The Studio of Gratifying Discourse

C. says it’s better to make tacos at home because we know what’s in them. But I think it’s the not-knowing that makes Taco Bell the spiritual choice. Read the full episode.

Tonight's selections gratify me because they aim straight for the pleasure centers and risk looking foolish (especially the Orbital track, even though I slowed it down 220%). Yet they also retain some mystery, perhaps even to themselves, chanting and humming until language becomes a garbled holy tone—from the climactic minute of the xx's "Intro" to a loopy Enya edit to a Byzantine hymn from Father Dionysios Tabakis, a 52-year-old priest who dropped one of my favorite albums of the year via the crucial Heat Crimes imprint.

Thank you for listening. (And thank you to Martin Essig for encouraging me to read Simon Critchley and Byung-Chul Han.)

1. The xx - Intro
   xx • XL Recordings, 2005 • Bandcamp
2. Walls - Sunporch (Holy Other Mix)
   Coracle Remixes • Kompakt, 2012 • Bandcamp
3. Seraphim - A3
   London Is Tired of Me • Lost Domain, 2026 • Boomkat
4. Death in Vegas - Girls
   Scorpio Rising • Sanctuary Records, 2002
5. Frederic D Oberland & Radwan Ghazi - Squeal of Swine
   Eternal Life No End ليلة ظلماء ملعونة، كحياة طالبيها • Constellation, 2026 • Bandcamp
6. Enya - Afer Ventus (DNTEL Remix)
   Enya Mixes • 2010 • Boomkat
7. Tears for Fears - Mad World (Midnight Radio Mix)
   The Hurting • 1982
8. Walls - Burnt Sienna
   Walls • Kompakt, 2010 • Bandcamp
9. Father Dionysios Tabakis - ΑΝΑΡΧΟΣ ΘΕΟΣ Βυζαντινά Κάλαντα των Χριστουγέννων σε α΄ήχο
   Paradise Metal • Heat Crimes, 2026 • Boomkat
10. Placid Angles - Saint Anne
    Canada • Oathcreations, 2026 • Bandcamp
11. Orbital - Halcyon and On and On (Midnight Radio Mix)
    Radiccio • 1993 • Bandcamp

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