The newest entry into my seasonal mix series is finally here, and it is a BEAST! I’m super excited to share with you Spring Nights 2013: An epic journey through some of my absolute favorite progressive house, breakbeat, and techno classics from the mid 90′s through today.

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[Sidenote about the download: There are two options- if you download from the embedded Soundcloud widget, you will get the original 320 kbps recorded file at about 300 MB. If you download from the turquoise Mediafire link above, you'll get the same file in v0 (~208 kbps) at a more economical 200 MB. Both are high quality, the 320 might be a bit louder.]

A little over a year ago, I posted my first DJ mix, Spring 2012. I had the idea to create a seasonal mix series where each entry would not only suit the current season, but also reflect how my musical taste goes through cycles along with the calendar year. With Spring Nights 2013, the series comes full circle. I have now put out 8 mixes, two for each season (I did not start the “Nights” counterpart until Summer, so it felt appropriate to finish this cycle with a Nights companion to my first mix). With each subsequent mix, I have tried to push myself by trying out new genres, and finding new and interesting ways of putting tracks together. So it’s fitting that this mix completes the cycle, since it is a culmination of everything I have learned along the way, and in some ways is perhaps the most personal mix I’ve crafted to date.

To be honest, this mix did not come together quite so easily. I had a very clear idea of the specific sound, energy, and vibe that I was aiming to achieve, but after picking out over 400+ tracks, it was difficult to find the perfect combination of 20 or so that fit my vision. I wanted to create a mix that was very high energy, yet still very beautiful and emotionally engaging. The image I had in my head was neon flowers; I wanted something bold and fragile, organic and synthetic, hyperreal and dreamy. But with so many options in front of me, I was getting derailed and stuck easily. That is, until I heard Sasha’s latest mix Involv3r.

Involv3r (which is beyond brilliant, and I highly recommend checking out if you haven’t heard it) ended up being a huge inspiration for my own mix, in several ways. First off, it captures the organic/synthetic balance that I was aiming for, and is certainly a “pretty” sounding mix. But more importantly, it reminded me of all the tracks I loved when I first got into electronic music in the mid 90s, specifically the epic, gorgeous progressive house and techno tracks from artists like BT, Way Out West, Underworld, Orbital, Chemical Brothers, as well as Sasha himself.

It got me thinking about those songs, that for lack of a better term, “change your life.” I thought of all of the albums and songs and mixes that shaped my taste in music during those impressionable teenage years. BT’s Ima and ESCM. Orbital’s Brown Album. Underworld’s “Born Slippy,” (and subsequently their entire discography). Way Out West’s “The Gift.” Dig Your Own Hole. Fat of the Land. Polydistortion. The Northern Exposure mixes. Motherfucking Tranceport.

It started with one track, BT’s “Nectar,” which perfectly encapsulates everything I wanted the mix to be as a whole; a shimmering, pulsating mix of heavily processed vocals, swirling synths, all set to a pounding beat. As I began mixing in more and more of my favorite “classic” tracks, Spring Nights came closer and closer to what I was envisioning. I didn’t want to just put together a mix of old school tracks though, so instead I tried to connect the dots between some of my favorite tracks of yesteryear with some of my favorite newer tracks. I would love to say that all of my old favorites are here, but some of them didn’t make the cut. (Don’t think I didn’t considering making this mix three hours long though.)

There are quite a few sonic signifiers that tie the tracks together: chopped up vocals layered and looped and used as rhythmic elements, melodic synth lines dubbed to infinity and phased in and out of the mix, beautiful ambient chords floating high in the mix, and surprisingly enough there are quite a few tracks with (at least what I think are) heavily processed guitar sounds. Overall I wanted to put together a cohesive mix that captured the beauty and energy of spring time, but one that also told a story, and took the listener on a journey that oscillated between blissful transcendence and pummeling dancefloor euphoria. Despite the obstacles along the way, I could not be happier with how it  has turned out, so I hope you enjoy it!

Spring Nights 2013 Tracklist:

1. Dream Forest Intro  (0:00)
2. Orbital – Halcyon + On + On  (0:10)
3. Ananda Project – Moment Before Dreaming (Sasha Involv3r Remix)  (8:57)
4. Way Out West – We Love Machine (Jaytech Remix)  (14:00)
5. Gossip – Heavy Cross (Fred Falke Remix)  (20:00)
6. Underworld – Peggy Sussed (Pete Heller Vocal Mix) (25:56)
7. Gui Boratto – No Turning Back  (32:21)
8. Blondes – Wine (Sasha Involv3r Remix)  (38:30)
9. Way Out West – Tierra del Fuego (Paul Keeley 4th Movement Mix)  (44:16)
10. Bt ft. Tori Amos – Blue Skies (The Delphinium Days Mix)  (51:08) / Lusine – Make it Easy (John Tejada Remix)  (56:03)
11. Mark Knight & D. Ramirez v. Underworld – Downpipe  (1:01:55)
12. Digitalism – So Totally Good  (1:08:40)
13. The Chemical Brothers – Star Guitar  (1:12:10)
14. Scuba – Feel It  (1:17:43)
15. Sasha – Xpander  (1:21:15)
16. M83 – Couleurs (Sasha Invol2ver Remix)  (1:30:30)
17. Bt – Tripping the Light Fantastic  (1:37:57)
18. The Chemical Brothers – Midnight Madness  (1:42:54)
19. Bt – Nectar  (1:46:25)
20. Way Out West – The Gift  (1:51:29)
21. GusGus – Purple (Sasha vs. The Light Mix)  (1:57:00)
22. Madonna – Ray of Light (Sasha’s Ultra Violet Mix)  (2:02:36)
23. High Contrast ft. Underworld & Tiesto – The First Note is Silent (Tiesto Remix)  (2:05:54)

So now that a calendar year has come full circle, what’s next? Good question! Obviously more mixes. I’m not entirely sure where I’ll go next though. Should I do another spring mix for sake of symmetry? I’m kind of itching to do a disco mix, should I move on to summer? I also have a couple ideas for mixes that wouldn’t fit so well into the seasonal concept too, so we shall see. Stay tuned!

The latest installment in my ongoing seasonal mix series is here: Winter Nights!

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Following the straightforward 4/4 beats of my last two mixes- the house-centric Autumn Nights, and the frosty techno of Winter- I wanted to try something new and a bit different for this mix. I’ve loved Drum & Bass since I was a teenager and have been curious to try my hand at mixing it, and I had a feeling that the more atmospheric side of the genre would be a good fit for a nocturnal themed winter mix. However, I didn’t really want to make an entire mix of nonstop break-beats, so the mix is actually a quite eclectic blend of old-school drum & bass, newer Autonomic-style d&b, and some mellow ambient/IDM tracks.

The inspiration behind this mix came from a variety of places, but the primary image I had in my head was of northern lights; the spectacular light show in the sky that occurs near the poles when charged particles interact with Earth’s upper atmosphere. I tried to translate that image into a musical journey with this mix. The tracks I picked all have a very lush, spectral quality; ambient chords float around in the upper atmosphere, pulsing synthesizers swirl around like falling snow, while crystalline-textured beats skitter across the surface.

As this mix was beginning to come together, I began looking though images of Auroras, and came across this striking photo of a satellite station in Antarctica bathed in the Aurora Australis (aka southern lights). It reminded me of a book I once read called A Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier. In the book, a virus wipes out the majority of humanity. One of the last remaining survivors, isolated at a research camp in Antarctica and unaware of the catastrophe, treks across the ice to call for help from the base. A somewhat similar story line also appears in Cloud Atlas (which is absolutely brilliant btw), in which Tom Hanks leads Halle Berry up a mountain in post-apocalypse Hawaii in order to (spoiler alert!) send a distress signal to the humans off-planet. At this point, the mix took a strange turn and began to take on a vaguely conceptual theme based on this narrative.

I’m currently reading Carl Sagan’s Contact (the inspiration for the 1997 Jodie Foster film, one of my all-time favorites), which also has become a source of inspiration. The book has a lot of technical exposition about radio astronomy and how we would possibly communicate with a distant extraterrestrial civilization. Very few of the tracks that appear on this mix have traditional vocals. However, disembodied voices that sound like distorted radio transmissions are a sonic theme that recurs throughout the mix.

So there it is. Winter Nights: a two-hour ambient / drum & bass mix that serves as the soundtrack for an imaginary film in which the last human on Earth treks across an aurora-drenched Antarctica to send out a distress signal to the aliens… Enjoy!

Winter Nights Mix Tracklist:

1. Bola – Glink  (0:00)
2. ASC – End of the Line  (5:50)
3. Carbon Based Lifeforms – Abiogenesis  (8:45)
4. Speedy J – Jackpot  (13:50)
5. BT – Seven Hundred Thirty Nine  (16:50)
6. Way Out West – Northern Lights  (19:04)
7. ASC – Oneironaut  (26:26)
8. Scuba – Before (After)  (31:00)
9. Consequence – From a Distance  (35:30)
10. Synth Sense – Lost in Time (Synkro Remix)  (41:21)
11. ASC – Datura  (44:44)
12. Blu Mar Ten – Blind Soul (ft. Stray)  (48:30)
13. Röyksopp – Sparks (Roni Size Remix)  (52:13)
14. ASC – Lost for Words  (57:30)
15. Speedy J – Symmetry  (1:03:19)
16. PFM – Danny’s Song  (1:08:38)
17. Drum Island – Glacier  (1:16:36)
18. BT – The Road to Lostwithiel  (1:20:28)
19. Croms – Invisible Cities  (1:28:09)
20. Goldie – Kemistry (Doc Scott Remix)  (1:34:10)
21. ASC – Cassini  (1:38:50)
22. Commix – Audience  (1:43:26)
23. Scuba – In 2  (1:48:11)
24. Orbital – Dŵr Budr  (1:51:58)

Coming up next: Spring Nights!

Happy New Year! With the excitement of the holidays behind us, we are now entering the doldrums of winter, but have no fear… the new Pure Noise Winter Mix is here!

Pure Noise – Winter Mix 2013

(Right-click to download. Additional Mediafire link is below.)

I actually started picking tracks for this mix while working on my autumn mixes (why not kill two birds with one stone, right?) so I had a clear vision in my mind of how I wanted this mix to turn out. But while the idea was formed months ago, this mix really took shape in the last week and a half, and ended up coming together perfectly rather quickly. I spent two weeks in Maine over the holidays, and during that time endured absolutely frigid temperatures, days on end with no sunlight, and two snowstorms that dropped about 18″ of snow over the course of a few days. Winter is far from my favorite season, but waking up in a snowy wonderland definitely served as an inspiring environment for creating this mix.

Musically, I wanted this mix to sound chilly, but not uninviting. Winter is largely a total pain in the ass, but on those mornings when every single branch on every tree is covered with a layer of snow it is also the most beautiful season… so I knew I also wanted the mix to be really “pretty.” The image I kept coming back to was snowflakes; I wanted music that sounded pretty, geometric, crystalline, and frozen.

The tracks that ended up in the mix all share some similar musical tones and textures: crystallized synth arpeggios, frosty drones, and twinkling chimes, all swirling around in chilly ambiance. Despite these similar qualities, the mix is a pretty diverse selection of frosty electronica, icy electro-pop, and quite a bit of Kompakt-style techno tracks.

I hope you enjoy this mix! Mediafire link is below, along with the tracklist. If you’ve missed any of my other seasonal mixes, they are all still available for download here.

Mediafire Link

Winter Mix 2013 Tracklist:

1. Echospace – In Echospace (Intro)
2. Mikkel Metal – Memories
3. Dominik Eulberg – Der Tanz Der Gluehwuermchen
4. Kaito – Open My Window
5. Robyn – We Dance to the Beat
6. Coma – Playground Altona
7. Rone – Parade
8. Legowelt – Elements of Houz Music
9. Triola – Leuchtturm (Wighnomy’s Polarzipper Remix)
10. Röyksopp – Running To The Sea (feat. Susanne Sundfør)
11. Christian Löffler – Ash & Snow
12. John Selway – Shake the Snow (Extended Reuptake Dub)
13. The Rice Twins – The Signifier
14. The MFA – The Difference It Makes (Superpitcher Remix)
15. Robag Wruhme – Wemmel
16. Popnoname – Hello Gorgeous (Terranova Remix)
17. Crystal Castles – Celestica
18. Röyksopp – Only This Moment (Chab Remix)
19. Ada – Lovestoned (Gui Boratto Remix)
20. Sandwell District – Speed + Sound (Endless)
21. Luke Hess – Break Through
22. Scuba – NE1BUTU (SCB Remix)
23. Closer Musik – One, Two, Three (No Gravity) (Ewan Pearson Remix)

Coming up next: Winter Nights!

We’ve already counted down our favorite tracks and remixes of the past year, which means it is now time for the big one: The Top 50 Albums of 2012!

To be honest, 2012 was kind of a strange year for albums. A lot of old favorites returned with new albums this year (with varying degrees of success) and were largely met with a tepid response from around the internet. My three favorite 90′s groups- Smashing Pumpkins, Garbage, and Orbital- all returned from various stages of turmoil/hiatus/retirement to release surprisingly solid albums. I wouldn’t say any of them are the bands’ best work, but they were certainly a fun and rewarding trip back to that era for a diehard fan like myself.

A few of my favorite bands from 00′s returned with new albums, many of them their 4th or 5th full-lengths, also to largely mixed reactions. Hot Chip released In Our Heads, quite possibly (in my opinion) their strongest album to date. Bloc Party’s Four is admittedly a little hit-or-miss, but as a fan of all their albums (not just Silent Alarm) I found much to enjoy. Sigur Ros released a gorgeous, more subdued album with Valtari, and no one seemed to care. Scissor Sisters traded in much of their personality for a more mainstream radio sound, and for the first time the band released an album I really disliked; Magic Hour.

On the flipside, when it came to the hyped-up new artists of the year, I just couldn’t get into many of them. (For the record, I really don’t understand all the fervor surrounding artists like Grimes or Purity Rings, so you won’t be finding them here.)

Instead, you’ll find a pretty eclectic mix of electronic and indie artists; some new, some old. Some are cool, some used to be cool, and some could care less about being cool. Some albums are poppy and accessible, some are psychedelic and weird, some are cold, dark, and obtuse. All of them are pretty great. And if you have Spotify, you can listen to most of them in full below!

Here are my Top 50 Albums of 2012:

50. Lemonade – Diver

49. Memory Tapes – Grace/Confusion

48. BT – If the Stars are Eternal So Are You and I

47. Monolake – Ghosts

46. Black Moth Super Rainbow – Cobra Juicy

45. Daphni – Jaiolong

44. Crystal Castles – III

43. DIIV – Oshun

42. Desolate – Celestial Light Beings

41. Bloc Party – Four

40. School of Seven Bells – Ghostory

39. Wolf + Lamb – Versus

38. Benjamin Damage & Doc Daneeka – They!Live

37. Orbital – Wonky

36. NeferTT - Blue Skies Red Soil EP

35. Grizzly Bear – Shields

34. Actress – R.I.P.

33. Shed – The Killer

32. (TIE) The Smashing Pumpkins –Oceania

Garbage – Not Your Kind of People

31. Four Tet – Pink

30. Tame Impala – Lonerism

29. Fiona Apple – The Idler Wheel…

28. Wild Nothing – Nocturne

27. The 2 Bears – Be Strong

26. The xx – Coexist

25. The Shins –Port of Morrow

24. Passion Pit – Gossamer

23. Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs – Trouble

22. Lindstrom – Smalhans

21. Voices from the Lake – Voices from the Lake

20. Christian Löffler – A Forest

19. Animal Collective – Centipede Hz

18. Jacob Korn – You & Me

17. ASC – Out of Sync

16. Blondes – Blondes

15. Rone – Tohu Bohu

14. Sigur Ros – Valtari

13. Legowelt – The Paranormal Soul

12. Simian Mobile Disco – Unpatterns

11. Todd Terje – It’s the Arps EP

10. Scuba – Personality

9. Flying Lotus – Until the Quiet Comes

8. Andy Stott – Luxury Problems

7. Beach House – Bloom

6. Hot Chip – In Our Heads

5. Hammock – Departure Songs

4. Lone –Galaxy Garden

3. John Talabot – fIN

2. Burial – Kindred EP

1. Chromatics – Kill for Love

50. Jimmy Edgar – Sex Drive (Jon Convex Remix)

49. Mistakes are OK – Koala (BNJMN Remix2)

48. Arcade Fire – Sprawl II (Soulwax Remix)

47. Machinedrum – No Respect (Scuba Remix)

46. Sabre, Stray & Halogenix – Oblique (Synkro Remix)

45. Blondes – Wine (Teengirl Fantasy Remix)

44. Dntel – Jitters (Robag’s Emmens Worsch Mix)

43. DIIV – Follow (Memory Tapes Remix)

42. The Field – It’s Up There (Blondes Remix)

41. Edit Murphy -Brooklyn Nights (Savile Remix)

40. Francis Harris – Pharoah In The Morning (Black Light Smoke Over The Pyramid Mix)

39. Jessie Ware – No to Love (Ewan Pearson’s Permissive Society Remix) / Running (Disclosure Remix)

38. Model 500 – OFI (Synkro’s Slow Jam Mix)

37. Neneh Cherry & The Thing – Cashback (Lindstrøm & Prins Thomas Remix)

36. Shigeto – Field Day (Braille Remix)

35. SBTRKT – Hold On (Sisi Bak Bak RMX)

34. Ripperton – Let’s Hope (Bicep Remix)

33. Midland- Placement (Lone Remix)

32. Mohn – Ebertplatz 2020 (Wolfgang Voigt HardTranceAtlanticXSMix)

31. Sepalcure – The One (Kevin McPhee Remix)

30. Bonobo – Eyesdown (Machinedrum Remix)

29. Apparat – Candil de la Calle (Fennesz Remix)

28. Bloc Party – Octopus (RAC Remix)

27. Crystal Fighters – At Home (Passion Pit Remix)

26. Four Tet – Lion (Jamie xx Remix)

25. Hot Chip – Flutes (Tong & Rogers Remix)

24. Panama– It’s Not Over (Ejeca’s Rave To The Grave Remix)

23. Nathan Fake – Paean (Lone Remix)

22. Lali Puna – Move On (Baths Remix)

21. xxxy – Give In To You (Isotonik Remix)

20. Sugardaddy – How Long (Tensnake Vocal Remix)

19. Bicep & Ejeca – You (Steffi Remix)

18. Joakim – Labyrinth (Lone Remix)

17. Haim – Forever (Lindstrøm & Prins Thomas Remix)

16. Yadi – Guillotine (Scuba’s Darkness & Light Remix)

15. Little Boots – Headphones (Todd Edwards Vocal Remix)

14. New Build – Do You Not Feel Loved (Dominik Eulberg Remix)

13. Walls – Drunken Galleon (John Tejada Mix)

12. Tycho – A Walk (Kolombo Remix)

11. Matthew Dear – Her Fantasy (Tornado Wallace Remix)

10. Machinedrum – U Don’t Survive (Chrissy Murderbot Remix)

9. Dent May – Best Friend (Prins Thomas Diskomiks)

8. Shlohmo – Rained The Whole Time (Nicolas Jaar Remix)

7. Korallreven – Sa Sa Samoa (Elite Gymnastics Remix)

6. Boards of Canada– Untitled (Machinedrum Remix)

5. Josh Wink – Are You There? (Ben Klock Remix)

4. Chromatics – Birds of Paradise (Amtrac Remix)

3. Passion Pit – Take A Walk (The M Machine Remix)

2. M83 –Reunion (The Naked and Famous Remix) / (Tropics Remix)

1. Sailor & I – Tough Love (Aril Brikha Remix)

50. FaltyDL – Straight & Arrow

The first single from FaltyDL’s upcoming 2013 album Hardcourage is all rubbery synths and warped soul samples set against a gently shuffling thump. Mmmm… twitchy.

49. Visitor – Coming Home

This definitely might fall under ‘guilty pleasure,’ but in the absence of any new tunes from Cut Copy or M83 this year, this synth-pop jam hit the spot.

48. Saschienne – Unknown

I love the off-kilter vocals on this slinky, slow-burning minimal jam from Kompakt duo Saschienne.

47. (TIE) Garbage – I Hate Love

This highlight from Not Your Kind of People is a return to form for Garbage, reminiscent of their best singles from the 90s.

The Smashing Pumpkins – Pinwheels

Regardless of how you feel about Billy Corgan and the Pumpkins after the last tumultuous decade, it’s hard to ignore the fact that he can still write some beautiful tunes.

46. Passion Pit – Constant Conversations

Passion Pit dial back the manic energy on this relatively mellow R&B jam, but the disarmingly honest lyrics still pack a punch.

45. Benoit & Sergio – New Ships

Another fantastic woozy dance-pop single from the consistently great duo Benoit & Sergio.

44. Memory Tapes – Sheila

After last year’s largely forgettable Piano Player album, Memory Tapes returned in a big way with ‘Sheila,’ a sprawling, 8-minute, prog-chillwave opus that cycles through more vocal hooks and synth interludes than you can count.

43. Boddika & Joy Orbison – Swims

This taught techno track is Serving It… especially with that vocal sample that sounds like it could be straight outta Paris is Burning.

42. George Fitzgerald – Hindsight

“The Inception Sound” makes a pretty effective cameo throughout this otherwise lightly bouncing house track.

41. NeferTT – Pyramel

‘Pyramel’ builds slowly, adding layers upon layers of beats, synths, and samples, and keeps swelling until the track bursts wide open with vibrant colors and textures, which made it perfect for my Autumn Mix.

40. Marcus Marr – The Music

A funky 9-minute space disco epic.

39. (TIE) Kylie Minogue – Timebomb

Three pop songs were absolutely inescapable this past summer, especially in the gay mecca of Fire Island Pines. I like two of them (Call Me Maybe can DIE). The always fab Kylie Minogue returned this year with ‘Timebomb,’ a definite winner thanks to that infectious “WHOOP!”

Scissor Sisters – Let’s Have a Kiki

The infiltation of “Let’s Have a Kiki” and it’s many catchphrases into the gay vernacular was instantaneous and utterly ubiquitous. The song itself is a super catchy and fun standout from an otherwise bland Scissor Sisters album.

38. New Build – Do You Not Feel Loved?

My favorite track from Hot Chip/LCD side-project mashup New Build.

37. School of Seven Bells – Lafaye

A propulsive and buzzing tune from the ethereal School of Seven Bells.

36. Stars – Hold On When You Get Love and Let Go When You Give It

I still haven’t really gotten into The North, but the lead single with the ridiculously long title showcases Stars’ strength for writing melodramatic synth-pop tunes.

35. Michael Mayer – Good Times (Smartphone Version)

Your smartphone is ruining everyone’s good time on the dancefloor. Please put it away.

34. Tensnake – Mainline

Early 90s Robyn S / Crystal Waters / Club MTV REALNESS.

33. Haim – Forever

The sounds a bit like what might happen if Fleetwood Mac covered Hanson’s ‘MMMBop,’ which as it turns out is pretty great.

32. Blawan – Why They Hide Their Bodies Under My Garage?

Good Question! Absolutely demented track.

31. Joy Orbison – Ellipsis

Joy Orbison’s savvy vocal sampling of an old rave doc is punctuated perfectly by a piano loop that acts as the dot-dot-dot to which the title is referring.

30. Roisin Murphy – Simulation

With its hissing hi-hats and swirling breathy vocals, this 13 minute house jam was a perfect fit on my humid Summer Nights Mix. Hopefully we’ll be hearing a new album from Roisin soon!

29. Young Galaxy – Shoreless Kid

‘Shoreless Kid’ has a slightly darker and more intense vibe than anything that appeared on Young Galaxy’s fantastic 2011 album Shapeshifting, hinting at a potentially very interesting sophomore album.

28. Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek, Reinhold Heil – All Boundaries are Conventions

The Cloud Atlas soundtrack perfectly captured the complex tone of this brilliant film. ‘All Boundaries are Conventions’ contains the main theme, and underscored my favorite sequence in the film.

27. Manual – Glide

Manual gets unfairly dismissed as an artist aping the Boards of Canada sound, but given BoC’s seven year silence, I’m not going to view that as a fault. Especially when he makes tracks this gorgeous.

26. Frank Ocean– Thinking Bout You

I’m not a big fan of hip-hop or R&B, but ‘Thinking Bout You’ is undeniably one of the best songs of the year.

25. Orbital – Never

The lead single from their first album in 8 years, ‘Never’ recaptures everything I loved about Orbital in the 90s- beautiful melodies, layers of spacey synths, and a big, chugging beat.

24. Alunageorge – Your Drums, Your Love

British duo Alunageorge were a big breakout artist of 2012, and for good reason; they sound like the future of pop music.

Rustie – After Light (feat. Alunageorge)

Rustie released this a new version of Glass Swords highlight ‘After Light’ with Alunageorge on vocals. The original doesn’t sound anything like a pop track, but it works amazingly well.

23. Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs – Your Love

TEED was one of my favorite musical discoveries this year, and his tune “Your Love” is one of the most ecstatic dance tracks of the year.

22. Lemonade – Big Changes

…Speaking of big dance tunes, Lemonade’s ‘Big Changes’ is positively huge.

21. Simian Mobile Disco – Seraphim

SMD’s fourth album Unpatterns was a big winner in my book, and lead single ‘Seraphim’ announced a slightly more refined sound for the analog enthusiasts.

20. The 2 Bears – Ghosts & Zombies

Another great track from another great Hot Chip side project, this time from Joe Goddard’s house-loving 2 Bears… this track is just pure fun.

19. Animal Collective – Wide Eyed

‘Wide Eyed’ is the perfect distillation of the ultra-percussive / sensory-overload / transmission-from-the-future aesthetic of Animal Collective’s Centipede Hz album.

18. Lone (ft.Machinedrum) – As a Child

It’s hard to pick a standout from Galaxy Garden, but ‘As a Child’ is a good point of entry if you’re looking to explore Lone’s exquisitely textured neon rainbow rave world.

17. (TIE) Bicep & Ejeca – You

Bicep & Ejeca, together and seperate (as well as remixing one another) made a lot of my favorite house tracks this year. ‘You’ is a great example of taking an old school sound and making it sound new and fresh.

Bicep – $tripper

Bicep got a lot of attention this year channeling early 90s deep house vibes on their track $tripper, which  stays just this side of vulgar with its rather orgasmic sounding vocal punctuation at the end of every measure.

Ejeca – Descend

I love the vocal edits on this track, I just had to include it on my Autumn Nights Mix.

16. Crystal Castles – Child I Will Hurt You

Crystal Castles’ albums can sometimes be a brutal listening experience, and with ‘Child I Will Hurt You’ they prove that even when they go soft, they can be just as devastating.

15. Digitalism – So Totally Good

This track bears more than a passing resemblance to Daft Punk’s ‘Television Rules the Nation,’ but Digitalism wisely pump up the volume on, well, everything… and the result feeeels… sooo… GOOD.

14. The Shins – It’s Only Life

A sweetly melancholy song from the consistently great Shins.

13. Bloc Party – V.A.L.I.S.

Bloc Party may never release another album as perfect as Silent Alarm, but they will always be one of my favorite bands, and it’s because of songs like V.A.L.I.S.

12. Matthew Dear – Her Fantasy

Beams didn’t quite live up to the potential that this lead single promised for me, but I do absolutely love this darkly hypnotic, propulsive track.

11. Jacob Korn w/ Break SL feat. Thabia Xavier – You & Me

This dark, almost industrial sounding house track is lightened quite a bit by Thabia Xavier’s infectiously jazzy vocals and those muthafuckin’ fierce hi-hats.

10. Saint Etienne – Tonight

Pure electro-pop perfection from one of the greats.

9. Scuba – The Hope

Few things were more hotly anticipated (or controversial) this year as Scuba’s third album, the arrival of which was lead by single ‘The Hope,’ a big-beat, trance referencing track with a deadpan “rap” vocal. Love it or hate it, it was certainly a statement.

8. John Talabot – Destiny

A moody, slow-burning standout from John Talabot’s spectacular debut album fIN.

7. Hot Chip – Let Me Be Him

The glorious penultimate track from Hot Chip’s fifth album In Our Heads is definitely one of the best tunes they’ve written, and they have written a lot of really great tunes.

6. Legowelt – Elements of Houz Music

I love the chilly vibe on this track, and the amazing drum programming… I’m thinking this will definitely end up on my upcoming Winter Mix.

5. Beach House – Lazuli

Beach House perfected their lush, dream-pop on fourth album Bloom, and ‘Lazuli’ is an easy highlight with its sparkling synth arpeggios and Victoria Legrand’s gorgeously layered vocals.

4. Todd Terje – Inspector Norse

I don’t think any other dance track this year reaches the deliriously giddy heights of this infectiously bouncy track from Todd Terje. This was the inspiration for my Summer Mix.

3. Burial – Ashtray Wasp

No one comes close to matching Burial’s skills for crafting densely atmospheric and emotionally affecting tracks, and ‘Ashtrap Wasp’ from his Kindred EP is one of the most stunningly beautiful pieces of music he’s created yet.

2. Chromatics – These Streets Will Never Look the Same

It’s tough to pick a stand out from Chromatics’ magnum opus Kill For Love, but this track one of the many, many highlights.

1. Hammock – Tonight We Burn Like Stars That Never Die

I first heard this song right around the time Felix Baumgartner was making his world record breaking skydiving jump from the outer atmosphere, and all I could think was if I was plummeting towards earth from space, I’d want this song to be the soundtrack.

My first Autumn Mix was a big departure from the ones that came before; it was an eclectic mix of tracks with wildly varying tempos that focused on mixing tones and textures as opposed to beat-matching. I wanted to follow up that mix with one that retained a similar vibe, but  followed a more linear path, set to a steady 4/4 pulse. Autumn Nights keeps a lot of the signature “autumnal” sonic elements: colorful swirling psychedelic synths, melancholy ambiance, and glitchy surface textures- but overall is a much more straightforward house mix.

When picking out tracks, one thing I kept in the back of my head was the concept of temperature. I wanted the mix to capture the contrasting temperatures of an autumn evening; the feeling of being bundled up and warm on a chilly night. If my Autumn mix was a walk through the park blazing with fall foliage colors, Autumn Nights is a  cozy night in with a hot toddy (new favorite fall drink, btw!) watching the cold wind blow the bare tree branches outside your window.

While the tracks here definitely all stick to a steady 4/4 beat, I still played around a lot with mixing different tones, textures, and vibes that fit my overall framework. As such, the mix moves around freely between the warmer tones of sultry deep house, and the chillier tones of Kompakt style melodic techno, and glitchy tech-house.

I hope you enjoy the mix as much as I enjoyed making it! Mediafire link is below, along with the tracklist:

Mediafire Link

Tracklist:

1. Space Dimension Controller – The Love Quadrant
2. Boards of Canada– Olson (Midland Re-edit)
3. Thomas Fehlmann – Schwerelos
4. Tycho – A Walk (Kolombo Remix)
5. Four Tet – Love Cry
6. Floating Points – Vacuum Boogie
7. Bicep – Silk
8. Move D – Things Will Come (for Those Who Wait)
9. Ejeca – Descend
10. Hot Chip – How Do You Do? (Todd Terje Remix)
11. Partial Arts – Trauermusik
12. Röyksopp – Beautiful Day Without You (Wighnomy & Robag Whruhme’s Spekkfakkel Remikks)
13. SCSI-9 – Autumn Love
14. Kollektive Turmstrasse – Heimat (Robag’s Turmkolle Rekksmow)
15. Jacob Korn – You & Me
16. Moomin – Untitled
17. Memory Tapes – Bicycle
18. Underworld – Play Pig (Wighnomy & Robag Wruhme Moosmutzel With Melody Remix)
19. SCSI-9 – When She Said Goodbye
20. Burial & Four Tet & Thom Yorke – Ego
21. Roman Flügel – Song With Blue
22. Robag Wruhme – Tulpa Ovi
23. Walls – Drunken Galleon (John Tejada Mix)

Up next: Winter, and most likely Winter Nights!

“Three or four times only in my youth did I glimpse the Joyous Isles, before they were lost to fogs, depressions, cold fronts, ill winds, and contrary tides… I mistook them for adulthood. Assuming they were a fixed feature in my life’s voyage, I neglected to record their latitude, their longitude, their approach. Young ruddy fool. What wouldn’t I give now for a never-changing map of the ever-constant ineffable? To possess, as it were, an atlas of clouds.” -David Mitchell

A few weeks ago, I was extremely lucky to attend the US premiere of Cloud Atlas at the New Yorker Festival, followed by a Q&A with directors Tom Tykwer, and Lana & Andy Wachowski. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the film, and while I know it will take several viewings to completely process it, I can say that I am absolutely in love with this film and believe it is a groundbreaking cinematic achievement unlike any film that has come before.

Fair warning- David Mitchell’s novel has been my absolute favorite book since first reading it in 2005, and I’ve been obsessively anticipating this film since the Wachowskis announced a plan to adapt it, so forgive me if my thoughts on it turn into shameless gushing.  Despite my obvious affection for this story and its characters, I’ll attempt to keep an objective look at the film.

As a fan of the book, I craved a film adaptation, but also believed the story was far too ambitious and huge in scope to be feasibly adapted into film (unless perhaps it was a miniseries with a budget of $300 million). I was definitely not alone in that camp- the book was widely regarded as unfilmable. That alone makes the arrival of this film that much more exciting- not only did the filmmakers attempt this ridiculous feat, they pulled it off with one of the most magnificent, awe-inducing cinematic experiences I have ever seen.  The filmmakers have achieved the impossible and have created a work of art that not only serves as a brilliant adaptation, but also stands on its own as a revolutionary piece of cinema that completely redefines cinematic language and subverts typical storytelling conventions while maintaining to be a hugely entertaining, profound, coherent, accessible, heartfelt, gorgeous, epic spectacle. I walked out of the theater feeling dazed, knowing I had witnessed something new and bold and unique and truly incredible. I know that this film experience will stay with me forever, because frankly, I’ve never experienced seeing anything like this before, I don’t think anyone has. Some comparisons have popped up (2001, The Fountain, Tree of Life, Inception, Magnolia) but I really believe that Cloud Atlas is so huge in scope, so innovative and brilliantly realized in execution,  so profound in its insight into the human condition, and so thoroughly entertaining, that there is no adequate predecessor to use as a yardstick to measure it against.

What’s it About?

In the Q&A, comparisons to Kubrick’s 2001 were brought up repeatedly, especially the idea that the films share a common main character: humanity itself. The sheer scope of this subject makes it nearly impossible to reduce the film’s premise to a simple one-liner, unless you say, “well, it’s about everything.” But in the end that might be the only accurate way to describe it.

Here’s my attempt to describe what this film is about: Cloud Atlas is about humanity on planet Earth as it approaches and subsequently declines from the apex of a technologically advanced civilization. It is a tapestry of six interconnected stories, spanning time periods from the mid 1800s to post-apocalypse (mid-2300s perhaps), that explore the forces that connect us to one another, as well as the forces that shape our civilization. It is about the evolution (and necessity) of storytelling, the constant march forward of technological progress and what keeps us human despite its de-humanizing tendencies. It’s about dissolving conventions: genre conventions, structural conventions, the conventions we create within our species to keep us separate from one another. It’s about power, corruption, domination, slavery, cannibalism (literal and figurative), the powerful few exploiting the weak masses, the damaging effects of rampant consumerism, the ever-increasing divide between social strata, the soullessness of corporate culture; all the forces that are leading our civilization toward its inevitable demise, as well as the destruction of our own planet. But above all else, Cloud Atlas is about the forces that combat this destruction: it’s about love, courage, integrity, compassion, trust, music, revolution, the will of the human spirit to fight for what is good and just, our connection to one another, and most of all, how our actions have an enormous effect on others and our collective fate. These ideas are explored through a kaleidoscope of characters connected to one another as souls that span time and space, changing shape like clouds drifting across the sky. The ideas of karma, reincarnation, and eternal recurrence are major themes, but not necessarily specific plot devices.

“…orgy of shrapnel filled the air, divine harmonies my head. Ah, such music!… Knew I’d become the greatest composer of the century if I could only make this music mine.” -David Mitchell

Structure – A Cinematic Symphony

The common argument is that a film adaptation is never, and could never be as good as the book. And while it’s true that what works on the page does not always translate to screen, the filmmakers wisely met this challenge head-on and did something with Cloud Atlas that is truly extraordinary- they’ve created a very faithful adaptation that radically changes the book’s most defining characteristic: its structure.

With each story numbered sequentially, the novel follows a nesting-doll structure: 1 2 3 4 5 6 5 4 3 2 1. Each story is cut in half, sometimes midsentence, as the novel carries the reader up the ladder of time, and then rejoins each story in reverse order in the back half of the novel. Additionally, each story is contained within the following chronological story, as an artifact of storytelling experienced by the main character: Adam Ewing’s diary from story 1 is read by Frobisher of story 2, whose letters are read by Luisa Rey in story 3, and so on.

Knowing that this rigid structure would not work on screen, the filmmakers created a wholly unique way of telling these six stories, in what I can only describe as a cinematic symphony. It begins with a prelude: a quick montage of each character mid-story, before slowing down into separate movements or solos. These six scene sequences introduce us to each character and their respective time period. Once we’ve gotten a feel for each unique story, the film really takes flight: stories begin to weave in and out of one another. Brief scenes from one story are intercut with single shots from others; one story acts as the melody for a sequence, while the others chime in as harmonies. The actions of one character are mirrored and juxtaposed against actions of other characters in other time periods. The filmmakers use every cinematic element at their disposal to create a constantly moving mosaic: visual cues, sound cues, character actions, dialogue- all of these are used as cutting points- a door opens in one time period, and closes in another. The dramatic tension rises into huge crescendos of action and excitement, with each story echoing off one another, then subsides into moments of transcendent reverie before climaxing again. The effect is absolutely thrilling, and the film has a palpable rhythm. Even when the connections are not always immediately clear, the broader story feels perfectly orchestrated through the incredible editing.

The amazing effect this has on the tone of the film is equally thrilling. With the story bouncing around to vastly different times, characters, and actions, the tone of each scene resonates with the ones next to it creating some spectacularly complex emotional coloring. The directors touched on this aspect in the Q&A, noting that cutting from tone to tone was a daunting task, and that there really are no rules since it’s never been done before. Andy mentioned that when they tried to match tone too closely, specific scenes would lose their effect. The emotional impact of each scene is complemented, amplified , or juxtaposed against the next. This aspect of the film keeps the audience consistently on their toes, never knowing what may be coming next. I remember one particular sequence (I’ll leave out specifics) in which one whimsical scene was immediately followed by something horrifically brutal- the effect was like a punch to the gut- but it in no way felt like a cheap shot; each decision feels made in absolute service of telling the story faithfully and effectively.

“I heard it in a dream. In a nightmarish café, blaring bright lights… underground and no way out. And the waitresses… they all had the same face.” – Vyvyan Ayrs

Dissolving Conventional Boundaries – The film’s greatest strength and possibly its biggest handicap

There’s a particularly brilliant sequence about 2/3rds through the film where Robert Frobisher, in true spirit of the novel’s meta/post-modern/self-awareness, expounds the virtues of dissolving conventional boundaries- certainly a theme that aligns with the directors’ philosophy on art. During the Q&A, Lana spoke extensively about conventions, and how the film industry’s adherence to strict genre conventions have led to a marketplace filled with homogenized product (I’m totally paraphrasing); all thrillers are generally the same, all rom-coms look identical, etc.

Cloud Atlas defies categorization. Its six stories contain specific genre signifiers- romance, thriller, comedy, mystery, sci-fi, action, speculative fiction, period drama- which have been drastically reconfigured into a mind-warping collage of storytelling. As brilliant as this film is, and as much as I love it, I know this is not a film for everyone. Its complex narrative, avant-garde structure, and “new-age-y” themes will definitely be a turn off for some. I sincerely hope that this film finds a huge audience this weekend and that everyone leaves feels as elated, optimistic, and awestruck as I did upon viewing it. Unfortunately though, the film will likely have a challenge reaching a wide audience, and if the mixed reviews are anything to go by, will inspire widely differing reactions.

The unfortunate obstacle this film will face when trying to connect with audiences is that some people like conventions. Or, at least, they prefer conventions to experimentalism. Hollywood is largely a factory churning out paint-by-numbers stories; generic thrillers, horror flicks, rom-coms, remakes- films with ‘built-in audiences’ that typically guarantee a modest return on investment. These films exist because there is a market for them. Cinephiles may bemoan Hollywood’s creative bankruptcy, but  people head out in droves to see the latest superhero remake, while films like The Fountain, Tree of Life, and Cloud Atlas face ridiculous blowback from critics and audiences alike for going boldly against the grain.

I’m not surprised by the mixed reviews and reactions Cloud Atlas has been getting; this film is certainly not for everyone. It pushes boundaries on storytelling techniques and structures. It asks you to come with an open mind, a willingness to experience something that has no previous blueprint, and bring a level of engagement that is not usually asked of mainstream filmgoers. But I honestly think anyone that comes to it with those things will find the film an absolutely thrilling and rewarding experience. And if you don’t, well, have fun at Spiderman 8.

“Souls cross ages like clouds cross skies, an’ tho’ a cloud’s shape nor hue nor size don’t stay the same, it’s still a cloud an’ so is a soul. Who can say where the cloud’s blowed from or who the soul’ll be ‘morrow? Only Sonmi the east an’ the west an’ the compass an’ the atlas, yay, only the atlas o’ clouds.” – Zackry

To Read or not To Read?

Obviously since Cloud Atlas is my favorite novel of all time, I would say yes, definitely read the book- it is one of the most exquisitely written, brilliant, entertaining, and insightful novels you will ever read. I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily imperative that you do so before seeing the film though- my fiancé has not read the book and yet he enjoyed the film immensely, thought it was very coherent, and found it easy to follow each story strand. However, I will say that by not reading it, you will be asked to do some heavy lifting, so to speak.

I’ve read Cloud Atlas twice, most recently a month ago, so I’m very familiar with all of the characters, plot points, story connections, as well as the unique dialogue. That said, even I was surprised at just how fast this film moves, and how very little hand-holding it does. The directors do a fantastic job of easing the audience into it, and getting each story going, as well as keeping each one distinct so that the audience never feels lost or confused as to which story we are watching. On the flip side though- the two futuristic stories (Sonmi-451 and Zack’ry) both have heavily stylized language/dialects. The film is already overwhelming in every sense: new characters, ideas, and mind-blowing visuals come at you literally every minute, so I could imagine it might be difficult for some to follow characters talking about xultation, corpocracy, ‘true-true’, ‘old-un’s smart’, etc. if they had not read the book first.

A Final Bit of Hyperbole

In the future, long after our inevitable fall, when aliens excavate the ruins of human civilization on planet earth… if they could find just one artifact, one work of art to accurately sum up who we were, at this time, on this planet, I hope they find Cloud Atlas.

Days are getting shorter, the leaves are changing, and Starbucks is serving pumpkin lattes, which can only mean one thing: Autumn is upon us… bringing with it two of my favorite things; sweatah weathah (it’s about time!) and my latest seasonal DJ mix!

Pure Noise – Autumn Mix 2012
(Right-click to download. Additional Mediafire link and Tracklisting below)

After the house & disco-dominated Summer mixes (available here and here), this mix will seem like a huge departure in tone and style. That was, after all, the intention behind this seasonal mix series; to capture the vibe of each season and show how my taste in music cycles through countless genres and moods over the course of the year. So rather than creating a linear mix that focuses on four-to-the-floor dance music, my new Autumn mix is more of a counterpart to my Spring mix, in that it is a much more eclectic mix that focuses on capturing the specific imagery and emotional tone of the season. But while Spring was inspired by the exuberance of life bursting forth from flowers and trees, Autumn celebrates the gorgeous colors on display from their exquisite death.

I tried to capture a couple specific images associated with autumn; the psychedelic colors of fall foliage, the crisp chill in the air, and the crunch of dead leaves under feet. I also wanted to encapsulate all the emotions of fall; the wonder and awe inspired by nature’s beauty, the feeling of wistful melancholy brought upon by the shortening days, and the looming dread of winter right around the corner. As such, portions of this mix are easily the darkest and saddest I have put on a mix so far.

The music here spans all kinds of genres; IDM, ambient, downtempo, pastoral electronica, shoegaze, post-rock, post-dubstep, and even a piece from one of my favorite film scores, The Fountain. Despite the diverse genres, I aimed to create a cohesive tapestry of sound, using tracks that share similar sonic qualities: a seamless blend of acoustic and electronic elements, blissfully melancholy ambiance, and glitchy surface textures.

This mix is also the most ‘abstract’ one I’ve created. Given the diversity of tracks here, in terms of genre, tempo, and structure, I quickly discovered that beat-matching would largely be unfeasible (there’s a couple beat-matched transitions, but not many). Instead, I chose to layer the tracks together harmonically, creating transitions out of complimentary tones and textures, in order to take the listener on a kaleidoscopic, emotional journey that (hopefully) follows a kind of narrative logic and pacing.

I hope you enjoy the mix! Mediafire download link below, along with the tracklist:

Mediafire Link

Autumn Mix 2012 Tracklist:

1. Röyksopp – …And the Forest Began to Sing
2. Tycho – Dive (Memoryhouse Remix)
3. Boards of Canada – Satellite Anthem Icarus
4. Bloc Party – So Here We Are (Four Tet Remix)
5. Burial – Stolen Dog
6. Aphex Twin – Rhubarb (1159 Mix by Wisp)
7. Ulrich Schnauss – Shine
8. Animal Collective – Wide Eyed
9. Tropics – Figures
10. Tycho – Daydream
11. Boards of Canada– Oscar See Through Red Eye
12. Sepalcure – The Warning
13. NeferTT – Pyramel
14. Flying Lotus – Until the Colours Come
15. Röyksopp – Electric Counterpoint III (Fast – RYXP’s Milde Salve)
16. Boards of Canada – Chromakey Dreamcoat
17. Hammock – Breathturn
18. Clint Mansell – Stay With Me
19. Helios – Halving the Compass
20. Bibio – Haikuesque (The Gentleman Losers’ Whispers in the Rain Mix)
21. Dominik Eulberg – Taeuschungs-Blume
22. Vondelpark – Camels
23. Apparat – Komponent
24. Lamb – Gorecki
25. The Radio Dept. – I Wanted You to Feel the Same
26. M83 – Reunion (The Naked and Famous Remix)

And finally, before I move on to Winter, I’m toying with the idea of putting together an Autumn Nights mix, for the more house-oriented tracks that fit this vibe… stay tuned!

As Summer finally begins to wind down, it’s time for another installment of my Seasonal Mix series. Here is my latest DJ Mix…. Summer Nights!

The first version of this mix was entirely different from this final version I’ve posted below. My initial idea for Summer Nights was a really uptempo mix of dance-y electro-pop tracks. I worked on it for a few weeks, and included a bunch of really fun pop-anthem type songs (of varying degrees of cheesiness) many of which have soundtracked weekends out on Fire Island. At one point the mix even included a ridiculous remix of “Call Me Maybe,” complete with a “dubsteppy breakdown” (A DUBSTEPPY BREAKDOWN!! I can’t even tell you how much that makes me cringe). I recorded it, and when I took a step back and listened to it… well, I just couldn’t bring myself to put it out into the universe with my name on it.

Not that it isn’t a fun mix… I just didn’t feel like it had much personality; it’s hard to make a collection of pop songs sound anything more than just that. And it certainly isn’t isn’t an accurate representation of my taste is music. Perhaps I’ll play around with it some more and put it out as a cardio mix, who knows.

So, I started over. And I am SO GLAD I DID. Because this mix below is SO MUCH MORE AWESOME.

Inspiration for this mix came from two new tracks I’ve been really into the past few weeks: Tornado Wallace’s remix of Matthew Dear’s track “Her Fantasy” and a recent Bicep track called “Darwin” from their amazing Throne of Blood compilation. I wanted to stick to my favorite summertime genres, disco and house, but make a much darker mix to compliment the sunny daytime disco of my first Summer Mix. I wanted the mix to sound dark, dense, and humid. I wanted it sound like how a sweaty night feels in the dog days of summer. “Swampy” was a word my mind kept returning to while I was picking tracks… hahaha…

So, without further delay… here is Summer Nights: A dark, humid, swampy mix of dark disco, dub techno, banging house, and swirling sparkling psychedelic jams.  Enjoy!

Pure Noise – Summer Nights Mix 2012

Tracklist:

1. Pablo Bolivar – Escape from Galaxy Five
2. Róisín Murphy – Simulation
3. Yacht – Dystopia (The Earth is on Fire) (Whatever/Whatever Remix)
4. Bicep – Darwin
5. Simian Mobile Disco – A Species Out of Control
6. Permanent Vacation – Zucker Hut (John Talabot Remix)
7. Matthew Dear – Her Fantasy (Tornado Wallace Remix)
8. Blondes – Wine
9. Lindstrøm – Rà-àkõ-st (Todd Terje Extended Edit)
10. Lauer – Delta NRG
11. Cosmic Kids – Reginald’s Groove
12. Good Guy Mikesh & Filburt – Freddy
13. Pional – Where Eagles Dare
14. Lone – Ultramarine
15. Digitalism – Silenz
16. Locked Groove – Rooted
17. The Field – It’s Up There (Blondes Remix)
18. New Build – Do You Not Feel Loved (Dominik Eulberg Remix)
19. Black Van – Moments of Excellence