Music

I’ve been a big fan of the “Back to Mine” series since its inception.  Essentially, it asks famous DJs or electronic music producers to put together a mixed compilation of tracks that you’d hear at their house after a night out rather than during the night out itself.

So, I decided to put one together myself.  Just for fun.  And to express myself a little.  These are some of my favorite tunes hopefully put together in a way that makes a little sense.  Enjoy!

Download Back to Mine: Mark Maloney Volume 1 (80MB)

Tracklisting

1. Rusted Root - Send Me On My Way
2. Dave Pike - Sandunga
3. Miguel Migs - Days of Color
4. Armand Van Helden featuring Roland Clark - Flowerz
5. Follow Me (Club Mix) - Aly-Us
6. Once in a Lifetime - Talking Heads
7. Warehouse - Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds
8. Neon - John Mayer
9. The Sulphur Man - Doves
10. Shaolin Satellite - Thievery Corporation
11. Seek Up - Dave Matthews Band
12. Personal Jesus (Acoustic) - Depeche Mode

This was originally posted as a note my Facebook…inspired by a meme brought to my attention by Al Yukna.  It was alot of fun…and thought that it deserved archiving here as well.

I’m putting them in order of “when I first discovered them” because “life context” is important.

01) Michael Jackson - Thriller
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller_(album)
The coolest thing that a third grader had ever heard. It was ubiquitous.

02) Prince - Purple Rain
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_rain
Manuel Sampedro’s sister took him and I to see it at the Strand Theater in Dundalk…and we were only eleven (that shit was rated R). I was physically moved (pun intended) by Apollonia…and Prince’s music. Later, I discovered how truly remarkable a musician he is.

03) Licensed to Ill - Beastie Boys
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Licensed_To_Ill
Eighth grade - the combination of beats, the three different voices, and the sexual innuendo were enough to keep that tape in my knock-off Walkman at all times.

04) Follow the Leader - Eric B. and Rakim
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Follow_the_Leader_(Eric_B._and_Rakim_album)
Freshman year. Ryan Heidel. Learning to wrestle. Black Russell hoodie. Sup. THIS is hip-hop.

05) The Cure - Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiss_Me_Kiss_Me_Kiss_Me
Summer before Sophomore Year. PT Flaggs. Tony Pegas. Black and white-clad lunacy ensures.

06) Depeche Mode - Music for the Masses
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_For_The_Masses
The “Thriller” of its genre. They sold out the frickin’ Rose Bowl and put out a live double album.

07) Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wish_You_Were_Here_(album)
Got to Calvert Hall. Toned down the black cladness…but still brought the two-step. They didn’t have Pink Floyd in my house growing up. Learned to play guitar in order to play “Wish You Were Here”. Thank fucking God for that song. I still play my guitar virtually every day.

08) Dave Matthews Band - Remember Two Things
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remember_Two_Things
This would be number one. Without it, I wouldn’t have given a fuck about the internet. Could you imagine me if I would have stayed in graduate school? Oh no. I owe this album everything. I named my frickin’ first born after it. That shit is devotion, man.

09) Sasha + John Digweed - Northern Exposure Vol 2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Exposure_2
This album was an escape when I was miserable in graduate school. I would come home, go up in the spare room in Canton, crank this, and dance in my chair while designing and building websites on the side. This album literally made my engagement happen. And we even saw Digweed in Ibiza. Insane.

10) Thievery Corporation - Sounds from the Thievery Hi-Fi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sounds_from_the_Thievery_Hi-Fi
Mike B spinning “The Blue One” and “The Red One” provided the soundtrack to my life in the years after college. Adam, Leon, Chip. Music was a part of everything that we did. And it was pretty cool when I walked into Gr8 for the “I’m still in grad school…but I’m looking to get out” interview, this album was playing. It was either fate…or I was seduced by the devil.

11) Cafe Del Mar - Volumen Cinco
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cafe_del_mar#Volume_5_.28cinco.29
Bought it at a record shop in Ibiza on the recommendation of the dood in the shop. Perfect record for what it is and represents. Madonna named it her favorite album of ‘98. Nik and I share the love for this album. It’s “ours” if you will.

12) Nuyorican Soul - Nuyorican Soul
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuyorican_Soul
The world’s best house producers collaborate with the world’s best jazz and latin musicians to create the magnus opus of house music. I am still a firm believer in latin and deep house. That shit is spiritual. Body and Soul in Central Park. That actually happened.

13) John Mayer - Inside Wants Out
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inside_Wants_Out
Acoustic guitar has been a constant in my life since “Wish You Were Here”. This dood breathes new life into the instrument. Dave Matthews’ playing gave me a similar reaction…”what the fuck is he playing? i gotta learn that!”

14) Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songs_in_the_Key_of_Life
Didn’t discover the whole album until I really understood music. It may be one of the best pieces ever written (and performed). Truly a work of musical genius.

15) Doves - The Last Broadcast
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Broadcast_(album)
Hadn’t gotten excited about a new band in a long, long time when I heard this. It blew me away. Three doods did this? Sulfur Man, literally, could be my favorite song of all times. That is not a lie.

Hope the descriptions weren’t too self-indulgent…but I really enjoyed doing this.

I’ve been friends with some pretty talented musicians and DJs for years.  So when I heard that perhaps the most well known of all of them has stopped spinning vinyl and moved on to mp3s, I realized that the technical barrier of entry had been officially pulled away.  So, in my eternal search for other ways to express myself…I decided to put a little mix together.

This mix pulls from a broad range of music that I’m into…but its all dance-oriented…simply because that’s what I like to listen to when I’m designing.  So, without further adieu…here is my first attempt at the whole DJ thing.  It’s not perfect…but whatddayagonnado?

http://www.baboonfarm.com/audio/not_so_essential_maloney_120708.zip

Here is the tracklisting:

Sia - Breathe Me (Album Mix)
Papau New Guinea - Future Sound of London
Steppin Out - Kaskade
Mohammed is Jesus (Deep Dish Daddy Cool Mix) - Deep Dish
Barbarella (Deep Dish Armagheddon Breakdown Mix) - Sven Vath
Cowgirl - Underworld
Spin Spin Sugar (Armand’s Dark Garage Mix) - Sneaker Pimps
Little Fluffy Clouds (Danny Tenaglia Detour Mix) - The Orb
Elements (The Chant) - Danny Tenaglia
Plastic Dreams (Original Long Version) - Jaydee
Fired Up! (Album Mix) - Funky Green Dogs
Some Lovin’ (Murk Mix) - Liberty City
Release Myself - Coral Way Chiefs
Together (Original Dub Version) - Interceptor
I’m a Bitch (House Nation Mix) - Olga
Beyond This World - Jungle Brothers
The Magic Number - De La Soul
Chicago - Groove Armada
I See You Baby - Groove Armada

I’ve kinda believed this for a while…but Scientific American has published a quick little article describing a paper in Brain and Cognition which confirms it. The found that musicians were more creative…as defined by being able to find alternative uses for household objects. On average, they came up with 14 more uses than nonmusicians could.

I’ve always believed that music was a fundamental abstraction of patterns and pattern recognition. And to me, thats kinda what creativity and intelligence are…the ability to understand and exploit underlying patterns.

Wow.  Leroi Moore, the sax/flute/pennywhistle/etc. player of the Dave Matthews Band, has died at the age of 47.  That sucks.  My thoughts are with his friends and family.  A tremendous loss.  He was a true talent and a hell of a guy.

(Photo ripped from dmband.com)

This is the hot shit.

That’s Dave Matthews.  In 1992.  On VHS.

If you didn’t know, the name of that song is Blue Water Baboon Farm.  I’ve been using “baboonfarmer” as my alias since about 1994.