Headed Home

After living in the former Soviet territory of Ukraine for over two years I’m headed home. To commemorate this earth shaking occasion I made a mix on that very theme and named it ‘Headed Home.’ I don’t yet know what else I will listen to on my 4 flights that will span a full day, but at least I have 17 full minutes planned and accounted for. In the traditional Friday Feel style, it consists of 5 songs all recorded as one long track. And the winners are;

1. M. Ward – To Go Home (Daniel Johnston Cover)
2. Smith Casey & Roger Gill – When I Git Home
3. Brian Eno & David Byrne – Home
4. Wooden Wand – Dogpaddlin’ Home in Line with My Lord
5. Simon & Garfunkel – Keep the Customer Satisfied

Mp3: V.A. – Headed Home

Форум on the Porch

Forum was formed in the spring of 1983 in St. Petersburg. Sasha Morozov was responsible for the band’s formation; in the Lou Pearlman tradition, he got all of these dudes together who played different instruments who otherwise didn’t know each other, but unlike Pearlman, Morozov knew what he was doing as will be evident when you listen to the tracks below. For those of you looking forward to O-Town harmonies, well, the world is not with you. The year after their formation they released their debut album, pictured above, White Night. The following songs are from that album. Have a listen! 

Mp3: Форум – Белая Hoчь (White Night)

Mp3: Форум – Давайте Созвонимся (Let’s Phone)

Центр on the Porch

‘Center’ was formed during the late ’70s in Moscow behind the Iron Curtain. Much of the world’s inhabitants, including their fellow comrades in the Soviet Union, were never made aware of such formation and subsequent rocking the group would go on to do. Oh boy, what a tragedy! Now, to amend that, I recommend that you listen to the tracks below. Such flippancy, such playfulness, such cool bass licks. The gems below were released in 1983. 

Mp3: Центр - Умный (Smart)

Mp3: Центр - Навсегда (Forever)

Got Them Summa Sweats Vol. ∞.1

This is the Summer Mix. Download the first track below for a sample of the wonder you could instantly subject yourself to just by clicking on the 2nd link which will take you to a place on the internet where all the songs in Summa Sweats are waiting for you, bundled. The 3rd link will reveal the Track List. Whichever link you choose, Enjoy!

Mp3: 1. Cause Co-Motion! - Who’s Gonna Care?

***Got Them Summa Sweats Vol. ∞.1***

Bobby Chiz – “Vibe Tech” Video

Mississippi boy Bobby Chiz (member of Dead Gaze & Dent May) has released a debut homemade psych-pop jam and video titled “Vibe Tech.”

U.M.O.

I was recently tuned into Unknown Mortal Orchestra by the boys over at Cats Purring. This past weekend I was able to catch U.M.O. live in action at the Mohawk here in Austin. They played all the jams I was familiar with in addition to some new tracks and closed with an incredible cover of Can – “Vitamin C.”

DOWNLOAD > Unknown Mortal Orchestra – “Thought Balloon”

also, follow em’ on the tweeter.

Literary Dance

This is a song that I made some time ago by sampling a couple of 80s songs and a couple of William Carlos Williams’ poems; two fields of interest for me which are not syncretized enough.

Mp3: Braveyard – Glazed with Kentucky

Artwork by the immaculate Will Bryant

Congos, Porched

The Congos are a vocal group from Jamaica maan who in 1977 went deep into the Black Ark with the immortal and mind-expanding Lee Scratch Perry to record an album which would come to be known as Heart of the Congos which if you listen below to a cut from that record you’ll see that they produced some heady results. I haven’t listened to dub in a long time, but this album brought it all back for me; the colorfulness, the murkiness (henceforth known as murky rainbow quality), and that certain vibing with no curtains on the windows.

Mp3: Congos - La La Bam-Bam

Be Honest

My good friend Kate Bingaman-Burt asked me to curate a mix for Be Honest, the Portland State second annual graphic design review hosted by Friends of Graphic Design. This year features an all star appearance and lecture by Jennifer Daniel!

The music selection covers a lot of ground, paralleling not only my journey through design school, but anyone’s really. Taste, interest, and skills evolve throughout a 4 year program so I wanted to showcase that by featuring a wide range of jams. The cover art for this 29 track mix was inspired by Jennifer’s ridiculously rad lecture poster.

DOWNLOAD this mix as a single mp3 > Be Honest by Will Bryant.zip

Hope you enjoy! Please support these featured artists and purchase a vinyl when you get a chance. View the complete tracklist below…

Can’t Get Enuff of King Tuff

King Tuff is a guitar toting young man whose brand of re-imagined glam rock from Vermont is so immediately infectious that you might break out in hives on the very first listen. What makes the King so Tuff for me is his earnest, homey lyrics, whereas stylistically he should be singing about ballrooms on Mars and space balls ricocheting (see T. Rex), the kind of abstruse, yet dreamy world that glammers seemed to inhabit in the ’70s. King Tuff has left behind the make-up of yesteryear in favor of an unshaven perspective embedded in a reality where rock stars have grandmas, even if they still don’t care what they think.

Mp3: King Tuff – Freak When I’m Dead