Unctuous Mixtape #8, 2026-09-13

Mixtape #8 is dominated by a couple of longer songs, Katie Gately's epic "Pipes" and my favorite Julius Eastman piece.

A bit about Eastman, if you are (understandably) taken aback by its title. He was a contemporary of Philip Glass and Steve Reich, also working out of NYC. But he was militantly black and gay at that time. As hard as it is now to be either of those things, it was even harder back then, especially for someone like Eastman who wielded his identity publicly, with pride. So the names he gave his pieces tended to be confrontational, and this piece especially so.

Eastman died alone and broke with his music repossessed. I hope that his music can be appreciated by more people. This piece in particular is extraordinary.