Two years ago had you told me I would be following people I’ve never met on twitter, I would have bet against you. And felt confident in winning. Because, why exactly would I want to follow someone I’ve never met? Unless it’s say, Tina Fey or maybe Conan O’Brien? I could make just a few exceptions because somehow that makes a little more sense to me.

Let me be the first to say, someone should have made that bet because I would have lost. And that’s how I know today’s summer music mixer, Todd Richardson. He’s my internet friend. Weird, I know. We’ve never met, if we passed one another on the street we wouldn’t know it, we live in very different cities, but, and I stress, BUT, we both love photography and music. And that’s how I came across Todd, through his photography. I posted on his Paris series last winter.  It made me immediately want to pack up and move to Paris. We’ve been friends ever since.

So be sure to check out Todd’s amazing photography and his inspiring tumblr too. You can even follow him on twitter if you like. And last, be sure to enjoy his summer mix. It’s best listened to during those hours between sunset and sunrise preferably near the water or on a rooftop patio with a good summery cocktail in hand and 5 of your best friends. Have a wonderful weekend my friends.

You can check out all the mixes this summer here.
Download here.
Click the icon below to listen.

1. I Slept with the Bonhomme at the CBC – Broken Social Scene
2. My Baby Has A Gang Sign (Sign Our Hearts) – GoGoGo Airheart
3. No Aloha – The Breeders
4. Ghost Outfit – Deerhunter
5. Sweet Road – Animal Collective
6. Hung Upside Down – Buffalo Springfield
7. Feelings In My Heart – The Fresh & Onlys
8. I Was Denied - Thee Oh Sees
9. Years Not Long - Male bonding
10. Singing Butterfly – Beachwood Sparks
11. The Seed – Nobody & Mystic Chords of Memory
12. No Barrier Fun – Liars
13. Mr. Beat/Street Tax – Tristeza
14. Tunnelvision – Here We Go Magic
15. Crumbling Land – Pink Floyd
16. Burden – The Mantles
17. J.O. – Love is Just a Tool – Clinic
18. Anchovya Suite – All Night Radio
19. Ready, Able – Grizzly Bear
20. Summer Stage – The Walkmen

Photo: Todd Richardson

Remember when I said I was going to post a summer mix every week throughout summer? Well, I kinda forgot I was driving half way across the country with Jevan to get him to Portland last week. Plus the internet connection I was hoping to have was basically not happening for me. So I missed last week. I’m so sorry. When I tell you something, I like to make it happen. So, I hope this makes up for it.

This week’s summer mix is by the illustrious Sam from Tanner Goods. It’s going to be on heavy rotation around these parts and is best listened to in the car, windows down, pedal to the metal. Those are Sam’s exact words, don’t think I’m encouraging fast speeds. Because this mix could also be enjoyed on the sofa, it’s just not as fun. Happy Friday folks. Check back in the coming weeks each Friday this summer for some great summer tunes. Enjoy your weekend

You can check out all the mixes this summer here.
Download here:
Click the icon below to listen:

1. Intro
2. Psychotic Reaction – Count Five
3. The Rebel Kind – Dino, Desi & Billy
4. Roadrunner  – Modern Lovers
5. Highway Star – Deep Purple
6. Tumbling Dice – The Rolling Stones
7. Jeepster – T. Rex
8. Green Onions – Booker T. & the MG’s
9. Mamuro-Gawa Ondo – Takeshi Terauchi and Bunnys
10. Fireball – Alan Vega
11. Trouble Comes Running – Spoon
12. Gonullerde Bahar – Alpay
13. You Got What I Like – Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers
14. Paper Dolls – The Nerves
15. Theme From ‘the Traitors’ – The Packabeats

Photo: via Sam

You can listen to Yellow Lines and Sunsets below and as often as you like, you can even skip songs, not that you would, but you can:

And by popular request, you can download the mix here.

I just found out… You can still listen to this mix via Google Reader or any other reader, but you will need to manually play each song. If you are directly on the K.I.D Collective site, this isn’t required.

1. Billy Bragg & Wilco – California Stars
2. The Drums – Let’s Go Surfing
3. Yeasayer – Ambling Alp
4. Avi Buffalo – What’s In It For?
5. Blitzen Trapper – Furr
6. Fleetwood Mac – Second Hand News
7. Delta Spirit – People C’mon
8. Otis Redding – Respect
9. Creedence Clearwater Revival – Lodi
10. Uncle Tupelo – Screen Door
11. Local Natives – Sun Hands
12. the Replacements – When It Began
13. The Rolling Stones – Sweet Virginia
14. Son Volt – Windfall
15. Fanfarlo – The Walls Are Coming Down
16. Whiskeytown – Dancing With the Women At The Bar
17. The National – Conversation 16
18. Noah and the Whale – Blue Skies
19. Tarkio – Sister Nebraska
20. Little Joy - Don’t Watch Me Dancing

Photo: Jevan

Tonight we are heading to the Larimer Lounge to see Local Natives. Getting up early for my super secret mission tomorrow AM is going to be hard but totally worth it. I can’t wait to share. In the mean time, you can see some more Local Native business here. Or watch/listen below.

Photo: Local Natives

The past decade has been an incredible ten years. Off the top of my head, I graduated from college, moved across the country, began a new life in Colorado, married my best friend and am now in the midst of starting my own business. While all of these are milestones in my life, music also plays a huge part in reminding me of those times. Juice Newton and the Boss remind me of my mom. Both tapes were on repeat one long, hot, Tennessee summer. I think I was 7 and I remember riding in the little blue chevet with the windows down and singing Queen of Hearts like it was yesterday. Young MC Stone Cold Rhymin’ was my first official CD purchase and I played it over and over until I knew all the words to Busta Move. Neil Young Harvest Moon makes me think of 10th grade, sneaking out to smoke cigarettes and a love for volkswagen vans. I’m sure Jevan would tell you listening to Fleetwood Mac would remind him of growing up in Portland with his mom and dad. Do you have these memories that come rushing back after listening to a song?

To mark the end of each year, Jevan and I  make a playlist of our favorite songs. It’s our thing I guess you could say. I realize a lot of people do this but we’ve made this our tradition since we first began dating. We look forward to this time and talk about as much trash as one could possibly talk about a playlist. Ridiculous, I know, but remember it is our thing.

This year we decided on a decade list. Something that would span our lives from 2000 to 2009. We began in the same fashion as our annual list. Each of us had around 100 songs to narrow down to a well rounded list of 32. Not an easy feat because some great music was released between the millennium and 2010. And, while you may wonder why we picked one song over another, this list is once again, purely personal. I chose song #13 because I sang part of it to Jevan as a voice message when we first started falling for each other. I’m a horrible singer and no one, especially a guy I’m interested in, should have a recording of me singing. Thankfully he was good and kept it to himself. Each time I hear the song, it takes me back to those days. Some songs haven’t yet had time to develop the memories while others are much more personal I won’t discuss for all the Internet to read. This list represents an incredible 10 years for each of us. I hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoy putting it together.

Side-note: I’m trying something a little different with the audio version of this list. If you aren’t able to download it or have trouble. Comment below and I’ll try to work it out.

Disc 1 can be listened to here:

1.   Air France – No Excuses
2.  Arcade Fire – Rebellion (lies)
3.  Badly Drawn Boy – Once Around the Block
4.  Band of Horses – The Funeral
5.  Beirut – Mount Wroclai (Idle Days)
6.  Bon Iver – Skinny Love
7.  Bowerbirds – In Our Talons
8.  Cat Power – Good Woman
9.  Cotton Jones – Blood Red Sentimental Blues
10.  Death Cab for Cutie – Transatlanticism
11.  DeVotchka – How it Ends
12.  Drive-By Truckers – Decoration Day
13.  Gillian Welsh – Wayside Back In Time
14.  Grizzly Bear – Knife
15.  Grandaddy – Hewlett’s Daughter
16.  The Knife – Heartbeats

Disc 2 can be listened to here:

17.  Lykke Li – I’m Good, I’m Gone
18.  M.I.A. – Paper Planes
19.  Modest Mouse - Gravity Rides Everything
20.  The National – Secret Meeting
21.  Okkervil River – Okkervil River Song
22.  Phoenix – Lisztomania
23.  The Postal Service – The District Sleeps Alone
24.  Radiohead – Reckoner
25.  Ryan Adams – My Winding Wheel
26.  The Shins – New Slang
27.  The Strokes – Is This It
28.  TV on the Radio – Wolf Like Me
29.  The Walkmen – Donde Esta La Playa
30.  Wilco – I Am Trying to Break Your Heart
31.  Wolf Parade – Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts
32.  Yeasayer – 2080

In honor of Halloween, I thought I should get some music going. Dead Man’s Bones seems about right. Yeah, that’s Ryan Gosling. He and band mate Zach Shields just released their first album at the beginning of this month. And it’s pretty good. Not as scary as it sounds. I promise. Go ahead, listen.

Dead Man’s Bones with the Silverlake Conservatory of Music Children’s Choir – My Body’s A Zombie For You

[Photo: Hama Sanders]

This song has been floating around the internet since this summer. As of yesterday, you can officially purchase the new Atlas Sound album, Logos. The song I posted below is a collaboration with Animal Collective‘s Noah Lennox (aka Panda Bear). Enjoy!

Atlas Sound – Walkabout featuring Noah Lennox

[Photo: Aquarium Drunkard]

I came across these photos of Cotton Jones from Monolith Festival at Red Rocks and realized I hadn’t posted anything. It was a super rainy day and we headed inside to warm up and dry off. Apparently hiding from the rain gets you a front row spot to see Cotton Jones. If they happen to be in your neck of the woods, I highly recommend taking the time to see them. You won’t be disappointed.

Take a listen here.

Cotton Jones – Blood Red Sentimental Blues

I haven’t posted music in a few weeks so I thought I would share what I’ve been listening to lately. The xx, from the UK. They are on tour now and most of the US shows are in November. Check them out if you have a second.

[Photo: Owen Richards]