In the spirit of the holiday season, I’m lifting the paywall on exclusive posts. All new content on LAST CALL through the end of December will be accessible to all subscribers and readers.
If you’re looking for a great gift for a colleague, friend, or family member who is into food and drinks, music, and popular culture, consider a Gift Subscription to LAST CALL (you can even set the date and time you’d like it to arrive).
Welcome back to Dive Bar Jukebox, where every Friday bartenders, writers, chefs, musicians, and a host of dynamic people answer the question: If we were hanging out together at a bar and I put ten credits on the jukebox, what songs would you punch in and why? Their answers reveal thoughts on their favorite dive bars along with a hand-picked, annotated 10-song playlist for your weekend listening pleasure.
Please welcome today’s special guest…
Alex Delany
All-around bon vivant Alex Delany hails from Philadelphia and was a former editor and writer at Bon Appétit, where he ran point on the magazine’s drinks coverage. The newly minted 30-year-old artfully keeps many plates (and records) spinning in a number of creative disciplines as a writer, food and beverage consultant, DJ, amaro aficionado, coffee nerd, rare art-and-design book collector, vintage fashion inspiration, and much more.
He also hosts “Sound Radio” a podcast devoted to “great music from great people,” where he invites designers, musicians, writers, art curators, and a host of cool folks to sit in for a deep dive discussion, playing and talking about some of their favorite tracks.
One of his latest projects is Everything Good, an ongoing series of free guides packed with detailed information and handy maps served up as straightforward Google Docs that spotlight Delany’s favorite restaurants, bars, coffee shops, bakeries, and local stores. It’s 100-percent free but with each drop Delany encourages readers to help raise donations for a local nonprofit in the featured neighborhood. So far these 360-degree expert and opinionated guides have focused on New York, covering the Lower East Side, Soho and Noho, and Nolita, Chinatown, and Little Italy.
Read on as Delany shares intel about his favorite dive bars and what he’s drinking at them, a thorough overview on the art of assembling a great mix (including his thoughts on the “shuffle” button), and a very groovy, genre-spanning playlist packed with soul, Brazilian beats, disco, jangly Americana alt-rock, beautiful voices, and so much more.