August 22, 2009

#40. Love You Long Time.



Well, here we are, once again in the middle-end of the summer, where the days just seem to stretch on forever. The muggy heat of our mid-west homestead starts to wear a little thin and dreams of the crisp fall leaves of October start to feel more and more real. Still, I realize it's important to enjoy the drawn out aesthetic the days take on here in the apex of august. But that got me thinking...

Music used to be long. Think Beethoven, Bach, Brahms, and all the other white haired guys beginning with Bs. They didn't value the three and a half minute mark.They probably believed that if you're going to pour your blood, sweat and tears into creating and performing an amazing piece of music, well then it better damn well be around a little while. It better not be fleeting.

To honor all of these thoughts, this months's mix is dedicated to music with a slightly longer time code than the usual pop nugget. These are songs that demand you stick around a little while and slowly absorb what they have to say. In fact I would argue that their length is precisely what the songs are "about". They just wouldn't quite work as effectively if they were cut down in size. They require a little patience, so I encourage you to stick 'em out for their full-lengths. Preferably in the evening, with the windows open and a cold beverage in your hand.

While most songs are clearly not adherent to any kind of pop song structure, I also tried to focus on songs that weren't too abstract and ambient. Those are too easy to make hella long. All these songs, even the more abstract ones, have distinct beginnings, middles and ends (which is a general requirement I carry to consider something a "song"). I also focused on songs somewhere in the vicinity of 8 minutes to 15 minutes long. There is lots of great stuff in the 20 plus category but that just wouldn't work in the NEIMT format.

And yes, you may have noticed that this is NEIMT #40. Wow. We are over the hill. Well fret not my dear readers. We have no intention of calling it quits anytime soon. In fact, we are going to be starting a new set of themes that should give at least the next years worth of mixing a little kick in the pants. Stick around. Tell your friends.

Enjoy.


Download the Mix as a 172 MB Zip File!
Now using sendspace to deliver these massive files. Email me if the file expires.


The tracklist is as follows:

01 Didn't We Deserve a Look at You the Way You Really Are by Shellac / 02 Gamera by Tortoise / 03 SZ2 by Battles / 04 The Ascension by Glenn Branca / 05 The Only Moment We Were Alone by Explosions in the Sky / 06 Mt. Eerie by The Microphones / 07 Angular Momentum by Hovercraft / 08 Reconstruction by Matmos / 09 Svefn G Englar by Sigur Ros / 10 Something Spooked the Horses by Zoviet France / 11 Lower Your Eyelids to Die with the Sun by M83 /

August 8, 2009

#39. Even Less than the Sum of the Parts.



The culling together of all the covers from last months mix was so plentiful that another mix was a foregone conclusion. In fact that hardest part was getting it down to just 20. But alas it is here.

I am aware and apologize for July's mix arriving in early August, but the summer just does that. Too busy travelling, relaxing and whatnot to get the mix out on time. I am determined to NOT let the year be one mix short however. So look for things here at NEIMT headquarters to get caught up in August.

Thanks for listening. Enjoy.

Also check out the original covers mix published in April of 2005. It's a classic set and worth checking out. Go there now!


Download the Mix as a 107 MB Zip File
Now using sendspace to deliver these massive files. Email me if the file expires.


The tracklist is as follows:

01 Tonight You Belong to Me (classic) by Nancy Sinatra / 02 Road to Nowhere (Talking Heads) by Nouvelle Vague / 03 Going Underground (The Jam) by Buffalo Tom / 04 Turning Japanese (The Vapors) by Liz Phair / 05 Hounds of Love (Kate Bush) by Futureheads / 06 Jump Into the Fire (Harry Nilsson) by LCD Soundsystem / 07 Toxic (Spears) by Mark Ronson featuring ODB / 08 I Against I (Bad Brains) by Massive Attack and Mos Def / 09 California Uber Alles (Dead Kennedies) by Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy / 10 Burning Down the House (Talking Heads) by Tom Jones and the Cardigans / 11 Digital Love (Daft Punk) by Alphabeat / 12 Let's Dance (Bowie) by M. Ward / 13 Ripple (Grateful Dead) by Jane's Addiction / 14 Billie Jean (Michael Jackson) by Chris Cornell / 15 I Wish I Was Him (Noise Addict) by Kathleen Hanna / 16 Smells Like Teen Spirit (Nirvana) by Patti Smith / 17 Cactus (Pixies) by David Bowie / 18 Feeling Good (Nina Simone) by The Eels / 19 (Etta James) by Man Man / 20 I Started a Joke (Beegees) by Faith No More /