* Because the Variety Show Mix had 13 songs and we're only supposed to do 11, so I thought I'd do it according to the rules this time.
* Because I finally got my burner running again.
* Because the Variety Show Mix was put together months ago and I've long since come up with new musical obsessions I wanted to share.
* Because somebody's gotta fill in the gaps left by others (who shall remain nameless)!
Here is the tunes, then:
Side One:
"Fifty States of Freedom" - Brewer & Shipley "Duck People, Duck Man" - Megapuss "Got a Feelin' " - The Mamas & The Papas "He Can Be Found" - The Louvin Brothers "Just a Closer Walk With Thee" - Dave Van Ronk
Side Two:
"Bellbottoms" - The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion "A Gun on His Hip and a Rose on His Chest (Sept. 2008)" - Megapuss (way not safe for work or children) "'Cause I Love You" - Carla & Rufus "There She Walks" - The Monks "Don't Doubt Yourself Babe" - The Byrds "Kahuna Sunset" - Buffalo Springfield
I had weird experiences during the production of my mix. Lots of technical difficulties. Two computers broke. I accidentally tried to burn music onto DVD-R's. The endlessly unflappable Meg Martin tried to help and wound up hitting me in the back of the neck with a garden rake. And last minute program changes and brain-farts rendered the playlist on the tastefully designed sleeve inaccurate.
However, despite all these obstacles and a completely unrelated battle with 24-hour psoriasis ... I finished my disc and circulated it to almost everyone on time. So for that I'm giving myself a long standing "o" and I am not looking askance at the other members of the club who just, whups, decided to punt, punters.
Anyway, the theme here is 1970s variety shows, home of baby blue backgrounds, lots of light bulbs, long microphones, sparkly instruments and, whenever possible, 25 musicians on a paper mache stage....
"Wild and Free" is by Curtis Mayfield and is an excellent kick-off song for a mix CD. I credit myself for thinking of doing it.
"Fallin' in Love" is by Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds, who recorded for Playboy Records and who kept their name even after Reynolds left the ground, although they later became Hamilton, Joe Frank and Dennison. I am sad that we now live in a world where a group like that with a name like that could never even remotely have a pair of hit songs.
"Ruby (Don't Take Your Love to Town)" is by Kenny Rogers and the First Edition and I'm fascinated by the flow of the line, "It wasn't me that started that whole crazy Asian war."
"Brandy (You're A Fine Girl)" is by The Looking Glass and maybe it's a little overplayed, maybe it's a tune that could push this mix too far in the K-Tel direction, but it's smooth as velour warmed by the sun.
"It Never Rains in Southern California" is by Albert Hammond, who is the father of Albert Hammond, Jr., who plays guitar for the Strokes. That and this song are good contributions to the world. Unfortuantely, he also wrote "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" for Starship (as seen in the motion picture "Mannequin") and "To All the Girls I've Loved Before." Despite those last two achievements, he has not yet been dragged by his ankles behind a car, but there's still time.
"Beggin'" is by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. You should never beg, especially when love is involved. Unless you establish a safety word first.
"Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad" is by Tammy Wynette and is a masterpiece of the articulation of a romantic strategy.
"Have You Seen Her?" is by the Chi-Lites and features one of the greatest openings of all time. Seriously, stick your earbuds in, crank up the volume and tell me that's not a swell sound -- the fuzztone guitar, the choral harmonies, the saggy drums, the precise clavinet. Even the talkin' blues has just enough truth and pathos to save it from corniess. Even M.C. Hammer couldn't fuck it all up.
"Windows of the World" is by Dionne Warwick and it came this close to getting booted off the mix in favor of another Warwick/Burt Bacharach collaboration, "Always Something There to Remind Me," later given a second life when remade in the 80s by Naked Eyes. "Always Something..." is more upbeat and less schmaltzy, but it doesn't have one crucial element that "Windows" does and that is: That plucked stringed instrument (is it a harp?) that makes the whole thing worthwhile.
"Eastbound and Down" is by Jerry Reed and was the theme song for "Smokey and the Bandit."
"Reflections of My Life" is by The Marmalade and is one of the greatest songs ever made.
"Never Can Say Goodbye" is by The Jackson Five, but here it's by Isaac Hayes from his "Black Moses" album. It was originally to be the closing number but yesterday I was listening to XM while shaving and heard the Marshall Tucker.
"This Ol' Cowboy" is by The Marshall Tucker Band and I heard it for the first time in years on XM Radio on Tuesday and decided it had to go on the mix. Great summertime jam/barbecue soundtrack/music for a morning pontoon cruise, even if the narrator does go on a little too long. I don't think Marshall's primary kiss off about being used to sleeping alone quite packs the punch he intends.
Apologies to the songs that didn't make the final cut: "Rosalinda's Eyes," by Billy Joel; "Everybody is a Star" by Sly and the Family Stone; "Suavaceto" by Malo; something obscure by Steely Dan; something obscurer by Elton John; "When You're Hot, You're Hot," by Jerry Reed; et al.
1) Sexy Coffee Pot Tony Alvon & The Belairs I pulled this from the first mix in My Other Seedy Club, which did its first round back in late 2006. So no, I wasn't cool enough to find it on my own.
2) Allah Wackbar Ofo The Black Company This came from the awesome Nigeria '70: Funky Lagos compilation, which I highly recommend. It's incredible and almost worth it just for those boots on the album cover.
3) Got to Give It Up The Dirtbombs I don't think you can go wrong with a Detroit garage band covering Marvin Gaye.
4) I Felt Like a Gringo The Minutemen Nothing screams "80s music" like the Minutemen. At least, this is what the '80s should be remembered for. The Minutemen are one of the influential-but-underappreciated bands from the early '80s American hardcore movement.
5) Bull in the Heather Sonic Youth I love Sonic Youth but the fact I didn't really discover them until 1994's Experimental, Jet Set, Trash and No Star hurts my hipster credibility. I grew up in Clifton Forge. Sometimes it took a little longer for things to trickle into the mountains.
6) Teenage Wristband Twilight Singers The Afghan Whigs are one of the great unappreciated bands of the '90s. This was singer Greg Dulli's next band, which was nearly as great. He's now in the Gutter Twins with Mark Lanegan, and that band is awesome too.
7) Rebellion (Lies) Arcade Fire Arcade Fire's a guilty pleasure for me. They remind me too much of U2 or the Talking Heads sometimes, but I really like their music.
8) It Might Just Be a One-Shot Deal Frank Zappa The beginning & end of this will probably be a little too Zappa-esque for most people, but damn that 2-minute slide guitar solo in the middle is a thing of beauty.
9) Rider on the Stormy Sea Mary Timony One time my college friend Liz, who grew up in Worchester and still trades music with me from her current home in LA, made me a mix-tape of "bitchy women" (riot grrl stuff) and "witchy women" (Timony, Stevie Nicks and PJ Harvey, mostly) that had a photo copy of a Boston phonebook page with Mary Timony's number highlighted.
10) Moya Godspeed You Black Emperor! I saw this band at the Orange Peel in Asheville during that venue's first year. They had about nine people on stage with crazy film loops playing in the background. I think this could provide a soundtrack for lots of life experiences.
11) In My Hour of Darkness Gram Parsons The last song off Gram Parson's last album before he died of an overdose. An end for him, but a beginning for Emmylou Harris, who sings here and was preparing to launch a successful solo career. Apparently a lot of people were upset at Parsons when he wrote this, as he's shown up drunk for the funeral of a good friend, but he made up for it by writing a verse about the guy.
12) Don't Laugh I Love You Ween
13) Excerpt from Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain, read by Ed Begley Sr.
This is the theme of my life these days, and therefore the opening song of my debut CD.
2. Modern Mystery by Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
This song will make your head bop. I liked it even before I saw the YouTube video (here), which chronicles the misadventures of a paperboy. Maybe the “Modern Mystery” is how newspapers are supposed to survive. Maybe I’m reading too much into it. Haha, get it? Reading? OK, never mind.
3. Blue Ridge Mountains by Fleet Foxes
These guys are everywhere, but I still can’t help but like them. I struggled to decide whether to put this song or “White Winter Hymnal” on this mix. I think this one won out just because of the title. My favorite line: “Let’s drive to the countryside; leave behind some green-eyed lookalikes so no one gets worried, no….”
4. Keep a Secret by The Whitest Boy Alive
German minimalist pop. What could be better? These guys started as an electronic dance project. Maybe they have an identity crisis.
5. Untrust Us by Crystal Castles
Canadian electronic music. Initially, it may sound like total jibberish. But I think I know what they are saying. And I think it has something to do with love, or candy, or the weekend.
6. Half a Person by The Welcome Wagon
Rev. Thomas Vito Aiuto and his wife, Monique, make up this band. They started in their living room and have no musical experience. But then they ran into Sufjan Stevens, who produced and helped to arrange this album, “Welcome to The Welcome Wagon.” I like how echoey and mournful the tune is. It was originally performed by Morrissey’s former band, The Smiths. And now I want to be a back scrubber.
7. A Measure of the Same by Birds of Avalon
Birds of Avalon is a Raleigh, N.C. band. I like one guitarist’s name: Cheetie Kumar. Cheetie and another guitarist in Birds, Paul Siler, used to be in a band called The Cherry Valence. Maybe that means something to one of you. It means nada to me. I just like this song a lot. It jams.
8. Music by Cornelius
And now we move from Raleigh, N.C. to Tokyo. Wheeeeeeeeeee!
9. Space City by Drive-by Truckers
This song may seem a little out of place on this mix. But then again, we've already been through Germany, North Carolina and Japan. When I first heard this song, I had to listen to it over and over and over again. I wanted to make love to the singer just because of the sound of his voice. I love every single zip of the fingers on the guitar strings. It's sad. It's just sad, sad, sad.
10. Rainbow Flows by Husky Rescue
They pass me by.
11. The Wanting Comes in Waves by The Decemberists
When I first heard this song, it reminded me of some alt rock version of Bohemian Rhapsody. But not quite as good. But still pretty good. I think The Hazards of Love is a concept album, and the concept has something to do with shape-shifting animals and forest queens. I’ve also heard “The Rake Song” off the album, and I like that one, too. But I’m not compelled to rush out and get the whole album to find out what happens to the forest queens.
Vowing to lose their virginity senior year, four misfit buddies quit the marching band to join the Riverside High football team. In this training montage — weight room, jogging in a thunderstorm — “I can’t stand the rain” by Ann Peebles plays in the heartfelt dramedy “The Sideliners.”
02 At Manhattan’s HoraceMannSchool, the children of the borough elite often escape the discipline they so richly deserve at the hands of a timid faculty. But when a crew of incorrigible sophomores commit a near-fatal prank (to "Oxford Comma" by Vampire Weekend) Mr. Llewellyn, the new theater arts teacher, risks his career to take on a powerful real estate mogul in the controversial film “A Clockwork Horace.”
03 In the moving domestic portrait “Light Sweet Crude,” Alexander is the teenage son of a business-obsessed Exxon consultant who strikes up an uneasy relationship with his distant, alcoholic stepmother while his father is off prospecting in the Middle East. Snooping through his stepmother’s bedroom, Alexander finds the crumpled evidence of a recent infidelity, and it dawns on him in slo-mo (to “Knife” by Grizzly Bear) that her affair may be justified.
04 As sweethearts Julie and Preston say goodbye for the summer — Julie for horse camp, Preston for the lifeguard’s chair — Julie worries the hunky Preston may have his eye on one of the adoring college girls who lounge around the Twin Oaks Country Club. She just never guessed it would be the tennis pro, Gerard. The song “Hercules’ Theme” by Hercules & Love Affair plays as Preston and Gerard take a forbidden, midnight dip together in the affecting independent film “Backhand/Forehand.”
05 “The Golden Corral Kids” are an ensemble of precocious teens who staff the local all-you-can-eat buffet, mocking the truckers and Mormon families who eat there, all the while dreaming of the day they can leave tiny Adenville, Utah. In a generation-defining scene, co-workers Lily and Barney deflower each other on a box of plastic cutlery, not in a moment of urgent passion, but out of a sense of adolescent obligation — as “3 Fortunate Sailors” by Raccoon plays.
06 “Elizabeth, 1981” centers on an unhappy 15-year-girl from an affluent Chicago suburb, struggling to find herself amid the revelation she was adopted. Here, after a night of dangerous experimentation, Elizabeth crashes the family car and tries to make the predawn phone call home to “Stuck on an Island” by Liz Phair.
07 It is going to be the worst spring break ever. Boy scouts Keith and Gary are stuck finishing an Eagle Scout project while their classmates are off partying in Cancun! The boys are installing a bird-watching deck in a local nature preserve, when they stumble upon some campers… from the Baptist women’s college!"Here Comes the Hotstepper" by Ini Kamoze begins to playas the boys join an erotic campfire in the hit raunchfest “Merit Badges II: Spring Break.”
08 While her parents go through a messy custody dispute, 16-year-old Alexis is sent to Spain to spend the summer at her uncle’s seaside vineyard. She plans to forget herself in books and fieldwork — until she meets Ramón. He takes her for a moped ride through the cobblestone streets of the Costa Brava to “Eres Para Mi (You are for me)” by Julieta Venegas in the bilingual heartwarmer “Sand & Vino.”
09
It’s graduation night, and everybody from Central Valley High is headed to Dagger Point for the party of the year! But in the midst of the celebrations, hearts are broken and dangerous secrets are revealed… And where did prom queen Kimmie Ferrara go? Buddies CJ and Mikey get wise to an uninvited guest at the party, but is it TOO LATE? Here, they find Kimmie’s blood-smeared tiara in the woods (to “Straight to Hell” by The Clash) in the straight-to-DVD thriller “Whisper down the Alley.”
10 Rodney Carraway, a quiet loner, is coaxed out of his shell when he is forced to sell his dying father’s OxyContin to pay the spiraling hospital bills. In this montage, the young entrepreneur establishes his business (and social standing) in the busy halls of Woodrow Wilson High, set to a remix of “You can’t always get what you want” by The Rolling Stones in the movie “Side Effects.”
11 Some kids just need to test the boundaries. Meet Jenny Adler, 14 going on 21 with the fake ID to prove it. But petty offenses lead to big trouble, and Jenny’s compassionate but naïve parents just can’t deal. In this sentimental closing scene, the Adlers drive Jenny home from a Tijuana holding cell. And as Jenny stares out the window with mascara-streaked eyes, she weeps at the realization that her parents love her for who she is, as “Big Love Lullaby” by Emily Wells ends the summer tearjerker “One Size Fits All.”
I kept on wondering when the hcek I'm supposed to put out my mixtape (and what Pete & Amanda's arbitrary rules were) so I'm pasting this here so I can stop forgetting:
1/ Dickens April 1 2/ Soares April 8 3/ Nair June 24 4/ Dybdahl April 22 5/ Adams April 29 6/ Harrison May 6 7/ Martin May 13 8/ Chittum May 20 9/ Valencia May 27 10/ Harvey June 3 11/ Macy June 10 12/ Henson June 17 13/ Jedlinsky April 15
Same rules: 11 songs, no artist repeats. And now a NEW rule: One of your songs has to have the word LOVE, SUNSHINE, CANDY (or variations: chocolate, Smarties, Zagnut bar) or WEEKEND (or variations: Friday, Saturday (not Sunday)) in the title.
My dog at my homework. I forgot I had to pick up the dry cleaning. I left it in my other pair of pants. Normally, I don't do this. I thought it was due the next day. Daylight savings has me all screwed up. I didn't realize we were already on a 2009 calendar already.
It's a week late but here's my tracklist. Enjoy!
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere by Neil Young Reminds me of last winter and the drive back from Atlanta to Roanoke and wondering about the possibilities.
Tarzan Boy by Baltimora Quite possibly the greatest piece of music ever recorded in the history of song itself. This jam always puts me in a good mood.
Breathless by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds I don't know if it's a flute, a recorder, or some sort of woodwind but the intro is tight and the song just builds.
Danny's Song by Loggins and Messina If I sang karaoke this would be my song.
No One's Gonna Love You by Band of Horses Its kinda sappy but I like it.
Devil Town by Bright Eyes It's a Daniel Johnston cover but I like this version better. Feels like I'm on my to cover a homecoming game...in hell.
Why Do You Let Me Stay Here? by She & Him I remember hearing her sing during a scene in the movie Elf and I thought she had a beautiful voice.
Get Up Get Out by The Rosebuds Get up and dance!
You Make Me Feel So Good by Book of Love Quite possibly the second greatest piece of music ever recorded in the history of song itself. This tune always puts me in a good mood.
Let The Distance Keep Us Together by Britt Daniel, Spoon and Bright Eyes The title is kind of an oxymoron but it makes sense. Just listen.
Any Fun by Coconut Records This is Jason Schwartzman's new group, its kind of an updated ELO for the kids.
For starters let me say that I know my disk is not as good as yours. But, I put a lot of [by which I mean ‘some’] thought into it, so I figure I better explain the individual songs as best I can. They are, in order of appearance:
1] Do One | Gomez Gomez is a Mexican band, I think. I like this song because it’s kind of loud. I don’t know what we, the listeners, are supposed to “do one” of. Perhaps it’s one chore a day. Or one thing from our “bucket list” before we die. Because, if you die and haven’t done anything from your list — man, what’s your problem? So, I chose this song because I thought it would be cool to have the first song have the number one in the title.
2] Fear of the South | Tin Hat Trio I didn’t expect to crap out on the whole title/numbering thing so quickly. And maybe since it’s a trio, I should have put it third. I don’t know. This tune is an instrumental that’s about how scary everything is in the South. Like barbecue, for instance. Ever try to get a barbecue stain out of a tuxedo shirt? If so, what were you doing eating barbecue in a tux? See what I mean? Scary.
3] Collapse | Soul Coughing Ever since I got a really bad sinus infection four years ago, I haven’t been able to sing nearly as high as I used to. This song is in a key that I can sing without my voice sounding shitty. I think maybe the song has something to do with a collapsed lung or something. I figured that’s kind of like a bad sinus infection. Also, the coughing part.
4] I Have Seen | Zero Seven Boy, I just realized that this song should have been seventh on my list. Jeez, what’s it gonna take, Henson?
5] Girl Laying Down | Anna Ternheim Don’t let the violins in the beginning fool you. This song is pretentious all the way through. I only put it on here because my wife said I had to. I think it’s about a very lazy girl.
6] Punch Bowl | Punch Brothers Yeah, I know. It’s bluegrass. A friend of mine says the Punch Brothers sound like the “Yes” of bluegrass. Maybe I should have put a Yes song on here too. Maybe that would make my "friend" happy.
7] Waltz | Robin Holcomb I think this was a typo and it was supposed to say “Walt’s” as in: “Walt Disney’s.” Also, the guitar solo on this song is by Bill Frisell. And everybody knows who he is.
8] Spoonful | Chris Whitley This is a tribute song to the band “Lovin’ Spoonful.” Here’s a bit of trivia for you. I have no idea who “Lovin’ Spoonful” is, when they were a group, or what songs they played. So now, if you ever get asked what Chris Henson knows about that band in one of those trivia games, dude, you’ve so got this one.
9] Blood Makes Noise | Suzanne Vega A lot of people don’t know that Suzanne Vega is a hemophiliac, which loosely translated means she’s got “very loud blood.” It’s why her songs sound the way they do. Try this experiment. In a quiet room, stuff gauze deep into your ears. If you hear something that sounds like blood, you’re getting there. Keep pushing the gauze in. Now, try to write a song that doesn’t sound like this one.
10] Trampoline | Joe Henry For her fourth birthday, we bought our daughter a trampoline. It was fun and all. But, after you hear a few of the “horror stories” about trampolines, you start to think, “Man, I should have just bought a loosely-capped vial of the Ebola virus.” At least, that’s what I thought until the vial arrived. My advice? Go with the trampoline.
11] Day After Tomorrow | Tom Waits Everyone knows Tom Waits is a big movie buff, right? Well, this is his song about the movie “The Day After Tomorrow.” The connection to the movie is really hard to get from the lyrics. You sort of have to change them in your mind. I think he also did one about “Bad Boys II.” But, I couldn’t find it on Rhapsody.
Final notes: I just wanted to say thank you for allowing me to be a stowaway on your musical excursion. If the whole point of it was to introduce me to new, interesting and great music, then “Mission Accomplished!” And I mean that in the real way. Not in the “I’ve just screwed up really badly and I’m covering my ass” way.
Credit goes to some guys in a New Wave/Punk band in Blacksburg circa 1985 for coming up with the idea of "Art 11." I should also thank Joe Dashiell, from WDBJ7, for the photos of Artie Levin. “Thanks, Joe!”
With Chris Henson up this week, the CD squad moves into its final rotation. People have asked what we're going to do.
I had assumed we'd take a week or two off and start up again. With changes, perhaps. People have suggested: Inviting more members, inviting a community school student, removing the mandatory 11-song cap, removing people who want out.
This post was created to collect thoughts as we go forward.
1- Yo La Tengo -- The river of water. I understand there may be some YLT haters out there. To them I extend an insincere apology. Yo La Tengo is an enigmatic band. Half their songs are filled with catchy melodies. The other half are drawn-out grinding songs that only the most hardened guitar-head could appreciate. So which is it? Are they a pop band that occasionally cuts loose or are they a noise band with a softer side?
2- The Sea and Cake -- Showboat Angel If you ever thought that "restrained screaming" is an oxymoron, this song is here to prove you wrong.
3- Esther Phillips -- Don't Put No Headstone On My Grave This song has no business with all the other songs here. But I love how heartfelt it is so I included it.
4- Avett Brothers -- Talk On Indolence I saw this band at the Coffee Pot at few years ago and the place was packed with teenyboppers. The Avett Brothers are a kind of bluegrass boy band but it's OK because they're completely nuts.
5- Neko Case -- Star Witness I like how this song has a sort of slacker-gothic tinge to it. Especially the line "Come on pretty baby get high with me/ We can go to my sister's if we say we'll watch the baby..."
6- Beck -- Hollow Log A delightfully absurd hobo romp. Like a mid-90's Big Rock Candy Mountain.
7- Coco Rosie -- Ohio While you were out, a child ghost called and left this haunting message on your answering machine.
8- Pixies -- Caribou Alaska and its fauna have been much in the news lately. Consequently, this song has been in my head.
9- St. Etienne -- You're In A Bad Way Because, really, who doesn't need occasional reminding that your "jeans are old and your hair's all wrong/ Don't you know that crew cuts and trainers are out again?"
10- Mason Jennings -- Empire Builder Mason Jennings has been voted the Minneapolis musician most likely to become a superstar for something like 10 consecutive years. We're still waiting.
11- Luna -- Sweet Child of Mine Is it sacrilegeous to say I like this better than the original?
I'm loving the way this club is a'bumpin' and a'thumpin' along.
I say we now -- given the amount of tech geeks in attendance -- branch out to include the occasional member-made video.
This is, of course, largely because I've already made a couple of music videos and have one to post.
But I'd love to see more pop up.
Here's my entry which a few of you have already seen. And as I've also noted in the Youtube comments, your enjoyment of this will be greatly improved if you click "VIEW IN HIGH QUALITY" in the lower right-hand margins of the screen, which you can really only access by following this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3VQ_wQTRvo
This was cobbled together from random footage I shot with a point-and-shoot, using only natural light, usually while on my dinner breaks from work. Flimsy as it is, it owes great debts to the early work of Gus Van Sant and to the wonderful closing credits in the film, "Comedian."
01 Jamas te olvidare, chucho avellanet I don't think you need to speak Spanish to understand it's a mixed blessing when Chucho says he will jamas te olvidare ("never forget you"). It's like he's walking the Latino version of Johnny Cash's line between menace and flattery with questions like "Where could you be? Who are you with? And tell me who ... who are you kissing?" Fortunately the bright horn section smooths out any lingering weirdness, and maybe reminds his woman how much fun Chucho is.
02 Electric feel, MGMT SCENE: My 5-year college reunion, 2:14 a.m. PETE: Where's Matt? MATT'S X-GIRLFRIEND: He's playing bass for this one band. They're big in Europe. What do you do? PETE: I write for a newspaper. It's small in Virginia.
03 White winter hymnal, fleet foxes I hear the Beach Boys' influence in a lot of music right now. Here, we see what Brian Wilson might have done as a 14th century minstrel.
04 Fidelity, regina spektor Strictly a crowd pleaser. Its batting clean-up because my girlfriend suggested some of these might potentially alienate a listener. Now the haters can say, "I skipped everything but that HA-A-A-A-A-A-ART song."
05 After laughter (comes tears), wendy rene Macy said she doesn't like minor songs. But there's hope here. The way Wendy wails at 2:45 suggests some bittersweet make-up lovin.
06 Man made lake, calexico I've spent a lot of time with most of these songs, so I wanted to include one I heard for the first time last week. I imagined Smith Mountain Lake.
07 Don't be scared, a.r.e. weapons This song's message is particularly important in the post-9/11 era.
08 Nashville, liz phair Liz's building, almost breaking, voice at 1:50 is one of my favorite song climaxes. Once, after a concert, I asked her what it meant to "feel it seep through the slick divide." She sang the lyric softly to herself and said, "Well, I was hanging out with Urge Overkill a lot then and it sorta felt like I was about to be famous."
09 Heaven is a truck, pavement I got into this band when I was in my 20s, but always wished a cool uncle had said "You should listen to Pavement" when I was a teenager. I was iffy about including it. Then Matt mentioned he liked piano hooks.
10 The trident pool, pedro + the dolphins This is me and my buddy Laurence. Every word is true. My mom walked in on us and, at 1:17, asks "Guess who called." It was still our best take so kept it.
11 Blue room, chet baker This is like a cross between a love song and a ghost story. Chet Baker was a lifelong addict, who said he had to use the horse to even be able to sing in his unmanly tenor. And here it is totally naked.
Afterword: I wanted to order these songs so that they would be undressing production-wise -- like from heaviest production (Chucho) to as bare as it gets (Chet).
1. "Underground" by Das Pop from Das Pop (2009) This is a somewhat unknown outfit from Belgium, which is why I lifted the infectious single from their forthcoming self-titled album. I wanted the first track of the mixtape to be something unfamiliar.
2. "Doing It Right" by The Go! Team from Proof of Youth (2007) Off the Reading, England, quintet's sophomore effort, this track leaves me exhilarated almost every time I listen to it.
3. "D.A.N.C.E." by Justice from Cross (2007) "That song made me want to sing the alphabet." That's what Jared said when he heard it. That's what I was hoping someone would want to do.
4. "Strange Love" by Depeche Mode from Music for the Masses (1987) The only reason I included this in the mixtape was to have A Song That Is Actually From the 1980s. It didn't fit in the mixtape the way I hoped it would.
5. "Red Socks Pugie" by Foals from Antidotes (2008) "You put in too much of that dance shit you like." One of the recipients of the mixtape said that. I don't remember if that was what (s)he said verbatim, so I won't say who it is.
6. "Foundations" by Kate Nash from Made of Bricks (2008)
7. "Dawn of the Dead" by Does It Offend You Yeah? from You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into (2008)
8. "Pogo" by Digitialism from Idealism (2007) This song is a perfect example of that dance shit I like. They're a German duo, and their entire debut album is excellent.
9. & 10. "Montreal -40" and "Pate Filo" by Malajube from Trompe-L'oeil (2007) The dudes from this Quebec outfit (say it MAL-a-zhoob) manipulate old-time pop craftsmanship to create tracks that are at the same time funny and beautiful. They can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with artists like Arcade Fire or the Flaming Lips, but most people will never hear about them because they sing in French.
11. "Patrick Swayze Lenny Kravitz" by Adelphi from myspace.com/adelphi (2008) This is a band from Baltimore County, Md., and an example that many people out there, somewhere, are making awesome music in a basement, somewhere.
Here you go, my rendition of our eleven song standard.
First things first: the odd title on your disc (each disc has a different one) is an anagram of "Matts Eleven Songs."
Methodology: Well, I just started by picking my seven or eight favorite artists and/or songs that I thought the crew might appreciate. I borrowed Jorge's ethic of choosing more accessible songs if the artist might be more obscure.
After that I just organized what I had organically. I knew what I wanted first, and each song after that is one the previous song reminded me of on some organic level, which I either won't disclose or can't articulate. I filled out the remaining songs based on that idea -- this song or that reminded me of one I didn't have in the mix yet, so I added it. Somewhere in my pea brain, these all flow perfectly one to the next.
The numbers: Being a data guy, I can't help but notice the numbers. Eleven songs, 48.9 minutes. That's an average of almost 4:30 a song. Pretty long. Four songs here are over five minutes, and one is over six. Three are four over four minutes.
The notes:
1. "Use It" by The New Pornographers. Great band, Canadian I think, and this is among their latest releases, if not their latest. I wanted something with pace and energy to start with. I listen to this album often, and picked this for, among other reasons, the great piano hook. I love poppy kind of hooks.
2. "To Go Home" by M. Ward. Neil turned me on to M. Ward in a mix he gave me before we started the group. My fave song by this guy is the one Neil gave me, but I didn't want to gift that back to Neil, so I picked another off the same album, which I bought immediately after hearing "Chinese Translation, which Neil posted in video form on this blog. More piano here, kids singing backing vocals, which I think is cool, and this great lyric: "God it's great to be alive, takes the skin right off my hide, to think I have to give it all up some day.
3. "While You Were Sleeping" by Elvis Perkins. Pandora introduced me to Perkins. I loved this song instantly, the way it builds from a simple folk song with guitar and vocals to a kind of acoustic riot by the end, with each verse adding an instrument. Perkins, if you don't know, is the son of actor Anthony Perkins of "Psycho" fame and who died of AIDS may years ago. His mother was on a plane that hit the World Trade Center on 9/11. He can be kinda dark, but I love this album.
4. "Elephant Gun" by Beirut. Jorge gets credit for turning me on to Beirut, which is mainly this teenage prodigy (when he started the band, anyway) from New Mexico. It's the atmosphere and ethnic flavor of this stuff that grabbed me, along with the horn hook.
5. "All Her Favorite Fruit" by Camper Van Beethoven. Before David Lowry turned out to be an enormous asshole and Cracker went to crap, Lowry wrote amazing songs for Camper Van. The European flavor of the Beirut song I think reminded me of this tune, a favorite of mine for its mood and lyrics. "She serves him peppered steak, and corn... and pulls her dress up over her head."
6. "Hang Down Your Head" by Tom Waits. Back when I was an unrepentent punker, it was Tom Waits who opened my mind to the music I was missing by blowing my mind. I saw him on Letterman one night doing "In the Neighborhood" from "Swordfishtrombones." Bought the LP the next day at The Record Exchange and I've loved Waits ever since. This is from "Rain Dogs," the follow up to "Swordfishtormbones," an album more guitar-driven and country and blues flavored than the former. Keith Richards plays on a few tracks.
7. "Dried Up" by the Ass Ponys If Skynard and Crazy Horse had a bastard child and left it in an orphanage in Cincinnati, this is what it would sound like. Simple songs here, alt.country basically, lyrically moody -- and often hilarious, though not on this song. Alot of these songs evoke for me being a kid in the 70s and having a teenage brother. "I recall the smell of summer on your skin. We were 17 and everything was pounding and it wouldn't top." I feel like I've seen this before, kind of like when I watch "Dazed and Confused."
8. "Two Way Monologue" by Sondre Lerche Chris introduced me to this album by this Norwegian guy, which is alternately Beatle-ish, poppy and jazzy. Great arrangements, too.
9. "Fiery Crash" by Andrew Bird This is Bird's second appearance on an 11-song disc, and this is from the same album Beth chose hers from. I could have picked any number of songs from the album, but chose this one because earlier this year, I was sitting in O'Hare in line to board a plane and this song came on my iPod. "You have to imagine the fiery crash."
10. "Real Estate" by Scott Brookman This guy is from Salem -- Salem!!! Scott's an old, old friend of mine who I used to play a lot of music with when he stilled lived here. He's based in Richmond now. Scott's enamored of 60s pop, even the stuff you might consider dreck, like Burt Bacharach. But bear in mind that people as uber-cool as Elvis Costello have recognized Bacharach's genius and recorded with him. I find Scott's whole album -- and I say this with obvious bias for my friend -- to be absolute candy. (Shameless plug: Available on iTunes and eMusic.)
11. "Missing the War" by Ben Folds Five This may be the most common song on the disc, but I love Ben Folds and I love this song because it evokes the life of a middle-age male pretty damn well. I think one of the main reasons I included it, though, was to give the song before it some context. Plus, it builds to a terrific finish, which every mix needs.
Neil has intimated, by comment and color-scheme, that his mix tape is in three parts. But what are the separate parts of this triptych? And who can unlock the ageless secrets of Da Harvey Code?
