BEATS EDITION: Keep Yourself Alive - Best of 2009

Like many of you music junkies, I spent a lot of time obsessing with music when I was young. If we ever sit down to count up the hours it would blow our minds. From listening to radio, mixing tapes, talking to friends, going to shows, writing reviews, dj’ing, time in records stores, surfing, downloading, sharing, tweeting – blow our minds! Never mind if you are in a band to boot. For some of us it tapers off once we get older and settle down as you can tell from one’s music collection where the Bodyguard soundtrack is the most recent disc around. Today I feel like I’m taking more music in than ever before but it is not taking up as much of my time. I think artist/producer Chin Injeti said it best, “Now I can record a song in one day and then with a press of a button I can make it go to a thousand different places.”

Chico Daily : Beats Edition

I am on a creative binge. I came to the screen to transcribe my latest observations and instead I start writing a new one, recording a new mix and writing about some new music. I love some of the new sounds coming through my headphones lately.

Delivered in time for your Monday, one hour of music mixed by thePAsystem. Also, a few of the artists on the mix highlighted below. Please enjoy. Have a great week!

The Cruisers Mix by thePAsystem

Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix




I saw them perform on SNL and I was an instant fan. I dug the guitars and the great backbeat on those three songs performed that night. Lisztomania and 1901 from the new album and Too Young from their first album United. Now I’m enjoying the sonic layers via my headphones, giving me the complete Phoenix experience. Sampling some of the back catalogue, which is a bit mellower whereas I think the new album, is definitely more in your face and dance floor strut friendly. Phoenix are The Strokes meets moments of Coconut Records on a dance floor in France. Sounds great.
Beats Most Played – 1901, Lisztomania, Lasso, Armistice

Exile – Radio



I love everything about this album. It was like the first time I heard the Avalanches from Australia. I loved every sample, loop, oddity, disco boogie tendency and relentless beats. Crafty and clever, Radio is a sonic accompaniment to your journey of highs and lows. Sometimes difficult and jarring as it works through its pain, other times real and funny as it swings on the beat man.
Beats Most Played – Frequency Modulation, The Sound is God, The Machine, Love Line

Silversun Pickups - Swoon



I first saw Silversun Pickups on a fifteen second clip during a news at noon music segment one day. The riffs, tempo and the Smashing Pumpkinesque sound with better vocals snatched my attention immediately. Brian Aubert’s vocals sway through the heavy and the lighter sounds on Swoon convincing you of his every breath. Those few seconds of them playing Panic Switch on a stage convinced me that I wanted to see them live when they came to town too.
Beats Most Played – There’s No Secrets This Year, Growing Old is Getting Old, Panic Switch, It’s Nice To Know You Work Alone

K-Os - YES!



KB, I’m picking up everything you are dropping. Every album better, wider, louder and stretching yourself longer, thank you. From the get go K-Os releases his musical passion with an original style that is both honest and in its catchy delivery, Kheaven’s Original Sound. Make you sing, make you clap your hands and dance. Repeat. I live my life through the speakers too.
Beats Most Played – I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman, Burning Bridges, 4 3 2 1, Eye Know Something