Improved Means for Achieving Deteriorated Ends

Mixtapes

Source: File / Log

Every now and then I make mixtapes. I still haven't learned to do it in a DAW or DJ software like Mixxx like an adult. I just throw a bunch of tracks I'm enjoying into Audacity and introduce fades and normalization and try to match things up by ear until they are "good enough".

A few wound up not being half bad. At some point I'll try to improve the player a bit and do fuller write-ups, but for now just adding some of the highlights is a good start. Listed in chronological order.

I/Omega

This was the first mix I ever made, way back at my first programming job at CMG in 2011. Coworkers had some nice things to say about it and, whether it was deserved or not, that led me to have fun making more mixes for a little while.

  1. Gold Panda - Marriage (Star Slinger remix) ;; 00:00
  2. Rustie - Surph ;; 02:58
  3. Rustie - After Light ;; 05:42
  4. Bobby Tank - Vector Beach ;; 08:12
  5. Araabmuzik - Make It Happen ;; 09:59
  6. Machine Drum - GBYE ;; 10:59
  7. Siriusmo - Mozaik ;; 12:51
  8. Vitalic - La Rock 01 ;; 13:59
  9. Grum - Heartbeats ;; 16:14
  10. Ellen Allien and Apparat - Rotary ;; 19:14
  11. Little Dragon - Ritual Union ;; 22:05
  12. Radiohead - Lotus Flower (SBTRKT remix) ;; 25:18
  13. Bobby Tank - Circles ;; 27:41
  14. Bondax - Just Us ;; 32:32
  15. Montgomery Clunk - Heat ;; 35:14
  16. Bobby Tank - Needin Me ;; 37:05
  17. Araabmuzik - Feelin' So Hood ;; 41:09
  18. Rustie - Frazzle/Ooompa ;; 44:20
  19. Clams Casino - I'm God ;; 46:26
  20. Shotgun Radio - A Bad Place (Minnesota remix) ;; 49:36
  21. Machinedrum - Mean Mean ;; 52:40
  22. James Blake - CMYK ;; 56:34
  23. Burial - Kindred ;; 58:52

Notes

  This is mostly a version of I/Omega that segues cleanly
  into Lost Without a Traceback. The 2 main changes are:
  1) Flying Lotus' Recoiled has been replaced by SBTRKT.
  2) Rustie's Surph and After Light, and Vector Beach are lengthened.

Macronomicon

I had started dating Norma when I made this mix and after it I didn't make a mixtape for a long time. I guess this would've been 2013 or so.

I remember being disappointed that there were a lot of hard cuts or tempo shifts but I wasn't willing to change any of the tracks lol.

This was also the first time I experimented with pulling samples from movies/TV/youtube and interspersing them within the mix. The samples from Hackers still charm me.

  1. ODESZA - Sun Models 00:00
  2. Lone - Airglow Fires 02:28
  3. Grum - The Really Long One 05:52
  4. Druid Cloak - Netherdrake 11:00
  5. Chrome Sparks - Marijuana 14:25
  6. Mount Kimbie - Slow (Druid Cloak remix) 16:42
  7. Moderat - Bad Kingdom 19:42
  8. Noisia - Split the Atom 24:00
  9. Gingy - Rios 4 MVP 29:14
  10. Lone - Raindance 34:30
  11. Rustie - Triadzz 37:47
  12. Bobby Tank - Vorpheum 40:48
  13. Wave Racer - Streamers 45:20
  14. Madeon - Cut the Kid 48:08
  15. Tame Impala - Elephant (Phantoms bootleg mix) 51:00
  16. Fuck Buttons - Hidden XS 56:24

Notes

  Hard cuts:
    Grum -> Druid Cloak (super hard)
    Chrome Sparks -> Mount Kimbie (tastelessly hard but I'm stuck with it)
    Bobby Tank -> Wave Racer (technically faded but ugh, rough)
  Airy Spots:
 *  Airglow Fires:                  30 seconds @ 03:45
 *  Druid Cloak -> Chrome Sparks:   30 seconds @ 13:50
 *  Split the Atom:                 30 seconds @ 26:24
 *  Raindance:                      25 seconds @ 34:30
 *  Raindance:                      05 seconds @ 36:20
 *  Streamers:                      20 seconds @ 46:19
 *  Elephant:                       25 seconds @ 52:05

Unwind Protect 2020

This is a mix I'm still quite happy with. I don't know if it's actually good I just love the tracklist and sequencing. I was DJing with Matt semi-regularly on WREK at this point and remember working on this one for a while to get transitions right and find the right songs because people might actually hear it! It was good motivation.

Trivia: Named after a Common Lisp construct similar in function to Python's try ... finally with no catch.

Little did we know how much we needed protection. I finished this just before the COVID pandemic started.

  1. Lanark Artefax - Flickering Debris 00:00
  2. Djrum - Hard to Say 02:15
  3. Special Request - Stairfoot Lane Bunker(Minor Science mix) 08:20
  4. Loft - That Hyde Trakk 13:00
  5. Aes Dana - Transparency Syndrome 18:20
  6. Bruce - Aeon 24:20
  7. Skee Mask - Routine 30:00
  8. Djrum - Showreel Pt. 2 34:00
  9. Clark - Riff Through the Fog 40:00
  10. Alessandro Cortini & Daniel Avery - Illusion of Time 44:35

Feedback Loop

A much more recent entry made during the pandemic when I missed DJing on GA Tech's WREK show "The Mobius" with my buddy Threv.

The transitions are probably the cleanest of any of my work but it loses a little something for me compared to the sloppy exuberance of Macronomicon or Unwind Protect.

That said, I'm still happy with it, love all the tracks, and some of the transitions (esp Shinra -> Analog Tara) are just meant to be.

  1. Overmono - So U Kno 00:00
  2. Ryan James Ford - Six Stair 05:30
  3. Tobias - The Wisdom of No Escape 09:40
  4. Shinra - Propeller 14:20
  5. Analog Tara - Heat Lightning 20:20
  6. Pearson Sound - Alien Mode 25:30
  7. Giordano - Catch Up 30:10
  8. Shinra - Plannt 34:20
  9. Ozzy - Een Goed Moment 39:25
  10. Kessler - Moonlight Branches 43:20