50ft Radio Volume Six

Welcome back to the latest edition of 50ft Radio. This time around I originally set out to make a mix for the winter with a touch of a holiday feel but it evolved like these always do and ended up being a mix of ambient music. Most of what you will hear here is piano driven but ventures into left field exploring ambient music. There are both newer discoveries and old favorites that seemed to fit in well. I still feel like its a great mix for the winter, all instrumental, great for a study session or a quiet evening with a good book. I hope everyone enjoys it!

I get a fair amount of questions about how these mixes are made with the enhances cover art and chapters. I simply use GarageBand and use the podcast format to add chapters, artwork, and links. It’s super easy to put one together and a lot of fun.

I have the next one already underway and it will contain a lot of music that I could never manage to fit into other mixes but its taking shape nicely and will probably start releasing these as a monthly series. As with the other mixes here I ask that you not re-distribute these in any way shape or form. Enjoy it responsibly. If you find music you love then, please support the artist by buying a record, shirt, or going to a show. They cant keep doing what they do without it. These mixes were created for the love of music and helping artists gain exposure to new ears not just senseless sharing. Its important to me and I thank you for your understanding. Enjoy!

You can find a zip file with the mix and track listing here. (track listing only)

50ft Radio Volume Five

The first thing that crosses my mind when I discover a great new song or artist is always, “wow, I have got to share this with other people.” It’s why I have always used my web presence to share my favorite new music with readers. The 50ft Radio series of mixes started as a way to simplify the process of sharing great music with others in a way that was similar to my days of making mix tapes for friends. With the great tools available today I am able to compile these in a way that encourages exploration of new artists.

Over the time they have been available they grew to be more popular than I could have imagined and the response was always overwhelmingly positive. It pleased me to no end to discover others were enjoying them so much. I have gotten a number of emails from people letting me know that the mixes lead them to purchase multiple albums based on songs they discovered in them. I am happy to help spread the word of so many wonderful musicians work in this way and hopefully I will be able to continue to compile these without complications.

Many of you may have noticed that the previous mixes were removed from public access a while back and that was simply my decision not to host them on my server any longer due to their increasing popularity. while I love the fact that so many people enjoy them I’d still like to keep things under the radar. After a lot of deliberation I have decided to use Mediafire to host the files. While the ads are a bit annoying at times it is a solid, fast(ish), and simple way to give access to the mixes without the burdens associated with hosting them on my servers. I hope you all can forgive me for the ads. I may or may not opt for a paid plan to hide the ads for everyone but for now I hope you don’t mind the inconvenience.

All that buisness out of the way, I am happy to announce the immediate availability of volume five of the series. While putting it together it grew to the point where I had to chop the list in half and offer up two sides to volume five so this time around you have two mixes of amazing music to explore. Two decidedly different environments, one full of great, mostly electronic music and the other a calm mix for these last days of summer.

I am pretty excited about them, and I am happy to finally make them available. The process of making these involves me dropping songs into a pool of great music and then slowly listening through the selected songs, picking the order of them, and making the tough decisions about what stays and what goes. I often listen to them over and over to make sure they all fit well together so it takes a good while to get them just right for you guys to enjoy. I highly suggest you listen to them before getting all music geek on the playlist. Maybe its just me but I always feel it makes a more satisfying first listen.

I ask that you not re-distribute these in any way shape or form. Enjoy it responsibly. If you find music you love then by all means, please support the artist. They cant keep doing what they do without it. These were created for the love of music and helping artists gain exposure to new ears not just senseless sharing. Its important to me and I thank you for your understanding. Enjoy!

Side A. (list) Side B. (list)

50ft Radio Volume Four

Here we are again, another spring is creeping up on us and I felt I should get my next 50ft radio mix out there into the world. This one has been a long time coming. I actually started pulling it together last December at the same time as volume three but felt that it didn’t fit the season well enough. With warmer days upon most of us I felt it was prime time to put the finishing touches on it and make it available. Where the last mix was gentle, more contemplative music this time around I decided to let my love for electronic music hang out in the open. Most of the music found here are favorites from last year and some of you into the genera may be familiar with a lot of it but its just all too good not to share here with anyone looking for a good bounce in their step. I did my best to take the mood up and down through the hour+ of music found here and hopefully there is something for everyone to enjoy.

I was going to post this a few days ago but with the events that took place in Japan I felt strange posting much of anything because nothing I could post felt relevant at the time in the grand scheme of things. It’s hard for me not to get lost in thought imagining what they must be going through over there. I wish the best for everyone fighting through those hardships, and hope for things to settle for them so they can get into the process of sorting through everything that has happened.

The mix is available here in a single AAC file which is enhanced to include album artwork and links straight to the artists so you can find more information on all of the great music found within. There is also a pdf file with a list of songs and artists so you know who you are listening to.

The music here is for your personal enjoyment only, do not re-host the mix anywhere else online. The songs will not be made available as individual tracks because this is made for sharing music and introducing you to new artists you may have otherwise never discovered. I feel this is one of the best ways to discover great new music these days. So much of the music I find is through others recommendations and mixes like these and I love to do my part to share great music with those who love it as much as I do. Please have respect for the artists and if you do love anything on here simply pick up their album on iTunes or start a vinyl collection. Music makes the world go round and the only way to keep it spinning is to support it.

The mix is available in a simple zip file which can be downloaded here.

Might As Well Fall

Many of you may or may not have already heard the name James Blake. An up and coming young artist making beautiful and unique music that was included in the last 50ft radio mix. I saw this recently and quickly fell in love with both the song and the beautiful video and could not resist sharing it here with everyone. I may have the opportunity to film and edit together a music video this year and so lately I have been on the look out for inspiration. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

50ft Radio Volume 3

Well, it’s the end of the year and one thing you start noticing all over the web are the top stuff of the year lists. Everyones chance to speak up and lay claim to the highlights of the year within the realm of consumable goods. Among my favorites to look through are the music lists. Offering up opinions of the best music from the year. It is incredible to me just how much music is released each year now in the digital age of music distribution. I often try to write up a best of the year post to counter the big name lists but I thought this year I would simply release a 50ft Radio Mix that have been working on.

This year was one of the best years in recent memory for new music and I was astounded with the amount of amazing new music found this year not only by old favorites but from new artists to the scene. It was hard to keep up! For me most of the year was spend in a good mood and so my usual quiet sensebility was pushed aside for a lot of electronic/dance music as it kept my senses wired and my energy up as the year moved quickly along. I had a great mix of some of my favorite new electronic music to share but the more I thought about it the more I decided to hold off on that upbeat mix for a little while and release something more appropriate for the cold of the winter. Something for the quiet nights staying warm at home, the slow movement of snow falling, the hope and anxiety brought on by a new year and another hopeful fresh start.

So with that in mind I have this great new collection of songs which I have slowly compiled over the past couple of months until it felt just right and in the spirit of the winter and of quiet nights, let’s press on, shal we?

I encourage you to listen to the mix as a whole before digging into the track listing, Just imagine having a dusty old radio on. I think it’s distracting to the music to fiddle with your curiosity too much. Let that urge to be the person that already knows all the music or worries if its worth an hour of your ears concentration slide and have a listen. I love finding new music that way and the track list will be there waiting when you need it. Of course, thats simply a suggestion, your free to do as you please and I have included the track list below.

Listen, share, love, support artists you admire, and enjoy! A zip of the mix is right here.

Note on the file type: This is shared as a single enhanced AAC file which is broken into chapters with alternating artwork as well as links to the bands websites who are featured in the mix. This type of file works beautifully on an iphone/pad/touch/tunes. Please, share music responsibly and support any artists you enjoy here. A PDF track list is available in the zip file.