I’ve been trying to keep up with all the good music that’s out there, and lately I’ve felt somewhat discouraged. I fall behind in my reading but when I catch up, there’s still only a couple of things that really grab me. I don’t blog about new bands that often because I just don’t think I can fake it — I just don’t find 10 bands a day that I think are awesome. If I did, maybe I’d have a super popular mp3 blog. Anyway, I do find lots that I fall in love with, and I always tuck those gems aside to include on mixtapes. So while it’s taken a bit for this latest one, I can assure you it’s full of stuff that I think is entirely worth the listen. I start with my favorite of the bunch, the Nut Brown tune, “I Need a Love Like That.” It’s been the jam in my car for a week. Enjoy the whole mix, and as always please feel free to send your music projects my way — I do love to listen and hear new things, even if once in a while I get grumpy.

Photo by Leon Levinstein.

DOWNLOAD: VA – Academy of Altered Lovers (zip)

01 Nut Brown “I Need a Love Like That”
02 Salem “King Night”
03 Active Child “Weight of the World”
04 The Golden Filter “Moonlight Fantasy”
05 Julian Lynch “Ears”
06 Keep Shelly in Athens “Fokionos Negri Street”
07 CFCF “Big Love” (Mathemagic Remix)
08 Lonski & Classen “At a Push”
09 Candy Claws “Silent Time of Earth”
10 Lands & Peoples “Restless Legs”
11 Arp “White Light”
12 Suckers “Black Sheep”
13 Bushman’s Revenge “Kill Your Jitterbug Darlings”

Finally, I’ve got a new mixtape to share with you! Between the job-hunt, some freelance work and the Top 100, I’ve been busy. Hopefully you’re ready for some new tunes too. This mix is a nice mix of eccentric and expected, some pop and rainbows as well as some headier pieces. Naturally the Matmos and So Percussion piece is one of my favorites, but I’m also very much enjoying the old school pop sensibilities of Sleep Good, and the quirky (but addictive) songwriting of Connan Mackasin. Top to bottom, though, this is a great mix. Enjoy!

Art by Nikki Graziano, from his Found Functions series.

DOWNLOAD: VA – Holy Carp (zip)

01 Menomena “Five Little Rooms”
02 Julian Lynch “Just Enough”
03 Birdie Hilltop “Rosalia”
04 Shimmering Stars “I’m Gonna Try”
05 Jamie Long “Aquarium”
06 Husband “Slow Motion:
07 Houses “Endless Spring”
08 Sightings “Tar and Pine”
09 Oval “Ah!”
10 So Percussion and Matmos “Treasure”
11 Light Pollution “Oh, Ivory!”
12 Connan Mockasin “It’s Choade My Dear”
13 Sleep Good “Shoney’s”

Friends. I have gathered you here today, in memory of Balearic beat, synthesizers, thick bass lines and attention to detail. I’m leading the charge against empty lo-fi art rock with no substance, and heretofore plainly encouraging this other movement just gurgling at the bottom of the well, this movement that is using ’80s touchstones to create incredible pop music now, amidst an emphatic charge the other direction. Listen to these songs and relax … it doesn’t sound like tin on treble, but I think you’ll find it more satisfying. Pop music, after all, can take many forms. Here is a form that I can wholeheartedly support. Turn the bass up and listen to these tunes loudly, they aren’t afraid of you. We are all one, riding in the back of Molly Ringwald’s car, worried about something that doesn’t matter a week from now. We’re all scurrying to be as loud and bratty as we can, when the smooth music of our generation was happening right under our noses. Make way, the rebirth of dance pop with an actual — physical — low end has returned. In some cases (Sleigh Bells) it’s even tinged with that Metallica album you hide under your bed when friend come over to jam with you just like Robert Pollard. Just like Robert Pollard, only more boring, less concerned, totally detached from the community … pointless. Listen to this shit, fuck your girlfriend, thank me later. Viva new wave. Viva rock n roll.

For the record, “Fever” and “Friend of the Night” are currently in the running for the Flux-Rad track of 2010.

DOWNLOAD: VA – Friend of the Night (zip)

01 Teen Inc “Friend of the Night”
02 Hard Mix “Alright”
03 Korallreven “The Truest Faith”
04 Pallers “The Kiss”
05 Balam Acab “See Birds”
06 Sunglasses “Whiplash”
07 The Books “Beautiful People”
08 Wolf Gang “Back to Back” (Active Child Remix)
09 Baths “Stupor”
10 Evan Voytas “Sad, Like Hearts Can Be”
11 Silent Diane “Juliet the Painting”
12 Sensual Harassment “Fever”
13 Sleigh Bells “Tell ‘Em”

It’s taken awhile for me to get another mixtape ready for the site, and I think I’m blaming SXSW. It’s funny, so much energy and time is focused for months in preparation of the event, and somehow it always seems like during that time, I have way less time to actually stop and listen to new things. I should be back on track now, and since I’m currently unemployed, I have a lot more time to curate new tunes. Hope you enjoy this one! There are quite a few really solid tracks on this mix – I highly recommend paying special attention to Cloud Nothings, Wolf Gang, the Signals’ Sparks cover, and Boas. Oh, and the new Here We Go Magic tune is unbelievably good. Shit, it’s all awesome, just listen.

DOWNLOAD: VA – I Saw Your Face (zip)

01 Here We Go Magic “Collector”
02 Newislands “Out of Time” (Active Child Remix)
03 Psychobuildings “Paradise”
04 Wolf Gang “Back to Back”
05 Signals “Angst in My Pants”
06 IKONS “Honey”
07 Cloud Nothings “Little Raygun”
08 FUR “Lackadaisical”
09 Inlets “Famous Looks”
10 Julianna Barwick “Bode”
11 Boas “Sleaching”
12 Devices Disguised “Red Sky”
13 Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti “Round and Round”

Things over here have been pretty busy lately. Both Austinist and WOXY are in the middle of SXSW planning, I’ve got an addition being built on the house, the better half is on tour with his band, Shearwater, and I recently had a root canal. All of the above have kept me away from the blog more than I’d like. I anticipate posting and mixtapes to return to normal sometime in March. Until then, you can expect the links, the occasional mp3 and hopefully a few more mixtapes before the end of winter. This mix is one that I’m really pleased with. One band that I’m really excited about right now (as you can probably tell from their appearance on this mixtape twice and previous ones too) is Active Child. Pat Grossi’s voice is completely captivating – I can’t seem to get enough of his stuff. I really wish he was coming to SXSW, I would have booked him for a day party in a heartbeat. He has a 7″ out now and a cassette tape on Mirror Universe. Hopefully there’s a full-length in the works as well. Read more about him here. The rest of the mix kind of follows that same vibe, with a little punk rock and smooth hip hop vibes as well. Hope you enjoy it!

DOWNLOAD: VA – Hush (zip)

01 Psychobuildings “Birds of Prey”
02 Tanlines “Real Life”
03 Active Child “Body Heat (So Far Away)”
04 How to Dress Well “My Body”
05 Hard Mix “One Thing”
06 Mount McKinley “Rainsand”
07 Phantogram “Mouthful of Diamonds”
08 Japandroids “Art Czars”
09 Twin Sister “Ribbon Bow”
10 Glasser “Apply” (Tanlines Remix)
11 Toro y Moi “Timed Pleasure” (Body Language Remix)
12 Active Child “Voice of an Old Friend”

DOWNLOAD: VA – She Was a Vision (zip)

01 Active Child “Wilderness”
02 jj “Let Go”
03 The XX “VCR” (Matthew Dear Remix)
04 Spoon “Mean Red Spider”
05 Grizzly Bear “Boy From School” (Hot Chip)
06 Conifers “Legs and Arms”
07 Zelienople “All I Want Is Calm”
08 Neon Indian “Deadbeat Summer” (Afghan Raiders Remix)
09 Absolute Body Control “Figures”
10 Kenny Rogers “Love Will Turn You Around” (Richard Danger Extended Edit)
11 Melting Season “The Cliffs”
12 Sun Araw “Bump Up (High Step)”
13 Arch M “Cple Outside Park With Me”
14 White Mountains “Trails”
15 Beach House “Silver Soul”
16 Active Child “She Was a Vision”

DOWNLOAD: VA – Ocean of Lips (zip)

01 Golden Ages “Be Cool”
02 Spirit Spine “Flashes”
03 The Ruby Suns “Cranberry” (Radio Edit)
04 Keepaway “Yellow Wings”
05 Pure Ecstasy “Easy”
06 Small Black “Despicable Dogs” (Washed Out Remix)
07 Lawrence Arabia “The Undesirables”
08 The Silent League “When Stars Attack!!”
09 Expensive Looks “Living Scene”
10 Memoryhouse “Sleep Patterns”
11 Seams “Nightcycles”
12 Holiday Shores “Air-Glow”
13 Dam Mantle “Grey”

My friend Adam and I have been talking about Austin music, and decided that we’d both make mixtapes including our favorite bands that aren’t a) already on the Matador issued Casual Victim Pile compilation or b) huge and well-known. I’m not sure who wins and who loses or what that might mean, but we both put together really incredible comps and there’s only one song shared between us both (a really incredible tune by Austin’s Pure Ecstasy). Both mixes are offered for download below, and you’re more than welcome to leave your opinion on which rates higher in the comments.

Adam’s Mix:
DOWNLOAD: Epic Vocal Stimuli (zip)

1. Leisure Tourniquet – “Aid”
2. Nick Moulos – “Only Difference”
3. Gay Science – “Black President”
4. Cowabunga Babes – “Lydia Lunch”
5. Soft Healer – “Souer”
6. Hearts of Animals – “Sit Right Here”
7. How I Quit Crack – “ooo”
8. Sunset – “Sunshine Hair”
9. Midget and Hairs – “Your Aim is the Same”
10. Pure Ecstasy – “Easy”
11. No Mas Bodas – “Show Me”
12. Geoff Reacher – “Almost Moved to Brooklyn”
13. Literature – “The Prime Meridian”
14. The Hot As Shits – “Hot Bitches”
15. Pillow Queens – “Original Bad Boys of Crime”

Paige’s Mix:
DOWNLOAD: Apiary (zip)

1. Way No Way “Too Late”
2. My Milky Way Arms “Fillenium Malcon”
3. Beautiful Supermachines “Conical Ash”
4. Burywood “Northward”
5. Bear Claw “Warm Winter / Cold Fall”
6. Jet Horns “The Circle”
7. Iron Age “Arcana, Pt. II”
8. Brackett & Co. “Dark Fire”
9. Lost River / Old River “Thunder”
10. International Waters “Flashes”
11. Damage Pants “The Hands of Paolo Rocco”
12. Pure Ecstasy “Easy”
13. The Ghost Songs “You Gotta Move”

DOWNLOAD: VA – Strangled By the Radio (zip)

01 Night Control “West Side Birds”
02 His Clancyness “Mystify the Ocean”
03 Active Child “Voice of an Old Friend” (Summer Camp Bedford Falls Remix)
04 Nite Jewel “We Want Our Things”
05 Julianna Barwick “The Highest”
06 Milinal “Fluxes”
07 Unbunny “In a Way”
08 Xiu Xiu “Gray Death”
09 The Besnard Lakes “Albatross”
10 Fur “Black Castles”
11 The Shining “Fisheye”
12 The Knife “Colouring of Pigeons”
13 Eluvium “Leaves Eclipse the Light”

DOWNLOAD: VA – Fade Dub (zip)

01 Nite Jewel “Weak for Me”
02 Borrowed Beams of Light “Kids Are Great!!!”
03 Dios “Ojay”
04 Meth Teeth “I Was Wrong”
05 Moon Duo “Stumbling 22nd Street”
06 Philip Seymour Hoffman “Duckfangs Tickle My Ankles”
07 Ty Segall & Mikal Cronin “I Wear Black”
08 Eternal Summers “Safe at Home”
09 Northern Portrait “Crazy”
10 The Concretes “Miss You”
11 Washed Out “Feel It All Around” (Toro y Moi Remix)