Three members of Brooklyn’s Animal Collective have compiled free online ‘micromixes’ for Bradford Cox of Deerhunter
Like a freak spring thunderstorm, the month of May stormed the Internet with a deluge of high-quality free content. Truth be told, the onslaught was overwhelming as nearly every day a new gem fell from the sky. Though far too much was released to mention here, Radio Silence will do its best to cover the highlights of May’s downpour.
Buffetlibre DJs — Verbana Selected 3: The Aftershow Party (www.zshare.net/audio/1147054182dbaffd/)
While Buffetlibre DJs’ latest mix isn’t the most cohesive piece of music released in May, it is one of the month’s most interesting works. Instead of offering yet another DJ mix, Buffetlibre change things up by asking some of their non-dance-oriented peers to select the songs then doing their best to make some sense of the choices. The real thrill of the mix lies in listening to the songs and then checking out who selected them. Some of the choices aren’t great stretches, like Of Montreal picking Swedish indie-popper Lykke Li, and The New Pornographers opting for Gary Numan. Others are pretty wild, like Bright Eyes choosing dub and hip hop-influenced act The Bug featuring Killa P & Flow Dan, and indie-rock cheerleaders Go! Team revealing their stoner side with a track from Black Moth Super Rainbow.
Animal Collective — Micromixes
Speaking of indie rockers stepping into the DJ mix game, three members of sonic experimenters Animal Collective recently put together “micromixes” for tour mate Bradford Cox of Deerhunter and Atlas Sound. All three mixes focus on upbeat summer jams and often seem downright antithetical to the kind of music Animal Collective make, though it is hilarious to see Thin Lizzy appear on each member’s mix. Of the three, Geologist (deerhuntertheband.blogspot.com/2008/05/geologists-mojito-micromix.html) whips together the most fun offering, but Avey Tare (deerhuntertheband.blogspot.com/2008/05/avey-tares-micromix.html) and Panda Bear (deerhuntertheband.blogspot.com/2008/06/we-had-some-trouble-with-rain-today.html) have both constructed worthwhile mixes as well.
Wale — The Mixtape About Nothing (www.10deep.com/WALEMIXTAPE/)
If the name wasn’t a big enough giveaway, Washington D.C.’s Wale has an affinity for Seinfeld. Though mixing the neurotic humour of Jerry and company with electro-tinged hip hop might sound like a disaster on paper, it works surprisingly well on The Mixtape About Nothing. Wale playfully folds Seinfeld references into typical rap braggadocio with uproariously funny results — the line “I hate rap like Kramer hates blacks” on “The Chicago Falcon Remix.”
Casxio – Four Songs by Casxio EP (www.casxio.com/)
Getting away from the mixes for a moment, Los Angeles’s Casxio were kind enough to provide listeners with a highly enjoyable EP of their take on Prince-like soul-funk. The EP boils over with relentless energy, shimmering disco guitars and the band’s lovely, multipart vocal harmonies, which will make even the most cynical shoegazer’s body flail about uncontrollably.
A few other picks from the past month: The Filthy Friends (freedownloads.last.fm/download/174832671/Filthy%2BFriends-The%2BMixtape.mp3) mixtape by British composer, MC and multi-instrumentalist Micahu and her band the Shapes, which features the likes of Ghost Poet and The Fields, is highly recommended. So is Dada Life’s June Mix (www.zshare.net/download/123601352495425d), which boasts exclusive Hot Chip and Lykke Li tracks alongside Dada Life’s own songs, and Aeroplane’s Flying Mix (www.zshare.net/audio/10439752fa80e2e2), which slaps laid-back grooves overtop of dancefloor-ready beats. If the coming months live up to May’s quality, it’s going to be a good summer for empty-pocketed music lovers.
