Burn Your Hits: Max Einstein

Mattmosphere is the artist I listened to most on SoundCloud this year. I know almost nothing about him. The name itself feels earnestly, maybe even defiantly, uncool (though it can't be that uncool if Mattmosphere lives in Berlin). I came across his work while listening to a syndicated mix from the only other SoundCloud sets I reliably return to, Montagssorbet, which I've written about in past years. This wasn't an algorithmic accident. I followed a thread from one account to another by hand, a small but oddly satisfying act of intention.

With that self-conscious preamble out of the way, here's the truth: Mattmosphere's mixes are the shea butter to my long-gone dreadlocks. I had no business wearing my hair like that, and I have no business listening to something this groovy anymore. Still, at 1 a.m., fried by a coding assignment and out of ideas, I'll put on a set and start dancing like I've dissolved into a crowd. Somehow, it works just as well on bright Sunday mornings, or during family dinners, or whenever you need the room to loosen up a bit. Pick any mix - there will be at least one - and let it run.

Wednesday, December 27, 2023

GL.23.09: Max Einstein

100 SONGS: Aaron Bergstrom

GL.23.01: Ilana Bergstrom

GL.23.02: Curt Trnka

GL.23.03: Marisa Plaice

GL.23.04: Isabel Vermaak

GL.23.05: Raffa Pantaleo

GL.23.06: Erik Kristjanson

GL.23.07: Lukas Brooks

GL.23.08: Jem Stirling

GL.23.09: MAX EINSTEIN

GL.23.10: Tony Schoenberg

GL.23.11: Gina Uriarte

GL.23.12: Ryan Joyce

GL.23.13: Desa Warner

***

Many moons ago, someone who I can’t even recall anymore, tipped me off about a particular SoundCloud account with some very groovy, deep-ish, haus-ish mixes on it. Then, as now, I felt far too uncool for whatever was happening on SoundCloud. But fortunately I dipped my toes anyway and discovered something totally worth my while. And so to this day, I still go to the Laut & Luise account multiple times a month to check on the latest “Montagssorbet” (or, “Monday Sorbet”). To be clear: I am not clued into the German electronic music scene, so I don’t know any of the DJs who are part of this collective I’ve been listening to for years now – but that simply does not matter. The mixes serve as melodic sorbet (i.e., something easy and delicious) designed to transition listener’s into the week’s start. I have reached for it many times throughout this year in particular as an antidote to the Monday blues. And, more saliently, as a companion to those 3am wake sessions on Tuesday mornings when my chronotype or youngest roommate is getting the best of me.

The following are the top 5 Montagssorbet of 2023 in my view. It’s difficult to write about them individually because each is a smorgasbord of sounds and vibes that I’m not fully equipped to remark on.

Laut & Luise · #142: Gina Sabatini - Montagssorbet mit Laut & Luise

Laut & Luise · #138: TASTY aka Schmeckefuchs - Montagssorbet mit Laut & Luise

Laut & Luise · #136: Naroma & Ramona - Montagssorbet mit Laut & Luise

Laut & Luise · #135: Nixe - Montagssorbet mit Laut & Luise

Laut & Luise · #134: Riyoon *live - Montagssorbet mit Laut & Luise

Monday, January 2, 2023

GL.22.15: Max Einstein

100 SONGS: Aaron Bergstrom

GL.22.01: Ilana Bergstrom

GL.22.02: Isabel Vermaak

GL.22.03: Dionicio Solano

GL.22.04: Tony Schoenberg

GL.22.05: Curt Trnka

GL.22.06: Scott Lawson

GL.22.07: Remko Van Knippenberg

GL.22.08: Megan Swidler

GL.22.09: Jem Stirling

GL.22.10: Russell Abdo

GL.22.11: Erik Kristjanson

GL.22.12: Marisa Plaice

GL.22.13: Lukas Brooks

GL.22.14: Quan Nguyen

GL.22.15: MAX EINSTEIN

GL.22.16: Dillon North

GL.22.17: Desa Warner

GL.22.18: Ryan Joyce

GL.22.19: Shay Corbett

***

Listening to music used to be a deliberate act for me. I would reflect on my mood and rack my brain for the right song or album. Well, somewhere between the late aughts and the current moment, that all changed and now I pay an algorithm 10 dollars a month to make those once precious decisions for me. And, If I’m being completely honest, I didn’t even realize how far my capitulation had gone until I got this invite.

Orville Peck - “Dead of Night”

Luckily, I have at least one dear friend who still listens to music on his own volition. He shared this one with me. It’s a country song that actually broke through in a way that virtually none before it had. It’s slow. It’s honest. It’s unambiguous. And, as I will shout out next, it feels a lot like another all-time fav of mine, Nick Cave.

Nick Cave - “Red Right Hand”

Peaky Blinders foisted this one on viewers. The final season was earlier this year and it just strikes such a chord.

William Onyeabor - “Atomic Bomb”

The Spotify algo jammed this one down my throat all year. And why not? It’s both catchy and slightly concerning given other major current events.

Nirvana - “Lake Of Fire”

Gets me every time. Perennial favorite. Even this year, it’s one of the few I actively searched and played on more than a handful of occasions. It’s the guitar. Gotta be the guitar. And the uncertainty of it all.

Steve Giordano (Sr) - “Blues Etiquette”

One of my favorite YouTube channels from this year is Cockpit Casual, which is about “the worldwide adventures of ferry pilots delivering airplanes”. The main guy, Steve, always overlays time lapse footage from the cockpit with music from his father’s jazz group. Great content for bedtime, if you ask me.