I was looking for some files on an older hard drive and I found a few of my Record Jumbles from 2005. Sound quality varies, and there is a charming amount of surface noise on these. Since I’ve been doing so many mixes in the last bunch of years all from within my computer, it’s nice to hear some spontenaety and human error. Also, totally weird record selection on most of these. Enjoy!
In late 2006, I sold my Mexican Fender Starburst Jazz Bass to an artist in New York. He didn’t care that I didn’t have an amp for him to test it on, and told me he needed it for an art installation in Lyon about the Who. He neglected to mention that the bass would be destroyed– he must not have known that I’d have given him a discount for that.
Incidentally, the artist, Christoph Draeger, created a series of works about disasters like plane crashes. One of his works features a plane crash that happened in the early 60s about a block from my apartment, where he bought the bass from me.
My sister asked me to provide a soundtrack for my nephew Max’s “robot dance party” 6th birthday party. He’s a Kraftwerk fan, so I used kraftwerkiness as a theme. Some awkward edits to avoid cursing, and a few obvious crowd-pleasers for the adults, but I’ve had fun listening to it for the last few weeks.
I assumed a new identity for this mix: P Tron, a robot from space. That was probably the best part.
I’m told that the party consisted of listening to these jams and disassembling machinery including a broken DVD player and an old busted credit card machine from my mom’s library. And games and robot costumes. Sounds like a good time was had by all… wish I could have joined them.
Goodness knows I’ve worked hard the past 26 years to make a name for myself. And it’s felt great coming to the aid of New Age spa owners, suburban party planners, and young couples looking to save money by making their own wedding invitations.
Kelly and I caught Alasdair MacLean, from shared favorite the Clientele, at Union Hall for a solo show once a couple of years ago. We loved it, but his amazing finger-picking just wasn’t the same on an acoustic guitar and without shimmering reverb and vibrato. Here he plays the title track from the new Clientele album and a few older favorites, solo and electrified. Not to over-re-live XX Merge, but the Clientele were also among the best acts there. An early highlight for sure.
Thanks, Libby, for posting it. I made this mix over the weekend with the aim of documenting some of the songs I’ve woken up with in my head recently. A nice mixed-tempo one for running– lasts about 1:10.
This looks like a pretty amazing installation– Lever House, at 390 Park Ave, was just a few buildings away from where I first worked in NYC (which I came to refer to as “Dark Tower”). I often sat a cross this building and just stared at it over my food-cart lunch. If I were there now, I’d have something to read.
