🎵 October 2025

Magic and Reflection.

👻 The coziest, most nostalgic month. 🎃

Annie and Flannery, October 31, 2008 in Santa Monica

📸 gary lundgren

We have made it to November — and now looking back, I’m shocked only two months remain in 2025. Each day I remind myself to appreciate the present, and I actually do pretty well. Still, the days seem to bunch up and rush by in a blur.

I anticipated darker music coming along for this October playlist — maybe some electronic or witch-house from the likes of Ben Frost, Salem or White Ring? Music fit for Halloween. But perhaps we’re getting enough darkness in the news already? So, looking for the light — this month ended up surprising me with nostalgia. I went down numerous rabbit holes remembering Halloweens past. All the costumes Flann wore over the years just kill me.

Here’s a little video I found from 2013. It shook me so much I decided to finally post it. That afternoon, we followed our little Pikachu around the parade. I was trying to keep up with her, running & gunning — pulling my own focus with the very first Black Magic Cinema Camera. 😅

The song in this video, Baby’s Coming Back to Me, was actually a prescient choice at the time. I remember loving how the music felt — peace breaking out in the world, children laughing. But I didn’t anticipate how some of the lyrics would land 12 years later with Flann in college. All the years have melted away. How can things oh so quickly change? 😭

There’s no Pulp or Jarvis on October, but there’s still plenty of nostalgia. We begin with Dan Deacon’s terrific cue from HBO’s crime series TASK called Robbie, which is named after the Tom Pelphry character. The track shows off a bit of wizardry from Deacon, who somehow captures the beauty and triumph of this flawed and complex character, and the dynamite performance from Pelphry.

I pulled two emotional tracks from the Brian Eno & Beatie Wolfe October LP LIMINAL. It’s from their trilogy that began with LUMINAL and LATERAL — definitely a 2025 highlight for me. This unusual collaboration always feels dreamy and right — unforced beauty from beginning to end. The song Procession is absolute magic and feels like a Beach House classic. I keep waiting for Victoria’s voice, but instead we get these little whistles and organic soudscapes poking through the mix.

As usual, some artists here are brand new to me, but still blew the doors down like vets — Prewn, Inhaler, Preoccupations, and Glyders. Also mixed into the flow are stunners from giants — Damien Jurado, This Is Lorelei, Guided by Voices, King Krule and Tony Molina. And there was also a last minute October surprise — a new incarnation of the Crutchfield sisters called Snocaps. The self-titled record mines their indie rock roots in lieu of Waxahatchee twang.

Finally, two recording artists I know and admire appear — these two have made great indie music in the northwest for as long as I can remember. Both Robert Deeble and Adam Selzer have decades of songwriting and record producing experience — and these two tracks are no exception. Both stirring and wonderful.

Again, thank you for supporting the artists you love. I hope many of these songs find their way to your own playlists. You can stream my October playlist on both Apple Music and Spotify.

As always, I’m posting this on behalf of these recording artists — hoping that, in some small way, it helps create new fans.

Gary