Underrated

Recently Chris White, CJAM's music director, sent out an email to all of the programmers here at the station with an idea that was presented by Joe McGregor (host of The Best Show Ever):

"How about inviting volunteers to make their own "best of" CD for bands that they think are under-appreciated or have vast amounts of records missing from the library. It might make people take an interest in a band that they had initially dismissed, if someone was actually willing to take the time to make a best of record."

Obviously I had to jump at this opportunity to spread the word about under-appreciated and obscure artists not only to the other programmers here at the station, but to anyone who has an open mind about the electronic genre.

And so, the New Pulse mixtape escapade had begun. The draft of the artists I wanted to include on the album was extensive (over twenty-five songs), however I had to whittle it down to fit an eighty minute CD-R. I had to take into account which artists received the least amount of play time (if any at all) at the station while at the same time being the more talented of the lot. It wasn't easy, but I narrowed it down to this final track list:

01 Danger - 19H11
02 Just a Band - Burn it Out
03 Apparat - Komponent
04 Tycho - Systems
05 Squarepusher - Illegal Dustbin
06 Yuksek - Tonight
07 Vibrasphere - Breathing Place
08 Ellen Allien - Come
09 Moderat - Rusty Nails
10 Dat Politics - Wish Ya
11 Photophob - Because We Like the Rosary
12 Helios - Velius
13 Rex the Dog - Circulate
14 E*Vax - We Believe in Broken Bones
15 Minotaur Shock - My Burr

Despite having to cut out at least ten tracks, the end result was fairly illustrious. I also did some work in Photoshop, deciding that a burned CD in an empty jewel case wasn't very aesthetically pleasing.

In the end I hope anyone who catches wind of my mix enjoys the tracks I've chosen and expands their taste, and also that the other programmer's submit mixtapes soon, as I'm always interested in a new musical experience.