Eclectic Grooves

I am thrilled to announce that I have received my first Paypal donation from a friend and regular visitor of the blog who goes by the moniker "No head". Since I hadn't been regularly checking my PayPal balance, I only recently discovered that he had made this donation. Thanks to this donation, I am well on my way to reaching my goal of being able to provide a better quality podcast to the listeners. Many thanks to No Head for his generous donation, and I hope that more listeners will follow suit and contribute so that I can purchase equipment that will improve the sound quality of the podcasts. If you would like to contribute, click here  and then click on the PayPal donate button on the right side of the page. After doing so, a new page pops up that asks you to enter an amount, and to login to your PayPal account. If you don't have a PayPal account, you can also make a donation as a guest with your debit or credit card. Please understan...

To those of you who had given up hope that I would ever show up around here again, you can rest assured that I am back in time to infuse you with an infectious mix of summery songs. Things around here have been busy to say the least, but I have been spending a lot of time listening to all kinds of music, selecting and sequencing tracks for the summer mix and catching the occasional live show. I hope that there are at least a few of you who still check in every now and then to see what's going on here. On the horizon is a new series focusing on live shows,  themed-mixes that have been placed on the backburner for awhile, a new I Hear a New World podcast and a round-up of my favorite records of 2012 so far. Most of the songs from this year's summer mix were comprised of tracks that didn't make the cut from previous years, though this doesn't mean they were any less deserving of inclusion.  This is an eclectic mix to stay true to the natu...

I was hoping to post a rare Neutral Milk Hotel or Jeff Mangum live show with this post, but due to time constraints this will be forthcoming. Tonight marks the first time that Jeff Mangum, the reclusive songwriter and front-man for Neutral Milk Hotel, has graced Portland with his presence in over a decade. According to the Crystal Ballroom website, both shows have finally sold out. Don't count on there being any scalpers hanging out in front of the venue either as Jeff Mangum requested a stringent ticket policy where tickets are only being issued to showgoers on the evening of the show, and no advance tickets are available for those who have tickets to attend both nights. I plan on getting there a little bit before the doors open to secure a choice spot by the far left side of the floor by the windows. Well, not much can prepare you for a show like this. Technically, I guess you could say that I have been preparing for this ever since I ...

I apologize for the station identification, but I needed to get some things sorted over the past few weeks. After reading through the thoughtful comments on my last post, I have decided to make a few changes around here that will hopefully encourage more readers to actively participate on the blog. For the time being, I have decided that I will not be going private with the blog. Second, there will be a couple new features premiering shortly; one that focuses on live concerts and another that is a continuation of a series I used to do on Ear Fuzz called  Anatomy of a Sample.  Third, I have decided to stick with Mediafire, but will no longer list the artist or album in the file name. Next, I will start password-protecting the links and the links will be placed in the comments instead of at the end of the post. Last, since the majority of commenters suggested that I focus on new posts first and upload old files upon request,...

For those of you who didn't realize it, I received an e-mail from Mediafire yesterday letting me know that they have suspended the use of a Caetano Veloso track that I just posted a couple days ago as they received complaints about me making this track available to download.  These guys are really not playing around if a single track from a 60's Brazilian psych record on a small label is targeted as copyright infringement. I really am at a loss now since I don't know what I am able to share without having the RIAA, Mediafire and Blogger on my case 24-7. It would be great if everyone would just take a moment to realize that all bloggers are not evil criminals who prey on musicians' lifeblood for our own benefit. There are certainly some blogs out there that only post the album artwork and a link with nothing to say about the artist, but there are still many who have the best interests of the artist in mind. This is certainly not a money-making...

It is once again time for me to reach back in the refrigerator for some "choice cuts". Each time, I will be featuring sizzling and succulent morsels that are grabbing my ear right now that range from funk to country, from afro-beat to garage rock, etc. Sometimes there will be a theme to these songs that ties them all together in a nice bow, but other times the songs featured will just be a musical hodgepodge of eclectic delights. Without further ado, lets see what "choice cuts" the vinyl butcher has prepared for us today. Eddie Fisher- Beautiful Things From:  Eddie Fisher and The Next Hundred Years [Cadet Records, 1971] When I first heard this record there were other tracks that grabbed my attention, but this one slowly but surely imprinted itself on my memory. With an extended intro featuring a captivating blend of bass, strings and harp, you would never guess that this track would turn into the funk monster that it does arou...

After the prolific month of January on Eclectic Grooves, I have been mostly absent from the blogging universe in February. During this time, numerous file-sharing services such as Filesonic, 4-Shared and W-Upload have taken protective measures to ensure that they are not targeted by the RIAA and taken to court for violating copyright laws. Further, blogs including No Longer Forgotten Music , Mutant Sounds , Global Groove and Madrotter have lost their entire library of music due to these changes, and others like Freedom Blues and and Holy Warbles have had their site removed by Blogger because they were suspected of copyright infringement. Due to these developments,  I have taken the time to reassess what my intention is for Eclectic Grooves moving forward.  I will no longer be featuring downloads for full albums that are still in print and will be circumspect about featuring full albums at all until the dust settles from this...