Friday, February 29, 2008

international jet-set playboy dj

This next mix exemplifies what happens when electronica collides with samba.

Click here to download international jet-set playboy dj as a zip file.
Click here to download international jet-set playboy dj as a wma file.

Here's the playlist:

1-Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66-Mais Que Nada
2-Guilherme Vergueiro-A Sangue Quente
3-Nicola Conte-The Dharma Bums
4-Sheshet- Samba BeRegel Smol (Left Foot Samba)
5-Astrud Gilberto-Tristeza (Goodbye Sadness)
6-Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66-One Note Samba/Spanish Flea
7-Nouvelle Vague-Ever Fallen In Love
8-Herb Alpert-A Taste of Honey
9-Marmalade Winter-Love's At Home
10-Quantic-Mishaps Happening
11-Cal Tjader-Shoshana
12-Renovation Unlimited/Roy Ayers-Antonata [TKN Re-Edit]
13-Scott Grooves-Organ Nights, Pt. 2
14-Aaron Bingle-The Sunshine Ease Your Love
15-Blanco-Cinnamon & Clove II
16-Continental-Thanks for Flying and Turn on Your Cellphones

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Cashing In This Ten Cent Life For Another One

This next installment is another introspective mix. It describes how I'm feeling right now if I could only express myself through Steely Dan songs. I could also say that my whole life has been a Steely Dan song. Don't expect to find "Reeling In The Years" on this mix. Not only is the song far too cliché for a mix like this, but you can hear it by turning on your local classic rock station.


Click here for cashing in this ten cent life for another one as a zip file.
Click here for cashing in this ten cent life for another one as a wma file.

Here's the playlist:

1-Do It Again
2-Night by Night
3-The Caves of Altamira
4-Your Gold Teeth
5-I Got The News (demo version)
6-Bad Sneakers
7-Here At The Western World
8-Any World (That I'm Welcome To)
9-Midnight Cruiser
10-FM
11-The Nightfly
12-Black Cow
13-Things I Miss the Most
14-Doctor Wu
15-Through With Buzz
16-Daddy Don't Live in That New York City No More
17-What A Shame About Me (live)
18-Deacon Blues

Notes:
  • The title of this mix is taken from Track 2.
  • The cover art is the bull from the famous cave painting in Altamira and is inspired by Track 3, which was inspired by the cave painting.
  • Track 11 isn't a Steely Dan song: it's a Donald Fagen solo song. Close enough. It's about a late night radio DJ, that's why it's there and that's why it's juxtaposed with Track 10.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Schooners

This next mix is dedicated to my good friend Admiral Chuck Rettig. Chuck has been a good friend of mine for the past 25 years, and I figured I honor him with a mix. The mix has nothing to do with Chuck per se, but I used a picture of us as the album art. Chuck's birthday is February 28, so, we've always celebrated our birthday together. The fest continues!



Click here for schooners as a zip file.
Click here for schooners as a wma file.

Here's the playlist:

1-Memphis-Incredibly Drunk On Whiskey
2-Prints-Blue Jay
3-Kompis & Erlend Oye-All Ears
4-Sondre Lerche-Airport Taxi Reception
5-Timo Räisänen-Sweet Marie
6-beat radio-what i love the most
7-Andrew Bird-Imitosis (Four Tet remix)
8-Laura Veirs-Cast a Hook in Me
9-Kathleen Edwards-Titled Untitled
10-Neko Case-Deep Red Bells
11-Yeasayer-2080
12-Kula Shaker-Dr. Kitt
13-Panda Riot-Like Flowers At Night
14-Panda Bear-Bros
15-Grizzly Bear-Little Brother
16-Minus The Bear-Throwin' Shapes
17-The Bees-The Russian
18-Guster-Ruby Falls

Notes:

As usual, I have a bunch of scandahoovian artist on the mix, as well as some female vocalists. I also have a bunch of bears on this. Some of my friends got evaluation copies of this mix earlier this month. I had a little difficulty with the bear segment of the mix. I realized that the electric version of Little Brother by Grizzly Bear was a little too slow. So for as much as I liked it I had to swap it out for the original version. I had only recently gotten turned on to Minus the Bear, and wanted to have one of their tracks on the mix. There were a number of other songs either by Bear Bands or about bears that didn't make it in, but I feel I should mention them here in case the listener chooses to get more bears into their musical diet:
  • Wax Fang - Bipolar Bear
  • Bear Colony - Hospital Rooms Aren't For Lovers
  • Bear Hands - Bad Blood
  • The Bear Quartet - Carsick
  • Grumpy Bear - World Full of Nothing
  • Okkerville River - Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear
  • Page France - Mr. Violin and Dancing Bear
  • Kitty Hawk - Bear in the Morning
  • Duke Ellington - Jack the Bear
  • Elvis Presley - Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear
  • John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers - The Bear
  • Radiohead - Hunting Bears
  • Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Honeybear
  • and a very bizarre mashup of The Knife and Grizzy Bear - Hearbeats vs. Knife
Check back tomorrow for another mix.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

young old man

In the past, I have only made one mix about myself. This week I will release three. Here's the first one: young old man.

The title was suggested by Rob "Tucker Tucker" Tucker during my recent visit to the Boston area. In an earlier version of this mix, I used Jenny Lewis' version of "Handle With Care."
But I've already used that track on an all covers mix called "under the covers with the mennu method."* Tucker agreed that I should use the original Traveling Wilburys version since those are "some groovy young old men."



Click here for young old man as a zip file.
Click here for young old man as a wma file.

Here's the playlist:

1-Groove Armada-Purple Haze
2-Rufus Wainwright-Instant Pleasure
3-They Might Be Giants-Dead
4-Nina Simone-Marriage Is For Old Folks
5-The Traveling Wilburys-Handle With Care
6-The Boy Least Likely To-Be Gentle with Me
7-Pete Townshend-Slit Skirts
8-DJ Shadow-building steam with a grain of salt
9-Billy Joel-Summer, Highland Falls
10-Belle & Sebastian-Get Me Away from Here, I'm Dying
11-The Smiths-Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
12-Calexico/Nicolai Dunger & His Band-Alone Again Or
13-Of Montreal-Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse
14-Sting-Shadows in the Rain
15-Pink Floyd-Free Four
16-Beach Boys-I Just Wasn't Made For These Times
17-Lonnie Smith-Peace of Mind


*You can still download "under the covers with the mennu method" as a zip or wma.

Six Mixes in Six Days...Starting Today

Today is my 40th birthday. I usually celebrate my birthday for 5 days: from February 27 through March 3. That's a five day fest, except during a leap year, then it's six days. And luckily, this is a leap year.

Why the long celebration?

February 27 is my actual birthday, so that begins the fest. March 3 is the day I was released from the IDF after three years and one day of service. So that's like a re-birth of sorts. It was as though after three years, the army came to me, holding my life in its hand and said, "Hey! How would you like to have this again?" Well, I was thrilled! I dusted it off and resumed where I had left off. The days between my birthday and my release from the army date are filled with friends birthdays. So the party goes on.

People keep asking me if I'm doing anything special for my birthday. I am. I'm having a musical potlatch of sorts. In one of my more ambitious projects to date, I'm going to release six mixes in six days. Three of them will relate to how I'm feeling right now, at this point in my life. One of them will be a refinement of a mix that I've been working on and have asked selected friends to preview and evaluate. One will be taken off the back burner and served as is. There's one which hasn't been made yet. That'll be fun.

I've also been doing a little technical quality assurance on the mixes. Hopefully there will be no gaps in between songs, and the songs will play in order in most mp3 players and/or computers. Mixes will be downloadable as zip files containing the individual mp3 files, or as a single wma file which will play on Windows PCs and certain devices. I've tried to ensure that the tags are proper and the artwork compliments the mix.

So enjoy! Try to keep up with the output, and keep the comments coming.