I spent most of this year working at Wax Poetics, where I got introduced to a lot of these 2009 releases through promos sent to the magazine for review. The synths were big again this year, and merited a few repeat artists from ’08, notably Stones Throw’s Dam Funk and James Pants. While certainly I seek out electronic music as part of a well-balanced breakfast, this mix came out extra fortified, with programmed drums and sine-wave arpeggios melted into the nooks and crannies of other genres I was listening to. It was all put to good use in afrobeat (Chico Mann), dub (Major Lazer), grown-man-Steely-Dan-mellow (9dw), library kitch (Douglas Wood), breezy tropicalia (Antena), and sex jams (Chin Chin). The older and reissued material lends some context via a smattering of house (Lil Louis) and unreleased bedroom tapes from a maestro of Hi-NRG (Cowley). Hope you like.

listen online
download

# Artist – Song (Year Label)

1. Harald Grosskopf – So Weit So Gut (1980 Sky)
2. Patrick Cowley & Jorge Socarras – Memory Fails Me (2009 Macro)*
3. Nite Jewel – What Did He Say (2009 Gloriette)
4. James Pants – Sky Warning (2009 Stones Throw)
5. Junior Boys – Work (2009 Domino)
6. Hercules and Love Affair – You Belong (2008 DFA)
7. Lil Louis & The World – I Called U (1989 Epic)
8. Chico Mann – Go to that Place (2009 Furious Panther)
9. Subway – Jupiter (2009 Soul Jazz)
10. Major Lazer – Pon de Floor feat. Vybz Kartel (2009 Downtown)
11. Lykke Li – Complaint Department (2008 EMI)
12. Dam Funk – Searchin’ 4 Funk’s Future (2009 Stones Throw)
13. x
14. 9dw – Synthetic Avenues (2008 Catune)
15. Brian Bennett – Spiv (2009 Wax Poetics)*
16. Chin Chin – GG and The Boys (2009 Def Jux)
17. Antena – Bye Bye Papaye (2004 Numero)*
18. Douglas Wood – Moon Nightclub (2009 Trunk)*
(*reissues. original release dates may vary.)

Here in the future, the combination of promotional platforms like Myspace and the ubiquity of mp3s (and their $0 production cost) hardly give geographically local music scenes a chance to marinate into something distinct. Pre-internet, you had bounce in NOLA, go go in DC, and Detroit techno, but with the aid of digital distribution, noise bands in Providence sound like noise bands in Baltimore, and nationally, all music eventually distills into Lady Gaga. The geographic distinctions are melting, and while I’m not necessarily advocating for a locavore movement for music, it has had me searching for a new outlet for amateur, self-released, DIY sounds.
Luckily those same self publishing tools have allowed millions of other people (musicians and otherwise) to record themselves doing any number of things and upload it to YouTube, aka the Dollar Bins of the 21st Century. This year I tried to get omnivorous, and realized that for me, “digging” for YouTube videos is just as legit as LPs. Why prioritize one format over another? I get just as much satisfaction coming across some amazing vid with under 500 views as I do finding some bizzaro local LP (and now CDs and tapes too!) in a thrift store. And I want to play it for people.
This is my first attempt at a YouTube-sourced mix – a proof of concept. Putting together an audio mix from video material was a good exercise in keeping my ears open to good sounds in unexpected places, and I think the result has a sometimes radio-drama effect, mixing music, narration, and field recordings into a cohesive whole. I have more favorites where these came from, so expect something bigger down the line.

bennett4senate youtube finds mix

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

1. dog malfunction
2. Miami HEAT Fan Conduct Announcement Slow Jammed
3. Computer Teacher Beatdown
4. Spanish Rap Project
5. mathematics (independent) – math rap
6. The Slope Formula Snoop Dogg Style “Math Rap”
7. I show how to make trance in Fl studio (by Sonix 1241) #4
8. beamz Music Performance System
9. american girl music video – The Best Burrito I’ve ever had – parry gripp
10. Avatar Makeup tutorial
11. Epic Slow Clap and double OT victory
12. Pancho the singing parrot
13. Brookline is My Lady pt. 1
14. manualist plays young holt unlimited – soulful strut – on his hands!

2009 Shoutouts:
Lets Get Serious, my other blog, and home of Mike McGill and Tackleberry of A Downtown Affair.
DJ Ghostdad (& the Fully Fitted family) who had Sober1, my main homey Josh Dunn, and myself on Mofo Radio this fall for a really fun show.
Trent, for having me as a guest on the special 45s and 40z edition of Sound and Safe.
WFMU in general, and what.cd for their dedication to quality!

I spent most of this year working at Wax Poetics, where I got introduced to a lot of these 2009 releases through promos sent to the magazine for review. The synths were big again this year, and merited a few repeat artists from '08, notably Stones Throw's Dam Funk and James Pants. While certainly I seek out electronic music as part of a well-balanced breakfast, this mix came out extra fortified, with programmed drums and sine-wave arpeggios melted into the nooks and crannies of other genres I was listening to. It was all put to good use in afrobeat (Chico Mann), dub (Major Lazer), grown-man-Steely-Dan-mellow (9dw), library kitch (Douglas Wood), breezy tropicalia (Antena), and sex jams (Chin Chin). The older and reissued material lends some context via a smattering of house (Lil Louis) and unreleased bedroom tapes from a maestro of Hi-NRG (Cowley). Hope you like. listen online download # Artist - Song (Year Label) 1. Harald Grosskopf - So Weit So Gut (1980 Sky) 2. Patrick Cowley & Jorge Socarras - Memory Fails Me (2009 Macro)* 3. Nite Jewel - What Did He Say (2009 Gloriette) 4. James Pants - Sky Warning (2009 Stones Throw) 5. Junior Boys - Work (2009 Domino) 6. Hercules and Love Affair - You Belong (2008 DFA) 7. Lil Louis & The World - I Called U (1989 Epic) 8. Chico Mann - Go to that Place (2009 Furious Panther) 9. Subway - Jupiter (2009 Soul Jazz) 10. Major Lazer - Pon de Floor feat. Vybz Kartel (2009 Downtown) 11. Lykke Li - Complaint Department (2008 EMI) 12. Dam Funk - Searchin' 4 Funk's Future (2009 Stones Throw) 13. x 14. 9dw - Synthetic Avenues (2008 Catune) 15. Brian Bennett - Spiv (2009 Wax Poetics)* 16. Chin Chin - GG and The Boys (2009 Def Jux) 17. Antena - Bye Bye Papaye (2004 Numero)* 18. Douglas Wood - Moon Nightclub (2009 Trunk)* (*reissues. original release dates may vary.) Here in the future, the combination of promotional platforms like Myspace and the ubiquity of mp3s (and their $0 production cost) hardly give geographically local music scenes a chance to marinate into something distinct. Pre-internet, you had bounce in NOLA, go go in DC, and Detroit techno, but with the aid of digital distribution, noise bands in Providence sound like noise bands in Baltimore, and nationally, all music eventually distills into Lady Gaga. The geographic distinctions are melting, and while I'm not necessarily advocating for a locavore movement for music, it has had me searching for a new outlet for amateur, self-released, DIY sounds. Luckily those same self publishing tools have allowed millions of other people (musicians and otherwise) to record themselves doing any number of things and upload it to YouTube, aka the Dollar Bins of the 21st Century. This year I tried to get omnivorous, and realized that for me, "digging" for YouTube videos is just as legit as LPs. Why prioritize one format over another? I get just as much satisfaction coming across some amazing vid with under 500 views as I do finding some bizzaro local LP (and now CDs and tapes too!) in a thrift store. And I want to play it for people. This is my first attempt at a YouTube-sourced mix - a proof of concept. Putting together an audio mix from video material was a good exercise in keeping my ears open to good sounds in unexpected places, and I think the result has a sometimes radio-drama effect, mixing music, narration, and field recordings into a cohesive whole. I have more favorites where these came from, so expect something bigger down the line. bennett4senate youtube finds mix [audio:http://fffff.at/2009mixes/b4s_youtube2009.mp3] download 1. dog malfunction 2. Miami HEAT Fan Conduct Announcement Slow Jammed 3. Computer Teacher Beatdown 4. Spanish Rap Project 5. mathematics (independent) - math rap 6. The Slope Formula Snoop Dogg Style "Math Rap" 7. I show how to make trance in Fl studio (by Sonix 1241) #4 8. beamz Music Performance System 9. american girl music video - The Best Burrito I've ever had - parry gripp 10. Avatar Makeup tutorial 11. Epic Slow Clap and double OT victory 12. Pancho the singing parrot 13. Brookline is My Lady pt. 1 14. manualist plays young holt unlimited - soulful strut - on his hands! 2009 Shoutouts: Lets Get Serious, my other blog, and home of Mike McGill and Tackleberry of A Downtown Affair. DJ Ghostdad (& the Fully Fitted family) who had Sober1, my main homey Josh Dunn, and myself on Mofo Radio this fall for a really fun show. Trent, for having me as a guest on the special 45s and 40z edition of Sound and Safe. WFMU in general, and what.cd for their dedication to quality!

KANCEPT:Geraldine Juárez and Oliver Farshi KODE: Oliver Farshi

MINIMAL BLING IS AN ALBUM CREATED BY DESTROYING OUR FAVORITE KANYE TRACKS, USING Iredux -A SOFTWARE DEVELOPED BY OLIVER FARSHI.

DOWNLOAD MINIMAL BLING
.zip 22.4MB
DOWNLOAD TORRENT FROM *S0M4L14

THE iRedux SOFTWARE DESTROYS ANY MUSIC FILE, STRIPS IT OF COPYRIGHT AND GENERATES A PIECE OF ORIGINAL AMBIENT MUSIC THAT YOU REALLY OWN. WITH THE PREVIOUS COPYRIGHT WIPED, THE NEW FILE IS LIBERATED FOR YOU TO USE, REMIX AND SHARE.

Iredux IS IN THE FINAL STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT. THE APPLICATION AND SOURCE CODE, WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR YOU TO START DESTROYING COPYRIGHT AND CREATING ORIGINAL CONTENT, VERY SOON.

destroy|redux|create

KANCEPT:Geraldine Juárez and Oliver Farshi KODE: Oliver Farshi MINIMAL BLING IS AN ALBUM CREATED BY DESTROYING OUR FAVORITE KANYE TRACKS, USING Iredux -A SOFTWARE DEVELOPED BY OLIVER FARSHI. DOWNLOAD MINIMAL BLING .zip 22.4MB DOWNLOAD TORRENT FROM *S0M4L14 THE iRedux SOFTWARE DESTROYS ANY MUSIC FILE, STRIPS IT OF COPYRIGHT AND GENERATES A PIECE OF ORIGINAL AMBIENT MUSIC THAT YOU REALLY OWN. WITH THE PREVIOUS COPYRIGHT WIPED, THE NEW FILE IS LIBERATED FOR YOU TO USE, REMIX AND SHARE. Iredux IS IN THE FINAL STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT. THE APPLICATION AND SOURCE CODE, WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR YOU TO START DESTROYING COPYRIGHT AND CREATING ORIGINAL CONTENT, VERY SOON. destroy|redux|create

Get it while it’s hot: Frumix 2008 (don’t shuffle, there’s an ordering here).

I’ve been working on this one for a while. Not because it’s so great, but because with my own convention of only including music that is new to me since the previous mix, it can be hard to get to a full 10 or 15 songs.

Don’t hate cuz Snoop snuck on or cuz KRS is even preachier in his old age; the Kanye track you’ve never heard before absurd Ghotsface flow-fest make it worth dropping before the year is out. Props to Evan and Bennet for the Knife and J. Valentine tracks that I never would have heard otherwise.

If that’s not enough, there’s also a new personal best of Redman mix (again, no shuffling).

If you’re a fan of FunkDoc then there’s not much new there. Otherwise, you’ve been sleeping, so wake up!

PS if you don’t already have them, grab Frumix 2003, 2004, and 2006 while you’re at it.

PPS Credit where it’s due: among the extremely useful and free software packages I used to make these mixes are: Audacity, MP3Tag, and Winamp.

PPPS UPDATE: Audacity/LAME actually wrote out the MP3 frame headers and length tag to be all messed up, so the first version of the new Frumix 2008 would have given you issues in most MP3 players. That’s been all fixed now using a fix I found on the web.

Get it while it's hot: Frumix 2008 (don't shuffle, there's an ordering here). I've been working on this one for a while. Not because it's so great, but because with my own convention of only including music that is new to me since the previous mix, it can be hard to get to a full 10 or 15 songs. Don't hate cuz Snoop snuck on or cuz KRS is even preachier in his old age; the Kanye track you've never heard before absurd Ghotsface flow-fest make it worth dropping before the year is out. Props to Evan and Bennet for the Knife and J. Valentine tracks that I never would have heard otherwise. If that's not enough, there's also a new personal best of Redman mix (again, no shuffling). If you're a fan of FunkDoc then there's not much new there. Otherwise, you've been sleeping, so wake up! PS if you don't already have them, grab Frumix 2003, 2004, and 2006 while you're at it. PPS Credit where it's due: among the extremely useful and free software packages I used to make these mixes are: Audacity, MP3Tag, and Winamp. PPPS UPDATE: Audacity/LAME actually wrote out the MP3 frame headers and length tag to be all messed up, so the first version of the new Frumix 2008 would have given you issues in most MP3 players. That's been all fixed now using a fix I found on the web.

Here at fffff.at we don’t celebrate X-Mas…. we celebrate X-Mix. This is the time of year for archiving your favorite songs and giving them away for free. Feel free to join in by leaving links to your mixes in the comments. It doesn’t have to be music released in 2008, just stuff you’ve been into this year.

Merry X-Mix Internet! Download your present here:
x-mix-2008.zip

***UPDATE***
Opentape version here:
http://evan-roth.com/xmix2008/opentape/

For this year’s musical selection I have Theo and Bennett to thank for the grime and Three 6 Mafia, and RFH for sending me off to Hong Kong with an HD full of good stuff.

Here at fffff.at we don't celebrate X-Mas.... we celebrate X-Mix. This is the time of year for archiving your favorite songs and giving them away for free. Feel free to join in by leaving links to your mixes in the comments. It doesn't have to be music released in 2008, just stuff you've been into this year. Merry X-Mix Internet! Download your present here: x-mix-2008.zip ***UPDATE*** Opentape version here: http://evan-roth.com/xmix2008/opentape/ For this year's musical selection I have Theo and Bennett to thank for the grime and Three 6 Mafia, and RFH for sending me off to Hong Kong with an HD full of good stuff.

Shi Tao is serving a 10-year sentence in prison for writing articles calling for political reform in China. Yahoo helped put him there.

FuckFlickr is open-source image gallery software that won’t narc you out. We created it as an alternative to hosting your photos on a certain Yahoo-owned photo sharing site.

Download FuckFlickr 2.0 (PHP, 268kb .zip)

Check out our install at fffff.at/fuckflickr. For the full feature list, installation instructions and development info click here.

A big shoutout to Greg Leuch for serious code contributions to 2.0 — big plans for the future, too, like video support and Hydra-style federation. Oh, and version 2.0 has support for themes — drop yours in the comments.

FREE SHI TAO (VIDEO)

Shi Tao is serving a 10-year sentence in prison for writing articles calling for political reform in China. Yahoo helped put him there. FuckFlickr is open-source image gallery software that won't narc you out. We created it as an alternative to hosting your photos on a certain Yahoo-owned photo sharing site. Download FuckFlickr 2.0 (PHP, 268kb .zip) Check out our install at fffff.at/fuckflickr. For the full feature list, installation instructions and development info click here. A big shoutout to Greg Leuch for serious code contributions to 2.0 -- big plans for the future, too, like video support and Hydra-style federation. Oh, and version 2.0 has support for themes -- drop yours in the comments. FREE SHI TAO (VIDEO)

Did You Know?: The default Mac OS X (I’m on version 10.4.11) screensaver picture slideshow function can read an alpha channel in a .gif file. That is to say, as the slideshow plays your images, a .gif with an alpha channel will appear to be “on top” of the previous image, and as the slideshow goes on, the .gifs will continue to “layer” on until an image of a different format is displayed, which has a default white or black background.


So what?

Take advantage of the randomizing function to create some home-made screensaver machinima art!



The animation above is a sample implementation: The NEW Office Party Screensaver from FATLAB.

In the spirit of Men of the Internet, this screensaver is a series of carefully-sliced 800×600 .gifs, sourced from the faces of the hardest working local board members, regional vice presidents, administrative assistants, and other fruitful regular-dude-generating search terms on the internet. The .gifs layer over one another to hybridize these generic gentlemen into a randomly-generated ultimate budget-balancing force of suits. Its dudes! (<-- math joke)



Click here to download a small .zip file of the .gifs. Point your screensaver to it and set your preferences like this:



And you’re all set! Never not working, brought to you by the FATLAB.

Did You Know?: The default Mac OS X (I'm on version 10.4.11) screensaver picture slideshow function can read an alpha channel in a .gif file. That is to say, as the slideshow plays your images, a .gif with an alpha channel will appear to be "on top" of the previous image, and as the slideshow goes on, the .gifs will continue to "layer" on until an image of a different format is displayed, which has a default white or black background. So what? Take advantage of the randomizing function to create some home-made screensaver machinima art! The animation above is a sample implementation: The NEW Office Party Screensaver from FATLAB. In the spirit of Men of the Internet, this screensaver is a series of carefully-sliced 800x600 .gifs, sourced from the faces of the hardest working local board members, regional vice presidents, administrative assistants, and other fruitful regular-dude-generating search terms on the internet. The .gifs layer over one another to hybridize these generic gentlemen into a randomly-generated ultimate budget-balancing force of suits. Its dudes! (

Top 10 Rap Songs White People Love is a list compiled by brian. I created a .zip file of the complete mix album for your listening pleasure / torture available for download here:

http://fffff.at/audio/top10_rap_4_white_people.zip

The only song I would add to the list is Outkast, Hey Ya. I’ve long had a theory that Andre 3000 has actually traveled to the year 3000, studied how to hack the DNA structure of white people, and came back and created Hey Yea based on his research. To test this theory turn up your speakers, click play below, and watch white people loose their minds.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

I found this mix from the blog Stuff White People Like (via Steve).

Top 10 Rap Songs White People Love is a list compiled by brian. I created a .zip file of the complete mix album for your listening pleasure / torture available for download here: http://fffff.at/audio/top10_rap_4_white_people.zip The only song I would add to the list is Outkast, Hey Ya. I've long had a theory that Andre 3000 has actually traveled to the year 3000, studied how to hack the DNA structure of white people, and came back and created Hey Yea based on his research. To test this theory turn up your speakers, click play below, and watch white people loose their minds. [audio:http://fffff.at/audio/outkast%20-%20hey%20ya.mp3] I found this mix from the blog Stuff White People Like (via Steve).

Top 10 Songs White People Love

Original research via catsandbeer.com

Download .zip file here: http://fffff.at/audio/top10_rap_4_white_people.zip

Top 10 Songs White People Love Original research via catsandbeer.com Download .zip file here: http://fffff.at/audio/top10_rap_4_white_people.zip