Altair Nouveau of DFA’s Fall Mix
- story Matthew Schnipper
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
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