Another summer mix

coverWith the arrival of little H, I haven’t had a lot of time to scout out new music. At this point, anything under 5 years old counts as “fresh,” and I’m even breaking my taboo about including 1990s tracks. But you may enjoy it anyways. At least three of these artists are new to me in the last year, including one of the 1990s contributions.

Download here, for a few weeks only, or stream from Mixcloud.

David Pritchard – Mix 2015.07 by Drpritch on Mixcloud

In this era of easy streaming music… I feel pretty bad for the artists. If you like these tracks, please buy them individually on iTunes, or buy a few of the albums. Think of it like a tip jar.

  1. the weeknd. high for this. r&b, from house of balloons, 2011.
  2. the xx. islands. pop, from xx, 2009.
  3. antipop consortium. volcano [fourtet remix]. hip hop, from ninja tune xx compilation, 2010.
  4. gorillaz feat. mos def and hypnotic brass ensemble. sweepstakes. hip hop, from plastic beach, 2010.
  5. kid koala. skanky panky. turntablism / hip hop, from some of my best friends are djs, 2003.
  6. squarepusher. tetra sync [edit]. experimental / acid jazz, from ultravisitor, 2004.
  7. shadowy men on a shadowy planet. spy school graduation theme. rock, from sport fishin’, 1993.
  8. james. five-o. brit rock, from laid, 1993.
  9. basia bulat. the shore. folk, from heart of my own, 2010.
  10. tycho. from home. ambient, from past is prologue, 2006.
  11. burial. archangel. dubstep, from untrue, 2007.
  12. omar-s. oasis 13 1/2. techno, from fabric 45, 2009.
  13. der dritte raum. swing bop [acid pauli’s kosmik remix]. acid jazz, from future sounds of jazz 12 compilation, 2012.
  14. billie holiday. yesterdays [junior boys remix]. acid jazz, from verve remixed 3 compilation, 2005.
  15. death cab for cutie. i will follow you into the dark. rock, from plans, 2005.
  16. the smashing pumpkins. perfect. rock, from adore, 1998.

Summer break mix

coverA more electronic-heavy mix, to celebrate the start of my summer break!

There’s not much more to say, except maybe that track #7 is supposed to be a metaphor about the music industry, not just raw sex.

Download here, for a few weeks only. I was hoping to post this as an iTunes Store playlist so you could buy the tracks… but apparently that feature has recently been removed.

[ Postscript: Mixcloud now lets me do something reasonable. ]

  1. tv on the radio. love dog. rock, from dear science…, 2008.
  2. broken social scene. all to all. rock, from forgiveness rock record, 2010.
  3. basti grub & mike trend. afrika am strand [short version]. acid jazz, from future sounds of jazz vol. 12, 2012.
  4. múm. the ballad of the broken string. ambient, from yesterday was dramatic – today is ok, 2000.
  5. afx. reunion 2. electronic/experimental, from chosen lords, 2006.
  6. the long lost. woebegone [flying lotus’ like woe remix]. electro / dubstep, from ninja tune xx compilation, 2010.
  7. the roots feat. cody chestnutt. the seed (2.0). hip hop / soul, from collateral soundtrack, 2004.
  8. roots manuva. chin high [manuvadelic version]. hip hop, from you don’t know: ninja cuts compilation, 2008.
  9. black sun empire. don’t you. drum & bass, from driving insane, 2004.
  10. burial. street halo. techno, from fourtet – fabriclive 59 compilation, 2011.
  11. trentemøller. nightwalker. downtempo, from the last resort, 2006.
  12. patrick watson. lighthouse. rock, from adventures in your own backyard, 2012.
  13. portishead. deep water. jazz, from third, 2008.
  14. sarah harmer. new enemy. folk, from all of our names, 2004.
  15. feist. so sorry. pop, from the reminder, 2007.
  16. thom yorke. and it rained all night. rock, from the eraser, 2007.
  17. prefuse 73. choking you. glitch, from one word extinguisher, 2003.
  18. ingfried hoffman. midnight bossa nova. jazz, from mojo club dancefloor jazz vol. 9, 2000 (original: 1969).

Spring mesclun mix

album cover - moss on wood

After a dance-heavy mix last time, this one offers a little more variety.  J is of course a folk and world music fan, and I’ve started to dig through her CD collection, picking up at least a few interesting artists along the way: Kevin Breit, Amadou & Mariam, Sarah Harmer, Basia Bulat and Tri-Continental, to name a few.

Electronic music continues to hold my attention, but I’m a little tired of the repeated echoes of electro and I never got very far into dubstep.  Ninja Tune’s recent four-CD XX twentieth-anniversary collection blew my mind, though: take the various ideas coming out of electro and dubstep, and let some eccentric artists take them in wild directions. Trippy stuff; perhaps more so if I had more of a taste for UK hiphop.

Download here, for a few weeks only.

  1. kevin drew. frightening lives. rock, from spirit if…, 2007.
  2. diplo. summer’s gonna hurt you [diplo 2010 remix]. dubstep, from ninja tune xx compilation, 2010.
  3. dj krush. pretense. instrumental hip hop, from jaku, 2004.
  4. kanye west. all of the lights. hip hop, from my beautiful dark twisted fantasy, 2010.
  5. sufjan stevens. riffs and variations on a single note for jelly roll, earl hines, louis armstrong, baby dodds, and the king of swing, to name a few. pop, from come on feel the illinoise, 2005.
  6. belle & sebastian. string bean jean. pop, from dog on wheels ep, 1997.
  7. basia bulat. heart of my own. folk, from heart of my own, 2010.
  8. patrick watson. traveling salesman. rock, from wooden arms, 2009.
  9. hot chip. keep fallin’. electro-soul, from coming on strong, 2005.
  10. grasscut. blink in the night. downtempo, from ninja tune xx compilation, 2010.
  11. béla fleck & the flecktones. prelude. jazz, from outbound, 2000.
  12. peaking lights. all the sun that shines. downtempo, from 936, 2011.
  13. parov stelar. catgroove. acid jazz, from coco, 2009.
  14. dennis ferrer. son of raw. acid jazz, from future sounds of jazz vol. 11 compilation, 2007.
  15. vive la fête! assez. electro, from nuit blanche, 2003.
  16. björk. pagan poetry. pop, from vespertine, 2001.
  17. amadou & mariam. m’bife blues feat. manu chao. world, from dimanche à bamako, 2005.
  18. harry manx & kevin breit. curly may and his brother. folk, from jubilee, 2003.

Was this list influenced by any YouTube memes or the occasional “just for laughs” impulse? You be the judge.

A dancing mix

My new music intake rate is still quite low. This year did involve some time digging through the crates for the most danceworthy music for the wedding, though. That process fed about 70% of the content in this mix, although very few of these tracks actually got played at the wedding.

We have gone to the Hillside festival the last two years, but I haven’t been quite as inspired by the acts as I was during my first visit to the festival. Patrick Watson and Holy Fuck are the two most notable exceptions, both delivering great sets.

There’s a heavy acid jazz / nu-jazz component to this mix. I have a particular soft spot for two of the final tracks here. The atmosphere of the Kruder & Dorfmeister Lamb remix is a little over-the-top, but remains my favourite acid jazz track of all time. The Herbaliser’s live rendition of “The Missing Suitcase” has been in my collection for a decade, but never really caught my full attention. The wedding hunt brought it to the foreground as a great, danceable, organic jazzy track – and dancing to it at the wedding with friends was a highlight for me.

So, download the mix here (for a few weeks only). The tracklist is below, also with the album/compilation where I first heard the tracks.

  1. moondog. bird’s lament [henrik schwarz remix]. jazz + house, from dj-kicks – henrik schwarz compilation, 2006.
  2. omar-s. flying gorgars. techno, from fabric 45, 2009.
  3. the crystal method. blowout. big beat, from tweekend, 2001.
  4. radioactive man. uranium. electro, from andrew weatherall – from the bunker (a rotter’s golf club mix) compilation, 2007.
  5. the soft pink truth. promofunk. electro, from colette no. 5 compilation, 2003.
  6. erlend øye. sheltered life / fine day. electro, from dj-kicks – erlend øye compilation, 2004.
  7. daniel lanois. i love you. pop, from shine, 2003.
  8. patrick watson. tracy’s waters. rock, from wooden arms, 2009.
  9. radiohead. 15 steps. rock, from in rainbows, 2007.
  10. skalpel. quiz. acid jazz, from skalpel, 2004.
  11. thunderball. solar. downtempo, from modular systems compilation, 2001.
  12. caribou. jamelia. electronic / rock, from swim, 2010.
  13. holy fuck. stay lit. rock, from latin, 2010.
  14. gorillaz. feel good inc. rock / hip hop, from demon days, 2005.
  15. povo. uam uam [moonstarr remix]. acid jazz, from future sounds of jazz vol. 10 compilation, 2005.
  16. the herbaliser band. the missing suitcase [session one]. acid jazz, from session one, 2000.
  17. lamb. trans fatty acid [k&d session]. acid jazz, from kruder & dorfmeister – the k&d sessions compilation, 1998.
  18. portishead. the rip. trip hop, from third, 2008.