Out the Other

Oh Oh It's Magic

Yup, so the new Harry Potter movie - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince comes out tomorrow, and it's safe to say I'm psyched.  While I'm not going to see it at midnight, I AM skipping out on work tomorrow afternoon so I can catch a matinee (and also so I can participate in a day-long b-day celebration, but I'm the one who added wizardy fun to the day's festivities).

To get myself in the mood, I decided to listen to a few magical tunes, which turned into me throwing together a mix to share via twitter. (Are you following me on twitter yet, by the way? You should be - http://twitter.com/outtheother. I do awesome things like tweet Harry Potter mixes. And you know, let you know about shiz going on around town.)  The mix is pretty random and haphazard, but the tunes pretty much rock and I think it works.

1.  Harry and the Potters - "Voldemort Can't Stop the Rock!"
2.  Pilot - "Magic"
3.  Architecture in Helsinki - "The Owls Go"
4.  Paul McCartney - "My Brave Face"
5.  Double Dragon - "To Be a Hero!"
6.  The Cars - "Magic"
7.  Nina Simone - "I Put a Spell On You"
8.  Nick Drake  - "Magic"
9.  Bat For Lashes - "The Wizard"
10.  Steve Miller Band - "Cool Magic"
11.  Bay City Rollers - "Yesterday's Hero"
12.  Draco and the Malfoys - "Voldemort Is Awesome"

By Request: Gigax Mix

Soooo as most of my friends know, one of my favorite things in the world is introducing people to new music - which is basically why I'm both a DJ and a music blogger, of course.  But for friends, that tends to go a step above and beyond - I love to make personal recommendations, and share music, and make mixes that I think people will like based on their taste.

While at SXSW last month, my friend Jason Gigax (the tour manager for OtO faves How I Became the Bomb) and I started chatting - and I'm sure there was lots of drinking going on so I'm fuzzy on the details, but I think the gist of it was a conversation about new music, great bands at SXSW, and me offering to share with him some things I think he'd like.  Last week he sent me a note with some of his favorites, and here we are today with what I'm pretty sure is Out the Other's first officially published, made-to-order mix.

Just so you know, I went off of a list of favorites that included:  The Unicorns, Aqueduct, Built to Spill, Nick Lowe, OMD, Broken Social Scene, Hidden Cameras, Magnetic Fields, Arcade Fire, Crystal Castles, Figurines, Fleet Foxes, MGMT, Ra Ra Riot, and the Make Out With Violence soundtrack.  I chose some things that would appeal to a fan of those acts, some songs by artists that are standby OtO recommendations, and a good handful of brand new stuff I've been digging on lately.  Hopefully both Jason and you guys will dig it.

So here you go - the Gigax Mix.

[ download .zip ]

1.  Elvis Perkins - Doomsday
2.  White Rabbits - Percussion Gun (mp3)
3.  Doves - House of Mirrors (mp3)
4.  Handsome Furs - Evangeline
5.  Phoenix - 1901
6.  Maritime - Calm
7.  Empire of the Sun - Walking On a Dream (mp3)
8.  Elbow - Grounds for Divorce
9.  Menomena - Wet and Rusting
10.  Errors - Mr. Milk (mp3)
11.  The Dodos - Fools
12.  J. Tillman - No Occasion
13.  Grizzly Bear - Cheerleader
14.  Does It Offend You Yeah - Dawn of the Dead
15.  Professor Murder - Free Stress Test
16.  Yeasayer - 2080
17.  Thee Oh Sees - Enemy Destruct (mp3)
18.  Delta Spirit - Children

Monday afternoon extended mini-mix (part 24)

WAY too busy to blog.  Here's a mini-mix from recent shuffles instead.

***Ooh and a note - busy or not busy, tonight's show will go on, and the featured album will be Elvis Perkins in Dearland.  Tune in at 7!

Spoon - "Monkey Feelings" (from Sister Jack)
Mike Doughty - "Looks" (from Skittish)
Mobius Band - "You Don't Know How It Feels" (from Empire of Love)
Beck - "The New Pollution" (from Odelay)
Paul Simon - "Run That Body Down" (from Paul Simon)
Vampire Weekend - "Ottoman" (from Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist)
The A-Sides - "Sidewalk Chalk" (from Hello, Hello)
The Features - "Contrast" (from Contrast)
The Beatles - "When I'm Sixty-Four" (from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band)
Misha - "Weatherbees" (from Teardrop Sweetheart)

Beach Bound

Sheesh, have I really not posted a workout mix since June 2007?  That seems weird to me, because I always seem to have at least one in the works - and there are usually two or three gym-friendly playlists going on my iPod, as I tend to rotate tracks though as I fall in love with and then grow tired of them. And although I've been sick for a week and therefore skipping any activity that requires more effort than it takes to make a cup of tea, I have still been taking mental notes on everything new I've listened to this week, with an ear on whether it will motivate me on an elliptical or a run around the neighborhood.

Anyway, we'll remedy this right now with Beach Bound, the latest mix I've been rockin' to at the gym, because it's far too ridiculous and awesome not to share.  Clocking in at just under 35 minutes, the mix kicks off with a danceable ode to Christian Bale's freakout, and moves on to blasts from the past from Prince, Basement Jaxx, Hall & Oates, 69 Boyz and The Rolling Stones.  Plus there are a few newish tunes from Ladyhawke, Franz Ferdinand and Jensen Sportag thrown in for good measure.  It's a shorty but it kicks ass.

And why's this one called Beach Bound?  'Cause I started working on it the week I put down my deposit for a week in Florida later this year.  Nothing keeps you on the elliptical like the promise of sand, surf and sunshine.

[ download .zip ]

1.  The Mae Shi - R U Professional? (4 Xtian) (mp3)
2.  Ladyhawke - Professional Suicide (mp3)
3.  Prince - Erotic City (Morsy Mix)
4.  Basement Jaxx - Red Alert (mp3)
5.  Franz Ferdinand - Live Alone
6.  Oliver Dodd - I See You (Hall & Oates Private Eyes Remix) (mp3)
7.  69 Boyz - Tootsee Roll
8.  The Rolling Stones - Satisfaction (DiscoTech Remix)
9.  Jensen Sportag - Mapquest

The November Mix

Okay, we are 100% due for a new mix. I'm not going to get all fancy with the cover art and title and whatnot - this is just a collection of songs I've been digging on lately.  After being slightly underwhelmed by any and all newness that has crossed my path for a while, I decided the best thing to do was to take a step back and just fall in love with music again.

On that note, I'd like to present the November Mix.

[ download .zip ]

1.  Lykke Li - Dance Dance Dance
2.  Badly Drawn Boy - Once Around the Block
3.  Radiohead - Palo Alto (mp3)
4.  Paul Simon - Peace Like a River
5.  M. Ward - So Much Water (mp3)
6.  1910 Fruitgum Company - 1, 2, 3 Red Light (mp3)
7.  The Concretes - Say Something New
8.  Soul Coughing - Sugar Free Jazz
9.  The Replacements - Can't Hardly Wait (mp3)
10. The Non-Commissioned Officers - No Means No
11. Devendra Banhart - Lover
12. Hal - Don't Come Running
13. Wilco - Hate It Here (mp3)
14. George Harrison - What Is Life

I had a dream where Bob Dylan asked me the lyrics to a song

A Wednesday morning mini-mix of sorts.

J. Tillman - "My Waking Days"
Rolling Stones - "She's a Rainbow"
French Kicks - "Go On"
The Kinks - "Starstruck"
Clear Tigers - "Boredom"
The Helio Sequence - "Lately"

No, the picture has nothing to do with the mix.  It's just awesome.

Monday morning mini-mix (part 23)

It's been a while since I've done one of these, but since I'm skipping the show tonight, I thought you were due a few excellent tunes for your Monday.  These are actually the first five tracks off of a mix CD I made last week for the BF...

The Features - "Walk You Home" (from The Beginning)
The Helio Sequence - "Keep Your Eyes Ahead" (from Keep Your Eyes Ahead)
Mazarin - "For Energy Infinite" (from We're Already There)
Hot Hot Heat - "Get In Or Get Out" (from Make Up the Breakdown)
The A-Sides - "Sidewalk Chalk" (from Hello, Hello)

The Shouty Mix

In honor of today's re-launching of the blog, I thought we were about due for a new mix.  This one is mostly a fun, end-of-summer thing, in honor of all the beautiful weather we've been having here in Nashville, and all the windows-down driving I've been able to do as a result.  Initially inspired by a song that didn't even make it into the final tracklist, The Shouty Mix is a collection of thirteen songs that just beg you to roll down the windows and shout along.

Because I'm in a great mood and because I want to lure everyone from the hype machine to check out the new blog design, I've included nearly half the tracks as mp3s, but do yourself a favor and download the whole thing.  I bet it'll make you smile.

[ download .zip ]

1.  Port O'Brien - I Woke Up Today (mp3)
2.  Tapes 'n Tapes - Cowbell
3.  The Features - I Will Wander (mp3)
4.  The Little Ones - Lovers Who Uncover
5.  The Format - Time Bomb (mp3)
6.  Meligrove Band - Our Love Will Make the World Go Round
7.  LCD Soundsystem - Watch the Tapes (mp3)
8.  Tokyo Police Club - Your English Is Good (mp3)
9.  White Denim - Darksided Computer Mouth
10.  Sound Team - Handful of Billions
11.  Grand Archives - The Crime Window
12.  Delta Spirit - People C'mon (mp3)
13.  What Made Milwaukee Famous - Bldg. a Boat From the Boards In Your Eye

PS - The Closure Mix will be up until the end of the week - go nab that too before I take it down!

The loop

Yewknee's Summer Mix Series is still going strong - at last count there were 46 mixes on the site, from a collection of ringtones, to a summer vacation destination guide, to a discovered mix tape.  You can even pick up my Closure Mix, and the complementary Season Opener Mix by Bill Israel.

One mix that caught my attention was The End Is The Beginning Is The End - a brilliant concept mix where the last word of the title of the first song is the first word of the title of the second song.  And so on and so forth for the duration of the mix, like a little word chain. 

It was such a great idea that I immediately attempted it myself - and quickly discovered that it is hard as CRAP to pull off.  Not only do most chains fall off when you get into vaguely obscure words, but a lot of times the songs don't really work in sequence as a nice-sounding mix.  I was determined, however - I love a good challenge, and I wanted to see if I could actually create a song loop instead of just a song chain.   And after scouring the external hard drive and listening to tons and tons of songs that end with the word "baby," I finally came up with a little five-song loop that in my opinion works beautifully.  And it was so much fun I think I'm going to start working on another one.

The Walkmen - "There Goes My Baby" (from Stubbs the Zombie)
Self - "Baby Can You Dig Your Man" (from Selfafornia)
We All Have Hooks For Hands - "The Man Trying to Outfox Us All" (from The Pretender)
Gorillaz - "All Alone" (from Demon Days)
Modest Mouse - "Alone Down There" (from The Moon and Antarctica)

Closure: A Summer Mix Series Mix

There is something about the last song of an album that has always seemed incredibly important to me.  Perhaps because it's an opportunity to sum up everything conveyed over the course of the record - maybe just because it's the last impression the band or artist has a chance to leave with you.  But I think it's no coincidence that some of my favorite albums have excellent last songs, and some of my favorite songs have found their home as the last track on an album. 

And so, I present to you my submission for Yewknee's 2008 Summer Mix Series:  Closure.

[ download .zip ]

1.  Radical Face - Homesick (Ghost)
2.  Bound Stems - 55 Cross St. (Appreciation Night)
3.  Spoon - Chicago At Night (Girls Can Tell)
4.  Ryan Adams - Goodnight, Hollywood Blvd (Gold)
5.  French Kicks - Go On (Two Thousand)
6.  Soul Coughing - Janine (Ruby Vroom) (mp3)
7.  Elbow - Friend of Ours (The Seldom Seen Kid)
8.  Ben Folds Five - Boxing (Ben Folds Five)
9.  Franz Ferdinand - 40' (Franz Ferdinand)
10.  Wilco - The Late Greats (A Ghost Is Born) (mp3)
11.  Josh Rouse - Rise (1972)
12.  Kings of Convenience - The Build Up (Riot On An Empty Street)
13.  Weezer - Butterfly (Pinkerton)
14.  Dr. Dog - We All Belong (We All Belong)
15.  Beulah - If We Can Land on the Moon, Surely I Can Win Your Heart (When Your Heartstrings Break)
16.  Horse Feathers - Mother's Sick (Words Are Dead) (mp3)
17.  Toad the Wet Sprocket - Reincarnation Song (Dulcinea)

Be sure to check out the rest of the mixes over at the Summer Mix Series.