Lately, I’ve been hearing a lot of nods to 1990s dance music in contemporary productions, which is why I dug up some tunes from the era for the July edition of the Beatique mix. It has nothing to do with nostalgia- a word that gets thrown around online so often that no one even knows what it means anymore- I’m just drawing connections between the past and the present. The full breakdown of the set is below, but this month’s mix includes new music from Mouse and Mars and Lee “Scratch” Perry, Tomora, Olof Dreijer and Matias Aguayo, throwbacks from De la Soul and The Prodigy and lots more. Oh, and there’s a new Madonna song, way at the end of the mix.
For the June Beatique mix, I decided that I would just play music for an hour or so and post the results whether or not I flubbed any airbreaks or mixes. The whole point of that is that I think it’s really important to keep the imperfections as a sign that there’s a real person making stuff for no real reason other than to just do it. We’ve been in this creepy, brand-centric cycle of culture for so long, where everything we share is supposed to function as a commercial for the next hustle, and it’s really easy to forget that we should do things just for the hell of it. DJing is my job- or, one of my jobs- but I also listen to a lot music because I like it. And sometimes I work out sets at home because I want to know how to songs fit together. It’s kind of practice, but it’s also just kind of how my brain has worked since before I realized that DJing was a job that I could do.
Even though this was made on the fly, there’s a flow to it. A lot of the songs relate to each other in ways that won’t make much sense to anyone who isn’t me. The first part is mostly related to stories I recently wrote or am in the middle of writing. The second half is club stuff, although not all of the songs have made it into my club sets yet. None of them are transitions that I’ve practiced prior to recording this. I’m just kind of figuring them out here. (The Angelé/Justice song and the Slayyyter one I played in reverse order the previous night and, tbh, I prefer that flow.) This is all background stuff that nobody really cares about, but, whatever. We’re living in the dead internet era and I have no illusions that anyone is actually reading or listening. But, because it helps me think things through, I made an annotated set list with links back to references.
The May, 2026 edition of Beatique is up on Mixcloud right now and I hope you’ll give it a listen. This month’s set includes a few current club hits from the likes of Sextile, Fcukers and Alice Glass, an electroclash throwback and a big ol’ ‘90s club banger. There are also a couple 1960s/early ‘70s jams and new tunes from Tomora, Kneecap, Fontaines D.C. and more.
The April 2026 edition of Beatique is now live on Mixcloud. This month’s installment features new music from Slayyyter and Kneecap, throwbacks from Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Armand Van Helden, plus lots more. If you want the whole tracklisting, you have to listen, but there are links to posts related to the songs and/or artists at the bottom of this post.
The March, 2026 edition of Beatique is ready for you now. Head over to Mixcloud, or tune into the embed here, for an hour and five minutes of music that includes The Smiths, Peaches, Charli XCX, Godspeed You! Black Emperor and lots more. You’ll have to listen for the full track list, but I’ve linked to related articles here, including interviews with some of the artists featured in this episode.
It’s time for the February edition of Beatique, which is now up on Mixcloud and embedded here. Again, I’m not posting the full set list because some things should be a surprise, but it does include a couple new songs that I want to mention. Last week, ADULT. released “No One Is Coming,” the lead single from their forthcoming album, Kissing Luck Goodbye. There is so much tension packed into this song that it feels like being trapped inside a nightmare, which is probably also a good description America right now too. I have a feeling that’s the point. Also last week, Kneecap dropped “Liars Tale,” the first song from their next album, Fenian. It’s dark and it’s brutal and I love it. Between ADULT. and Kneecap, I think my rage soundtrack will be covered this spring.
L.A. River after the rain. January 1, 2026 (Pic: Liz O.)
As usual, one of my New Year resolutions was to spend less time scrolling. And, also as usual, I failed sometime during the morning of January 1. By lunch, I was still in my pajamas, sitting on the sofa with my eyes darting back and forth between devices. On my phone, I tapped through the New Year’s Eve stories of virtually everyone I know. On my laptop, I hate read an op-ed in the billionaire-owned L.A. Times about why taxing the rich is bad and felt no remorse for using a paywall remover to do it. And I did all this while watching the Rose Parade, plus an hour’s worth of cartoons. Then I figured I should cosplay an adult, so I put on real world clothes, sat back on the couch and watched General Hospital. It was a repeat of the final episode with Luke Spencer played in memory of the actor Anthony Geary, who recently died, so I kind of had to watch it.
Heaven 17 “(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang”
Over the weekend, I realized that it’s been a few months since I made a mix, so this is a quick set with some dance tunes and some rock tunes. It’s mostly new music, but I threw in a couple oldies that fit my mood. There’s no real adherence to genre because that’s not how I listen to music at home. All of the artist names on the set list below link to where they’ve been previously mentioned on Beatique.
Ora the Molecule live at El Cid in Silver Lake on May 15, 2025 was an inspiration for the first half of this set. (Pic: Liz O.)
Earlier this month, I caught Ora the Molecule play at El Cid in Silver Lake. It was such a fun show. The crowd grooved throughout the duration of her set and, by the end, had formed a conga line that snaked around the small dance floor. Ora the Molecule is Norwegian DJ Nora Schielderup’s Italo disco alter, a theremin-playing intergalactic Raffaella Carrà whose songs are simultaneously cheeky and sincere. My favorite off her latest album, Dance Therapy, is “Nobody Cares,” a sentiment I find more liberating than depressing.
The 110 freeway in L.A. as seen from a Metro J Line stop (Pic: Liz O.)
It’s time for another Beatique Mix. The April 2025 edition of this mix series includes new music from Mark Lane, Night Ritualz, Marie Davidson, Model/Actriz, The Horrors, French Police and more. It also includes a few classic cuts from the likes of Kittin and the Hacker, Joy Division and others.
One thing that I want to stress is that these aren’t club mixes, even if they partially sound very clubby. The Beatique Mix series is a reflection of the music that’s been in my head for the past month, regardless of genre or vibe or whatever. For the April mix, specifically, I had transportation in mind, which explains the first three songs, as well as the last one. The photo for this mix is of the 110 freeway as seen from an L.A. Metro J Line stop.
If you want to hear my club sets, then you have to go to the gigs. Click this link to see where I’m playing next.
