobarn

Genre: Indie Pop, Psych-Folk

On their fourth album, Dina Ögon stretch out into a double LP that feels more personal and emotionally layered than anything they’ve done before. Earlier records showed their influences, but here they sound fully settled into their own voice and the songs hit harder because of it. One of those albums where the whole is greater than any single standout song (although there are plenty of those as well).

Sean Wolcott – Crystal Eyes Stalk at Midnight

Genre: Psychedelic Library, Soundtrack, Experimental Soul

Sean Wolcott doubles down on the immersive musical world he’s been building for years, and this one feels like his most fully realized vision yet. It plays out like a lost Italian horror soundtrack from the ’70s, and the fact that he writes, records, and orchestrates it all himself makes it even more impressive. Definite catnip for beatmakers and sample lovers, if you’re into that kind of thing.

Fabiano do Nascimento & E Ruscha V – Aquáticos

Genre: Brazilian Jazz, Cosmic Fusion

This one feels like pure musical conversation, with Fabiano’s fluid nylon-string guitar weaving effortlessly through Eddie Ruscha’s bubbling synths and ambient-inflected drums. Released via the always brilliant Music From Memory, Aquáticos is a joy from start to finish. One of those albums that makes 40 minutes disappear without you even noticing.

Placid Angles – Canada

Genre: Ambient Techno

Returning to his Placid Angles alias, John Beltran shows us why producers like Four Tet hold his music in such high regard. Inspired by time spent traveling through Canada, this one delivers 11 tracks of emotional dance music filled with tiny details that make it perfect for headphone listening. Highly recommended if you’re into early Jamie xx, Caribou, Bonobo, and the like.

Work Money Death – A Portal To Here

Genre: Spiritual Jazz

Drawing deeply from the legacy of artists like Alice Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders, Work Money Death stretch out across four long-form tracks filled with harps, horns, and rhythm sections that build toward shattering crescendoes. Heavy, heady jazz that’s had me floating on cloud nine lately.

The Olympians – In Search of a Revival

Genre: Cinematic/Instrumental Soul

Ten years after their debut, The Olympians return on Daptone Records with a sweeping, orchestral soul record that feels less like a collection of instrumentals and more like a movie unfolding scene by scene. This one had me hooked from start to finish, a really fun reintroduction from a band that clearly never stopped evolving their sound.

I’m super excited to share the very first Outer Frequencies Radio playlist with you. Setting the tone for what’s to come with this playlist series, this one is a loose, genre-hopping two and a half hour mix of genres and eras. Expect leftfield sounds, cinematic soul, global grooves, spiritual jazz, and more. I sequenced it so the mood shifts throughout, with hazy openers, some late night heat in the middle, and more meditative songs toward the end.

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Hey, thanks for being here!

I’m Dylan, the guy behind Outer Frequencies record shop. As a record store owner and music junkie, I’m listening to all types of music all day, every day. I share a lot of my favorite albums in my record shop and on social media, but I also end up sitting on a lot of gems.

People have been asking where they can find more of what I’m listening to, and Outer Frequencies Radio is my answer to that.

I started this Substack to share more of my favorite finds with people who love discovering music that’s curated by real people instead of algorithms, and in this case... curated by me.

Each month, I’m releasing a fully sequenced Outer Frequencies Radio playlist with two hours of music, programmed start to finish like a radio show, and featuring new releases, deep cuts, and longtime favorites that deserve more attention. Mid-month, I’ll also share a shorter Outer Frequencies Spotlight playlist, a focused listening session built around a specific sound, scene, or idea. (Playlists available on Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal, and YouTube.)

I’ll also be talking about under-the-radar artists, record labels, albums that I’m digging, music discovery resources, and other fun stuff. If you enjoy listening to all types of music from jazz, soul, hip-hop, electronic, rock, pop, and anything in between, this is for you.

Whether you’ve been following Outer Frequencies from the beginning or just stumbled in today, I’m glad you’re here.

✌🏼🛸