Great Gun Beach Mix
Great Gun Beach
Way too many years ago my friends and I used to head out to Great Gun Beach – a piece of paradise that you could only get to by boat or by truck, a place where if you didn’t bring it you didn’t have it and you couldn’t get it.
Many a day was spent there hanging out, swimming, skimboarding, boogieboarding and surfing and many a night was later spent there camping under all kinds of conditions.
And Sean and Colm would have the surfboards, Kevin and I would bring whatever beat up things we had, Mike would be there for moral support and Roger, who always had the biggest and best toys, would show up with his boat or truck, the guy with the music.
It was a great time, one of those times that only gets better over time, as memories of running out of water, or food (or more important, beer..) or rain and busted tents fade, and the sunshine, the saltwater, the waterskiing and all that are just perfect.
Led Zeppelin reigned supreme back in those days, so here, for anyone from that time, from that place, or for anyone who just wants to head back to rock out to one of the best big beat rock groups of all time – The Great Gun Mix….
Download: Great Gun Beach Mix (Zipped Tracks)
Preview: Great Gun Beach Mix (Single Track)
Track List
01 – Heartbreaker
02 – Living Loving Maid (She’s Just A Woman)
03 – Whole Lotta Love
04 – Good Times Bad Times
05 – Communication Breakdown
06 – Ramble On
07 – Over The Hills And Far Away
08 – Stairway To Heaven
09 – Thank You
10 – How Many More Times
11 – Moby Dick
David Hasselhoff is a gift from the Gods
Okay… I don’t get anything about David Hasselhoff. Missed every TV show he was in, really don’t know what they were. But the man is a gift from the Gods.
The cheesiest remix of an already cheesy 70s song, complete with a video of him jumping up in down in front off one absurd backdrop after another? No wonder he is worshiped in Germany – classic Europop weirdness…. ;)
And did I mention that this man is the least soulful person to ever try, ever so hard, to get his groove going? Mere mortal or genius robot? You decide…
Seriously – how far gone do you need to be to do something like this?
Sonne Tag Musik
Sonne Tag Musik
I worked on this compilation when I was in Switzerland this past winter. Despite the impression that you might get from the brochures and postcards Switzerland in winter, at least in the north, can be a time where seeing the sun is a rare thing.
Above a few thousand meters, it will be like the postcards – pure mountain sunshine and blue skies – but down in the valleys, and a long the lakes, there’s quite often a non-stop layer of clouds and fog.
The Swiss generally learn to live with it (although by March they are as tired of it as anyone), but as I had been in San Diego for more than a decade, it was a bit rough to go for weeks without the sun.
But then one day in late winter we had three days of sun in a row. And so I put together this compilation of “Sun Day Music” to celebrate and to have a great soundtrack to start any day, sunny or not.
It’s a bit different than most of my compilations in that it’s not one style of music – it was more meant to be more like a great radio station to wake up to, to drag with you into the shower and then out the door to rock out - a little of everything…
Download: Sonne Tag Musik (Zipped Tracks)
Preview: Sonne Tag Musik (Single Track)
Track List:
01 – Music For A Found Harmonium – The Penguin Cafe Orchestra
02 – Big Head Spliff – The Revolutionaries
03 – Reggae Merengue – Karl Zero
04 – LDN – Lily Allen
05 – Right Place, Wrong Time – Dr. John
06 – Franklin’s Tower – The Grateful Dead
07 – Blue Sky – The Allman Brothers
08 – This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody) – Talking Heads
09 – Friday I’m In Love – The Cure
10 – (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes – Elvis Costello
11 – Perfect – The Smashing Pumpkins
12 – Magic Carpet Ride – Steppenwolf
13 – When I Come Around – Green Day
14 – Rebel Rebel – David Bowie
15 – Sweet Child O’ Mine – Guns And Roses
My Town
It’s Memorial Day Weekend here in the Estados Unidos, and with that it’s the official start of summer. And if you need a little jump up boost to start your weekend, “My Town” by Buck-O-Nine works for me, and hopefully for you.
And the fact that the bass player for the band was none other than Scott Kennerly, a good friend of mine, a programmer extraordinaire and all around good guy – and well, I just like knowing the guy was there back in the day, cranking out an amazing bass line for a killer summer track.
And yes, San Diego is that much fun…
Last Night Mix
Uetikon Vineyard
I spent a good part of last year in Switzerland, and the last time I was there was a for a few months in the winter. And contrary to the postcards, most of Switzerland in the winter, at least the parts that are not up in the mountains or south of the Alps, is buried in a layer of fog, clouds, snow and rain – anything but sunshine.
And while I was there, wondering where the sun went, I was listening to an amazing song by a Hawaiian musician/singer and I wanted to add it to some kind of collection but nothing was working. Then, in the final few days in the gray world over there I came up with this multi-layered mix of of melancholy musings and put it together on the last night I was there before heading back to sunny San Diego.
One track after another that I think works, assuming you are in the mood for something like this. More of a “soundtrack” style mix, but something to have on in the background, and in this case in the background on yet another day without sun.
Download: Last Night Mix (Zipped Tracks)
Download: Last Night Mix (Single Track)
Track List:
01 – Somewhere Over The Rainbow – Israel “Iz” Kamakawiwo’ole
02 – Unchained Melody – The Righteous Brothers
03 – When A Man Loves A Woman – Percy Sledge
04 – Don’t Leave Home – Dido
05 – With Or Without You – U2
06 – In Your Eyes – Peter Gabriel
07 – Goodbye My Lover – James Blunt
08 – Most Of The Time – Bob Dylan
09 – I’ll Be Your Mirror – The Velvet Underground
10 – The Power Of Goodbye – Madonna
Country Roots
Sometimes there is nothing better than classic country music, roots music from the past. Simple arrangements, great lyrics and beautiful melodies.
So if you heading out to Vegas some time soon and you are in the mood for just such a mix, this one should work.
Download: Country Roots (Zipped Tracks)
Download: Country Roots (Single Track)
Track List:
01 – Sixteen Tons – Tennessee Ernie Ford
02 – Long Black Veil – Johnny Cash
03 – I Fall To Pieces – Patsy Cline
04 – He’ll Have to Go – Jim Reeves
05 – Candy Kisses – George Morgan
06 – Hello Walls – Faron Young
07 – Walkin’ After Midnight – Patsy Cline
08 – Lonesome 7-7203 – Hawkshaw Hawkins
09 – Kisses Sweeter Than Wine – Jimmie F. Rodgers
10 – Saginaw, Michigan – Lefty Frizzell
11 – A Little Bitty Tear – Burl Ives
12 – Don’t Take Your Guns to Town – Johnny Cash
Grassroots Dance Tent Mix
Grassroots Rainfest
I’m generally not the “big music festival in the mud” kind of guy, but every year there is a great four-day music gathering in upstate New York known as “Grassroots”.
Heading into it’s 19th year, Grassroots is everything a music festival should be – great bands, new groups, known groups, small, large, reggae, gospel, folk, country, zydeco, art, dance and everything up, down, around and in between.
What it doesn’t have is corporate sponsorship, advertising in all over the place, roving crowds of drunk idiots and a crowd that tries to impress – it’s about the music and about good people gathering for a great time. Even those that have been to the big ones here and abroad know that they have been someplace special when they have been to Grassroots.
And one of the venues they have is the “Dance Tent” and it lives up to its name – just a non-stop roster of seriously great musicians and singers, pushing the crowd to have a great time. For ages 7 to 70, it is four days and nights of smiles and sweat…
And if you go you will get to hear some amazing Zydeco, and if you are lucky you will get to see Preston Frank and/or his son Keith Frank – and they simply rock the place. It’s something to experience and I try to head back as often as possible to visit with friends and enjoy four days of pure music heaven.
So after a great time last year I put together a Zydeco compilation to share with all who didn’t get a chance to be there, and for those that did, a way to remember it. And just to make it a bit special, I did a new edit of “Hey Trudy” by Keith Frank – just opened it up a bit, extended it, looped it and such – just like they do it live. Enjoy…
Download: Grassroots Dance Tent Mix (Zipped Tracks)
Download: Grassroots Dance Tent Mix (Single Track)
Track List:
01 – Hey Trudy (GrassRoots Edit) – Keith Frank & The Soileau Zydeco Band
02 – Ma Tit Fille – Buckwheat Zydeco
03 – Shake What You’ve Got – Leo Thomas & Preston Frank
04 – You Used to Call Me – Lawrence Black Ardoin
05 – C’est Pas La Peine Brailler – Steve Riley & The Mamou Playboys
06 – Allons A Boucherie – Buckwheat Zydeco
07 – Beau Jocque Boogie – Beau Jocque & The Zydeco Hi-Rollers
08 – Buck’s Nouvelle Jole Blone – Buckwheat Zydeco
09 – Hi-Rollers Theme – Low Rider – Beau Jocque & The Zydeco Hi-Rollers
If you like to head to Grassroots yourself, it’s worth the trip, and you can get more information here.
Power Punkt
Man Ray, The Gift
While walking around in Zurich, as is the case in any major city, you can’t help but cross paths with the latest incarnation of those working through the “alienated youth” thing. And when that happens when I’m walking around with my great friend Stefan, it invariably jump starts a conversation about culture, clothing, conformity and more.
And by jump start I mean that I generally jump start it. As much as I understand how someone breaking from being a kid to being an adult can be a bit confused, a bit disconnected from the masses and a bit pissed off, it’s just amusing to see how they respond to the conformity of the world of “suits” strolling down the Bahnhofstrasse – by falling back on an equally conforming way of dressing, acting, etc.
And given that Stefan and I grew up in different countries, at different times, with me out in Mayberry land, him in Zurich – well it always an interesting ride as we race through all what it means to be an “individual” when the suits conform one way, “punks” the other. And just to let Stefan know that I could empathize with being pissed off (who hasn’t been?), with the importance of screaming your own song and that I had more than reggae in my music collection I put together Power Punkt.
A great collection for that “Where the hell are we?” stretch of desert on a road trip to Vegas, or to rage a bit, or just to re-live a time in all our lives when there wasn’t forward or backwards – there just was.
Download: Power Punkt (Zipped Tracks)
Download: Power Punkt (Single Track)
Track List:
01 – Seven Nation Army – The White Stripes
02 – I Wanna Be Your Dog – The Stooges
03 – Police Truck – Dead Kennedys
04 – Roadrunner – The Modern Lovers
05 – Self Esteem – The Offspring
06 – Come Out and Play – The Offspring
07 – American Idiot – Green Day
08 – When I Come Around – Green Day
09 – Alternative Ulster – Stiff Little Fingers
10 – Anarchy in the UK – The Sex Pistols
11 – God Save the Queen – The Sex Pistols
12 – Blitzkreig Bop – The Romones
13 – I Wanna Be Sedated – The Ramones
14 – Smells Like Teen Spirit – Nirvana
The Open Bar Mix
Crystal Pier
I used to live in Pacific Beach in San Diego, right down the street from a great beach bar, “The Open Bar”. Now living just one block away from this place did have it’s downside – let’s just say that I heard enough drunk losers shouting their way home to last a lifetime – it was, and still is, a cool place for a beer on any day, especially one of the many sunny, warm days that San Diego is known for.
And after going there with some friends for a couple of nights while they were in town from New York, I thought I would give them a little piece of Pacific Beach and I put together “The Open Bar Mix”, a collection of classic songs found on any jukebox anywhere, and rightfully so… Enjoy.
Download: The Open Bar Mix (Zipped Tracks)
Download: The Open Bar Mix (Single Track)
Track List:
01 – Get Ready/One Love – Bob Marley and The Wailers
02 – Beautiful Day – U2
03 – Blue Sky – Allman Brothers
04 – Ooh La La – The Faces
05 – Green Grass and High Tides – The Outlaws
06 – Born to Be Wild – Steppenwolf
07 – Free Bird – Lynyrd Skynyrd
08 – Emmanuel Road – Harry Belafonte
09 – Five Months, Two Weeks, Two Days – Louis Prima
10 – You and Me and The Bottle Makes Three – Big Bad Voodo Daddy
11 – Big Stuff – Jean Knight
12 – Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) – Sly and the Family Stone
13 – Superfreak – Rick James
14 – Can’t Touch This – M.C. Hammer
15 – Sacramento – Deep Dish
16 – Hey Boy, Hey Girl – Chemical Brothers
17 – Gangster Trippin’ – Fat Boy Slim
18 – Ray of Light – Madonna
TransGlobal Mix
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
This is one of my favorite compilations, done many years ago, where the one rule was that none of the songs were to be in English, creating kind of a musical journey around the world, hanging out in the best lounges/bars/living rooms there were.
So if you’d like to head on musical journey from Italy, to Africa, to Pakistan, Brazil, France, Hawaii and more, this is the one. Great for that lazy Sunday, a nice drive in the country, or just about any time…
Download: The TransGlobal Mix (Zipped Tracks)
Download: The TransGlobal Mix (SingleTrack)
Track List:
01 – Stornellu Amorisi – Claudio Villa
02 – Nwahulwana – Orchestra Marrabenta Start De Mocambique)
03 – Nothing Without You – Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
04 – Mustt Mustt – Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
05 – The Game – Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
06 – Cano Das Tres Racas – Clara Nunes
07 – Vatapa – Joao Bosco
08 – Gafale – Diaou Kouyate
09 – Francoise – Henri Dikongue
10 – Aquas De Marco – Rosa Passos
11 – Ku’u Lika Kahinko – Ozzie Kotani
12 – Panini Pua Kea – Cyril Pahinui
13 – Danca De Solidao – Beth Carvalho
14 – O Namorado Da Viuva – Jorge Ben
15 – Despedida – Celso Machado
16 – Wassive – Habib Koite & Bamada
17 – Tana Kamina – Nkuku And Jopie Sisters
18 – Daveytown No. 5 – The Boyoyo Boys
19 – Daveyton Special – The Boyoyo Boys
Many thanks to my long lost friend, Wayne Roylance, for turning me on to such a wide range of music. If you are out there somewhere, just thought you might like to know that I’m still searching for the same kind of tracks we dug deep in the crates for so long ago…