Category
march 2010 mix
I’m not sure exactly what’s going on in this mix… that it starts off with electronica, get’s kinda folksy before finishing on some southern soul. Washed Out makes a second appearance in a row, this month for their remix of Small Black, a band that had just hit my radar a couple months back on a completely different level. They’re on tour together and I suspect this remix speaks to what a good pairing the two will be. I guess I’m dyslexic because I almost accidentally went to a Wavves show last week before realizing that I had their names mixed up. I’m excited for the March 26th Washed Out/Small Black show in L.A.
february 2010 mix
What a good month for new releases January was, and at the top of my list are Beach House’s Teen Dream and Laura Veirs‘ July Flame, both of which are included on this mix. I’m glad the Beach House album has gotten such a good response, I think it is entirely well deserved and no song depicts how amazing it is better than album closer, “Take Care.” The song is simultaneously simple and complex, layered with orchestration in a way that simultaneously recalls the 50s and 80s while feeling out-of-place enough that it is very ‘now.’ As always, I am constantly thrown off by Victoria Legrand’s sultry but detached voice, which reaches maybe an album-wide apex as she sings, “I’ll take care of you / If you ask me to / In a year or two.”
january 2010 mix
I’m excited for a new year, and I’ll let my anticipated list speak for itself in terms of my optimism for the year. This month starts of with post-Ima Robot band, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, who made it onto my best of the year list as well. “40 Day Dream” has probably the most Ima Robot feel of any of the tracks from their debut, Up From Below, which is probably why it is, nostalgically, one of my favorites. Surfer Blood was another 2009 favorite that never made it onto a mix until this one. Beach House sounds amazing, and I’m glad that I only have a few more weeks here to wait for the album.
favorite songs 2009
Most of these found their way onto the monthly mixes, with the exception of some of the more well-known songs. Here they are for you, provided again in a nice Muxtape-style Opentape format. Enjoy.
: BEST OF 2009 MIX :
[2008 list]
december 2009 mix
As soon as I finally got around to seeing Melancholy For Medicine, an indie flick that I missed at last year’s L.A. Film Fest, and that took a long time to make it to rentable DVD, I knew that I was starting off this month’s mix with Casiotone For The Painfully Alone’s “New Year’s Kiss.” I must admit to have never fully ‘gotten’ Casiotone. I like an occasional song that seem like a different take on Stephin Merritt-style. “New Year’s Kiss” fits the movie perfectly: both in subject matter and mood. And hopefully it fits this mix as well.
november 2009 mix
For a while now (and when I say a while I mean more than 3 days… more like since i started doing monthly mixes), I’ve wanted to do a delta blues-themed mix. But every month something new comes along that I really want to put on a mix and I scrap the blues for a more eclectic mix. Occasionally one or two blues tracks make it in to the otherwise indipophoptronicoul mixes, but this one is finally dedicated to being more of mood music than the other mixes. And it was hard too… this month the new Diamond District and Tap Tap nearly put me over the edge. Luckily my all-together behindedness assembling selections forced my hand. Yes there are a couple gospel tracks, a jazz track and a 60s blues track, but I think they all fit the mood. Mississippi Records (out of Portland, Not Mississippi) should get some credit for this mix, as I used 3 tracks from their own delta blues and gospel LPs. Go out and research further into any of these artists, there is plenty more to be rediscovered. Well, except maybe Radio Four… I don’t think there really is anything else by them.
october 2009 mix
I’m late on this month’s mix, so I’m not going to bother going on about it too much. How could you not like Kitty, Daisy & Lewis‘ bluesy Canned Heat cover? The Nouvelle Vague track is another guilty pleasure cover that made it in to this one. Finale makes it on to another mix, from his album deep with amazing tracks… This one is produced by electronic producer, Dimlite, who was featured last month. I only recently noticed The Middle East after Jason Bentley played them one morning, but they seem like a nice Rogue Wave + female vocals act, and I mean that in a good way. Wrapping up this month is the hipster collaboration to define hipsterdom for the next decade, Michael McDonald singing Grizzly Bear’s “While You Wait For The Others.” I know that, just in that it exists, it is like the epitome of hipster irony: to have a 70s yacht rocker incorporated into an indie track; but at its heart, it is a pretty awesome song and enjoyable listen. I give them credit for making it happen.
september 2009 mix
The last two months were some good summer, poppy mixes, and I suspect that the friends who liked them may be let down by this one. Fair enough, you have to have contrast in order to make an impact. There are a few electronic acts in this one: Larytta is a cool experimental act that a friend turned me on to; Dimlite I know from arguably my 2nd favorite beat from Finale’s A Pipe Dream And A Promise; and then there is Guidance Counselor, who piqued my interest with the Talking Heads-sounding “Creature” on their recent Demolisten appearance.
august 2009 mix
This past month I resurrected this early Smog (Bill Callahan) track, “A Hit,” and thought it would be good for a mix. Little did I know at the time that it would make for a pseudo theme for the month, but it’s appropriate. “It isn’t going to be a hit, so why even bother?” I definitely have some should-be hits in this collection, from Bo Diddley’s “I Can Tell,” which feels ripe for use in a Showtime or HBO show; The Rural Alberta Advantage’s “The Dethbridge In Lethbridge,” which is so catchy that it deserves frequent radio-play; and Binary Star’s all-but-forgotten gem, “Reality Check.” Binary Star were a short lived hip-hop group from Pontiac, Michigan whose album, Masters Of The Universe, was a collection of anti-industry shout-outs backed by fantastic production. I love how the beat tricks you with an intro that fades out be for opening up to a more delicate piano loop.
july 2009 mix
This one was almost late, so I’m going to save the long mix description. Mostly newer stuff again this month, somewhat grounded by Les Savy Fav and Carissa’s Wierd. Those and The Mosby Family Singers’ “Eternal Life,” which made its way onto Mississippi Records’ 2008 compilation, Oh Graveyard, You Can’t Hold Me Always, as well as Paul Chaplain & His Emeralds’ “Shortnin’ Bread,” which is hard to find, save inclusion on the Bob Dylan-curated radio show compilation, Theme Time Radio Hour, also released last year. Most of the others are newer, although Forest Fire, Pete & The Pirates, and hip-hop album of the year nominee Finale have all made their way onto older mixes. I found Pariah via Gorilla vs. Bear. Enjoy.