Midnight In A Perfect World: Nabil Ayers

Midnight In A Perfect World
06/17/2022
Alex Ruder
photo by Gabriela Bhaskar

Musician, writer, and label runner Nabil Ayers has worn many hats throughout his illustrious career within the music community and solidified a legacy as a champion of independent music both locally in Seattle and across the globe. The son of legendary musician Roy Ayers, Nabil co-founded Seattle's Sonic Boom Records in 1997 at the age of 25 and played drums in several bands including The Long Winters and Tommy Stinson. He's the current President of Beggars Group US, where he has managed campaigns for renowned acts such as The National, Big Thief, Grimes, Future Islands and St. Vincent, and he also runs his own independent label The Control Group / Valley of Search that has released music by Cate Le Bon, Lykke Li, The Killers, PJ Harvey, Patricia Brennan, and his uncle, the jazz musician Alan Braufman. As a writer, Nabil has written about race and music for The New York Times, NPR, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone and GQ. His new memoir My Life in the Sunshine will be published this month on June 7th.

Nabil's guest DJ mix for Midnight In A Perfect World connects the musical dots between the songs that relate to his memoir alongside the songs that defined his time spent in Seattle.

 
Artist Title
Midnight In A Perfect World Intro
Masma Dream World Unwind
Alice Coltrane Jai Rama Chandra
Roy Ayers Ubiquity We Live in Brooklyn Baby
Alan Braufman Sunrise (Angel Bat Dawid Remix)
Patricia Brennan Solar
Joanna Newsom Sprout and the Bean
Pixies Where Is My Mind (Live in Spokane, WA)
L'Rain Two Face
Sudan Archives Selfish Soul
Bartees Strange Heavy Heart
Soundgarden Beyond the Wheel
Nirvana Paper Cuts
7 Year Bitch Crying Shame
Death Cab for Cutie I Will Possess Your Heart

 

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