Monday, October 29, 2007

School's In

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1. Sparta - Hiss The Villain
2. Spoon - Johnathan Fisk
3. The Impossibles - Connecticut
4. Jawbreaker - I Love You So Much It's Killing Us Both
5. Me First & The Gimme Gimmes - Save The Best For Last
6. Thrice - All That's Left
7. Saves The Day - Anywhere With You
8. Adair - Alone In The City of Robots
9. The Get Up Kids - Martyr Me
10. Cursive - A Gentleman Caller
11. Ryan Adams - Wish You Were Here
12. Vinnie & The Stardust - Quesadilla/Walk Around Naked
13. Rhett Miller - World Inside The World
14. Glassjaw - Trailer Park Jesus
15. Prince - Dear Mr. Man
16. Elliott Smith - Single File
17. Kenna - Sunday After You
18. Le Tigre - Eau de Bedroom Dancing
19. Self - Rusted & Used
20. Metric - Siamese Cities
21. The Black Box - The Art of Driving
22. Beastie Boys - Hey F*** You!
23. J. Live - School's In

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD.

An old mix from about 2004, showcasing some of the "new" sounds I was into then. A nice time capsule from that period - Prince's Musicology had just come out, Glassjaw hadn't quite broken up yet, Self was still going to release Ornament and Crime, Elliott Smith had just died ... these things happen, I guess.

Sparta!! The brawny rock side to The Mars Volta's proggy freakouts, Texas rock band Sparta start us off with one of the best tracks on Porcelain, their 2nd album.

An unreleased Spoon track, via a b-side for a single that didn't go anywhere, "Johnathan Fisk" pumps along at a chugging pace, with wicked little lyrical barbs like, "religion don't mean a thing / it's just another way to be right wing"

The Impossibles used to be the 2nd cousin to Voodoo Glow Skulls. Then, on their 2nd album, Enter/Return, they decided they wanted to be Weezer instead. Not a bad idea, as tracks like "Connecticut" prove - they've got the chops and the 'tude.

Emo legends Jawbreaker were on my mind at the time, having just heard Dear You for the first time. "I Love You So Much It's Killing Us Both" is one of the greatest songs about a love/hate relationship written in the 90s.

Me First & The Gimme Gimmes, the world's best cover band, take on Vanessa Williams' tepid ballad by throttling up the guitars and jokingly opening with a Sex Pistols riff. "Save The Best For Last" was a huge radio hit when I was a teen and I'm glad someone had the balls to fulfill its potential. Off the album Take A Break, their collection of songs written by black folks.

I was really impressed when I first saw Thrice, opening for Dashboard Confessional (?). The hype was big at the time and the album The Artist In The Ambulance did some huge numbers for their 2nd or 3rd record. "All That's Left" is proof that sometimes hype is right on the money.

Saves The Day had just delivered a sub-par CD, In Reverie, whose songs were blander, but more adult than their previous 2 albums, Through Being Cool and Stay What You Are. But the lead off track, "Anywhere With You" still rocks the house.

Adair used to be Disturbing The Peace, before Ludacris' lawyers got a hold of them. Turns out Luda and friends wanted to start a rap clique called Disturbing Tha Peace, so the St. Louis natives were shit out of luck. They released their first EP,The Permanent Bruise, which features 5 awesome tracks, including "Alone In The City Of The Robots".

The Get-Up Kids had just released Guilt Show, what would become their final album. People who loved the 16-year-old teens who wrote Four Minute Mile were out of touch with the adults who wrote this album and songs like "Martyr Me." Which is a damn shame. As far as final albums go, it's a killer.

Omaha, NE had been blowing up lately : The Faint got to tour with No Doubt, Bright Eyes was being touted as the next Dylan, Rilo Kiley were getting national props. Cursive refined their Fugazi-meets-Jawbreaker aesthetic by adding classical instrumentation like pianos, violins and cellos to their album The Ugly Organ. "A Gentleman Caller", whose title refers to a section in Tennessee Williams' "The Glass Menagerie", is a noisy blast of angst.

The album lloR n kcoR (known to some as Rock n Roll) had just been put out and Ryan Adams was on everyone's mind. "Wish You Were Here" is a simple, foul-mouthed rock number - count the times he says "fuck" - with a heart of gold.

I had just re-discovered the joy of the bargain bin. For a mere $5, I picked up the first (and only, I believe) album from Vinnie and The Stardusters, Novelty Music For Casual Sex. At the time, I described them as the "punk-rock Weird Al", which may or may not be true. What is true is that, "Quesadilla/Walk Around Naked", this riffing on the timeless "Que Sera Sera" and The Beatles' minor hit "Paperback Writer", is a goofy, fun sing-along.

Apparently, Rhett Miller wasn't writing the songs he wanted to write. As lead singer of alt-country stalwarts Old 97s, Rhett crafted pretty, heartbreaking songs of lust and remorse. Strangely enough, on his first solo album The Instigator, he does exactly the same thing. Weird, huh? "World Inside The World" is one of the only songs I know of to reference Dom DeLilo's genius novel "Underworld".

I had seen Glassjaw a few years previous with Deftones. Even though the mic was cutting out, lead singer Daryl Palumbo was a ball of furious anger - whipping himself with the microphone at one point. But what I didn't realize is the doped-out flipside to that energy. There's a few tracks on their 2nd album Worship and Tribute that sound like this : heavy, dripping with atmosphere and lyrical barbs.


Musicology was on everyone's Top 10 lists in '03 and for reasons like this. Prince was enjoying his re-naming after the many years of being The Artist Formerly Known As Prince, his popularity was at an upswing and his last tour had just sold out every date. True to form, nothing could stop him, not even figuring out how to make an anti-war song funky as hell. "Dear Mr. Man" is just that song, boiling hot guitar solo and all.

Elliott Smith had died the year before and mix tapes were constantly referencing his catalog. This exemplary track comes from Elliott Smith, one of my favorite albums and the first I'd ever bought. "Single File" is his condemnation of the 'normal' people that he felt apart from.

My friend Ken told me that Kenna would be huge. It still hasn't happened yet, but his debut album is a riot of sound. Produced by members of hitmakers The Neptunes, it should have been a huge smash. Legal troubles, label politics and many other problems plagued the album until it was all but forgotten by the music press. Which is a shame because New Sacred Cow is a revelation. "Sunday After You" with its squeaky beat and funky sound is a distillation of that album's feel.

Ah, electroclash. A movement that never went anywhere, with the exception of Peaches, who just had a guest spot on a Pink album... For Kathleen Hanna bouncing from hardcore riotgrrl punk (Bikini Kill) to electroclash (Le Tigre) may not seem like a logical step, but it is. Something about electroclash was totally DIY and right up a young punk's alley. The self-titled debut on Hanna's own label, Mr. Lady, is a bouncy, thrashy funhouse. "Eau De Bedroom Dancing" is the archetype of the Le Tigre sound.

Comin' straight outta Tennessee, Matt Mahaffey, A.K.A. Self, is a one-man music machine. He creates these bizarre pop tunes out of things that should not be pop music. An unreleased single, "Rusted & Used" comes to us from his fansite (which used to be selfies.net, but is now mattmahaffey.com).


Someone please give Emily Haines a medal for being awesome. As lead singer for Metric, she belts out these wicked songs that grab you and take your brains through your ears. Lyrically, she's all that & some chips, too. Sample lyric from "Siamese Cities" : "When you walk, you move like Moses / When you look, you look like Red Roses." This comes via an early EP called Static Anonymity.

I don't remember who Black Box Recorder (listed on the enclosed CoverArt files, incorrectly, as The Black Box) are, but someone told me if I liked Human League that I would love them. I do like Human League (almost to a fault), but they never scored any points with me. With one exception - this, the bracingly tender "The Art of Driving" from the album The Facts of Life.

[Note : Sometimes songs appear on a list I wrote by hand a handful of years ago and so it goes on the website "as is". I make no guarantees to accuracy until I start writing the track-by-track reviews/overviews. Be warned!]

From the 5 Boroughs, the second New York namecheck album from The Beastie Boys didn't quite take off like Paul's Boutique did. But that's OK, because their goofy rhymes and funky sounds make for a delicious standard - their rapping, especially on "Hey Fuck You", is like Mac N Cheese, which is not the most complex or tasty dish, but it's comforting and dependable. (I also am in love with the cringe-worthy line "Which one of you schnooks took my rhyme book?")

J. Live is rap's Rodney Dangerfield. He can't seem to get respect from the backpackers, who think he's too thug and he can't get no props from the thugs who think he's holier-than-thou. The split is readily apparent on "School's In" the last half of the first disk in the 2-part collection Always Has Been/Always Will Be, which is a genius blending of the two sub-cultures in hip-hop. Sure, he writes some cheeseball lines ("write a jam that you can swerve ta / over tracks so fat the nickname Big Bertha") but he also delivers some real zingers ("cuz when a mouthfull don't equal an eyefull, an earfull sound awful") that make you wonder... what if?

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

You're So Contagious

The download link won't be ready for this one until Friday, sorry for the inconvenience.

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1. Chromeo - Momma's Boy
2. Nellie McKay - Mother of Pearl
3. The Fratellis - Flathead
4. Afghan Whigs - My Enemy
5. Motion City Soundtrack - Last Night
6. Dashboard Confessional - Fever Dreams
7. Stars - Bitches In Tokyo
8. Against Me! - Stop!
9. Aesop Rock - Coffee (feat. John Darnelle of the Mountain Goats)
10. Rilo Kiley - The Moneymaker
11. Minus The Bear - Knights
12. Men, Women & Children - Vowels (AEIOU Nothing)
13. Better Than Ezra - r3wind
14. The Sounds - Ego
15. Amy Winehouse - Me & Mr. Jones
16. Styles of Beyond - Be Your Dog
17. Spoon - You Got Yr Cherry Bomb
18. Mika - Grace Kelly
19. Flyleaf - Cassie
20. Elvis Costello - 20% Amnesia
21. Lawrence Arms - Overheated
22. Plastilina Mosh - Millionare
23. Straylight Run - The Miracle That Never Came
24. Pink - Leave Me Alone (I'm Lonely)
25. They Might Be Giants - The Cap'm


Whew. A 25 track mix that took quite some trimming, might I add. It was originally 2 discs... I don't like uploading that much at once, so some songs had to go. I tried to make the mix live up to its name : each song had to be infectious and memorable. Also, I placed a limit : each song had to be uploaded into my iTunes from the last 2 months. Here's what I came out with...

We kick things off with Canadian weirdos Chromeo and a song about Oedipal obsessions (and Elektra obessions, too...). On the album Fancy Footwork, these guys really bring the 80s back in the worst and best ways.

Genius songstress Nellie McKay returns to form with an intro to a musical that never came to be, entitled Obligatory Villagers. "Mother of Pearl" is a sarcastic bitchslap to proto-feminist detractors who didn't care for McKay's first album and it's blatant misogyny.

My friend Amy introduced me to the old-school sound of The Fratellis and I thank her for that. The album Costello Music is full of the shout-along kind of music The Faces and The Kinks used to make.

Listening to Afghan Whigs' Black Love almost 13 years after its release doesn't lessen its power. I was initially going to review this for my other music blog, but I left it in the hands of a new member. But the album returned to my iTunes and I've gotten obsessed again. "My Enemy" is but one hook-laden example of the Whigs' musical style.

Continuing their neo-emo/new-wave journey with the album Even If It Kills Me, Motion City Soundtrack lay down some wild tracks into musical territory they haven't yet covered. "Last Night" follows some of the old MCS formula, but pushes the boundaries.

Dashboard Confessional had a bad two years. Dusk and Summer proved too emo for the hardcore fans (like me). So they return to their acoustic guitar, one-man act with the new album The Shade of Poison Trees. Glorious sing-alongs like "Fever Dreams" punctuate the classic Dashboard style.

Stars are from Canada. They are weird. This is not abnormal for Canadian bands. The last 2 albums, Heart and Set Yourself On Fire were critical successes, but were a bit byzantine for some music fans (unlike me). In Your Bedroom After The War brings things to a more pop-based stance, which suits them well.


Against Me! make use of punctuation in their name, but came way before Panic! At The Disco and right after Godspeed! You Black Emperor. Their album New Wave is getting huge critical love and is at the top of many critics' "Best of '07" lists. And rightly so. Classic stomping songs like "Stop!" and others bring the punk excitement of their live show to the record.


John Darnelle is the name of the guy who calls himself Mountain Goats. Aesop Rock is... well, Aesop Rock. Together, they mash out one of the best (and last) tracks on Aes' exemplary None Shall Pass album. "Coffee" is a paranoid mess, perfect for Monday mornings.

At first, I was going to make a Fleetwood Mac about Rilo Kiley, but then I realized that several magazines had already done it. But that doesn't make it any less true. Under The Blacklight, the new album, ditches the tried-and-true Rilo Kiley sound, which buried itself in alt-country twang, and replaces it with pop music. Quite a turnaround, but somehow it works. "The Moneymaker" shines above the rest as an instant classic.

One of my favorites from 2005, Minus The Bear return with their new album Planet of Ice. They've ditched the goofy song titles and stick to their guitar/keyboard tricks. "Knights" has the clicky awesomeness of a Thom Yorke solo track but with the trademark Minus The Bear swelling guitars. Classic.

Men Women & Children are a disco/new-wave band from New York (though Nick is from St. Louis!). My band, The Orbz, opened for them at Pop's in St. Louis and I went out the next day to buy their self-titled album. "Vowels" is an awesome song, the last one on the album and it includes the best shout-along chorus on this whole mix.

Taking myself on a trip back to 1998, when my Mazda 323's tape deck was all I had. I had 3 tapes, Less Than Jake's Losing Streak, Paul Simon's Graceland and Better Than Ezra's Friction, Baby. This song, "r3wind", rocks in a way Better Than Ezra haven't done in a while. Annoying that they went pop and got a hit and then never returned to the guitar-based jangle that makes songs like this work.

Swedish new-wavers The Sounds can't decide wether they want to ABBA or Blondie. Splitting the difference between the two, "Ego" from the album Dying To Say This To You, brings it all home.

Ah, Amy Winehouse. What can be said about her fucked up personal life that hasn't been splashed across the tabloids already? Aside from her coked-out nightmare life, her album is an amazing neo-soul discovery. I hope she stays alive long enough to make another album like Back to Black and another song like "Me & Mr. Jones"

Linkin Park rapper Mike Shinoda, via his hip-hop alter ego Fort Minor, introduced me to Styles of Beyond. He's a quality rapper with one hell of a flow and a big musical background. "Be Your Dog" (which samples The Stooges song of the same name) from the album Megadef is a monster track that demands your head-nodding attention.

Spoon! No longer just the battle cry of comic book superhero The Tick, Spoon the band became huge this past year after the soundtrack to the film "Stranger Than Fiction", which contained instrumental versions of Spoon tracks, was released. The new album, titled Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, shows off Spoon's wide musical talents. On "You Got Yr Cherry Bomb", they rock a straightforward number into the ground.

The spiritual cousin to neo-disco artists like Scissor Sisters (even going so far as to open for them on their US tour), Mika flashes and flairs his way through his debut, Life In Cartoon Motion with awesome songs like the lead-off "Grace Kelly"

My co-worker Matt had been blasting Flyleaf's self-titled debut album for weeks before I realized they were more than an Evanescence rip-off. "Cassie" is especially banging, a bass-heavy metal song that grabs your ears, due to the unique verbal mannerism of their lead singer.

Of the many hats Elvis Costello has worn over the years, none fits better than aggravated rocker. On Brutal Youth, an early-90s record, he brings the heat on songs like "20 % Amnesia" ... a seemingly direct response to peoples' hatred of his more experimental albums.

Chicago punk rockers Lawrence Arms are often overlooked in favor of scene stalwarts like Alkaline Trio and Fall Out Boy, but they do the same rockin' job. "Overheated", with its drink-up chorus, echoes similar sentiments that are all over the album Cocktails & Dreams.

Ok, what the christ is up with Plastilina Mosh? I've had their album Tasty for only a month or so now, but I'm still trying to figure out exactly what they are. Half-singing, half-rapping, half-English, half-Spanish ... bizarre-o stuff, brothers. "Millionare" is one of the more straight-forward tracks contained therein.

Straylight Run, named after a chapter in a William Gibson novel, are the side project of a guy from Taking Back Sunday. Replacing the bracing grit and emo screams of that band with piano ballads and beautiful songs, The Needles, The Space, their 2nd album, makes pretty music out of desperation. "The Miracle That Never Came" is an up-tempo example of this phenomenon.

Don't hate on me because I like Pink. Her songwriters are good, her songs have pop venom and her lyrics are funny. "Leave Me Alone (I'm Lonely)" from I'm Not Dead is just another example of why I'm digging it. Take it or leave it, this song will bury itself in your brain.

And finally, They Might Be Giants suddenly foudn themselves rocking like the John Henry days on their new album The Else. "The Cap'm" brings the usual; goofy lyrics, high-energy songs and lots of fun.

Friday, October 5, 2007

Declare IndepenDANCE

The first mix I present to you, the people is one that I'm very fond of.

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First the tracklist :

1. Bjork / Delcare Independence (4:40)
2. Brand New / I Will Play My Game Beneath The Spin Light (3:57)
3. Morrissey / You Have Killed Me (3:08)
4. Marilyn Manson / Putting Holes In Happiness (4:31)
5. The Honorary Title / Radiate (3:04)
6. Nine Inch Nails / The Great Destroyer (3:17)
7. MC Frontalot / Livin' at the corner of Dude and Catastrophe (3:44)
8. Underoath / There Could Be Nothing After This (3:26)
9. Linkin Park / Given Up (3:11)
10. Wired All Wrong / 15 Minutes (2:54)
11. Bloc Party / Waiting For The 7.18 (4:15)
12. The Rakes / We Danced Together (3:53)
13. The Streets / Lets Push Things Forward (3:51)
14. The Pillows / Advice (2:15)
15. Kings Of Leon / On Call (3:21)
16. Clann Zu / Crashing to the Floor (3:44)
17. Modest Mouse / We've Got Everything (3:42)
18. Various - Elliott Smith / All Cleaned Out (2:57)
19. Pretty Girls Make Graves / Pyrite Pedestal (3:28)
20. Ima Robot / The Beat (3:37)
21. The Shins / Phantom Limb (4:50)
22. Electric Six / Pink Flamingos (2:42)


Then the download link : CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

Then, the analysis.

We start with a whopper of a track, a new Bjork song called "Declare Independence" off the album Volta, probably her best work since Homogenic.

Then it's on to a sweeping emo track from Brand New. I didn't care for them at first, but their lyrics stick like barbs and the songs just plain rock.

Morrissey is up next, with a song from his most recent record Ringleader of the Tormentors, "You Have Killed Me." Classic Mozz with some really awesome string arrangements and beautiful guitars.

And then, comes Mr. Manson out of nowhere. The new album Eat Me, Drink Me, with its Lewis Carroll-referencing title, peons to love, both lost and newfound. T. Rex-esque rock numbers and distinct style is a big, huge honking departure from Manson's previous record, Golden Age of Grotesque. "Putting Holes In Happiness", I read in a magazine, is about Rachel Evan Wood, Manson's current paramour. Yummy.

The Honorary Title had a great first record and a mediocre follow-up. This is from that album, Scream and Light Up The Sky, but it sounds like it belongs on Anything But The Truth, their awesome debut. This is about the best song on this middling disk. Tsk, tsk.

Trent Reznor (aka Nine Inch Nails) returns to the dark side with Year Zero, a concept album about... something. Does the concept behind the album really matter when NIN returns to dark, deadly form with songs like "The Great Destroyer"? Watch for the digital drum breakdown that dissolves into ear-splitting noise at the finale. Classic NIN.

And now for something completely different : Jokester rapper MC Frontalot teams up with "one-man band" Brad Sucks for "Living At The Corner Of Dude and Catastrophe" from the genius sophomore disc Secrets From The Future. This song was written for a Songfight, a weekly competition wherein participants are given a song title and then write a song within 7 days. It won, obviously.

Underoath make screamy bad-ass music. That is all. Pick up They're Only Chasing Safety and Define The Great Line. I usually don't go in for scream-o or any thing ending with -o or starting with scream... but these guys are kickin'

Linkin Park really surprised me with Minutes After Midnight... It was a very real departure for them and I think it really works in their favor. You can only make so many versions of Hybrid Theory or Meteora... "Given Up" is the first track (after the obligatory "intro" track they like to throw in) on this very different album.

"Supergroup" is a term that gets used too often, although in this case it might actually apply. Wired All Wrong is composed of Self and God Lives Underwater, both one-man-bands... And it shows. Their album Break Out The Battletapes is filled with stuttering guitars, fat beats and desperate songs about the price of fame, like this number "15 Minutes".

Brit rockers Bloc Party took their 2nd album and came up with more somber meditative songs than on their debut, Silent Alarms. Weekend In The City, the follow-up, is jammed with a mix of those high-energy jams and slow build-ups like this track "Waiting For The 7.18"

These other Brits, The Rakes, rule your American asses with their sharp, angular dance-punk. Ten New Messages, their second album, is filled with poppy, dancy numbers like "We Danced Together"

It seems I'm on a British theme, eh? British "rapper" (and I use that term very loosely) The Streets speaks over beats on "Let's Push Things Forward" from Original Pirate Material.

Now we travel way across the sea to the land of Japan, where The Pillows have been rocking for decades. Their albums do moderate business, but I first heard of them as the soundtrack for the anime "FLCL" (pronounced 'Fooly Kooly'). This version of "Advice" is from the record Happy Bivouac.

Kings of Leon have changed in a big, huge way since their first two albums, Youth & Young Manhood and Aha Shake Heartbreak. They've gotten better, deeper and more ... interesting, to say the least. "On Call" is from the new album Because Of The Times and exemplifies their new style, less flashy Strokes-esque noise, more everything else.

Clann Zu broke up after the album Black Flags and Bandages, but their songs still resonate. The chilling "Crashing To The Floor" rings with acoustic guitars, violins and crushing drums.

People hate on the new Modest Mouse album, We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank, even though, or because, it features Johnny Marr from The Smiths on guitar... To me, a long time Modest Mouse fan, it's so surprise that Mr. Brock & company continue on the same musical groove started on Moon & Antarctica and continuing on through this song, "We've Got Everything".

"All Cleaned Out" by Elliott Smith comes from the posthumous release New Moon .This recently unearthed gem reveals another facet of the many that we know already about the late Elliott Smith.

Like a few other bands on this mix, Pretty Girls Make Graves have done some major overhauls to their style. In their case, most of the songs on Elan Vital don't quite click, but this one, "Pyrite Pedestal" and a few others hit the sweet spot.

Ima Robot are the most fun you can have without being legally drunk. Monument To The Masses is a jump up, shout out blast of musical fun. "The Beat" is no exception.

There's that scene in "Garden State" where Natalie Portman tells Zach Brapf that The Shins will change his life. I don't necessarily think they're that good, but their albums kill, especially Wincing The Night Away. "Phantom Limb" chugs along on a buzzing bassline and pretty sweeping guitars that provide a nice perch for the vocals to grab ahold of.

Electric Six have put out 2 fantastic records in the past 2 years - the underrated Senor Smoke and the over-rated Switzerland. "Pink Flamingos" is from the latter, one of the less offensive tracks - other song titles include "I Buy The Drugs" and "Chocolate Pope"...

And that wraps it up. Hope you enjoy.

Hello.

My name is Jason and I love mixtapes/CDs.

This blog exists for 2 reasons : 1.) it didn't quite fit in with Desert Island Records, my other music blog and 2.) because i feel like it.

Every weekend (or even more often than that) we will post a mix CD playlist, usually with an accompanying Mp3 download link. The mixes are available free of charge and will come with printable cover art.

Stay tuned for our first mix.