XOXOXOXO (An X-Ray Arcade Playlist)
A Year of New Music (and a Very Questionable Limewire History)
Working with X-Ray Arcade this year cracked something open in my brain that I knew I’d been missing.
It feels a lot like being a teenager in the early 2000s, sitting in my parents’ basement, glued to my parents desktop computer that for sure had Limewire on it, and 100% had a virus. Back when finding new music meant clicking through MySpace profiles, reading people’s dramatic Xanga posts (my own included), and getting jump-scared by whatever song they decided to autoplay on their page (also guilty).
Before streaming services decided what we’d like next, we figured it out the hard way. Before torrents, there was Limewire. And before Limewire, there were burned CDs, sketchy downloads, and flipping through magazines. (Shoutout Kerrang, NYLON, & Urban Outfitters old downloadable playlists)
For me, that also meant trips to Woodman’s because it was the only place in my hometown that sold Alternative Press. I’d stand there reading band interviews, circling names on the pages (the ones that weren’t already torn up and on my wall), memorizing tour photos, and filing bands away for safekeeping.
Music discovery used to feel kinda risky. Personal. Definitely earned because hours upon hours went into finding just the right album or track. Working with X-Ray dropped me right back into that headspace, one I hadn’t really replicated in all my time working in the music industry. There’s just something about a club-level venue that has a really magical feel to it.
Before everything became optimized, discovery happened because someone you trusted wouldn’t shut up about a band. Or because you showed up to a show having no idea who was playing and walked out with a new obsession. X-Ray is one of the few places where that still exists in a very real way.
Over the past year, I started building this playlist featuring artists playing X-Ray’s stage, and now I’m finally sharing it, so you can listen like you’re 16 again and rediscover what makes places like this special. I tried to include primarily stuff that I hadn’t heard before. Supporting indie venues and artists always matters, and this place proves it every single night.
– H