#36: From Discord Find Harmony

Last March I posted one of my favorite mixes, "Space yes, but not time. No." I encourage you to search the archive for it. It became known in my mind as that year's electro/dancy mix. And maybe it's not totally a coincidence that at about the same time this year, I once again have enough great upbeat tracks to curate another collection that is sure get my head (and yours) bobbin' and shakn'. I guess there must be something especially "spring" about music like this for it to keep coming up at this time every year.

My relationship with any music that could be classified as electro or dance-oriented is, let's just say complicated. I came of age with rock and punk music in my veins and I was a snob about it. Any music that was overly produced, had "too many effects" or had non-organic instrumentation (read keyboards or digitally enhanced beats) was not to be considered for consideration. It's no wonder Fugazi were like gods to me for a long time.

Obviously over time, as I matured and expanded my worldview I came to accept that good music was good music. All instruments are just tools to make something and I would eventually discover that making good music is just as hard on digital instruments as it is traditional organic instruments. It doesn't matter how it's made, just if it's any good. The albums of Meat Beat Manifesto, Mouse on Mars and The Prodigy had a profound effect on this particular evolution of my hearing ability.

All this being said, this is not an electronica or drum and bass mix. While I like a lot of that music, I'll have to save that theme for another time. Moreover this is a mix of great pop music that uses electronic and digital instrumentation to great effect.

As the title suggests, I really sought to bring together diverse sounds and styles and with a considerable focus on songs that found a way to perfectly combine a little noise with its pop and hip-hop sensibilities.

I hope you enjoy.

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Download the Mix as a 126 MB Zip File
Now using sendspace to deliver these massive files. Email me if the file expires.

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The tracklist is as follows: (Follow the links below to ways of supporting the artists)

01 1901, Phoenix 02 God Put a Smile Upon Your Face, Mark Ronson 03 Will Get Fooled Again, Max Tundra 04 Woof Woof, Dan Deacon 05 Dull Life, Yeah Yeah Yeahs 06 Knife, CSS 07 Knickerbocker, Fujiya and Miyagi 08 Get It Up, Santogold vs Diplo 09 What It's All About, Girl Talk 10 Success, DJ Cam 11 Thundermouth, Beans 12 Fender Bender, Kid Koala 13 Clap for the Killers, Street Sweeper 14 Kill All Hippies, Primal Scream 15 Middleclass Stomp, Subtle 16 Pretty Green, Mark Ronson 17 Paris is Burning, Ladyhawke 18 Help, I'm Alive, Metric 19 In The Backyard, Tender Forever 20 Paddling Ghost, Dan Deacon