Curated sounds, music worth finding.
Uncovering Gems is a weekly music curation publication founded by Bryan Bradley in 2026. The project publishes a new “Rough Cuts” volume every Sunday — a hand-picked mixtape of 10 to 15 tracks spanning R&B, Hip-Hop, Indie, Jazz, and House — paired with editorial curator commentary. Tracks are tagged as new, forgotten, or lowkey to surface different listening modes. Uncovering Gems is editorially curated, not algorithmic.
The internet got loud. Algorithms got better at predicting what you like and worse at showing you what you'd love. Streaming made everything available and somehow nothing felt found.
Uncovering Gems is a small protest against that. A weekly mix, hand-picked. The kind of curation that used to come from a friend with good taste, a college radio show, a record store clerk who actually knew you. Slowed-down listening for a sped-up world.
One person, one Sunday, ten-to-fifteen tracks. No charts. No data science. Just the songs worth finding.
Every Sunday, a new Rough Cuts volume drops on /music/volumes. Each volume includes a Spotify playlist, curator commentary, and is added to the growing archive. Individual standout tracks live on /music, filterable by genre and mood. Longer writing about music, taste, and curation appears in the /journal.
Uncovering Gems is curated and maintained by Bryan Bradley. Follow along via Substack, Instagram, or TikTok.
New here? Start with the latest volume, browse individual tracks, or subscribe via Substack for the weekly drop.