Favorite Albums of 2012

20. Divine Fits

A Thing Called Divine Fits

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19. First Aid Kit

The Lion’s Roar

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18. O.C. & Apollo Brown

Trophies

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17. Angel Olsen

Half Way Home

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16. Justin Townes Earle

Nothing’s Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now

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15. Killer Mike

R.A.P. Music

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14. Dirty Projectors

Swing Lo Magellan

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13. Michael Kiwanuka

Home Again

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12. Jens Lekman

I know What Love Isn’t

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11. Fiona Apple

The Idler Wheel Is Wiser than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More than Ropes Will Ever Do

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10. The Walkmen

Heaven

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9. Aaron Embry

Tiny Prayers

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8. Grizzly Bear

Shields

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7. Joey Bada$$

1999

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6. Father John Misty

Fear Fun

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5. Wild Nothing

Nocturne

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4. Japandroids

Celebration Rock

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3. Lambchop

Mr. M

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2. Frank Ocean

channel ORANGE

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1. Kendrick Lamar

good kid, m.A.A.d city

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Lawd, Have Mercy! a funky blue soul mix

I've had this one on repeat for quite a while, so I thought I'd share. Download it here. Enjoy!

1. I'm Your Puppet / James & Bobby Purify
2. Girls Can't Do What The Guys Do / Betty Wright
3. Choo Choo Ch'Boogie / Louis Jordan
4. Te-Ni-Nee-Ni-Nu / Slim Harpo
5. Ya Ya / Lee Dorsey
6. Nobody But You / Dee Clark
7. Queen of Hearts / Smiley Lewis
8. Bacon Fat / Big Daddy & His Boys
9. God's LSD / Professor Harold Boggs & The Boggs Specials
10. So Glad I'm Here / Bessie Jones
11. Corinna / Taj Mahal
12. Oh, Pretty Woman / Albert King
13. Mystery Train / Little Junior Parker
14. Fever / Little Willie John
15. Movie It Over, Baby / Gene and Eunice
16. Work That Skirt / The Bo-Keys ft. Harvey Scales
17. Crabcakes / Gunga Din
18. Black Out / Wess & The Airdales
19. I Am What I Am / Marva Whitney & Osaka Monaurail
20. Look At The Stars / The Bobbettes
21. Stop! / Lonette
22. I Can't Lose / Mitty Collier
23. I Dig Girls / J.J. Jackson
24. Gum Drop / Otis Williams
25. The Hoochi Coochi Coo / Hank Ballard
26. She Made My Blood Run Cold / Ike Turner
27. Hey Joe / Wess & The Airdales
28. I Got Soul / Tony Owens
29. Don't Be Angry / Nappy Brown
30. Treat Me Right / Eddie Finley & The Cincinatti Show Band
31. See You Later, Alligator / Bobby Charles

(Download Full Mix Here)

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.