Mike Lazarev

<p>Today’s guest deejay is <a href="https://www.lazarev.com" title="Mike Lazarev">Mike Lazarev</a>.</p> <p>Mike and I go way back.</p> <p>I met Mike through <a href="http://josephaleo.com/blog/category/listen/solipsistic-nation/" title="Solipsistic Nation">Solipsistic Nation</a>, an electronic music show I produced. Mike recently launched <a href="https://headphonecommute.com" title="Headphone Commute">Headphone Commute</a>, an electronic and ambient music blog. We traveled in the same circles. Our paths were bound to cross.</p> <p>Mike and I had a conversation years ago. I don’t recall what we were talking about, but what I distinctly remember is coming away from our conversation impressed with his sincerity and integrity.</p> <p>Since that time, Headphone Commute has grown in depth and reach. It is now part of the dialogue in ambient and electronic music, Or, as their tagline says on their website, “honest music.” Integrity.</p> <p>Also, during that time, Mike has released <em>six</em> albums. Each note on each song was lovingly played. Mike’s latest album, <em><a href="https://www.lazarev.com/albums#/when-you-are/" title="When You Are">When You Are</a></em>, explores new terrain. I could use words like “delicate,” “warm,” “evocative,” or “organic” to try and convey what Mike’s album feels like, but those words capture the experience of listening to <em>When You Are</em>. For me, it was getting lost in Mike’s music on a rare, dreary day in San Diego and reflecting on my life and family. It was a very moving experience, and I don’t know if it would have happened if Mike’s music hadn’t put me in that state of reverie.</p> <p>How’s that?</p> <p>Join us next week when our guest deejay will be <a href="https://drekka.bandcamp.com" title="Drekka">Drekka</a>.</p> <p>See you then.</p> <p>In this mix, I focused on exploring the very edges of the sonic landscape, where beauty and destruction lie on opposite sides of the dynamic spectrum. Between them, one can hear the transmutation between organic and synthetic,