2011 Mixtape: Side B // total running time = 29:26

1 Peter Bjorn & John “Breaker Breaker”
2 Beyonce “Countdown”
3 Alabama Shakes “Hold On”
4 Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie xx “My Cloud”
5 Wise Blood “Fantasize”
6 King Krule “Portrait in Black and Blue”
7 Holiday Shores “We Couldn’t Be Together”
8 Coasting “For Hours”
9 Twin Sister “Daniel”

download ZIP of all 9 MP3s
Listen as I attempt to string together some songs that hit my ears in the second half of 2011. Pair it up with Side A, perhaps take a listen to 2010’s mixtape as well.

Daytrotter Mixtape #2 // total running time = 38:59

1 Maps & Atlases “Ted Zancha”
2 Otouto “Spot”
3 Distractions “Make A Move”
4 Robert Ellis “Cemetary”
5 Spoon “The Ghost of You Lingers”
6 Carnivores “Dressed for the Rain”
7 Toro Y Moi “Blessa”
8 Beach Fossils “Youth”
9 Dosh “If You Want To You Have To”

download ZIP of all 9 MP3s
I decided to assemble a few of my favorite tracks since the last Daytrotter mixtape. Mostly unique renditions or unreleased songs by these artists. You’ll also be pleased to see my MS paint skills have improved dramatically since then. Daytrotter costs $2 a month now, which is still chump change for the amount of quality music these studios churn out on a daily basis.

2011 Mixtape: Side A // Total Running Time = 31:19

1 We Are Trees “I Don’t Believe In Love”
2 Creepoid “Staircase”
3 Shapes Have Fangs “Rattle and Confuse Me”
4 Bass Drum of Death “GB City”
5 Secret Cities “Forest of Love”
6 Heavy Hawaii “Suicide Summer”
7 Panda Bear “Slow Motion”
8 Tune-Yards “Bizness”
9 Charles Bradley “I Believe In Your Love” 

download ZIP of all 9 MP3s
Some great songs and artists I failed to share from the first half of 2011, hopefully sequenced from winter into summer.
Check 2010’s mixtape here and here.

Tuck’s Storyville Mixtape // Total Running Time = 38:50

1 Ray Charles “Moanin’”
2 Cannonball Adderley “Somethin’ Else”
3 Jimmy Smith & Wes Montgomery “Happy-Go-Lucky Local (aka Night Train)”
4 Oliver Nelson “Stolen Moments”
5 Sonny Rollins & Coleman Hawkins “Summertime”
6 Dizzy Gillespie “On the Sunny Side of the Street”

download ZIP of all 6 MP3s
Storyville (the original pictured above, with Copley Square’s Trinity Church in the background) was one of the many clubs around Boston that helped define the city as a leader for jazz music in the 40s and 50s. I think it moved to Harvard Square and finally to Kenmore, but the Copley one is where Billie Holiday recorded this killer radio broadcast.

I asked The Big Big Bucks’ drummer Mike Tucker to make us a jazz mixtape because jazz runs through the kid’s veins where blood should be. There is a Venn diagram out there with two circles: one says Drummers at Berklee College of Music and the other says Drummers Who Get It, and Tuck falls in the tiny overlap. While I would never describe music by The Bucks as jazzy, Tuck’s definition of heavy reminds me of someone like Art Blakey and less of someone like John Bonham.

Anyway, was going to do something similar to my rocksteady/ska mixtape, but figured he could do this better than me and I was right. Pretty focused around late 50s/early 60s stuff. Personal highlight is “Happy-Go-Lucky Local (aka Night Train)”: Wes Montgomery’s guitar solo is so playful and friendly, then Jimmy Smith comes along with his big bad organ and blows the house down. As a whole, the mixtape has a great progression; give it a listen and/or download, then buy some of these records and maybe one from The Bucks as well.

Team Teamwork’s Cool Rap / Cool Sax Mixtape

Side A: Cool Rap // Total Running Time = 29:22
1 Immigrants “Thieves and Doctors”
2 Tyler the Creator “French” (Toro Y Moi remix)
3 E-40 ft. Beeda Weeda & Work Dirty “In The Morning”
4 J Dilla “Lazer Gunne Funke”
5 DJ Jazzy Jeff ft. Slum Village “Are You Ready”
6 Big K.R.I.T. “Dreamin’”
7 Cannibal Ox “Real Earth”
8 Paper Route Gangstaz “Bama Gettin’ Money” (Diplo remix)

Side B: Cool Sax // Total Running Time = 30:31
1 Deerhunter “Coronado”
2 Destroyer “Blue Eyes”
3 Menomena “TAOS”
4 Okkervil River “Starry Stairs”
5 Black Mountain “Modern Music”
6 Iron & Wine “Big Burned Hand”
7 Gayngs “The Gaudy Side of Town”

download ZIP of all 15 MP3s
Thanks to Team Teamwork for sending this proper mixtape over… two sides! That’s bigtime for this website.

For a few years, Somerville’s Team Teamwork has been taking big name rappers and introducing their rhymes to the oddest of backbeats, including Zelda (The Ocarina of Rhyme), Final Fantasy (Vinyl Fantasy 7), and your Man Mans and Drug Rugs of the world (Good Ass Remixes Vol. 1). BTW: listen to them all on his Muxtape page, and download/donate moneys on his website. His latest is called Super Nintendo Sega Genesis, and with its release have been some his first live sets. The next one is May 25th at Good Life, where the venue will be setting up Ataris and Wiis to fuck around with. Hell yes! 

In the meantime, this mixtape should serve as a nice introduction to Team Teamwork’s world. Excellent hip-hop on the A side, from brand new locals Immigrants to Mississippi’s Big K.R.I.T., and the horn-heavy B side features the titular woodwind instrument on compositions by Deerhunter, Menomena, Black Mountain, and more. Team Teamwork says Side B’s inspiration came from landing on Side A’s closer, the “Careless Whisper”-sampling remix of “Bama Gettin’ Money”. Well played.

2010 Mixtape: Side B // Total Running Time = 31:48

1 Hallelujah The Hills “Introductory Saints”
2 Toro Y Moi “Leave Everywhere”
3 Tony Castles “Black Girls In Dresses”
4 Lower Dens “Completely Golden”
5 Deerhunter “Helicopter”
6 ^ “Sugar”
7 Women “Grey Skies”
8 Young Adults “Drifting”
9 Weekend “Monongah, WV”

download ZIP of all 9 MP3s
There it is, for yr tapedeck; Side A can be found here.
I’ll post a My Favorite Releases of 2010 next week.

Houston Mixtape // Total Running Time = 30:33

1 Fatal Flying Guillotines “Illegal Weapons Party”
2 B L A C K I E “Dope & Doper”
3 Balaclavas “True Believers”
4 MUHAMMADALi “I Believe”
5 Giant Princess “Gun Play”
6 The Energy “I’m Not Gonna Lose It”
7 Black Congress “Defeated”
8 Grandfather Child “Waiting For You”

download ZIP file of all 8 MP3s
Been listening to a lot of music from Houston ever since I hung out with some locals for nine days this summer. Fans of Les Savy Fav will undoubtedly love Fatal Flying Guillotines, who are the only artist on this mix that is not playing shows. Other than that, you can cross your fingers and hope the dub-punk of Balaclavas, the Drive Like Jehu-inspired chaos of Black Congress, or the grimey blown-out hip-hop of B L A C K I E make their way to your corner of the US soon. I’m surprised Houston isn’t hyped as the next Baltimore/Montreal/Williamseattlewhatever. Maybe it’s better that way; even the local message board takes time for an outsider to decipher. Shhh.

Remove Ya Mixtape // Total Running Time = 29:37

01 Alton Ellis “I’ll Be Waiting”
02 Marcia Griffiths “Don’t Let Me Down”
03 The Paragons “On The Beach”
04 Lord Kitchener “Dr. Kitch”
05 Phyllis Dillon “Don’t Touch Me Tomato”
06 Owen & Leon Silveras “Next Door Neighbour”
07 Stranger & Patsy “When I Call Your Name”
08 B.B. Seaton “It’s a Thin Line Between Love and Hate”
09 Ken Boothe “Why Baby Why”
10 The Gaylettes “Son of a Preacher Man”

download ZIP of all 10 MP3s
These are by no means the “deep cuts”, just a pretty elementary mix of some rocksteady and ska. C’mon, it’s sunny outside. Highlights include my favorite version of my favorite Alton Ellis song, Marcia Griffiths’ Beatles cover that puts all other Beatles covers to shame, Lord Kitchener singing about some serious X-rated stuff, and B.B. Seaton being put in the hospital by his special ladyfriend.

2010 Mixtape: Side A // Total Running Time = 36:13

1 Twin Sister “All Around and Away We Go”
2 Quilt “Commodity Spectre”
3 Emeralds “Goes By”
4 Spoon “Who Makes Your Money”
5 Beach Fossils “Sometimes”
6 MMOSS “Kitty Sorrow”
7 Here We Go Magic “Casual”
8 Data Dog “Twists & Turns & Dangerous Twists”
9 Kurt Vile “Hey, Now I’m Movin”

download ZIP of all 9 MP3s
Some of my favorite songs off stuff released in the last six months.
Recommended for 2:32am on your front porch.