Alex O’Rion delivers a special Spotify playlist filled with blissed out beats and triphop treats perfect for reflective moments…
One of our favorite releases of 2024 is Alex O’Rion’s excellent Nostalgia album. Released on his own Solis Records, it’s a proper full-length. Not only is this a medium that’s becoming increasingly rare, but it’s one that’s difficult to make engaging.
However, when you have a veteran like Alex helming the project, you can rest assured it will be good. And it is: Nostalgia is a true auditory journey, starting with blissed-out beats on its way towards the main room dancefloor. The first half reminds of classic mid-90s electronic music, working its way through electronica to deep house and beyond.
As he explained in our interview, this was no accident: “I used to listen to the Global Underground series and mix albums like Northern Exposure, alongside other ’90s acts like Aphex Twin and Boards of Canada. There’s so much good music from that era.”
Needless to say, that is the golden period of electronic music. A creatively free and open era where new musical avenues were explored, which bled into the wider cultural changes of that time. Especially the dawn of downtempo, trip-hop, and electronica scenes started to influence listening habits: acts like Future Sound of London, Kruder & Dorfmeister, anyone on the Ninja Tune label… they all played a part in the new musical zeitgeist.
It’s fitting then that Alex chose all those acts plus more in an expansive playlist of blissed-out spacey jams and downtempo treats. If you’re after a chilled afternoon sitting in the sun, or if you need some soothing background music to host dinner guests, then this is for you.
