The Music from Memory and Rush Hour affiliate plays Sound of Make Believe this Saturday in Los Angeles.

Madrid-born, London-based DJ & record collector John Gómez is known for exploring “the spaces in between – finding music from across the globe that emerges from the liminal zones between different places, times, and styles.” Led by an insatiable musical curiosity, John has traveled the world in search of lost, under-appreciated sounds and the stories and people behind them. Fans of beloved archival (and recently contemporary) label Music from Memory will surely recognize John’s sensational work as selector, curator, and writer behind the celebrated compilation Outro Tempo: Electronic and Contemporary Music from Brazil, 1978-1992. We’ve been big fans and regular listeners of his radio shows for many years now…

Lucky for Angelenos, John will be in town this Saturday playing the 5-point Klipsch powered Sound of Make Believe party at an undisclosed location in Downtown Los Angeles. We highly recommend checking it out!

For more info and tickets: https://bit.ly/somb-presents-johngomez

From Sound of Make Believe: “John Gómez has golden ears, very dusty fingers, and a quick draw for shooting absolute jams on the dancefloor. He’s a highly knowledgeable selector and tastemaker worthy of comparisons with such figures as Gilles Peterson, Mr. Scruff, Antal, etc. He and NICK THE RECORD – the veteran UK disco DJ with whom we kicked off our guest series in April ’21 – combine forces for Tangent, one of London’s choicest club nights, as well as playing festivals including Kala, Dekmantel, and Naarm. For listeners of John’s unmissable Monday morning NTS radio show Soup to Nuts, he never fails to surprise with musical gems sourced from all corners of the globe, and across periods and genres.”

If you’re not in Los Angeles, you can catch John at the following parties this week:

• Thursday 10/19 – Ludlow House (New York)
• Friday 10/20 – Bar Part Time (San Francisco)

In anticipation of the Sound of Make Believe party this weekend, we asked John to dig into his collection and share five West Coast favorites with us. As expected, his picks are deep and eclectic ranging from San Diego downtempo to Hollywood jazz-funk to blissful modern electronic music.

Mr. Goldfish – Chill for Life

“Sublime dreamy electronica on Out Records from San Diego. Learned about this one from Tako and it takes me back to the late-night listening sessions at his old Amsterdam apartment. One side has a loose house excursion into the dubby wilderness, but for me the winner is “Trust” with its atmospheric downtempo feel that makes me think of the DJ Krush productions I fell in love with in the 90s.”

Carrie Cleveland – Looking Up

“This record evokes memories of my first proper digging trip in America, driving up from Los Angeles to San Francisco. I had been to the U.S.A. as a kid, but a massive proportion of this trip was spent in record shops up the coast. This was the highlight of the journey, a record that sounds like nothing else. Heartbreaker eccentric soul with crappy hotel organ and clipped guitar backings that is close in atmosphere to Jamaican forays into R&B. The depth of emotion to this is extraordinary.”

Seb Wildblood – Separation Anxiety

“This is my favourite new release, by UK born but LA based artist Seb Wildblood. Bliss electronic dreamscapes that transcend to the spiritual plane featuring collaborations with New Age icon and unfaltering figure of the contemporary LA scene, Laraaji. Sometimes I play new music on my NTS radio show that has piqued my curiosity with only a cursory listen, but which I haven’t had a chance to fully engage with. When I played “Slice” on air a couple of weeks back I wasn’t prepared to be washed over with emotion. It is music that helps slow down the rampant heartbeat of modern life.”

LaMont Johnson – Nine… A Mystical Musical Allegory

“Killer jazz funk drenched in the Hollywood sunshine. If you grew up with hip hop, the sound of black American music has a special place in every European crate-digger’s heart, so first trips to America looking for records feel like a coming of age. Listening to records like this, found in the same place they were made, allows me to still hang on to all the elements around the record itself – the warm California evenings, the promise of Autumn in the air – in every subsequent listen.”

Tower of Power – You Taught Me How To Love

“This one is a personal favourite, an under-the-radar gem from influential Oakland soul-funk band Tower of Power. To my knowledge, this was only released on a 12” on NYC dance label Fusion Records, which also released the likes of Patrick Cowley. It may have defected to the East coast but it still has the distinctive Tower of Power horn sound, supporting a seductive end-of-night mellow groove. Lush.”