This mixtape is about that warm glowing feeling you get when you dream about the right path in life. You see it materializing before you, and although it isn’t real yet, you’re filled with the light of understanding.

After this kind of dream, you wake with a newfound sense of purpose and optimism.

Tracklist appears as the songs play, and at the bottom of this post.

Download mp3 version here.

The Japanese term Kenshō conveys this idea well. The word is composed of two parts: Ken means “seeing,” and shō means “nature, essence”. It describes an initial awakening on the path to Buddhahood, full enlightenment. The hope is that this moment is followed by further training to deepen the insight, learning to express it in daily life.

This is kind of what I was thinking about while mixing. I decided to call it Luminous Path.

This might be my most out-there mixtape, in terms of genre and sound, but it’s the easiest so far to glide right into. I wanted to carve out an hour of music that flowed like a single mutable jazz tune, fluctuating rhythm and texture while maintaining a focused mood.

The idea began when I paired a clip from Miles Davis’ In a Silent Way with a brand new song called Miyazaki, from this year’s The Sound of Glades, by Wolf Müller and Cass. This lush, dreamy, but grounded aesthetic appeared to me, as natural as a walk in the forest. I needed to piece it together.

I also needed more emotional directness than my last few mixes have shown, so I placed four very special vocal tracks at important points along the way. While my mixtapes always try to tell some vague idea of a story, this time the narrative feels more explicit.

The only other making-of context I can offer is what I said to a friend a few days later. I said, “I‘m trying to contextualize some of the jazz that leads me into modern stuff like techno, balearic, and vaporwave.” I’m not sure if that means anything with regards to the final product, but I wrote it down at the time.

The title, I should note, is also a reference to a moment in maybe my favorite video game of all time, 2000’s original Deus Ex.

This mixtape is kind of, sort of the third part of a loose trilogy of albums I’ve made in the summer of 2016. First was June’s Ballroom. Then came Ghost Drive in July. There’s no direct connection beyond a similar headspace I’ve been in since the warmth came back. I think they’re the three best mixtapes I’ve made so far.

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Listen to the sound of the earth turning.

– Yoko Ono, 1963

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If you want to go in blind, that’s cool. If you want to know the full tracklist ahead of time, that’s cool too. It appears below.

01. Weather Report – Milky Way [edit]
02. Bows – Blush
03. Yo La Tengo – Sea Urchins [edit]
04. Susumu Yokota – Tobiume
05. Sade – War of the Hearts
06. Laraaji – Meditation no. 2 [edit 1]
07. Miles Davis – In A Silent Way [edit]
08. Wolf Muller & Cass – Miyazaki
09. Björk – All Neon Like
10. 2814 – Guided By Love [edit]
11. Floating Points – Argenté
12. Carl Craig – At Les
13. FKA Twigs – Water Me
14. Laraaji – Meditation no. 2 [edit 2]
15. Dif Juz – Soarn

I hope you enjoy this mixtape. Thanks for listening.