I have always had a great response from the mixes I have made in the past. It’s one of my favorite things to post around here actually. Introducing great new music to others is something I find a lot of joy in. In the past I was one of those kids often making and receiving mix tapes then later, mix CD’s. (Anybody else remember Toast?) My love for finding interesting new music beyond the world of pop grew from a mix tape a friend gave me that still lingers in my mind at times. It was full of great indie rock and punk music and it kick started my addiction to finding great music hiding behind the big label marketing budgets.
Following my mix tape days I worked as a DJ at a college station at a school that I didn’t even attend. I had two shows even, one with a friend playing electronic and another new music show where I discovered so much of what I know and love about music today. If any of you have the opportunity to work at a campus station I suggest you take it, its a great experience. This also eventually lead to me taking live sound more seriously after volunteering my time (and my fathers resources in audio systems) to local shows in record shops and tiny back room venues around town. Wherever there was an indie rock show, I was there with a PA.
I have worked with so many amazing bands through the years because of those affiliations, Mount Eerie (aka. The Microphones), Viva Voce, Phosphorescent, Mark Kozelek, The Octopus Project, Lymbic System, THE MONKEYS (heh, well, Davy Jones at least), The Mountain Goats, Mount Moriah, Cat Power (In her awkward shy live days), Vetiver, Of Montreal, Jason Anderson, Damien Jurado, Lost In the Trees, Tobacco, Bob Log III, Akron Family, Warpaint, MachineDrum, Bill Callahan, Odd Nosdam, Mirah, Helado Negro, Des Ark, Monotonix (craziest live show ever), Beach House, Man Man, Six Parts Seven, 31 Knots, Tara Jane O’neil… haha, yeah you get the idea. There are just as many I don’t remember, point is that its been a pretty great run, and to think it all started with mix tapes.
Point being, music changed my life and sharing it is something I truly love to do. There is no genera that I frown upon. Music is music, and good music is universal so while I tend to have a common aesthetic on each mix I like to explore as many styles as I can in the process. This time around I was inspired by the shuffle mode on my iPod. I love the unexpected nature of using shuffle to listen to my music and I wanted to bring a little of that feeling to one of these 50ft mixes. So this version is both diverse and quite long. Right around two hours in fact! I suggest you set the file option in iTunes to remember the playback position. (FYI: One song is not clean for young ears but it’s modest.)
As always it is an AAC file so if you really aren’t feeling a song then you can jump ahead. Please, never re-distribute these. My intention is not to give away music, I will never make these available broken into individual tracks. I offer these purely for the love of sharing and introducing you guys to great artists. If you enjoy the music please, support the artists, buy their albums, see them live, send them love, it’s the only way to keep it alive.
Download the mix here without spoilers, or trying something new, here on S3 and play it like a radio station or peak into the playlist here.