Self-Titled Mag Needle Exchange Mix

I made a mix for the magazine, check it out:

Check it out clicking here

1. Jonas Reinhardt, “Eos, the Dawn”
Music For the Tactile Dome is going to go down as one of my favorite releases of 2011. I love the bubbling synths and psychotropic sounds that all over this track. It reminds me of a long lost Ashra jam.

2. Dylan Ettinger, “Endeavor”
Dylan’s synth work never ceases to amaze me. I love this track so much; it reminds me of something you would hear while you’re having a drink at Quark’s on Deep Space Nine.

3. Michael Rother, “Karusell”
Neu! is a band that completely changed the way I look at music. I’ve always loved the driving drums of the songs and the melodic quality of their work. A couple of years ago, my friend Jacob Green turned me on to the Rother solo stuff when Water reissued those albums. They are vastly underrated, and I’m pleased that his solo work finally got the reissue treatment. One of my favorite tracks.

4. Ashra, “Midnight on Mars”
Ashra rules! I went into my favorite record store here in Austin, End of an Ear, and they were blasting Blackouts on the stereo when I walked through the door. Each track that played was better than the last and my interest had piqued so I asked them “what record is this?”, hoping they would have it in stock. I immediately purchased it, went home, and listened to it for a week straight. One of my all-time favorite jams, especially on a Sunday morning while sipping on some Yerba Mate.

5. Klaus Schulze, “Floating Sequence”
Klaus Schulze is one of my synth gurus. I’d love to get a chance to see him live. I’ve always loved his sequencing and the way he composes his work. I like that he has these long ambient segments that will then explode into these beautiful arpeggiations at the perfect moment.

6. Jean Michel Jarre, “Oxygene 8″
I’ve been obsessed with Jean Michel Jarre since I was a teenager, working at a used record store back in my hometown. I love this track. It has some of the most interesting rhythm work I’ve ever heard. Oxygene is another album that I never get tired of.

7. Cluster, “Caramba”
Cluster is one of those bands that I didn’t listen to much until a couple of years ago. I used to play drums in some psych projects with my friends Blake and Alan, and they were always praising those old Cluster records. I chose this track because it still has that edge to it where you’re really uncertain if it was made in the ’70s or 7 minutes ago. Great song.

8. Harold Grosskopf, “Transcendental Overdrive”
This dude is finally getting the reissue treatment and some well-deserved praises. One of the best releases to ever come out on the Sky Records label. I love the drums on this track, along with the strange arpeggiations going on in the background. It sounds like space and being jettisoned to an alien planet to me. Super good.

Dallas Show Update

Rene Hell and Wet Hair had to cancel but I'll still be playing along with Eyes, Wings, & Many Other Things. Please come out if you're in the Dallas area and have a good time. I think it'll be fun.

love,
Xander

Dallas Show 5/28

I'm playing a show with the amazing artists Rene Hell, Soft Healer, Eyes&Wings&ManyOtherThings, Wet Hair, Matthew of Diamond Age. This will be the first live show of Xander Harris. I'm really nervous and I will probably vomit profusely.

LA Vampires Go Ital

LA Vampires feat. Ital - Streetwise from Not Not Fun on Vimeo.

Patent Red High Heels

Purchase

Italians may do it better – ice cream, genuine leather, synth splatter – but everything’s still bigger in Texas. Like this X Large redux from Austin’s X Harris. He calls side A the “high heels remix” which is chop-shop talk for shoegaze if yr shoes happen to be red patent pumps. Less gore than before, more vast unknown than he’s ever shown, side B soars like the flight of a DJ navigator who’s recently returned home to realize he’s left the 80s far behind, it’s almost 2012, and everyone he loves has aged and moved on without him. But the force is still strong with this one. If Xander Harris had a hammer, he’d beat down John Carpenter’s door, turn that Carpenteria into a Danceteria, and make that grave-waver Sweatt. Finally, an escape from New York.