LWA Blog — mixtapes
February Mix: Night Drive
blog life without algorithms mixtapes music
I was watching Drive (2011) the other night, which frequently seems to be something I do when it's late and I want to watch something but don't know what I'm in the mood for. Decided to try my hand at making a night drive mix. I had to nick one of the songs from the Drive soundtrack, Nightcall (Kavinsky & Lovefoxxx). Think I kinda succeeded in capturing that feel. I tried to have it go from chill to slightly more up-tempo, then drop the bottom out at the end. But whatever, it was a fun exercise. Hope someone likes it. ...
January Mix: Lessons from the Wasteland
blog life without algorithms mixtapes music
This is a mix I started making in lockdown. Finally felt like it was done a couple months ago. There wasn't really any kind of theme, except I knew I wanted to start it with Mary Lou Lord's version of I Figured You Out and end it with Elliott Smith's version. The mix on my computer is different, Spotify doesn't have everything. If I get ambitious, I might make a downloadable version. I've also been thinking of doing a mix-a-month kinda project. I realize it's already February, but let's just say this is my January submission and I'll try to...
2024: Deny. Defend. Depose.
blog life without algorithms mixtapes music
Happy 2025, hope it's as good as it can be. Let's get to it. This mix took a while to put together, but I somehow buckled down and got er done. For some reason, this year seemed like a stellar year for great music. Gonna try not to get super into it, but yeah, there is a lot I liked. 123 tracks. Just under 8 hours. I probably need to learn how to filter shit out and just do a top ten or twenty like a normal person. Standard disclaimer, this is just stuff I liked and listened to, I'm sure I've...
2023: Kenough is Kenough
blog life without algorithms mixtapes music
It's been a minute since I posted here, mainly because...2023 was, well, it's been something. I went back and forth a couple times on whether I wanted to do this or not. The old habit won out in the end and here we are. As usual, the download version is the one I prefer because, well, reasons. But here's a Spotify link if that's your thing, no judgement. The download version has a couple tracks and a couple nifty things that aren't available from the corporate machine. Details details details. This is just stuff I like and what I was able to...
The Bear
blog life without algorithms mixtapes music REM the bear
I feel like lately there's been a lot of R.E.M. discourse happening, maybe thanks in part to The Bear, the excellent Hulu drama (seriously, watch it, I didn't think I'd like it but guess what), which features a couple R.E.M. songs. Strange Currencies, Half a World Away and Oh My Heart. I had to look up that last one, late-period R.E.M. kinda escapes me. I'm not one of those "Oh I only listen to the I.R.S. stuff" assholes, but I did kinda fall off after Up. It just didn't feel the same at the time, I was more on the...