A Playlist for Stevie’s Postcard Project

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So my little buddy Stevie is embarking a pretty big journey tomorrow and I’m trying to help him calm his nerves. He started this Kickstarter project to build some friends to send postcards to. If thats confusing you can check out his project because he explains it better than me. However, I did make him a playlist for his travels and figured I would share it with you guys!

When I played him the playlist he had a few comments I’ll include here. Enjoy and please do check out his project!

1. Coldplay – Postcards From Far Away

Yeah, thats me sending postcards from far away!

2. Paula & Karol – Goodnight Warsaw

Well not “Goodnight” because I haven’t met Warsaw yet so I’m gonna sing “Hello Warsaw!”

3. Rogue Wave – Postage Stamp World

Yea I think thats my new world…

4. Joywave – London

Its dark and weird but I like it. Did I just describe my future feelings on London?

5. Fake Blood – London

Even darker! Woah!

6. RDGLDGRN – Lootin In London

I’ll certainly try not to… and I’ll give stern looks to any looters I see!

7. Jukebox The Ghost – Postcard

A love song about Postcards! My favorite kind of love song!

8. Friendly Fires – Paris
9. Magic Man – Paris
10. Explosions In The Sky – Postcard From 1952
11. Little Dragon – Paris
12. Kate Nash – Paris

Wow its Paris overload time! I was just dancing!

13. Jens Lekman – A Postcard to Nina

Yeah you gotta explain to Nina’s dad whats going on. Sounds confusing!

14. Is Tropical – Berlin
15. The Young Professionals – Fuck Off Berlin

Strong feelings about Berlin! I wonder if my feelings will be that strong…

16. Peter Bjorn And John – School Of Kraut

Its like German surf music! But I don’t think I will be surfing in Berlin…

17. Beirut – Postcards From Italy

I’m not going to Italy but I appreciate the mention of postcards.

18. Bayside – Phone Call From Poland

They should have called this song “A Postcard from Poland” but maybe that never happened to them. I could fix that!

19. Maximo Park – Postcard Of A Painting

I prefer postcards with pictures of rivers or trees or buildings. Just my personal preference.

20. Europe – The Final Countdown

GAH! The countdown is real and I only have hours to pack! Gotta go! 

[PLAYLIST] The Best REMIXES of 2012 – Part 2 (July-Dec)

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TBE-Best-of-2012-Remixes

 

Man oh man. Could we be in a better world for fun remixes of great songs? Some of the old guard has been slacking in quality lately (RAC, where you at?) but new talent is cropping up in droves. Cyril Hahn practically made his name from that Destiny’s Child remix. Noah Hyde is on the map with amazing work. Manu el Chino nabs his second spot of 2012. Too many great tracks. Get on it for the weekend and check out all the bands and remixers you may have missed through the years. And especially listen to that Years & Years remix. What a genre flip. Mmmm…..

Be sure to catch all the 2012 “BEST OF” lists!

[Artwork by Jacob Youngblood Ziegler]

LETS DO A SUMMER MIXTAPE with [RAC, Adventure Club, Goldroom, Viceroy, DWNTWN, Ghost Beach, Cry Wolf and Lights & Music]

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When I first started the blog feature on Lights & Music last month, this mixtape was the first idea that I put into action.  Wikipedia, in-short describes mixtapes as usually reflecting the musical tastes of its compiler, a conceptual mix of songs linked by a theme or mood tailored to the tape’s intended recipient.  Yeah sure, we’ve all made mixtapes before.  But, what happens when you get a bunch of artists and bloggers to make a mixtape with the intended recipient being you?  Thats what I wanted to find out.  The concept is simple, yet I hadn’t really seen it anywhere else.

Everyone was given two selections.  They could either choose two tracks defining their summer so far in 2012 or one new and one all-time summer favorite.  Sounds simple enough in theory, but narrowing down your favorite jams to fit that criteria was tough.  That said, this was a fun project and I intend on making this a annual event.

Without further ado, please enjoy and share with others. Read more

[PLAYLIST] The Best REMIXES of 2012 – Part 1 (Jan-June)

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So far, this year has been one of the best for remixes, making this list no easy feat. Speaking of feet, you should warm them up because they will moving in a second…

(Artwork pattern drawn by a Lego Turntable robot)

25. Toby Keith – Red Solo Cup (It’s The DJ Kue Remix!) / And suddenly Toby Keith is not only palatable but highly listenable.

24. Y Luv – Never Touch The Ground (Gazzo Remix) / It’s pretty impossible to improve on the original so taking it in a different direction was a wise move. Get pumped!

23. St Lucia – Closer Than This (Viceroy Remix) / How do you make tropical more tropical? Give Read more

[PLAYLIST] The Best SONGS of 2012 – Part 1 (Jan-June)

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Lets not talk about the fact this year is already half over. Thats just insane. About as insane as the quality of jams that have been pumping through TBE HQ’s speakers these past 6 months. Here is the best of the best. Did I miss any? Did you miss any?

(Thanks to Vladimir Bobritskiy for the album art.)

25. My Great Ghost – Plain Sight / A pulsating, haunting, and thoroughly beautiful journey.

24. Purity Ring – Obedear / Slightly creepy. Very ominous. Highly Read more

A Dirty, Filthy, Halloween Mix 10.26.2011

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Hello my pretties.

Whether you’re a music fan or a Dj looking to fill your Halloween mix, you’ve reached that dark place.  This bass-heavy mix oozes with that scary stuff.  The stuff that fills your nightmares in your sleep.  If you fancy getting your wits scarred out of you, then proceed.

Warning: If your face starts melting call a Doctor and no, that girl dressed as a sexy Doctor may serve a purpose, but that ain’t it.

Side note: Thanks to Figure for making this mix easy to fill.

For more jams or by any of these artists use the ‘tags’ links at the bottom of the post!  Follow @JoelAlbers on Twitter for updates on remixes, dubstep and all things Nurdy.

♫ Cazzette – The Shining (Original Halloween Mix)

♫ Figure – The Werewolf (Dubstep Mix)

Read more

[MIX] TBE Presents: The Tropical Assault Summer Mix

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Artwork by Jacob Youngblood Ziegler

If the TBE 2011 Summer Mega-Mix taught us anything its that summer isn’t over until we say it is! This Tropical Assault mix is our final battle against the forces of autumn, seemingly lurking at every turn these past months. We will not down with out a fight and thankfully there are 14 finely tuned weapons at our disposal, poised and ready to be unleashed on any ear feeling the slightest bit of frost. So throw back the curtains, turn up the speakers, bask in that fantastic artwork, and let’s take summer by it’s horns.

Whereas the Mega-Mix flowed through genres like a summer’s day’s variety of cocktails, this mix is a more hardened and focused thing, culling the collective forces of all things tropical. Whether it be steel drums, bongos, sunny synths, or just a splash of sea water, these songs share that certain tropical something that has been infecting my ears so much lately. Summer on! Read more

[MIX] TBE Presents: The 2011 Summer Mega-Mix!

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Cover Art by DARTS

I don’t wanna hear one peep about how “summer is almost over!” or “but it’s not even sunny where I am” or “this mix is late” or “my eyes are melting from that album art.” Summer is a frame of mind and TBE is about to whip yours into shape! Now that you have grown tired of your own summer mix as well as all the ones that other blogs put out months ago, it’s time to get the summer mix to not only end all summer mixes, but to end summer itself! (Except thats not even true because I have a specially themed bonus summer mix for next week! Stay tuned…) The Burning Ear 2011 Summer Mega-Mix has something for everyone and happens in a few different waves so it’s best listened to in order.

So smooth out those short shorts, dust off those cocktail umbrellas, slide those shades up on the nose, and feel the warm breeze between your sandy toes because this mix is about to start with a bang. And did I mention that album art courtesy of DARTS? I can’t even count the number of awesome things going on. There is at least one for each of the 19 jams happening below. Read more