First Post: Blogophilia 8 and 8.5

I just returned from vacation in Wilmington, NC. While there, I had a chance to mix up two new Blogophilia mixes, volumes 8 and 8.5. If you are unfamiliar with the Blogophilia series of mixes, check them out here. Two different mixes are featured this week. Click on the album cover to download the zip file for the mix. These mixes are gapless with cover art.

Blogophilia Volume 8

Volume 8 features new tracks from the Beastie Boys, The Roots, Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions, Yo La Tengo, and Modest Mouse. These tracks are from albums yet to be released. Data Rock’s “True Stories” is a fun song, and if you listen to the lyrics closely, you’ll hear a very subtle tribute. Rain Machine is the solo project of TV On The Radio’s Kyp Malone. If this “Give Blood” is any indication, I am looking forward to hearing the entire album from Rain Machine. Ponytail’s “Beg Waves” must have been a trip to watch from the recording booth. The Very Best tune, “Warm Heart of Africa,” features Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig and it is one of the best songs of the summer. Enjoy volume 8.

Blogophilia Volume 8
Songs posted to blogs from July 15-July 30
Ipod ready, gapless recording with cover art
Encoded at 256k VBR (151 MB)

TRACK LIST
1.Bad Veins – Gold and Warm
2.Datarock – True Stories
3.Rain Machine – Give Blood
4.Bishop Allen – Dimmer
5.Frightened Rabbit – The Modern Leper
6.Modest Mouse – Satellite Skin
7.Rumspringa – Birds of Paradise
8.Ponytail – Beg Waves
9.Friendly Fires – Jump in the Pool
10.The Beastie Boys (feat. Nas) – Too Many Rappers
11.Pomegranates – Everybody Come Outside
12.The Twilight Sad – Reflection of the Television
13.Yo La Tengo – Here to Fall
14.The Roots – How I Got Over It
15.Zaza – Sooner or Later
16.The Octopus Project – Wet Gold
17. Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions – Blanchard
18.The Very Best (feat. Ezra Koenig) – Warm Heart of Africa
19. Thao – Swimming Pools
20.The Dutchess & The Duke – Reservoir Park

Blogophilia Volume 8.5

I labeled this mix 8.5, because the mp3s collected as part of this mix were acquired at the same time as volume 8. This is the first time I have ever compiled two mixes in the same time period. There were lots of great songs, but I also listened to about 400 tracks to get to the 40 collected in v8 and v8.5. I was busy with a lot of perfunctory work these last two weeks (data entry, cleaning, and analysis), and had music playing in the background the whole time, hence the time to do that kind of screening.

Some notes about v8.5: The National recently covered the Polaris tune, “Ashamed of the Story I Told.” A number of blogs posted this track, and a few posted the original Polaris recording from 1999. I liked the original better than the cover, and that’s why it is on v8.5. “Say Please” is a track off the new Monsters of Folk CD. This group features, M. Ward, Jim James, and Conor Oberst. The track is pretty good, but I hope the entire album is better than this release. A new Thom Yorke track is also included. His solo work relies heavily on drum machines and synthed beats. I like “All for the Best,” but hope he features the guitar a bit more on his latest album.

Blogophilia Volume 8.5
Songs posted to blogs from July 15-July 30
Ipod ready, gapless recording with cover art
Encoded at 256k VBR (159 MB)

TRACK LIST
01. Yeasayer – Sunrise
02. Cymbals Eat Guitars – Indiana
03. Modest Mouse – Perpetual Motion Machine
04. Foreign Born – That Old Sun
05. Sonic Youth – Anti-Orgasm
06. Atlas Sound (feat. Noah Lennox) – Walkabout
07. Florence & the Machine – Kiss with a Fist
08. Generationals – Wildlife Sculpture
09. The Entrance Band – Lookout!
10. Lou Barlow – Gravitate
11. Polaris – Ashamed of the Story I Told
12. Fruit Bats – Flamingo
13. Wye Oak – Take It In
14. Thom Yorke – All For the Best
15. Japandroids – Young Hearts Spark Fire
16. Monsters of Folk – Say Please
17. Zee Avi – Bitter Heart
18. Noah and the Whale – My Broken Heart
19. Washed Out – Feel It All Around
20. Dangermouse/Sparklehouse (feat. Wayne Coyne) – Revenge