The Max Rambles Mixtape Vol. 2

I'm long past due for another music-related post, and so with that in mind I happily present the Max Rambles Mixtape Vol. 2. This one's a fair bit peppier than the last one, and frankly more eclectic. There's everything from east coast Canadian rock (Sloan, Thrush Hermit) to classic funk (Tower of Power) to chiptune punk (Anamanaguchi). Here's the tracklist:

She Says What She Means - Sloan
King of Spain - The Tallest Man On Earth
Courage - The Tragically Hip
MJB - Futurebirds
Brick House - Tower of Power
Take a Chance - The Magic Numbers
Thy Will Be Done - Handsome Furs
Not What You Think It Is / Stop Signs (Live) - Dan Mangan / Shane Koyczan
At My Expense - Thrush Hermit
Airbrushed - Anamanaguchi
Ginger - Lilys

Visit Megaupload to download the mix, type in the security code at the above right and click on the "download file" button immediately below. You'll have to wait like 30 seconds and then click on the "Regular download" button to save the mix. Unlike last time around the tracks on this mix will show up as separate files. As always enjoy and lemme know what you think or if you have any recommendations!

Dan Mangan and Shane Koyczan

Shane Koyczan (left) and Dan Mangan (with guitar)

I recently came upon a post at chromewaves.net that reminded me how awesome it is whenever Dan Mangan and Shane Koyczan perform together. I first heard Koyczan in the fall of '08 when a friend played me a recording of his poem "My Darling Sara," and I was immediately struck by his clever and poignant lyricism. A few months later Mangan's song "The Indie Queens Are Waiting" popped up as a track of the day on CBC Radio 3, and I quickly became a huge fan. I actually included his fantastic "Road Regrets" on my recent Max Rambles Mix Tape Vol. 1.

At some point in early '09 I stumbled across a live medley of Mangan's "Not What You Think It Is" and Koyczan's "Stop Signs." Both pieces are incredible in their own right, but together they form an unforgettable and unparalleled whole. Mangan's song perfectly accentuates Koyczan's poetry and combined they're positively transcendent, and the track continues to blow me away every time I listen to it. Now I've stumbled upon a second medley of Mangan's "Tragic Turn of Events" with Koyczan's tragic "Move Pen Move," and it's every bit as powerful as the first.

Below I'm including the two medleys as downloadable MP3s, as well as Mangan's "Road Regrets" and Koyczan's "My Darling Sara." These two artists are among the very best working in Canadian today, and you'd be a fool not to check them out.

MP3s:
Tragic Turn of Events / Move Pen Move (Via chromewaves)
Not What You Think It Is / Stop Signs (Live) (RapidShare, click Free User)

Dan Mangan - Road Regrets (via chromewaves)
Shane Koyczan - My Darling Sara (via House of Parlance)

The Max Rambles Mixtape Vol. 1

I love playlists. They're great for road trips and bike rides, and a ton of fun to make. As High Fidelity taught us, there's a subtle artistry to creating the perfect melange of tunes and it requires that you listen to a lot good music. What's not to like? A friend and blogosphere compatriot recently posted an excellent mixtape and it made me think, "Why not do the same on my blog?"

So with that in mind I present to you the Max Rambles Mixtape Vol. 1, a collection of things I've been listening to lately and that seemed to fit together nicely. The track list is as follows:

Analogue - Tim Gilbertson

Devils & Dust - Bruce Springsteen

Wicked and Weird - Buck 65

Change of Time - Josh Ritter

The Dress Song - Jack Marks

Chasing Heather Crazy - Guided By Voices

Random Rules - Silver Jews

New Drink For The Old Drunk - Crooked Fingers

Far Away - José González

What Are You Willing To Lose? - Lucero

Small Definition - Superchunk

Shadow People - Dr. Dog

Toronto - Matty Powell

Road Regrets - Dan Mangan

Visit RapidShare to download the mix (click on the "free user" button under the speedometer on the right and wait about a minute then click on the download link). I don't promise that there will be more of this kind of thing, though it does seem probable. For more awesome tunes check out the aforementioned murder tapes or visit Beyond The Wall of Sleep (I particularly liked their Alt Country Revisited mix). 

Enjoy and lemme know what you think or if you have any recommendations!

Some Sweet New Music I've Been Listening to Lately

Dan Mangan is in the midst of a world tour in support of his latest album, Nice, Nice, Very Nice. It's a fantastic album, with standout tracks like "Road Regrets," "Robots," and "Basket." If you swing by Google Videos there's one of Dan and the inimitable Shane Koyczan doing a medley of one of Dan's best songs, "Not What You Think It Is," with Shane's poem "Stop Signs."

Matty Powell, a great singer-songwriter who's currently working in the Toronto area. He put together an amazing album while he was living out in Saskatoon, and it has an incredible and distinctly Canadian prairie sound. He's a bit of a hippy so if that's your thing you'll probably love him, give a listen to tracks like "Hope," "Fall Soft," and "Toronto."


The Vandertramps, an up and coming new group of jokers from out east. They don't have much going on online quite yet, but the song "Snark" shows that they've got some definite promise. If you're into the 90s lo-fi indie scene at all then this band is one to watch.

Daniel, Fred, and Julie is a Canadian folk supergroup, if such a thing can even exist. The band is a colaboration between Daniel Romano of Attack In Black, Fred Squire of Shotgun & Jaybird, and the east-coast queen Julie Doiron. The album is a collection of traditional and original folk songs recorded in a few days in the humblest sense possible. They don't even really have an official website I can link to, but HeroHill has a great write up on them that includes a sample track and a song-by-song breakdown of the album by Romano. Definitely check them out, this is an album that shouldn't be missed.