Need some music blogs that post mixes!

October 23, 2011 7:33 AM

What are the best music blogs for finding mixes that I can listen to/download. This girl needs to find some new indie-rock tunes!

I feel like I've gotten into a bit of a music rut and need to expand my horizons a bit. I'm sick of reading blogs that talk about one artist or one album at a time. I'm looking for blogs that primarily post mixes - where I can glance at it, notice that I like a few artists on it, and have a pretty good idea that I might like the rest of it and hear some bands that are new to me.

Any suggestions?

My tastes tend to lean towards indie-rock, but I enjoy a fairly broad spectrum of genres. Think KEXP in Seattle, KCRW in Cali or The Current in Minneapolis for examples of what I listen to.

Bonus points
-If the blog includes downloadable MP3s or links to the mix on Spotify
-If they post at least a couple times a week
-If it works in Google Reader's RSS feed

posted by JannaK to media & arts (13 answers total)

Chocolate Bobka posts singles but they do some pretty nice mixes, a.k.a. "Bobcasts" that you might enjoy (Bobcast #28 has a NSFW-ish image).
posted by jason's_planet at 7:50 AM on October 23, 2011

Gorilla vs. Bear -- the mixes
posted by jason's_planet at 7:54 AM on October 23, 2011

I've had great luck with Did You Hear the new Mixtape?
posted by nevercalm at 8:20 AM on October 23, 2011 [3 favorites]

I got on Insound's mailing list when I bought something from them. It's the only retail list I voluntarily stay on, because they send me links to free mixtapes every other week, and free mp3s weekly. They've got the free mp3s on their site.
posted by hydrophonic at 8:41 AM on October 23, 2011

Aquarium Drunkard does mixes, in addition to individual mp3s.

Chicago Mixtape does weekly mixes of local artists. [warning: audio kicks in when the site launches]

And I've been getting monthly mp3s from Spin, they're pretty good (not really a mix, per se, but still...free music!): spin.com/itunes takes you to their site, where you'll get an itunes code for that month's songs. (You'll need an itunes account)
posted by Bron at 9:04 AM on October 23, 2011

Caitlyn can rock a todo list
posted by knile at 9:53 AM on October 23, 2011 [3 favorites]

May not post enough for you, but I'm a fan of All Things Go.
posted by inigo2 at 10:14 AM on October 23, 2011

I might be the squarest guy I know, but I get leads on the latest and greatest indie stuff often from NPR's All Songs Considered. Though they do genre-specific programs that are sometimes entirely out of my musical taste, both the show and the listeners skew towards indie music. I mention the listeners because the show frequently solicits contributions (in its blog comments) for songs that have this or that effect on you (e.g. induce nostalgia for the 90s, make you cry, good driving tunes, etc.) and twice a year do a best-of-[year]-so-far top 100 or so, all music from the current year, which is a goldmine.

It's generally about a 40-60 minute podcast, and the music they pick is listed in the podcast notes as well as track-by-track listenable through NPR's player (they don't usually play the whole song in the podcast). I'm not sure if that player's easily ripped by direct software.
posted by Sunburnt at 10:18 AM on October 23, 2011

I've found a ton of new (to me) indie rock music from the Indie Rock Playlist and the other Indie Rock Playlist.

Both post monthly and include around 120 tracks apiece so, while they're not updated as frequently as you say you'd prefer, they definitely offer plenty to listen to. Both playlists are generally offered as a torrent or direct download from the links above.

Bonus style points for both playlists: they design cover art for each installment, so they look nice on your mp3 player.
posted by girlstyle at 11:17 AM on October 23, 2011 [2 favorites]

These are great, and should keep me busy for awhile! I found at least a few things I liked about each site, but marked my personal favorites as Best Answers.

Thanks all!
posted by JannaK at 12:56 PM on October 23, 2011

http://www.totallyfuzzy.eu/

http://gravybread.wordpress.com/mega-mp3-site-list/

http://tofuhut.blogspot.com/2005/05/even-when-you-dont-find-music-here-you.html

http://wiki.monkeyfilter.com/index.php?title=MP3_Blog_Listing

http://bcb-board.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=68141

If you hit sites your interested in-then jump to THEIR links...it goes on and on and on .
posted by plumberonkarst at 2:57 PM on October 23, 2011

Last Year's Girl
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 4:46 PM on October 23, 2011 [2 favorites]

I just stumbled across a lovely little site that seemed to have just came into being: musicalism.fm

It's a nice idea; I'm interested to see where it will go
posted by northxnorthwest at 4:38 AM on October 26, 2011