Alright, the ice is melting and while I avoid a list-shaped elephant in the room (blog) , here’s 19 new songs, one fairly new one (Pegasvs) and an old reggae tune. I may try and write some liner notes, but no promises. This one turned out really good I think. I hope it inspires you to seek out some of these bands’ albums (like Warm Soda, my favorite of 2013 so far.) Meanwhile,  Heino and roses for everyone. Please enjoy… and no shuffling!

DOWNLOAD SOUND BITES OF SPRING ’13

TRACKLIST:
1. Mikal Cronin – Weight
2. Elephant Stone – Masters of War
3. The House of Love – Purple Killer Rose
4. Girls Names – Hypnotic Regression
5. Pegasvs – Atlantico
6. Wax Idols – Cartoonist
7. Anika – In the City
8. Ooga Boogas – Sex in the Chillzone
9. The Strokes – Welcome to Japan
10. Elephant – Skyscraper
11. Susan Cadogan – Do it Baby
12. Colleen Green – Time in the World
13. Wampire – Snacks
14. Jacco Gardner – Puppets Dangling
15. Fiction – Careful*
16. Suede – Hit Me
17. Wire – Love Bends
18. Warm Soda – Strange as it Seems
19. Golden Grrls – Paul Simon
20. Legs – Cast in Shadows
21. Highasakite – Son of a Bitch

*Does this sound like Lloyd Cole & the Commotions or what????

Well it’s the last day of 2012 and, while I have got any of my lists up yet (just making sure My Bloody Valentine doesn’t decide to drop the new album as a NYE surprise or whatnot), here are my annual year-end mixes. Unlike previous years were I took stills from viral videos and other internet memes for the artwork, I turned over duty to actually talented people who had done covers for my annual Summer Fridays series.

I know I’ve forgotten bands/songs that should be on here, but as is you’re getting about 100 great ones that pretty much sum up my personal faves of 2012. I will have Best Albums, Singles, reissues, etc up later this week. Until then, enjoy the tunes and see you in 2013.

A note about the Sendspace downloads, you want to click the “Click here to start download from sendspace” text link. (The other “DOWNLOAD” links are ads, it’s what you put up with for free hosting.) Here’s a link to all five mixes, but individual download links are underneath cover art for individual mixes…

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Cover art for Mix #1 is by Sable Yong who, when not singing for Year of the Tiger and Chalk and Numbers makes cool and impractical iPhone cases and other stuff you want at Rich and Damned. No, I do not know where that ramen is from (or maybe it’s udon?), but it looks very good! If only you could have animated GIF artwork work on iTunes…

DOWNLOAD SOUND BITES: BEST OF 2012 #1

Tracklist:
1. Ty Segall – The Hill
2. King Khan & the Shrines – I’ll Bite My Tongue
3. Peggy Sue – My Boyfriend’s Back
4. Allah-Las – Busman’s Holiday
5. The Limiñanas – Longanisse
6. Field Mouse – You Guys Are Gonna Wake Up My Mom
7. CUFFS – Private View
8. Beach Pigs – Catch Up in the Sun
9. Kelley Stoltz – Marcy
10. Jacco Gardner – Clear the Air
11. Sheer Agony – Pet Crow
12. Grass Widow – Milo Minute
13. Woods – Is it Honest
14. Allo Darlin’ – Capricornia
15. Craft Spells – Still Left with Me
16. AC Newman – Encyclopedia of Classic Takedowns
17. Lightships – Sweetness in Her Spark
18. Jim Ruiz Set – Neo-Acoustic Ambassador
19. Hospitality – The Birthday
20. The Peoples Temple – Looter’s Game
21. The Raveonettes – Young and Cold

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Cover art to Mix #2 is by legendary internet graffiti artist King of the Streets whose who grapples with his muse and respect for public property by working exclusively in MS Paint.

DOWNLOAD SOUND BITES: BEST OF 2012 #2

Tracklist:
1. METZ – Knife in the Water
2. A Place To Bury Strangers – So Far Away
3. Wax Idols – Schadenfreude
4. The Megaphonic Thrift – Moonstruck
5. Erik Blood – The Lonesome Death of Henry Paris
6. Savages – Flying to Berlin
7. BEAK> – Mono
8. Disappears – Pre Language
9. Japandroids – Evil’s Sway
10. Holograms – ABC City
11. Parquet Courts – Borrowed Time
12. Moonmen On The Moon, Man – Oh Look, A Sweat Balloon
13. Cloud Nothings – Stay Useless
14. Nude Beach – Some Kinda Love
15. Bleeding Rainbow – Pink Ruff
16. Total Control – Scene from a Marriage
17. PAWS – Sore Tummy
18. Street Chant – Sink
19. BNLX – Everything Must Go
20. The Soft Pack – Tallboy
21. Cheatahs – The Swan

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Cover art to Mix #3 is by longtime Summer Fridays contributor Greg Morris who is the first toymaker to the king, amongst other things. FYI, his cover is loosely based on the towering, haphazard wall of CDs in my apartment.

DOWNLOAD SOUND BITES: BEST OF 2012 #3

Tracklist
1. El Perro Del Mar – Walk on By
2. Hot Chip – These Chains
3. Purity Ring – Belispeak
4. Todd Terje – Inspector Norse
5. Saint Etienne – I’ve Got Your Music
6. Bertrand Bergulat – Double Peine
7. GOAT – Goatman
8. Icona Pop – I Love It
9. The 2 Bears – Work
10. Django Django – Default
11. Prince Fatty feat. Hollie Cook – And the Beat Goes On
12. Jessie Ware – 110%
13. Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs – You Need Me On My Own
14. Chromatics – At Your Door
15. New Build – Do You Not Feel Loved
16. WhoMadeWho – Inside World
17. Divine Fits – For Your Heart
18. Chairlift – I Belong in Your Arms
19. Summer Camp – Always
20. NZCA/LINES – Atoms & Axes
21. Bear in Heaven – World of Freakout
22. Grimes – Oblivion

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Kate Bryant has done cover art for Summer Fridays since they started. More than a couple have featured her Catahoula Leopard Hound Arlo, and he’s in this one too. It looks like a still from Canine Terminator. For for pictures of her dog (and other things), follow Kate on Instagram.

DOWNLOAD SOUND BITES: BEST OF 2012 #4

Tracklist:
1. Eternal Summers – Millions
2. Ice Choir – A Vision of Hell, 1994
3. Fergus & Geronimo – No Parties
4. Stealing Sheep – Genevieve
5. Cate Le Bon – Fold the Cloth
6. Liechtenstein – Ambitions
7. Deep Time – Coleman
8. Lower Dens – Brains
9. Dum Dum Girls – Lord Knows
10. Rachel Zeffira – Front Door
11. Tame Impala – Keep on Lying
12. Beach House – Other People
13. Peaking Lights – Live Love
14. Frankie Rose – Nightswim
15. Cat Power – Ruin
16. Melody’s Echo Chamber – Be Proud of Your Kids
17. Caged Animals – This Summer
18. Merchandise – Time
19. Moon King – Crucified
20. Dent May – Rent Money

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And cover art for Mix #5, which was at the top of this post too, is by Kelly Hitzing who has done mix art for a long time as well. She just got her degree in Landscape Architecture and is very talented. She would be a great addition to your firm, please hire her (especially if you’re in NYC, we need her back here).

DOWNLOAD SOUND BITES: BEST OF 2012 #5

Tracklist:
1. TOY – Motoring
2. Shrag – Chasing Consumations
3. Mac DeMarco – Freaking Out the Neighborhood
4. Punks on Mars – 8 Showers of Pain
5. The Intelligence – (They Found Me in the Back of) The Galaxy
6. The Babies – Moonlight Mile
7. The Fresh & Onlys – Presence of Mind
8. Orca Team – Behind Your Eyes
9. Scraps – 1982
10. Opossom – Fly
11. Violens – Sariza Spring
12. Two Wounded Birds – It’s Not Up to You
13. King Tuff – Alone and Stoned
14. Vex Ruffin – Take It
15. Useless Eaters – Black Night Ultraviolet
16. Terry Malts – Something About You
17. Graham Coxon – What’ll It Take?
18. The Cribs – Glitters Like Gold
19. Woollen Kits – Out of Whack
20. Field Music – Who’ll Pay the Bills?
21. Cats on Fire – 1914 and Beyond

I really don’t think it needs to be said, but the songs on these mixes are actually mixed together so, for reasons of “flow,” please don’t listen on shuffle.

A reader from France emailed me the other day asking what happened to Sound Bites, as I hadn’t posted anything since August. Well, I have a full time job where I also write about music, so this site has definitely gone by the wayside though I wish it wasn’t so. I also was having trouble in the mix production department, but having a little free time over Thanksgiving weekend I think I’ve sorted that out, so here’s my first try at a mix with new audio and photo software. It’s mostly new music, with a few oldies right in the middle. Do enjoy.

DOWNLOAD SOUND BITES GET AUTUMNAL!

Tracklist:

1 The Babies – Mess Me Around
2 Eureka California – Back to California
3 Veronica Falls – Teenage
4 Jim Ruiz Set – Neo Acoustic Ambasador
5 Jim Noir – Ping Pong Time Tennis
6 pow wow! – You’re Dead
7 AC Newman – Encyclopedia o Classic Takedowns
8 I Was a King – Leave
9 Housemartins – Think For A Minute
10 Dionne Warwick – Anyone Who Had A Heart
11 El Perro Del Mar – Walk on By
12 Jan Hammer Group – Don’t You Know
13 Jef Barbara – Larmes de crocodile
14 Bertrand Burgalat – Double Peine
15 Erik Blood – The Lonesome Death of Henry Paris
16 Omega Male – Testosterone
17 Moon King – Crucified
18 Parquet Courts – Stoned and Starving

Okay, okay this is a day late but … hey, man, things got crazy. (Not really.) Lot of great music on this week’s mix, which is basically new stuff and semi-obscure ’90s UK indie. Sleeper and The Poplinjays still sound good! Ditto Family Cat and Milltown Brothers. As for the new stuff, dig mix-opener by Toy  and that Melody’s Echo Chamber track. Yes, I’m repeating some bands but back when I made real mix tapes on a weekly basis, you’d just run through your favorite new albums track-by-track anyway… good songs are what counts. Cover art this week by Rich Scroggs who did a bang up job. Hope you’re boating or driving a race car this weekend. Enjoy!

DOWNLOAD SUMMER FRIDAYS 5.9

Tracklist:
1. Toy – Motoring
2. Spirea X – Chlorine Dream
3. Melody’s Echo Chamber – Endless Shore
4. The Boo Radleys – Rodney King (Song for Lenny Bruce)
5. Deep Time – Coleman
6. The Limiñanas – Betty and Johnny
7. Home – So Much Love
8. The Family Cat – What We Talk About When We Talk About Love
9. Endless Summers – Wonder
10. The Popinjays – Vote Elvis!
11. Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Only in My Dreams
12. Milltown Brothers – Which Way Should I Jump?
13. Girls Names – A Troubled See
14. The Blue Aeroplanes – Yr Own World
15. The Sufis – Sri Sai Flora
16. Jasmine Minks – What’s Happening
17. Tropical Popsicle – The Age of Attraction
18. Sleeper – Inbetweener
19. Exlovers – You Forget So Easily
20. Lush – Ciao!

This is an odd mix. I generally do one “cocktail” themed one a year but it kind of strays into early -’80s burundi beat new wave, tropial disco, girl groups and other territory. It all started with me wanting to use that Bill Wyman song “Je Suis Un Rock Star” and while we’re jetting around genres, it’s all pretty breezy. Only three new songs on this one, as can happy with the high concept mixes. Jack “Skippy” McFadden, a former Brooklynite who now books Emo’s in Austin, did the art this week which sort of looks like a cross between early-’90s 4AD and Luaka Bop album covers. Bravo, sir. Stay cool, party people.

DOWNLOAD SUMMER FRIDAYS 5.7

Tracklist:
1. Serge Gainsbourg - Couleir Cafe
2. Bananarama – Aie A Mwana
3. Moloko – Sing it Back (Boris Musical Mix)
4. Heavenly Beat – Messiah
5. The Velvelettes – He Was Really Sayin’ Something
6. Bill Wyman – Je Suis Un Rock Star
7. The Beat – Jeanette
8. Laetitia Sadier – Fragment Pour la Future de l’homme
9. John Gregory – Jaguar
10. Fun Boy Three – Our Lips are Sealed
11. Ultramarine – Weird Gear
12. Jan Hammer – Crocket’s Theme
13. Tom Ze – To
14. Bow Wow Wow – Go Wild in the Country
15. Ski Lodge - A Game
16. Orange Juice – Can’t Help Myself
17. The Monochrome Set – Strange Boutique
18. The High Llamas – Doo Wop Property
19. Jorge Ben – Ponta De Lança Africano (Umbabarauma)

Hey no shuffling this mix! Liner notes over the weekend.

So far, every day of Summer 2012 has hit 90 and my A/C has already blown my fuses once. The latter is why this is going up so late. On the plus side, one of the best covers in a long time I do think, as done by longtime SF contributor Kate Bryant. Yes, I put another song from Saint Etienne’s new album on here. If you haven’t picked up Words & Music, you really should. There’s mostly new stuff this week. Enjoy.

DOWNLOAD SUMMER FRIDAYS 5.5

Tracklist:

1) Diagrams – Ghost-Lit
2) Stars – The Theory of Relativity
3) Ape School – Cocaine & Guns ASAP
4) Junk Culture – Oregon
5) The The – Perfect
6) Cat Power – Ruin
7) Peaking Lights – Live Love
8) Outfit – Drakes
9) Seams – Potential
10) Lemonade – Infinite Style
11) Erika Spring – Like a Fire
12) Slowdance – Boyfriend
13) Justus Köhncke – Timecode
14) Twin Shadow – The One
15) Breakbot – One Out of Two
16) Saint Etienne – DJ

Have a swell weekend everybody!

I won’t lie, this was a race to the finish line. The mix itself I really like. The art…you’ll forgive me I hope. Next week I get other people to do it so it’s going to be much better. Anyway, enjoy. I’m not sure what prompted me to put Dwight Twilley’s biggest hit on this week’s mix, but there it is.

DOWNLOAD SUMMER FRIDAYS 5.4

Tracklist:

1. Fastbacks – In the Summer
2. CUFFS – Private View
3. The dB’s – Neverland
4. The Kinks – Holiday in Waikiki
5. Oranger – A View of the City from an Airplane
6. Mind Spiders – Upside Down
7. Useless Eaters – Malfunction
8. The Method Actors – Do the Method
9. Regal Degal – Not Mired
10. The White Wires – Everywhere You Were
11. Devo – Freedom of Choice
12. Dwight Twilley Band – I’m on Fire
13. JEFF the Brotherhood – Sixpack
14. Two Wounded Birds – It’s Not Up to You
15. Chris Isaak – Suspicion of Love
16. The Jesus and Mary Chain – Rollercoaster
17. Redd Kross – Reseaching the Blues
18. Japandroids – Evil’s Sway
19. Superchunk – Cruel Summer

Hey just because I’m in a hurry doesn’t give you free reign to listen to this on shuffle, ok? Oh, do as you please. Have a great weekend!

These kids just went swimming in the East River I think. Was going to write “…back when it was safe to do so,” but it was probably more polluted whenever this was taken (around 1911). Anyway, a swim sounds nice, doesn’t it? Maybe you have a pool in your backyard. Well this mix is perfect for your next pool party and should sync up pefectly to a game of Marco Polo. Or maybe a beach party. There are two “beach” bands on this mix and though I think there should really be a moratorium on that word in band names both of them are good, so please don’t judge.

DOWNLOAD SUMMER FRIDAYS 5.3

Tracklist
1. Beach Pigs – Catch Up in the Sun
2. Cleaners from Venus – Julie Profumo
3. King Tuff – Unusual World
4. Sonny & The Sunsets – Pretend You Love Me
5. Grant Lee Phillips – Beautiful Dreamers
6. Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs – You Need Me on My Own
7. Hot Chip – These Chains
8. Laetitia Sadier – Find Me the Pulse of the Universe
9. TEEN – Better
10. Crocodiles – No Black Clouds for Dee Dee
11. Luna – Astronaut
12. Ups and Downs – The Living Kind
13. Pomegranates – Letters
14. A Place to Bury Strangers – Alone
15. Holograms – Chasing My Mind
16. Nude Beach – Some Kinda Love
17. XTC – Sgt. Rock (Is Going to Help Me)

In this world of Spotify and everythign else I still make this with the songs mixed together so you won’t have dead silence at the most inopportune time, so please avoid listening on shuflle. Once again I ran out of time and may get liner note up tonight but we’ll see. There’s a lot of good stuff on this one.

I’m late enough as it is with this one, so I’m just gonna say that regular Summer Fridays design contributor Greg Morris has come up with another winning cover here and makes me think I should open a beach bar. Personally, my drink would be a michelada which I’m actually having right now as I write this. (Valentina sauce is the key.) As usual with the mixes Greg does covers for, this one’s on the dancey side. If you haven’t heard the Saint Etienne album, by the way, go get it now. It makes any day better… just like a michelada.

DOWNLOAD SUMMER FRIDAYS 5.2

1. Summer Camp – Always
2. Saint Etienne – I’ve Got Your Music
3. Talk Talk – Dum Dum Girl
4. Ice Choir – A Vision of Hell 1996
5. M83 – Reunion (Mylo Remix)
6. Led Er Est – Kaiyo Maru
7. Merchandise – Time
8. Chromatics – At Your Door
9. d’Eon – Al-Qiyamah
10. The Wolfgang Press – A Girl Like You
11. The 2 Bears – Warm & Easy
12. Vex Ruffin – Secret Weapon
13. Beat Connection – Think Feel
14. Gary Clail & On U-Sound System – Magic Penny
15. Cornelius – Star Fruits Surf Rider

Like a perfect michelada, Summer Fridays are actually mixed together in a perfect harmony of hot, sour, salty, and sweet. No shuffling. I’ll try and get liner notes up over the weekend, ok?

Are you ready for the summer? Are you ready for the good times? Are you ready for the birds and bees? The apple trees? And a whole lot of indie rock? Well you’re in luck because that’s what we have here with the first mix of Summer Fridays 2012.* I am hoping to do these every Friday, though I’m gainfully employed now (we don’t get summer Fridays at my job, unfortunately) and have a lot less time — and energy — than I have the last four years. Which is good! Anyway, we’ll see how I do. This kickoff mix has lots of great new music, I think, and a few oldies peppered in as well. Like usual. Slide away…

DOWNLOAD SUMMER FRIDAYS 5.1 (alt Mediafire link)

Tracklist:
1. The Intelligence – Reading and Writing About Partying
2. The Limiñanas – I Know There’s an Answer
3. The Primitives – Who Are You Trying to Fool?
4. Flop – Hello
5. Exlovers – This Love Will Lead You On
6. Pushy Parents – Secret Secret
7. Eternal Summers – You Kill
8. Terry Malts – Disconnected
9. TV Girl – Sweaters
10. Smile – Satellite Blues
11. The Upsetters – V-S Panta Rock
12. Race Horses – Mates
13. Orca Team – 8×8
14. Nick Waterhouse – (If) You Want Trouble
15. Grass Widow – Under the Atmosphere
16. Evans the Death – Catch Your Cold
17. Kelley Stoltz – Marcy
18. The Teardrop Explodes – When I Dream
19. King Khan & the Shrines – Bite My Tongue
20. Novella – Don’t Believe Ayn Rand
21. No Joy – Junior

No shuffling! Liner notes are below.

*This mix has no birds, bees or apple trees.

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