bravehound - resuscitation.mp3
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Shameless, I know.  Self-indulgence, anyone? :)

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

PS: If you’re a new visitor, you can view all my house mixes here.

bravehound - 1night.mp3
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Heres a mix for pride!

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

bravehound - groove tonight.mp3
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Here’s the soundtrack to New Year’s :)

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

Dave M - Deeper.mp3
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When I’m putting together a mix set, the only person I’ve taken to sharing it with before it’s done… is Dave. He does quite a bit of desktop mixing, and has a great ear for it. So I’ve asked him to gimme something to share with y’all.

He and I certainly have a fresh perspective when we preview each others’ work, which is great… I love me some funky electro peak hour, he loves him some dark diva drums ‘n echoes. Truthfully, he dabbles in all sorts of sounds, but you can call him a big fat liar if he denies loving his screaming songbirds and bongo layers.

I asked Dave to share some words:

Dave: Andy has been threatening to post one of my mixes for a long time. He’s my best (and worst) critic, so choosing something that he would find tolerable was challenge #1. Challenge #2, perhaps more daunting, was to get comfortable with the fact that people will make decisions about my musical style, skill and artistry (or complete lack thereof) based on this one mix. That was tough for me to get over. When it comes to club music, I can easily swing my purse with the divas one minute and plumb the deepest depths of afterhours the next. So I don’t really have a style, and I guess I’ll have to ask Andy to post a few more mixes at some point to prove that.

In the meantime — you’ll find that this one falls somewhere in the peak-to-afterhours space on the continuum. And it’s old — I did it more than a year and a half ago. So if you’re one of those types who judges a mix based on its inclusion of the very latest, obscure-est, promo-only-est, privatest white-labelest tracks, don’t bother with this one. Anyone else — I’d love to hear your comments, positive and otherwise. Thanks for taking the time to give it a listen. And thanks to Andy for the slick cover art, the encouragement and the bandwidth.

Let him know what you think in the comments!

bravehound - fasterstill.mp3
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A buddy told me he likes listening to Pure Gold at the gym, but found himself skipping back to the beginning once he got 20 minutes in. And honestly, I was kinda doing the same thing.

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 songy lyrics.

bravehound - pure gold.mp3
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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.

bravehound - let it go.mp3
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I’ve finally made another house mix I’d like to share. And it’s quite different than my last mix. It’s a more accurate picture of my taste in house music, and where it’s going.

I’m really proud of this mix. Let It Go mixes fresh tracks I’d bet many people haven’t heard (yes, that means no Britney, or any Top 40 remixes, really). Of course, there will be a couple familiar tracks… one of which is a classic house anthem I couldn’t resist tossing in there, as it’s one of my all-time favorites, and a definite floor-filler.

The first few tracks were my inspiration for the mix (including the first track, which is one of my new favorites). I found that the first 4 songs jived so well together, I challenged myself to wait until I found tracks that did them justice. Unfortunately, this took me a while. But the great part is that I ended up rifling through tons of house music I wouldn’t have normally come across.

I hope you enjoy it. Let me know what you think.

bravehound - better at night.mp3
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I’d like to share my first house CD I’ve mixed. I actually made this CD before the Britney remix I posted, and I’ve made other continuous mixes after this one… but this Better At Night is still my favorite. It’s still rockin my iPod gym list.

It starts out pretty festive and fun, and after a rockin “floor filler” - about 40 minutes in - starts amping up, and keeps going. The energy level doesn’t wind down any - it’s only a 80 minute set! - but rather peaks at the end. I won’t share the track listing on here, in hopes that people give it a listen all the way through, without skipping around.

I’d love to hear your feedback. I felt it was a good mix - only an error or two in it. I used Mixmeister to do the mixing. I have fun doing mixes, so I’m sure I’ll be posting others as time goes on.

Some might be thinking… have I found yet another venue for my shameless,needless self-promotion?

Yep.