Eyes, Retirements, and the mix for 2-15-19

I’m mostly writing this on Thursday (Valentine’s Day) because I will be working a half-day on Friday. I’ll be going to the eye doctor for my yearly checkup and since I’ll have my eyes dilated, it will be impossible for me to read, much less post, anything.

The big reason to have my eyes checked each year is Diabetic Retinopathy. That’s damage to the tiny blood vessels in the eye due to poorly controlled diabetes. If you think that sitting in a quiet, darkened room waiting to find out if there is visible evidence of the failing edge of your mortal coil isn’t an uncomfortable moment of pause I’ve got news for you. For the last decade and a half the prognosis has been “No diabetic changes to the eye”. I’m still getting on to middle age so my reading glasses are going to need to be regular glasses sooner than I would like, but that is another thing.

I have it on good authority that my eye doctor will be retiring in a year or two. There is a sadness that comes with the end of long professional relationships. While it isn’t the same as a friendship ending per se, the comfort and ease that ends with these closings deserves its own threnody.

Behind the curtain: I took so much material off the opening/closings of these songs to get them to flow that I had to add another track to flesh out the total time. This was the first time that I felt like I really could get a song on the end that wasn’t just a loose random attachment.

Listen to and/or download this podcast! The Funkomaticjamatron Presents… originally mixed the week of 2-15-19..

Song – Artist – Album
Real Thang (Manuel Tur Remix) – Replika – Fashion House 2.
Get Me High – Chuck Love – Om Summer Session.
Nasty Girl (Full Mix) – Inaya Day – Nasty Girl single.
Wookie – Paul Thomas – Toolroom Knights 3.
Neodog – Christopher Lawrence – Un-Hooked.
Impressive Instant – Madonna – Music.
Claire – iO – ADSR 90 Minutes in the Eyes of iO.
Forgatagban – Fonogeri – Letters From Home.
Infinite Snow – Monolake – Silence.
JAL to Tokyo (Live from Toyko) – Underworld – Oblivion With Bells.
Falling into Place – Carmen Rizzo – Ornament of an Imposter.

Advertisements

Hard, Pushing, and the mix for 2-8-19

The weather has been hard here in Minnesota lately. Temps dipping to -26F, then two days later warm enough to melt and rain, then snow, then -11F again. It makes driving and walking about treacherous. I am still glad to have real winter, just to be clear, but I will restate a thing I have said for years: Winter is fine as long as I don’t have to drive in it. Minnesotans are not good at driving or parking.

Been playing a lot of No Man’s Sky on PS4. It’s a very good looking game. Also the inventory management aspect of the game is oddly enjoyable. I’m a boring and peculiar man.

Just staring off into space…

As I get older I am more and more aware that any physical fitness I have is in the “use it or lose it” category. Started riding the bike again this week (mainly because the motor on the treadmill seems to have burned out). I’ve also been doing 30 push-ups a day. Why am I telling you this? Accountability. I’ve said it, now I am responsible for it.

As you can tell from the very first track name, this mix has the swears in it (first three tracks really). Also, I used an old intro on this one. Opened the wrong file but figured, hey, why not?

Listen to and/or download this podcast! The Funkomaticjamatron Presents… originally mixed the week of 2-8-19..

Song – Artist – Album
Funky Shit – The Prodigy – The Fat Of The Land.
Breakbeat Suckers – Cirrus – Counterfeit.
Bad Ass (Rogue Element Mix) – The Crystal Method – Drive.
Television Popper – Stisch – Bedrock Breaks: Late Night/Early Doors [Disc 2].
The Bass Queen – DJ Baby Anne – Bad Baby.
Surface Scan – Spektre – Renaissance Master Series James Zabiela.
Universal Everything – Leftfield – Alternative Light Source.
Rock Scissors – Two Fingers – Stunt Rhythms (Bonus Disc).
Tied Up Electro – LFO – Tied Up (Single).
Eutow – Autechre – Tri Repetae++ .
Rock Me – Pills – Wax Trax! Master Mix.
Skullclub – The Glitch Mob – Love Death Immortality.

Cancelled, Priorities, and the mix for 2-1-19

We had record breaking cold here in Minnesota over the last week. So cold that kiddo’s school was closed Monday through Thursday. He certainly didn’t mind! There are people who get really upset over school closings. I think those folks are wrong. First off I really don’t think exposing kids to dangerous temperatures is a good idea. Second, I appreciate that both the Minneapolis and St Paul districts have a good sense of their populations. Not everyone can afford the heavy gear and not everyone has lived here for decades so they don’t know just how dangerous it can be. Waiting for a bus that is running late in subzero winter is nasty. Third, we, as Americans, already take our jobs too seriously and spend too much time at them. Emails can wait. Very few things at a desk job can’t just stop for a day or two. We don’t have our priorities straight.

After all this cold, here is a picture of pottery in a kiln to balance things out.

Pottery being fired in a kiln.

Listen to and/or download this podcast! The Funkomaticjamatron Presents… originally mixed the week of 2-1-19..

Song – Artist – Album
Tape Loop – Morcheeba – Who Can You Trust?
6 Underground (Perfecto Mix) – Sneaker Pimps – Becoming Remixed.
Wardrope – Hooverphonic – A New Stereophonic Sound Spectacular.
Love Life – Fatboy Slim – Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars.
Toxygene (Fila Brazillia Mix) – The Orb.
Sing – Four Tet – There Is Love In You.
Late Nite Trick – Thunderball – Ambassadors of Style.
Cirrus – Bonobo – The North Borders.
Woozy – Faithless – The Beach.
Inertia Creeps – Massive Attack – Mezzanine.

Cold, Kissing, and the mix for 1-25-19

Late last week I picked up a chest cold. I mean, I had to. They were practically giving them away. That has developed into spells of dry, hacking coughs (generally when I’m trying to go to sleep) and a head that is crammed full of garbage that keeps me from breathing when I lay down but tries to flow out when I stand up. This turn of events has lead me to be generally less interested in (waves an arm vaguely at everything) this than usual. I need a nap.

Here in Minnesota, real winter has arrived. There is a thin cover of snow on the ground and the temperature as I commuted this morning was -9F (-22C). Yes, that is sharp, bracing, chilly, cold, etc. All of that is true, but in short bursts, I don’t mind it so much. Makes me appreciate layers, appropriate weather gear, and the hardships of those who lived in this place before me.

And related to winter…
I am the featured artist in Issue 2 of the poetry journal Kissing Dynamite! I am honored and pleased to be a part of this publication with such talented folks. Check out the link for some great poems. All the photos in the issue are mine.

Listen to and/or download this podcast! The Funkomaticjamatron Presents… originally mixed the week of 1-25-19..

Song – Artist – Album
No Man’s Land – David Holmes – Pi (Motion Picture Soundtrack).
Extremis – Hal Featuring Gillian Anderson – Extremis.
Change – Underworld – Wasted (The Best Of Volume Part 1) [Disc 1].
Collective Fetish – Meanderthal – Desire Lines.
The Experience Of Taking A Step Into Someone’s Dreams [Special Logic Trance Edit] -The E – Logic Trance 2 [Disc 1].
Silver – Juno Reactor – Beyond The Infinite.
Space Shanty (Voiski Mix) – Leftfield – Leftism 22 (Disc 2 Remixes).
Shut Down – LFO – Advance.
No Happy Endings – Tangerine Dream, Woody Jackson, The Alchemist, Oh No & DJ Shadow – GTAV.

Winter, “Other”, and the mix for 1-18-19

This winter has been unusual in Minnesota. It is a direct consequence of climate change (if you don’t agree with the first part of this sentence, this isn’t the webpage for you). I miss winter. Until this year I hadn’t fully realized how much winter is part of my identity and how much I enjoy being outside during the season. I think all of the self portraits that I’ve really liked have been taken in the winter.

Winter Scene in Beaver Bay, Minnesota

I’ve started an “Other Works” page. Which is accessible via a little grey clickable box at the top right of the home page. If you are interested in other things I’ve don e(photography, poetry, etc) that is the place to look. New publications will be listed there if/when they happen. It’s a work in progress.

You get a twofer this week!
The first mix below is in danger of being buried by time. It was a splinter of the previous post that evolved into its own cul du sac of a mix. Didn’t get posted last week because I was out of the office.

The second mix happened very quickly. I had the beat in my veins and just sat down and started pulling tracks that had the groove.

Listen to and/or download this podcast! The Funkomaticjamatron Presents… originally mixed the week of 1-10-19..

Song – Artist – Album
Elegantly Wasted – INXS – Elegantly Wasted.
So You’d Like To Save The World – Lloyd Cole – Bad Vibes.
Divorce Song – Liz Phair – Exile In Guyville.
Come Undone – Duran Duran – Modern Rock: The Mid 90s [Disc 2].
The Slacks – Trip Shakespeare – Across The Universe.
Ten Fingers – The Pursuit Of Happiness – Love Junk.
What Gods Are These – My Federation – Don’t Wanna Die.
I’m Your Villain – Franz Ferdinand – You Could Have It So Much Better.
Girlfriend – Matthew Sweet – Girlfriend.
Everything Worthwhile – Walt Mink – El Producto.

Also!
Listen to and/or download this podcast! The Funkomaticjamatron Presents… originally mixed the week of 1-18-19..

Song – Artist
Ready Steady Go – Oakenfold – Bunkka.
The Vapor Trail Conspiracy – The Crystal Method –Direct download.
Blast the Speakers – Warp Brothers – Radikal Techno 6.
Skirt – Kylie Minogue – Skirt EP.
Nightlaw (Original) – Paolo Mojo – Dave Spoon Presents Toolroom Knights.
Surface Scan – Spektre – Renaissance The Master Series James Zabiela.
Drifted – Groove Armada – Goodbye Country Hello Nightclub.
Inspector Norse – Todd Terje – It’s the Arps.
Get Loud (KJ’s Extended Club Mix) – K5 – Get Loud.
Love Keeps Calling (Basto! Impression) – AnnaGrace – Love Keeps Calling.
Electric Love – Dynasty Electric – Dynasty Electric.