Howler Monkey - Crystal Castles Mix

Howler Monkey, Crystal Castles Omnibus Mix (YSI link) tracklist in comments

I wanted to take a break from the mixes the past two weeks, as I know it's a lot of music to constantly being throw at you. This mix was sent to me around the beginning of this break by the man himself, finally got around to giving it a listen this week and knew immediately I needed to return from mix hiatus.

A DJ by the name of Howler Monkey straight outta Pittsburgh put together this 30+ minute mix using all of the material from electropunk band Crystal Castles, touching on all of their output, originals and remixes (except for "Excuse Me" from a 7" split release). There's 12 tracks total, all seamlessly mixed, hyped by Pitchfork. I'm sure a lot of people are kinda turned off by what they just read: a mix for a band that barely has its own discography, one that has gotten more than its share of blog hype already, now getting its own mix. Well, get over it, this one's both a great mix and a great idea, never coming across as gimmicky or forced, a great intro to one of the more interesting up and coming bands. I'll let you check out the music, let me just quickly add how much I love this concept; many of my favorite mixes focus on one band/artist, give me a chance to hear their music in a sustained way. These type of mixes definitely cut through the glut of mixes out there and make me take notice of the DJs behind them.

Normally, I'd write a paragraph about the DJ and his/her past, their other stuff, upcoming parties, the whole works. Unfortunately, I have absolutely no clue who Howler Monkey is, as he has made his myspace page private and can only receive messages from friends. I like the mystery, always great to not know everything about someone like , but in this case, hopefully we'll be able to remedy that and let you know who the dude is and what's coming up. Write in if you can add some details to the picture, especially if you are Howler Monkey!

Okay, I'm gonna begin a diagonostic GRE test, wish me luck, more music later today. Yeah! That's a Yeah! to the mix, not the test.