We’ve all had those moments waking up late on a Saturday morning after a long night of partying where the only plans for the day is laying on the couch, mindlessly surfing the net, and drifting in and out of sleep. Well my new mix Laid & Paid: Weak ‘n Mixxx is the soundtrack for these times — keeping it nice and chill so not to exacerbate the hungover headaches.

You can download the mix directly from here (EDIT: rapidshare seems to be having problems this morning, so here’s a more direct link) and after which sit back, relax, and enjoy the 75+ of smooth tunes while drinking your Bloody Marys and downing your Ibuprofen. There’s a good blend of foreign/domestic, popular/obscure, full-band/instrumentals, so you’re sure to be able to pick up a couple of new favorites while revisiting some classic songs you might not have heard in a while. Here’s the tracklist:

Jóvenes y Sexys // El Reloj
Mountain Man // Animal Tracks
jj // Let Go
Jens Lekman // Jag Tyckte Hon Sa Lönnlöv
Broken Bells // The High Road
Acid House Kings // The Heart Is a Stone
Cryin’ Sam Collins // Lonesome Road
Sara Lov // My Body Is a Cage (Arcade Fire Cover)
El Perro del Mar // From the Valley to the Stars
The Wave Pictures // Just Like a Drummer
Woods // The Dark
Beach House // Gila
Chromatic Flights // I Am a Rock (Simon & Garfunkel Cover)
Man Man // Doo Right
Bassekou Kouyaté & Ngoni Ba // Bambugu Blues
The Knife // Vegetarian Restaurant
A Studio // Self Service (Short Version)
Run DMT // St. James
Cass McCombs // Don’t Vote
Moonface // Marimba and Shit-Drums (Excerpt)
Ducktails // On the Boardwalk
jj // My Way

If you like the mix, check out the Pre-Party one I did a month ago.

With a name that’s translates from Spanish as “Young and Sexy”, you might expect more of a smooth tropicália-inspired DJ than a honeysuckle sweet singer/songwriter duo. Hailing from Caracas, Jóvenes y Sexys channels some of that coastal South American relaxation-vibe with their latest EP entitled Bruno and provides a nice alternative to all that overexposed chill-wave stuff for your next beach trip.

Call me old fashioned (or maybe it’s the result of being confined too long in my freezing cold apartment watching the never-ending Portland drizzle), but there’s not much I can think of right now that would beat a springtime park walk with some pleasantly strummed guitars and delightfully candy-coated vocals playing in the headphones — and that’s exactly what you get from this Venezuelan group. Opening up the four song EP is “El Reloj” which, if Google Translate can be trusted, is an appropriate title for a song featuring a Cuckoo clock acting as a background metronome. Lightly sung in that restrained fashion I like so much, vocalist Loocila rarely ventures outside an octave range, making “El Reloj” an easy Spanish sing-along for us musically handicapped folk. One of the two tracks featuring English lyrics, JyS cover of the Breeder’s “Divine Hammer” is an album highlight for me. With Loocila’s slight Spanish-accented rendition of Kim Deal’s lyrics “I’m just looking for the / for the one divine hammer / I’ll bang it all day / Oh the carpenter goes bang” (maybe Thao can help her out) recorded over a much more mellower guitar line than the original, there’s not much to dislike about this charming cover.

Now these song’s aren’t going to appeal to the listeners who solely like boundary pushing bands (you know, the Animal Collectives, the Deerhoofs and the Xiu Xius – who, ironically, are all listed as influences), but there is something to be said for listenable tunes that you can enjoy just as much as your children.

To give you a sample, you can listen to “El Reloj” below and, if you like it, you can download the full EP from their myspace page.

Jóvenes y Sexys // El Reloj

So a couple of years ago, my buddy DP made this killer dance mix which went by the appropriate title “DP’s Sex Mix” — yeah, it was that smooth. Although that mix would guarantee to get the party hoppin’, you had to unleash it at just the right time for maximum effect (too early and you run out of material when the party hits full stride, too late and people are worn out before the mix finishes). To solve the problem of premature play, my first mix (no doubt in a series), tackles the pre-party environment — you know, when guests are starting to arrive and you want music geared towards conversation rather than rump-shaking.

You can download the mix, fully entitled “Chillaxxx Mixxx²: da Houf Pre-Sexxx Mixxx” (multiple xxx for emphasis) right here. No doubt there are some weak transitions and I need to crop/fade some endings to songs, but I think every track works as good background music for a get-together of any size. Who knows, the music itself might start up some conversations of its own. Here’s the tracklisting:

1: Warm Heart of Africa // The Very Best (ft. Ezra Koenig)
2: Ecstasy // jj
3: Get ‘Em High // Kanye West (ft. Common) [A-Trak Remix]
4: POP // M.I.A. & Diplo
5: Little Dreamer // Future Islands (ft. Victoria Legrand) [Jones Remix]
6: Norway // Beach House
7: Animals Collecting Money // Animal Collective x Paper Route Gangstaz [Hood Internet Remix]
8: Idioteque // Calico Horse (Radiohead Cover)
9: Tower Grove Joint // Phaseone
10: A New Chance // The Tough Alliance (Tanlines Remix)
11: Imitosis // Andrew Bird (Four Tet Remix)
12: The xx Chicago Girls // Jams Dean
13: Never Content // Air France (Friends Tropic Thunder Edit)
14: One // Yeasayer
15: El Reloj // Jóvenes y Sexys
16: Dangers Not a Stranger // Gucci Mane (Diplo Remix)
17: Freeway // Kurt Vile
18: YGTL // Florence + The Machine (The xx Remix)