Mixtape of the Week - 6.20.10

Super chill week in mixtape-land. I listened to about 20 albums for WJCU, and the only ones I seemed to enjoy were low key (notice I didn't say lo-fi... some are hi-fi). There was a lot of crap, but a few gems. I was totally right about some of the album covers, and COMPLETELY wrong about others. The biggest surprise was Gayngs, which is unexpectedly eclectic and bizarre and enjoyable.

Click to download on Mediafire.
Mixtape of the Week - 6.20.10

1. The National - Lemonworld
Um, duh. The National are practically my favorite, this song could very well be played on repeat for weeks stranded on a desert island (although I'd be wishing it was a dessert island), and I'm so entranced every time I hear it.
2. Everest - Let Go
Travel back in time ten years, grab Coldplay and David Gray, and bring them to the present day to make polished pop music. This is what you get. It makes me do the whole "Walk Like An Egyptian" head jerk when I hear it.
3. CocoColumbo - Deflated Heart
I cannot say anything about Will Schulz, the mastermind behind CocoColumbo, without being completely biased. This is the first finished song I ever heard by him. Madly anticipating his debut album, as should you.
4. Peter Wolf Crier - Down Down Down
This is the ultimate week for Bon Iver comparisons (in my brain, at least), so let's instead try to explain that this is acoustic folk brimming with more heat and emotion than anything I've heard in months. Possibly my newest obsession. (Sorry Avi Buffalo.)
5. Bon Iver - Flume
'Nuff said.
6. Gayngs - Cry
When I first heard this song, and this album (called Relayted), I nearly freaked. I was all like, "oh my gosh, this is what it would sound like if Bon Iver had more jazzy, reggae, soul music, and hip hop influences!" And lo and behold, it was Justin Vernon! And the dudes from Megafaun! And Solid Gold! I may be overexaggerating with all the exclamation points, but this album is pretty freaking sweet, and I didn't even need to know who the all-star cast was to figure that out.
7. Beach House - Gila
If you read my concert review for BH at the Beachland Ballroom, you can get more insight into why this band stole my heart and ran away with it, never to return again. Thursday night made me realize that "Gila" might just have the best guitar line of all Beach House songs. Scally was killing me.
8. Dan Auerbach - The Prowl
Let's just go with this: this is the ANTHEM TO MY SUMMER. (Except I'm not a man, and I'm not stuck on obsessing over a girl.)
9. The Byrds - Eight Miles High
Thank you to my friend Nick for putting this song on a mix for me, and making me remember that I've always had minor bouts of depression over the fact that I was not a teenager in the 60s. When I put this album on my record player and close my eyes, I can almost pretend I am.
10. Caribou - Melody Day
And thank you, Daniel Snaith, for reminding me of the wonders that modern technology can do for music. At least we got something right in the future.

P.S. Listen to the percussion on the intros to songs 6, 7, and 8. Whoa, did not even mean to do that!