Archive for the 'mixes' Category

Coachella 2012 Fridays

Published by almostaghost on February 3, 2012 in almostaghost and mixes. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

As I mentioned somewhere along the way, I’m going to Coachella again this year. But even when I don’t, I enjoy going through the lineup and checking out all the artists. This is a mix of the ones I like for Friday. It feels like an odd collection, the Friday lineup, but it will be a fun day to kick off everything. A short breakdown:

British artists: Pulp, James, The Horrors*, Yuck*, Arctic Monkeys*, WU LYF*, The Midnight Beast*, Wolf Gang*

French artists: Breakbot, M83, SebastiAn, Madeon*

Texas artists: The Black Angels, Neon Indian, Explosions In The Sky

intense artists: Refused* (hardcore scream punk), Death Grips* (hardcore hiphop), Atari Teenage Riot* (digital hardcore)

women: Mazzy Star, EMA, Hello Seahorse!, honeyhoney*, Ximena Sarinana*

rap/soul/reggae: Frank Ocean, Jimmy Cliff*, Kendrick Lamar

artists I didn’t know very well before doing this and was impressed by: EMA, The Black Angels, Hello Seahorse!

personal favorites of the day: Mazzy Star, Pulp, Frank Ocean

* = not on my mix

Coachella 2012 Fridays from almostaghost on 8tracks.

- almostaghost

Life In Mixtape Form #38

Published by almostaghost on February 2, 2012 in almostaghost and mixes. 0 Comments Tags: .

Life In Mixtape Form #38 from almostaghost on 8tracks.

In case you’re new here, every day I pick a sort of “song of the day.” After eight days, I’ve got a mix I can upload to 8tracks. This is my 38th week in a row doing this, and I still enjoy using it as a form of daily reflection. I’m sure that’s meaningless to all, so aside from that, it’s generally just a bunch of cool songs. :D

- almostaghost

January 2012

Published by almostaghost on January 31, 2012 in almostaghost and mixes. 0 Comments Tags: .

January 2012 from almostaghost on 8tracks.

A short handful of new 2012 songs–most are from EPs, mixtapes and singles because there weren’t all that many new albums that I heard and liked enough to want to share a song. But there was still some cool tunes out there this year, and I liked this selection.

- almostaghost

set this town on fire

Published by breathmint on January 29, 2012 in mixes. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

a mix of 50s/60s-esque garage rock, post-punk, bubblegum, queercore, and riot grrl to melt your face off.

set this town on fire from breathmint on 8tracks.

 

- breathmint

Life In Mixtape Form #37

Published by almostaghost on January 24, 2012 in almostaghost and mixes. 0 Comments Tags: .

Life In Mixtape Form #37 from almostaghost on 8tracks.

Songs!

- almostaghost

Life In Mixtape Form #36

Published by almostaghost on January 17, 2012 in almostaghost and mixes. 0 Comments Tags: .

Life In Mixtape Form #36 from almostaghost on 8tracks.

Onwards, 8 more days, 8 more songs. These, I must say, are some great songs. :) Also, got tickets to Coachella again this year, so expect a lot of info/thoughts about artists in the line-up out of me for the next couple of months.

- almostaghost

Life In Mixtape Form #35

Published by almostaghost on January 8, 2012 in almostaghost and mixes. 0 Comments Tags: .

Life In Mixtape Form #35 from almostaghost on 8tracks.

Thanks to Mint for updating the blog look, looks awesome! Here’s my last 8 songs-of-the-day mix!

- almostaghost

2011 – Wrap-up and Mix

Published by almostaghost on January 4, 2012 in almostaghost, Best of 2011 and mixes. 1 Comment Tags: , , .

^ first, a mix. It’s not ALL songs from my top 20 albums either. I do like other things too. :)

And had a couple of requests for an extended list, so here it is. A few that narrowly missed the top-20 just came out, and if I’d had them longer and given them more of a chance, they could’ve climbed up. Artists, next time, release your albums before November, kthxbye!

1. Gillian Welch – The Harrow & The Harvest
2. The Antlers – Burst Apart
3. Radiohead – The King Of Limbs
4. The Kills – Blood Pressures
5. Kate Bush – 50 Words For Snow
6. The War On Drugs – Slave Ambient
7. Lia Ices – Grown Unknown
8. Bon Iver – Bon Iver, Bon Iver
9. The Black Keys – El Camino
10. Shabazz Palaces – Black Up
11. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
12. Lykke Li – Wounded Rhymes
13. St. Vincent – Strange Mercy
14. Thurston Moore – Demolished Thoughts
15. Eleanor Friedberger – Last Summer
16. Cut Copy – Zonoscope
17. Disappears – Guider
18. Youth Lagoon – The Year Of Hibernation
19. Vetiver – The Errant Charm
20. Bjork – Biophilia
21. Death Cab For Cutie – Codes And Keys
22. Sophie Zelmani – Soul
23. Little Dragon – Ritual Union
24. Gudrid Handottir – Beyond The Grey
25. My Morning Jacket – Circuital
26. Radical Face – The Family Tree: The Roots
27. Iron & Wine – Kiss Each Other Clean
28. Tom Waits – Bad As Me
29. Feist – Metals
30. Laura Marling – A Creature I Don’t Know
31. Anna Ternheim – The Night Visitor
32. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Hysterical
33. M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
34. R.E.M. – Collapse Into Now
35. Rachel Goodrich – Rachel Goodrich
36. Bell X1 – Bloodless Coup
37. Dum Dum Girls – Only In Dreams
38. Wilco – The Whole Love
39. Wire – Red Barked Tree
40. Marketa Irglova – Anar
41. Marissa Nadler – Marissa Nadler
42. Jay-Z & Kanye West – Watch The Throne
43. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks – Mirror Traffic
44. Ghostpoet – Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam
45. Release The Sunbird – Come Back To Us
46. CANT – Dreams Come True
47. Babette Hayward – You Might Be Somebody
48. The Roots – Undun
49. Wild Flag – Wild Flag
50. Paul Simon – So Beautiful Or So What
51. Thea Gilmore – John Wesley Harding
52. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
53. Blood Orange – Coastal Grooves
54. The Black Belles – The Black Belles
55. Alela Diane – Alela Diane & Wild Divine
56. Snoop Dogg – Doggumentary
57. Washed Out – Within And Without
58. Ringo DeathStarr – Colour Trip
59. Pterodactyl Plains – In The Air
60. Florence + The Machine – Ceremonials

that’s enough; all 60 of these I do like! You can listen to my 20 favorites on my Spotify playlist. Add me on there!

Thanks for reading. Thanks for following along. Thanks for talking about music, making recommendations, and sharing stuff with me. On to 2012!

- almostaghost

in the night it came for me [now playing volume 01]

Published by breathmint on January 2, 2012 in mixes. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Here comes the inaugural edition of my new series for sharing 2012 music i’ve been listening to. RIP “since we last spoke.”

This mix features shoegaze, trash, electro-pop, classical inspired, and more.

http://8tracks.com/breathmint/in-the-night-it-came-for-me-np-vol-01

- breathmint

AlmostAGhost’s Best Albums Of 2011 – #4. The Kills – Blood Pressures

Published by almostaghost on January 1, 2012 in almostaghost and mixes. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .
Blood Pressures

fate with a single blow has custard pied me now

A couple of albums ago, I mentioned how there were few albums I listened to more than The War On Drugs’ Slave Ambient this year. The Kills’ Blood Pressures probably got my most plays. There was a 2-3 month period earlier this year where I was working 14-15 hour days, 7 days a week. I took to playing Blood Pressures on my headphones every evening at full blast for a nightly jolt of rock energy, to get me through the last few sleepy hours of work.

So I have probably ranked it higher than it should, but I cannot deny–when I look back at the music of 2011, this was one of the defining albums for me. The album was perfect for that energy jolt. Even now, when I’m in that mood, I can play it in the car, and the windows start rattling and it’s AWESOME. Their loud choppy guitar riffs are infectious, the window-rattling lower end and relentless drums are exciting, and Alison Mosshart does the highwire seductive roar better than anybody around.

The songs are usually built around meaningless phrases: “the heart is a beating drum,” “loneliness never truly leaves me alone,” “it’s not the door you’re using, but the way you’re walking through it.” They really do not mean much, but they sound good, loud. They’re simple and effective and with just the right touch of power. “I can’t find enough pots and pans / let alone knives in my kitchen / To keep you cooking” — I mean, only the rockingest rock stars could get away with rocking lines like that, right? “Could be a nail in my coffin / and Lord knows I ain’t ready yet!” Alison Mosshart sings on “Nail In My Coffin.” It pretty much sums up most of the songs–a mix of frustration and temptation and whatever else raises your blood pressure.

The songs aren’t all relentless. Songs like “Satellite” show off their ability to weave some uplifting gospel choruses into their rock and roll. Usually these moments are wordless, and short, but they’re there, providing nice breaks from all the intensity. Similarly, “The Last Goodbye” is a end-of-the-night closing-time piano torch song–I’m surprised it’s not the final track on the album. But since it is not, it also acts as a break between the roar of the other songs.

After The Dead Weather had my fifth favorite album of 2010, I definitely count myself as one of Mosshart’s biggest fans now. Her partnership with Hince has turned The Kills into a great band, and their electrifying Blood Pressures was one of the highlights of 2011.

The Kills “Pots And Pans”

The Kills “Satellite”

- almostaghost