Favorite Albums of 2011

20. Future Islands
On The Water

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19. Panda Bear
Tomboy

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18. WU LYF
Go Tell Fire to the Mountain

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17. The War On Drugs
Slave Ambient

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16. Wye Oak
Civilian

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15. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
Wolfroy Goes To Town

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14. Colorfeels
Syzygy

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13. Washed Out
Within and Without

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12. Ryan Adams
Ashes and Fire

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11. Unknown Mortal Orchestra
Unknown Mortal Orchestra

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10. Cut Copy
Zonoscope

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9. Shabazz Palaces
Black Up

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8. Bon Iver
Bon Iver

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7. A Winged Victory for the Sullen
A Winged Victory for the Sullen

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6. Radiohead
The King of Limbs

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5. Youth Lagoon
The Year Of Hibernation

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4. Kendrick Lamar
Section.80

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3. St. Vincent
Strange Mercy

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2. Fleet Foxes
Helplessness Blues

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1. Destoryer
Kaputt

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christmas time is here: a yuletide mix

I have always loved just about any music that can be considered Christmas music. Even this song gets me in the spirit. But I especially love some Christmas tunes that aren't the traditional ones. While this mix contains a few standards, it is (at least for me) a new way of experiencing the season.

All that to say, I've been spinning this thing non-stop for a couple of weeks. It's kind of like an Oreo cookie, with black music on the top and bottom and white music squeezed in the middle.

Click here to download the zip file.

Merry Christmas everyone!

1. Holy, Holy, etc. / Sufjan Stevens
2. Swingin' Them Jingle Bells / Fats Waller & His Rhythm
3. Santa Claus Go Straight To The Ghetto / James Brown
4. Ain't No Chimneys / Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
5. Black Christmas / The Harlem Childrens' Chorus
6. White Christmas / The Drifters
7. Happy X-Mas (War Is Over) / John Lennon
8. You're All I Want For Christmas / Jump, Little Children
9. The Man With All The Toys / The Beach Boys
10. Christmas Song / Vince Guaraldi Trio
11. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! / Doris Day
12. Lo, How A Rose E're Blooming / Feist
13. Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel / Joshua James
14. Christmas Must Be Tonight / The Band
15. Christmas Time Is Here / Vince Guaraldi Trio
16. Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis / Tom Waits
17. River / Joni Mitchell
18. I Love NYE / Badly Drawn Boy
19. Christmas In New Orleans / Louis Armstrong
20. White Christmas / Otis Redding
21. Don't Believe In Christmas / The Sonics
22. Funky Funky Christmas / Electric Jungle
23. Soulful Christmas / James Brown
24. Santa's Got A Bag Of Soul / Soul Saints Orchestra
25. Boogaloo Santa Claus / J.D. McDonald
26. Auld Lang Syne / Black On White Affair

wild ox moan: a beat-the-heat mix

Finding a lovely tune in a stack of all-too-easily forgotten old records is something fantastic. It is also overwhelming when you realize that you could probably spend the rest of your life completely ignoring new musical output, and use all of your free time mining the past for hidden gems. Even then, there will always be some out-of-print vinyl tucked away in a thrift store in Milwaukee that you won't ever hear.

And since I don't spend much of my free time scouring record stores for these rarities, I rely on people like Wes Anderson, Andy Cabic, Robin Pecknold, Matt Morelock, Amanda Petrusich, and the wonderfully eclectic Justin Gage over at Aquarium Drunkard to do some of the scouring for me.

For this mix, I stuck with tunes from 1975 or before. Most of them fit the bill of the rare obscurity or obscure rarity - some more than others. And a few just fit that sound of a hot afternoon full of kamikaze cicadas turning into an evening full of fireflies as you daydream of an old European countryside. I can already hear the vinyl crackle... Cheers!
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1. Sally Goodin (Long Version) / Heron [1970]
2. Katie Cruel / Karen Dalton [1971]
3. Sunlight Shadow / Linda Rich [1969]
4. The Hills Of Isle Au Haut / Gordon Bok [1970]
5. Iris's Song For Us / Vashti Bunyan [1970]
6. The Tall Tall Grass / John Hartford [1967]
7. Buckeye Jim / Burl Ives [1944]
8. Kings And Queens / Loudon Wainwright III [1975]
9. Take It From A Friend / Janey & Dennis [1970]
10. Cast The First Stone / Tom Fogerty [1972]
11. Play With Fire / The Rolling Stones [1965]
12. Don't Forget Me / Harry Nilsson [1974]
13. So Long, Marianne / Leonard Cohen [1967]
14. The Way I Feel Inside / The Zombies [1965]
15. I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire / The Ink Spots [1941]
16. You Always Hurt The One You Love / The Mills Brothers [1944]
17. Love / Nancy Adams [1972]
18. As We Go Along / The Monkees [1968]
19. Wild Ox Moan / Taj Mahal [1969]
20. Houses / Elyse Weinberg [1968]
21. Where Is My Wild Rose? / Chris Thompson [1972]
22. I've Been My Own Worst Friend / Sandy Denny & The Strawbs [1967]
23. Lopin' Along Thru The Cosmos / Judee Sill [1971]
24. The Lady With The Braid / Dory Previn [1971]
25. If I Knew You Were The One / Richard Twice [1970]
26. Lon Chaney / Garland Jeffreys [1973]
27. The Good Book / Melanie [1971]

Download the full mix HERE.

I Swear I Can Hear The Sea: a spring/summer mix

This mix tells a story. Indulge me, if you will, by imagining that this story is true...
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The sun rises out of the void once again. The morning rays slide down over the glass and concrete and land on tar and gasoline. All the people walk out of their homes and climb into cars. They converge on the highways and sit together in traffic. You wonder how it all happens - the fellowship of the commuters, the coffee-fueled consciousness, the voices on the radio, even your final destination - none of it feels like a decision you made.

Suddenly, but subtly, you feel a pull in your stomach. You notice how striking the sun is in the early eastern sky. Images of the distant places where the sun is directly overhead flood your mind. The sound of waves rushing through piles of rocks and sand begin to echo inside your little sedan.

But these images are different from the ones that you have set as your desktop wallpaper on your work computer. Those are just crappy pictures from your last vacation. They are Corona commercials. But this pull in your stomach is something else. It is the feeling that life is passing away and all the things you fill your time with are worthless. The work you do is so that you will have money, but what does money get you? Instead, there are boulders to climb, trails to hike, oceans to swim, food to eat, and roads to drive. Roads that aren't filled with exhaust and screeching tires, but ones that are open and filled with wind.

So you keep driving. Past your exit. Past your office. Out of the city. Toward that ocean that you crave.

You drive for hours and each passing mile brings fleeting feelings of freedom. Your white button-down is thrown in the passenger seat, the starched collar is finally starting to wiggle in the wind. The seat belt is irritating your bare shoulder, but you ignore it. Midday and afternoon pass by as you drink in the freedom. You don't have to answer to anybody. You are your own man.

The white lines whiz by like a constant echo for hours until you reach the end of the road. And there it is. The ocean sits ahead like eternity. You think the blue is the most beautiful color you've ever seen.

Once you've parked the car and taken off your shoes, you make your way toward the tide. You think you must be in a good place now. You dive in the water and feel all the sweat wash off. Surely this is what Tennyson meant when he said he would drink life to the lees. Surely this is what Thoreau had in mind when he commanded you to suck out all the marrow of life.

But just as quickly as the sweat washed off, a hesitation creeps in. You realize that you are alone. You realize the green in her eyes is the most beautiful color, not the blue of the water. You miss your dog. And who will water your tomato plants at home?

So you make your way back to your car. You brush the sand off your feet and turn back toward the rolling hills. You decide to let your dreams be your escape. At least for a while. And you hope that she lets you come home.
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1. Go Outside / Cults
2. Legal Man / Belle & Sebastian
3. Grown Ocean / Fleet Foxes
4. Sweet Thing / Van Morrison
5. Golden / My Morning Jacket
6. Louisiana / The Walkmen
7. Sometimes / James
8. Paint The Silence / South
9. Gentle, Polite / Eric & Magill
10. Victoria's Secret / Quiet Village
11. Feel It All Around / Washed Out
12. Zadie Bobo / Ernesto Djédjé
13. Round And Round / Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti
14. Sun Hands / Local Natives
15. Modern Girl / Sleater-Kinney
16. Kanske Ar Jag Kar I Dig / Jens Lekman
17. The Swimming Song / Loudon Wainwright III
18. California Sunrise / Dirty Gold
19. I Must Be In A Good Place Now / Bobby Charles
20. Let Me Come Home / Wilco

Download the full mix here.

creative drip