Sam Valenti IV

Herb Sundays 185: Fire-Toolz (@fire_toolz ) art by @michaelcina . photo by @alexavisciusphoto . Link in bio to playlist. “I included a small handful of my projects (FT, Nonlocal Forecast, MindSpring Memories, and World Of White Ice), and the rest is other stuff. These songs regulate me, and don't demand some huge reaction. I suppose the huge reaction is internal, because they are all very emotionally gripping for me. They aren't background music or anything disposable. They are plenty engaging, but somehow not invasive. Even the White Suns track...it might be one of their most restrained songs. Then again, the Work Of Art track is super lively and makes a big impression. I suppose it's all more emotionally absorbable than a lot of other mixes I make. The point of it is to prevent destabilization, even if it feels sad or hyper-joyous... The John Martyn song is both heartbreaking and healing. The Christopher Cross song is just as whimsical as it is nostalgic. But it still makes me want to sit in a chair and take it in, rather than dancing like Chris probably intended. Lastly, it sure is hard to find my favorite noise & experimental releases on streaming platforms, or else I would've included more of it. Just imagine I added like 3 full Stare Case (Nate & John of Wolf Eyes) cassettes at the end of this, and then maybe a live Iasos set that no one filmed and has been lost to time." - @fire_toolz for @herbsundays

Herb Sundays 184: Elori Saxl (@elorisaxl ) The composer/producer, in a minimalist storm across the globe, chases Sunday Scaries away. Art by @michaelcina . Link to playlist in bio. "It’s a wide mix of things I’ve been listening to lately with emphasis on the “Sunday” theme. My whole life even as a kid, Sundays have often come with a hefty dose of the blues, so for me Sunday music is stuff that can keep me company and keep the blues at bay. Most of the time these days I’m listening to pop and dancier stuff, but I find Sunday music can’t be too up otherwise it tends to have a reverse effect on me. This is a mix of different stuff that can clear the feeling with the occasional moment of giving in. It starts with Yusef Lateef and ends with Cashmere Cat and Kehlani and I hope follows a logical flow." - @elorisaxl for @herbsundays

Always Now: Ambient Gravitas - A Herb Sundays' Sunday Edition for Peter Saville Link to playlist@and full post in bio. Art by @adamvillacin for @herbsundays . Photos: @wolfgangstahr , @kcmanc , Movement poster photo from the studio of @trevorjacksonofficial by me. Mail @petersavillearchival <[email protected]> Thu, Feb 5, 12:24 PM Dear Sam, I’m writing upon behalf of Peter. Apologies for the delay we’re very busy. Over several years working with Peter the only thing I have heard playing during the week is ancient choral music, Peter refers to it as ‘ambient gravitas’. I suggest you select from any of the following enclosed in the PDF. Warmest regards, Tom. 🏭 This is the story of a Herb that didn’t fully happen (see my KLF, James Lavelle, and Insane Clown Posse ones too, half efforts). I attempted, on and off, for a couple of years to reach Peter, but I sort of knew it wouldn’t happen in full; yet one has to try. So we don’t have a true handmade playlist, but at least we now know what echoes through the hallowed work chambers. We can breathe the same air. Saville’s gift to design and to art as a whole is the tangible proof of the word “zeitgeist,” like that Jennings photo of lighting. He has said that finding that word filled him with a kind of relief, that his concerns were not isolated to himself, and that it was indeed a field of study, something of consequence. If taste is no longer about knowing the canon (see my death of canon piece, or Shawn Reynaldo’s better-written one), and ideally not about what you own, it is about a sensitivity or way you move through the world, and how you harness that instinct. For instance, a DJ’s taste is not just in the songs owned or chosen, but knowing when and how to employ them, or in more HBS-friendly terms, c/o Clay Christensen, taste is knowing what is the “job to be done.” A joie de vivre coupled with rigor is the differentiator, which is why Peter Saville is the lodestar of all things taste for me.

Herb Sundays 183: Ronen Givony (@us.v.them.bk ) Playlist via Apple / Spotify at link in bio. Art by @michaelcina On the appointment of his playlist (in celebration of his new book @us.v.them.bk via @abramsbooks ) Ronen says: "I started listening to classical music in earnest in my late twenties. At the time, I was obsessed with concert recordings and bootlegs: the Velvet Underground show where they played “Sister Ray” for 36 minutes, and so on. From reading Allan Kozinn’s book about the classical discography (a lifelong gift you can find used for three dollars), I learned that there were people in the world who cared deeply about the merits of Glenn Gould’s 1955 recording of Bach versus the 1981. I was at home. Especially with classical music, it takes a while to figure out what you like: the composers (Schubert, Schumann, Schoenberg), of course, but also which genres (orchestral, opera, choral, chamber music), and which performer (conductors, ensembles, and soloists). By now, there’s probably a thousand recordings of Beethoven’s piano sonatas, most of them filed unhelpfully under “Classical Serenity” or “Beethoven and Chill.” The tracks are sequenced chronologically, beginning with medieval/early music, and proceeding from baroque to the present, but can of course be listened to in any order. I tried to keep it manageable: 4 hours spanning 800 years. I limited myself to one selection per composer/performer, except where I didn’t. (It could have easily been 30 tracks of Bach, or Haydn, or the Ukrainian pianist Sviatoslav Richter; next time.) Inevitably, there are omissions both glaring (Hildegard, Mahler, Stravinsky) and otherwise. Because it’s what I listen to at home, I chose a lot of solo piano, string quartets, and chamber music, as opposed to symphonies, concertos, etc. “Classical” music is a living art form. (You wouldn’t know this from the orchestras and institutions, most of the time.) The final third or so of this playlist are all contemporary composers, from Julius Eastman to Mica Levi. I hope you find a rabbit hole or two." -Ronen Givony for Herb Sundays

Herb Sundays 182: GRRL (@grrlmusic ) Art by @michaelcina . Link in bio to playlist. The taste discourse has been everywhere: what it is, who has it, etc. But if taste is a muscle to be trained, or maybe better, an enduring marriage of sensitivity and attention, James Mapley-Brittle, project name: GRRL, is a working role model. Across Twitter, Soundcloud, an NTS program (131 shows and counting), and yes, even Tumblr, @GRRLmusic presents less as an explicit critic of music, fashion, games, and design, instead, as a living RSS feed of related punchy, “buglike” (maybe their highest compliment), and colorful links meant for a feast. As social media’s perceived value wanes, feeds like GRRL feel vital, a worthy force of dopamine collection as a positive signal for new art, or another log on the prayer fire, reflecting a radical, almost pathological quest for inspiration, metabolizing the now through an instinctive radar. If Herb is about folks doing compelling things in the arts and what makes them tick, the GRRL accounts are a feat in themselves, but there is plenty more to discuss. “This playlist is a collection of records (that I love) that influenced my new album Beetle, and a bunch of music I kept listening and returning to while making it.” -GRRL for Herb Sundays

Herb Sundays 181: Carrier (@c_a_r_r_i_e_r_ ) Playlist: Apple Music / Spotify at link in bio. Art by @michaelcina On "unresolved" music; or, The many lives of Guy Brewer reminds us to keep evolving. Techno, in both in lightweight and discrete ambient modes (like this week’s Carrier project, though it is decidedly not Capital-T techno), and even some of the doofier bits (Jeff Mills at Knockdown Center the other week satisfied) have become even more of a pillar for me in recent years. The reasons for which are unclear, possibly nostalgia and for other reasons not particularly brainy, but maybe it’s because as youthful vigor and belief fade, in exchange for more rewarding, hard won knowledge working as on OS, there is a meaning gap in some ways, like changing fuel sources from diesel to something else, yet undecided. Carrier’s 2025 debut on @boomkatonline adjacent label @ourmodernlove , an imprint that trades in brutalist and stoic electronics from folks like Andy Stott, Jonnine Standish (Herb 30), and others, was a direct hit on the zeitgeist of all things dubby and austere in a decade that has seen the exhuming of Dub Techno, the Mille Plateaux label’s molecular rhythmic works including, and perhaps a yearning for the clean ship drum & bass aesthetics of artists like @photek , a sound both alien and deeply sincere (a Modus Operandi remix or remaster was teased just yesterday). The minute I heard the music of Carrier (born Guy Brewer) about a year back exactly (I was already late to the game…herb!), it was like a cold milky bath of vacuum-pak’d bliss, the way the drums dotted your thoughts with no resolution aka truly destination: nowhere music. I’d call it “liminal” if that wasn’t sort of overplied word, what on the eve of an A24-funded Backrooms film and all, but it’s not totally out of place. Uncertain times demand as much.

Herb Sundays 180: Michael Cina 101 Playlist (Apple / Spotify) and art by @michaelcina In advance of his talk at @walkerartcenter , as part of their famed Insights lecture series this week, I asked Michael Cina for a more definitive playlist from his life so far. Cina (yes, “chee-na”) is, of course, the artist/designer whose images enliven @herbsundays each week, but it’s but a small fraction of his work, a footnote really of a vast career of exploration that continues forth. "Any list is a lie. A “101” of songs cannot hold a lifetime of listening and deserves infinite space. This list contains endless omissions that bother me, imbalances I don’t have time to fix, entire worlds that didn’t make it in. What I’ve come to believe is that what you seek, and what you find, is a foggy glimpse of who you actually are. Every record, a form of self-construction, a collaged self-portrait made of other people’s expressions. I caught the bug young and in high school I was sneaking records into the house because I had “too many.” At the peak I owned well over 15,000, constantly selling parts off and letting new things in. My collections are living, an ever-changing stream, not a monument. It moves because you change and prune. Music is the highest art, going beyond where words and images can reach. It physically finds emotions you didn’t have language for and gives it a home. It locates truths. Music is present at every significant human moment, grief, joy, anger, love… sometimes capturing the future and often reflecting the past. This list runs that gamut and doesn’t even scratch the surface. Some of these artists I found by exploring their entire catalog, side projects, session credits. Some found through friends with the same affliction, sharing. Some found me exactly at the right moment, its own kind of apparition. Ultimately this is a self-portrait, possibly a mere projection. I know it holds past selves, old friends, moments of joy and loss, stories for days. The omissions are part of it too. Music gave me a way to know myself. Maybe this will find something for you."

Herb Sundays 179: John Beltran / Placid Angles (@johnbeltranmusic ) Playlist: Apple Music / Spotify at link in bio Art by @michaelcina The oeuvre of John Beltran is miles wide, though he takes up precious little space on the usual lists or amongst the Techno gossip mill. Music career bios usually focus on highlights and lowlights, both semi-real (charts, awards) and imagined (personal calamities, etc.), but increasingly the sign of success is in the doing, the endurance of it all. Seeing Alex Katz’s late career retrospective at the Guggenheim in 2023, or any major show in that space, brings this fact home. As the circular path winds upwards towards its inevitable end, it reminds you that most art careers are not wild shots at the cosmos; instead, they are iterative quests, more Jiro Dreams Of Sushi (2011) than The Eras Tour (2023-2024), or an asymptote of a deepening sensitivity. Even when skills/eyesight/ears begin to fail, which happens often on that path, that psychic intensity is still present. There is no arrival, only refinement. 30 years on from the landmark Ten Days Of Blue album, his Placid Angles alias has returned with a bang and his admirers are many: @malib9 (Herb 82), who he’s remixed; @insignificantfunds (a collaborator); @oneohtrixpointnever , and fellow arpeggio lover @stevehauschildt come to mind from the jump. Indeed, Beltrain is lumped in as Detroit Techno as he should be, and his finest moments are indeed heavy enough for the club, but instead emulate the lonely “night drive” spirit of Detroit or the music for an aimless sensory quest, a restless soundtrack for the inner life.

The Sound Of: Ghostly International, mixed by Michna 👻 Pinning down the sound of Ghostly International’s is an almost impossible task, with a sprawling catalogue spanning blissed-out ambient and lo-fi folk, through experimental hip-hop and post-punk, to heads-down house, techno and all manner of spaces in-between and beyond. But, as founder Sam Valenti IV explains, it all just comes down to its no-rules approach, and an openness to change. It’s an ethos that’s rooted in his formative experiences in ’90s Detroit, and one that’s endured to make Ghostly one of the 21st century’s most trusted imprints. Here, alongside a mix recorded by label affiliate Michna, Valenti shares its story. ✍️ @mmckwrites

Herb Sundays 178: Patrick Holland (@ppatrickholland ) Link in bio to playlist. Art by @michaelcina (photo from Vista Magazine Brazil, #42 design by Frederico Antunes) smoke photo by @kyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyle One of Canada's go-to musicians/proudcers and @jumpsource co-captain with the skateboarding video soundtracks (1999-2005) that shaped him. With bonus skate vid commentary from @ian.michna (@jenkemmag ) and @dietznutz . My friend @ian.michna of @jenkemmag says on the subject: "The impact of pairing great skateboarding and a musical act cannot be understated. Entire generations of skaters have become lifelong fans of @dinosaurjr , @cassmccombs , Del, and many, many more as a result of watching short skate parts. Parts which are usually only 2 and 3 minutes long." I’ve been a fan of Patrick’s work since it bubbled up in the mid-’10s, an exciting moment for more homespun, melodic electronic music. His structured pop qualities (not unlike his friends and collaborators in @tttopsss ) often belie a deeper pathos and feeling in his music. @jumpsource , one of the finer duos in electronic, composed of Holland and Francis Latreille (aka @priori_tize , co-founder of @anaffisanaff ) have a new album coming so was happy to hand Holland the aux: “During the early aughts almost all of my music discovery came from skate vids, more so than I’d remembered. Bingeing these tapes and dvds was sometimes the only way to hear the music, unless they properly credited the tracks and I was able to download them on limewire or kazaa. I forgot how much I associated certain songs with specific tricks/shots/skaters, but years later – building this playlist out – it all comes rushing back. Some songs I wasn’t able to track down back then, and am only realizing now that I was listening to Autechre in the intro of “One Step Beyond” or Arthur Russell in the pool section of “Chichagof." It all makes sense why they seemed familiar years later."

Herb Sundays 177: IDM by @ramonpang A @herbsundays ™️ genre study - The sound that never wanted a name has had an unexpected resurgence and a very vocal fan/purveyor "reclaims being an IDM Guy" and helps us round up the sound. While the origins of IDM (Intelligent Dance Music, ahem) lie in ‘90s post-Rave Bleep (see Warp’s Artificial Intelligence compilations) with other loom threads like Ambient and Detroit Techno, it’s mainstream moment was modest, namely the 1999 Aphex Twin single “Windowlicker” charting in the UK and major label album trysts by Radiohead and Bjork, Kid A (Parlophone 2000) and Vespertine (Elektra, 2001), respectively. The genre name hasn’t been a going concern for some time, and has been shunned, but its sonic imprint and blissful isolationist energy have endured. The best IDM music historically sounds like a dark night of the soul: Solitary, moody, working through things. It’s a bit churchy, with an arch energy. IDM finds pleasure in the detritus of the age (the “glitch” or sound of a CD skip is its Fender Rhodes) that takes on a near-spiritual quality. But it is also tender and funny: see @sqpusher 's album Hard Normal Daddy (1997, @warprecords ) where T. Jenkinson affects a one-man jazz-fusion unit, the aural equivalent of a lonely soul constructing a Showbiz Pizza Rock-afire Explosion band in his basement, tears welling up as he slaps his bass in unison, a lone human member. It is both profoundly beautiful, technologically awe-inspiring, and deeply sad: a lonely, perfect ecstasy and a Herb Sundays Urtext nonpareil.

Herb Sundays 176: Sam Valenti IV Selections chosen for playback at Cooper-Hewitt museum, Feb 10 2026 Art by @michaelcina / portrait by @jacobkrupnick photos @jondones ty @devonojas @chrisk1m I was asked to select an afternoon of music as an “operator” on the Devon Turnbull-created system at the Cooper-Hewitt last week. I had ambitions to do a deep dive into storage to pull an immaculate selection, but ended up spending 30 minutes pulling records I had at home, which worked out fine. Link in bio for playlist.