Origin Peoples is a mysterious collection of mixes that began as a sort of pen-pal exchange between the two DJs who curated the renowned Made Like a Tree podcast series (disclosure: I contributed two mixes to MLAT), after one of them—Jeremy Grant, aka D'Jeronimo, co-owner of the Nuearth Kitchen label—moved to LA in 2013. Shawn Kralicek (aka DJ Struggle) is the other contributor. You wouldn't be able to glean any of this by looking at the website, though, as the duo decided to reveal no information about themselves or the music in each mix—a bold, perverse move in the '10s.

Click on any of the seven entries currently on Origin Peoples and prepare for an unpredictable glide through ultra-obscure, intriguing songs that traverse much territory with a smooth dream logic. Transitions never jar, even though styles shift often. You may hear in any given episode the following: alternate-reality disco, national anthems for advanced, unknown countries, the best new age you’ve never heard, blissed-out jazz, Balearic beatitudes, pop tunes crafted by people on rare drugs you've never heard of, and more.

"The Origin Peoples series started off as a music project/concept centered around the idea of mythological civilizations," Grant says in an email interview. "Each mix is sort of a vision or time capsule from different regions... aural articulations of unknown cultures. The whole thing has turned into a sort of 'pen-pal' exercise between Shawn and me; since he and I now live in different cities, we can't share music as regularly as we once did. There's no 'intended effect' with them, except perhaps to try and have them be provocative and well curated."

Origin Peoples is a 180º change from the approach of Made Like a Tree, which had in-depth interviews with DJs, photos, and tracklists. Is this new approach born from the belief that everything sounds and looks better if it's mysterious? (I've listened to five mixes so far, and have been been able to identify only one track, by former Seattle electronic musician K. Leimer.) "Yes, most definitely," Grant says. "Shawn and I both agreed when we started the Origin Peoples series that two things were key: 1) simplicity and 2) no tracklists.

"On the one hand, MLAT was incredibly complicated and laborious to produce; coordinating the interviews and podcast assets with the artists on a reasonable timeline took a lot of effort. And on the other, those entries became too easy for our audience to judge at face value. I think we always wanted there to be a bit more of an opportunity for discovery and surprise with the MLAT mixtapes. I'm sure that this existed for some, but with Origin Peoples we want these tapes to be driven more by people's imagination(s); having the listeners fill in whatever 'unknowns' there might be themselves. With such a framework, we can lead more with abstraction, allowing the music to have a purer foundation to grow out of."

As for the enigmatic, beautiful art that accompanies each mix, it is something that Grant says "just sort of happen[s] organically. Each one is designed while the entry that its for is being playing out on some good speakers. Some are collage (repurposed and retreated assets), while some are created entirely from scratch. Each piece is supposed to be a relic from the region that the mix is from. The Origin Peoples logo is an homage to one of the primary inspirations for the project."

So far, not many people know about Origin Peoples, but those who've experienced it have been enthusiastic. Grant and Kralicek aren't aggressively promoting it and this post is the first media exposure for the site. The DJs have no long-range plan for OP other than, says Grant, "to keep the series rich, well varied, and interesting." Their anti-hustle is refreshing, but I think Origin Peoples deserves to massage many more brains than it has done already. Immerse yourself in its strange aural/visual magic here.