Tons of great music here, some stuff that has been on a Weekend tape before and some that hasn't.
Live Till You Die
1. Stars - "Ageless Beauty"
2. Bran Van 3000 - "Rainshine"
3. Bloc Party - "Helicopter"
4. The Notwist - "Pick Up The Phone"
5. Me First and The Gimme Gimmes - "Where Do Broken Hearts Go?"
6. Rilo Kiley - "Wires and Waves"
7. Mike Doughty - "The Only Answer"
8. The Mountain Goats - "Dilaudid"
9. Metric - "The Twist"
10. Bear vs. Shark - "Entrace Of The Elected"
11. Head Automatica - "Beating Heart Baby"
12. The Strokes - "You Talk Way Too Much"
13. Kings of Leon - "King of The Rodeo"
14. Jimmy Eat World - "Call It In The Air"
15. Moby - "Raining Again"
16. Morphine - "So Many Ways"
17. Nick Cave (feat. PJ Harvey) - "Henry Lee"
18. Hot Hot Heat - "Dirty Mouth"
19. Violent Femmes - "Prove My Love"
20. Superdrag - "Drag Me Closer To You"
21. Cursive - "Bloody Murder"
22. The Get-Up Kids - "No Love"
23. Queens Of The Stone Age - "In The Fade"
So yeah.
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Stars are Canadian, which in indie-rock terms means they sing pretty, well-orchestrated, epic songs about life and its many facets. Their album Set Yourself On Fire and the follow-up, In Our Bedroom After The War, are beautiful, heartbreaking albums.
Hip-hop/funk collective Bran Van 3000 had a medium sized hit with their album Glee, but their second record, Discosis didn't fare so well. It's a shame, because they craft these strange little gems (like the pop song with Jamaican scat "Rainshine") that are scattered throughout their records.
Bloc Party came out swinging with their debut Silent Alarms. Part of the new-new-wave coming out of the UK this past couple of years, they manage to sold old-school and new at the same time. The hypnotic guitar line of "Helicopter" alone is worth the cost of admission.
Neon Golden, the album from The Notwist, is full of glitchy pop anthems like "Pick Up The Phone" - proving Radiohead don't have the patent on this type of technical, paranoid music.
Some songs sound way better done at a double-fast pace with gritty punk vocals. Thank the Gods we have bands like Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. In this case, it's Mariah Carey getting the MFATGG treatment with the song "Where Do Broken Hearts Go?" off the Gimmies album Take A Break.
Young Jenny Lewis didn't quite know what she started when the first Rilo Kiley album, Takeoffs and Landings, came out. "Waves and Wires" is a fine introduction to the RK style, all alt-country twiddling and lyrical barbs with hints of rock straining at the corners.
I have to confess a deep love for Mike Doughty. His first post-Soul Coughing album, Skittish, remains in heavy rotation around my house. Maybe it's the haphazard production, the jerky guitar or the trademark M Doughty lyrics - all of which are present in "The Only Answer".
Singer-songwriter John Darnelle, who goes under the name The Mountain Goats, shows up here doing his best "Eleanor Rigby" impression on "Dilaudad" from the album The Sunset Tree. That record is the brutal exhumation of all his feelings about growing up with an abusive stepfather and it remains one of Darnelle's finest moments.
Emily Haines, lead singer of Metric, is also Canadian. But don't let that scare you. Her songs tend towards the funky, punky edge of pop. This song, "The Twist" comes from the first Metric album Grow Up And Blow Away, a melancholy collection of dark pop songs.
Another band who were vying for the new Fugazi crown was Bear vs. Shark. But they tempered that righteous post-punk anger with deft songwriting, indie-flavored instrumentation and a flexible singer. The last album before their breakup in 2005 was Terrorhawk, which includes the bass-driven "Entrance of The Elected".
Glassjaw were "the next Deftones." But then they broke up. Daryl Palumbo, lead singer, took his demos to the legendary Dan The Automator. Shortly thereafter, they emerged with the tracks that would eventually become the Head Automatica album Decadence. "Beating Heart Baby" is a fine example of the punk-tinged pop songs that came out of that pairing.
The Strokes ruled the indie world for about 2 years after the release of Room On Fire. Enjoy one of the finest tracks from Room, "You Talk Way Too Much" with its Television-via-Rick-Ocasek vibe.
I've talked extensively here about how awesome Kings of Leon are. You will just have to either take my word for it, or pick up a copy of Aha Shake Heartbreak, which contains "King of the Rodeo"
One of the earliest tapes I can remember making featured this propulsive Jimmy Eat World song, from the now classic Static Prevails album. I'm revisting "Call It In The Air" and it remains the ultimate emo prototype : math-rock guitars, strained vocals (with some overlapping sections and gang vocals) and deep lyrics.
The phrase "Moby ROCKS" gets a giggle of out some people. These are the same folks, mind you, who passed on M's 90s rock/metal album Animal Rights. When Hotel came out, I was enamoured with the stomping pop of "Raining Again". With some further listens, it still stands out among an album full of soon-to-be-classics.
I haven't seen AKACOD yet, but the surviving members of Morphine got together for a new take on Mark Sandman's "low rock" groove. Included on this tape is "So Many Ways" a perfect example of the sound and one of the groovier tracks on their final album The Night.
Who wants a downbeat ballad about Henry Lee Lucas, notorious American serial killer*? I do! From the brooding album Murder Ballads, here is "Henry Lee" by Aussie Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, featuring Brit PJ Harvey on the chorus.
Canadian rock band Hot Hot Heat put out one of the more exciting releases of 2005 with their 4th album Elevator. Their Elvis Costello-meets-XTC routine is polished thoroughly on tracks like "Dirty Mouth." (on a side note : what is it with Canadian bands on this tape?)
Travel back in time with me : early 90s, Slash records, someone listening to the acoustic punk of the Violent Femmes' self-titled debut says "Oh hell yeah!" "Prove My Love" was no doubt playing at that exact moment.
The last and most excellent of the Superdrag albums, Last Call for Vitriol, stands out as a gritty rock-n-roll spectacle, buttressed by John Davis' sandpaper vocals and gutterpunk guitars. The standout track "Drag Me Closer To You" shuffles along on its own boozy energy. Delicious.
As the first song on the second half of the madhouse opera that was The Ugly Organ, "Bloody Murder", by Omaha, NE's own Cursive, is a moving grueling stomp of a song - greatly enhanced no doubt by the crushing digital beats, violin stabs and cello accents.
Another mixtape classic, "No Love" by The Get-Up Kids is also proto-emo : whining teenage vocals, amateurish guitar playing and dynamic song arrangements. The album 4 Minute Mile is pretty much all like this.
Are songs about coming down from drugs supposed to sound this chill? Queens of the Stone Age know a thing or two about psychotropics (their first song on the album R is simply a list of their favorite drugs). "Into The Fade" is the stunningly mellow coda to an album full of punishing rock workouts. Until the chorus hits and the guitars go into overdrive. Stick around after the song fades out for a little treat.
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