I normally start my mixes slow and build them up as I go along. This time I did a decrescendo and worked my way back down. Great track to start off at around 135 BPM is by Dopamine and then working right into the Plump DJ’s ‘Pray for You’ featuring the vocals on none other than Gary Numan. It’s an older track from 2003 and sounds like the Plump’s wrote the song with Numan in mind. Numan turned 50 this year and he’s still going strong. One of my favorite bands from Toronto at the moment are Crystal Castles and Sinden does a great job with this remix. My last favorite band from Toronto was Martha and the Muffins. Remember them from back in the day?
Dutch LA resident, Junkie XL’s latest release is called “Booming at You” and it’s one loud record. He wasn’t kidding about the booming part. The dynamic range of the recording is pushing the high end of the spectrum and he’s got some resonate lows driving the bass. It’s crunchier than most hip hop records.
I put the Klaxons in there for Calvin who still loves to listen to this track way too loud. Had to put another Dutch plug in there with an older track from Martijn ten Velden. What’s up with the drinking water in Toronto?? MSTRKRFT are off the hook with Bounce as remixed by fellow Torontonians Mansion. Be on the lookout for a new release by the MSTRKRFT boys due out in January ’09 called, “Fist of God”.
The last track is a song I overlooked by a band from Texas called “Midlake”. I would classify them as Indie Rock, but at the same time, there’s a great mellow electro remix of their track “Roscoe” by Beyond the Wizard’s Sleeve making the rounds. I picked up a dance remix by Jody Den Broeder who puts some dance floor magic into Midlake’s song. The mix ends around 127BMP. I guess I didn’t bring it down much at all! Enjoy.
1.Hold You – Dopamine
2.Pray For You (Feat. Gary Numan) – Plump DJs
3.When The Dawn Breaks (Dub Mix) – Narcotic Thrust
4.Crimewave (Sinden Remix) – Crystal Castles
5.Clash – Junkie XL
6.Burning Up – Ladytron
7.Gravity’s Rainbow (Van She Remix) – Klaxons
8.I Wish You Would (Martijn Ten Velden Mix) – Phunk Electric
9.Bounce (Mansion Remix) – MSTRKRFT
10.Pyramid (Dirty South Remix) – John Dahlbäck
11.Roscoe (Jody Den Broeder Remix) – Midlake
It’s supposed to be the dog days of summer in August but for some reason we’re already in a fall weather pattern which is not short of depressing. Just the thought of winter around the corner. Summer came too late and was too short! That’s life in the Northwest though and I’m not complaining at all about the great mountain bike trails this time of year and the the tourist windsurfers who have all gone home leaving nothing but wind and water all for me! Life is good. Music is good too. There have been some great new releases the last couple of weeks and I tried to throw a bunch into this latest mix.
The latest release from Australia’s Van She is called V and has been available for a while as an import. I heard it was being distributed domestically but I can’t find any info on it. For now it looks like you’ll have to get the import from Amazon or their older EP from iTunes. Opening up the set with their mellow aussie pop sounds ‘So High’. The more I’m listening to Toronto’s Crystal Castles the more I like these guys. I’ve been playing ‘Knights’ and ‘Crimewave’ on the radio for a while and most people are probably familiar with their remix of the Klaxons’ Atlantis to Interzone. For this mix I’m playing the mellow ‘Vanished”. Check out their full length debut album, simply titled: Crystal Castles.
More Aussie goodness with Presets and Ladyhawk. Okay, she might be a Kiwi transplant but it’s all down under for me. The Presets, ‘This Boy’s in Love’ is this years ‘Girl and the Sea’. There are already a bunch of good remixes of this tune floating around.
I saw the Black Kids when they opened for Cut Copy in Portland and I wasn’t super impressed. I don’t want to take anything away from their live set, but their overproduced studio sound is hard to reproduce live. That said, I like their latest track and Brazil’s ‘The Twelves’ add some nice touches to the remix.
I’ve been listening to The Black Ghosts for a while now and only recently read that Touche from the Wiseguys makes up half the band. No wonder I like these guys! Their songs have been remixed to death so I thought I’d go with the original which has been standing up against the remixes quite well.
One of my favorite breaks bands, the Plump DJ’s have a new release out and I pulled the hit track off their album. New Order’s Bernard Sumner is still around. His voice is starting to give away a bit but he still sounds better than Sting currently does. Check him out on Germany’s Blank & Jones track.
1. So High – Van She
2. Vanished – Crystal Castles
3. This Boy’s In Love – The Presets
4. Paris Is Burning (Cut Copy Remix) – Ladyhawke
5. I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You
(The Twelves Remix) – Black Kids
6. A Bit Patchy (Eric Prydz Mix) – Switch
7. Out There On The Ice – Cut Copy
8. That’s Not My Name (LA Riots Remix) – The Ting Tings
9. Anyway You Choose To Give It – The Black Ghosts
10. Tribulations – LCD Soundsystem
11. System Addict – Plump DJs
12. Miracle Cure – Blank & Jones Ft Bernard Sumner
July is almost over so it’s about time I got the latest mix posted for this month. It has been a hectic month with tons of events and dj gigs. We had the Gorge Games, shows in Portland, a Pimp & Ho party at the River City and two Cebu Zodiac Socials this month. On top of that, there were a bunch of private parties as well. No matter how hectic the summer months are the radio show still airs every night at midnight on 94/7fm in Portland as well as weekends on KCGB K105 in Hood River. I’m posting one of my favorite mixes that I aired earlier this month. There is so much great music being released lately that I wanted to get a lot of it in a mix but at the same time inserting a few older tracks at the same time. CSS has a new album out and I probably didn’t even pick the best track off the album but it’s a great intro track into Ladytron’s Seventeen. I’ve been playing a lot of music from their latest, Velocifero, so it was nice to go back to an older track of theirs for this mix. Booka Shade’s latest release is ‘The Sun & The Neon Light’ and you can probably pick any song from that album and throw it into a mix. If you like Underworld and Swayzak, you’ll love these guys. Ladyhawke is a Kiwi born, Aussie bred and now London residing artist on the Modular label and her single got the magic touch from Aussies, Cut Copy. Pure modern pop with an electro disco sound. The Pinkertones are from Barcelona and they are currently lighting up the Warped Tour in the States. Why are these guys even touring with all those garage punk bands? Supposedly they have more energy on stage than any modern day pseudo punk outfit. Check them out if they come to your town. South Rakkas Crew has been remixed to death, but I really like the way THDP turned it into a slow bass grinder. Turn up the volume on the last couple of songs!
1. Let’s Reggae All Night – Cansei de Ser Sexy
2. Seventeen – Ladytron
3. Dirty Laundry (Skeewiff Remix) – Bitter:Sweet
4. Straight Up Front (Parov Stelar Mix) – Djosos Krost
5. Paris Four Hundred – Mylo
6. Numbers (Radio Mix) – Booka Shade
7. Paris Is Burning (Cut Copy Remix) – Ladyhawke
8. I Love To Move In Here (Seamus Haji Remix) – Moby
9. S.E.X.Y.R.O.B.O.T. – The Pinker Tones
10. Lights And Music – Cut Copy
11. California Roll – Kraak And Smaak
12. Mad Again (THDP Remix) – South Rakkas Crew
Now that we finally have some summer weather here in the Northwest part of the country, I thought it would be a great way to celebrate the summer solstice this weekend with a fun and eclectic summer mix. The Management from Brooklyn might have changed their name to the acronym MGMT but their sound hasn’t changed a bit. Their new album is called ‘Oracular Spectacular’ and the second single to be released is ‘Electric Feel’. I can’t get enough of this song. They recorded the song with a layer of distortion that makes it sound like your speakers are blown. It’s not your speakers, so don’t worry about it the first time you hear it.
Ian Brown from Stone Roses fame does a great cover of MJ’s Thriller. If you remember this was one of the first music videos that had almost the same amount of production and cost of a major motion picture. Fujiya and Miyagi’s Collarbone is being used in a Miller Lite commercial. I imagine that they’ve made more money from that song being used in a commercial than they did in album sales. Congrats is in order though since it’s a great song nonetheless.
I had to throw in Yelle as an ode to one of my favorite bands from the 80’s, Heaven 17. Since we’re into that retro ’80’s sound, how about some old Gary Numan? From 1979’s The Pleasure Principle it’s ‘M.E.’ which some of you may recognize as being sampled by The Basement Jaxx in ‘Where’s Your Head At?’.
Parov Stelar’s lastest album is called ‘Shine’ a brilliant mix of jazz, Charleston and breaks. I pulled a mellower vocal track off the album with some great horns and changes. Last song in the mix is a classic Strike Boys track. This one has a great heavy bass line that blew up a stack of bass bins at an outdoor concert of few years back. Probably the most expensive song I’ve ever played.
1. Electric Feel – MGMT
2. Revolution Solution – Thievery Corporation
3. Thriller – Ian Brown
4. Valerie (Feat. Amy Winehouse) – Mark Ronson
5. Money In The Bag (K&S Remix) – Kraak & Smaak
6. Salvador Diaspora (Fort Knox Five Mix) – Rex Riddem
7. Collarbone – Fujiya & Miyagi
8. Reasons (Saturday Night) – Faithless
9. Ce Jeu – Yelle
10. M.E. – Gary Numan
11. Predict The Day – Ladytron
12. Good Bye Emily – Parov Stelar
13. Music Make me Feel So Good – Static Revenger
14. Cocaine Is A Sin – The Strike Boys
Okay, so with last month’s Vee Mix I got a lot of flack for mentioning all the great releases that have been coming out the last couple of months and hardly putting any of them in my mix. So to prove that I can actually listen to constructive criticism, I put a bunch of new tracks in this latest mix.
Fellow ex-patriot, Junkie XL just released one of his more dance oriented records in while. Maybe all the music he’s writing for video games and remixes he’s done for Madonna got him back on the right path again. Good to have him back again……..You’re not Dutch unless you throw four on the floor! Ghostland Observatory are an upcoming rockatronica outfit from Austin, Texas. They were just in Portland the other week and put on a great show at the Crystal Ballroom. Goldfrapp and Moby don’t need an introduction except that they both just released some listenable records. Had to throw some Cut Copy in the set. My band of the moment put on a great show at Doug Fir two weeks ago. I was curious to see and hear how they were going to pull off their polished production sound live and I wasn’t disappointed. Some of the reworks they did of their older material was brilliant. Definitely try to catch these guys live if they come to your town. Here is their touring schedule.
Ladytron’s new album is called ‘Velocifero’ and will be released June 3rd in the USA. 2 songs from the album are widely available on the internet at this time. ‘Ghosts’ is going to be the first single and ‘Black Cat’ is actually available for download from their website.
Finishing off the set are some great remixes of some older tracks. The Gorillaz remix is a stand out. Enjoy!
1. You Make Me Feel So Good – Junkie XL
2. Dancing On My Grave – Ghostland Observatory
3. Happiness – Goldfrapp
4. Nightshade – Alexkid
5. 257.zero – Moby
6. Geisha Boys and Temple Girls – Heaven 17
7. So Haunted – Cut Copy
8. Need U Tonight (Jon Gill’s One Of My Kind Mix) – INXS
9. Black Cat – Ladytron
10. Hey Joe (Jeremy Sylvester’s Socafrica Remix) – Wolfman
11. Feel Good Inc. (Amir Amitai Remix ’08) – Gorillaz
12. Baby Get Higher (Chew Fu Refix) – Van Velzen
There have been some great new releases the last couple of weeks. None of which I’m playing in this mix except for Moby. His latest album is called ‘Last Night’ and it’s a flashback to earlier Moby material from the ‘Everything is Wrong’ and ‘Play’ days. Classic signature Moby sounds abound, but also some of the most repetitive loops this side of Eiffel 65. Good for a couple of listens but then it gets a little grating.
Not so much with the latest Raveonettes album ‘Lust, Lust, Lust’. Distortion drenched music straight from Denmark. These guys sound like Bloody Valentine, Ride and Lush with a bit of Romeo Void thrown in for good measure. Great throwback ‘Shoe Gazer’ material but the over the top distortion might scare off a few listeners. Keep listening though, there are some great changes in the song.
The latest Kosheen album is called ‘Damage’ and is sadly not getting enough play on the radio, except for the area54 program on 94/7fm and www.area54.com…nothing wrong with plugging my own radio show! The title track is probably the best song on the album but in this mix I threw in the edgier ‘Freak of Nature’. Also, with Cinco de Mayo around the corner, I couldn’t resist going back to the classic Ween track, ‘Buenas Tardes Amigo’ off their seminal 1994 release ‘Chocolate and Cheese’.
If you’re in Portland on May 3rd plan on coming by the Area54 Cinco de Mayo party at Cha in NW Portland.
1. Aly, Walk With Me – The Raveonettes
2. Ooh Yeah – Moby
3. Inspection (Check One) – Leftfield
4. Una Linea De Luz – Kinky
5. Precious – Depeche Mode
6. Hello there – Cagedbaby
7. Hiding On The Staircase – New Young Pony Club
8. Freak Of Nature – Kosheen
9. Someone Great – LCD Soundsystem
10. Thieves Like Us – New Order
11. Buenas Tardes Amigo – Ween
Just got back from some great hikes on Maui. Also epic surf and windsurfing but those pictures didn’t turn out as colorful as the ones from the hikes. This one was taken hiking up the Pipiwai Trail at the Seven Sacred Pools. It’s a 4 mile hike gaining about 650 feet in elevation. There are some great waterfalls and pools all the way up towards Waimoku Falls. Not to mention one of the densest bamboo forests I’ve seen on Maui. The Falls are the end of the trail and fall 400 feet down sheer rocks walls. You can stand underneath the water but it’s pretty chilly for Hawaiian standards.
Also found a great dance station on Maui. They are called Maui’s party station and they’re at 105.5fm if you get a chance to listen. During the day it’s pretty much CHR but they have a great mix show at noon as well as 5pm and at night it’s pretty much free format. For the Euros visiting Maui they’ll get their fill of Tiesto and Paul van Dijk every night.
Here’s a little mix inspired by a couple of songs I heard on the station. Doesn’t happen very often that I hear something on commercial radio that interests me.
1. People Are Strange (Chew Fu Remix) – The Doors
2. Hearts on Fire – Cut Copy
3. What Is Love -John Bourke
4. Rise Up (Original Mix) – Yves Larock
5. Sound Of Freedom (Original Club Mix) – Bob Sinclar
6. Alice (General Midi Remix) – Moby
7. Heart On The Line – Michal Canitrot Ft. Ann Saunderson
8. Ready For The Floor – Hot Chip
9. Electric Mistress (2007 Remix) – Jamiroquai
10. Superstylin – Groove Armada
The latest Dave Gahan solo project is called ‘Hourglass’ and ‘Kingdom’ is the standout track on this release. Listen to ‘Hourglass’ once and you’ll realize that he’s the dark side of Depeche Mode. I heard the Yelle track a couple of times before it dawned on me that it’s basically Heaven 17’s ‘Let Me Go’ with some fresh new French lyrics thrown over it. We’ll it’s not the whole song. They loopt part of it and even threw in the killer break, but it’s basically Heaven 17. Felt like an idiot that I didn’t hear it right away since ‘Let Me Go’ is one of my favorite Heaven 17 songs. Herbert’s remix of Jamie Lidell almost makes it a different song and Mark Ronson’s ‘Stop Me’ is a great Mash-Up of the Smiths and the Supremes. Probably the best song on his latest album ‘Version’. I love almost everything Deadmau5 is releasing lately and was stoked to see that he’ll be playing at Coachella this spring. It’s an expensive show, but you almost have to go all 3 days with the line up they have this year.
1. Kingdom – Dave Gahan
2. See Me Now – Cassius
3. Ce Jeu – Yelle
4. Multiply (Herbert’s Hoedown Bump) – Jamie Lidell
5. Moisture – Headman
6. Stop Me (Album Version) – Mark Ronson
7. Happy Feet (Yuksek Remix) – Klanguage
8. Pictures – Sneaky Sound System
9. Love Sweet Sound – Groove Armada
10. Cut Right Through – Cicada
11. Overpowered (Seamus Haji Remix) – Roisin Murphy
12. Not Exactly – Deadmau5
I didn’t get a chance to put up a December Vee Mix before my holiday travels so now that I’m back I’ve decided to post a nice little winter chill mix to help you through the dreary post holiday blues month of January. Nothing special here, just a mix of some nice older songs with some of my current favorites. It’s 80 minutes of Chill Out bliss! Enjoy.
1. Soñe Otro Mundo – Manu Chao
2. The Chauffeur – Urbs
3. Come To Me – Koop
4. Givin Up – Hairy Diamond
5. Get Up Stand Up – Ojos De Brujo
6. Drink Me Hot – Chris Joss
7. Chez Roger Boite Funk – Troublemakers
8. Hypnotic – T Spigot
9. Yes Boss – Hess Is More
10. Lemon Tree (Thievery Corporation Mix) – Herb Alpert
11. For All We Know – Parov Stelar
12. Drum ‘N’ Boogaloo (Fort Knox Five Latin Funk Bomb) – Mo Horizons
13. Alhambra – El Kado
14. The Girl`s In Trouble (Thievery Corporation Mix) – The Januaries
15. Small Axe (Paul & Price Remix) – Bob Marley & the Wailers
16. I Think of You – Ivy
17. I Don’t Know What I Can Save You From (Röyksopp remix) – Kings of Convenience
18. One Evening (Rene Goulet’s Da Luz Mix) – Feist
19. Shadows of Ourselves – Thievery Corporation
20. Don’t Stop – Brazilian Girls
