* not with ink

The following is an email from my friend Alasdair, which I have cut and paste verbatim, and added a few comments of my own. This is a case of mi casa es su casa  or, more accurately, his invite is my invite - so please, join us!!!! Good morrow. The time of February is once again upon us, and for Beth and I, that means we exchange music. Most of you on this list were are part of it last year, but I've taken the liberty of adding a few more of my friends, and for those who don't know (or will be added later and want to know ) the basic story is thus: Beth and I are transatlantic friends (We WERE transatlantic friends, but Alasdair has now moved to Vancouver and we are cross-country friends. Also, I would like to share this fact about our friendship: apart from the week we first met, we have hung out in person precisely twice. TWICE! In eight years. I applaud our long-distance skillz.) As friends do, we share music. This started back in 2009 with C...

It's year #3 of one of my favourite traditions: trading music . My friend Alasdair and I started trading music across the ocean way back in the 'naughts. A few years ago, we opened it up to all of our friends, and for the last two years, close to a dozen of us have traded albums/playlists. I love this because I love new music, and I love learning about someone through their taste in music, and I just love good music. So join us!! Here are the guidelines: Let me know you want to participate, and I will hook you up with our Dropbox folder. Select ten-ish songs. (8 min, 12 max) Songs and artists don't have to be "new," but you cannot include more than 2 songs that appear on other albums (incentive to submit early!!), and you cannot include more than one song per artist. Upload your album to the shared folder on Dropbox by March 15, 2014 (your folder name would be MIX TITLE - NAME). Download all the other mixes. Listen to good music!! And here i...

Some of you have tuned into the All-Christmas-All-the-Time radio stations or set your ipods to Genre: Holiday. I know this. I am not one of you, although I don't mind that many people have started "preparing" for the holidays. If, however, you are like me, you are listening to a little bit of everything...and looking for some new songs. In which case, this is your lucky day. Remember back in March, I hosted a little music exchange ? Well, it was a great success (hopefully everyone who participated agrees!) and I've decided it's time for another round! Here are the guidelines: Let me know you want to participate, and I will hook you up with Dropbox if you aren't already using it. Select ten-ish songs. (8 min, 12 max) Songs and artists don't have to be "new," but you cannot include more than 2 songs that appear on other albums (incentive to submit early!!) Upload your album to the shared folder on Dropbox by December 31, 2012 (your...

For the past several years, my friend Alasdair and I have exchanged mix CDs across the ocean. He would send me the newest and best in European indie music, and I would scrape through my resources for at least a few North American musicians he didn't yet know. But it is getting tricky. We've shared our sources for new material, and rarely wait the full year to suggest new artists to each other. So we're changing it up this year. We are going with a themed album, and we are opening it up to all kinds of participants. Like YOU!! Here are the guidelines: Tell one of us, and we will hook you up with Dropbox if you aren't already using it. Choose which theme you want to go with - All the Bells and Whistles or Late Night Cocoa . (or one for each!!) Select twelve-ish songs. (10 min, 14 max) Songs and artists don't have to be "new," but you cannot include more than 2 songs that appear on other albums (incentive to submit early!!) Upload your album ...