KyleGarret.com

This mix is freaking awesome.

I don’t say that lightly, either, as I’m quickly approaching my 20th mix. But I was extremely energized during most of 2006, and I think the music on this music reflects that. I don’t know where it came from or what it was about, but clearly I was ready to party.

The biggest influence on me was my discovery of a little web site called Emusic.com. For those who don’t know, Emusic charges a flat monthly fee for a certain number of downloads per month. At the time, I paid $15 a month for 65 downloads. Granted, they didn’t have any major labels, but that didn’t particularly bother me. And, yes, 65 songs is a lot of songs in one month, so I ended up downloading entire albums by bands without really knowing what I was getting into. It was great, though — I discovered a lot of great music this way.

I also discovered some great bands through Soma FM’s Indie Pop Rocks internet radio station. Credit where it’s due, I say.

Oh, and this was also the time when Indie 103 was alive and kicking in Los Angeles. It was a great station which, of course, no longer exists.

Heck, now that I write it all out, 2006 was like some kind of magical, musical nexus.

“Cosmopolitan” by Nine Black Alps
“Oh, Mandy” by Spinto Band
“Sucker Punch” by the Pale Pacific
“New Comes and Goes” by Oranger
“Softer and Warm” by Voxtrot
“Destroyer” by the Stills
“Catastrophe” by Rainer Maria
“Pyrite Pedestal” by Pretty Girls Make Graves
“Hooray” by Minus the Bear
“Pantomime” by Engine Down
“Zodiaccupuncture” by Aesop Rock
“Steady As She Goes” by the Raconteurs
“The Things We All Carry Around” by Some By Sea
“Little Dawn” by Ted Leo
“This All Can Become Completely the Same” by Bats and Mice
“Metal School” by Spoon
“Food For Worms” by Milemarker
“The Zookeeper’s Boy” by Mew
“Telegraph Avenue Kiss” by Thursday

If I were ever in a band again, it would be a band like Nine Black Alps. Not many people know them, but they’re more or less a straight ahead rock band with lots of energy. Also, some day I’ll throw a party and play only the obscure hip hop acts that I like and the only person dancing will be me. This mix also features a song from Rainer Maria’s last album…and Pretty Girls Make Graves’ last album, for that matter. And Some by Sea’s last album. Geez, that’s a downer.

The big discover in this year was, of course, Voxtrot, who have gone on to become one of those bands that I managed to spread, like a virus, to all my friends. The same can be said of “Oh, Mandy” by Spinto Band, which was actually played at my wedding, and more than a few people actually danced to it.

Only two more mixes left! Will your favorite band suddenly pop up? Will an old band make an unforeseen return? And what of the mix currently in process? The suspense is killing me!