Kim Gordon Type Beat
Kool Things live forever.
A recent headline has been making the rounds…
Don’t know / believe / care if our dude is being fully honest about his cultural diet (let’s table any larger AI concerns for now), but in one respect, I feel him:
“I just wanted to sit in a room and do anything I could to understand my own imagination with no dilution… for me it’s just following the progression of my own curiosity. We should also be asking if there is a way to have fun again, is there a way of not knowing the rules and what you’re capable of, is there something that hasn’t been done, is there a sound or an image or a moment to discover. My interest comes from not knowing and feeling like there’s something new to find or create.”
This is the energy I get from Kim Gordon’s music in 2026.
Since they were literal twentysomethings, the chief descriptor for Sonic Youth (and Kim in particular) was eternally cool.
Harmony directed a video for ‘em btw. Starring Kevin McCallister!
I’m looking forward to the Plunderphonics mix of 1995’s “The Diamond Sea” and will be first in line to watch Tamra Davis’ Sundance doc The Best Summer, featuring intimate onstage / backstage footage of the band at that year’s Summersault festival alongside the Beasties, Pavement, Bikini Kill and other ringer tee enthusiasts.
But I am infinitely more excited that at seventy-two (!!!) KG is not cashing in on old vibes but sounding dynamic as ever over Playboy Carti type beats, consistently discovering new ways to be distorted and alive.
New ways!
Up to you if the future will be scary or exciting — it’s allowed to be both — but either way, it is inevitable.
“Time, turning, over and over…”
The animating principle of this Substack is to share Nick favs of every vintage. Rocket Rese’s gabber drill (lol) played immediately after Kim’s “DIRTY TECH” in my Watch Later queue and all I could do was headbang with enthusiasm.
I used to bristle at the concept that your musical taste gets frozen in high school. But after years of losing hair research I have realized it is extremely accurate, and feel lucky that as a teenager all I ever wanted to do was dig voraciously for sounds (and everything else) that felt fresh and exciting to me.
Aging is a privilege and keeping a young heart is the best way to honor it.
Karri, “Go” + Renz, “Get Loose” — speaking of olds, as a hyphy veteran (all gave some, some went dumb) I enjoy hearing decades-old Bay Area beats updated with an R&B flair. Yes, blend tapes and the Bad Boy / JD / Trackmasters formula have been around forever, I still love ‘em! While we’re here, shout out Jill Scott’s jazzy “What Happened To That Boy” flip, guaranteed to lean ya man (whoa).
MoMA Ready, A Mixtape (nothing but Hot97 reworks, junglist “All For The Love” makes me wanna bench press an Acura Legend)
Knocked Loose ft. Denzel Curry, “Hive Mind” (perfect down to the KoЯn tone)
The Cords, S/T (Scottish jangle!)
Raq Baby, “WDH You Been Doin” (ayy Flawed Mangoes sample)
Chris Crack, Too Late To Start Following The Rules Now (Madlib, Bruiser Wolf, Hudmo, Frank Dorrey, Fooooooool’s Gooooooold)
Neutrino Labs Mini Sonidero — ¡Qué padre! Between this and the Teenage Engineering dancehall box, a banner year for international reverbs.
Interview with DTV action king Jesse V. Johnson (geezer teaser adjacent)
Young Collectors Are Buying Up Chipotle Chairs (guac extra)
Playlists updated!