A Mixtape a Day

What began as a mixtape every day has become a mixtape every so often, usually once a week. These could be slapdash efforts, or they could be labors of love. They'll usually be Spotify playlists (the modern incarnation of the cassette mixtape) but they can take other forms. Maybe I'll make an actual cassette at some point?

[amixtapeaday]

#64 - The Newest IV: The Quickening

June 23, 2015

I'm not dead! Here's a playlist of stuff I've been digging recently, all of it very very new. Spotify changed the way their copy and paste works so no more tracklistings, boo. You can see it if you click on the playlist at least.

// Brian Blackout

[amixtapeaday]

#58 - September's Rain

September 25, 2014

I wasn't setting out to make a mixtape today, but I opened up the window and there was the pattering of rain. I played a couple of rainy-sounding songs and I felt inspired to make this mix. Rainy day music can be downcast, contemplative, mellow, but there is a certain quality to a lot of songs that lend themselves to it. Particularly when you throw a little fretless bass or some twinkling synthesizers in there.

// Brian Blackout

1. Retiree – Rain 2. Daft Punk – Something About Us 3. Kavinsky – Nightcall - Breakbot Remix 4. Todd Rundgren – Hello It's Me 5. 10cc – I'm Not In Love 6. Prefab Sprout – When Love Breaks Down 7. David Bowie – As The World Falls Down 8. Laurent Voulzy – Liebe 9. Oneohtrix Point Never – Laser to Laser 10. Discoverer – Circular Motherboard 11. Lewis – I Thought the World of You 12. Metronomy – I'm Aquarius 13. Devonte Hynes – Soccer Field 14. Wye Oak – Logic of Color 15. Woolfy – Nina 16. Cavaliers Of Fun – Valley of Dreams (Poindexter Remix) 17. Ford & Lopatin – Break Inside 18. Desire – Tears From Heaven 19. Boxcutter – Passerby 20. Vangelis Katsoulis – The Slipping Beauty 21. CFCF – Jump Out of the Train 22. Aqua Bassino – To Hard, Try and Find 23. Nicolas Jaar – Keep Me There 24. Tangerine Dream – Love on a Real Train

[amixtapeaday]

#57 - Nu-Gloom

September 19, 2014

Ok I've been way behind on making mixes, this summer turned out pretty busy for me. I've been working on a few though, and here's the first I want to share with you. I listen to a lot of gloomy music from years past, so I decided to put together a collection of gloomy music from 2014. A sort of Now That's What I Call Gloomy! mix. Not everything on here will make you want to kill yourself, some of it is just bittersweet. That new Trans Am song though, is a doozy, sort of like Twin Peaks made only with robots. It's all fantastic, bright, shiny and new and hits the spectrum somewhere between dour and depressing, so dig in.

// Brian Blackout

1. Metronomy – Love Letters 2. Trans Am – I'll Never 3. Zoot Woman – Don't Tear Yourself Apart 4. The Horrors – In and Out of Sight 5. Future Islands – Spirit 6. Wye Oak – Glory 7. Wild Beasts – Wanderlust 8. Yumi Zouma – A Long Walk Home For Parted Lovers 9. Sin Cos Tan – Love Sees No Colour 10. The Mary Onettes – Silence Is A Gun 11. School – Head over here 12. Dum Dum Girls – Rimbaud Eyes 13. From Kid – Colors 14. WhoMadeWho – Hiding In Darkness 15. Devonte Hynes – Palo Alto 16. Joakim – Bring Your Love feat. Luke Jenner

[amixtapeaday]

#56 - Prince

June 25, 2014

This Friday I'm going to be representing Prince at Head On: Prince vs Bowie this Friday night. I took some time to put together a big mix of some of my favorite Prince songs, a few hits but mostly his lesser known songs, he's got a deep, deep catalog of amazing songs in addition to his 30 or so hits.

// Brian Blackout

1. Prince & The Revolution – Let's Go Crazy 2. Prince – I Wanna Be Your Lover 3. Prince – Private Joy 4. Prince – Delirious - Edit 5. Prince – D.M.S.R. 6. Prince – Controversy 7. Prince – Uptown [Single Version] 8. Prince & The Revolution – Erotic City 9. Prince – I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man 10. Prince – When You Were Mine 11. Prince – The Future 12. Prince – Darling Nikki 13. Prince – If I Was Your Girlfriend 14. Prince – The Beautiful Ones 15. Prince – 17 Days 16. Prince – Starfish And Coffee 17. Prince & The Revolution – Pop Life 18. Prince – She's Always In My Hair 19. Prince & The New Power Generation – Money Don't Matter 2 Night 20. Prince – Pope 21. Prince – Lady Cab Driver 22. Prince & The New Power Generation – Diamonds And Pearls

[amixtapeaday]

#55 - Happy House

June 23, 2014

Here's a mix I put together a little while back of new dance music that I'm digging. Lots of fresh jams to enjoy.

// Brian Blackout

1. Caribou – Can't Do Without You 2. Hercules – I Try To Talk To You (feat. John Grant) 3. Moon Boots – Whatever You Need 4. Duke Dumont – I Got U 5. Tensnake – Love Sublime (Le Youth Remix) 6. Little Dragon – Klapp Klapp 7. French Horn Rebellion – Swing Into It 8. Chromeo – Come Alive (feat. Toro Y Moi) 9. Robert Lux & Todd Edwards – I've Still Got Sunshine 10. Thony Ritz – Star Riders 11. Todd Terje – Delorean Dynamite 12. Nancy Whang – Like an Eagle 13. Mr Flash – Midnight Blue feat. Surahn 14. Dimitri From Paris – Disco Shake 15. Holy Ghost! – Bridge & Tunnel (Prins Thomas Diskomiks) 16. Pat Lok – Same Hearts (Oxford Remix) 17. Zella Day – Sweet Ophelia (Gold Fields Remix)

[amixtapeaday]

#54 - Bill Murray

May 22, 2014

Last week I helped put on a Bill Murray-themed dance party and I set up a playlist to give people an idea of what we'd play. These are songs mostly picked from his films, although one or two are just songs connected to him, like his recent karaoke version of "Gloria." Anyway it was a fun challenge to make a mix out of this stuff, although there's certainly a ton of good source material.

// Brian Blackout

1. Elvis Costello & The Attractions – (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding 2. The Creation – Making Time 3. David Bowie – Queen Bitch 4. Them – Gloria 5. Jackie Wilson – (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher & Higher 6. Unit 4 + 2 – Concrete & Clay 7. Sonny & Cher – I Got You Babe 8. The Rolling Stones – Ruby Tuesday 9. The Jesus And Mary Chain – Just Like Honey 10. Roxy Music – More Than This 11. Thompson Twins – In The Name Of Love 12. Phoenix – Too Young 13. Kenny Loggins – I'm Alright (Theme from Caddyshack) 14. The Faces – Ooh La La 15. The Clash – Police & Thieves 16. Ramones – Judy Is A Punk 17. Iggy & The Stooges – Search And Destory 18. The Rolling Stones – Street Fighting Man 19. John Lennon – Oh Yoko 20. David Bowie – Life On Mars?

[amixtapeaday]

#53 - Spring Marchin' in - Warm Weather Watch 2014 - Part 2

April 10, 2014

It's not quite T-shirt weather yet, but you can feel the warm air slowly building, see the plants shoots up through the soil, feel the cool air draining away at last. Here's a mix of songs to soundtrack all this warm weather as it begins to build to the boil of Summer. I hope to post a lot more warm weather content as it gets hotter and beachier, so stay tuned...

// Brian Blackout

1. Michael Jackson – I Wanna Be Where You Are 2. Duke Dumont – I Got U 3. Lo-Fi-Fnk – Marchin' In 4. Yumi Zouma – The Brae 5. Van She – Kelly 6. Lilys – A Diana's Diana 7. Prince – Private Joy 8. Miami Horror – Sometimes 9. The Knocks – Modern Hearts 10. Kamp! – Cairo - Moullinex Remix 11. Krazy Baldhead – Surabaya Girl (Tropics Remix) 12. The Millennium – It Won't Always Be the Same 13. Ducktails – Assistant Director 14. Minks – Ark of Life 15. Scott & Charlene's Wedding – Gammy Leg 16. Future Bible Heroes – Real Summer 17. St. Lucia – Elevate 18. Double Exposure – My Love Is Free 19. Justine & The Victorian Punks – Still You 20. Sade – Cherish The Day 21. Mitzi – India 22. Holy Ghost! – Wait & See (CFCF Remix) 23. Woolfy – Oh Missy 24. Boatclub – Memories 25. The Chain Gang Of 1974 – Sleepwalking

[amixtapeaday]

#53 - The Newest III - Warm Weather Watch 2014 - 1

April 9, 2014

Continuing on in my week of posting a mix every day here's one I'm pretty proud of. This is a mix of 21 songs and, similar to my two previous "Newest" mixes, almost all of which came out in 2014. I made a couple of exceptions to that rule since it had been a while since I've posted one of these, but almost everything in here came out in 2014, and lot in the last month. I saw Roosevelt, Dum Dum Girls, the Mary Onettes & Future Islands a few weeks ago at SxSW so they were all at the forefront of my listening of late.

Another thing I'm going to be doing a lot of is posting some warm-ass music, because I am so sick and tired of the crummy weather and ready to hit the beach. Accordingly, this'll be Warm Weather Watch 2014 #1, with #2 to follow later this week. In addition to being super new, these songs would make a canny soundtrack to a drive out to the beach. I see no reason to wait for actual warm weather to start listening to Summery jams.

// Brian Blackout

1. Roosevelt – Montreal 2. Orthy – E.M.I.L.Y. 3. Snakadaktal – Fall Underneath 4. the Knocks – Comfortable (Oliver Nelson Remix) 5. Haerts – All the Days 6. Olympic Ayres – Take Flight 7. Future Islands – A Dream of You and Me 8. Wild Beasts – Sweet Spot 9. Metronomy – I'm Aquarius 10. Pure X – Starlight 11. Dum Dum Girls – Trouble Is My Name 12. Vinjette – Yuno 13. Loose Shus – Hang Ups 14. Dye – Steel Life 15. Delorean – Unhold 16. the Mary Onettes – Naive Dream 17. Temples – Shelter Song 18. From Kid – Colors 19. JBAG – Mogadisco 20. Freeform Five – Leviathan - Compuphonic Remix 21. WhoMadeWho – Hiding In Darkness

[amixtapeaday]

#51 - Dancing Therapy

April 8, 2014

Yesterday I posted 50 of my favorite songs of all time. Of course, it was really just scratching the surface, there are just too many songs to pick so few. So, I decided today I'd do another batch of faves, only this time songs I love with the eye of a DJ. Nothing from a particular time period, genre or mood though, there's a little of everything. I don't have outlets for all of these kinds of tunes but these are all songs that shaped my tastes, most of which you can find me playing whenever I get the chance.

// Brian Blackout

1. International Music System – Dancing Therapy 2. Kza – Le Troublant Acid 3. Golden Boy with Miss Kittin – Rippin Kittin 4. Black Van – Moments Of Excellence feat. Holy Ghost! 5. Wuf Ticket – The Key 6. Kano – Now Baby Now 7. Gino Soccio – Love Is 8. Jean-Philippe Goude – Energie 9. Rainbow Team – Bite the Apple 10. Universal Robot Band – Sunshine 11. Queen Latifah – Come Into My House 12. Joe Smooth – Promised Land 13. Moses – We Just 14. Leftfield – Not Forgotten - Hard Hands Remix 15. Moby – Go - Woodtick Mix 16. Orbital – Halcyon And On And On 17. The Paradise – In Love With You 18. Patrick Cowley – If You Feel It 19. Lindstrøm & Christabelle – Let's Practise 20. Bottin – No Static 21. Ladytron – Playgirl

[amixtapeaday]

#50 - Faves

April 7, 2014

It's been a while since I've posted a mix up here, but that's mainly because I wanted the 50th mix to be something special. I've done 50 of these things, for goodness sake, it should be a chance for something special. So this week I'm going to stick to my original idea of posting a mixtape (in Spotify form) every day. It's pretty hard to pull off but I've been preparing for this one for a while. For today, I simply picked 50 of my favorite songs that I hadn't already shared. This is no small feat when you have to check 49 other playlists to ensure that you're not accidentally making doubles. There are so many songs on here I'm excited to share, it generally starts off strong, waxing early and waning towards the end with more introspective stuff, but musically this one is all over the map. Anyway enjoy these 50 and come back tomorrow for more mixes...

// Brian Blackout

1. Soviet – Photographs 2. Annie – Anthonio - Original Version 3. The Icicle Works – Whisper To A Scream (Birds Fly) 4. Anything Box – A Moment's Shifting 5. A Flock Of Seagulls – Space Age Love Song 6. Zoot Woman – Hope In The Mirror 7. Cloud One – Dust to Dust 8. The Jazz Butcher – The Human Jungle 9. The Magnetic Fields – In My Secret Place 10. The Apartments – The Shyest Time 11. Q And Not U – Wet Work 12. Jacques Dutronc – Les Cactus 13. The Church – The Unguarded Moment 14. The Dentists – I Had an Excellent Dream 15. Brian – Understand 16. The Famous Boyfriend – Forget Everything That I Just Said 17. Os Mutantes – Le Premier Bonheur Du Jour 18. Fleetwood Mac – Never Forget 19. The Isley Brothers – Harvest for the World 20. Don Raye – Standing In The Rain 21. Chairlift – Planet Health 22. Desire – Montre Moi Ton Visage 23. Blouse – They Always Fly Away 24. Citizens! – True Romance 25. Dr. Dog – Heart it Races 26. Breakbot Feat. Irfane – Baby I'm Yours 27. Gypsy & The Cat – Gilgamesh 28. Twin Sister – Lady Daydream 29. The Go-Betweens – I Just Got Caught Out 30. Blondie – Dreaming 31. The Clientele – I Had To Say This 32. Tears In X-Ray Eyes – Love Me For Five Minutes 33. Stevie Wonder – Rocket Love 34. Metronomy – I'm Aquarius 35. Games – Strawberry Skies (feat. Laurel Halo) 36. Eurythmics – Take Me To Your Heart 37. Ford & Lopatin – Joey Rogers 38. Stereolab – Parsec 39. Ms. John Soda – Elusive 40. The Orchids – Avignon 41. Pnau – With You Forever 42. The The – This Is The Day 43. Spouse – Army Song 44. Sandra Black – The Bells 45. R.E.M. – Perfect Circle 46. Snowden – My Murmuring Darling 47. Connan Mockasin – Forever Dolphin Love (Erol Alkan Rework) 48. Sakamoto – Forbidden Colours 49. Momus – 2pm 50. Brian Eno – Taking Tiger Mountain

[amixtapeaday]

#49 - Dance Bowie Dance

February 16, 2014

Well obviously I'm way behind in posting mixtapes. It's been a busy 2014 so far, let me say. In any regard, here's a playlist I put together last month for a David Bowie-themed dance party I was doing. It was a blast, here are some pics. Anyway, despite the lull, I have some big things planned for playlist #50, but in the meantime, enjoy extra helpings of Bowie. I tried to pick out some choices folks might not know since Bowie's catalog runs so deep, but all of these are fairly danceable tracks as well.

// Brian Blackout

1. David Bowie – Cat People (Putting Out Fire) 2. David Bowie – 1984 3. David Bowie – John, I'm Only Dancing 4. David Bowie – Let's Spend The Night Together 5. David Bowie – Golden Years 6. David Bowie – Sound and Vision 7. David Bowie – The Secret Life Of Arabia 8. David Bowie – Ricochet 9. David Bowie – Real Cool World - Radio Remix 10. David Bowie – I'm Deranged 11. David Bowie – Magic Dance 12. David Bowie – Young Americans 13. David Bowie – Fashion 14. David Bowie – Queen Bitch 15. David Bowie – Velvet Goldmine 16. David Bowie – DJ 17. David Bowie – Cracked Actor 18. David Bowie – This Is Not America 19. David Bowie – Bring Me The Disco King 20. David Bowie – Slip Away 21. David Bowie – Love Is Lost - Hello Steve Reich Mix by James Murphy for the DFA

[amixtapeaday]

#47 - Best of 2013

#48 - Best Dance of 2013

December 20, 2013

This week I've been trying to compile and release all my end of the year music and lists. Most years you'll find me procrastinating, and then posting my best of in January, claiming that I wanted to give December of the previous year a fair shot. But this year I've been good! I already posted my favorite songs from 2012 that I didn't hear until 2013, and my previous Best of 2012 playlists. Well now it's time for the real deal! An end of the year double-post.

I've broken my 2013 list into two parts. One for dance music, and one for everything that's not dance music. A couple songs snuck into both lists, but I general I tried to keep things separate so the people who don't like dance music can stick to what they love and vice versa. Of course, you could just listen to both playlists if you like both, and lots of music in the non-dance mix is danceable, but most of the stuff in the dance mix is not very poppy, with some 9 minute extended jams. There was a ton of music I loved this year, and these are big lists. I feel like you get out of a year what you put into it. If you were busy and didn't listen to much music in 2013, you probably thought it was a bum year, but I definitely beg to differ. Check out these playlists and see if you feel similarly.

// Brian Blackout

#47 - Best of 2013

1. Classixx – All You're Waiting for feat. Nancy Whang 2. Young Galaxy – Crying My Heart Out 3. Ejecta – Jeremiah 4. CHVRCHES – The Mother We Share 5. RAC – Let Go 6. Twin Shadow – Old Love / New Love 7. !!! – One Girl / One Boy 8. Daft Punk – Lose Yourself to Dance 9. Shine 2009 – Eurozone 10. Blood Orange – Chamakay 11. Chromatics – Cherry 12. Scenic – Shockwaves 13. The Aikiu – Fools (The Shoes remix) 14. Vampire Weekend – Step 15. Sky Ferreira – You’re Not the One 16. Minks – Margot 17. Wild Nothing – A Dancing Shell 18. Touch Sensitive – Pizza Guy 19. Airbird & Napolian – In the Zone 20. Jensen Sportag – Bellz 21. The Swiss – Kiss to Kiss 22. Hayden Thorpe & Jon Hopkins – Goodbye Horses

BONUS TRACKS: (all the songs that weren't on Spotify) 23. Alan Braxe – Time Machine - (free download) 24. Juveniles – Strangers 25. Vinnie Who - 39 (Banjuba Edit) (free download) 26. Night Works - Long Forgotten Boy (Erol Alkan's Extended Rework)

#48 - Best Dance of 2013

1. Classixx – All You're Waiting for feat. Nancy Whang 2. Gigamesh – Enjoy 3. White Water – Daylight 4. Daft Punk – Get Lucky 5. !!! – One Girl / One Boy 6. French Horn Rebellion & Viceroy – Friday Nights 7. Goldroom – Only You Can Show Me 8. Lindstrøm – Lanzarote 9. Crayon – Give You Up - Yuksek Remix 10. Viceroy – Dream of Bombay - Bufi Remix 11. Peter & the Magician – On My Brain 12. Duke Dumont – Need U (100%) (Skreamix) 13. Joe Goddard – Step Together (with Boris Dlugosch) 14. Todd Terje – Strandbar (disko) 15. Erkka – Excommunication 16. Jacques Renault – Back to You (Paradis Remix)

BONUS TRACKS: (all the songs that weren't on Spotify) 17. Stevie Nicks - Stand Back (Final DJs Remix) (free download) 18. Moon Boots - Love Strong (free download) 19. Bixel Boys - Ride (free download) 20. Mayer Hawthorne - Wine Glass Woman (Aeroplane remix) (free download)

[amixtapeaday]

#47 - Best of 2013

#48 - Best Dance of 2013

December 20, 2013

This week I've been trying to compile and release all my end of the year music and lists. Most years you'll find me procrastinating, and then posting my best of in January, claiming that I wanted to give December of the previous year a fair shot. But this year I've been good! I already posted my favorite songs from 2012 that I didn't hear until 2013, and my previous Best of 2012 playlists. Well now it's time for the real deal! An end of the year double-post.

I've broken my 2013 list into two parts. One for dance music, and one for everything that's not dance music. A couple songs snuck into both lists, but I general I tried to keep things separate so the people who don't like dance music can stick to what they love and vice versa. Of course, you could just listen to both playlists if you like both, and lots of music in the non-dance mix is danceable, but most of the stuff in the dance mix is not very poppy, with some 9 minute extended jams. There was a ton of music I loved this year, and these are big lists. I feel like you get out of a year what you put into it. If you were busy and didn't listen to much music in 2013, you probably thought it was a bum year, but I definitely beg to differ. Check out these playlists and see if you feel similarly.

// Brian Blackout

#47 - Best of 2013

1. Classixx – All You're Waiting for feat. Nancy Whang 2. Young Galaxy – Crying My Heart Out 3. Ejecta – Jeremiah 4. CHVRCHES – The Mother We Share 5. RAC – Let Go 6. Twin Shadow – Old Love / New Love 7. !!! – One Girl / One Boy 8. Daft Punk – Lose Yourself to Dance 9. Shine 2009 – Eurozone 10. Blood Orange – Chamakay 11. Chromatics – Cherry 12. Scenic – Shockwaves 13. The Aikiu – Fools (The Shoes remix) 14. Vampire Weekend – Step 15. Sky Ferreira – You’re Not the One 16. Minks – Margot 17. Wild Nothing – A Dancing Shell 18. Touch Sensitive – Pizza Guy 19. Airbird & Napolian – In the Zone 20. Jensen Sportag – Bellz 21. The Swiss – Kiss to Kiss 22. Hayden Thorpe & Jon Hopkins – Goodbye Horses

BONUS TRACKS: (all the songs that weren't on Spotify) 23. Alan Braxe – Time Machine - (free download) 24. Juveniles – Strangers 25. Vinnie Who - 39 (Banjuba Edit) (free download) 26. Night Works - Long Forgotten Boy (Erol Alkan's Extended Rework)

#48 - Best Dance of 2013

1. Classixx – All You're Waiting for feat. Nancy Whang 2. Gigamesh – Enjoy 3. White Water – Daylight 4. Daft Punk – Get Lucky 5. !!! – One Girl / One Boy 6. French Horn Rebellion & Viceroy – Friday Nights 7. Goldroom – Only You Can Show Me 8. Lindstrøm – Lanzarote 9. Crayon – Give You Up - Yuksek Remix 10. Viceroy – Dream of Bombay - Bufi Remix 11. Peter & the Magician – On My Brain 12. Duke Dumont – Need U (100%) (Skreamix) 13. Joe Goddard – Step Together (with Boris Dlugosch) 14. Todd Terje – Strandbar (disko) 15. Erkka – Excommunication 16. Jacques Renault – Back to You (Paradis Remix)

BONUS TRACKS: (all the songs that weren't on Spotify) 17. Stevie Nicks - Stand Back (Final DJs Remix) (free download) 18. Moon Boots - Love Strong (free download) 19. Bixel Boys - Ride (free download) 20. Mayer Hawthorne - Wine Glass Woman (Aeroplane remix) (free download)

[amixtapeaday]

#46 - Missed in 2012

December 19, 2013

Earlier this week I posted the playlist of my favorite songs of 2012, as put together by me in the waning days of 2012. Today I wanted to post all of the songs from 2012 I discovered late, all of the songs that I *should* have put in my list, but I slept on them until the clock struck 2013. A lot of these would eclipse most of my original 2012 list, and I've been constantly listening to that Lindbergh Palace song ever since discovering it.

// Brian Blackout

1. Delta Spirit – California 2. Satellite Stories – Sirens 3. Wild Nothing – Paradise 4. Surahn – Wonderful 5. the Mary Onettes – Love’s Taking Strange Ways 6. Chad Valley – I Owe You This (feat. Twin Shadow) 7. Lindbergh Palace – Days Don't Fade (Johan Agebjörn & Le Prix Remix) 8. the Presets – Promises (Plastic Plates Remix) 9. Sky Ferreira – Everything Is Embarrassing 10. Solange – Losing You 11. Roisin Murphy – Simulation 12. Monitor 66 – Triscuits 13. Madi Diaz – Trust Fall - Down We Go Remix by Jensen Sportag 14. Woolfy & Projections – Nina 15. That Work – Secret Lover 16. Brett – Kate Moss 17. Beacon – Safety's Off 18. Holy Other – Held

(plus a few more that aren't on Spotify. All three of these are free downloads! Go! Free music!)

19. SSION – My Love Grows in the Dark (Poindexter remix) 20. Rogue Vogue – Feel Love 21. Natalia Kills – Mirrors (Hey Champ remix)

[amixtapeaday]

#45 - Best of 2012

December 16, 2013

I've been a bit quiet since my return from London, but I've been furiously preparing for the end of the year. In coming days I'll have my 2013 best of, 2013's best dance songs, and the best songs from 2012 that I only really discovered in 2013 (sadly a long list). To start things off, I thought I'd post my playlist of the best songs of 2012. For this one I mixed up the pop songs and the dance songs, so there's a good blend of everything 2012 had to offer.

// Brian Blackout

1. Chromatics – Kill For Love 2. Bear In Heaven – The Reflection Of You 3. Moullinex – Take My Pain Away 4. Tanlines – All Of Me 5. Poolside – Slow Down 6. Van She – Jamaica 7. Jens Lekman – Erica America 8. Hot Chip – Look At Where We Are 9. Twin Shadow – Run My Heart 10. Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs – Tapes & Money 11. World's End Press – Second Day Uptown (Slow Hands Remix) 12. The Magnetic Fields – Andrew in Drag 13. Matthew Dear – Her Fantasy 14. Stars – Hold On When You Get Love and Let Go When You Give It 15. Holy Ghost! – It Gets Dark 16. Saint Etienne – Tonight 17. Scissor Sisters – Let's Have A Kiki 18. Icona Pop – I Love It (feat. Charli XCX) 19. The 2 Bears – Bear Hug 20. I:Cube – Transpiration 21. Bicep – You - Steffi Remix 22. Emotion II Emotion – Night & Day - Feat. Ryann 23. Peaches – You Can't Run From My Love 24. Only Children – Down Fever 25. Todd Terje – Inspector Norse 26. Birdy Nam Nam – Cadillac Dreams 27. Airbird – Goodnight

[amixtapeaday]

#44 - Giddy London

November 22, 2013

This one will be quick, I just created a quick mix of very London-centric songs to soundtrack my first visit to London that I thought I'd share. I managed to find quite a few songs that directly referenced it. Enjoy!

// Brian Blackout

1. Sun Ra – A Foggy Day in London Town 2. Saint Etienne – You're In A Bad Way 3. The Hit Parade – So This Is London 4. Morrissey – Hairdresser On Fire 5. The Divine Comedy – In & Out of Paris & London 6. Thomas Dolby – Europa And The Pirate Twins 7. Trembling Blue Stars – St. Paul's Cathedral At Night 8. The Hit Parade – In Gunnersbury Park 9. The Clientele – Emptily Through Holloway 10. XTC – Towers Of London - Edit 11. The Smiths – London 12. Television Personalities – Part Time Punks 13. The Tony Visconti Orchestra – London, Bye, Ta-Ta 14. Ian Dury – Reasons To Be Cheerful, Part 3 15. Electric Light Orchestra – Last Train to London 16. The Magnetic Fields – Swinging London 17. Saint Etienne – London Belongs To Me 18. Ray Davies – Waterloo Sunset

[amixtapeaday]

#43 - Balearic

November 13, 2013

I've been working on this mix for quite some time. Of late there have been a lot of groups (especially in Scandinavian countries) who are riffing on the Balearic sound of the late 1980's. The average person probably has no idea what that would refer to but would recognize the sound as a familiar one from the period. Basically, the Balearic Islands of Spain, now a popular clubbing tourist destination, were once a scruffy melting pot of differing styles of music from all over the world, touching upon indie rock, industrial, traditional latin music, basically a giant grab bag of Summery sounds. This Wikipedia article sums it up fairly nicely, if you're curious.

Anyway the style was born in the late 80s, had its moment in the sun (pun intended) and then the world moved on. Then a number of people started referencing it, folks like Norway's Todd Terje, who did dozens of Balearic-style edits before reaching acclaim as a dance music producer and remixer, and Sweden's Studio, one of half of whom, Daniel Lissvik, has gone on become a much sought after producer and remixer, working with lots of current indie groups like Young Galaxy, the Mary Onettes, the Embassy, & Haim. A large portion of modern synth-based indie (as well as underground house and disco) pulls from this era, in much the way that a lot of synthy pop music referenced italo-disco just a few years back.

It makes for a great mix, I've gone a little overboard with this one, touching upon a few of the early sounds which were influences and examples of the original Balearic sound, but mostly giving you lots of examples of the Balearic revival of the last 7 or 8 years. For more info on the original Balearic sound, check out the original Balearic Beats comp from 1988, compiled by, among others, Paul Oakenfold and Pete Tong.

// Brian Blackout

1. Korallreven – Honey Mine 2. Shine 2009 – So Free (feat. Paula Abdul) 3. Patrick Baker – Control 4. Charles Murdoch – Dekire 5. Chad Valley – Anything 6. Earth, Wind & Fire – Kalimba Tree - Extended Interlude 7. Gichy Dan's Beachwood No. 9 – On a Day Like Today (Todd Terje ‘Friendly Children’ Edit) 8. Goldroom – Only You Can Show Me 9. Sorcerer – Raydio - Play It 10. Prefab Sprout – Knock On Wood 11. Air France – June Evenings 12. Au Revoir Simone – Somebody Who 13. Clubfeet – Acapulco & La 14. Postiljonen – Supreme 15. Say Lou Lou – Maybe You (Good Night Keaton Remix) 16. Haim – Forever (Dan Lissvik Remix) 17. Woolfy – Shadows 18. JJ – From Africa To Malaga 19. Satin Jackets – I Like To Watch You Sleep 20. Pompeya – Y.A.H.T.B.M.F. 21. Dennis Edwards – Don't Look Any Further 22. El Perro Del Mar – Hold Off The Dawn 23. Jeremy Glenn – New Life - Perseus 'summer of 83' Remix 24. World's End Press – Second Day Uptown (Slow Hands Remix) 25. Poolside – Do You Believe? 26. Boat Club – Memories 27. New Edition – Once In A Lifetime Groove 28. The Tough Alliance – A New Chance 29. Dolle Jolle – Balearic Incarnation 30. The Unknown Cases – Masimbabele 31. Antena – Camino Del Sol (Todd Terje Remix) 32. Felix Laband – Whistling In Tongues (Todd Terje Remix)