Altair Nouveau of DFA’s Fall Mix

October 12, 2009


It has to be frustrating to make music in the present when so much of what you like is music from the past. We hear it so often, "I only like old stuff, nothing really cool is happening now." That's just silly, on top of being just not true. But the odds are so much better for the past. Chances are if it wasn't good then, it was forgotten about. Ony the good old stuff gets remembered and passed down. All the now stuff is always around. You only know about Uriah Heep's sick riffs, not all the crappy bands they played with. The sifter of quality and time has strained them away. Still, it must be weird to feel peer-less (though sometimes we know ancient jams hit us in the gut and then we listen to nothing except Lothar and the Hand People for three weeks straight). San Franciscan disco dude Altair Nouveau, producer of current music and lover of old, has crafted a pretty proggy fall mix for those old to Dungeons and Dragons but new to music. We would love to say that despite the lack of newness it still sounds pretty current, but it doesn't. And there you have your argument for old times—they just don't make 'em like the used to. If "used to" is funky rock made by dudes who probably had tights, a ton of blow and teased hair. Actually that sounds like Jared Leto's band. Plus cowbell, plenty of cowbell. And arpeggios. And vintage synths. Ok, now this sounds like DFA. Where there's smoke, you know? Check the track list after the jump.



Download: Altair Nouveau's Fall Mix

1. Jon Anderson: Meeting (Garden of Geda)
2. Mike Oldfield: (Incantations) Part One
3. Landscape: Shake the West Awake
4. Righeira: Tanzen Mit Righeira
5. The Buggles: Inner City
6. Giorgio Morder: Paul's Theme (Jogging Chase)
7. Talk Talk: It's My Life (Dub Version)
8. Imagination: Music and Lights
9. Ministry: Work for Love
10. Barry De Vorzan: Theme from "The Warriors"
11. Heaven 17: Crushed by the Wheels of Industry
12. Wind: Luxury
13: Mike Mareen: Dancing in the Dark (Galactica Remix)
14. Change: Hold Tight
15. Stephanie Mills: Pilot Error (Club Mix)
16. Raw Silk: Do It to the Music (Dub Mix)
17. Sylvester: Fever
18: Midnight Passion: I Need Your Love (Instrumental)
19. Rosetta Stone: Sunshine of Your Love
20. The Immortals: The Ultimate Warlord
21. Tantra: Hills of Kat Mandu (Patrick Cowley Remix)

Altair Nouveau of DFA’s Fall Mix