2017 was a challenging year. The bad guys won, and hate became law while our Manchurian President’s toddler tendencies numbed the World into being surprised by nothing and aghast at everything. Still there was music – and these 21 albums helped

Episode 93 – Music Detectives Listen To After Making Love

Dec 22nd, 2016 48m 9s

I have an affinity for Detectives. I gravitate strongly towards the label of hopeless dreamer – and am enamored by both the Detectives search for truth as well as their beautiful flaws – they’re such a hyperbolic yet real manifestation of what

Episode 92 – Top 21 Albums of 2016

Nov 21st, 2016 1h 17m

2016 was a weird, surreal, and at times beautiful year. It side swiped us with the loss of Demigods who couldn’t escape Death’s undefeated grip. Bowie, Prince, Leonard Cohen – they’ll never share the same air as you again – and that’s a damn sh

Episode 91 – NOCtoberfest 2016

Oct 26th, 2016 3h 29m

DJing G2 Tech Group’s annual NOCtoberfest is always a good time – and last night was no exception. I played a funk to hip-hop to electro set that allotted for things to go off in an elegantly weird fashion. Also, T-Rex overtook the dance floor

Episode 90 – Summer Sweat Sticks

Aug 9th, 2016 1h 3m

This is a little over an hour of a live vinyl set I spun at State Park Bar in Cambridge on 7.28.16, and it perfectly represents who I am as a DJ. In just over an hour I bounce across numerous genres in Mint Pillow style inspired by the lack of

Episode 89 – Election Year 2016 Mix (Gold Must Die)

Jul 21st, 2016 47m 2s

This election season & violent Summer has seen the shadows of ugly shine a dark light on how slow progress is – and as the mirror reflects back with a face of de-evolution – we sit cow faced while hate steals the headlines & votes. I couldn’t a

Episode 88 – Rest In Purple

Apr 29th, 2016 3h 57m

This all vinyl mix was spun live at State Park Bar in Cambridge, MA one week after the tragic loss of Prince. It’s a tribute to him and is a mix of deep funk, soul, a touch of rock, and of course the man himself. RIP Prince Rogers Nelson. 1958-

Episode 87 – Dreamed

Apr 12th, 2016 1h 1m

A survey on FaceBook asking the genre of my next podcast ended up a tie between DREAMY and HOUSE. I teamed those inspiration points together & careened towards the inside of my dreams – with the aim to make a podcast that was as familiar, surre

Episode 86 – Easy On Yourself

Jan 14th, 2016 1h 47m

The energy within me is circling in a swift & positive direction. I expect many good things in 2016, and episode 86 is an auditory springboard into that optimistic ether. I spun the mix live late last weekend in my West Medford Mojo. I traverse

Episode 85 – Top 22 Albums of 2015

Dec 10th, 2015 1h 27m

2015 will go down as the most challenging & rewarding year of my life. Intense is the adjective I’d use to describe a year in which*almost* too much happened. It started with the birth of my Son Dylan – the best thing that’ll ever happen to me.

Episode 84 – NOCtoberfest 2015

Oct 26th, 2015 1h 59m

I’m lucky to have been asked to DJ the annual NOCtoberfest Party at G2 Tech Group since it’s inception – and this year I was tasked with putting together an electro / lounge set. The following is the live set I played during this years festivit

Episode 83 – Charley Patton’s Hand

Oct 8th, 2015 52m 12s

I recently finished reading Do Not Sell At Any Price: The Wild, Obsessive Hunt for the World’s Rarest 78rpm Records – and it was an engaging read. Written by Amanda Petrusich, it chronicles well known collectors of 78 records, and in particular

Episode 82 – I See Ossipee

Sep 11th, 2015 2h 45m

We clutch Summer as the sun sets – yet despite these efforts, it inevitably slips away. Last weekend I ended a vacation by spinning a set with Summer sitting as my muse. Overlooking gorgeous Ossipee Lake in New Hampshire I let the sun and water

Episode 81 – The Beat Will Always Save Us

Aug 9th, 2015 1h 10m

Mint Pillow’s first all Hip Hop podcast since Episode 36. 1. Intro 2. Emma Stone – Birdman Speech (2014) 3. Shabazz Palaces – Gunbeat Falls (Of Light – 2009) 4. Four Tet – As Serious as Your Life [Jay Dee remix] (Remixes – 2006) 5. Talib Kweli

Episode 80 – Sundazed

Jul 19th, 2015 1h 32m

Sometimes somedays come today – and when today is someday you’re left feeling Sundazed. Visions of the Unexcused’s run on Sundays has come to an end on WEMF Radio – and while there’ll be no show broadcasting today via WEMF – the show’s availabl

Episode 79 – Win Love

Jul 8th, 2015 1h 59m

Recorded in Mint Pillow’s home studio for WEMF Radio – the set starts off with exuberant hope – as this was recorded during the weekend his country, The United States of America, celebrated love – allowing all to marry whom they wanted. While t

Episode 78 – Covered

Jun 2nd, 2015 2h 10m

Cover Songs are a lot like coffee. If made poorly and with bad product then it’s warm brown sludge that I want nothing to do with – however, when made properly with fresh ground goodness everything around me becomes sharpened and turned for the

Episode 77 – Mom Rock

May 11th, 2015 2h 7m

Mother’s Day has been a bummer day for me since my Ma’ passed away in 2007. It’s nice to remember and honor her memory, but it’s tough on Mother’s Day, especially on Social Media, where digital walls are plastered with images of friends and the

Episode 76 – Dad Rock

May 5th, 2015 1h 59m

Episode 76 looks at the music that bounced around the walls of Mint Pillow’s childhood home while growing up. Joined by the most special of guests, Poppa Hixon, Pillow and his Dad dive into Jazz, Big Band, Golden Era Rock, and Soul. With Pillow

Episode 75 – Space Lounge

Apr 27th, 2015 1h 9m

This is not the complete set from Episode 75, but enough of a taste to get lost in the cosmic boondocks. Mint Pillow has been awed by the miracle of life with the recent birth of his son Dylan, and was also sideswiped by a recent viewing of Int

Episode 74 – Guest House

Apr 23rd, 2015 2h 11m

You never know what you’ll get with an episode of Visions of the Unexcused – and for Episode 74 Mint Pillow was lucky to be joined by Tom Kielty in the WEMF Radio Studio. Kielty’s a veteran of the Boston rock scene and has written for the Globe

Episode 73 – Sudden Sun

Apr 16th, 2015 1h 38m

Episode 73, Sudden Sun, is a near two hour improvised set of electo, house, pysch, and weird done live in the DJ Cave at WEMF Radio by Mint Pillow. Inspired by the hope a crisp spring day can inspire, Pillow approached the show as he would a la

Episode 72 – Psychedelic Flowers

Apr 10th, 2015 1h 54m

Snow has turned into rain. Winter’s morphing into Spring. April Showers will turn into Psychedelic Flowers. This is Episode 72, recorded live in the DJ Cave from atop Mount Cambridge in the WEMF Radio Studios. 1. Them – It’s All Over Now, Baby

Episode 71 – Many Rivers

Apr 4th, 2015 2h 10m

Episode 71 is meant to celebrate life. As a newly minted Father, Pillow finds himself heavily sleep deprived, raspy voiced, and most of all happy as hell to be a Dad. As a result a funktified set is played in honor of his less than week old bab

Episode 70 – Baby, Baby, Baby

Mar 16th, 2015 2h 7m

Episode 70 – Baby, Baby, BabyMy Wife and I are expecting the birth of our first child any day now, and as Tom Petty once sang – “the waiting is the hardest part”. The nursery’s been built out and prepped, shower and diaper parties have been ha