8 Years Of Carnage; The Rebuild Begins...(New Year's Mix)

A (not so) farewell to another Bush, and a HELLO OBAMA!  Happy New Year's, EVERYBODY!!!

8 Years Of Carnage; The Rebuild Begins...Track Listing:

    1.    (0:00:46) Aphex Twin: AVRIL 14TH - It is only natural to start off the New Year with a piece from probably the single most influential artist in the electronica genre.  Richard James, AKA Aphex Twin, has influenced all realms of music and his work is represented everywhere - the mathmetal band Dillinger Escape Plan even covered Come To Daddy with Mike Patton.  What he was able to do with a laptop and electronic equipment changed what we know as jungle, or even plain melodic electronica.  His name comes from a piece of electronic equipment, which he is licensed to use, and TWIN, representing an older brother with the same name who died at birth.  This song is from disc 1 from drukQs.  It has been said that the two discs were made to be played simultaneously, but it is only speculation.
    2.    (0:02:34) Murcof: MIR - An electronica recording artist from Mexico now residing in Barcelona, Spain.  Murcof was a part of the group Nortec Collective before soloing.  He has since recorded/toured with Swiss-born French contemporary jazz trumpeter Erik Truffaz and legendary tablist/electronica artist, Talvin Singh.
    3.    (0:06:00) Biosphere: BIRDS BLY BY FLAPPING THEIR WINGS - Norwegian musician popular in ambient electronic music.  This song is from the Dropsonde album.
    4.    (0:08:21) Four Tet: HANDS - Song from Rounds LP.  Kiernan Hebden from the UK is all over the place.  He first established himself with the band Fridge, then tried the solo gig.  Now, he also does work with jazz improv. drummer and percussionist Steve Reid, which he has performed for Gilles Peterson on one of his live on BBC 1 broadcast albums.
    5.    (0:12:10) Alice Russell (Bonobo Remix): MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WOLF 'TELL THE STORY RIGHT' - I told you I would keep using this girl.  Now out with her third effort, Pots Of Gold, but this gem comes from her remix album, Under The Munka Moon II.  Bonobo certainly knows how to add his element to the mix when bringing out the original music.  He stays a bit conservative here, but hones in on the genius of Miss Russell's original composition.  
    6.    (0:16:11) Bonobo: WAYWARD BOB - From his Dial M For Monkey LP on Ninja Tune.  At 18 he released his debut album, Animal Magic, on the Tru Thoughts label in 2000.  Ninja Tune is well known for their innovators, and with Bonobo, it's no different Tune!  Bonobo, or Simon Green, has revolutionized downtempo electronica music with his melodic music.  
    7.    (0:20:28) Kid Koala & Amon Tobin: UNTITLED - Two heavy hitters from Ninja Tune, again.  Kid Koala a Canadian hip hop producer, who has opened up for the likes of Radiohead and Bjork, while Amon Tobin controls the realm of 'field' music in the techno world, meaning, he now uses a field microphone to record sounds in the world, and puts them through his computers and distortions, and turns it into music.  Kid Koala was also a part of Deltron 3030 with Del The Funky Homosapien as well as the Gorillaz at one point.  
    8.    (0:25:01) Cunninlynguists: LINGUISTIC (INSTRUMENTAL) - Underground Hip Hop group from the south.  This underground group produces some of the highest quality beats I've heard in awhile, and this is from their instrumental release of their highly acclaimed debut Will Rap For Food.  
    9.    (0:27:05) DJ Spooky: BOMB MASSIVE (OPTOMETRY REMIX) - The Art Blakey of DJ/electronica music, DJ Spooky is always looking for a group to conduct behind his Techniques 1200s.  He was born and I believe still lives in Washington, D.C.  One of my all-time favorite drummers, DeAntoni Parks has worked with him on The Anomaly, which is a drum 'n bass tune that shows Spooky's interest in great drummers, such as Dave Lombardo of Slayer as well.  
    10.    (0:32:21) DJ Shadow: STEM - Half of the Stem/Long Stem track from his groundbreaking, ear-trembling, genre-bending debut, Endtroducing...  When this album first came out, I believe I listened to it non-stop for weeks trying to just grasp what Mr. Josh Davis from California was doing.  This album placed him in the Guinness Book Of World Records for First Record Ever Made Entirely Of Samples.  He used to dig in the basement of a 'mom n pop' record store, where he put his health at risk in order to find some of the rarest music recorded to vinyl.  It was said on album he mixed over 3 years ago that his collection is well over 60,000 vinyls!  Truly one of my musical heroes!
    11.    (0:35:42) Savath & Savalas: PATHS IN SOFT FOCUS - Another moniker for Prefuse 73 star Guillermo Scott Herren.  He also goes by Delarosa & Asora , as well as Piano Overlord.
    12.    (0:38:37) Thom Yorke: DRUNKK MACHINE - B-side release from Thom Yorke's Eraser LP.  Mr. Yorke is a personal favorite of mine, and to me, the John Lennon of my generation.  Every release he or Radiohead does is precise and rather perfect, similar to the ways The Beatles and Lennon once did.  Yorke's vocal phrasing and odd-metered sense flows so flawlessly that he can make the dissonance sound more popular than Brittany Spears or U2.  
    13.    (0:42:19) Blackalicious: WORLD OF VIBRATIONS - Legendary LA underground duo - producer Chief Xcel & rapper Gift Of Gab.  This is from their last album, The Craft, which was richly textured and moved beyond the underground scene to appear at #102 on the Billboard 200, which rarely occurs from the underground.  Their most commercially popular album, Blazing Arrow, reached #49.  Even though these guys haven't released anything together since 2005, they're both quite busy collaborating with other artists and Gift of Gab has his own distribution (Giftstribution).
    14.    (0:44:49) Blockhead: FOREST CRUNK - B-side instrumental from his Ninja Tune debut, Music By Cavelight.  Blockhead is also associated with fellow New Yorker, Aesop Rock, and has produced many of his most important work throughout his career.  
    15.    (0:48:47) Nightmares On Wax: FLIP YA LID - From the sweet In A Space Outta Sound LP.  This Warp Records artist, George Evelyn, or DJ EASE, is a UK electronica musician that specializes in chill and downtempo groove.  He has been producing some of the most influential chill music since 1991 when he came out with A Word Of Science: The First And Final Chapter.
    16.    (0:53:13) Culver City Dub Collective: LEI'S SWEET INSPIRATION DUB - California dub, Jamaican, Afro-Cuban, bossa-nova band rippin' it up on their debut Dos (perhaps a misnomer?).  
    17.    (0:56:30) Fat Freddy's Drop & Alice Russell: THE CAMEL - Fat Freddy's Drop is finally coming out with their successor to Based On A True Story, which Gilles Peterson hailed as the 'best band in the world,' after its release in 2005.  This New Zealand dub band is quite unique, quite simple, yet very effective.  On this single, they've teamed up with UK recording queen, Alice Russell, to give us a gem of a combination.  Joe Dukie, the lead singer, often shares the stage with fellow UK recording artists, and has been featured all over radio DJ mixes from Brazil to the UK.  
    18.    (1:05:11) Booka Shade: PLANETARY - Another record off their newest release The Sun & The Neon Light.  This German electronica duo will have you dancing through the roof by their set's end...that is if you are able to see them live, of course.  Saw them perform at the V-fest in Baltimore a couple years back and remember their performance rocking the house...even more so than The Police's reunion set!
    19.    (1:08:37) Gnarls Barkley: RUN (I'M A NATURAL DISASTER) - Cee-Lo Green & DJ Danger Mouse have collaborated again to produce a soulful pop record, producing another quality performance from the southern portion of the States.  The Dungeon Family (Goodie Mob, Outkast, Big Rube, & Freddie Calhoun) are one of the most solid groups ever formed in the history of the hip hop genre, and between Cee-Lo & Andre 3000, they have pretty much captured a good portion of the entire pop genre expanding their music, their styles, and their creativity.  And from Danger Mouse, we expect nothing less than perfection after his massive success with The Grey Album (The Beatles' White Album mashed with Jay-Z's Black Album), The Gorillaz, The Good, The Bad & The Queen, The Black Keys' newest output, the two underground gems, Dangerdoom (Danger Mouse and MF Doom) as well as Danger Mouse & Jemini, and new production on Beck's latest.  
    20.    (1:11:07) Common w/ Pharrell: UNIVERSAL MIND CONTROL - This is the title single off Common's newest release.  It was originally conceived as a 'celebration of summer EP,' entitled Invincible Summer produced by Pharrell, but decided to record the second half of the EP soon after the date had to be pushed back.  As a whole, the album is not nearly as cohesive as Be or Finding Forever, which were produced by fellow Chi-town guru, Kanye West, but there is always progress when an artist decides to change paths (which this is quite a departure from his previous work, similar to Electric Circus).  I have a feeling that Common's next release, due out some time in 2009 or early 2010, will be one of his strongest yet.  
    21.    (1:14:24) Mylo: DROP THE PRESSURE - From the massively popular Destroy Rock & Roll ablum from UK release 2004.  So far, this Scottish electronica musician has yet to produce a successor, probably because he has the sophomore jitters!  How can you blame him, after producing such a popular album as his first?  This man apparently gave up studying for his philosophy Ph.D at UCLA to return back to Scotland in order to make music - I would have to say, it was probably a great idea!  
    22.    (1:18:14) !!! (Chk Chk Chk): BEND OVER BEETHOVEN - American-based WARP Records stars from their Myth Takes album.  If this song doesn't boost your adrenaline levels at least 5% by its climax, then, well, I can't help you...hehehe.  However, if you're a drummer, I would stay far away from this band if I were you.  The first drummer was killed while riding his bike, the second left to pursue other matters, and now, well, they probably are using a session drummer...they've only put out 2 albums, and have used up to 3 or 4 drummers!  
    23.    (1:26:09) Modeselektor w/ Sasaha Perera: SILIKON - One of mine and Thom Yorke's favorite innovators in electronica music today from Berlin.  Yorke is featured on a track from their newest Happy Birthday! LP.  I've featured at least 3 others throughout my mixes, and will continue to include their music, because it works so well with most mixes.
    24.    (1:29:47) Miwon (John Tejada Mix): BROTHER MOLE - After getting hooked to Andrew Weatherall back when I worked in London, I have to say there is no better way for me to personally end a mix that celebrates a new year than jacking a track off Mr. Weatherall's Fabric 19 mix.  I remember dancing to this track in a Bayswater hotel with a fellow mate of mine, and it gets me hyped every time I hear it.  Andrew Weatherall is quite the innovator, and I strongly suggest checking ALL of his eclectic music out, because this man is truly a one of a kind.  Miwon is a German electronica musician specializing in 'all angles of electronica' in order to produce quality melodies.