Mux144: April 2014

If this mux could talk, it'd say, "Boy, there sure were a lot of changes from when the opening track was 'I Believe In A Thing Called Love' by The Darkness!" You just can't have anything after it. Or before it. It's a song that exists in a vacuum.

So here's the alternative. And yes, I'm allowed to have two tracks fronted by Kevin Drew. Don't like it? Fine. Make your own series of 144 painstakingly-sequenced, twice-monthly mixes. (Just be sure to drop me a download link.)

Boom.

1. Darkside - Heart (Psychic)
2. Kevin Drew - It's Cool (Darlings)
3. Angel Olsen - Heart (Burn Your Fire For No Witness)
4. Led Zeppelin - Babe I'm Gonna Leave You (Led Zeppelin)
5. Radiohead - Talk Show Host (The Bends B-Sides)
6. Broken Social Scene - Sweetest Kill (Forgiveness Rock Record)
7. The Men - Pearly Gates (Tomorrow's Hits)
8. Liars - Vox Turned D.E.D. (Mess)
9. Purity Ring - Obedear (Shrines)
10. The War On Drugs - The Haunting Idle (Lost In The Dream)
11. Phantogram - I Don't Blame You (Voices)
12. Washed Out - Paracosm (Paracosm) (For JET)

TRT 55:47

Rookies: Angel Olsen, Darkside

2014 music: Angel Olsen, Kevin Drew, Liars, The Men, Phantogram, The War On Drugs

JDK's Favorite Music of Q1 2014

I like to take stock of what I've been digging at the beginning of any year, only to look back on it at the year-end and just shake my head. Not like there are any slim pickings, but since I'd rank "staying power" as one the things I look for in an album, you really can't tell if time will be kind or not.

Also, I like procrastinating on Octoberan and posting little album art. (Even though, shit, Dark Soul 2 just showed up at my door.)

Alphabetical order to be fair, and only one sentence (one!) for each.



Black Lips - Underneath The Rainbow
Highlights: "Boys In The Woods," "Smiling"

Oh how I love Black Lips' brand of nuclear-sunshine punk.



Cheatahs - Cheatahs
Highlights: "Geographic," "The Swan"

If you don't mind some not-so-subtle MBV ripoffs and a lite tour of recent rock history (or, well, rock sounds), then this is my stealth favorite of the year so far.



The Hold Steady - Teeth Dreams
Highlights: "I Hope This Whole Thing Didn't Frighten You," "Oaks"

So what if I just finished my first listen two minutes ago?



Katy B - Little Red
Highlights: "5 AM," "I Like You"

I will not apologize for my love of British dance-pop whatever, especially when the deluxe version includes a seamless mix of the entire album resequenced.



Kevin Drew - Darlings
Highlights: "Good Sex," "It's Cool"

Now that this one isn't "Broken Social Scene presents..." we can all get on with the music of all those wonderful BSS players.



Liars - Mess
Highlights: "Vox Turned D.E.D.," "Mess On A Mission"

Very glad my hope that this album would be cut from the same cloth as WIXIW's electro-experiment "No. 1 Against The Rush" and the glow-in-the-dark raver "Brats." (Frontrunner for album art of the year, despite how it strangely reminds me of Gloss Drop or, specifically, Dross Glop.)



The Men - Tomorrow's Hits
Highlights: "Dark Waltz," "Pearly Gates"

And thus continues the trend of The Men to veer hard from their roots of scuzz-punk into some sort of big-band brassy country rockout.



Phantogram - Voices
Highlights: "Nothings But Trouble," "Fall In Love"

I have said this once and I'll say it a million times (and Minneapolis Bill has my back): To all the dudes out there, I guarantee your girlfriend will like this band as much or more than you do. (Edit: Whoa! Apparently this was up at #11 on Billboard. The regular Billboard, not any of its niche charts.)



Real Estate - Atlas
Highlights: "Had To Hear," "Talking Backwards"

These guys have some motherfucking chops as musicians, which they so cleverly hide amid all the idyll.



St. Vincent - St. Vincent
Highlights: "Birth In Reverse," "Regret"

While she might not be able to shred in the conventional sense, Annie Clark makes the craziest sounds out of her guitar since Tom Morello.



The War On Drugs - Lost In The Dream
Highlights: "Suffering," "The Haunting Idle"

Gotta throw in some dreamy, fractured, quasi-ambient rock.

Mux134: November 2013

And just on the day I was about to start my always-far-too-long-to-finish-on-time-unless-I-start-in-October yearly music roundup, an Arcade Fire album comes out. So if nothing else, there's none of that here, since I, you know, usually make these about a week in advance. And my hope-it-proves-me-wrong first-listen of Reflecktor had me thinking, "Eh."

And why the hell is the mastering so low?

Boom.

1. The National - I Should Live In Salt (Trouble Will Find Me) (For JET, obviously)

2. HEALTH - High Pressure Dave (The Music of Grand Theft Auto V)

3. Haim - Forever (Days Are Gone)

4. !!! - Blue (Strange Weather, Isn't It? bonus track)

5. Sleigh Bells - Bitter Rivals (Bitter Rivals)

6. The Men - Night Landing (Leave Home)

7. Deerhunter - Leather Jacket II (Monomania) (For the ex-pat Swede)

8. Volcano Choir - Comrade (Repave)

9. Fuck Buttons - Stalker (Slow Focus)

10. Oneohtrix Point Never - Chrome Country (R Plus Seven)

TRT 48:51

2013 music: Deerhunter, Fuck Buttons, Haim, HEALTH, The National, Oneohtrix Point Never, Sleigh Bells, Volcano Choir

Rookies: Haim

Mux131: September 2013

A bit of a schizomix, but isn't it always?

Boom.

Also, I will not apologize for my inclusion of "Mirrors." If you're sick to death of it from listening to the radio, well, you shouldn't be listening to the radio anyway, and the radio edit is awful. I've got the full 8:06 cut with JT's extended I Love You Jessica Biel part at the end.

1. Weekend - Sweet Sixteen/Hazel (Red EP)
2. No Age - C'mon, Stimmung (An Object)
3. !!! - Except Death (THR!!!ER)
4. The New Pornographers - Use It (Twin Cinema)
5. The Men - Lotus (Leave Home)
6. Daft Punk - Giorgio By Moroder (Random Access Memories)
7. Justin Timberlake - Mirrors (The 20/20 Experience Vol. I)
8. The Rolling Stones - Jumpin' Jack Flash (Single)
9. Kurt Vile - Wakin On A Pretty Day (Wakin On A Pretty Day)
10. The Slip - Even Rats (Guitar Hero 1 / Eisenhower)

TRT 57:42

Rookies: The Slip

2013 music: !!!, Daft Punk, Justin Timberlake, Kurt Vile, No Age

Mux129: August 2013

Boom.

1. Boards of Canada - Reach For The Dead (Tomorrow's Harvest)
2. Aesop Rock - Zero Dark Thirty (Skelethon)
3. Matthew Dear - Overtime (Beams)
4. Daft Punk - Lose Yourself To Dance (Random Access Memories)
5. Thundercat - Bonus (Apocalypse)
6. Justin Timberlake - What Goes Around... / ...Comes Around (FutureSex/LoveSounds)
7. !!! - Me And Giuliani Down By The Schoolyard (A True Story) (Louden Up Now)
8. Deerhunter - Dream Captain (Monomania)
9. The Men - Electric (New Moon)
10. Apostle of Hustle - National Anthem of Nowhere (National Anthem of Nowhere)
11. Titus Andronicus - In A Big City (Local Business)
12. Weezer - No One Else (Live Acoustic)

TRT 55:02

Rookies: Apostle of Hustle

New(ish) 2013 music: Boards of Canada, Daft Punk, Deerhunter, The Men, Thundercat

Mux123: May 2013

Skipped the mid-April mux because I was just back from London and had nothing prepared! Thus, a bit of a bloated and weird mux to open May. If you're all Eh about this, go back and listen to 122 again. Might be the best mux I've put together in a year.

Boom.

1. Eyedea & Abilities - Spin Cycle (By The Throat)
2. Metz - Negative Space (Metz)
3. The Men - Without A Face (New Moon)
4. Marnie Stern - You Don't Turn Down (The Chronicles of Marnia)
5. Divine Fits - Civilian Stripes (A Thing Called Divine Fits)
6. Midlake - Bandits (The Trials of Van Occupanther)
7. Radiohead - All I Need (In Rainbows)
8. The Knife - A Tooth For An Eye (Shaking The Habitual)
9. Thee Oh Sees - Maze Francier (Floating Coffin)
10. Cemeteries - Brighter Colors (The Wilderness) (For JET)
11. Kurt Vile - Too Hard (Wakin On A Pretty Daze)
12. Justin Timberlake - That Girl (The 20/20 Experience Vol. I) (For JCD & CLG)

TRT 50:16

Newish music (2013 albums): Justin Timberlake, The Knife, Kurt Vile, Marnie Stern, The Men, Thee Oh Sees

Rookies: Cemeteries, Thee Oh Sees

Mux121: Winter's Last Stand

Propers to JET for helping me shape the end of this.

I also broke my rule of not having a band on two muxes in a row, since Wiping out Thousands put out a great minimalist single, "Evening" (grab it here) that is a far cry from 120's "Hips." They've got a show coming up at the Entry on the 24th, so if you've got five bucks and a free Sunday nite, come and check them out.

Oh right: Boom.

1. Iggy Pop - The Passenger (Lust For Life)
2. Japandroids - Evil's Sway (Celebration Rock)
3. The Men - Half Angel Half Light (New Moon)
4. Wolf Parade - Grounds For Divorce (Apologies to the Queen Mary)
5. Neil D. Voss - Africa (The New Tetris*)
6. My Bloody Valentine - New You (MBV)
7. Wiping out Thousands - Evening (Single)
8. Friendly Fires - Pala (Pala)
9. Dog Bite - Prettiest Pills (Velvet Changes)
10. Wild Nothing - Nocturne (Nocturne)
11. Spoon - Vittorio E (Kill The Moonlight)
12. Kurt Vile - He's Alright (Childish Prodigy)

TRT 48:02

Rookies: Dog Bite, Iggy Pop, Neil D. Voss
*Yes, I happen to have the entire The New Tetris soundtrack ripped at 128 kbps, so if you want it, shoot me an e-mail. Way too good for a Nintendo 64, which I believe didn't even have a dedicated sound chip.

JDK's Favorite Albums of 2012 (Extremely Short Edition)

Continuing my trend of pushing out a list before the other sites do so I can't be, like, accused of following P4K too closely. But, hell, this, like most other music lists (and muxes) might as well be curated by them.

And if something awesome comes out in December, I'm sure it'll be on my giant write-up, complete with those lovely little graphics of the album art (that take forever to insert, but whatever).

The ordered list

1. Cloud Nothings - Attack On Memory
   
2. Flying Lotus - Until The Quiet Comes
   
3. Japandroids - Celebration Rock
   
4. Chromatics - Kill For Love
   
5. Sleigh Bells - Reign of Terror

The unordered list

• Bear In Heaven - I Love You, It's Cool
  
• Hot Chip - In Our Heads
  
• Liars - WIXIW
  
• Lotus Plaza - Spooky Action At A Distance
  
• The Men - Open Your Heart
  
• Titus Andronicus - Local Business
  
• Ty Segall & White Fence - Hair
  
• Ty Segall Band - Slaughterhouse
  
• Wiping Out Thousands - This Came First

You can download Wiping Out Thousands' This Came First at their Bandcamp page as a pay-what-you-want download. (And yes, that includes $0.) Favorite songs of the year (limiting two songs per band)

• Chromatics - Into The Black
  
• Chromatics - Lady
  
• Cloud Nothings - Wasted Days
  
• Cloud Nothings - Cut You
  
• Divine Fits - Shivers
  
• Flying Lotus - Electric Candyman (feat. Thom Yorke)
  
• Four Tet - Pinnacles
  
• Hot Chip - Flutes
  
• Japandroids - The House That Heaven Built
  
• Liars - No. 1 Against The Rush
  
• Liars - Brats
  
• Lotus Plaza - Strangers
  
• The Men - Open Your Heart
  
• The Men - Ex-Dreams
  
• Sleigh Bells - End of the Line
  
• Wiping Out Thousands - Creation
  
• Wiping Out Thousands - Beach

Mux110: October 2012

I may or may not have simply forgotten to put "Blindsided" by Bon Iver between tracks 7 and 8 when I was compiling this in GarageBand. We can all pretend it's there.

Here.

1. The Kills - Future Starts Slow (Blood Pressures)
2. Ty Segall Band - Tell Me What's Inside Your Heart (Slaughterhouse)
3. The Men - Bataille (Leave Home)
4. Joy Division - Interzone (Unknown Pleasures)
5. Chromatics - The Page (Kill For Love)
6. Broken Social Scene - Swimmers (Broken Social Scene)
7. The National - Conversation 16 (High Violet)
8. Phantogram - Nightlife (Nightlife EP)
9. Deerhunter - Wash Off (Fluorescent Grey EP)
10. Ride - Polar Bear (Nowhere)

TRT 38:51

Mux107: Heatwave

Disclaimer: This mux has nothing to do with any sort of waves, be it chill, heat, tidal, et cetera.

Download.

1. McLusky - Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues (McLusky Do Dallas)
2. Cloud Nothings - No Sentiment (Attack On Memory)
3. Sleater-Kinney - Not What You Want (Dig Me Out)
4. Spoon - Waiting For The Kid To Come Out (Soft Effects EP)
5. DIIV - How Long Have You Known? (Oshin)
6. Maximo Park - I Want You To Stay (A Certain Trigger)
7. Lotus Plaza - Jet Out of the Tundra (Spooky Action At A Distance)
8. The Men - Cube (Open Your Heart)
9. Ty Segall Band - I Bought My Eyes (Slaughterhouse)
10. The Flaming Lips - The Ego's Last Stand (Embryonic)

Rookies:
DIIV
Ty Segall Band


Also: Cloud Nothings is a mere track away from entering the Muxtape Hall of Fame. Word on the street is that they'll probably make it next Mux.

JDK hangs out with The Men

Backstage at 7th St. Entry. Far left are the criminally-young guys in Stereo Confession. Flanking me and to the right of the frame are the titular Men.

Yeah. My expectations for shows are ridiculously high now.

Mux103: The 2012 Sampler

All 2012 tracks. The "newer" stuff are from Japandroids, The Walkmen, Liars, and PS I Love You.

Download.

1. Japandroids - The Nights of Wine and Roses (Celebration Rock)
2. The Walkmen - Heaven (Heaven)
3. Liars - No. 1 Against The Rush (WIXIW)
4. Bear In Heaven - The Reflection of You (I Love You, It's Cool)
5. Chromatics - Lady (Kill For Love)
6. Cloud Nothings - Separation (Attack On Memory)
7. The Men - Ex-Dreams (Open Your Heart)
8. PS I Love You - First Contact (Death Dreams)
9. Wiping Out Thousands - Bounce (Reaction Machine EP)
10. Tanlines - Nonesuch (Mixed Emotions)

Rookies:
Tanlines

Mux101: One Future

Business as usual,  I guess.

In the Box.

1. Cloud Nothings - No Future / No Past (Attack On Memory)
2. The Men - Turn It Around (Open Your Heart)
3. Titus Andronicus - Anxiety Block (Television Personalities cover) (Titus Andronicus LLC Mixtape Vol. I)
4. Spoon - I Could Be Underground (30 Gallon Tank EP)
5. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - There She Goes, My Beautiful World (Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus)
6. Boris - Ibitsu (Akuma no Uta)
7. Ty Segall - Girlfriend (Melted)
8. Sleigh Bells - Demons (Reign of Terror)
9. Bear In Heaven - Sinful Nature (I Love You, It's Cool)
10. Chromatics - Into The Black (Kill For Love)

Rookies:
Chromatics

TRT 37:39

Mux099: The Precipice

Whoabuddy: 99 muxes! Nothing too special planned for 100. Special, but not too special.

99 and counting...

1. Maximo Park - Signal And Sign (A Certain Trigger)
2. The Men - Please Don't Go Away (Open Your Heart)
3. Cloud Nothings - Fall In (Attack On Memory)
4. Real Estate - Wonder Years (Days)
5. Sonic Youth - Reena (Rather Ripped)
6. Sleigh Bells - End of the Line (Reign of Terror)
7. Wiping Out Thousands - Mass Nerve (Single)*
8. Crystal Castles - Suffocation (HEALTH Remix) (Crystal Castles 2 remixes)
9. Hot Chip - Look After Me (The Warning)
10. James Blake - Lindisfarne I/II (James Blake) (yeah, I cheated a bit)
11. Lotus Plaza - Strangers (Spooky Action At A Distance)
12. PJ Harvey - Rid of Me (Rid of Me)

Apologies that the last track is a bit low. For whatever reason, I can only find really low-volume rips, and the wonder that is GarageBand only lets me kick it up 6 dB. So adjust accordingly, though the song exists on two disparate ends of the dynamics spectrum.

Rookies:
Lotus Plaza
Maximo Park
PJ Harvey

*Wiping Out Thousands is local MPLS electro. Full disclosure: Yes, I know their names and they know mine, though in a pinch I'm usually called "Tall Guy." You can get all their music for free at this here location. And if you happen to reside in the greater MPLS area, follow them @wot_thoughts to get details on their next show. Definitely worth your while. If nothing else, the live guitar is quite spectacular. Maybe one day I will be their live drummer. But shh, don't tell them that.

Mux098: April 2012

Yep.

Might as well file this one next to my "Back To Rock" muxes.

1. Joy Division - No Love Lost (Substance comp.)
2. Mclusky - To Hell With Good Intentions (Mclusky Do Dallas)
3. Archers of Loaf - Wrong (Icky Mettle)
4. Cloud Nothings - Stay Useless (Attack On Memory)
5. The Men - Open Your Heart (Open Your Heart)
6. Radiohead - Where I End And You Begin (Hail to the Thief)
7. Death - Let The World Turn (For The Whole World To See)
8. Sleater-Kinney - Night Light (The Woods)
9. Derek and the Dominos - Layla (Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs)

Rookies:
Derek and the Dominos
The Men