November 2011

Eclectic Head Check 11

Lana Del Rey... I don't think that name has appeared in print or online without the word "controversial" accompanying it. I get it - she likes to act like a down-home gangster Coco Chanel/Nancy Sinatra. Where's the controversy? Everyone needs a gimmick. Regardless, I was pretty sure I hated her until I listened to Joy O's rework of "Video Games" about 12 times (it''s hard to stop after the first couple).

Joy Orbison... the man can do no wrong. He really lets the vocals shine on this track, retaining Lana's rootsy affectations, but while taking the listener to outer space and back.

This is a quick mix inspired by Burial's "Ghost Hardware." The mix, like the song, features haunting female vocals sprinkled throughout. And it's pretty smooth if I do say so myself.

Eclectic Head Check 11 by NickRock

Track List
1. Bobby Hutcherson - Slow Change (live)
2. Neil Landstrumm - Rockers 'The Underground King'
3. Burial - Ghost Hardware
4. Robert Glasper - Maiden Voyage/ Everything in its Right Place
5. Common - Go
6. Linda Lewis - Old Smokey (excerpt)
7. Lana Del Rey - Blue Jeans (Odd Future/Syd the Kid/the Internet remix)
8. Lana Del Rey - Video Games (Joy O remix)
9. Lusine - Two Dots
10. Michael Cooney - Bucks of Oranmore

August 2011

Just something to keep the summer rolling along...






Track List:
1) Massive Attack & Mad Professor - No Protection
2) Azymuth - Dear Limmertz
3) Mirage - Lady Operator
4) Little Dragon - Brush the Heat
5) Chuck Brown - Bustin' Loose
6) Boogie Arkestra - Unkown Explorer
7) Falty DL - Brazil (ft. Lily McKenzie)
8) Cal Tjader - Speak Low
9) DangerDoom - The Mask
10) Falty DL - Hip Love
11) J*Davey - Rain Check
12) Lindstrom - Where You Go I Go Too

May 2011

Eclectic Head Check 10: a Touch of Tropicalia
It's amazing what a little dub and moombahton can do for one's spririts this time of year. Fans of the former will find it nice and easy to groove through the summer with a pair of fantastic dub compilations recently released. On Riddimentary, Diplo selects cuts from the legendary Greensleeves label and lines them up in a full length mix that spans classic dub-reggae to 80s dancehall. In a late 2010 release, veteran dub selector David Rodigan puts together an even more eclectic retrospective for the esteemed Fabriclive series (Vol. 54).

For those unfamiliar with the young, but exploded-beyond-belief micro-genre of Moombahton, there's still time to familiarize yourself before the warm months take hold. DC locals should take particular interest since Moombahton's creator and chief propagator, Dave Nada, came up in and around the District himself. His brainchild, a steamy tropical hybrid of reggaeton and Dutch house, has gone global. Mad Decent offers a couple of good fun Moombahton primers.

This month's Eclectic Head Check picks up on the tropical theme, but in darker shades - a soundtrack to your weird-summer's night.

Track List:
1) Radiohead - Bloom
2) Pierre Moerlen's Gong - Adrian
3) Fela Kuti - Shenshema
4) Radiohead - Climbing Up the Walls (Fila Brazilia mix)
5) Hugh Mundell - Jacqeline
6) King Sunny Ade - Sunny Ti De
7) Dengue Fever - Cannibal Courtship
8) Panda Bear - Surfer's Hymn (Actress Primitive Patterns remix)
9) Joy O - Jels
10) Nader Vs. Dice - Ugly Moombahton
11) Eek-A-Mouse - Anerexol
12) Thievery Corporation - Exilio
13) Dorian Concept - Her Tears Taste Like Pears

As always, the mix is available to download by clicking on the divShare logo in the player. Thanks.

April 2011

Eclectic Head Check 9
Not much mixing done on my part here, just some mellow, soulful tunes. A couple monster dubstep remixes thrown in for good measure. The kids love dubstep.




Track list:
1) the Flaming Lips - Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell
2) Build an Ark - World Peace Now
3) Major Lazer - Cash Flow (Subskrpt remix)
4) Kanye West - Power (Paper Diamond remix)
5) Buddy Sativa - Una Peripecia
6) Joy O - Wade In
7) Falty DL - Hip Love
8) Erykah Badu - Turn Me Away (Get MuNNY)
9) Erykah Badu - Gone Baby, Don't Be Long
10) Shigeto - Children at Midnight
11) Roy Ayers - Everybody Loves the Sunshine
12) Buddy Sativa - Waltz for the Leaving Souls

March 2011

Eclectic Head Check 8
This one quickly became an homage of sorts to Radiohead. After being blown away by "Lotus Flower" and much of the other material from their new album, I couldn't help but reflect on the band's influence on progressive music. With every release, they bring back together all the fans of these myriad disparate strands of edgy, groove-based music – electro/house, downbeat, post-dubstep, soul-jazz, rock – basically, modern psychedelic music… Each time, they bring back to center, so to speak, everyone to remark on and marvel at the ease with which Radiohead blows heads.

The commonly accepted story is that psychedelic music was born from rock and roll in the sixties. I say it goes back further, to the jazz musicians stepping out with "avant-garde" and "hard bop" forms of the art in the fifties (Ornette Coleman, Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, and so many more). Whatever the case, Radiohead continues to be the clear torchbearer – the bellwether – for psychedelic music, and I hope this mix evokes the spirit of their recordings (it won't hurt that I used a couple of their recordings, haha). Enjoy the trip.



Download the mix here.

Track List:
1) the Black Keys - Tighten Up
2) Radiohead - Lotus Flower
3) SFV Acid - New West Coast
4) Radiohead - Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box
5) Floating Points - K&G Beat
6) the Jimi Hendrix Experience - If 6 was 9 (excerpt)
7) the Mamas and the Papas - Monday, Monday
8) Norman Greenbaum - Spirit in the Sky
9) White Denim - Say What You Want
10) Shigeto - Escape From the Incubator
11) DJ Technique - My Definition
12) Cut Copy - Take Me Over (Midnight Magic remix)
13) Jamie xx - Far Nearer

February 2011

Eclectic Head Check 7
Deep house and James Brown (always a winning combination) and everything in between. It's hard to believe this is number 7 in the series, and I'm not sure how many people actually listen to these, but it's just a lot of fun to put them together. Please enjoy.



Track listing:
1) Floating Points Ensemble - Post Suite
2) Sabrina Malheiros - Cade Voce (Max Cole and Beatnik remix)
3) James Brown - My Thang
4) Laidback - God Can't Stop
5) Underworld - Spikee
6) Cut Chemist - the Garden
7) Ocote Soul Sounds - Coconut Rock
8) Sea Wolf - You're a Wolf
9) Tame Impala - Why Don't You Make Up Your Mind
10) Savage Skulls & Douster - Bad Gal (ft. Robyn)
11) Caribou - Sun
12) Shigeto - Look at All the Smiling Faces

I desperately wanted to include this in the mix, but couldn't find an Mp3 anywhere. I have the CD and this is supposed to be a bonus track, but that must be for the British version or something. Definitely let me know if you can track down this tune. Still worth checking out on YouTube with poor audio quality:

January 2011

Eclectic Head Check 6
Not my best work, but a mix certainly deserving of the label "eclectic." This should work as a jam for a snowed-in evening.



Track List
1) El Michaels Affair - Hung Up On My Baby
2) Major Lazer - Good Enuff
3) the Roots - Distortion to Smile
4) Charlie Hunter & Pound for Pound - Grinch Comfort
5) Little Dragon - Feather (Fromwood remix)
6) Flying Lotus - Do the Astral Plane
7) Wale - the Perfect Plan
8) Cymande - Dove
9) Booka Shade - Regenerate
10) Clubroot - Talisman
11) LCD Soundsystem - One Touch