Not that we had a winter this year on the East Coast, but Spring is in full bloom here in Brooklyn. Post-bloom actually, which is a good thing for you allergy sufferers. And so thaws my blog which has been on deep freeze since February. So here we are with this year’s Spring Fever mix and I think it turned out pretty good! Lots of great new sounds, covering a lot of sonic territory (well, within a certain pale milieu, let’s face it). Anyway, here you go, do enjoy.

DOWNLOAD SPRING FEVER 2012

TRACKLIST:
1. Shrag – Tendons in the Night
2. Veronica Falls – My Heart Beats
3. Django Django – Life’s a Beach
4. Allah-Las – Tell Me (What’s on Your Mind)
5. Scraps – Secret Paradise
6. Hollie Cook + Prince Fatty – And the Beat Goes On
7. Dent May – Best Friend
8. New Build – Do You Not Feel Loved?
9. Bear in Heaven – Cool Light
10. Tanlines – Green Grass
11. Craft Spells – Sun Trails
12. Violens – Sariza Spring
13. Dive – How Long Have You Known?
14. Lotus Plaza – Strangers
15. Lightships – Stretching Out
16. Ex Cops – You Are a Lion, I Am a Lamb
17. Crocodiles – Psychic Conversation 9
18. Ty Segall & White Fence – Easy Rider
19. Paperhead - Pictures of Her Demise
20. Spiritualized – Hey Jane
21. Richard James – Magical Day

In case you forgot how I do things, these songs are mixed together so please don’t listen to this on shuffle. It’ll sound wrong. Liner notes are after the jump

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I’ve been mostly cut-off from the internet this week thanks to living in a pre-War building that has cable installed in ways McGuyver never would’ve attempted. (A vision of a SOPA future, perhaps.) But we’re back on now and I managed to put this one together while unplugged. Last week we got mostly dancey songs, and this week the guitars are back. A lot of exciting new stuff here I think. And one old song. Have a swell weekend!

DOWNLOAD WINTRY MIX 01.20.2012

Here’s the tracklist:

1. Standard Fare – 05 11 07
2. Little Racer – Split for the Coast
3. Hospitality – The Right Profession
4. Exlovers – Starlight
5. Toy – Left Myself Behind
6. Terry Malts – I Do
7. A Place to Bury Strangers – So Far Away
8. The Band in Heaven – Sleazy Dreams
9. Siinai – Marathon
10. HEHFU – Come Home
11. Mind Spiders – More Than You
12. Cloud Nothings – Stay Useless
13. Prinzhorn Dance School – Your Fire Has Gone Out
14. Household – Phases
15. Liechtenstein – Ambitions
16. Frankie Rose – Know Me
17. Trailer Trash Tracys – Los Angered
18. A.C. Marias – One of Our Girls Has Gone Missing

Stay warm, don’t shuffle. Liner notes after the jump.
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There were a few snowflakes in the air today here in Brooklyn, the first of the season, so it’s good timing for the first Wintry Mix of 2012. Unlike the Summer Fridays mixes, these will be almost entirely new music… though I’m allowing myself one oldie per week. Lots of great stuff here: new singles from The 2 Bears, Diagrams, WhoMadeWho and Bear in Heaven. This one is pretty dancefloor-friendly. So have at it!

DOWNLOAD WINTRY MIX 01.13.2013

Tracklist:

1. The Golden Filter – Age of Consent
2. WIR – So and Slow it Grows
3. WhoMadeWho – Inside World
4. Django Django – Default
5. Errors – Pleasure Palaces
6. Chairlift - Sidewalk Safari
7. Expensive Looks – Nightfalls
8. Tanlines - Brothers
9. LESCOP - La Foret
10. The 2 Bears – Work
11. Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs – Dream On
12. The Big Pink – Hit the Ground (Superman)
13. Bear in Heaven – The Reflection of You
14. Grimes - Genesis
15. Diagrams - Tall Buildings

Like all my mixes, the songs actually segue together so…No shuffling! Liner notes after the jump.

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We’re in it now. It’s July and it’s HOT and I’ve blown my fuses twice already. That’s what I get for making toast with the A/C on. Try not to lose power when cranking this one, though volume should definitely be set to Very Loud. Cover art this week is by Mazing Vids co-conspirator and genius tie-maker Ryan Sovereign did the cover. He’s Summer Fridays’ lucky number, as he did the ace cover for 3.7 last year. Nice job, don’t you think?

Ryan is a post-punk aficionado so I tilted slightly in that direction on this one. Enjoy!

DOWNLOAD SUMMER FRIDAYS 4.7

Tracklist:
1. Sloan - People of the Sky
2. Robert Pollard – Aspersion
3. Las Kellies – Bling Bling
4. Nightingales - Idiot Strength
5. Grass Widow – Milo Minute
6. Beau & the Arrows – 0.7.9.3
7. The dB’s – Black and White
8. Peoples Temple – Sons of Stone
9. The Horrors – I Can See Through You
10. Simple Minds – Up on the Catwalk
11. David Bowie – Boys Keep Swinging
12. Hooray for Earth – No Love
13. The Breeders – Saints
14. Super Wild Horses – Black Book
15. Easybeats - Friday on My Mind
16. House of Love – I Don’t Know Why I Love You
17. Helium - Pat’s Trick
18. The Tony Castles – Juice
19. The Legends – There and Back Again
20. Letting Up Despite Great Faults – Teenage Tide

You know the deal: NO SHUFFLING. Please. Or do what you want. Liner notes after the jump.

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Did you know there’s an animal park in Florida that develops bonds between tigers and humans by having them swim together? You probably did, it’s been around for three years. I just found out via this week’s cover art done by my friend and frequent art contributor Kelly Hitzing. If you didn’t, there is such a park and the photos are terrifying. It’s like that Truck-o-Saurus episode of the Simpsons come to life…minus the Truck-o-Saurus and the sharks.

Anyway, my nightmares are your awesome cover art to the second Summer Fridays of 2011. By pure coincidence there’s a song by Cat’s Eyes. And lots of other new music, plus at least one song about the summer which is a cheeseball thing to do and I can’t promise I won’t do it again. But I can promise that the song will be good if I do so. Without further ado…

DOWNLOAD SUMMER FRIDAYS 4.2

Tracklisting:

1. Fun Boy Three – Summertime
2. Cat’s Eyes – A Face in the Crowd
3. Wild Flag – Future Crimes
4. Seapony - Into the Sea
5. pow wow! – It’s Not That Easy
6. The Monochrome Set – Karma Suture
7. Hong Kong in the ’60s – You Can Take a Heart but You Can’t Make it Beat
8. Love Inks – Wave Goodbye
9. Ivy - I Get the Message
10. The Jazz Butcher Conspiracy - Groovin’ in the Bus Lane
11. The Attack – Colour of My Mind
12. Starfucker - Astoria
13. Small Sins – Why Don’t You Believe Me?
14. The Young Knives – Woman
15. The Hollies – Postcard
16. Nina Slash – Candy Box
17. Lemonheads - Confetti
18. The Arctic Monkeys – Suck it and See
19. Dani Sheridan – I Guess I’m Dumb
20. Girls Names – Lawrence
21. Hunters & Collectors – Everything’s on Fire

I know you know, but I can’t post this without reminding you that the songs herein are mixed together, so listening on shuffle would be a bad thing. So don’t do it! Liner notes after the jump.

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It’s Memorial Day Weekend and that, of course, means the start of the fourth year of these seasonal mixes. Please enjoy whether you’re heading out of town for a three day trip to the beach, or use at a backyard bbq, or just clogging up your hard drive unzipped. Sunbathing season hasn’t really started yet, so this mix is pretty damn white. Please enjoy the quality pop tones within. Cover art this week designed by Kate Bryant who has helped kick off nearly every season of Summer Fridays since the beginning so long ago. Enjoy.

DOWNLOAD SUMMER FRIDAYS 4.1

Tracklist:

1. Let’s Wrestle – In Dreams Pt. II
2. Eternal Summers – Prisoner
3. The Belltower – Outshine the Sun
4. Terry Malts – Distracted
5. Comet Gain – Thee Ecstatic Library
6. The Modern Lovers – Dignified and Old
7. Milk Maid – Not Me
8. Boat - Kinda Scared of Love Affairs
9. 20/20 - Yellow Pills
10. Pete & the Pirates – Little Gun
11. The Wedding Present – Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)
12. Gold-Bears – Totally Called It
13. Radical Dads – Walking Wires
14. Slade - Coz I Luv You
15. Gross Relations – Blame the Records
16. The Strokes – Machu Picchu
17. The Hairs – Duh x 12
18. Crystal Stilts – Death is What We Live For
19. The Feelies – Nobody Knows
20. The Kinks – Sunny Afternoon

Like I always always always say, these mixes are actually, you know, mixed together. So no skipping! Liner Notes after the jump.

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I didn’t think I was going to do anymore mixes until Summer Fridays returned but there was a whole bunch of new music I was excited about so here we are. I’m not sure this feels like Spring, what with Cold Cave starting things off, but what we’ve got here is 22 quality tracks of new music (and one that’s old but from a new compilation). If the words herein don’t make a lot of sense, I wrote this under the haze of a particularly nasty bout of flu to which I am still recovering. Hope it makes you feel better.

DOWNLOAD SOUND BITES SPRING FEVER

Tracklist:

1. Cold Cave – Confetti
2. WhoMadeWho – Every Minute Alone
3. PAPER - She’s Got Lard
4. Cult of Youth – The Dead Sea
5. The Wave Pictures – Now Your Smile Comes Over In Your Voice
6. Sloan - Beverly Terrace
7. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Belong
8. Exlovers - Blowing Kisses
9. Mazes - Summer Hits
10. Standard Fare – Suitcase
11. Erland & the Carnivale – Springtime
12. The High Llamas – Take My Hand
13. Metronomy – The Look
14. Cat’s Eyes – The Best Person I Know
15. Pete & the Pirates – Come to the Bar
16. Eux Autres – Queen Turner
17. Little Majorette – Overflow
18. Onuma Singsiri – Mae Kha Som Tam
19. Mueran Humanos – Corazón Doble
20. The Soft Province – For Untold Day
21. Seapony - Dreaming
22. Craft Spells – Your Tomb
23. Loud Fast Fools – Time to Split

The songs segue together, as frequent visitors may already know, so don’t play this on shuffle. Liner notes after the jump.

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And you thought you could put away the sweaters and parkas. Like a surprise snowfall after a warm Friday, Monday brings the third Wintry Mix of 2011. This one is the most icy-sounding, the first half a chilly blast with the back end bringing the ’90s resurgence into sharp relief. This will probably do it for these until the return of Summer Fridays. Enjoy.

DOWNLOAD WINTRY MIX THREE

Tracklist:

1. Lykke Li - I Follow Rivers
2. Silver Swans – Secrets
3. Love Inks – Black Eye
4. Princeton - To the Alps
5. Cat’s Eyes – Not a Friend
6. The Answering Machine – Animals
7. Banjo or Freakout – Go Ahead
8. Still Corners – Don’t Fall in Love
9. Martial Canterel – Secret Stores
10. Generationals - Tell Me Now
11. Gross Relations – Fuzzy Timelines
12. Lifeguards – Paradise is Not So Bad
13. Young Boys – Bring ‘Em Down
14. Girls Names – Seánce on a Wet Afternoon
15. Mr. Dream – Holy Name
16. Radical Dads – Recklessness
17. PS I Love You w/Diamond Rings – Leftovers
18. Telekenesis - I Cannot Love You
19. Violens - When to Let Go
20. BNLX - It Was a Good Day

Like all my mixes, the songs segue together so do yourself a favor and don’t listen on shuffle. Liner notes after the jump.

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This is it, folks for Summer Fridays 2010. The weather is already full-on Fall, though it’s not actually Autumn until the 21. Autumn is my favorite time of year in NY anyway. Enjoy this last one, think it turned out pretty good. (Especially after redoing it last minute today, which is why this is up so late.) I might do a monthly mix, so maybe look forward to that. Hope you enjoyed these . I had fun making them. Just think this is the last time you’ll have to read this phrase till next year: NO SHUFFLING.

DOWNLOAD SUMMER FRIDAYS 3.17

Tracklist:

1. Parlovr - Hell/Heaven
2. Reading Rainbow – Wasting Time
3. Animals That Swim – New Boots
4. Casino Music – The Beat Goes On
5. Talk Talk - Life is What You Make It
6. The Crayon Fields – All the Pleasures of the World (Dan Block Remix)
7. The Special AKA – What I Like Most About You is Your Girlfriend
8. The Drums – Me and the Moon
9. The Mighty Lemon Drops – Out of Hand
10. Translations - The M.O.
11. North Highlands – Steady Steady
12. Edwyn Collins – Come Tomorrow, Come Today
13. Aberfeldy - Mean Ol Misery
14. Lancelot Link & The Evolution Revolution – Sha-La Love You
15. The Balancing Act – She Doesn’t Work Here Anymore
16. Butterglory - She’s Got the Akshun
17. Superchunk - Hot Tubes
18. The Trilobites – I Can’t Wait for Summer to End

Liner notes after the jump.

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I know the wildly variating themes of these mixes, week to week, is probably infuriating to some people. (That’s assuming I have regular readers at this point as infrequent as my posting is here. I keep saying I’ll do better, then I don’t.) It may seem impossible that someone can love Unnatural Helpers and The Fresh & Onlys and still have time to not only listen to, but find merit in the new New Young Pony Club album. Well welcome to me. Man cannot live in Altered Zones 24 hours a day, not this one at least, and I don’t need to have my dancepop drenched in reverb to justify listening to it. (Hey I like Delorean too, don’t get me wrong.) Bitter and defensive much, me? There is currently no running water in my apartment so I am cranky.

Anway: this week is poppy and dancey, maybe in a more 2007 kinda way than right now I dunno. It’s also got Xymox and Naked Eyes and the new Mark Ronson single that I think is pretty undeniably catchy as all get out. And new Deerhunter too which I think fits in just fine. Dig it. Cover art this week comes courtesy Philip Maramba who I’ve known since college and still lives in WV where he is Design Editor for the Charleston Daily Mail. He probably cringes at every typo in this post. Philip also is an avid listener of these mixes despite never seeming to be able to figure out how to make them play in correct running order. Dude, it’s not that hard. The picture was taken Ghent, WV and looks particularly idyllic. And yes, some people in West Virginia do read David Sedaris.

DOWNLOAD SUMMER FRIDAYS 3.9

Tracklist:

1. Breakbot - Baby I’m Yours
2. Deerhunter - Revival
3. The Superimposers – Seeing is Believing
4. Captain Sensible – Brenda Pts 1 + 2
5. School of Seven Bells – Heart is Strange
6. Xymox - Obsession
7. Steve Mason – Am I Just a Man?
8. Psychobuildings - No Man’s Land
9. New Young Pony Club – Oh Cherie
10. Naked Eyes – When the Lights Go Out
11. Guru - Loungin’
12. Holy Ghost! – Static on the Wire
13. Mark Ronson & The Business Intl – Bang Bang Bang
14. Ratatat - Mandy
15. James Yuill – When You’re on Your Own

Because I will just never stop saying this: what you’ve got here is an actual mix, the songs segue together and much thought has been put into the running order. They are separate tracks though…so NO SHUFFLING. Liner notes after the jump.

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