Holy Ruins

1.The first housecats in ancient Egypt gradually discovered they received more attention from their owners when their meows mimicked a human baby’s cry. Today, birds mimic police sirens and chainsaws, and artificial intelligence is probably harvesting these videos for b-roll footage and ambient soundscapes designed to wake us up at an optimal hour. Someday, we might no longer understand what is echoing what.2.When I was growing up, my mom often told me that perfectionism was my worst trait. I took this as a compliment because I was young and arrogant. Who wouldn’t want to be a perfectionist? Three decades and so many missed opportunities later, I can’t tell you how many times I look up at the ceiling—or wherever my mom’s ghost might be—to tell her she was so damned right.3.There’s a song called “Lali Lale”—upbeat and a little seductive, the singer’s voice autotuned for a hypnotic effect. Although she sings in a language I do not understand, the intent is clear: to speak to the limbic, to make the listener feel cool and sleek. But in the middle of a verse, she breaks into laughter. Her laugh is not calculated or cool; it’s awkward and nervous, the sound of someone breaking character. I like to imagine the moment in the studio when she glances at the faces behind the mixing board to do another take. Instead, they tell her to keep going, keep rolling. So she gets back to the beat, and now the song has become truly alive, a document of the unpredictable, an artifact of the genuinely human.This song is the last track in tonight’s mix, and the laughter at the 28:51 mark is one of my favorite moments in the music I listened to in 2024. Messes and accidents, weird typos and blurts of laughter—these things feel more essential now that everything is increasingly filtered, auto-suggested, and optimized.Embrace the fragment. Cultivate collisions. Bring the residue to the forefront.And residue is how tonight’s broadcast begins: I excavated the vocal dregs from last year’s mixes to usher in one of my favorite songs, Wolfgang Voigt’s off-kilter loop of T. Rex and Roxy Music, which I like to play first thing in the morning and last thing at night. Then I’ve paired Nancy Sinatra with some bass, static, and a kick drum that I scraped out of an old file. The third track is a terribly-named song by a terribly-named band, but the music itself is an ideal way to start the year in easy mode. Love, Inc - Life’s a GasForce Inc, 1996 | MoreNancy Sinatra - Bang Bang (Midnight Radio Static Mix)Japancakes - Handguns & FirearmsBliss Out Vol. 19: Belmondo | Darla, 2002 | MoreChantssss - SwanShyness | Theory Therapy, 2024 | MoreDjNiraha & Lale Pishmari - Lali LaleKorgMusic2024DemoEL​-​HELL​-​EΛ | Heat Crimes, 2024 | MoreThe request lines are open.Enjoy life and get the full Midnight Radio experience delivered directly to your inbox ’round midnight on the 1st and 15th of each month.