The New LoFi Mixtape

The New LoFi is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a 10-track compilation featuring 10 of our favorite artists from the past decade. This month’s mixtape is dedicated to the 10 artists that will be featured on the album. The New LoFi’s founders, Damon and James reminisce about the blog and talk to each artists on the record. It’s like a mini-listening party for the album.

Head over to thenewlofi.com/ten to pre-order the record.

And here are some other links of stuff we talked about in the podcast and the playlist below:

• Heart N Soul updates with Ono
• The New Sounds of Late Capitalism, by Star Parks
• Old Smile’s pro-dubbed cassette tape release, Steep Blue Hill
• Old Smile’s new album, Glued
• Eric Harvey’s reissue of Lake Disappointment (Deluxe Edition)
• Conveyor’s video for Muckraker
• T.J. Master’s new band, Guma
• Some remixes and a video for “Champion Sound” by Crystal Fighters
• LUXXURY’s album Set Me Free (extended edition)
• Memorial Day Mixtape
  

Ten Tear Anniversary Mixtape Playlist

The New LoFi mixtape is also available on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts

This month we’ve got new music from Session Victim, Tiga, Hudson Mohawke, Disclosure, Verdance, Khi Infinite, Solomun, Monkey Safari, Old Smile and O’Flynn.

I’m designating this mix as the lockdown dance-your-face-off-at-home mix. It starts off smooth with some psychedelic indie and jazz in the beginning before becoming progressively faster as the mix goes on. Perfect for some self-isolation dance party fun. 

I got all scientific about this mix and lined up the songs according to beats per minute. So the first track is at like 90 bpm and each song is a tiny bit faster until we end at 130 bpm.  

So for example, at around 15 minutes into the mix we feature the title single off of  Chip Wickham’s new cosmic jazz album, Blue to Red. The track combines this sauntering percussion with a sweeping harp — yes, a friggin harp. It is reminiscent of other jazz greats like Alice Coltrane, Pharaoh Sanders, Dorothy ashby. 

Then fast forward to the 1 hour mark and we’ve got the new Solomun track that bumps the beat up to 125. It’s a totally different world. 

My hope is that if you listen to the mix from start to finish, the transition will be so seamless that you won’t even notice. That was the plan anyway. 

Hope you hear something you can get excited about in this month’s mix. Until next time, enjoy the November Mixtape!

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The New LoFi mixtape is also available on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts

November 2020 Mixtape Playlist

The October Mixtape features new music from Bonobo, Laurence Guy, SAULT, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, James Chatburn, Kauf, and more.

This month’s mix really leans into the chilled-out house vibes. Maybe it’s just me trying to hang on to the last scraps of summer, but there is a lot of sunny jazz-house to help you rave out in your living room. That Sable Blanc track, “Amour Gris” is just stellar. And the Nairobi D tune! The Bonobo and T.E.E.D. collaboration to remix an LA Priest track! Laurence Guy’s two subtle bangers; there are just so many back to back understated bangers in this mixtape.

Don’t get me wrong, we got some great indie music in there as well. The new one from Margot Polo, James Chatburn’s new single “Jewellery and Gold,” and Kauf’s latest single, “Time Pass” — all fantastic songs for fall.

Then there is my personal favorite: the quirky tracks like Mezerg’s piano cover of “Riders on the Storm” by The Doors. Or the Pachyman remix of “Ta Que Tiembla” by Buscabulla.

And last but not least, I’ve included two new tracks from the elusive collective called SAULT. The first track, “Free” is this funky fresh (almost pop) song with a break beat and a strong vocal presence. The second track later on in the mix is called “Street Fighter.” Where “Free” is like this funky fresh pop song, “Street Fighter” has this rich layering of percussion that leads you through the track. It’s rougher. Less cleanly produced than “Free” but more sophisticated. And then this orchestral arrangement of strings comes in over top. Ooooo, it gives me chills! 

Check out the SAULT website for more information on how to buy their albums.

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Hope you hear something you can get excited about in this month’s mix. Until next time, enjoy the October Mixtape!

October 2020 Mixtape Playlist

For the September Mixtape we have new music from Disclosure, Röyksopp, Kamaal Williams, Trentemøller, Foals, LUXXURY, Boys Noize, HAAi and many many more!

I’ll admit that this month’s mix has a bit less sunshine in it. It’s more soulful and introverted. This mix explores the more brooding and autumnal side of music that has been delivered to us this year. I suppose it fits well with the mood that September brings: the days are getting shorter, the nights are getting colder.

So while last month’s mixtape was filled with bubbly house and sunshiny indie music, this month features more instrumental jazz, melancholic beats and dark techno. This mix is for solo listening. There is so much atmospheric nuance in this mix that I’d say it’s better suited for headphone listening by oneself rather than being used as a soundtrack for a house party.

Or perhaps this mix would be the perfect companion on a run. After the one hour mark the music starts to up the pace and the beats start to become more and more minimal and aggressive. By the 01:15:00 mark, you have entered a world of driving techno.

Basically, this mix isn’t for everyone, but for those more pioneering listeners out there, I think there is some really interesting and unique sounds for you to discover.

But before we get deep, the mix starts off with something more upbeat: The new single off of LUXXURY’s latest album: “Set Me Free.”

Thanks for listening!

September 2020 Mixtape Playlist

This month features new music from The Avalanches, Metronomy, Romare, channel tres, Bonobo, Röyksopp, SAULT, Kraak & Smaak, LUXXURY — there is just so much good new music on this mix this month!

The mix starts off with a bit of indie and quickly gets into that soul music. The soul gives way to a sprinkling of disco and then gets deeper and deeper into house. This is fantastic for chilling out those hot August summer nights.

The playlist below links to all the tracks. Go support the artists if you like what you hear!

Here’s to discovering some new music that you love.  Thanks for listening!

August 2020 Mixtape Playlist

This month we’ve got new music from TOKiMONSTA, Jayda G, Boys Noize, Lone, Star Parks, the Sirens of Lesbos and many more. There’s a good mixture of lo-fi chilled-out beats, indie music and deep house. And loads of other weird and wonderful new music.

There is also some terrific afro beat on there including one from Gordon Koang and another one from the legendary Mulatu Astatke. 

At around 35 minutes, we’ve got a new single from an album called “Natures Diary”  which combines lo-fi beats with recordings of the natural world. The track is called “Zen Stream” and it’s from a producer called Clouds.

This month we’ve also featured a new track from a Philadelphia-based producer called Jamil Marshall (aka Small Professor). His new single is called “wish cops would stop killing unarmed black people” and it is dedicated to the memory of Breonna Taylor.

The song takes inspiration from Spike Lee’s 1994 film Crooklyn (which feels pretty relevant even today) and the chorus is a rework of Special Ed’s powerful verse from the title song of the soundtrack. It’s a really good homage to 90s hip hop and it’s for a good cause.

Around the 2 hour mark, there is a new track from an Oklahoma-based producer, called HeartWerk . The track is called “Absent” and it is part of a new compilation inspired by lockdown and aimed to protect the rainforest. All of the proceeds from the compilation will be donated to the Rainforest Trust to help fight climate change and deforestation. 

Who knew that House music could help save the world? 

I hope that you discover something new that you love on the mixtape this month.  Thanks for listening!

July Playlist:

June’s Mixtape includes three hours of summer sounds. Featuring new music from Star Parks, Disclosure, Alex Boman, Magic Bronson, Jacques and Agoria.

For me, the music that best represents summer is a combination of Reggae, High Life, Afrobeat and Surf Rock. And I think there is a good mixture of all of that in the first hour of the mix.

Early in the mixtape we’ve featured a track from the king of Cumbia: Raul Llerena Vásquez (aka Ranil). Just last month the record label Analogue Africa released a compilation celebrating the extraordinary output of all the cumbia and psychedelic Latin sounds that Ranil has produced over the years. The track we’ve selected from the compilation to include in this mix is called “Muévete Mi Amor” and it is sure to get you into that Afro Caribbean mindset. 

Around about 25 minutes into the mix the music starts to give way to a jazzier more laid-back sound with the new Sweatson Klanks single, “How the Sun Rose.” I just love the way they’ve mixed a soulful beat with meandering horns and a sleepily delivered (and sort of sexy) vocal track 

The jazz and soul continues with new tracks from Scrimshire and a new London based duo called Mattari. 

Just around the 40 minute mark the jazz starts to get more electronic with Benji B’s dub remix of “Mirage” by Jessie Ware. There’s also a new track by Agoria and the elusive French producer Jacques. The two producers were brought together to create an original motion picture soundtrack for Olivier van Hoofstadt’s new movie “Lucky.” I haven’t seen the movie but the soundtrack is EXCELLENT. No two tracks are the same with music ranging from the cinematic and ambient to hip hop.  The album is so rich musically. I’ve listened to it dozens of times over the last month and every time I hear something new.

There is also a new Disclosure track in the mix. It’s called “ENERGY” and it features a vocal sample by Eric Thomas. You might recognize Thomas’ voice from one of Disclosure’s earlier tracks, “When a Fire Starts to Burn.” This time Thomas is channeling his inner gym coach with positive verbal motivation about how to focus your energy. It’s great.

Towards the end of the mixtape there is a new track from a producer called Bad Tuner. The track is called “Weather Report” and it samples an old American news reporter who is reading the weather. The track is super catchy and the video they made features some fantastic freestyle dancing around chinatown New York city.

I hope that you discover something new that you love on this mixtape.  Thanks for listening!

June Playlist:

This month’s mix starts off with some jazzy summer tunes before moving into some deep house and disco.

We’ve got a new by a French producer Parx and a remix from Romanian duo Khidja — they’ve revived a classic jazz track with their rework of “Walk On, Bye.” 

At around 25 minutes into the mix, the jazz music gives way to something a bit more electronic; starting with a track called “Es Vedra” (Which I think means ‘It will be seen’ in Spanish). The track is off this amazing new album called Linkwood & Foat which is the result of a collaboration between two well known British producers. Well known in completely different genres. On one side of the musical spectrum is Nick Moore — the Scottish techno producer behind Linkwood. On the other side is the critically acclaimed jazz pianist, Greg Foat. The album includes 8 genre-bending tracks that blur the line between electronic music and jazz. It’s become sort of my meditative self-isolation soundtrack over the past month. 

I’ve peppered 3 tracks from the album on this mix (which I know is unorthodox) but I just couldn’t help myself. It’s so good. 

There is also a lovely little beat curtsey of Quantic at about 1 hour and 10 minutes. I challenge you not to bop your head to that one. 

There’s a little mini banger of a track at around an hour and a half called “Harriet Tubman.” It was created by an Australian producer called Harry Nathan and the track samples his producer Ryan pretending to be a talkshow host interviewing Harriet Tubman. Harry walks into the room and is like “Who is Harriet Tubman?” which gives the track its character. But also, who doesn’t know who Harriet Tubman is???

Towards the end of the mix we’ve got some ambient come-down music for you. There’s a fantastic little number from LA-based producer Olive Ardizoni (also known as Green-House). The latest album from Green-House is called Six Songs for Invisible Gardens (which I thought was really fitting for all of those people in lockdown without a back yard or a balcony to hang out in)

All the tracks on the album are named after the plants they conjure: “Peperomia Seedling.” “Sansevieria.” “Parlor Palm.” The track included on the mix is called “Soft Meadow” and you can find that at about 1 hour and 50 mins. 

And finally, the mixtape is capped off with a the new single from French-Canadian singer songwriter Josie Boivin (better known as MUNYA).
Her new single is called “Andy & Paola” and it was written and recorded all in her bedroom over the past month. The track is a thank you letter to all of the healthcare professionals out their risking their lives on the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic.  I thought that was a nice one to end it on. 

May Playlist:

This month on the mix we have new music from: Quantic, Salvatore Ganacci, Sebastien Tellier, Paco Versailles, and Disclosure.

Playlist:

This month on the mix we have new music from: Bombay Bicycle Club, Kauf, Lane 8, Max Cooper, Mura Masa and a new track from a very old friend of the blog: Danish producer, Anders Trentemøller.

Playlist: