In what’s become an annual tradition the …By a Fire Mixtapes are an alternative—although not entirely disparate—Holiday Mixtape. An hour long, commercial-free Holiday Mixtape where only 1/3 of the tracks are actual Christmas songs. I’m happy to say I’m back with Volume 3 this year, a nice selection to throw on and forget about. No silence between tracks, no worrying about making a playlist.
Sleigh Ride by She & Him
Plateau Ramble by The Acorn
It Goes Deep by Debra-Jean & The Means
Christmas in the Room by Sufjan Stevens
The Gambler and His Bride by Daniel, Fred & Julie
Lover’s Spit by Chris Rubeo
Silver Screen by Beat Connection
Father Christmas by The Kinks
Bermuda by Kisses
The End of a Love Affair by Julie London
I Was There by The War on Drugs
Come on Santa by The Raveonettes
Bimini Bay by Tennis
Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree by Brenda Lee
Keep You by Class Actress
Santa Baby by Reverend Run & The Christmas All Stars
Pitter Patter Goes My Heart by Broken Social Scene
Ever since I began making these Mixcasts, it was my eventual hope I would be able to co-host and co-curate some of these mixes. In some way, this small dream has come true with the Guest Mixtapes I’ve been able to share with you; but at the end of the day, it was still my voice. At least in the literal sense. All of that changes today as I’m joined by my friend Erik Jack (@erikstocrat).
We sat down and picked some of the songs we haven’t been able to get out of our heads in the past couple months, as well as each bringing new songs to the table that neither of us were familiar with. What we’ve come up with is what we think know is an incredible summer mix, one that will hopefully get you stoked on all your summer adventures with your friends, family and lovers.
We run the gamut here, we hit on some indie hits, some lo-fi summer jams, hip hop, near-ballads and balls-out, unapologetic pop. To be completely honest, there was about four songs I was convinced I’ve already played for you before. I love them so much, I listen to them always, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t shown them before. Thankfully, Erik has showed me the error of my ways. Let’s get into it!
Abducted by Cults
It’s Time by Imagine Dragons
Indian Sun by Mean Lady
Kites by Geographer
Dear Lucy by The Slakadeliqs
Multi-Millionaire by Penguin Prison
Get In Line by I’m From Barcelona
Make a New Dance Up by Hey Ocean!
Heat Wave by Alphabeat
Betty by Brooke Fraser
Your Ghost by Hannah Georgas
That’s My Bitch (feat. Jay-Z & Elly Jackson) by Kanye West
Well spring has sprung (if you ask me, and no, no one did) and you know how I feel about warmer weather. Instead of doing a two-parter spring Mixcast this year, I figured I’d just do a double length. I didn’t put a lot of effort into narration for this one, so the good news you get to enjoy more music! Get in the mood with these fine musicians:
Now this has been a long time coming. The last few months for me have been a ride, to say the very least. January, usually a slow time in my life was quickly filled with personal projects I had been putting off for a long time. I followed up with a lot of people I’ve wanted to collaborate with, under the assumption about 30%-50% of them would have the time to commit to a collab… imagine my surprise when just about everyone was into working together.
Long story some-what short, I asked my friends in Sex with Strangers (@SWSmusic) to put together a Mixtape for me at a pretty busy time for them as well. When I sent them a message asking for the Mixtape they had just begun a Canada-wide tour, so it took them awhile to get back to me.
Unfortunately, when they finally did, I was juggling a ridiculous amount of other projects and work which had started to pick up, so this last weekend was literally the first moment I had to sit down and commit to producing a mix and cover. Honestly, it’s felt a little like Hatch (of SWS) is skulking in the corner, peering over my shoulder, wringing his hands gleefully as I’m listening to the final mix.
And this is a good thing.
Sex with Strangers invites you to see as their three concept albums come together to form a post-apocalyptic trilogy about robots. As an intro, they present to you The Top 10 Songs About Robots:
The Robots by Kraftwerk
Mr Roboto by Styx
I, Robot by Alan Parsons Project
Friday by Rebecca Black
Paranoid Android by Radiohead
(My 1st) Big Break by Cut Chemist
Robot Rock by Daft Punk
The Body Electric by Rush
I’ll Replace You With Machines by Guided By Voices
I tried something new last year when I gave you the …By a Fire Mixtape, an alternative—although not entirely disparate—Holiday Mixtape. An hour long, commercial-free Holiday Mixtape where only 1/3 of the tracks are actual Christmas songs. To this day, I’ve considered producing another Mixtape in a similar fashion. I know it’s nice to be able to put some music on and forget about it. I also hate the silence between tracks on regular Holiday albums so we kill two birds with one stone. Now, enjoy …By a Fire: Volume 2.
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! by Dean Martin
I Was Young When I Left Home by Antony & Bryce Dessner
Blue Beard by Band of Horses
Melt Your Heart by Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins
Santa Baby by Eartha Kitt
Summer Kids Go by The Moonbabies
Winter A-Go-Go by Yo La Tengo
Journey of the Featherless by Cloud Cult
The Christmas Waltz by She & Him
Christmas Ghosts by The Raveonettes
Oh, Magnolia Tree by Ducktails
Love Me Like You Used To by Class Actress
It Takes Time to Be a Man by The Rapture
Blue Christmas by Elvis Presley
A Thing for Me (Breakbot’s B-LIVE Miami Mix) by Metronomy
Happy Friday, I’ve got a very chill Mixcast for you this time. Inspired by my own personal playlist, “Herman Miller,” this playlist contains the loopy and dreamy electronic songs I’ll use when I’m working or designing late night to early morning. Or on rainy days. Or throughout Autumn. Or, since we’re being completely honest, whenever the mood strikes me. Artists featured this Mixcast are:
UR Soul and Mine by Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie XX
You’ll Improve Me by Junior Boys
Cymbal Rush (The Field Late Night Essen Und Trinken Remix) by Thom Yorke
Happy Friday, Happy September, Happy Birthday to me! Yes it’s true, today is my birthday, 26 if you’re wondering… I’m still kind of salty I didn’t lineup today to be my 26th Mixcast as well, but C’est La Vie. For today’s Faked Potatoes Mixcast, I decided to let fate choose the tunes. The only theme here is these are the first 7 songs that came on my iPod when I clicked shuffle. Artists featured this Mixcast are:
Oh, hello, I didn’t see you there! Are you ready for some new music? Good! No themes, no frills this time, just music. Artists featured this Mixcast are:
Mixcast No. 023 doesn’t have any Floyd on it, I hope the cover isn’t misleading. The cover does make sense however, from a certain perspective, as we revisit the concept of covers this Mixcast! Yes, back for our second Mixcast of covers (I told you so!) since I maintained a considerable amount of tracks covered by great artists that I needed to share.
I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of covers, they’re a polarizing concept… some people love them, some people don’t. Whether a cover artist feels the need to lay down their own version for money, street cred, or a legitimate need to cover a song that means something very special to them, these songs find their way into our consciousness and coerce us to alter our pre-conceived perceptions about what a ‘classic song’ is, if only for a moment. Artists featured this Mixcast are:
Everywhere by Vampire Weekend (Fleetwood Mac)
Falling in Love by Sambassadeur (Dennis Wilson)
These Days by St. Vincent (Nico)
Maps by Rogue Wave (Yeah Yeah Yeahs)
Postcards From Italy by Florence + The Machine (Beirut)
Grow Old With Me by The Postal Service (John Lennon)
The Scientist by Johnette Napolitano & Danny Lohner (Coldplay)
Well well, we’ve neared what is the warmest time of the year (typically) in the Western Hemisphere. It’s the end of July, it’s August long weekend and there are a number of reasons for you to be outside with your friends, or outside alone, basking in the wonderful rays from that orb in the sky we call the sun.
A Summer Sessions Mixtape will go perfectly with your outdoor adventures, whether you’re on that annual camping trip, looking to go for a hike through some beautiful woods, or even on the patio with a few besties for a BBQ. And always remember, the key difference between a Mixtape and a Mixcast is this Mixtape is 100% music with no vocal interruptions. Awesome.
Something Good Can Work (Ted & Francis Remix) by Two Door Cinema Club
June Evenings by Air France
Dreamin’ by Feldberg
We Are the People (Ted & Francis Remix) by Empire of the Sun
Mystery (What Kind Of Breeze Do You Blow? Extended Edit) by Lake Heartbeat
Disappear by Pacific!
Sleep on the Roof by Memory Cassette
The Heart of the Nightlife by Kisses
Tighten Up by The Black Keys
Across 110th Street by Bobby Womack
You Gotta’ Teller by Zeus
Ring the Bell by YACHT
Hoop Dreams by Teengirl Fantasy
In Heat (Javelin Rmx) by HEALTH
Chlorophyl by MillionYoung
Norkuy by Com Truise
Damnation by Baths
Puzzles by The Mary Onettes
Somebody to Love Me (feat. Boy George and Andrew Wyatt) by Mark Ronson & The Business Intl.
Hello, hello, hello! Happy Friday (and thank god!) it’s a perfect day to listen to new old music! This is going to be a classy mix, every track except the one by Tame Impala was written and performed before 1969 (even though Deep Purple covered Hush and Hendrix covered All Along the Watchtower) and there is a reason for piecing all these psychedelic-rock outfits together. This Mixcast, we’re celebrating hookah culture! Getting together with friends and having a social experience. Chatting, catching up, sitting together and actually communicating. Like all things in life, this experience requires a soundtrack and I happen to have just the sounds I associate with it to share with you! So sit back and relax like you’ve never relaxed before, artists featured this Mixcast are:
I’m happy to say we’re back with Faked Potatoes Mixcast No. 021. I was going to go for a Electro/French House themed Mixcast this time around, but lately I’ve been feeling like yeah, we’ve done that… a few times. Luckily, the last few days have been a bit chillier at night but still perfect to drive with your windows down, and perhaps enjoy a little Folkier music. So that’s what this is, some folky songs I’ve started to remind myself I have. Hopefully you enjoy these musicians, Artists featured this Mixcast are:
Wow! 20 Mixcasts! We’ve been together for quite a while now. We’ve heard a lot of music together, and I’m not even counting the Mixtapes on here into the Mixcast count! Over the months I’ve made note of more music for future Mixcasts, I’m always tweaking lists and collecting more songs for future mixes, always with the intention of sharing as much new music as I possibly could. However, some artists just kept popping up, over and over. They had already been featured but I couldn’t help but play them, so I figured we’d celebrate a Super Happy 45-minute Fun-time Deluxe Limited Anniversary Edition of the Faked Potatoes Mixcast and collect the ‘Best Of’ of previously featured artists. Artists featured this (and previous) Mixcast(s) are:
Blue Gowns by Blue Hawaii
The King and All of His Men by Wolf Gang
Mouthful of Diamonds by Phantogram
Grey by New Young Pony Club
Milk & Honey by Twin Sister
Vital Signs (Tame Impala Cover) by Midnight Juggernauts
Welcome back! FPM no. 019, wow! It’s been a bit since we’ve done any electro mixcasts. And while this isn’t quite a Neon Nights experience, there is still something definitively dancy about this mix. Artists featured this Mixcast are:
I’M SORRY I’VE BEEN AWAY, I have truly missed you! Between taking five days off (in a row) for Sasquatch — which seems to be a big no-no in this world — and working the weeks leading up and after I just haven’t had the time to do, well, much else. Thankfully, things are under control again and we’re here together, to hear new music! Artists featured this Mixcast are:
