dj hansel 'n' ghetto on the ones and twos

i thought i had a photo of hans, one man army and me from the hangar 18 show in burlington in 2005, but apparently i was wrong, and someone had to snap the photo. one man army later signed my cd and wrote "damn, you might be the only cat to have seen us twice in vermont"

straight from the horse's mouth / shit is fly from north to south:

1. Ghislain Poirier ft. Face-T – No More Blood (Megasoid Remix) | "Almost seems stodgy after so much 130 bpm, but this one's a (slooooow) banger."

2. Fujiya & Miyagi – Collarbone | "Too bad this tune got corralled by f'ing Miller Lite: its delightful catchiness will now be hummed by millions of drunken rednecks. Oh well." (ed. note: author is from texas/has legit redneck cred.)

3. Diplo – Mary Jane | "Dude's got some serious tricks up his sleeve. For anyone interested in those with skills on the 1's and 2's, he'll be spinning for free in Baltimore along with South Rakkas Crew, Dave Nada, Roberta Flack, and lots of others at the Artscape Festival."

4. Lykke Li – I'm Good I'm Gone (Metronomy Remix) | "Metronomy manages to improve on an already pretty good song. Love the high hat in this one."

5. Wiley – Wearing my Rolex (Burns Remix) | "This is what a remix should sound like. Prototypical bassline, slap and all."

6. Estelle ft. Kanye West – American Boy (LAZRtag Remix) | "These guys LAZRtag from LA don't know how to do a chill remix. I'm glad."

7. Cut Copy – Hearts on Fire (Midnight Juggernauts Remix) | "The Juggernauts always blow me away with how melodic they can make what is probably a 32-track, ridiculously multilayered song sound. Sublime."

8. Simian Mobile Disco – It's the Beat (The Teenagers Remix) | "MASSIVE."

9. The Teenagers – Starlett Johansson (Les Petit Pilous Remix) | "A hipster's wet dream." (ed. note: see here)

10. Kid Cudi – Day 'N' Nite (Crookers Remix) | "Reminds me of why I want to buy a Kaoss pad. I lurve effects."

11. Yelle – A Cause des Garcons (ACDG Remix) | "ACDG manages to make Yelle sound a little harder without blotting out any of the overwhelmingly cute pop bounciness that makes me want to eat her."

12. Suzanne Vega – Tom's Diner (DJ Tittsworth Remix) | "Tom's Diner to a club beat? Need I say more?"

13. Justice – We are your Friends (Scottie B, King Tutt, and Samir Remix) | "It's true…we are."

14. M.I.A. – XR2 | "What does it for me on this one is the simplicity (Diplo probably spent about 20 minutes making this one for her), and that big ol' bass knock."

15. Gaiolo Das Popozudas – O Darcy (Diplo Remix) | "Hit up youtube and search for Gaiolo Das Popozudas. I want to spin in Rio."

16. Ghislain Poirier ft. Face T – Blazin' | "Heard this in Will Eastman's latest mix and it is just straight fire."

17. Kanye West – Flashing Lights (Diplo Remix) | "I loved this remix before I requested it while talking to Diplo at his Baltimore show and then having him play it WHILE I WAS ONSTAGE."

18. Kenna – Loose Wires | "For my money, one of the catchiest songs no one's ever heard of from 2008."

19. Santogold – L.E.S. Artistes (XXXChange Remix) | "Had to finish off this mix of remixes with one last fantastic remix…phew."

download here.

june | throwbacks and flashforwards

update: zip file should be working now!


june | throwbacks and flashforwards

1. al green - lay it down | "the love reverend returns with a ?uestlove produced throwback. don't believe p4k; it's dope"
2. dEUS - hotellounge | "one of two tracks i discovered from adem's new cover album, takes"
3. pinback - loro | "and this would be the other"
4. ulrich schnauss - in all the wrong places | "some nice shoegaze i just stumbled upon; going to see at TT the bears soon"
5. rubies - room without a key (studio version)| "wonderful indie pop remix from past-FMTers studio"
6. small sails - somnabulist | "four tet-ish kind of sampled acoustica vibe"
7. clark - ted (bibio remix) | "part of my collection of favorite tracks that groove without percussion"
8. flying lotus - comet course | "turntable lab promised that flying lotus would become a favorite new producer, and as usual they were right"
9. tycho - pbs | "tycho also happens to be my favorite graphic designer, scott hansen"
10. working for a nuclear free city - apron strings | "a new brit-pop favorite, evoking glitch-hoppers the books"
11. elan mehler quartet - the pale 45's | "a great find from the wonderful gilles peterson worldwide podcast"
12. plants and animals - À l'orée des bois | "more from a classic sounding band from the great white north"
13. adem - bedside table | "a favorite from the adem cover album takes"
14. bob dylan - forever young | "an old camp favorite perfect for the beginning of summer (and yes, i finally saw i'm not there)"
15. the clientele - bookshop casanova | "a catchy chune, as they say across the pond"
16. life without buildings - juno | "by way of mark ronson's video podcast a few months back"
17. les baxter - tropicando | "here's to the big lebowski for reminding me of these old ethereal 50's and 60's lounge classics. i always get this song mixed up with..."
18. henry mancini - lujon | "...this one, which is actually from the big lebowski soundtrack."

download here.

may flowers two|thousand|eight

may flowers mix two|thousand|eight

1. portishead - deep water | "nothing like some uke to kickoff a mix"
2. joe strummer & the mescaleros - johnny appleseed | "a great reminder of why the clash had so much musicality"
3. born ruffians - hummingbird | "catchy catchy catchy, even if i don't get the hummingbird thing"
4. the dodos - fools | "follows nicely because it has the same clicks and clacks"
5. dwight tilley - looking for the magic | "a pretty clear influence on the flaming lips, my morning jacket, and band of horses"
6. my morning jacket - what a wonderful man | "speaking of..."
7. the national - karen | "i love the chorus"
8. benni hemm hemm - skvavars | "this song made an appearance on a recent TAL episode and i forgot how much i loved it"
9. sun kil moon - moorestown | "more new sun kil moon, which i can't get enough of"
10. plants & animals - faerie dance | "thanks to jess for this find. peep the groove at the end of the track. that's the 'dance' part of 'faerie dance'"
11. the moth - jonathan ames "crack up" | "a captivating story with a less than conventional arc"
12. battles - track 9? | "i split up the mix into two halves this month and battles kicks off the glitchy half"
13. cut copy - out there on the ice | "my latest obsession thanks to joe"
14. bjork - wanderlust (ratatat remix) | "ratatat finds a way to keep building on their singular sound without getting repetitive"
15. studio - origin (shake you down by the river) | "i've been digging the descendants of new order lately"
16. boards of canada - oscar see through red eye | "god bless the synthesizer"
17. serge gainsbourg - bonnie and clyde | "i think more DJs and producers should rock serge in their breakbeats"
18. sam prekop - faces and people | "ethereal eletronica that just sounds like what modernism should sound like"
19. working for a nuclear free city - quiet place | "another new favorite on the tail end of the britpop phenomenon"

download here

let me know if you like the new layout.

reunited and it feels so good...

You were patient... you asked me politely, you flirted, you bitched, you whined... And who am I to argue? The people have spoken, and friendlymixtape has returned. I've got a few new projects lined up that you should check out, such as arijoseph.com and ch(ari)smatica, but I know you really came for the music so let's get right to it.

We've got two mixes this month, which is the least I could do given the hiatus.

April One
1. Los Fabulosos Cadillacs - El Matador
2. LCD Soundsystem - Someone Great
3. Sissy Wish - DWTS
4. The Little Ones - Ordinary Song
5. Serge Gainsbourg - L'Anamour
6. Os Mutantes - Mutantes Depois
7. Holy Fuck - Lovely Allen
8. The Zincs - Rich Libertines
9. m83 - Couleurs
10. Pantha du Prince - Saturn Strobe
11. The Mary Janes - I'm Not Ready Yet
12. Geronimo - Just Like Water
13. The Most Serene Republic - Present of Future End
14. The Young Republic - Paper Ships
15. Mark Kozelek - Void
16. Sugar Bear - Spirit

Download here.

April Two

1. The Menahan Street Band - Make the Road by Walking
2. Serge Gainsbourg - Bonnie and Clyde
3. Red House Painters - Wop-a-Din-Din
4. Akron/Family & Angels of Light - We all Will
5. Stephen Malkmus - Pink India
6. Okkervil River - Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe
7. Shugo Tokumaru - Green Rain
8. Life Without Buildings - Let's Get Out
9. Born in the Flood - Anthem
10. Brazos - Mary Jo
11. Chiwoniso - Kurima
12. Low Line Caller - Over-the-Counter Kids
13. Portugal The Man - Sugar Cinnamon
14. The Tontons - Atlas
15. Tree Wave - Sleep
16. Pocketknife - Linus and Lucy (Hark, the Holler Remix)
17. The Virgins - Rich Girls
18. MGMT - Electric Feel

Download here.

Finding out about Los Fabulosos Cadillacs is actually a rather lame story: I happened to buy a copy of Grosse Pointe Blank and never heard the song before. Little did I know, I was super late to that game. LCD Soundsystem produced what was almost objectively the album of the year with Sounds of Silver. Here is my favorite. DWTS is a catchy ditty from Sissy Wish, who come our way via Norway, where Scandinavians now own the catchiest hooks. Speaking of catchy hooks is The Little Ones, who wrote one of the more memorable music-infused love songs of late. Along the theme of artists I came to late, Serge Gainsbourg's back catalog has been surprisingly appealing to my ear. Wasn't quite what I was expecting... Os Mutantes have officially reunited to write a new album, and Depois Mutantes is their very literal song about the band over the last 30 years. Rachael Ray somehow gets indie cred for discovering Holy Fuck before me. Obviously with a name like that, you draw a fair amount of attention, but it turns out the notoriety was warranted. I saw The Zincs open for The Sea and Cake last year, and have been hooked on a surprisingly lush album ever since. M83 has changed directions and gone more dance-y, which is kind of refreshing. Great jam. I was addicted to Saturn Strobe by Pantha du Prince the first few times I heard it. It's a lush track and a great listen even if you find yourself somewhat "house"-averse. The Mary Janes' cover of Tom T. Hall's I'm Not Ready Yet conjures up fantastic images of relaxing at a small dive in a townsomewhere, listening to the house band sing covers all night. Just Like Water is a catchy ditty from Geronimo. Try not to get hooked. I've heard The Most Serene Republic compared to Broken Social Scene a lot, and I think it's appropriate given the beautiful mish-mash of their arrangements. Paper Ships has a bit of a 80's ballade/Hold Steady kind of feel to it, but I happen to enjoy The Young Repulic's take on this kind of genre than others... Sorry if I offended anyone. Those of you who know Mark Kozelek (thanks to Jess for introducing me to his incredible catalog) might notice that I've put a couple of different tracks from different projects on these mixes. See Red House Painters below. The harmonies on Sugar Bear's Spirit reminded me a lot of the TVOTR approach to harmonizing, and for that I enjoy it quite a bit.

Three words define The Menahan Street Band's Make the Road by Walking: "Black superhero music." Thanks to Jay-Z, the Dap crew has had their biggest exposure yet. I thought it would parlay nicely into another nice old-sounding almost-breakbeat on Serge Gainsbourg's Bonnie and Clyde. Red House Painters is Mark Kozelek's old band, and Wop-a-din-din is my new favorite of this project. When I saw Akron/Family live about a month and a half ago, they opened the show with We All Will, and all I remember thinking is how impressed I was with a rock band that was able to use dynamics to maximum effect. It is an amazing track, and my favorite among everything they have done so far. That being said, I can't wait to see where their career goes. I've also gone back to Stephen Malkmus' back catalog after seeing him live at the Pitchfork festival last summer, where I thought he gave the best performance of anyone. Thanks to Chris for convincing me to give Okkervil River a fair shake. I'm not sure how much I dig them across the board, but I love this track. I can't quite remember how I came across Shugo Tokumaru, but I love his creative and resourceful dream pop. You get the sense that he just recorded anything he could find in the studio, and he makes it incredible catchy and coherent. I read about Life Without Buildings in an interview with Mark Ronson, and I've been pretty into it as of late. Dave and I agree that Born in the Flood's Anthem is the great hype up song of late. Note: a lot of these bands I discovered through the SXSW 2008 mix torrent. Mary Jo by Brazos is another catchy ditty along the lines of Geronimo, above. Chiwinoso's Kurima has that afropop feel that I've been craving lately. I have to admit that I don't remember putting Low-Line Caller on here, but eh, what the hell. I'm sure it's good. Same goes for Portugal The Man, The Tontons and Tree Wave, which all came from the SXSW compilation. God bless Pocketknife's Linus and Lucy remix. Who knew Lucy was such a Baltimore booty shaker? Sorry, The Virgins, I've forgotten about you as well, but part of the fun of these mixes is to go back and listen to new stuff I haven't really checked out before. That way, it's new to all of us. Thanks to the CHIRP mixes for turning me onto MGMT. I can't get over that funky ass beat on Electric Feel.

Ok, that's it. WE'RE BACK.

COMING SOON!

a new friendlymixtape for a new you.

give the drummer some!

the oons in poons gives us a playlist this month...

Orba Squara playing games with some really nice vocals and subtle shakers. I love the way the song buildings into a present-yet-not-too-overbearing euphoria, and I could think of no better entrance to my winter disc. I like Spoon a lot. Especially this song. It's creepy and heartfelt and badass all at the same time. Pick up their disc Ga ga ga ga if you haven't yet, before it's on everybody's year-end top 10's and you feel like the poser buying it at Newbury Comics on January 8th, and the cashier gives you the "oh-man-it-took-you-a-post

-christmas-gift-card-redemtion-to-buy-this-sweet-freaking-album" look. Le Loup is a weird-ass band from my former-yet-future home of the pacific northwest. The quirkiness works, especially when the song builds before the instrumental somewhere around a minute in. The latter build really works for me as well. Minus the Bear was an accidental discovery back in the day when I was buried in the WRMC shelves during Terry St. Jean's radio show. Although this song is on a newer album—and it carries traits from some pretty unfortunate late-90's Incubus—there's a soft spot in my heart for glossy production and driving hi-hats and those moments where the guitar and drums synch just right. This year has been marred by eastern European samples (see: Beirut), but to me there's nothing like the real thing, and thus behold the Orkestar Bobaba Marcovica. And while we're speaking of eastern Europe, we move on to a mulletted euro DJ named Shantel. The name of the song is "Disko Partizani. " Accordion? French horn? Need I say more? The only thing that would make this song more Eastern Europe would be a good ol' fashioned Canadian Tuxedo. Boards of Canada doing their best to make me want to drop everything and go snowboarding in the Swiss Alps. This song is so short and yet has such a honey-suckle vibe of which I cannot let go. Nina Simone sticking it to the man… I personally enjoy listening to this song driving through some of the more impoverished parts of my destitute city. "is my mic still on"? Yes, Nina, your mic will always be on. Groove on, baby. Duke Ellington making an appearance with an amazing highly-percussive track (That bass! Those drums!), named after a city I anticipate drinking a cup of coffee on a wrought-iron veranda sometime real soon. Mark Ronson is a remix genius, and I'd be lying if I was to say I wasn't trying to one-up Ari with the Britney Spears cover songs. Hey, if its got ODB, it can't be all that bad, right? Right? Tacoma, Washington's Blitzen Trapper seems to carry enough weight to please the masses, but I just dig 'em because it reminds me of the glory days with The Real playing out at the ranch, or the Mill, or any other "woooooo, college" party on cold VT fall nights. The Octopus Project is a relatively recent discovery, carrying many of the traits I look for in a band, and shirking many of those I tend to ignore. Like the band Mum but with a little low-end thrown in. Haven't heard much about these guys, but I'm looking for a reason to not go out and buy their album. Tell me if you have one. Charlie Parker plays April in Paris off an old Columbia recording he did with a full string section (The oh-so-aptly titled Parker with strings). This song makes me want to shake myself a Manhattan and park in front of a fireplace in Vermont. Oh well, one out of three ain't bad. The song Levees, as with much of Terence Blanchard's A Tale of God's Will: A Requiem for Katrina, is a gorgeous tune on a beautiful album. By far my pick for jazz album of the year. Blanchard, a native of New Orleans, puts the sentiment exactly where it needs to be and puts an appropriate soundtrack to a city still reeling from the floodwaters. Plus, he is a good trumpet player. Ummm, yeah. Woah. Holy Beck. Needed to jump out of my slump, and what better way from the layered napoleonic goodness (like the dessert, not the crazy Frenchman) who just happens to be one of my favorite artists from the last fifteen years. Bold but true. And then there's these guys. Radiohead really surprised me with this album, and this song has been a late-blooming favorite of mine. So stripped, so gorgeous, so very real. One of those that force the eyes to close and the head to shake every-so-slowly. And the outro? Man. A.J. Roach does his best impression of a bagpipe or Irish Tin whistle during the intro, but this song does it for me. Don't know why, but that's just the way the cookie crumbles from time to time. English guitarist / vocalist Scott Matthews really channels Jeff Buckley on this one, and still manages to give me the goosebumps with the similarities between himself and one of the greatest songwriters of the last half-century. And, yes, Guster sneaked (see: sneaked, v. to throw a punch without the victim looking in the aggressor's general direction) onto this mix. Something about this song hit me like a sack of partially-cooked potatoes the first time I heard it at my kitchen table in Seattle, and it resonates with me to this very day. Something about the airiness, the vacancy, the honesty… makes me feel so very small and yet so very inspired.

1. Sky Cloud (Winter Breeze)--Orba Squara
2. Black Like Me--Spoon
3. Outside of this Car, the End of the World--Le Loup
4. Knights--Minus the Bear
5. Hani Rumba--Orkestar Bobaba Marcovica
6. Disko Partizani--Shantel
7. Roygbiv--Boards of Canada
8. Backlash Blues--Nina Simone
9. Montevideo--Duke Ellington & His Orchestra
10. Toxic--Mark Ronson & Nick Catchdubs
11. Wild Mountain Nation--Blitzen Trapper
12. The Adjustor--The Octopus Project
13. April in Paris--Charlie Parker
14. Levees--Terence Blanchard
15. Timbomb--Beck
16. Nude--Radiohead
17. Devil May Dance--A.J. Roach
18. Elusive--Scott Matthews
19. Empire State--Guster


download: http://bazoomercom.com/ari/heady%20winter.zip

o mixto maravilhoso

hey friends,

sorry for the delay on this month's mix. it's been a ridiculously busy month all-around, with work, djing and living life in general. but i've found myself feeling very grounded in revisiting older vinyl in my collection (well, full disclosure, my parents' collection) and decided it was time to make a kickass brazilian vinyl mix.



so, i've been toying with the idea of a hiatus lately. not because i want to stop making mixes, but because i really miss making mixes for my friends individually, and i often give up some of the tracks i would put on a mix for someone in particular in favor of putting them up on here. suffice to say, it would be nice to make mixes for individual people again.

so, if you're interested and you want me to make you a mix, just ask! i'm more than happy to do it. click... here.

ok, here is the tracklist:

1. fafá de belém - filho da bahia
2. amaro de souza e haraldo de oliveira - agua de poço
3. moraes moreira - vida vida
4. trio mocotó - swinga sambaby
5. elza soares - não me diga adeus
6. maria bethânia - a tua presença
7. clara nunes - o mar serenou
8. gal costa - o divino maravilhoso
9. wilson simonal - maquillaje
10. martinho da vila - tribo dos carajas
11. caetano veloso - two-naira fifty kobo
12. elis regina - jardins de infância
13. maria bethânia - mel
14. joão do vale - a voz do povo
15. vinicius e toquinho - separação
16. jorge ben - oba, lá vem ela
17. dorival caymmi - temporal

download? yes please. right here.

i would love to do a track by track run down of my inspiration, but honestly i'm just too tired. i will say that caetano is the whole reason i went down to brazil in the first place, and it opened up a whole universe of other music for me to check out. i hope you guys enjoy it, and seriously, if you want another mix or if you'd like me to make you a mix, let me know.

-a