best buy dec. 25th

Christmas. 2004. Year of your birth. You were the big one. The mix that started it all. The mix that got me mixin'. The mix that got me obsessed. You were the first mix I spent too much time on; you are the mix closest to my heart. If one of those wise men had called in sick, I would have presented you to baby Jesus.

Oh little baby Jesus, will you accept this gracious musical offering in honor of your very first birthday on this planet? It's music inspired by your birth, you know. A concept album based on the concept of your conception. Is there a more perfect gift? I hope you truly feel this, baby Jesus.

I've always liked the idea of seasonal Christmas music, but creating a mix with the usual songs and carols seemed pretty bland. So a few years ago, I set out to find Christmasy sounding songs which, when put together on an album, could pass for "Christmas Music." And thus, the Christmas mix was born. In later years, I've found it harder to replicate the success of this original mix in terms of finding the right Christmas-sounding songs. Subsequently, the annual Christmas mix has since transformed into a winter mix, but this ol' boy will live on.

Notes:

This was the first mix where I actively strove to create unique, creative transitions between songs. The segway between tracks 1 & 2 took me many moons to perfect. And, listening back, I'm still quite proud of it, even though it does sound a little rough now. The transitions between tracks 3 and 4, 7 and 8, 9 and 10, although simpler, are quite smooth and satisfying.

I originally planned to make some kind of liner notes with a narrative that either paralleled the feeling and emotions of the music or used the track titles to tell a story. Or both. In the end, I never wrote that narrative, but I do feel certain holiday emotions for certain songs. Breakdown:

Seasons passing, time flying (track 1), winter setting in (track 2), muzak in the mall (track 3), holiday cheer (track 4), winter solitude (track 5), winter melancholy (track 6), holiday cheer again (track 7), spiritual warmth (track 8), anxiety, holiday rush (track 9), spiritual warmth again (track 10), the long winter (track 11), holiday slow down (track 12), romantic Christmas by the fire (track 13) caroling (track (14), spiritual serenity (track 15).

Also, I recently found a playlist of "Others"—songs I considered for this Christmas mix. Here's a rundown of the songs that didn't make it in the final cut:

"Blue Noel" by John Zorn, "Mahgeetah" by My Morning Jacket, "Ten-Day Inerval" and "Restless Waters" by Tortoise, "1972 Bronze Metalist" by The Bad Plus, "Mouth Canyon" by Gastr del Sol, "A Subtle One" by Jimmy Smith, " another untitled Jim O'Rourke song, "Pines" by Karate, "Drop Me Off in Harlem" by Sun Ra, "Ghosts" by Albert Ayler,...and..."A Better Shade of Blue" and "Ferris Wheel" by Mas Pan.

Download best buy dec. 25th

Tracklist:

1. gastr del sol - the seasons reverse
2. the mercury program - a delicate answer
3. jim o'rourke - untitled 2
4. fly pan am - univoque equivoque
5. jim o'rourke - untitled 4
6. squirrel nut zippers - my evergreen
7. the bad plus - flim
8. bjork - frosti
9. fly pan am - erreur, errance
10. bjork - aurora
11. the mercury program - to-from iceland
12. four tet - first thing
13. geoff farina - olive or otherwise
14. wilco - hummingbird
15. california guitar trio - eve

Total time: 52:13

Preview Track:


squirrel nut zippers - my evergreen

letters from home

The Letters From Home mix was made for Sarah Feldbloom in the Summer of 2004. It’s intended to be a warm, comfy, loving sound that you can really snuggle up to. In fact, it is a sleep mix at heart–most of the songs are delicate and downtempo. I gave this mix to Sarah in Vancouver while on a west coast road trip with Ryan, Chelsea, and Pete.

I’m hoping to search my old computer for the original art work for this mix, as I remember putting a lot of work into it and being pretty stoked about the results. The pictures involved old letters and creaky type writers and classic memories and all-out nostalgia. Yeah, all the warmth you can imagine. And it smelled like gingerbread. Well not really.

Download letters from home

Tracklist:

1. dj shadow - the letter from home 1
2. bill bruford - thistledown
3. songs:ohia - an ace unable to change
4. datura blues - untitled (part 1)
5. bjork - aurora (live)
6. the american analog set - choir vandals
7. dj shadow - the 6 day war
8. jim o’rourke - little island walking
9. gastr del sol - each dream is an example
10. fripp and eno - evening star
11. m. ward - carolina
12. karate - the halo of the strange
13. datura blues - untitled (part 2)
14. pinback - loro
15. doug martsch - the weather

Total time: 1:01:31

Preview track:

bill bruford - thistledown

vordul megs

Vordul Megs is really less of a mix and more of a compilation. It’s a collection of all the Vordul Megilah tracks (as of 2004) not on Cannibal Ox’s only album, The Cold Vein. Vordul was one-third of the epic rap group who peaked at the album’s release in 2001. Mike and I both made our own version of a Vordul comp, although I don’t think we ever traded.

It’s interesting to go over this mix again and see how many tracks are from Billy Woods’ first two albums. At the time of discovery, I was just pumped to find more Vordul tracks. Now Vordul has dropped off, and William Woods is carrying the torch…and I have a pretty good idea of what he might do with that flame.

Download vordul megs

Tracklist:

1. faultline (with vordul megilah) - we came from lego blocks
2. cannibal ox (with rob swift) - cosmos
3. billy woods (with vordul megilah) - bfgs
4. atoms family - angels & insects
5. billy woods (with vordul megilah) - mind control
6. vast aire (with cryptic one and vordul megilah) - not for promotional use
7. billy woods (with vordul megilah) - undeclared wars
8. vordul megilah (with karniege) - in the hood
9. billy woods (with vordul megilah) - minimalism
10. cannibal ox - handle that
11. billy woods (with vordul megilah) - las mc’s
12. cannibal ox, mr. lif, and yak ballz - freestyle
13. vordul megilah - never gonna hurt again
14. billy woods (with vordul megilah) - james bon elevators (freestyle)
15. vast aire (with vordul megilah) - life’s ill pt. ii (the empire striketh)
16. billy woods (with vordul megilah) - pit and the pendulum
17. cannibal ox - metal gear
18. billy woods (with vordul megilah) - dirge

Total time: 1:05:48

Preview track:

billy woods (with vordul megilah) - mind control

worker ant uprise

This mix had the working title "Beats and Words," mainly from lack of inspiration. And well, I felt a little silly calling it "The Rap Mix," because I had outgrown such generalities at the age of 21, right? Anyway, I eventually dropped the vaguery for something more fitting, and this turned out to be a pretty solid mix, even by my current standards.

I believe the intention/inspiration for putting this mix together was to share some of my favourite rap music with my friend Jess Apter, Canadian resident and rap connoisseur. That's a French word for my Quebecois bretheren out there.

Notes:

This might have been the very first mix where I started incorporating nifty transitions from song to song. Check out the staticky bridge between tracks 10 & 11, and also the echoey interlude between 11 & 12. Simple stuff.

I recall Jess commenting that she loved the Company Flow track, "Worker Ant Uprise," and that her boyfriend hated Aesop Rock's voice. It is pretty polarizing, I'll admit.

The image here is not the original picture from the CD insert. The original picture consisted of an abstract alien-ant-robot hybrid on steroids. Really beefy. It was quite amazing.

And speaking of beefy...Gift of Gab's freestyle on track 7 is jaw-dropping craziness. Highly recommended.

Download worker ant uprise

Tracklist:

1. faultline (with vordul megilah) - we came from lego blocks
2. latyrx - latyrx
3. juggaknots - trouble man
4. billy woods - damage
5. jedi mind tricks - chinese water torture
6. aesop rock - daylight
7. gift of gab & lyrics born - freestyle rapping
8. sonic sum - choking victim
9. company flow - worker ant uprise
10. vast aire (with cryptic one & vordul megilah) - not for promotional use
11. blackalicious - make you feel that way
12. juggaknots - clear blue skies (remix)
13. greenhouse effect - woke up this morning
14. cannibal ox - metal gear
15. billy woods - dirge

Total time: 1:07:31

Preview track:

aesop rock - daylight

drizzle's sleep mix

Well, I never really came up with a good title for it, like many of the early mixes. But, this was a different project altogether. Back in the days of Riverwind, in some kind of 2 AM procrastinatory Adult Swim sugar binge, someone birthed the idea to create and exchange sleep mixes. A group of friends, trading mixes. Special sleep time music mixes. Well I got into it, and I made some rules.

And so it came to be: In the year of our Lord, 2003, Pete, Mike, Ryan, Chelsea, Lindsay, and I gathered one evening, after the song-culling dust had settled, and anonymously distributed our discs. There was a system of numbers and labels and orders–I won’t get into it, but I will admit that I took it too seriously. Regardless, we listened over the next few weeks, and it felt like a success. And I’ll always remember the great Riverwind Sleep Mix Exchange as the pinnacle of my college career.

Notes:

Most recently, this mix was in my possession as a collection of mp3s ripped from the original disc, track information not included. So I had to swim through my music collection to assign forgotten song titles to familiar artists. But that fourth track remained elusive; I’m working on it. Alas! Thank you Bryan Borland for dropping mad knowledge. And with such perfect irony!

Also, I retroactively realized that these songs, while dark and meditative, are probably a little too intense for sleeping. The Z-Axis track gets pretty loud, and the length of the mix is a bit on the long side.

Download drizzle’s sleep mix

Tracklist:

1. a silver mt. zion - built then burn (hurrah! hurrah!)
2. porcupine tree - wake as gun
3. king crimson - the power to believe ii
4. renholder - now i know
5. bark psychosis - nothing feels
6. tortoise (with the chicago underground duo) - ten-day interval (live in frankfurt, germany)
7. calexico - the book and the canal
8. z-axis - emperor’s poison
9. squirrel nut zippers - hush
10. calexico - no doze
11. john zorn - sex magick
12. john fahey - the death of clayton peacock
13. tiamat - a pocket sized sun

Total time: 1:08:06

Preview track:

calexico - the book and the canal

metronomic underground

This mix was created for a pool party Rose hosted at her ol' house in Merritt Island in the summer of 2004. I believe Pete attended with me. Anyway, I thought I was clever enough to provide some music.

The image here is somewhat similar to the original picture on the disc insert. Some kind of shadowy underground. On the contrary, though, my goal was to create a beachy, bouncy, and bright sound. Parallel structure be damned. Check check it:

Download metronomic underground (part 1)
Download metronomic underground (part 2)

Tracklist:

1. freaks and geeks clip - you think you're the fonz?
2. herbie hancock - watermelon man
3. four tet - as serious as your life
4. giles, giles, & fripp - make it today
5. mouse on mars - kanu
6. the beta band - dry the rain
7. ozric tentacles - plasmoid
8. the mercury program - marianas
9. stereolab - nothing to do with me
10. django reinhardt - minor swing
11. freaks and geeks clip - birthday cocaine
12. pinback - x i y
13. tortoise - monica
14. lyrics born feat. joyo velarde - balcony beach
15. can - moonshake
16. mouse on mars - saturday night world cup fieber
17. stereolab - metronomic underground

Total time: 1:17:30

Preview track:

stereolab - nothing to do with me

xlog...the mix log. And other stuff.

First post. Better make it a good one. Well, it ain't. This is what it is. It's about mixes. Plenty of them. But one day, I will run out, of course. Maybe not of ideas, but certainly time, energy, patience, and the perfect song.

Anyway. This is a place to keep track of mixes. And maybe some of my favourite book quotes. And perhaps other stuff, but no promises on other stuff. Let's keep this real non-commital.