Welcome to College – Mike’s Next Step Music Primer
Let it never be said that we are insensitive to our legions of readers — you search for it, we’ll make a mix about it! Although in this case, we’re indulging ourselves a bit by treating “On The Way to College” as a concept rather than a simple road trip mix. And, I guess this isn’t really a mix as much as it is a conversation. Who cares about the details though! As always, Brian has all things guitar covered in the post just below, so I’m going to throw in my two cents for some other styles.
First up: Electronic legends Boards of Canada. If you like them, I’d suggest checking out Clark (clip) or Proem (track). I don’t think either really has the kind of druggy haze that BoC does so well (Clark is more dense, Proem more digital), but they both have similar accessibility and the same head-nodding hip-hop substructure.
Speaking of hip-hop, if you’re into Kanye, Common, Lupe, or any of the other mainstream “backpack” MC’s, I’d really suggest giving some spins to what I feel is one of the top 5 hip-hop records of all time: Aesop Rock’s “Labor Days” (track, and I’ll buy you a drink if you catch the literary reference in it). In terms of intellectual lyricism, I don’t think it gets much better than this — Ace can sometimes get bogged down in his own flow, but not on Labor Days. Every track on it is tight and precise, and C-Rayz Walz and Illogic rise to the occasion with staggering guest spots.
If you’re into classical music, more power to you. I don’t really know a damn thing about classical music. But, I do listen to a few minimalist “modern classical” (I don’t like that label, but I don’t know what to call it instead) composers that, hey, maybe you might enjoy. I’d suggest Max Richter (track), Sylvain Chauveau (track), or Ólafur Arnalds (track).
DJ culture has a lot of superstars: The Pauls van Dyk and Oakenfold, Sasha, Tiesto, etc etc. I got into dance music through these guys just like I’m sure many others did, but there are a lot of under-the-radar producers who are just as good. If you like it deep and dubby, I suggest H.Amézquita (track), a Mexican producer on Static Discos who put out one great LP then seemingly vanished. If you like more of a techno edge, try out Chicago’s own Kate Simko (track) or her work with Andres Bucci as Detalles. And if you like your dance music a little funkier, try anything on Get Physical (home of Booka Shade and M.A.N.D.Y., and their mix CD’s are exceptional) or Om (Kaskade, Mark Farina).
Moving on to jazz… If you, like all men and women of culture, are familiar with Miles Davis’ “Kind of Blue,” well, excellent. It’s revered for good reason. But you want something that not everyone’s on to, right? Something crazy and collegiate? Then I suggest the fabulous Polish free jazz combo Robotobibok (track). They do a lot of wild improvisation, but not so much that it’s unlistenable. If you find that too busy, try Pink Freud instead — also Polish, also very modern (they have a turntablist!), but less avant-garde and more psychedelic instead.
Finally, as Brian did, let me throw some suggestions out there for anyone reading this and laughing derisively. These will mostly be electronic:
Like Squarepusher, Autechre, etc? Try Yasume.
Like “ambient” music? Try The Fun Years or Fjordne.
Like post-rock? Try The Drift.
And if you want extreme electronic cred, check out Telecognac or Cyclo.
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