Many years ago I was lucky enough to get my hands on a copy of this tape of early Air Miami demos that grew to become the songs on their first LP on 4AD - very psyched to run across them again now in the age of Spotify.
It's almost hard to believe that it is summer here in northern California and the Pacific Northwest, because it has been unusually cool, and even rained (which almost never happens in the Bay Area during summer). One of the best things about summer is taking trips to the beach. We're blessed with being only a [...] Read more, get songs or stream the entire mix on Indie Rock Cafe
It's almost hard to believe that it is summer here in northern California and the Pacific Northwest over the past week. But the unusually cooler temperatures, and even rain (which is almost non-existent in California in summer). Nevertheless, the rest of the country is enjoying the summer, and it'll soon be returning to these parts. [...] Read more, get songs or stream the entire mix on Indie Rock Cafe
Air Miami The Bottom Of The Hill San Francisco, CA 10/11/94 Here's one of the better live Air Miami recordings I've come across. It was recorded in San Francisco during the '94 Teen Beat Circus tour which also featured a special one-off performance by Cath Carroll . Setlist: 1. Stop Sign 2. Bubble Shield 3. Neely 4. Pucker 5. Airplane Rider 6. Special Angel 7. Adidas My Ass 8. I Hate Milk [...]
The long days of what has been a brutally hot and humid summer for many areas of the United States, Europe and Russia are beginning to wane as August tips towards September. Millions of kids are going back to school, people are returning from vacations, and millions more are hoping that the autumn brings more [...] Related posts:Summer 2010 Mixtape, Vol. V: Wavves, Band of Skulls, The Cars, Cold War Kids, Roxy Music, Glasvegas, The Decemberists, Modest Mouse Summer 2010 Mixtape, Vol. II: Animal Collective, The Drums, Jay-Z, Magic Kids, The Flaming Lips, Spoon, LCD Soundsystem, Radio Dept.Vol [...]
When Unrest disbanded at what I considered to be the height of its powers in 1994, my college radio-infused world was devastated. Unrest was my favorite band at the time, simply because its wildly erratic yet highly collectible records mimicked what I thought made college radio so interesting and intriguing and vital. The abrupt mood shifts, random non-sequiturs, and brazen avant-silliness were all packaged in a DIY shell with a dark, sardonic undercurrent (and, of course, exquisite design). You couldn’t pin that band down. Granted, its final two albums veered sharply in a clean, clinical direction, but the sum of [...]

Whoo it's hot, huh? And barely June. Despite my hopes at not having to make any of this year's covers myself, here we are with a patented B.Pearis Type-Over-Photo school of design. (The font, if you're curious is a Peter Saville original, created for the 1981 – Factus 8 – 1982 compilation EP.) I actually kind of like this one, though. The photo is from the Library of Congress' Flickr. It was taken at a square dance in Oklahoma around 1939. No one in this photograph was dancing to The Drums, The B-52's or Air Miami, but [...]

One of my favorite indie pop albums released in the mid 1990s featured former Unrest members, Mark Robinson and Bridget Cross. Hailing from Arlington, VA, the post-punk trio, Air Miami recorded their first and only record for 4AD, Me, Me, Me . Robinson and Cross, who played together in Unrest for 12 years prior on Mark's brainchild record company, TeenBeat. Air Miami's debut didn't stray too far from Unrest's uber-catchy formula of hard-driven bass lines and manic guitar riffs, only adding some quirky keyboards to gloss over production. I remember seeing the band open for Luna at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. back in 1995, not [...]

Back on Christmas Eve , I posted a song by Gorky's Zygotic Mynci that just-so-happened to be called "Christmas Eve" (timing!). That song's lyrics consist of just 13 (lovely) words, repeated once. Posting the song got me thinking about other fully-formed songs whose lyrics are also made up of just a couple words. After a quick perusal of my hard drive, here's what I came up with. Consistent with the theme of the mix, I'll say no more. Enjoy. 1) Silver Jews - Open Field 2) Suede - Feel [...]

Just getting that in before Five Live claim it. No you are not still high on crack, that is a picture of a couple of birds playing with the balls of the 2010 South Africa World Cup mascot. He is called Zakumi and he is a leopard. So let the hype begin . If you want to get yourself in the mood then there's some very nice 2010 World Cup wallpapers here . [...]
First, there were the originators: Kraftwerk, Neu!, The Cure, Joy Division, Gang of Four, The Sonics, The Wailers and Link Wray, to name but a few. From electronic to post-punk to garage and blues, each genre had its own progenitors and its own set of prominent years. And then, more recently, each of these sounds had a resurrection. But before the tidal wave of revivalists, before Interpol and Bloc Party paraded around like post-punks and before The White Stripes re-ignited garage, there were artists who had already borrowed, re-imagined and paid tribute. These bands -- like The [...]
Mark Robinson is the founder of Teenbeat and member of Unrest , Air Miami , and Flin Flon . He has released solo work and been in other bands as well but I am choosing to focus on those three. I was unaware of Unrest until Perfect Teeth was released in 1993. They had released several records and singles starting in 1985 but I was completely unaware of them until their last full length album! To be honest, I can't even say that I'm a fan of the early stuff I've [...]
Maybe we've been a little lax during this here "holiday" season. Maybe we'd like to say we're sorry. Myracle Brah - Big Mistake mp3 - From 2007's Can You Hear the Myracle Brah? - Here are some of my favorites at the Rainbow Quartz Myracle Brah page. Others await you there as well. This is Where We Belong mp3 I'd Rather Be mp3 Song 37 mp3 British Sea Power - No Lucifer mp3 Bob Mould - The
Dec 17, 2007, 1:57am
3hive

Having previously confessed my love for Mark Robinson, founder of Teenbeat Records and driving force behind Unrest, Flin Flon , Air Miami, among others already listed elsewhere on these pages, I must share my excitement over the Teenbeat release of two previously unreleased Air Miami albums, Fourteen Songs and Sixteen Songs . Robinson started up Air Miami with fellow Unrest member Bridget Cross after that band's breakup, and "Airplane Rider" is the single that preceded their 1995 LP Me, Me, Me . I still use their wonderous song "World Cup Fever" and all [...]

This Air Miami 7" was the first thing I converted to mp3 and posted on YSKOD nearly a year ago. I reconverted it today, to see if a year's practice and updated Audacity software makes any difference. It makes a little difference, but not enough to warrant re-converting the 819 songs I've converted to date. Thank Bloody God. This repost was requested, and last time I skipped the B-side, so here are both songs in freshly converted form. Jovial, convivial indie pop from Mark Robinson et al., released on his Teenbeat Records label back in 1994. [...]

I've been waiting for years and years and it's finally happened. Teen Beat is re-issuing the two Air Miami demo cassettes on CD. I have a copy of a copy on cassette, but it will be nice to get hear them off the original masters. The first one "14 Songs" was recorded with a drum machine, the other one "16 Songs" was recorded with real drummers. Both can be had for the low low price of $8.99 each from the Teen Beat Records website. Download: Air Miami - Adidas My Ass (Demo)

Air Miami was the blink-and-you'll-miss-it follow-up band for two-thirds of Unrest , and they lasted long enough to big-up the World Cup and put out the full-length gem Me. Me. Me. in 1995. The CD has seemingly fallen out of print , although the LP is still available from Mark Robinson's label, Teen Beat ; "Dolphin Expressway" is one of the album's airiest offerings, and it never fails to result in us blissing out when it comes across our speakers. Air Miami - Dolphin Expressway [MP3] [...]

I promised on Friday that I would make up for cruelly abandoning Mark Robinson's Flin Flon by posting some of his earlier work. Always a man of my word, I start with the Teenbeat Records founder's first band. It was started, like the label, as an uber D.I.Y. project in 1985.

I've had a lovely weekend "chillaxin" with friends & really doing a whole lot of nothing in particular, but it's exactly what I needed. However, this week will be crazy --> On Friday 8/11 I'm spinning at my totally fun monthly dance party: SHAKE SOME ACTION! @ THE ROYALE in Park Slope, Brooklyn. It's the best dance party in the BK -- DJBJ & I spin the ass shakers & you shake your ass! Always a good time, cheep drink specials, a dance floor & it's FREE! [...]
“Some more than others.†-- Spike on the extent to which humans are human "It scared me." -- Tom on his favorite horror film, Monsters, Inc. "You’re a gross person and I kinda want nothing to do with with you." -- Tom on lighthearted family prankster Chad Shackleford "Yo, John Scharpling, man, what is a podcast, man?" -- Fred, not a subscriber, but still a filthy junkie "Oh, Hasselhoff, don't do it." -- Tom, trying to avoid a clean sweep on America's Got Talent [...]