The Giant Golden Radio

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You lucky dogs. We’ve got a real good one for you this time, with tracks new and old, running the gambit from a modern day interpretation of an old immigrant folk ballad to some remixes fit for the sweatiest of dance floors. And you’d be surprised how few songs it takes to transition between those two extremes. In the new newness department, we have some tracks by MGMT, Thao (pictured), the Seattle band The Helio Sequence, Ravens and Chimes, and Lightspeed Champion. The group formerly know as Say Hi To Your Mom is now know as just Say Hi, which I personally think is a tasteful simplification. They’ve moved to Seattle and felt compelled to write a song about northwestern girls (“It must be in the air here…”). And I’m pretty pumped up about Sam Amidon, whom I just discovered during the making of this episode. He does a powerful reprisal of the classic folk song Saro on his new album, full of muted horns and very deliberate guitar picking. Apparently, missing your girlfriend has been a persisting sentiment throughout history (“’Tis not this long journey that grieves me for to go /Nor the country that I’m leaving /Nor the debts that I owe /There’s one thing that grieves me and bears on my mind /That’s leaving my darling pretty Saro behind”). You’ll also come across a lovely little instrumental from the guitarist for Band of Horses, Tyler Ramsey, as well as a beat from the LA producer edIT that sounds to me like a warm bath. But that’s just me.

1. MGMT – Time To Pretend
2. The Helio Sequence – Keep Your Eyes Ahead
3. Ravens And Chimes – This Is Where We Are
4. Say Hi – Northwestern Girls
5. Thao – Bag Of Hammers
6. Ambulence Ltd. – Anecdote
7. Luna – Malibu Love Nest
8. Tyler Ramsey – Birdwings
9. Sam Amidon – Saro
10. Lightspeed Champion – Dry Lips
11. Headlights – Cherry Tulips
12. Phoenix – Napoleon Says
13. The Little Ones – Lovers Who Uncover (Crystal Castles remix)
14. Black Lips – Veni Vedi Veci (Diplo remix)
15. edIT – Southern Belle
16. Junior Boys – In The Morning (Hot Chip remix)

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Merry holidays, everyone. I’m leaving in an hour to spend a week in the arctic north, so I want to make sure this episode gets out to you before I go. Just in time for X-mas, I give you the fifteenth installment of our little mixtape series. So turn off all the lights in the house, turn on the christmas lights, turn this up loud on the stereo and treat yourself to a goblet of nog. ‘Tis the season of music and nog. In the lineup this time around are a few old favorites and some bands which are brand new to me. Some of these new discoveries are Menomena (three dudes in the tub), Yeasayer, Los Campesinos!, Matthew Dear, Simian Mobile Disco, and Mobius Band. The song from Mobius Band is apparently about one of your friends stealing your girlfriend: “There’s lots of gray shades, but that don’t make black the same as white.” Speak on it. Interspersed between these new tracks are some goodies off the most recent releases from Radiohead, Kings Of Leon, Caribou and Hot Chip. I have to go finish cramming stuff into my backpack now, but I’m not exactly sure how you pack for -40F. I’ll probably toss in an extra hoodie or something.

1. Shout Out Louds – Tonight I Have To Leave It
2. Les Savy Fav – What Would Wolves Do
3. Yeasayer – Sunrise
4. Mobius Band – Friends Like These
5. The Flaming Lips – Are You A Hypnotist??
6. Hot Chip – My Piano
7. Muscles – Ice Cream
8. Radiohead – House Of Cards
9. Los Campesinos! – You! Me! Dancing!
10. Kings Of Leon – Fans
11. Matthew Dear – Deserter
12. Caribou (feat. Luke Lalond, Adem, One Little Plane) – Melody Day (Four Tet remix)
13. Menomena – Wet And Rusting
14. Simian Mobile Disco – It’s The Beat (The Teenagers remix)

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I hope you hadn’t given up on me. I know, I know, it’s been about half a year since the last podcast episode, but things are different now. I’ve changed. You’ll see, and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed with the new me. There will be more episodes more often, and maybe even more awesome. So we’ll kick off this renewed effort with the Norwegian dance-rockers in tracksuits, Datarock (pictured above). There is also a couple tracks off of the new releases Ma Fleur by The Cinematic Orchestra and Emerald City by the San Franciscan John Vanderslice. Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip present their manifesto to the world: “Thou shall not think that any male over the age of 30 that plays with a child that is not their own is a paedophile; some people are just nice.” Then there is something from the exciting new group Vampire Weekend as well as a track on the new release from the reliably catchy Rogue Wave.

1. Datarock – Fa-Fa-Fa
2. The Diggs – Everyones Starting Over (Cassettes Wont Listen Remix)
3. Modeselektor – The White Flash (ft. Thom Yorke)
4. The Cinematic Orchestra – To Build A Home
5. The Shins – Sleeping Lessons
6. John Vanderslice – White Dove
7. Smog – I Feel Like The Mother Of The World
8. Pela – Waiting On The Stairs
9. Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip – Thou Shalt Always Kill
10. Vampire Weekend – A-Punk
11. M.I.A. – XR2
12. Rogue Wave – Lake Michigan
13. Okkervil River – Our Live Is Not A Movie Or Maybe
14. Death Cab For Cutie – Different Names For The Same Thing

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School is over, spring has sprung, and the sun is shining. So what better to do than sit inside and scour the internet for new music? I’ve stumbled across several artists who are brand new to me and I’ve tossed those in with some old favorites who just came out with some new material (Arcade Fire, LCD Soundsystem). I found this intimate little video shot by the French site La Blogotèque (same group who shot a couple videos of Grizzly Bear when they came through Paris, see Episode Nine of the Giant Golden Radio) of a The Arcade Fire playing a track in the elevator before a recent show here in Paris. We’ve also got a great track off the upcoming release from The National, who’s last album “Alligator” is a big favorite of mine, and a segment of the recent Aesop Rock (pictured here) production created for the Nike + Original Run series. This series, which so far includes a couple ~45 minute long tracks from The Crystal Method and LCD Soundsystem (highly rec’d), are designed with a runner in mind and the dynamic evolves as one would expect the dynamic to change throughout a jog. Granted, this might sound kind of cheesy and commercial, but I dare you to try listening to the LCD Soundsystem contribution while running and not feel completely pumped up. It ends up being the kind of run where you’re looking for things to hurdle and excuses to dodge and spin around groups of people. You know, like a dance/run. The best kind.

1. The Arcade Fire – Keep The Car Running
2. The Thermals – Pillar of Salt
3. Peter, Bjorn and John – Objects of My Affection
4. Fischerspooner – Emerge
5. Stereolab – Cosmic Contry Noir
6. The Rosebuds – Get Up, Get Out
7. Do Make Think Say – In Mind
8. Je Suis France – The Dont Work That Well For Us
9. The Flaming Lips – Waiting For A Superman (remix)
10. Aesop Rock – Allday Overall
11. LCD Soundsystem – All My Friends
12. The Long Winters – Stupid
13. The National – Fake Empire
14. Metric – He Lied About Death (Stars cover)

Subscribe to the podcast to receive these mixtapes whenever they are published, or if you’re so inclined you can download the individual episode.