The First :30.........August

My August mix is out the door. I titled it "The First :30" for one simple, unanimous reason:
On each song, I was hooked after the first 30 seconds. First time around. Sold.

I can't guarantee that you'll be sold, but at the very least there's something for everyone. And perhaps everything for no one.

Here's a breakdown of the songs that had me at hello...

1. Freestyle by Lateef the Truthspeaker
It's the first track on a mixtape by Lateef. Solid. Freestyle and lots of hype and full of shout-outs. His intention was to get people excited about HIS mixtape. Couldn't resist using it for mine. His original album is seamless so don't be alarmed when the track ends abruptly.

2. M79 by Vampire Weekend
I stumbled on this band a few months back and love their sound. This song is apparently named after a bus in NYC that carries a lot of old people on it.

3. Sad Sad City by Ghostland Observatory
A co-worker introduced me to these guys recently and to tell you the truth, this is the only song i've heard from them. And I love it. And I especially love people who drop by your office unannounced to give you new, free music (he literally just handed me a CD as I was typing this btw... of a musician named Yann Tiersen album title "L'Absente" ... supposedly this guy did the soundtrack to Amelie) Crazy.

4. Kick Down by Long Beach Dub All Stars
Most, if not all of you have heard this song. I don't need to splain anything about it except that I found a stack of mixtapes I made in high school, and this song was on one of them.

5. Romantic Death by The Sun
A friend who worked for WEA music group gave me this CD when he was promoting it a couple years ago. This was track 4 I think. I especially like the buildup at the beginning. The song may get old, but like the title of my mix, it pulled me in on the first :30.

6. Ja Sei Namorar by Tribalistas
This is my obligatory foreign track. Many mixes had one, and this is mine. This song was everywhere in Italy a few years ago and I fell in love with it. David and I talk about songs we'd put on our longboard soundtrack.... I would ride to this.

7. Take a Number by Typical Cats
This is the start of my favorite sequence on the album. This group is composed of 3 lyricists with very different backgrounds and perspectives. During the first 10 seconds of the first verse, you get hit with 40 words. To put THAT into perspective, the next track on my mix has only 10 words in the first 10 seconds of the first verse.

8. Talk Show Host by Radiohead
If you're a Radiohead fan, you've heard this song and love it. If you like Radiohead songs but aren't a professed fan; you haven't heard this song, and you WILL love it. It can be found on the Romeo and Juliet Soundtrack. First time I heard it, I cried.

9. Jazzy Belle by Outkast
The first 30 seconds of this track are my favorite first :30 from any Outkast album. Give it 20 seconds or so... but when it comes....well....so will you

If you don't already know, it's from ATLiens.

10. One Million Miles Away by J. Ralph
Found this song in a commercial back in high school. It's obscure and needs to be here to fill the "I bet you've never heard this song before" role. It's beautiful and gives you time to regroup after Jazzy Belle. This song concludes my favorite sequence on the album.

11. Down the Mountain by Robinella
Voice of an angel. They're a local group who play every Sunday at Barley's in Knoxville. Robin Ella Contreras is the lead singer. This is their fourth album (first under the new name ... old name was Robinella and the CC String Band) You may or may not have heard it. Hope you haven't though...

12. Collapse by Mute Math
OK. I don't LOVE this band, but I love this song and the progression it makes into the next song, which flows seamlessly on the studio album. I couldn't resist putting them both in here. It's short, but BIG and instrumental. Mind the cut at the end of the song (again this was a seamless studio album)

13. Typical by Mute Math
Couldn't pull this song away from its mother. If you haven't heard of Mute Math, you may think it's Filter.

14. Dreadlock Holiday by 10 cc
I heard this on the soundtrack to Snatch and assumed it was a Bob Marley song I hadn't heard of before. I was wrong. It's not Bob Marley. And that was the main reason I put it on the album. That and the first :30 are wonderful and easy to listen to. If you don't like the first :30, you'll hate the rest of it. This is reggae. Don't expect some mind-blowing bridge around 2:30 minutes in.

15. They are Night Zombies!! They are (...) by Sufjan Stevens
I don't know anyone who hasn't heard of Sufjan Stevens yet. It was a different story 2 years ago though... This is my favorite song from the album "Come on Feel the Illinoise. " For some reason, this song has some indescribable sound.. One that MANY other songs have, but what's common with each of them is that they're all found toward the end of an album. Almost like the artist is saving the best for last or something ...

16. Rain All Day by Fleming and John
This song is risky. It's Love or Hate on this one. The band is OK in my mind. Some people love them, but I just love this song.

17. Make No Sound by Gomez
This is another song I found in an old stack of mix cds.

18. Oh You Pretty Things by David Bowie
David Bowie.... yep. I did it. And I kind of cheated with this song because it's not the first :30 that I fell in love with; but everything after the first chorus starts.

19. The Wreckoning by Lateef the Truthspeaker
I couldn't leave him out. Especially not after my opening track. I admire his lyricism. Maybe you will too.

20. International Players by UGK
Otherwise known as Underground Kingz. Even if you don't like this type of music, give it a try and pretend that you love it. You won't regret it. At about 1:15 Pimp C comes on, and this verse is my definition of a guilty pleasure. So I put it last.
Here's a video for you to enjoy.
http://videos.onsmash.com/v/P7Gq8Vei3QX3nEtw


enjoy!

BS

No Heart Receives Love When It's Broken Down

So, finally, my February mix is finalized, burned and ready to go! And yes, I have changed the damn thing about 20,000 times, including just this afternoon.

I had a lot of anxiety about what to really make. Would I make it thematic, try to tell a story (these are my favorite mixes to make, but really only for people who already know my taste, because, let's face it, for the sake of narrative, sometimes you have to put less-than-stellar tunes on there), just make a collection of my favorite songs from the last...what, 20 years?

Too much pressure!

So I did a little combination. There is no story, but there is a theme (albeit very hidden and obscure and no one will know it's there but me), and some of the songs just happen to be some of my very favorites by some of my very favorite singers/bands. And I've listened to it all the way through a couple of times now, and for the most part it flows to my satisfaction, with only a couple of negligible hiccups. It's too late now.

So I hope you all enjoy it.

I'll try to get them all out by Monday. Sorry for the delay.

Happy listening!!

January Mix

You should have all gotten this disc by now. Hope you like it.

December CD...well sent waaayyy late

Did everyone get my CD's? I know they were super late...but I guess better late than never.....right?....maybe? I sent 4 of them separately today (I know it's Feb and I was Dec, but hey at least they're sent). The CD covers are of the infamous Athena, she's a terror. Just to let you know some of the reasoning behind the song selections, Part 1 is of a lot of stuff I listened to in either middle school or high school; Part 2 is more from my college years (emphasis on the years part). Hope everyone enjoys!.....and sorry about how late they were.

-McKenzie

Dove e Dicembre?

who's got December? And better yet... could someone post the document that has the CD schedule? I can't find it in my email, and I can't remember what month I am -- I'm positive I don't have December though, because I was slated sometime in late 2008.

Happy New Year

Brian

noviembre

well i am working on my cd...i hope to have it out Tuesday the 13th at the latest. i've been super busy....but its so fine. hope everyone is having a super fall day!

Some Brief Description of my CD

Hey again,
Well I sent the CD out just now and It should be to you shortly. I put 16 songs on it and hope everyone enjoys it.

There is a wide variety of genres of music on the CD so hopefully everyone will have a couple of songs that they like. I realize by doing that that some of the songs wont appeal to some; such as the two contemporary bluegrass tunes I put on. Anyway, this CD is pretty much my favorite song from each of the bands I am currently listening to right now.

I hope that you can dig some instrumentals because there are a total of four instrumental songs on the CD (some a little different). Sometimes you have to give those a little time and they will grow on you but its good stuff anyway.

I couldn't exactly theme my mix like Joey did but I did try to make it flow as much as possible, which pretty much meant I attempted to make the transitions from song to song as smooth as possible. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy it and leave me some comments about what you think.

Russell