Just in time for the New Year.

I’ve found my tastes in music wandering a bit lately. I’ve started enjoying different vibes recently, and this mix is the result. While not a huge departure, it’s stepping in a certain direction – you’ll find this mix a bit slower, with more dips and turns, rather than amping up and up as the set progresses. Lots of piano, guitars, and 80′s synth vibes.

It’s a swanky bounce, and it’s playful.

I’ve included remixes of some of my recent favs – Angus & Julia Stone, Penguin Prison, and Foster the People. There also a lot of Plastic Plates going on, which was responsible for setting the overall groove of the sucker.

Enjoy, and happy New Year.

And if it pleases you, feel free to tip your bravehound :)

Cheers,
Andy

This sucker was a long time coming, but hopefully it was worth the wait. I meant to get it out by New Years, but that just didn’t happen. So here we go… a new mix for the gym, to help you get into that Summer shape.

The mixing is really tight (abrupt, even) compared to how I usually put stuff together… almost ‘spin class quick’ transitions some of the time. Starts off with some favorites of mine – including the first track, by Sting’s daughter from I Blame Coco. It gets progressively crunchy, then smoothes out to something a little less frantic, and ends with some drama (me? never).

That’s for the messages and the ‘where the hell is the new mix?!’ notes. I spent some time in between mixes to update this site so it’s less dreadful to post and update (was running ANCIENT theme hacked together on an ANCIENT wordpress install). Since blogging doesn’t really exist outside of the giant web sites, I’d rather focus on what I can create and share, rather than all sort of nerdy/techy/music stuff you can find elsewhere on the Internets or in your Facebook feed.

Hope you like it! Feel free to leave a comment by clicking the permalink and let me know what you think. And the good ol’ tip jar is back, in case you’d like to help me pay for my wordpress host… or just plain flash me a little change :)

Cheers, Andy

It’s a little late, but the Summer mix is done! It’s it’s a big ol’ lovefest.

This mix started as a set of the tracks that I really liked, but just didn’t fit the darker mood of Criminal. In all honestly, this sucker has been 80% complete, and running circulation on my iPod at the gym for a good three months – but only now was I able to focus and tune ‘er up.

This mix starts with lots of the same emotions that inspired Criminal, but obviously not nearly as moody. The whole mix is pretty bright… felt I kind of needed to do that after the last production. The beats pick up a bit more speed and zip after the first 15 minutes, and it turns into a peak-hour, peppy, pop-gasm. Overall, it’s fun and frolic that is pretty appropriate for Pride… or at least the tail-end of it :)

I’ve already started the NEXT mix, as I’ve found some sweet tunes I didn’t want to include on this mix – they jived better when what I want the next one to be.

Thanks for all the messages letting me know I needed to get one out before the Pride season ends… nothing like a little pressure to remind you that people like what ya do!

Cheers,
Andy

PS. – I have the first 20-30 minutes of this mix to thank for powering me through some badass high-intensity interval workouts over the last couple months. Hope it does the same for you.

FEATURING: Sophia Somajo / Dragonette / Lady Gaga / Paul Van Dyk / Britney Spears / Chew Fu / Mariah Carey / Jeremy Word / Cassie / Timbaland / SoShy / Nelly Furtado / Johnny McDaid / Jennifer Lopez / Villians

I’m not even sure where to start with this one.

Life has been quite a ride for me this past year. And since Summer, I’ve gone through a separation, moved back to the U.S., and have begun the process of starting my life over. And while good things will come of it, there is quite a bit to wade through, that isn’t so pleasant.

That’s what this mix is about. It’s mourning, it’s angry, it hurts. It’s dark, hard, and sexual. There is a dash of hope here and there, but it quickly escapes.

It’s impossible to outrun the bad things in life, as much as one might like to. So in the true nature of my tunes being a reflection of the here and now for me… here’s me, wading through (and not around) the rough stuff.

Artistically, I’m quite happy with how it turned out. It starts a bit here and there, and really starts cranking. It grows darker and harder towards the end, at doesn’t let up at the finish. It’s still very much pop remixes going on here… but I tried to push it to be darker and harder than my usual. I’m not sure how well it’ll do on a treadmill or at a house party – it’s a bit much – but it is what it is. Hope ya like it.

I’ve had quite a number of people contacting me asking when this mix was coming out. It’s awesome to know people are excited and wanna keep hearing more. I promise my next mix have a little more light shining through :)

Thanks everyone… and see you in the New Year!

- Andy

PS. Thanks to my photographer for making me as dark, dirty, and sleazy as the tunes.

The last mix was a ‘beach party at night’… this one is definitely for under the hot Summer sun.  It’s PACKED with some of my favorite artists – across a few genres – remixed.  For your pleasure.

The beat gets going with some current favorites, including the hot Sophie Ellis Bextor anthem and yet ANOTHER awesome Robyn track (with Röyksopp) that was a no-brainer to help kick things off.  It moves into electro-ghetto-funky, and starts getting a little nutty, jumping around before you get too comfy, giving you a little electro-mixshow… and I had to include new favorites Frankmusik and La Roux.  Before long, settles into a fun, sweet Summer groove becomes just all about celebration and sunshine.  Things end with a track I’m really loving right now… be sure not to miss it.

I wanted to produce a mix that was fun a festive enough to rock the Pride season right, and loaded the table with all the chips I had.

Hope you like! 

PS. OH HAI GIANT ANDY FACE

Here’s a little something to help melt the last of the snow, and help push you through some of the pre-Summer workouts :)

Inspired by a recent trip to California, I came back with all sorts of great ideas and tunes for my next  mix.  When I sat down to put it together, there was clearly two different vibes going on… one being very sunny and smooth, and one being a bit more bangin’,  with sexier vibe.  The first one ended up giving way to the second.  A lot.

It’s like a beach party.  But at night.

It starts out really thumping, starts edging into aggressive, and then breaks down and ends up bitter-sweet and emotional.  Britney, Solange and Robyn (SWEET track) kick things off and make you shake a tail feather.  At the end, Kings of Leon tears your heart out… his voice amazes me.  If you don’t have the Kings of Leon album, you should check it out.

Hope you enjoy!  Comments and Tipjar monies (located on the sidebar below the mixes) greatly appreciated, as always.

- Andy

PS. I went what you might call “too far” on the album art this time.  It’s like a gay Sisqó Space Odyssey.  Being a creative professional, I’m accustomed to learning how to strictly edit… but this being my non-professional creative outlet… so I’m letting the big guns run, unchecked :)

Even after putting out a request to my listeners for track submissions, I had been struggling with putting out a mix I really liked.  It seemed forced and uninteresting.

In Montreal this weekend, I found the inspiration that put this mix together – in the after AFTER party after Black and Blue.  Music at the main event was a bit of a drag for most of the night/morning (think tinker-toy drums,  played by hungry demons).  There was a bit of relief once the DJs changed, but the most fun I had all weekend dancing, was at 3pm – 9pm, the day after the actual party.  I know… hardcore.

The music I was enjoying was super vocal and happy.  I’ve always avoided doing such a vocal mix, as T-Dance tunes aren’t really once I rock out to.  It’s vocal, yes, but with a little necessary grit and lack of innocence that you’d hear at a party 2 days going.

I got home, and the mix just flew out.  It’s not as much of a hardcore workout mix as my other recent ones, but it held up nicely to the long-ass run I did tonight to test it out.  The mood is generally that of happiness, but there are a few songs where it shifts and begs for it.  It amps up along the way, and slows to a sad crawl at the end.  We’ve got old-school Madonna, new Pussycat Dolls, Fragma, new takes on some 80s tracks & circuit tunes from the winning year of ’04, and the Sharam track I love that samples Daniel Beddingfield.

Thanks to Yannick for making me go to the party. And to Sébastien for his grin and Oliver for his happy dance.

Enjoy!

Comments and tosses in the tip jar are always appreciated.

PS: It’s amazing what the right lighting can do to a photograph.

This baby took a lot of work.  But I’m really proud of it.

I got an overwhelming amount of track suggestions once I posted that I wanted to do a fan-based mix set.  And I got quite a variety of ideas thrown my way – and a few of you really surprised me with what you came up with… so here you go.

I love that many of you found some HOT remixes of artists I love.  There’s one artist in this set that appears throughout – Robyn, no surprise there.  But there’s a couple other themes going on… some SWEET modern, electro versions of 90′s tunes you’ve long since forgotten, some new stuff, and a few surprises.  Surprises like Missy Elliott with backing fiddles.

Most of my sets, I start with my favorite track combo… and I thought I was doing the same here.  I love every second of the sucker.  When I test a mix, I export it, take it to the gym…. and if I ever wanna fast-forward, it still needs work.  Now I feel minute 16 is where it starts just going crazy.  In a good way.

Most of the songs in the mix came from you guys – and I put a few in – but I certainly didn’t put anything in this set that I didn’t love 110%.

Each time I try to do a mix, I wanna trump what I’ve done previously.  I’m still pretty damn happy with my last efforts, so this took a long while to perfect.  I love it… but it wouldn’t be what it is, without your input.

Oh yeah.  There’s one track I knew I was gonna get shit for including… but I can’t help but love it more every time I hear it.

Hope you guys like it – thanks for everyone’s support!

- Andrew

I wanted to so something a little more festive than my usual pounding workout mix. You’ll either love or hate the first track, but it climbs to into a hard groove like I usually like to start with… but after a hard left turn, settles into a happy, vocal bounce for most of the mix. Including as much diva-ness as I can bare to include. And yes, a few of my friends would sorely miss Rihanna if she wasn’t in here, so there she is. Who doesn’t like Please Don’t Stop The Music?

And since this mix kicks off a big bash before we move East, the mix ends on a more serious, sad note… but that track, In The Dark, is one of my favs on here, even if it sticks out like a sore thumb.

The first three tracks, and a few in the middle are more my taste… this mix, more than usual, has few more mainstream stuff mixed in.

But before you get into it, first, a disclaimer: I’ve been pulled away to Seattle (and SF) for work for a couple weeks here, so I never got to tweak this mix after my first go at it. So the mixing isn’t tight and freaky like I like to do, and there are certainly a handful of places that coulda been cleaned up. I’m not as proud of this mix as my last couple. But, I’m not gonna be back home in Vancouver until Pride now, and am away from my mix and all my tunes, so I’m posting the alpha version, as-is. The mix was almost titled Good Enough. :) Fun now, technical mastery next time, k?

Enjoy, and let me (or my Tip Jar!) know what you think. And happy Pride 2007, bitches! See you on the dance floor.

- Andy

It was a long time coming for this new mix, but it was worth the delay. I actually started it about 3 months ago. It barely resembles the mix I started making, but think the result has really turned into something special. Faster Still was my effort to try to make the perfect workout mix; this mix is all about sounds I love on the dance floor. The flavor this go-around? Electro with some funky hip hop and rock sounds.

So who’s sangin’? Would you believe I used modern takes on songs by Run DMC and George Benson? Don’t forget some hot new remixes of old tracks by Janet, Warren G(!), and Black Box. The sound is hot new electro, but the canvas turned out to be some classic songs – and they’ve been given a whole new feel entirely, to the credit of Chris Lake, Jason Nevins, Starkillers, Bodyrox, Xavier, and others. There aren’t really any fad pop mixes here (with exception of the last track).. adding to the shelf life of this set, I think.

It begins with a swift smack across the face, and glides into a funky electro groove… stuff I love to introduce peak hour sounds. Right at about 15 minutes in, it gets a little more serious, and then sounds get a little more grand, and then sexy. After that, I quiet down – compared to the rest of the mix, anyhow – to a slow throb. Then another smack across the face, peak hour spasm again. The mix ends with some lighter, emotional sounds – how I usually begin a set.

If you listened to the first two-thirds of any of my previous sets, you “got the idea.” And the first third of this set is a hell of a good time, for sure. However, the last third of this set is really quite different from the rest – and has some great tracks. This mix is a bit of a journey, while my other mixes are more self-contained.

At the end of the the day, this set covers a range of sounds I get down to. With just enough electro to hold them together.

Let me know what you guys think! Warning to ya, though.. pop mix lovers might be a little heart-broken… these are some serious grooves here :)

- Andy

So that was the challenge this go-around. Create the perfect workout set. One that doesn’t stop pumping you up.

So here is 60 minutes of electro-house that just goes nuts. No Kaskade track to warm you up here, it jumps right into the aggressive stuff and doesn’t really look back. A little hip hop, a little bongo, and a lot of electro. Tons of fun. I’m really loving this set.

Not only are the transitions dangerously tight, but I trimmed the fat on a lot of these tracks to keep up the pace. While many song aren’t pop-format vocal tracks, there are a few in there (Names, Dahling, I need names!)… Kelis, Nelly Furtado, and Brittany Murphy (yes, THAT Brittany Murphy) help fill the marquee.

Hope you enjoy it… let me know what you think. And as always, the mix name comes from relevant song lyrics.

- Andy

I finally put together another house mix. I’m really digging this one. Though it’s not the best (technically) that I think I could do, it’s a sweet set of tracks, all with a festive peak-hour, electro-vibing feel. I used to like hard, dark, energetic tunes the most… my tastes are moving to funkier electronic tracks. Not saying these are all necessarily unique songs, but this mix has a fun stylistic cohesion.

It starts off pretty light and fun, and midway through gets a little sexier, with a good old-fashion spastic climax on the track Money Shot. As always, every mix I’ve ever made (house music or otherwise) is titled from an obvious lyric in one of it’s songs, and rings some sort of relevence to my life at that moment. And, of course, in the effort of shameless self-promotion, I’ve stamped my shirtless self on the cover again. A party ain’t a party without a little skin.

Since I never spent much continuous on this mix, it’s been an evolving project that just never got finished. So out of the 50 tracks I had to use for this mix, only 10(ish) made the cut. I trimmed the fat. No sense trying to make certain songs fly when it’s unnatural. This mix is only 60 minutes rather than the 80 I usually shoot for. But it’s a better listen for it.

I’ve had people send me some tracks based on what I’ve put up to share. My response to that is “thanks!” and feel free. I’m always looking to listen to new tunes.

Hope you enjoy it – let me know what you think.

- Andy