Mixtape Philosophy : A Bad Sense of Humor

                        

It's been a few months since my last contribution to Mix Club, but I'm happy to report I've got something new to offer. The mix is called A Bad Sense of Humor and started off with "Modern Girl" by Sleater Kinney. I found the song a few months back and decided very quickly that it was going to be the seed for a mix. "Modern Girl"is from Sleater Kinney's 2005 album The Woods. When the all-girl punk trio from the 90s put out the album, it was supposed to be their Led Zeppelin album, a foray into big, loud, pure-blooded rock. It's a great album, but sadly, it seems to have been their last. No matter, "Modern Girl" retains more of a punk sound than some of the other tracks and is my favorite cut. It served as a template for the songs I chose for the mix– punk-inflected 90s rock. Those three identifiers show up in some form on most of this mix, even if the songs only sound that way. Two good examples are the opening and closing tracks, "Baby C'mon" by Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks and "Stay Useless" by Cloud Nothings. The former is from 2005, and obviously Malkmus is from Pavement. "Stay Useless" came out last year. Both have a particular kind of fuzz on the guitar and the kind of vocals that seem to want to prove that it doesn't matter if you can actually sing. "Love Police" by Sleeping in the Aviary is the same way. It would be a mess if it were any looser and louder.

As for the songs that stray from this style somewhat, "Hey Doreen" by Lucius is one of the strongest songs I've heard all year. One of the singers contributes to Brooklyn group San Fermin. I love the power in the vocals. My two mood-balancing songs were "Worlds are Made of Paper" by Ben Taylor and "The Box" by Johnny Flynn. Both are great lyrics songs, but the latter in particular is far more reflective and even a little melancholic than you might notice if you don't pay attention.

Speaking of paying attention, if you heard my last mix, What We Trade Our Hearing For, you might notice that Said the Whale is making a repeat appearance. Why? Because I remain in love with their September album hawaiii. Check out my interview with frontman Tyler Bancroft, if you have a moment. "I Love You" is like a two and a half minute caffeine rush. It was also the last song I added.

Making this mix presented a few challenging moments in that I originally included several songs that I love, but don't fit. A mix should be an experience, not a haphazard collection, so I had to be cold about my decision to cut out the more pop and dance-edged stuff. It was weirdly difficult to trim them, but I think the result is more cohesive. Plus, the upshot is that sound might be the focus of my next mix.

The last song I want to talk about is "She Takes." It's by a band from the 90s that you probably never heard called This Way. They put out one record and I only know about that because the universe put their song "Nice" in my path while in high school. Until recently, their album was unavailable on Spotify. More on them later.

Anyway, that's that. I hope you take it for a spin.

Mixtape Philosophy: How to Ride a Tornado / 500th Post

I haven't posted anything in a few days because I was trying to scheme up something cool for The Musically Inclined's 500th post.

Well. Here we are. Happy 500th post to us.

Last night while watching the local news, I heard the weather person say that this week is the beginning of Tornado Season. If you grew up in an atmospherically volatile place like Nashville, Tornado Season conjures up a whole range of feelings from anxiety to annoyance. Never been through a bad tornado warning? Picture the Helm's Deep battle from Lord of the Rings. You cower inside while all hell breaks loose outside. And the worst thing is when a storm hits in the early hours of the morning. There were a few years in the 90s when it felt like I was woken up every other night in the spring by epic thunder, lightning, and the general sense that the gods were unhappy.

But the thing is, after 18-ish years of living here, I can't muster up a good fear anymore. Anyway, I thought it would be cool to make a themed mix in honor of the start of the season called How to Ride a Tornado. Themed mixes can be a little on the nose sometimes, but the last one I did (Flight Notes) was pretty fun.

I see this mix as a pre-storm calm down. Most of the songs have some repetitive or ambient quality, good for taming nerves. I'm most excited about "Surrender to the Storm" by Joseph Arthur off his recent 2-part album Redemption City. "Surrender to the Storm" breaks my rules about song length in mixes, but for good reason. At 11 minutes, it's an accurate mix of emotions and tensions during a rough weather system, from an awe for the power and drama of the storm, to the final soothing stages when the worst is over and it's just rain. There are also songs like "Windstorm" by School of Seven Bells that have interesting, mysterious sounds to them, not unlike the weirdness you hear in a storm. And then to close out, I picked "Rise to the Sun" by Alabama Shakes, partly because it's the perfect segue from "Surrender to the Storm," but also because the morning can be the best consolation.

Anyway, Happy Tornado Season.

PS ("Weather of a Killing Kind" by the Tallest Man on Earth might not show up on Spotify.)

Mixtape Philosophy: It's Brighter When the Lights are Out

The saga of the mix club continues. For anyone tuning in late, some friends and I have an arrangement for swapping Spotify playlists every week or so. Tonight I posted my second contribution, a mix called "It's Brighter When the Lights Are Out." Like I did last time, I thought I'd post the mix and a walk through.

Some months ago, I found a couple tracks by Simon Dawes (L.A. band Dawes's previous incarnation) and really loved them so I decided to build this mix around "The Awful Things," which is a punky-er turn on the Dawes sound. That set me on a mission to find songs that recalled guitar-bent, west coast music from decades past. That was not hard to do. A few that came to mind immediately were Howler's "Back of Your Neck" which I posted about this summer, "Learn How to Hang" by David Vandervelde, and The Explorer Club's "Do You Love Me," which is an awesomely bizarre combo of the Beach Boys and Phil Spector, essentially.

I also got the chance to work in some Madi Diaz, and because Madi Diaz and Keegan DeWitt are linked in my mind, I followed it up with "Jonti" by Wild Cub. It's a killer track that gets better with every listen. I cant' say enough good things about its sounds and spirit. "Jonti" is also where I got the name for the mix. DeWitt sings, "I see it now, it's brighter when the lights are out." I thought that was a great lyric and great name for the mix.

Record label samplers, NoiseTrade, and the like also helped me out this time around and I really did make some good finds. For example, "It Lingers" by Cheyenne Marie Mize and "How I Roll" by Charlie Mars, both important for the mix in terms of tone and pacing. Speaking of which, I thought the first couple drafts lacked something. Tthe mix needed one more song early on to bring things down just a bit for the middle section. I took to the ever reliable Paste Magazine and almost right off the bat ran into an article about a band from California called Allah-Las that have a kind of sepia-tinged retro thing going on and it was a real "bingo" moment. "Vis-a-Vis" fit perfect.

For the first time I included an instrumental called "Native New Yorker" by Booker T. which set up perfectly for "The Awful Things," and that pretty much brings us back to the beginning.

I've embedded the Spotify playlist above. I hope you take it for a spin. Sometimes you make these things and have no idea if A) anyone heard it or if B) anyone liked it. Anyway. There you have it. The very latest in mixtape philosophy.

Indie Claus Mix '11

File photo: Indie Claus

We're a week out from Christmas, so this is your last to overdose on all the Christmas tunes you'll hate by Jan. 1. In case you need some help in that department, it just so happens that my good buddy Indie Claus has put together a stellar Spotify playlist with the very coolest Christmas songs he could find on the interwebs, just for you. After all, a little Andy Williams goes a long way, and what could be more charming than Hurricane Bells's take on that Chipmunks classic "Christmas Don't Be Late." I kid you not. It's quality stuff. 

Anyhoodle, click below to listen to the Indie Claus Mix '11. Also, stay tuned for The Musically Inclined Top Finds of 2011 coming this week. 

Click me!

01 : Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) by Slow Club
02 : I've Got My Love (Remix) by Kay Starr
03 : Santa Stole My Lady by Fitz and the Tantrums
04 : Just Like Christmas by Low
05 : Christmas Don't Be Late by Hurricane Bells
06 : Jingle Bell Rock by Rogue Wave
07 : Silent Night by Class Actress
08 : The Christmas Song by The Ravonettes
09 : Christmas Time is Here by Woods
10 : Be-Bop Santa Claus by Sweet Daddy Lowe
11 : Party Hard by Zach Gill
12 : I Bought You a Plastic Star (For Your Aluminum Tree) by The Blenders
13 : Blue Christmas by Tristen
14 : I Bet on Flying High by Matt Costa