Mix 38

For the full setlist visit yeahyal.substack.com

Hi friends, you may have noticed that these monthly episodes, which pine after vintage obsolescence by way of funk, soul, and 80s bleeps and blips, have slowly dwindled to twice-a-year installments (sorry). Basically, it's because I've been waylaid by other projects, and these mixes can take a while to curate. To be honest, Yeahyal 38 was always supposed to be the last one, since I only designed 38 album covers initially (yes, I made the covers first as a fun art project during COVID). The problem is that I have soooooooo many great tracks still queued up that never made it into mixes. Given this, I have decided to eke out enough time for at least one mix (maybe two) a year going forward, so this is not a formal goodbye, just see you in a bit. For newer listeners, I recommend you check old episodes (the benefit of these mixes is that since they consist of mostly older tracks, they have a pretty long shelf-life. For older listeners, I recommend you revisit old episodes too!) So without further ado, here's Episode 38, consisting of 53 songs FULLY MIXED.

This episode’s highlighted track: Track 18

Daniel Avery - Drone Logic

London-based DJ and producer Daniel Avery learned his craft on the dancefloor before he ever set foot in a studio. After playing bass in rock and shoegaze bands as a teenager, he moved to London, took a job handing out flyers at Fabric, and worked his way from warm-up slots to a residency there, releasing remixes under the alias Stopmakingme before switching to his own name in 2012. “Drone Logic” began as a shot in the dark. Working in a studio next door to acid house legend Andrew Weatherall, Avery made the track specifically for Weatherall’s club night, A Love From Outer Space, burned it to a CD, and nervously handed it over. Not surprisingly to me (it’s one of my favorite dance tracks), Weatherall called the next morning to say it had been the biggest track of the night. Built largely on a Korg Mono/Poly synth and drum machines fed through guitar effects pedals, “Drone Logic” is what Avery himself called techno with a shoegaze aesthetic. Over seven minutes, a squelching acid line rides a thudding, hypnotic groove while a then-unknown Kelly Lee Owens (heard on episodes 10, 14, and 27) deadpans “Noise flies high” through the haze. The debt to Underworld is obvious, but “Drone Logic” is too warped and psychedelic to feel like a simple tribute to 90s rave nostalgia than an original outgrowth from its afterglow. Feeding off all the positive response, Avery returned to his shipping-container studio overlooking the Thames to create his 2013 debut album for Erol Alkan’s Phantasy Sound, built around and named after the seminal track.

Bonus attention is also due to “Computer Age,” what sounds like Neil Young’s Daft Punk homage (before Daft Punk actually existed), from his 1982 album Trans. Newly signed to Geffen Records, Young’s vocoder-drenched electronic submissions baffled the label so Geffen sued him for making music “uncharacteristic” of his earlier work. The suit eventually settled, and David Geffen personally apologized. Their loss is our gain: it’s a fantastic track and far from a gimmick. Trans grew out of Young’s efforts to communicate with his young son Ben, who was born with cerebral palsy and relied on digital devices for speech. The robotic vocals capture Young’s realization of the future and his acceptance of the impending ubiquity of computer technology. Also noteworthy are two great demos, one by John Lennon and the other by Cat Stevens.

The setlist:

Artist / Song Name / Album / Year

Will Powers / Adventures In Success / Dancing for Mental Health / 1983

Christabelle & Lindstrøm / Lovesick / Lovesick / 2009

Jill Scott / Norf Side (feat. Tierra Whack) / To Whom This May Concern / 2026

The Pretty Things / The Good Mr. Square / Parachute / 1970

The Pharcyde / Passin’ Me By (Hot Chip Remix Instrumental) / Passin’ Me By / 1998

Fleetwood Mac / Brushes (Never Going Back Again) / Rumours (Deluxe Edition) / 1977

Billy Brooks / Fourty Days / Windows of the Mind / 1974

James Blake / Make Something Up / Trying Times / 2026

L’Impératrice / Parfum thérémine / Odyssée / 2015

MorMor / Don’t Need It / Don’t Need It / 2026

Marlena Shaw / Loving You Was Like a Party / Who Is This Bitch, Anyway? / 1975

Javelin / The Marimba Song / The Marimba Song! / 2013

The Boomtown Rats / Up All Night (Long Version) / Classic Album Selection / 1982

Liesbeth List / Avant Le Jazz / Liesbeth List / 1966

Holy Fuck / Tom Tom / Congrats / 2016

Black Nicholson / Corner Store Cowboy / Corner Store Cowboy / 2021

Ultravox / Vienna / Vienna / 1980

*Daniel Avery / Drone Logic / Drone Logic / 2013

Canned Heat / Goin’ Up the Country / Living the Blues / 1968

Morcheeba / Trigger Hippie / Who Can You Trust? / 1996

Yebba / Yellow Eyes / Jean / 2026

Booker T. & The M.G.’s / Behave Yourself / Green Onions / 1962

Slum Village / Players (Instrumental Mix) / Fantastic, Vol. 2.10 / 2000

S.G. Goodman / Burn Down The City / Old Time Feeling / 2020

The Dream Academy / The Edge of Forever / The Dream Academy / 1985

DJ Vadim / Variations In U.S.S.R. (DJ Krush remix) / U.S.S.R. Reconstruction / 1998

A Certain Ratio / Touch / I’d Like to See You Again / 1982

SKAI ISYOURGOD & AR / Blueprint Supreme / Stacks from All Sides / 2024

The Outlaw Blues Band / Deep Gully / Breaking In / 1969

Kleeer / Intimate Connection / Intimate Connection / 1984

Nabihah Iqbal / This World Couldn’t See Us / DREAMER / 2023

Fred again.., Sammy Virji & Reggie / Talk of the Town / USB / 2022

Frankie Smith / Double Dutch Bus / Children of Tomorrow / 1981

Westbam & Nena / Oldschool, Baby (Piano Mix) / Oldschool, Baby / 2002

Supertramp / Bloody Well Right / Crime of the Century / 1974

Eurythmics / Never Gonna Cry Again / In the Garden / 1981

Little Simz / Two Worlds Apart / Sometimes I Might Be Introvert / 2021

Billy Swan / Don’t Be Cruel / I Can Help / 1974

Cat Stevens / Wild World (Demo Version) / Tea for the Tillerman / 1970

Odetta / Hit or Miss / Odetta Sings / 1970

Björk / Come to Me / Debut / 1993

La Luz / Always in Love / News of the Universe / 2024

Drinking / Electricity / Breakout Singles - EP / 1982

Neil Young / Computer Age / Trans / 1982

Homeboy Sandman & Illingsworth / I’ll Show You / Dancing Tree - EP / 2025

Jacuzzi Boys / Glazin’ / Glazin’ / 2011

Testcard F. / Bandwagon Tango / Bandwagon Tango 7” / 1982

Bô’vel / Best Thing / Changes / 2024

Harold Budd / The Serpent (In Quicksilver) / The Serpent (In Quicksilver) - EP / 1981

Peter Gabriel / Mercy Street / So / 1986

Ethel Cain / Gibson Girl / Preacher’s Daughter / 2022

John Lennon / God (Demo Version) / Wonsaponatime / 1970

Max Richter, Louisa Fuller, Natalia Bonner, John Metcalfe, Philip Sheppard & Chris Worsey / On The Nature Of Daylight / The Blue Notebooks (15 Years) / 2004

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Mix also available on Soundcloud.