Backwards Looking Forwards is a monthly radio program dedicated to exploring the interconnected histories of global dance music. Host Danny Goliger selects tunes that showcase the futuristic sounds of today, and provides context by examining their roots in musical traditions stretching back into the past. Listeners are invited on a journey of discovery that will include the freshest new releases, and builds links to the undiscovered gems of yesteryear. Expect to hear music that ranges from modern rave stylings like house, techno, electro, jungle, and juke, and traces the roots back to funk, soul, dub reggae, new wave, synth pop, EBM, and early electronica.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The fires here in Los Angeles have gotten me thinking about my connection to this city. I grew up here, and have lived in LA for almost my entire life. As part of this reflection, I wanted to record a mix of exclusively LA based musicians for this month’s show.

I mostly focussed on music by friends, acquaintances, and peers, but I also included a couple tracks from musicians who I admire but don’t know personally. The mix is fairly genre agnostic, which makes sense given the fact that the music scene here is so diverse. Most of it is electronic (as much of my community makes electronic music), but there are some bands as well. Some ambient tracks, some shoegazey guitar tracks, some downtempo, and plenty of dance music.

The mix is a maybe bit chaotic, as my mind has been a bit chaotic recently. LA can also be chaotic, to be fair. It’s a beautiful, messy, creative vortex, full of people making unbelievable art, and I wanted to celebrate that as a way to help myself heal from some of the trauma that we all experienced recently. But mostly, I wanted to shine a light on my friends and collaborators, as a way to show how proud I am of this city and our music scene. <3