Stop in, look around, have a drink and crank some tunes. I'll be posting some songs ripped from records, some out of print and hard to find stuff, some songs by artists you should be listening to, and a few mixes here and there.

Thursday, December 19, 2013

The Festive Funk Machine

Be a Christmas robot puppet master (and have fun wasting time) with The Festive Funk Machine!


Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Check The Cool Wax Christmas List Track Listing and NEW Download link


Hi Everyone. Thanks for the nice words. I've added a download link below because I didn't know SoundCound had a download limit… Oops! Also below is a track listing.

Download directly HERE.

Good Time Christmas :: Lou Rawls
Twinkle :: JD McPherson
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town :: The Sweetback Sisters
Santa On The Roof :: Reverend Horton Heat
Holiday Twist :: Los Straitjackets (with Kaiser George on vocals)
Away In A Manger :: Hyperbubble
Christmas of Love :: Little Isidore and the Inquisitors
I'm Gonna Lasso Santa Claus :: Brenda Lee
Must Be Santa :: Mitch Miller
Hooray For Santa Claus :: Al Hirt
Santa Bring My Baby Back (To Me) :: Elvis Presley
Snowflake :: Jim Reeves
Hurry Home :: Good Lovelies
Mary's Boy Child :: Trailer Trash
Joy To The World :: Ella Fitzgerald
Jingle Bells :: Smokey Robinson and The Miracles
Winter Wonderland :: The Funk Brothers
I Wish It Was Christmas Today :: Julian Casablancas
Why Can't It Be Christmastime All Year :: Rosie Thomas
Christmas Shopping :: Buck Owens
To Heck With Ole Santa Claus :: Loretta Lynn
Sleigh Ride :: The Ventures
Ring Those Christmas Bells :: Peggy Lee
We Wish You The Merriest :: Bing Crosby & Frank Sinatra
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (Excerpt) :: Jackson Five

And I've also been recommended to post to MixCloud

Brainwerk's Christmas Mix 2013 by Brainwerk on Mixcloud

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Check The Cool Wax Christmas Mix 2013

Merry Christmas everyone! How is your Christmas season going? Great I hope. I feel like I really have the spirit this year. Some years Christmas comes and goes so fast that you really don't get to fully submerge yourself into this wonderful time of year.

Here is my meager gift to you. It's not much. 60 minutes (give or take a few seconds) of peppy Christmas music that I hope will brighten up your spirits if only for a short time. Think of it as an hour of Check The Cool Wax radio. It has had my kids and I dancing around the living room for a few weeks now. I tried to keep this as upbeat as possible. The tempo drops a little in the middle but picks right back up at the end. It will also be good practice for your holiday party because you can practice all your dance moves - polka, pogo, western swing, robot or even just the cool head bob...

I'm not sure how long this will be up. Soundcloud could take this down at anytime. If anyone is interested, I can make this a mix on Spotify too. I really had fun making this. Please send me a note or leave a message if you enjoyed it. I would love to know if anyone is still visiting the site.

Please support these great artists. My only intent here is to spread a little good cheer and introduce other music lovers to some songs they may have forgotten or never heard before. Well, except for Elvis I guess… But I couldn't make a Christmas mix without the King of Rock n Roll right?? It's just impossible to hear good music on the radio or in stores anymore.

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Jerry Lewis :: I've Had A Very Merry Christmas

I've had a request to repost Jerry Lewis - I've Had A Very Merry Christmas… Instead of posting the mp3, I'll just point you to a link where you can listen to it as much as you want on Spotify. I really love this song and I wonder why you don't hear it more at Christmas. Am I the only one who still loves Jerry Lewis?

Monday, December 09, 2013

Are these really Christmas songs???

OK. I have a question. Who decided that "My Favorite Things" and "What A Wonderful World" are Christmas songs? And what about "Linus and Lucy"? Not a Christmas song in my books.

Christmas Mix Coming Very Soon!


I really haven't much to offer to all you good people any more. The mining of obscure, wacky, TV and pop culture records has dried up. A quick Google search will get you almost anything you want to hear.  I still cruise the major Christmas blogs and I still love to read your messages. What I am whipping up is a mix to pass along. It's clocking in about an hour and it's packed with some forgotten songs and some newer songs that may have slipped by you. Songs you may not have heard in a few years and a few you've heard a thousand times, and all sprinkled with plenty of sound bytes. The one common element here is that ALL the songs will keep you bopping around your Christmas tree sipping your glass of spirits, or shaking in the kitchen while you bake those cookies. It's some high energy Christmas and I hope you enjoy it. I'm just doing some last minute jockeying of songs and volume levels… If anyone is still visiting the blog and enjoys it, I'd love to make more.

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Thanksgiving Mix - Count Your Blessings!

31 songs to aid in digestion and help you remember just how lucky you really are. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Friday, November 22, 2013

Mr. Booze Holiday Cocktails 2013


Be sure and check out Mr. Booze before your Christmas party and it will be a guaranteed hit. You already have the soundtrack. Now get the spirits. Cheers! My favorite? The Candy Cane Lane.

Thursday, November 21, 2013

A Ding Dong Dandy Christmas Discovery!

It doesn't happen often, but sometimes there's an mp3 album you want to buy and it's just not for sale in your country. I live in the US and I knew that The Three Suns A Ding Dong Dandy Christmas was available in the UK. For whatever the reason it's not available here. I thought "Hey! I'll just head on over to the UK iTunes store or Amazon UK and pick it up." NO luck. I couldn't even listen to it on Spotify because it's not available in the USA. After poking around the web and being turned down at about a dozen places, I found Fair Share Music. Maybe they don't care about licensing laws? Maybe their exempt because a fraction of the purchase goes the the charity of your choice? Who knows? I don't really care because I used Paypal, bought the mp3s, downloaded them, and just finished listening. It sounds great! Go get it now before this loophole gets shut. Now… Who do I talk to about them changing the classic cover art?


Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Friday, October 11, 2013

Hell Yeah, we're OPEN! - A Mix For Ya


This cover was for the mp3 I gave my friends. Spotify version is below. Not all the songs were on Spotify so there are less than 46.

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Cool Album Cover Of The Day :: Twistin' with Duane Eddy

I see so many cool album covers that I thought I'd post a few. Most of these we own so ping me if there is interest in some songs from them.

Friday, February 22, 2013

A Record Made From Ice - It Works!

Do you have some extra money laying around to get your hands on the 1 of 10 promos that The Shout Out Louds made to promote their newest album? Do you want to wreck a perfectly good needle? They you may be interested in this...




Or if chocolate is your thing...

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Brainwerk's Best of 2012 (Give Or Take A Few Months)

Hi everyone - How's it going? Me? I'm fine. Just trying to get through this last part of winter. I'm really ready for a warm up! I know I don't post a lot here anymore. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with this blog. I don't have the time anymore to rip countless records and post them - and quite frankly - there are a lot of other blogs that do that way better than I ever could. I thought I would post a mix I made called "Brainwerk's Best of 2012 (Give or take a few months). It's my favorite songs from last year and a few that bled over into 2011. Enjoy. There are two ways to listen. You can use 8tracks or Spotify to listen. For whatever reason, the playlists are a little different because each service has their own weird rules...