The newest mixtape will be up very soon, I promise.
- 3M
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Why the big delay?
About two weeks ago, I ended up with pretty severe neck pain that caused me to kind of hate all of life. I wasn’t getting any sleep, and trying to keep focus on anything was a challenge. Pretty much nothing was getting done. No new music was listened to and no playlists were made. Also during that week of pain, I started into a large, time-consuming work project which is still on-going, but is now not nearly the time commitment it was last week. Then finally, last Friday and throughout the weekend, I was out of town helping family move into a new state. So blah blah blah, lots of things going on, aaannd now here we are.
There’s lots I would like to say about these bills being put forth by our government (SOPA, PIPA, etc.), the shutdown of MegaUpload.com, and how all of that relates to what I do here, but it might have to wait until another post…
I tried to pull together enough new content to release two typical mixtapes worth of material, but instead I decided to focus on quality over quantity. Hence, dbl+good (instead of say, dbl+moar). There are a few “bootlegs” included this week, so when release time comes, I expect you all to go out and buy these tracks. Enjoy, friends!
- Paddling Out – Miike Snow
- Facebook Lift – heRobust
- Waterfall – Daniel Rossen
- Trip – Vacationer
- All The Right Things – Son Lux
- Wonders (VISITOR Remix) – The Sound of Arrows
- His Pain (feat. Kendrick Lamar) – B.J. The Chicago Kid
- American Wedding (Frank Ocean Cover) – Yasmin
- January Love – Newtimers
- Somewhere Else – Mesita
- Atomic Peace – SBTRKT
- The End (Extended) – Lemaitre
(Mediafire Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?z42p6q27x5cwxmm)
Aand we’re back. Welcome to 2012, everyone. Let’s just get right into this, shall we?
First of all, this week’s photo comes from Marta Bevacqua Photography. She’s does amazing work, so ‘like’ her on FB and show some support. I wish the weather was a little more like this. When I left LA a few days ago, it was a pleasant 80 degrees. Kinda too pleasant for a winter if you ask me. I want winters with snow and ice and coat weather. Not like this morning when I saw my neighbor take out his trash in shorts and a muscle shirt. Fuck you, El Niño.
Here come da playlist…
- Keep On Loving Me (Edit) – Onra | Onra strikes again. This time, taking a classic cut from The Whispers and making it dancefloor ready. Hotness, like the weather.
- Upular (Rynecologist Helium Rework) – Pogo | Older track, but it popped up on my radar again thanks to Reddit and thought you all should hear it too. Pogo uses samples from the Pixar movie “Up”, in case you’re wondering what that is…
- The Shrine / An Argument – Fleet Foxes | I like the sort of duality present in their songs; it’s like multiple sonic personality disorder. A warning: lots of intentional dissonance near the end of this epic track.
- Uncomfortably Numb – Graveyard | These guys should play Coachella. A band that I believe not many have heard, and more should. Speaking of Coachella, my tickets are paid for this year’s event. I’ll see you there.
- Bess St. – White Denim | I like these guys. I don’t know what else to say about them because I honestly haven’t researched them much, but when I come across their work, I almost always dig it. It’s like the best rock of the 60′s and 70′s reincarnate.
- Writer’s Block – Brother Ali | 2012 newness from Ali. I missed him perform at Coachella a few years back and I’ve been trying to make up for it ever since. One of the most honest mc’s to ever live.
- Need You Now – Cut Copy | The electro-house stand-by that I just know you’re gonna like. Even if you’re just putting it on while cleaning up your house before the party on a Saturday night.
- Blue Cassette – SBTRKT (Friendly Fires cover) | SBTRKT performed this live on BBC Radio 1′s Live Lounge. I think he did this like a few hours ago so you’re getting this as fresh as it gets.
- Protocol ft. Samantha Kravitz – Gift of Gab | Any new Quannum Projects stuff will get on my mixtapes every single time, without fail. It also doesn’t hurt that it’s got Sam Kravitz on there too.
- Honey Bunny – Girls | :3 aww. Girls do good guitar.
- Blue (Eiffel 65 cover) – Yellow Ostrich | Don’t count this one out just yet. I know that title’s got you thinking of that song driven to awfulness when the radio stations played it over and over and over again, but Yellow Ostrich redeems it from pop-shit hell.
(Mediafire Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?hbvk6whzcmm63cz)
Thursday, December 22, 2011
I LIED!!!
THIS… is the last mixtape of 2011.
- Feather – Nujabes
- When I’m Small (RAC Mix) - Phantogram
- Why (Carly Simon Cover) – Alpines and Maya Jane Coles
- Crave You (feat. Giselle) – Flight Facilities
- Big Black Car – Gregory Alan Isakov
- Santa Fe – Beirut
- Weekend – Class Actress
- Mind, Drips (Bibio Remix) – Neon Indian
- Night By Night (Skream Remix) – Chromeo
- Gathering Stories – Jonsi
(Mediafire download: http://www.mediafire.com/?rk68rpqsc3jqa2m)
Friday, December 16, 2011
I give you the last mixtape of the year: My Top 30 from 2011, part 3: #1 through #10. Next weekend is Christmas, and the weekend after that is the New Years Eve weekend. I hope that while you’re either spending time with friends and family, or traveling to see them, you’ve got some great music to listen to. Maybe I even helped out with that soundtrack.
I’ll be starting up again in the new year, 2012, with mixtapes every Friday. Spread the word.
- Midnight City (Trentemøller Remix) – M83
- Swim Good (Portishead Remix) – Frank Ocean
- Scale It Back (feat. Yukimi Nagano of Little Dragon) – DJ Shadow
- Top of the World (feat. Passion Pit) – Kenton Dunson
- Cocoon (Nocturnal Sunshine Remix) – Alpines
- Hanging On – Active Child
- How Can You Luv Me – Unknown Mortal Orchestra
- novacane – Frank Ocean
- Some Children – Holy Ghost!
- The A Team (Koan Sound Remix) – Ed Sheeran
(Mediafire download: http://www.mediafire.com/?ul94qekpi0u70xl)
For a track to appear on the 2011 Top 30, it had to be released in this year. This includes covers and remixes. Sometimes the cover or remix of a track is significantly enjoyable enough that it merits mention. Of course, I still hold the original in the highest regard.
However, on the rarest of occasions, the cover can become the Definitive version of the original. Take for instance, Jeff Buckley’s cover of Hallelujah. Most people don’t even know that it’s a cover of a song originally written and recorded by Leonard Cohen. Even fewer people know that Jeff Buckley’s version is based on yet another version performed by John Cale (of the Velvet Underground) in 1991 for a Leonard Cohen tribute album. Still, the version most everyone knows and loves is the version by Jeff Buckley.
My point about all of this is that, if you really appreciate the music you listen to, recognize that sometimes, you must give due credit and respect to those that created it first.
(Mediafire download: http://www.mediafire.com/?r29uqba9du119u4)
…If I may.
This week, the Fox Network’s show Glee –that show most people seem to either love or hate– closed the episode with the song “We Are Young (Feat. Janelle Monaé)” by the group, fun. fun. released this track on September 20th, of this year, and I included it three days later in the mixtape “Luxe Opposition” on the 23rd of that same month. I knew this track was going to be big, but I didn’t know how or when.
Cut to this past week’s episode when the cast of Glee performed it to close out the show. It’s now massively popular. How popular? If you have iTunes, and you open it up to the iTunes store, you’ll see it featured as #1 on the singles chart. Number One. Browse to the Glee’s version of the song, and the popularity scale is filled to its maximum. Wow, great.
Now do this: search for “fun.” in iTunes. You’ll see their list of tracks. At the top of that list, with only two of the small popularity scale bars full, is “We Are Young.” Browse to the song’s iTunes listing, and you’ll find one of the latest customer reviews…
“I’m with glee (2 of 5 stars) – Ahhh I like the glee version better…”
This is why we can’t have nice things.
Please, go download the original. Give it a good rating and review, if you enjoyed this track. I don’t blame Glee for this. In fact, I don’t think their version did anything to hurt the original. But when the original artists of this song can’t even get a little love from the show’s fans, it makes me die inside a little.
(iTunes Store Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/we-are-young-feat.-janelle/id463207143)
p.s. – I get no kick-back from iTunes or anyone else for that matter by linking to this track. As I state at in the footer of this site, support the artists.
We’re nearing year’s end, and – like all other publications, television networks, radio shows and of course, blogs – we here at MixTape Studios are taking stock in 2011 and posting our picks for the best the last 300-some odd days has to offer.
So. Here now, and for the rest of the year, I begin MixTape Studios’ Top 30 Tracks of 2011 – as selected by mixtape curator, DJ and MTS’ “Guy-In-Charge”, 3M – starting with tracks #30-21. Download’s away!
(Mediafire Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?8fga03c50ytwteg)
Friday, November 18, 2011
All Hell lives in the finest of details.
- Miss You (Thin White Duke Mix) – Mirwais
- Guillotine – Yadi
- Dumbin’ (Diplo Remix) – Star Slinger Feat. Reggie B
- Our Own Dream (Blackbird Blackbird Remix) – Keep Shelly In Athens
- Right Back To You – Electric Youth
- Ray Charles – Chiddy Bang
- Dig A Little Deeper (Mayer Hawthorne Remix) – Peter Bjorn and John
- Sky Sailor (Float Away) – Daft Punk, TRS-80 & Ariel Pink
- Nothing is the News – Damien Jurado
- The Edge (Original Mix) – Koan Sound
- Caroline – Alex Clare
This week’s mixtape can speak for itself. The only thing I’d like to point out is, despite what I claimed last week about no longer including dubstep tracks, I broke down and added another track from the genre. You can thank KOAN SOUND for that since they are brilliant at creating truly great original dubstep. If Skrillex is like the high school varsity star quarterback, Koan Sound is the 7-time Champion, All-Star Pro, Hall-of-Fame wide receiver. And just about everyone else is warming the bench.
(Mediafire Download: http://www.mediafire.com/file/etfa3eco1y7v070/3M-Hypercritical.zip)
Monday, November 14, 2011
Girl, don’t let the high go to waste…
- Run Right Back – The Black Keys
A selection of the newness from the Key’s new upcoming album, “El Camino.” Gaddamn, I love these guys. I should warn you, this track is a radio rip, so it ends with some CRAP in the recording. Not much I can do about that, the actual album doesn’t drop until December 6th.
- You Ain’t Gotta Wait Till I’m Gone – Busta Rhymes
“If I can’t be part of the greatest, I gotta be the greatest myself.” A cut from Busta Rhymes coming after the passing of legendary Heavy D. It’s been too long since Busta’s been putting out tracks.
- Ready To Go (Round The Way Girl) – Neak
In the category of slow jam/RnB, this one reminded me of some of the last work from The Abstract, Q-Tip. The production is so nice, you’ll listen twice.
- Hurting (Tensnake Remix) – Friendly Fires
I love the Friendly Fires, and I love Tensnake so this one had to get on the playlist.
- Groove Is In The Heart (Gigamesh Remix) – Deee-Lite
Once you make it past the fairly cheesy intro (kinda too disco-y for my tastes), it settles into a pretty solid groove worthy of the original. And I loves me the original. Gigamesh’s productions are almost always on-point.
- Over My Dead Body – Drake
Despite his pedigree and success, I think that, lately, Drake occasionally sounds like he’s trying to be a little too much like Frank Ocean. No disrespect, Drake. That said, this track is really working for me.
- Down On You (Hannes Fischer Remix) – Dems
I am not familiar with Dems or Hannes Fischer but I like what I’m hearing so far. A chill track that almost deserves to be on it’s own mixtape alongside similar tracks. I didn’t want to wait to put this one out, though. You can thank me later.
- You Can Dance (Robotaki Remix) – Chilly Gonzales
This is Robotaki. Robotaki is a 20-year old producer with fantastic taste and a great sense of composition. And for that, he gets on the tape this week. I wish I had sounded like this at 20. He’s got a bright future ahead of him.
- Pyrite (Fool’s Gold) – Frank Ocean
I cannot say enough good things about the man. This is a track that didn’t make it onto “Nostalgia, Ultra.” If you are NOT FAMILIAR with Frank Ocean, you need to get with it, son.
- The Suburbs (Cry Wolf Remix) – Mr. Little Jeans
I struggled with weather or not to add this track to the tape for a few reasons. First, I like that it’s a fairly decently produced dubstep cover of the Arcade Fire’s track. I still have some “like” for dubstep, but I’ve largely decided that it’s seen it’s best days, and it’s on the way out. Hate to say it, kids. Sorry to bust your wub-wub bubble. The stylistic rut that dubstep has run aground on (again, the WUB-WUB crap) isn’t helping matters. Every single producer seems to be trying to out wub-noise the track before it, and it’s become a real strain to listen to. It’s like bad death metal now. It all sounds about the same, and there’s very little musicality left in it. Until dubstep as a whole can turn around and become interesting again, I think this will be the last dubstep track I will include on any mixtape.
(Mediafire download: http://www.mediafire.com/file/5o3hkyicckjeg4w/3M-WastedVapors.zip)
