The Hit List

Most of these are available but in lower quality rips.  They've been floating around for a long time. Better than nothing but still...

There's a donation button on the left if interested.  Or, if anyone happens to have better rip rates or even the physical medium available, feel free to share or, if reasonably priced, sell.

Update: down to two at the moment. The previous list has been dwindled down due to generous folks and some substantial investments which may eventually see the light of day here.

Secrets of Zen (Japanese Chillout Vol. 1)  (2006)

Currently available only as a v2 VBR rip.

Last sold on April 24, 2012 - $27.86 average

Worth 9 GB

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Salt Tank - The 4th Way (2000)

Currently unavailable on the web.

No sales history.

Worth 45.08 GB

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Capt. Kowatchi ‎– The Conference Of The Birds (1997)

Been after this one for a while...finally broke down and got it.

Stumbled across his name on several of the Land of Baboon compilations and was always intrigued.

The title was intriguing as well because I went through a long period of interest in Sufism and The Conference of the Birds is a well known book by Farid al-Din Attar (thus the mystical vibe).

Scratched that itch...

Part1//Part2

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Mazh - Till It's Gone (2012)

Special treat for everyone, show some love!

Please place a vote in the poll on the left.  Curious to hear some feedback.

All lyrics written by and vocals (main, background and harmony) performed by...

...my daughter.

With assistance on the keyboards and production from her producer.

Check it (plays well loud).

Raudive ‎– Chamber Music (2010)

Another hidden gem.

Hard to categorize this one.  Techno, definitely, but there's a manipulated "classical" vibe that seems to permeate this one though not in the usual way.

It's quite different than the usual techno fare, well worth some head space.

Here's a snippet of a review from dustedmagazine:

Affection for the many shades of darkness that permeate the minimal end of electronic music is what ultimately unites these songs – and the Raudive aesthetic – on Chamber Music, which turns out to be less a musical idea than a spatial one. Despite plenty of negative space in these songs, the emptiness often feels claustrophobic or insular. Appropriately, this is music that can work well in the vast expanses of a club setting...as well as nestled at home in the comfort of your headphones.

Try

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Robbie Robertson ‎– Contact From The Underworld Of Redboy (1998)

One of my favorite albums as of late.

His Music for Native Americans has long been one of my favorite albums.

This one, however, has lately been coming to the forefront of my shuffle mixes and continues to stand out as a pleasant surprise.

While the Native American focus is still dominant, this one has embraced an electronic/trip hop kind of feel and the lyrics have taken on a heavier, more mystical/mysterious flare interspersed with some political fare as well (the song 'Sacrifice' is about and features a soundbyte from Leonard Peltier).

High recommendation, great for late night drives.

Try

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If I Had A Radio Station...

On a lazy Sunday last week while cutting the grass, running to the grocery and doing other random non-memorable events, the mix on my mp3 for the day was not only perfect for the mood it was, overall, just a great mix.

So, if I had a radio station, it would sound something like this mix...

Enjoy

bvdub - faded truths (1999)

This mix used to be available for free on his website but seems to no longer be found.

Keep in mind this is from 1999 so you might be (pleasantly) surprised...

Enjoy

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P.S. There is no original cover art, this is just a snapshot from my days of urban exploring that seemed fitting...

Holy Other ‎– With U (2011)

I'm doing the shuffle thing and have lately had a good string of tracks that carry a similar mood - nothing earth shattering just a nice consistent groove - and then this one drops in...

I had that moment of "Whoa, who is this?"

Well, this is who it is.

Draws comparison to Balam Acab and Salem but comparisons only get you so close.

High recommendation.

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Trip Hop Anthology Volumes 1 and 2

Trip Hop Anthology (2006)

Thought of these while shuffling...

Classic compilations, essential to anyone's collection.

Aside from the Headz compilations these are probably the best compilations to give to someone unfamiliar with one of the defining music styles (as abused as the genre title is) of the 90s.

Part1//Part2//Part3

Trip Hop Anthology Vol. 2 (2010)

The second compilation which I didn't even know about until not too long ago.

Four discs of tracks will keep you lost in blissful reminisce for days.

Part1//Part2

Wired Day 2009

New vinyl only release featuring Alan Lamb and other "sound" composers just came out.

If you aren't familiar with his work, he is most known for his releases featuring raw recordings of abandoned telephone wires in the Australian outback.

Not what we usually think of as music but it is some of the most compelling and intriguing headphone music I've ever listened to.

Just picked this one up on vinyl (black vinyl...didn't get in on time for the clear versions.).

As a teaser, here's a Mixcloud mix that you might find interesting.  The mix features snippets from this release as well as sample from other Taiga catalogue.

Enjoy!

TAIGA Records (SCV Podcasts 123)

P.S. Go here to learn how to DL this as an mp3.  It's sweet.

Oh, and folks are already buying 'em only to try and sell 'em at an inflated price (sadly, such is the nature of the vinyl market today).

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everythingonmyipod

Stumbled across this on the waybackmachine (now archive.org).

This is when life was less complicated and the whole blogging thing was relatively new and was a lot of fun.  Met some great folks along the way and was immersed in the relatively carefree world of sharing record collections with people from around the world.

It's still fun but things have changed, moved underground and music has proliferated exponentially.  It's an amazing time.

Hard to imagine that I've been at this for just about five years.  While I don't have the time I used to, it's still always fun to share music that has been important to me or presenting treasures discovered while virtual digging.

For a trip back in time, check it out, see if it brings back memories.

everythingonmyipod.blogspot.com

For those who have stuck around, thank you.  Your visits here and comments and contributions are appreciated more than you'll ever realize.

Drop me a comment and reminisce if you've been around for a while!  Would love to hear.

Rrose x Bob Ostertag – Motormouth Variations (2011)

Another gem of an album, akin to the work of Demdike Stare's Miles Whittaker's analogue experiments as Suum Cuique (who has a new album out...vinyl ordered and en route to my mailbox...).

There is a strange appeal to this kind of music, something like immersing yourself into The Matrix and finding that it is quite musical, with the help of humans to extract it out.

Guess it's the perspective that allows me to hear a beat at the gas pump or the washing machine with a lopsided load as it dances across the basement floor.

For the adventuresome...

This is the original release with Bob Ostertag's original source material so you can experience for yourself the manipuluations to create the variations.

Will this change your life?  Probably not.  But it should create a fissure large enough to find beauty in the strangest of places.

Enjoy

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The Third Eye Foundation - Oumupo 1 (2004)

The Dark from Third Eye Foundation (aka Matt Elliott) was one of 2010's best.

This is his mix from the Oumupo series on the Ici D'Ailleurs label out of France.  Other well known artists who mixed for the label include DJ Krush, Kid Loco and Rob Swift.

Here are the rules of the mix:

All tracks mixed, added and transformed by The Third Eye Foundation.

Oumupo stands for: "Ouvroir de Musique Potentielle" and refers to the Oulipo movement in French literature. 

Each release in the series contains a mix composed of selected tracks from the Ici D'ailleurs & 0101 catalogues + a 16 pages comic strips. Both the mix and the comics obey rules detailed in a charter included in each release's booklet, and sometimes other constraints requested by the artists themselves.

Constraint requested by Matt Elliott for this release: Ici D'ailleurs had to choose the titles to be mixed.

There is something strangely compelling about this music, kind of like taking some New Orleans jazz and giving it the William Basinski Disintegration Loops treatment.

Highly recommended.

Try

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60 Minutes of Mo Wax Shit (1997)

Finally!

FLAC

Part1//Part2

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(Thanks)

RIP Adam Yauch (aka MCA)

I saw this this morning at about 2 a.m. after a night of non-sleep. For whatever reason, it almost brought me to tears. Perhaps you've already seen it...

In 1986/1987, as a freshman at university, Licensed To Ill had just dropped and it was on constant rotation in my room for the entire year. 

Went and saw the Beastie Boys on that tour (with Fishbone and Murphy's Law).  All I really remember about the set was the giant phallus in the middle of the stage.  This sheltered suburbanite's worldview was slowly expanding and breaking free from the obligatory classic rock diet.

Hard to believe that 25 years have passed.  The Beastie Boys grew up (just compare the lyrics to "Bodhisattva Vow") and so did we.

Perhaps it was the loss of youth along with the loss - at too early an age - of Adam Yauch, but I was deeply moved.

I know next to nothing about Coldplay but there is just something about this track, especially the audience chiming in with every lyric, that is quite touching. Music is a unifying force.

 

B&N, Coffee and CQE...

I am studying for the Certified Quality Engineer exam.  Yep, geekdom is official.  And I'm cool with that.  At least I am getting paid for it.

Anyhow, studying at a large book retailer (the photo above showed up with a quick B&N search and seemed fitting) with a venti coffee of another famous brand name while utilizing a PDF version of the study material on my tablet manufactured by yet another brand name yielded a pretty nice playlist.

I've noticed that if you throw in The Conet Project to any mix it really adds a nice flavor to it, kind of creating something of a dream universe out of which music flows.

Anyhow, here's the mix (still not sure why info is missing in the snapshot...):

Part1//Part2

deepindub.org - In Dub We Trust (2012)

Finally was able to get off the weekend job but that removes the 24 hour stretch of time over the weekend when I could listen to, explore and share new music.

Stumbled across this one due to a bunch of artists I currently listen to and discovered it was free. Then it went on hiatus.  Now it's back and it's crazy good.

Great website representing some up and coming electronic musicians, many who have seen releases on well known and respected labels (e.g. ZeECc, Silent Season, etc.), that carry the much tagged 'dub' sound.

30 tracks over 3 hours of quality music on this comp.  Plus there are literally hours and hours of free music available as well.

Please, please, please show some support, if able.  Send $1, $5, $10 (you get a bonus if you do).

Do something.  Need to keep sites like this alive.

ENJOY

Mixselekta...

Mixselekta 

 Just passing on another good stumble upon...

I found it via this mix:

C90 Deep Dub Techno Set

Still having a ball on the shuffle.  It's like a whole new world opening up...

It's especially fun when you get the occasional long player (usually the DJ mix which is taking up more and more space on the mp3 player).

Anyhow, browse the site, lots of great sets in almost any genre of music.

As a bonus, HERE is a link to a bunch of sets from Entropy Records head David Ya (aka DJ Maitreya).

Track it down by name on Soundcloud and follow the rabbit down the hole...

ATL to MTY

Atlanta to Monterrey, Mexico...

Second leg of the journey.  Some deep tracks on this one, the kind you wouldn't normally seek out to listening to by choice.

Reminds me of a radio station in town here that used to have a half hour show of "deep cuts" where they would dig in to those tracks (when vinyl was still used) that weren't very mainstream.  Was always refreshing to hear something you had never hear before or get excited when they would play one of your favorite tracks you had discovered that never got airplay.

Includes a nice dub techno bonus mix at the end I listed to while at the Atlanta airport.  

Part1//Part2//Part3//Part4 (it's a 3 hour flight...).

First leg of the journey here.

DMCA on the prowl...

Been browsing the blogosphere and have noticed many, many sites with rants about how their MF account has been suspended and/or files have been removed.

I got a takedown notice today (gambled on a 2011 album...).  The notice is not a request for a takedown.  The takedown happens first, the notice follows.

Hate to say it but they are really sapping the joy out of blogging (and music has gone the way of professional sports...), driving folks (and musicians) further and further underground.

I'm still at it and will continue to pass on what I find but obviously the format has changed.

More experimental, more net label links and more "personalized" compilations in which to discover new music and do your own digging.

The underground is alive and well...

Stay tuned.

The Machine - RedHead (2010)

Been loving the shuffle lately, uncovering all kinds of hidden gems that lie buried beneath the usual fare.

This has a sound that is really difficult to pin down.  Definitely a techno feel with the staccato beat pattern but there is some strange stuff going off in the background that makes this one a treat.

Definitely recommended.

"Opening Ceremony (Fuse)" is essential.

Try

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Slownoise - Dark Matter EP (2012)

Great album of darker dub techno tracks.  And it's free...

Here's a video to get you in the mood.  Couldn't fit the music any better.

Here's a link to the album and a great site to boot.  Take some time to browse around...don't miss out.

Enjoy

PIT to ATL

So I went back to Mexico (for work, not fun) again...

Perfect opportunity to put the mp3 on shuffle and see what happens.

So, with a pair of noise cancelling headphones (cannot recommend these enough for air travel), I did and decided to log it.

Over the course of the trip, found some gems buried on the mp3 that I'd never heard before.  Some old, some new and some songs ripped out of the context of the mixes in which they are so well known.

Usually, I'll put on a long player and try and get lost in a certain ambience but this was kinda fun having the mood altered so frequently and in so many different styles.  Plus it removes the difficulty of choosing what to listen to with 80 GB to choose from...

Been really, really busy so not so focused on the blog as of late but have still been virtual digging.  Lots and lots of good stuff out there.  Hopefully, you'll find something new here.

Anyhow, here's the first leg of the journey:

Enjoy!

Shoot me some comments if you're interested in the entire trip files (separated by legs of the journey).

Part1//Part2

P.S. "Harmonic Mean" is off Tripswitch's Geometry album.  Not sure why this didn't show up...

Dub Techno netlabels...

For those who don't know there are some amazing labels out there that offer up amazing music, much of it for free.  I recommend donating to these labels to keep them afloat or to purchase artist works when available.

Lots and lots of free tracks, mixes, podcasts and a host of other goodies.

These are great sites to discover new music being spun by other artists.

There are many of these sites out there but here is a brief list where I've spent much time lately:

deepindub.org

Fuselab

Cold Fiction Music label

Sound Source Netlabel

pinkpube

Retrospective Zoology

Electric Deluxe

sublimeport.net

Cold Tear

Highest recommendation.  May your journey continue...

Beat Pharmacy - Wikkid Times (2008)

One of the best protest albums of all times.  We can let the 60s rest now, thank you very much.  A killer dub tech album undergirds the whole thing.

Try

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A fantastic array of remixes from a host of some well known and lesser well known names in the dub techno universe, including Intrusion, Quantec, Deadbeat and others.

The "versions" are instrumental reworkings of the underlying tracks. If you aren't convinced this is a dub tech gem, dig in.

Part1//Part2

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