Episode 81: Friday 13th, Get Scared!

What if the scariest thing about Friday the 13th wasn’t bad luck… but what we’re becoming afraid of?

Friday the 13th.

Black cats. Broken mirrors. Mysterious noises. Strange coincidences. A ladder you probably shouldn’t walk under.

And somewhere in Brussels, a guy called Mitxoda decides this is the perfect day to broadcast 1 hour of independent music.

What could possibly go wrong?

Welcome to the 81st episode of Le Salon Indie de Mitxoda.

I promise, nobody was harmed during the making of this episode. Although a few musical conventions may have suffered considerably.

Something strange is happening

We begin, as always, with my own Patience. Perhaps the most useful quality to have when the universe seems determined to play tricks on you.

But patience doesn’t last forever.

Freeze Time kicks things off with  Fudge Buckets, a wonderfully peculiar title that sounds like something you’d shout when everything starts falling apart.

Then comes Evil Creek, bringing us The Underneath. A title that fits today’s atmosphere almost too perfectly. Because isn’t that where our fears often live? Beneath the surface, somewhere between what we know and what we imagine.

Nadine de Macedo, accompanied by Nick Lang, follows with Within the Fallacy.

And there’s something beautifully appropriate about that title today. Friday the 13th is, after all, an entire day built around the fascinating human ability to believe things that have absolutely no intention of being proven.

But that’s also where imagination begins.

And without imagination, what would music be?

Across borders, beyond superstition

One of my favourite things about this Salon is its complete disregard for geographical boundaries.

This week, 一天的空间 (Space of a Day) takes us somewhere unexpected with 哈星族 (The Star Clan), a 2024 release that reminds us how much music exists beyond the little worlds we usually inhabit.

Then Ben Trexel & Amanda Willis-Brice bring us One Step.

One step.

Sometimes that’s all it takes to leave something behind. A fear. A hesitation. An old habit. Or simply the comfortable idea that tomorrow we’ll finally do what we should have done yesterday.

And speaking of people who keep moving forward…

A bizarre storm is coming

My dear friends J&M Band return to the Salon, not only with their familiar radio identification but also with Storm bizarre.

A bizarre storm!

On Friday the 13th!

At this point, I’m beginning to suspect the playlist has developed a personality of its own.

Retriever follows with Bonifacio, before Water Rise and Hayden Kelly offer us Steady, Over.

And somewhere between these musical universes, the atmosphere shifts again.

The Stellar Anderson Project returns with Broken, while Purwien & Kowa arrive with We’re Wrong.

Two titles that almost form a conversation.

We’re broken.

We’re wrong.

Well, congratulations, humanity. At least we’re consistent.

But perhaps acknowledging our imperfections is considerably more useful than pretending we don’t have any.

And there’s something reassuring about artists who aren’t afraid to explore them.

The roads we choose

Sticktight takes us down Hammonds Creek Road, a title that sounds like the beginning of a story whose ending we don’t quite know.

And isn’t that true of almost everything worth doing?

We start walking.

Sometimes confidently.

Sometimes blindly.

Occasionally in the completely wrong direction.

Then we discover something along the way that changes everything.

I also return briefly to my own musical universe with Acte III: La Tentation, from Prognosis.

Temptation.

Quite appropriate, isn’t it?

Because fear and temptation have always made a wonderfully dangerous couple.

And because I’m clearly incapable of resisting either a musical experiment or a good excuse to play something slightly unexpected.

What form does fear take?

Another familiar friend of the Salon, Antonis Vlavo, joins us with Deborah on This Form Of Matter.

Antonis also lends his voice to one of the show’s station IDs, a little contribution that means more to me than he probably realises.

These details matter.

The voices.

The friendships.

The artists who return.

The little connections that transform a collection of songs into something that feels alive.

This is why I keep doing the Salon.

Not because the world needs another playlist.

But because there are human beings behind these tracks, and their music deserves something more than being swallowed by an endless stream of content.

Have we lost our mind?

And finally,  Theo MN asks the question that might perfectly summarise this Friday the 13th:

Have We Lost Our Mind?

Well…

Look around.

Read the news.

Spend five minutes on social media.

I think we can safely say the jury is still deliberating.

But here’s the thing.

As frightening as the world sometimes feels, independent artists keep creating.

They write songs. They collaborate across borders. They experiment. They send their music into the unknown.

And sometimes, against all reasonable expectations, somebody listens.

Somebody connects.

Somebody feels a little less alone.

That doesn’t solve everything.

But it certainly isn’t nothing.

Get scared. Then get over it.

Friday the 13th is supposed to be unlucky.

Personally, I think we’re lucky whenever we discover a piece of music we didn’t know existed yesterday.

Lucky when an artist trusts us with a new creation.

Lucky when strangers become friends through a song.

And lucky when we can still be surprised.

So yes.

Get scared.

Of the shadows, the mysterious noises, the black cats, the broken mirrors.

Or, if you really want a terrifying thought, imagine a world where every song sounds exactly the same.

Now that would be frightening.

Thank you to every artist who makes this 81st Salon possible, and to everyone who listens, shares, comments or simply spends a little time discovering something new.

This is Le Salon Indie de Mitxoda.

Independent music. Real people. Unexpected discoveries.

And absolutely no guarantees against supernatural activity.

Happy Friday the 13th!

Mitxoda

Listen to Le Salon Indie de Mitxoda

Join me every Friday at 4 PM Brussels time for a new journey through independent music.

And join the Mitxoda WhatsApp Channel to follow the tracks as they play, discover the artists and stay connected with this growing indie community.

Because the only thing scarier than Friday the 13th is missing a fantastic song.

Playlist of the week