An Early Summer’s Eve Picnic mix

hey guys, sorry it has been so quiet here on the London front lately. I’ve been amassing knowledge and preparing for some big exams. Luckily amidst this tense and studious period, I have also managed to pick up some great new music to share with you.

It is late spring/early summer which always makes me think of evening barbecues and picnics in parks and beaches, as everyone attempts to escape daily stress and find a temporary moment of peace and hapiness as the sun strives to outlive the previous day. If you are lucky enough to be living in Boston you might be drinking Samuel Adam’s Summer Ale, which sadly we don’t get in london; but nice weather here usually means Pimm’s Lemonade. However you might be indulging in this early summer activity, before you start to take good weather for granted, you cant but feel the the “life is good / the glass is half full” vibes.

Anyway I composed a set of mixes (A side and B side if you will) to capture this mood of a relaxed summer evening spent at a beautiful place with great friends, drinks and food. The particular scene I have in my head is the beach barbecue scene in Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless Mind – specifically the contrast between arriving and departing. The first “Sunlight Mix” are vibrant songs that should be heard under the evening falling sun, while the second “Sunset Mix” are somber songs to be heard while the sun is setting and darkness creeps up. You might be packing up and driving home, or you might be starting a fire and laying under the stars.

Enjoy:

Sunlight Mix

1. The Beatles – Eleanor Rigby (Soulwax Remix)
2. The Presets – The Boy’s In Love
3. Dan Deacon – Woof Woof
4. Passion Pit – Little Secrets
5. Apes & Androids – Nights of the Week
6. Daedelus – At My Heels
7. The Avalanches – Electricity
8. The Books – All Bad Ends All
9. Micachu & The Shapes – Calculator
10. You, You’re Awesome – Two Muffins

Click on the picture to go stream from 8tracks.com
Download the zip of this mix (zip file is not in order, please order it yourself into a playlist for best experience)

Sunset Mix

1. Four Tet – Leila Came Round & We Watched a Video
2. Beirut – Nantes (Remix)
3. Telepopmusik – Smile
4. Noriko Tujiko – White Film
5. High Places – From Stardust to Sentience
6. Trifonic – Good Enough
7. Maps – When You Leave
8. Get Well Soon – I Sold My Hands For Food So Please Feed Me
9. Explosions in the sky – The Birth and Death of Day (Jesu Mix)
10. Adem – To Cure a Weakling Child/ Boy Girl Song

Click on the picture to go stream from 8tracks.com
Download the zip of this mix (zip file is not in order, please order it yourself into a playlist for best experience)


I know i’ve already overloaded you with music but as a Bonus, for those of you who that don’t have this song, there is no day more beautiful than one with Davyan Cowboy blasting loudly.

Telefon Tel Aviv

So for a while now I have been listening to Telefon Tel Aviv. I discovered them in the most random way, on a trip to UNH to visit natalie magnatta and chris ives. during a One AM Radio concert that chris was organizing, someone played telefon tel aviv from an ipod in between sets. As soon as i heard the spacey laid back electronic sounds trickle through the speakers I knew I had to find out who it was and write it down.

live picture from http://anuarsynthpop.spaces.live.com/

I acquired Fahrenheit Fair Enough(2001) and Map Of What Is Effortless(2004) and listened to them both constantly. The two albums float around the same territory as each other, and that is somewhere between Apparat, Ulrich Schnauss and The Cinematic Orchestra (to my subjective ears and my frame of reference). Dreamy experimental electronic soundscapes with plenty of stutters, swirls, glitches and flips without being too beaty or glitchy, the tracks are anchored in with some emotional, reflective, substance and intent on top of a slow thoughtful beat. Map of what is effortless particularly has more vocals than its predecessor. They are fantastic for writing papers and generally being reflective. I personally have ascertained that these go well with late night hours, dark rooms and headphones.

What’s The Use Of Feet If We Haven’t Got Legs? (4:16)
When It Happens It Moves All By Itself (3:28)

Also to my delight, Apparat and Telefon are musically intertwined and have remixed each other.
Apparat – Arcadia (Telefon Tel Aviv Remix)(7:45)

Telefon Tel Aviv’s third album Immolate Yourself, released earlier this year, is a fantastic album. It truly marks a change in direction from the other two and shows that they have been paying close attention to where this type of music is headed. Flirting with sounds taken from more indie and electro scenes that has so big in the past year or two. I hate to use a pretentious cliches like “their sound has really matured on this album” but as painful as that is to read it is entirely true. They have always had a very delicate, not overly complex approach to their songs but here on immolate yourself right from the beginning “The Birds” fills your ears up with so much going on. The music is a lot more proactive and as a result a lot more engaging. There is something about it that feels very current, something about it that reminds me of the latest Animal Collective and TV on the Radio. Some of it even sounds a bit neo-80s like where M83 has been going lately. a reinvention of those old Cure like muffled sounds? particularly the song M is a bit like that.

Stand out tracks for me are
1. The Birds
2. Your Mouth
6. Stay Away From Being Maybe

buzzinelectronicmusic.co.uk

On january 20th 2009, Telefon Tel Aviv released their third album Immolate Yourself. On january 21st 2009, Charles Cooper (pictured right) went missing and on the 22nd he was found dead. News articles speculate that he had a fight with his girlfriend before going off missing and that it might have been some sort of suicide. Quite creepy considering the title of the album. Such a tragic death indeed, according to the band’s myspace the other half, Josh Eustis, says he has endured the worst week of his life, that all shows are canceled and the future of the band is entirely uncertain.

really sad and shocking end to a really interesting duo that were going to go new and interesting places. I’m writing about them because I really enjoy their music, I have listened to it many times and to appreciate them for all they did. I wish Josh Eustis well and hope he will still make music for us to all enjoy. (perhaps he should join up with the better half of m83).

Sad story, but really check out the album if you were a fan of the last two or any of the other artists mentioned above.