Hey City Zen!

2025 was not much different in showing how crappy and hypocritical our western governments are. The only ray of sunshine, politically, was the election of Zohran Mamdani. Still, it was a good year for work, with important awards and most of all doing fun research. Too busy for my own good, and so I want to spend more time with friends and family in 2026.  I continued to DJ #happymusic at Roterdão Clube in Lisbon's Pink Street. 

Labels: #2025, #BestOf, #DJ, #Music

2024 revealed how crappy and hypocritical our western governments are. War crimes of the worst kind made it hard to engage with anything else. Despite that sorrow, it was a good year for work, full of fun travel for work and with friends and family.  I also continued to DJ #happymusic at Roterdão Clube in Lisbon's Pink Street. Every year is a great year for music, with such amazing tracks, even if perhaps fewer great albums. I am sure I missed really excellent stuff, but here is the best City Zen of the year that made my radar. Top 40 Albums (plus a few collections), Top 100 Tracks, Top 20 Remixes/Edits (from E-Trash's DJ sets). The top tracks and remixes are assembled in a Spotify List as well.

Labels: #2024, #BestOf, #DJ, #Lists, #Music, #YearEnd

New DJ set thinking of raving bodies under the techno or house disco ball. I have dropped all these tracks one way or another in my live DJ sets in the last 6 months or so. Tracklist and podcast below. Slippy Body is also available on E-Trash's site (Username: apollo, Password: feelingfree).

Labels: #BaileFunk, #Bass, #DJ, #DJSet, #House, #Music, #Techno

2023 was another hardworking year, full of fun travel  for work and with friends and family. Unfortunately, war, horrible World leaders and nationalism made it particularly sad and dangerous! Despite it all,  I continued to DJ #happymusic to full clubs again. Every year is a great year for music, with such amazing tracks, even if perhaps fewer great albums. I am sure I missed really excellent stuff, but here is the best City Zen of the year that made my radar. Top 40 Albums (plus a few live collections), Top 100 Tracks, Top 20 Remixes/Edits (from E-Trash's DJ sets). The top tracks and remixes are assembled in a Spotify List as well.

Labels: #2023, #BestOf, #DJ, #Lists, #Music, #YearEnd

I really loved going back to live DJing in 2022, mostly at Roterdão Club in Lisbon's Pink Street. Here is a mix of various bits from those sets I collected the bits most inspired --- but not exclusively --- by 80s electro-disco from New York City. Tracklist and podcast below. What a Street Feeling! is also available on E-Trash's site (Username: apollo, Password: feelingfree).

Labels: #80s, #Disco, #DJ, #Electro, #Funk, #House, #Music, #NYC

2022 was a hardworking year, though full of fun travel and reconnection with friends and family---thank you vaccines! I was particularly delighted to get back to DJing to full clubs again. Every year is a great year for music, with such amazing tracks, even if perhaps fewer great albums. I am sure I missed really excellent stuff, but here is the best City Zen of the year that made my radar. Top 40 Albums (including soundtracks and live collections), Top 100 Tracks, Top 20 Remixes/Edits (from E-Trash's DJ sets). The top tracks and remixes are assembled in a Spotify List as well.

Labels: #2022, #BestOf, #DJ, #Lists, #Music, #YearEnd

Muito se tem falado sobre os Coldplay ultimamente. Desconfio muito dos que menosprezam o valor da banda porque "homens do rock" têm sempre muita dificuldade em aceitar as bandas bonitinhas, especialmente as lideradas por homens atraentes---talvez até porque sintam essa atração de forma homofóbica. É interessante depois ver e ler algumas mulheres seguir esse preconceito para serem parte da intelligentsia cultural, mas isso é outro assunto. Isto foi visto no ódio racista e homofóbico dos roqueiros ao disco nos anos 70 e 80. Mas o maior paralelo com os Coldplay são os Duran Duran nos anos 80 (e até Bowie anteriormente). Raro era então o homem que assumia gostar---e mulher quer quisesse ser parte da intelligentsia do "sete" e "Blitz" também. Era pop plástica maquilhada, e o verdadeiro artista queria-se grunge e feio, tais Jaques Brels recusando falar com o "maricas" do Bowie. Mas hoje quando passo música deles, o pessoal mais velho que na altura supostamente detestava, salta todo para a pista, hungry like the wolf, como se fosse a música da vida deles. O importante é viver la vida e gostar sem preconceitos. Não gosto de tudo dos Coldplay, mas não duvido que marcam imenso o presente e que quem desdenha agora, um dia vai ouvir com nostalgia.

Labels: #Music

I had forgotten to post this live set, which I did in December in Madrid for the cocktail reception at the Complex Networks 2021 conference. It goes from Deodato's Jazzy/Groovy take on Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra to techno (the set went on to a few more techno tracks ommitted here), but strongly grounded on Disco/Funk/EuroDisco. Tracklist below. Also Sprach the Jam is available on E-Trash's site (Username: apollo, Password: feelingfree).

Labels: #Disco, #DJ, #Eurodisco, #Funk, #Jazz, #Music, #Techno

2021 was a year full of personal change. Despite the pandemic, it was really a very good year personally. I switched jobs, with awesome conditions and some of our work was published in great venues. It does feel good to have your work appreciated!  It was also a great year for music and I even got to DJ again a little. I am sure I missed really excellent stuff, but here is the best City Zen of the year that made my radar. Top 40 Albums, Top 110 Tracks, Top 30 Remixes/Edits (from E-Trash's DJ sets),  Live albums and EPs. The top tracks and remixes are assembled in a Spotify List as well.

Labels: #2021, #BestOf, #Music

So here is another DJ set I played live on twitch on February 21, 2021. This was a Sunday lounge set, a mood driven by euro soundscapes, from Space to Italo Disco and French touch, but also House music and very much still on the groovy side of things. Somehow the imagery from Roberto Rossellini's L'Amore with Anna Magnani and Federico Fellini fits. Again, sort of like a first set at the Riot Bootique, at least up to my mash-up of Digitalism with ABC; it windsdown into eurotarsh land from there for the end of the night :) Hopefully, at some point DJ Angst and E-Trash, will return to our cybernetic DJing whenever possible. Tracklist and podcast below. Lumière D'Amore is also available on E-Trash's site (Username: apollo, Password: feelingfree).

Labels: #DJ, #House, #ItaloDisco, #Music, #SpaceDisco