TS003: Select Comfort

Cozy selections in a crisis.

1:30pm TurboTax Call
3pm Apt Visit
3:50pm Rapid Test
9pm Nils Frahm Movie

This is what my calendar looked like on December 3, 2020: the last time I shared a selection of new music in a Spotify playlist I called “Select Comfort.”

A pretty chill Thursday from the looks of it, save for the one appointment that gives away the pandemic of it all. At that point, New York was in peak “find out” fall after the “fuck around” summer of that year, when coronavirus cases had plummeted and much of the city was gathering outside again. Some of us were getting together inside too, as I was probably doing if I was getting a rapid test.¹

In reality these were actually all COVID-coded appointments. The TurboTax call was to discuss what the CARES Act pandemic unemployment checks meant for filing as a freelancer.² Emma and I went on a number of apartment visits at the time to see what deals had become available amid New Yorkers fleeing the city. It feels so commonplace now but the Nils Frahm movie was a new concert film making its world premiere via live stream that night – on MUBI, of course.

On December 3, 2020, likely after a bit of Animal Crossing and a yoga video, I also put together and shared the latest (and, it turns out, last) edition of a playlist that I named after a section on a mattress website:

I initially made this playlist in 2019 when I was still DJing 2-3 times a week, as a place to share new fav tracks that were more downtempo and low-key. The description read,

Some of the cozier records I’m spinning, at home and in sets. Updated regularly.

On that day I added, “​​(Current edition features my fav 2020 vinyl purchases for Bandcamp Fridays)” because I shared it online as a sort of gift guide for the final BCF of the year, along with a Buy Music Club version of the playlist.

I’m not sure why I stopped updating it after that, but as a result I did provide myself with a nice time capsule of the moment and the year. All of these artists are still quite active too: Call Super released a great mix-CD-as-concept-album under a bunch of aliases last year; Laraaji is traveling the world constantly, as are most of the DJ’s; Moses Sumney is now singing and acting for HBO and Shakespeare in the Park; and Ana Roxanne just released a new solo single for the first time since before that previous playlist.

I still follow new music obsessively too and, despite society returning to a breakneck pace – or likely because of it – both my home listening and DJ sets have only continued to lean cozier. So I’m reviving Select Comfort for 2026 with a collection of all-new soothers (Apple Music | Buy Music Club):

Winter is consistently a time when I drift toward darker, dubbier tunes (Burial in heavy rotation every year like clockwork) and this year is no different thanks to brilliant releases from Coatshek, John Beltran, and Snad. Dubstep seems to be continuing its slow and steady comeback and nobody’s doing it better than Carré right now. I love listening to Roc Marciano in cold weather for some reason too and his new, entirely self-produced album is a real return to form. The Miss Grit and Sassy 009 songs go together so well they almost feel like one track and there’s so much great ambient to choose from, including a collab between Taylor Deupree and my favorite sound artist for over a decade straight, Zimoun.³

One cozy listening spot at home, snapped by Emma. (2026)

1. I often got a rapid test ahead of seeing my colleagues at Public Records, which had an outdoor dining event called My Dinner w/ Nina that Saturday with Kristine Barilli playing an all Nina Simone vinyl set.

2. Fuck’s sake, what a time that was.

3. I cannot recommend Zimoun’s installations enough. They’re hard to catch but the videos on his website are beautifully done. Shout out to Shannon Mattern for introducing me to his work.