I have spent much of this year in ways that are very different than I have in the past. One thing that hasn't changed, though, is that I have spent a good bit of time listening to music. Where I do it has changed -- walking, rather than cycling; at home, rather than at the club. But either way, it has remained constant that bits and pieces of what I listen to have lodged themselves in me.
Over the past few years, I have found myself more aware of the projections that people around me cast on me -- and, occasionally, if I am so lucky, of the projections that I cast on them. I have a mixed relationship with these projections: they often reveal things about me or others that I wouldn't have had access to otherwise, but on the other hand, I sometimes find myself frustrated that what is projected onto me can be so bright as to temporarily blind the reality of who I am.
In each of these yearly mixes, I get to do more of the enjoyment of projecting -- in both directions. Whatever I hear in this mix is probably not entirely what the artists of each song wrote; what I hear reflects me, too. And whatever you hear in this might or might not reflect the moments that made up my year. All three of us -- the original artists, me, and you -- get to be in it together, though, whether we like it or not. With some luck, we'll each find something new in ourselves, and maybe even in each other.
Please find below the soundtrack to my 2024.
This mix was cut together and edited using Ableton Live. I used to say how long it took me to put all the pieces together, but the answer is basically "this is why I'm not a DJ in a club".
This year, I experimentally wrote a script to generate a bunch of these files. I'm not sure if it actually saved me time or not, but hopefully it should stop me from making more stupid cut-and-paste errors next year. If you want it, here's the source: mixgen.py (driver to generate the things); info.py (descriptor for this year in particular); index.html.tpl; readme.tpl.
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