What a difference a year makes. Or doesn’t. About this time last year, I was wrapping up a summer full of mixes with seemingly no end in sight, and now here we are, a new mix for the first time since. I’ll be honest: Vertigo Light was a hard act to follow. It proved not only to be the most well-received mix on this site, but it became one of my favorites over time as well. How do you top a pitch-perfect collection of songs, so well-articulating their respective genres, influences and styles? You can’t. That album art deserved to be at the top of this site for a whole year.

Alas, it’s time for change. To warm back up, I tackled a sequel that’s been simmering almost as soon as the first one came off the stove: The Sunny Delight series, a.k.a. my tribute special to Grayarea, so named in accordance to one of their latest and greatest fangirls. Some of these tracks I had to bide my time for (and I still didn’t get their bootleg of Owl City’s Meteor Shower, damn it), a couple I pulled out of my collection back lots right after finishing the first installment and swore loudly upon discovering. I remained encouraged due to Grayarea’s delightful resurgence over the last year, an abundance of initial material to work with, and the continually staggering quality of production. Keep it up, you stubborn and talented bastards. Don’t fail us now. I’d love to do a part 3 of this eventually.

A funny story many of you may not know: Grayarea has always had an obsession with remix titles. Long ones. Twice as long as a man. They’re kings in the land of Absurdly Long Titles. I can’t be completely certain which mix started it, but some early examples shone through (“Purging the Inventory Mix” of Digital Witchcraft’s Brindavan, the “Unreleased Grayarea Money Shot House Mix” of Blackwatch & Greed’s Gentle Rain), and I can be certain that it came to a head when swapping remixes with Hybrid. Grayarea went first, submitting for consideration, “Grayarea’s Il Postino Y Lo Stronzo Disoccupato Mix” of I’m Still Awake. Truman and Healings responded in kind with what must be an unbreakable record for longest remix title ever with the “Hybrid’s Love From Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch Mix” of Gravity. But overcompensating has its pitfalls: Guess which remix title got full billing on the vinyl label, and which one didn’t?

Grayarea: Masters of their domain. Cheers.

Running Time: 49:46
File Size: 114.2 MB @ 320 kbps

1. Silversun Pickups – Little Lover’s So Polite (Grayarea Remix) [Dangerbird]
2. Nightriders – Take My Hand (Grayarea Remix) [OMG!]
3. Hybrid – I’m Still Awake (Grayarea’s Il Postino Y Lo Stronzo Disoccupato Mix) [Distinct'ive]
4. Red Baron – Vandenberg (Grayarea’s Sop With Camel Reconstruction) [Silver Planet]
5. Steve Porter – Vodka Cranberries (Grayarea’s Bourbon & Coke Mix) [NuRepublic]
6. A.B.E. – Motive (Grayarea Ulterior Vocal) [Fade]
7. Snow Patrol – If There’s A Rocket Tie Me To It (Grayarea Remix) [CDR]
8. Underworld – Two Months Off (Grayarea’s Four Years Off Mix) [CDR]