Show Notes
First things first: last week's episode was M.O.S. This week's episode is P.O.S (the non-trance alias of Above & Beyond's Paavo Siljamäki). The alphabet soup similarity is a complete coincidence. Okay, glad that's out of the way.
Second, this is not a recording of Paavo at Explorations, because as far as I know, that doesn't exist. However, in the fall of last year, Paavo released a video of him playing this set on a lake in Finland. Within a few minutes of turning it on, like a soldier suffering from PTSD, I started having flashbacks. Thankfully, mine were of the joyous sort: happy memories of dancing with friends under the stars by the ocean.
Without a doubt, Paavo has played one of the best (if not the best) set the last two years in Albania. His 2022 masterpiece was an incredibly rare gem: all of us in attendance were blessed with two hours of music no one had ever heard, crafted during the dark days of a global pandemic. In an age where dance music is usually released as singles, having an entire album of new material — let alone enough for two or three albums — is unheard of. That kind of surprise drop is usually reserved for the likes of Beyonce.
In 2023, I ended up at his set almost accidentally, thinking I would just "catch a bit of it" and then head off to another stage. But boy was I wrong: it was evident from the start that, once again, this would be something incredibly special, and it was: a beautiful, rocking emotional journey over two hours. Again, this Finland set is only an approximation of what he played that night, but it hits all the same notes. The second track in this set — an ID, of course — is seriously one of the most beautiful layered melodies I've ever heard.
Needless to say, I will be prioritizing Paavo in my itinerary this year and I hope to see all you Explorers there too!
1. P.O.S. - ID
2. P.O.S. - ID
3. P.O.S. - 5 Minute Buildup
4. Lakou Mizik & Joseph Ray - Ogou (Pran Ka Mwen) (P.O.S. Remix)
5. P.O.S. - Whacky Tribal
6. P.O.S. - Rangiroa Feels
7. P.O.S. - My Mind Is F*cked
8. P.O.S. - ID
9. P.O.S. - ID
10. P.O.S. - ID
11. P.O.S. - Is It Ok?
12. P.O.S. - ID
13. P.O.S. - Thunder & Sunshine
14. P.O.S. - ID
15. P.O.S & Spencer Brown - It's Me (P.O.S. Remix)
16. P.O.S. - Parisian Train
17. P.O.S. - Automatic
18. P.O.S. - Let You Go
19. P.O.S. - Flying Underwater
20. P.O.S. - We Will Get Through This
21. P.O.S. - Pacific Tide
22. P.O.S. & anamē - Good People
23. P.O.S. - ID
24. P.O.S. - 3000ft Under The Sea
25. P.O.S. - ID
Original post: https://youtu.be/EpmAe7LHLh8?si=zxKUehqtESaQxQGe
More from Just The Music Please
Well, Group Therapy 700 (two weekends ago) was definitely one for the record books! In the midst of weeks of beautiful September weather, the skies decided to open up at 8:30 pm on Saturday night, unleashing enough rain and fierce winds to pause the show. The lower bowl at The Gorge had to be evacuated, the entire show was paused, and we lost at least 2 1/2 hours of music from Oliver Smith, J Ribbon, and Ilan Bluestone.
In honor of Group Therapy 700 happening next weekend — we'll be there! — I'd like to post a deep cut from the archives this week. The first Group Therapy show I ever went to was 300 (in Hong Kong) and Grum was one of the artists on the lineup I was really looking forward to. He's one of my favorite progressive producers and his set that night was right on the money; I can still remember being in the center front of the crowd and feeling the bass reverberate through my chest while he took all of us on a 1-hour voyage into space.
This week we're heading to a rock quarry in northern Portugal for two hours of big room melodic house from Arodes, a Spanish DJ and producer who's mostly new to me, but has been on the rise recently. In the last few years, he's played Tomorrowland, Coachella, Burning Man, and ADE, on top of residencies in Mykonos and Ibiza.
As promised at the end of my last episode, the Kyky's did indeed have a blast in Ibiza and Albania last month, and JTMP was indeed on a hiatus, though for much longer than I would like. Appropriately though, we're back with music from one of the highlights of our trip: Claptone at Chinois!
LP Giobbi has been making a name for herself more and more in recent years, from jazz-influenced dance music to her remixes and after parties for The Grateful Dead (yes, for real!) to her own brand of fun piano house music. She is a classically trained jazz pianist and studied classical piano at UC Berkeley, and this musicality is very evident in her music.