Indie kids reared in the ‘90s, rejoice! Matador Records’ Intended Play series of promo mixes, a source of advance salivation since 1997, has moved online. In lieu of stealing the new Matmos (pictured) and Shearwater discs as soon as they leak, try doing what we used to do: listening to one track and imagining what the rest of the album sounds like.
On the other hand, is there a person alive in 2008 with an internet connection who doesn’t have enough music to listen to? Even the least committed music fan has access to more free MP3s and blog mixes than ever before. So where Intended Play is cutely retro, Muxtape, the increasingly popular site that lets you create streaming mixtapes with very little effort, just seems dated. Uploading the songs is easy, but you can’t download the mixes, nor can you change the dull display options.
The catbird.muxtape.com parody has its moments (“Some Bearded Hipster Guy — Totally Amazing Soulful Acoustic Guitar Folk Song That Doesn’t Sound Exactly Like The Other 9 Billion Totally Amazing Soulful Acoustic Guitar Folk Songs Out There”... is that Bon Iver?), but if your beau wants to say it with music, tell him to forget Web 2.0, get out the scissors and glue and make you a mixtape or CD with an actual cover. Nobody feels bad emptying the trash on their desktop, whereas homemade collages are for life. (Intended Play: http://tinyurl.com/2kt9yz; www.muxtape.com)
THE NAME SAYS IT ALL
Sure, they’ve wowed everyone from M.I.A. to Rachael Ray, but we’re frankly astounded at the blog love former EYE WEEKLY cover stars Holy Fuck are getting these days. You can download one of their many SXSW sets via Dublab, but it’s their entry in Radiohead’s “Nude” remix contest that’s really tearing up Totally Wired HQ. Radiohead + Holy Fuck = internet explodes? (www.dublab.com/podcast?id=920; www.radioheadremix.com)
MP3 OF THE WEEK
Big Boi feat. 3-Stacks, Raekwon, “The Royal Flush”: Outkast and Rae reunite for their most herbed-out material since the Aquemini era. Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em.