Spinto Band reads my blog! Or, at least, they read the last one. Most of you who read this do so through Facebook, but the blog is imported from a blogspot site. Well, turns out Spinto Band found my last entry and commented on it! Pretty sweet.
While I had a fairly steady stream of new music on rotation during 2007, there seemed to be an awful lot of new albums from bands I already listened to coming out each month. There are also a few bands on here that I came late to the party to, although at least one of them only won me over because of this specific album, as their other stuff isn't as interesting to me (there, that's a little mystery for you to solve).
"Intro: A Song of Fire and Wine" by Trail of Dead
"Stand In Silence" by Trail of Dead
"Song for Clay (Disappear Here)" by Bloc Party
"Turn On Me" by the Shins
"Letter From An Occupant" by The New Pornographers
"Well Thought Out Twinkles" by Silversun Pickups
"The Last Word" by Solea
"Blood Red Blood" by Voxtrot
"Impossible Germany" by Wilco
"Make It Wit Chu" by Queens of the Stone Age
"Good to Sea" by Pinback
"Burying Luck" by Minus the Bear
"The Underdog" by Spoon
"Sewn" by the Feeling
"The Beat That My Heart Skipped" by Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip
"Tranquilize" by the Killers
"Silver Lining" by Rilo Kiley
"Open Bar Reception" by Jimmy Eat World
"Summer Is Coming" by Matt Pond PA
You know, looking over that list, I realize just how average a lot of those new albums were. Each of them had great songs, but none of them were just devastatingly great like some of the earlier releases. Even the initial Voxtrot full length didn't really match up to the litany of EPs that came before it, but that was an awful high bar to match. I was really disappointed in Minus the Bear's effort and I LOVE Minus the Bear. I think Pinback might have the best new release by a band I already listened to for this year (there's an award for you).
Only one left! Or, at least, only one left this year!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Damn This Inebriated Brain One: Fantasy Sports
I am a huge dork. I'm such a huge dork that I married a huge dork. Look through my closet of comic books, scan our DVDs, peruse our books, and you will see that I am one bad day away from joining a LARP group, and that my wife is only marginally less nerdy. I am so dorky that this "geek chic" thing doesn't even apply to me. Still, there's something to be said for the fact that I run into Tyrese Gibson and Famke Jensen at my local comic book store.
But if geeks became cool, then that creates a vacuum, and we all know that nature abhors such things. Clearly, something must replace your every day basement dwelling, role playing, comic book reading, sci-fi obsessed geek in the social hierarchy. But what could that be?
Let's look at the qualifications needed.
1) Dudes only. Before comics got cool, it was a boys only club (with a few random exceptions to said rule). Now a days, we let also sorts of people read comics -- not just girls, but minorities and gays! It's crazy! How can we be sheltered if we're being all equal about it.
2) Obsession. Yes, if you're going to fill the geek void you need to be completely obsessed with whatever it is you're in to. Thor vs. Superman? You need to debate something like that for HOURS. And all of your debates should be hypothetical, as they will never really happen. You should also be plugged in to all sources of information. Your browser bookmarks should be filled with pages dedicated to up to the minute reports on the latest news. New D&D module? You're on it. Spider-man made a deal with the devil? You knew it before it even happened.
3) Obscure Knowledge. Total recall of ridiculous stats helps. Do you know what happened in Captain America #245? Do you know what you have to roll to save vs. poison when fighting a green dragon? You need to have the ability remember these numbers at the drop of a hat. It should be second nature to you.
4) Cult Like Organization. Nothing says "geek" like belonging to some ridiculous group. It could be virtual -- World of Warcraft is perfect. It could be face to face, like say those dudes you hang out with at the comic book store and talk about the latest sweet crossover. It could even be a hybrid of the two, like your specially formed Halo group, who have never met, but actually speak to each other through headsets. Meetings of some sort or another are essential.
5) Distraction. Boy, do I love me some comic books. You know what my favorite thing about comics is? They have fuck all to do with my real life. Hell, I played D&D in study hall in high school, for god's sake, because why sit in study hall when you can be fighting orcs? To truly fill the "geek" void, this new thing must have no real value to the world aside from distracting you from your real life.
With all that, ladies and gentlemen, I give you fantasy sports. The geeks have moved out of their basements and are now living in Hollywood and making movies and they have been replaced by dudes in jerseys with other people's names on them. The dragon figurines are gone, replaced by dry erase boards for drafts. The comics have been replaced by fantasy guides and that bootleg copy of Akira has been replaced by ESPN. But it still smells like ass down there.
So I raise a glass to you, the nerdiest of the nerdy, the chicken head biting champions of the new American social hierarchy, those so desperate to be multi-million dollar athletes, the same way that we were once so desperate to be Batman or Wolverine. Even though ESPN embraces you and has a really dorky looking guy give you "updates" every hour, we all look down upon you. But while your wives and girlfriends might do so with concern, the rest of us do so with empathy, for we know your plight.
Sadly, I don't see Hollywood knocking any time soon, so try to find some comfortable couches; you could be down here awhile.
But if geeks became cool, then that creates a vacuum, and we all know that nature abhors such things. Clearly, something must replace your every day basement dwelling, role playing, comic book reading, sci-fi obsessed geek in the social hierarchy. But what could that be?
Let's look at the qualifications needed.
1) Dudes only. Before comics got cool, it was a boys only club (with a few random exceptions to said rule). Now a days, we let also sorts of people read comics -- not just girls, but minorities and gays! It's crazy! How can we be sheltered if we're being all equal about it.
2) Obsession. Yes, if you're going to fill the geek void you need to be completely obsessed with whatever it is you're in to. Thor vs. Superman? You need to debate something like that for HOURS. And all of your debates should be hypothetical, as they will never really happen. You should also be plugged in to all sources of information. Your browser bookmarks should be filled with pages dedicated to up to the minute reports on the latest news. New D&D module? You're on it. Spider-man made a deal with the devil? You knew it before it even happened.
3) Obscure Knowledge. Total recall of ridiculous stats helps. Do you know what happened in Captain America #245? Do you know what you have to roll to save vs. poison when fighting a green dragon? You need to have the ability remember these numbers at the drop of a hat. It should be second nature to you.
4) Cult Like Organization. Nothing says "geek" like belonging to some ridiculous group. It could be virtual -- World of Warcraft is perfect. It could be face to face, like say those dudes you hang out with at the comic book store and talk about the latest sweet crossover. It could even be a hybrid of the two, like your specially formed Halo group, who have never met, but actually speak to each other through headsets. Meetings of some sort or another are essential.
5) Distraction. Boy, do I love me some comic books. You know what my favorite thing about comics is? They have fuck all to do with my real life. Hell, I played D&D in study hall in high school, for god's sake, because why sit in study hall when you can be fighting orcs? To truly fill the "geek" void, this new thing must have no real value to the world aside from distracting you from your real life.
With all that, ladies and gentlemen, I give you fantasy sports. The geeks have moved out of their basements and are now living in Hollywood and making movies and they have been replaced by dudes in jerseys with other people's names on them. The dragon figurines are gone, replaced by dry erase boards for drafts. The comics have been replaced by fantasy guides and that bootleg copy of Akira has been replaced by ESPN. But it still smells like ass down there.
So I raise a glass to you, the nerdiest of the nerdy, the chicken head biting champions of the new American social hierarchy, those so desperate to be multi-million dollar athletes, the same way that we were once so desperate to be Batman or Wolverine. Even though ESPN embraces you and has a really dorky looking guy give you "updates" every hour, we all look down upon you. But while your wives and girlfriends might do so with concern, the rest of us do so with empathy, for we know your plight.
Sadly, I don't see Hollywood knocking any time soon, so try to find some comfortable couches; you could be down here awhile.
Biographical Mix, 2006: Hell Yes
This mix is freaking awesome.
I don't say that lightly, either, as I'm quickly approaching my 20th mix. But I was extremely energized during most of 2006, and I think the music on this music reflects that. I don't know where it came from or what it was about, but clearly I was ready to party.
The biggest influence on me was my discovery of a little web site called Emusic.com. For those who don't know, Emusic charges a flat monthly fee for a certain number of downloads per month. At the time, I paid $15 a month for 65 downloads. Granted, they didn't have any major labels, but that didn't particularly bother me. And, yes, 65 songs is a lot of songs in one month, so I ended up downloading entire albums by bands without really knowing what I was getting into. It was great, though -- I discovered a lot of great music this way.
I also discovered some great bands through Soma FM's Indie Pop Rocks internet radio station. Credit where it's due, I say.
Oh, and this was also the time when Indie 103 was alive and kicking in Los Angeles. It was a great station which, of course, no longer exists.
Heck, now that I write it all out, 2006 was like some kind of magical, musical nexus.
"Cosmopolitan" by Nine Black Alps
"Oh, Mandy" by Spinto Band
"Sucker Punch" by the Pale Pacific
"New Comes and Goes" by Oranger
"Softer and Warm" by Voxtrot
"Destroyer" by the Stills
"Catastrophe" by Rainer Maria
"Pyrite Pedestal" by Pretty Girls Make Graves
"Hooray" by Minus the Bear
"Pantomime" by Engine Down
"Zodiaccupuncture" by Aesop Rock
"Steady As She Goes" by the Raconteurs
"The Things We All Carry Around" by Some By Sea
"Little Dawn" by Ted Leo
"This All Can Become Completely the Same" by Bats and Mice
"Metal School" by Spoon
"Food For Worms" by Milemarker
"The Zookeeper's Boy" by Mew
"Telegraph Avenue Kiss" by Thursday
If I were ever in a band again, it would be a band like Nine Black Alps. Not many people know them, but they're more or less a straight ahead rock band with lots of energy. Also, some day I'll throw a party and play only the obscure hip hop acts that I like and the only person dancing will be me. This mix also features a song from Rainer Maria's last album...and Pretty Girls Make Graves' last album, for that matter. And Some by Sea's last album. Geez, that's a downer.
The big discover in this year was, of course, Voxtrot, who have gone on to become one of those bands that I managed to spread, like a virus, to all my friends. The same can be said of "Oh, Mandy" by Spinto Band, which was actually played at my wedding, and more than a few people actually danced to it.
Only two more mixes left! Will your favorite band suddenly pop up? Will an old band make an unforeseen return? And what of the mix currently in process? The suspense is killing me!
I don't say that lightly, either, as I'm quickly approaching my 20th mix. But I was extremely energized during most of 2006, and I think the music on this music reflects that. I don't know where it came from or what it was about, but clearly I was ready to party.
The biggest influence on me was my discovery of a little web site called Emusic.com. For those who don't know, Emusic charges a flat monthly fee for a certain number of downloads per month. At the time, I paid $15 a month for 65 downloads. Granted, they didn't have any major labels, but that didn't particularly bother me. And, yes, 65 songs is a lot of songs in one month, so I ended up downloading entire albums by bands without really knowing what I was getting into. It was great, though -- I discovered a lot of great music this way.
I also discovered some great bands through Soma FM's Indie Pop Rocks internet radio station. Credit where it's due, I say.
Oh, and this was also the time when Indie 103 was alive and kicking in Los Angeles. It was a great station which, of course, no longer exists.
Heck, now that I write it all out, 2006 was like some kind of magical, musical nexus.
"Cosmopolitan" by Nine Black Alps
"Oh, Mandy" by Spinto Band
"Sucker Punch" by the Pale Pacific
"New Comes and Goes" by Oranger
"Softer and Warm" by Voxtrot
"Destroyer" by the Stills
"Catastrophe" by Rainer Maria
"Pyrite Pedestal" by Pretty Girls Make Graves
"Hooray" by Minus the Bear
"Pantomime" by Engine Down
"Zodiaccupuncture" by Aesop Rock
"Steady As She Goes" by the Raconteurs
"The Things We All Carry Around" by Some By Sea
"Little Dawn" by Ted Leo
"This All Can Become Completely the Same" by Bats and Mice
"Metal School" by Spoon
"Food For Worms" by Milemarker
"The Zookeeper's Boy" by Mew
"Telegraph Avenue Kiss" by Thursday
If I were ever in a band again, it would be a band like Nine Black Alps. Not many people know them, but they're more or less a straight ahead rock band with lots of energy. Also, some day I'll throw a party and play only the obscure hip hop acts that I like and the only person dancing will be me. This mix also features a song from Rainer Maria's last album...and Pretty Girls Make Graves' last album, for that matter. And Some by Sea's last album. Geez, that's a downer.
The big discover in this year was, of course, Voxtrot, who have gone on to become one of those bands that I managed to spread, like a virus, to all my friends. The same can be said of "Oh, Mandy" by Spinto Band, which was actually played at my wedding, and more than a few people actually danced to it.
Only two more mixes left! Will your favorite band suddenly pop up? Will an old band make an unforeseen return? And what of the mix currently in process? The suspense is killing me!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Biographical Mix, 2005: Disjointed
Really, looking at this mix makes me wonder if I was more than one person during the course of 2005. I came pretty close, really, but I think most people would claim the same thing, given the circumstances. There's something about meeting someone that you will spend the rest of your life with that amplifies everything -- the good and the bad. I suppose you could compare it to birth, in that there's an awful lot of pain for something that's ultimately wonderful, and for every moment of morning sickness, there's that first kick, which makes it all worthwhile.
I could go on, but needless to say (but I'll say it anyway), 2005 was a mind boggling one for me. While I met Nicole the last month of 2004, this was the year that our relationship got serious...and that seemed to stick, what with us being married now and all. Still, there are more than a few songs on this mix that involve, to some extent, wrapping your brain around being in love, and allowing yourself to be happy, two things that are far harder for most of us than they should be.
"Survival 101" by the New Transit Direction
"The Rat" by the Walkmen
"Neighborhood #2 (Laika)" by Arcade Fire
"One With the Freaks" by the Notwist
"The Widow" by the Mars Volta
"Your Ex-Lover Is Dead" by Stars
"Will You Smile Again?" by Trail of Dead
"Little Thoughts" by Bloc Party
"Perfect Situation" by Weezer
"Ear, Nose, and Throat" by Troubled Hubble
"Popular Mechanics for Lovers" by Beulah
"I Turn My Camera On" by Spoon
"We Will Become Silhouettes" by the Shins
"The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts" by Sufjan Stevens
"Tell Balgeary, Balgury Is Dead" by Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
"Blankest Year" by Nada Surf
"Lydia, You're Fading" by Oceanographer
"Ten Years Ahead" by Soundtrack of Our Lives
"Juicebox" by the Strokes
"For Miles" by Thrice
Aside from themes, it's interesting to see how Nicole's presence in my life indirectly affected this mix. She's the one who finally got me to listen to the Arcade Fire. We also watched the OC together, and a decent number of these songs came from that show. One of our first dates involved seeing "In Good Company," and there's a song from the soundtrack on here.
On the music industry side of things, 2005 was significant for two reasons. First, it featured new albums from big bands like the White Stripes, Coldplay, and Weezer, all of which were pretty disappointing and, ultimately, exercises in playing it safe. Weezer's the only one to make the cut on this mix, and that's mostly because I like the lyrics.
The other big industry related aspect of this mix is that it would be the last one made up of songs I ripped from actual CDs. Come the new year, I would stop buying CDs all together, going so far as to rip all the ones I already had and taking them to Amoeba for cash. The digital revolution had finally hit home.
While this mix might be disjointed in both style and substance, next year's mix would end up being one of my all time favorites.
I could go on, but needless to say (but I'll say it anyway), 2005 was a mind boggling one for me. While I met Nicole the last month of 2004, this was the year that our relationship got serious...and that seemed to stick, what with us being married now and all. Still, there are more than a few songs on this mix that involve, to some extent, wrapping your brain around being in love, and allowing yourself to be happy, two things that are far harder for most of us than they should be.
"Survival 101" by the New Transit Direction
"The Rat" by the Walkmen
"Neighborhood #2 (Laika)" by Arcade Fire
"One With the Freaks" by the Notwist
"The Widow" by the Mars Volta
"Your Ex-Lover Is Dead" by Stars
"Will You Smile Again?" by Trail of Dead
"Little Thoughts" by Bloc Party
"Perfect Situation" by Weezer
"Ear, Nose, and Throat" by Troubled Hubble
"Popular Mechanics for Lovers" by Beulah
"I Turn My Camera On" by Spoon
"We Will Become Silhouettes" by the Shins
"The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts" by Sufjan Stevens
"Tell Balgeary, Balgury Is Dead" by Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
"Blankest Year" by Nada Surf
"Lydia, You're Fading" by Oceanographer
"Ten Years Ahead" by Soundtrack of Our Lives
"Juicebox" by the Strokes
"For Miles" by Thrice
Aside from themes, it's interesting to see how Nicole's presence in my life indirectly affected this mix. She's the one who finally got me to listen to the Arcade Fire. We also watched the OC together, and a decent number of these songs came from that show. One of our first dates involved seeing "In Good Company," and there's a song from the soundtrack on here.
On the music industry side of things, 2005 was significant for two reasons. First, it featured new albums from big bands like the White Stripes, Coldplay, and Weezer, all of which were pretty disappointing and, ultimately, exercises in playing it safe. Weezer's the only one to make the cut on this mix, and that's mostly because I like the lyrics.
The other big industry related aspect of this mix is that it would be the last one made up of songs I ripped from actual CDs. Come the new year, I would stop buying CDs all together, going so far as to rip all the ones I already had and taking them to Amoeba for cash. The digital revolution had finally hit home.
While this mix might be disjointed in both style and substance, next year's mix would end up being one of my all time favorites.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Biographical Mix, 2004: Best Yet?
I might not actually be referring to the mix in that title. As I look back on my Christ-like existence (by which I mean I have now been alive for 33 years), I have a hard time finding a better single year than 2004. Sure, there have been other years where good things have happened to me, but 2004 was different. As god as my witness, 2004 was there that I became...happy, or at least as close I could come. It was a magical, transforming time in my life. Really, I should have a 5 year anniversary party for it.
So this mix means an awful lot to me, wide range of music and all.
"All These Things That I Have Done" by the Killers
"A Line in the Sand" by Q and Not U
"Time Is Running Out" by Muse
"Vindicated" by Dashboard Confessional
"Lossleader" by Nine Days Wonder
"Get Saved" by Pilot to Gunner
"East School" by Dignen
"Caring Is Creepy" by the Shins
"Spitting Games" by Snow Patrol
"Stones" by Sonic Youth
"Still In Love Song" by the Stills
"Say Hello to the Angels" by Interpol
"Float On" by Modest Mouse
"17 Years" by Ratatat
"Fortress" by Pinback
"Hands Up" by Walking Concert
"23" by Jimmy Eat World
"Fall to Pieces" by Velvet Revolver
This mix is also very specifically divided by parts of the year. Everything from the Shins through Modest Mouse came from that summer which, not to beat a dead horse, was one of the best summers I've ever had.
What's truly amazing to me is that the year was already one of my best by the time December 1st rolled around. That was the day I finally met Nicole face to face, and her influence on these mixes would become obvious pretty quickly...
So this mix means an awful lot to me, wide range of music and all.
"All These Things That I Have Done" by the Killers
"A Line in the Sand" by Q and Not U
"Time Is Running Out" by Muse
"Vindicated" by Dashboard Confessional
"Lossleader" by Nine Days Wonder
"Get Saved" by Pilot to Gunner
"East School" by Dignen
"Caring Is Creepy" by the Shins
"Spitting Games" by Snow Patrol
"Stones" by Sonic Youth
"Still In Love Song" by the Stills
"Say Hello to the Angels" by Interpol
"Float On" by Modest Mouse
"17 Years" by Ratatat
"Fortress" by Pinback
"Hands Up" by Walking Concert
"23" by Jimmy Eat World
"Fall to Pieces" by Velvet Revolver
This mix is also very specifically divided by parts of the year. Everything from the Shins through Modest Mouse came from that summer which, not to beat a dead horse, was one of the best summers I've ever had.
What's truly amazing to me is that the year was already one of my best by the time December 1st rolled around. That was the day I finally met Nicole face to face, and her influence on these mixes would become obvious pretty quickly...
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Biographical Mix, 2003: The Love Affair Begins
Apropos of nothing, some day I would like to start a blog entitled "Damn This Inebriated Brain!" I'm saving that for when I'm famous, though.
And lo, in the darkness, there would come a light. And said light would be kind of sappy and a little poppy and occasionally even cheesy. But I would love the hell out of it, even until this very moment. Yes, 2003 was the year that I rediscovered Nada Surf.
Laugh all you want, but I love me some Nada Surf. They're overly sincere, but their lyrics are generally abstract enough so that they don't sound trite. Hell, an argument can be made that half of their songs don't make any kind of sense. And, sure, I generally dislike singers who feel the need to rhyme everything, but when the end result is as bizarre as some of Nada Surf's songs are, I'm more than willing to look past that.
While discovering Nada Surf's classic album "Let Go" might have been the most enduring musical moment from 2003, I'd be remiss if I also didn't mention Pretty Girls Make Graves. Their first full length is unbelievable, and just the perfect blend of pretty much everything I love about music. I was blown away by it. Their second record was good, but couldn't really match up. After that, they lost a guitar player and added a keyboard player and the band I once knew and loved had morphed into a completely different thing. Still, the day I first heard Pretty Girls Make Graves will always be an important one to me.
And off we go.
"The Getaway" by Pretty Girls Make Graves
"It's Over" by the Fire Theft
"Happy Kid" by Nada Surf
"Sound of Settling" by Death Cab For Cutie
"This Is Our Emergency" by Pretty Girls Make Graves
"Hands Down" by Dashboard Confessional
"CT Catholic" by Rainer Maria
"Killian's Red" by Nada Surf
"Fade Out/In" by Palo Alto
"B" by Pinback
"2+2=5" by Radiohead
"Ears Ring" by Rainer Maria
"Teen Titans Theme" by Puffy AmiYumi
"Get Your Hands Off My Woman" by the Darkness
"Art of Losing" by American Hi-Fi
"High Wire Escape Artist" by Boy Sets Fire
"Silhouette" by Thrice
"Signals Over the Air" by Thursday
"Absent Stars" by Year of the Rabbit
"All That's Left" by Thrice
"Asleep in the Chapel" by Thursday
Yes, that's the theme song from the Teen Titans cartoon; it's awesome.
I went through a bit of a screamo period, too, with new albums from Boy Sets Fire, Thrice, and Thursday. I also think "Long Knives Drawn" could be Rainer Maria's best album.
This was a good year for music, although not a particularly good year for me. Next year, however, would be both.
And lo, in the darkness, there would come a light. And said light would be kind of sappy and a little poppy and occasionally even cheesy. But I would love the hell out of it, even until this very moment. Yes, 2003 was the year that I rediscovered Nada Surf.
Laugh all you want, but I love me some Nada Surf. They're overly sincere, but their lyrics are generally abstract enough so that they don't sound trite. Hell, an argument can be made that half of their songs don't make any kind of sense. And, sure, I generally dislike singers who feel the need to rhyme everything, but when the end result is as bizarre as some of Nada Surf's songs are, I'm more than willing to look past that.
While discovering Nada Surf's classic album "Let Go" might have been the most enduring musical moment from 2003, I'd be remiss if I also didn't mention Pretty Girls Make Graves. Their first full length is unbelievable, and just the perfect blend of pretty much everything I love about music. I was blown away by it. Their second record was good, but couldn't really match up. After that, they lost a guitar player and added a keyboard player and the band I once knew and loved had morphed into a completely different thing. Still, the day I first heard Pretty Girls Make Graves will always be an important one to me.
And off we go.
"The Getaway" by Pretty Girls Make Graves
"It's Over" by the Fire Theft
"Happy Kid" by Nada Surf
"Sound of Settling" by Death Cab For Cutie
"This Is Our Emergency" by Pretty Girls Make Graves
"Hands Down" by Dashboard Confessional
"CT Catholic" by Rainer Maria
"Killian's Red" by Nada Surf
"Fade Out/In" by Palo Alto
"B" by Pinback
"2+2=5" by Radiohead
"Ears Ring" by Rainer Maria
"Teen Titans Theme" by Puffy AmiYumi
"Get Your Hands Off My Woman" by the Darkness
"Art of Losing" by American Hi-Fi
"High Wire Escape Artist" by Boy Sets Fire
"Silhouette" by Thrice
"Signals Over the Air" by Thursday
"Absent Stars" by Year of the Rabbit
"All That's Left" by Thrice
"Asleep in the Chapel" by Thursday
Yes, that's the theme song from the Teen Titans cartoon; it's awesome.
I went through a bit of a screamo period, too, with new albums from Boy Sets Fire, Thrice, and Thursday. I also think "Long Knives Drawn" could be Rainer Maria's best album.
This was a good year for music, although not a particularly good year for me. Next year, however, would be both.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Biograhical Mix, 2002: The City of Angels
Of all the questions to be asked about the 19 (currently working on 20th) mixes like this I have made, there is one that had a definitive answer: Which mix has the best first song? You will find no better way to start a mix than the way this one begins.
For what it's worth, I spent the first 5 months of 2002 living in Atlanta. I then drove back to Ohio, and then flew to Los Angeles. There's very clearly a song on here specifically for that drive out of Atlanta (and, in theory, my flight to California). Most of these songs seem to take a turn for the fast paced, which only seemed appropriate given my new surroundings. While the "underground" music that seeped into Ohio from New York, DC, and Chicago seemed much more experimental and heavy, it just felt right somehow to listen to upbeat, singalong type music once I got to Los Angeles. If I'm ever independently wealthy, I'd love to research and write a book about the differences in the underground music scenes from the west coast and the east coast -- and the north coast, for that matter. They all seem very much rooted in some sense of geographic identity.
Anyway, with all that in mind...
"Party Hard" by Andrew WK
"California" by Phantom Planet
"Hate to Say I Told You So" by the Hives
"City of Angels" by the Distillers
"Another Morning Stoner" by Trail of Dead
"Diazapam" by Karate
"Disco" by the Butchies
"You Are Invited" by the Dismemberment Plan
"It's Over" by the Fire Theft
"Get Free" by the Vines
"Paris In Flames" by Thursday
"Fell In Love With a Girl" by the White Stripes
"Beautiful Disaster" by American Hi-Fi
"Cochise" by Audioslave
"All Systems Go" by Boxcar Racer
"Clocks" by Coldplay
"Light Rail Coyote" by Sleater Kinney
"Eastern Wave" by Three Mile Pilot
"Taste of Ink" by the Used
"Keep Fishin'" by Weezer
"No One Knows" by Queens of the Stone Age
Seriously, there was a point over the summer when I listened to just the Vines, the Hives, and the White Stripes. It was all very strange. I blame my exposure to KROQ.
I will say this: moving to a new city caused me to latch on to music in a way that I hadn't really done before. Going forward, I would keep track of release dates and end up buying a new CD nearly every week. I'd never really been a part of that ritual, but I found that I needed new music every week -- it brought me a sense of stability, akin to new comic book day on Wednesdays.
Perhaps that will be my next stroll down memory lane -- a biographical mix of comic books.
For what it's worth, I spent the first 5 months of 2002 living in Atlanta. I then drove back to Ohio, and then flew to Los Angeles. There's very clearly a song on here specifically for that drive out of Atlanta (and, in theory, my flight to California). Most of these songs seem to take a turn for the fast paced, which only seemed appropriate given my new surroundings. While the "underground" music that seeped into Ohio from New York, DC, and Chicago seemed much more experimental and heavy, it just felt right somehow to listen to upbeat, singalong type music once I got to Los Angeles. If I'm ever independently wealthy, I'd love to research and write a book about the differences in the underground music scenes from the west coast and the east coast -- and the north coast, for that matter. They all seem very much rooted in some sense of geographic identity.
Anyway, with all that in mind...
"Party Hard" by Andrew WK
"California" by Phantom Planet
"Hate to Say I Told You So" by the Hives
"City of Angels" by the Distillers
"Another Morning Stoner" by Trail of Dead
"Diazapam" by Karate
"Disco" by the Butchies
"You Are Invited" by the Dismemberment Plan
"It's Over" by the Fire Theft
"Get Free" by the Vines
"Paris In Flames" by Thursday
"Fell In Love With a Girl" by the White Stripes
"Beautiful Disaster" by American Hi-Fi
"Cochise" by Audioslave
"All Systems Go" by Boxcar Racer
"Clocks" by Coldplay
"Light Rail Coyote" by Sleater Kinney
"Eastern Wave" by Three Mile Pilot
"Taste of Ink" by the Used
"Keep Fishin'" by Weezer
"No One Knows" by Queens of the Stone Age
Seriously, there was a point over the summer when I listened to just the Vines, the Hives, and the White Stripes. It was all very strange. I blame my exposure to KROQ.
I will say this: moving to a new city caused me to latch on to music in a way that I hadn't really done before. Going forward, I would keep track of release dates and end up buying a new CD nearly every week. I'd never really been a part of that ritual, but I found that I needed new music every week -- it brought me a sense of stability, akin to new comic book day on Wednesdays.
Perhaps that will be my next stroll down memory lane -- a biographical mix of comic books.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Biographical Mix, 2001: Also Full of Stars
As I mentioned way back when I started this series of blog entries (and the fact that I'm still doing this has to be a testament to my social life), my current mix process involves making quarterly mixes over the course of each year. Basically, I have a playlist called "New" which is filled with music I'm currently listening to, both old and recently released. At this point I actually have a backlog of music to listen to, so I also have a playlist called "Next" which I use to reload "New" at the end of every quarter. New releases, however, generally move to the top of the list.
So as the months go by, I start putting my favorite songs on a playlist called "Year Part Whatever." I don't pay attention to how many songs are going on it at that point. And, as I make my way through albums, I remove them from "New." Rare is the month where I have to add more songs from "Next," but it has happened.
Anyway, round about the middle of the final month, I add the last of my favorite songs to "Year Part Whatever" and go about thinning it down to the length of one CD. Sure, this is a process that will be obsolete someday (probably the next time I buy a car), but for now it's what I do so I can listen to the mix while I drive. I cut down and organize the mix, then burn it onto a CD, which gives me the last two weeks of the month to listen to it, basking in the last three months of my musical month.
I mention all this because I did exactly that for "2009 Part Three" today.
And now, back to some post-college angst.
"Cut" by Pinback
"Understanding In a Car Crash" by Thursday
"Sever" by Karate
"Damn It Feels Good To Be A Gangsta" by the Getto Boys
"B.O.B." by Outkast
"Beautiful" by Flickerstick
"Life In a Glass House" by Radiohead
"Schism" by Tool
"The Authority Song" by Jimmy Eat World
"Never Say Never" by That Dog
"You Gave Your Love to Me Softly" by Weezer
"Wrecking Ball" by Creeper Lagoon
"Sing" by Travis
"The Best Deception" by Dashboard Confessional
"Sparks" by Coldplay
"Drive" by Incubus
"Outside the Aviary" by Burning Airlines
"Travel By Telephone" by Rival Schools
"Chop Suey!" by System of a Down
A few, obvious influences show up in this mix. The first is the fact that I was living in Atlanta, and if you think Outkast was big, you should have been living in Atlanta; they were everywhere, and they were everywhere well before they were anywhere else. It was a little strange, actually, to move to a city and discover this band that was really big there, only to watch them blow up nationally just a few months later.
Then there was the VH1 reality show "Bands On the Run." I was addicted and, to this day, I'm shocked it never got a second season. But I followed it religiously when it was on, and that's how the band Flickerstick ended up on this mix.
It's funny to look ahead. Atlanta managed to inject at least a little bit of hip hop into my mix, and I saw Coldplay perform in an old church in the ATL before they'd really taken off, which is how they ended up on this mix. But Atlanta wouldn't have nearly the influence on me that my coming move to Los Angeles would.
So as the months go by, I start putting my favorite songs on a playlist called "Year Part Whatever." I don't pay attention to how many songs are going on it at that point. And, as I make my way through albums, I remove them from "New." Rare is the month where I have to add more songs from "Next," but it has happened.
Anyway, round about the middle of the final month, I add the last of my favorite songs to "Year Part Whatever" and go about thinning it down to the length of one CD. Sure, this is a process that will be obsolete someday (probably the next time I buy a car), but for now it's what I do so I can listen to the mix while I drive. I cut down and organize the mix, then burn it onto a CD, which gives me the last two weeks of the month to listen to it, basking in the last three months of my musical month.
I mention all this because I did exactly that for "2009 Part Three" today.
And now, back to some post-college angst.
"Cut" by Pinback
"Understanding In a Car Crash" by Thursday
"Sever" by Karate
"Damn It Feels Good To Be A Gangsta" by the Getto Boys
"B.O.B." by Outkast
"Beautiful" by Flickerstick
"Life In a Glass House" by Radiohead
"Schism" by Tool
"The Authority Song" by Jimmy Eat World
"Never Say Never" by That Dog
"You Gave Your Love to Me Softly" by Weezer
"Wrecking Ball" by Creeper Lagoon
"Sing" by Travis
"The Best Deception" by Dashboard Confessional
"Sparks" by Coldplay
"Drive" by Incubus
"Outside the Aviary" by Burning Airlines
"Travel By Telephone" by Rival Schools
"Chop Suey!" by System of a Down
A few, obvious influences show up in this mix. The first is the fact that I was living in Atlanta, and if you think Outkast was big, you should have been living in Atlanta; they were everywhere, and they were everywhere well before they were anywhere else. It was a little strange, actually, to move to a city and discover this band that was really big there, only to watch them blow up nationally just a few months later.
Then there was the VH1 reality show "Bands On the Run." I was addicted and, to this day, I'm shocked it never got a second season. But I followed it religiously when it was on, and that's how the band Flickerstick ended up on this mix.
It's funny to look ahead. Atlanta managed to inject at least a little bit of hip hop into my mix, and I saw Coldplay perform in an old church in the ATL before they'd really taken off, which is how they ended up on this mix. But Atlanta wouldn't have nearly the influence on me that my coming move to Los Angeles would.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Biographical Mix, 2000: Mono
Believe it or not, this mix actually raises any fairly complex question as far as the formulation of my mixes is concerned or, more to the point: what do I do with songs by band my friends are in?
This issue was brought on by the first few months I lived in Atlanta, when the Pankration came to live with me for a week. That wasn't their intention, but a dying van and an opportunity to play a second show a few days after the first one lead to them sleeping in my living room for multiple nights. They were still waiting to get copies of their CD, but had hand packaged a few, and since I had the inside track, they gave me a copy.
As far as memories go, living with the Pankration is hard to match.
But you'll notice that there's no Pankration song on this mix, just as there were no songs by Putty on earlier mixes. My rationalization behind this is that, if I were to start putting songs onto mixes by people that I know, it would be never ending. Even worse, what would I then do about my own bands? Clearly those bands represent a specific time even more so than these songs. So I just decided to steer clear of the entire issue.
Entertaining side note: a few weeks after the Pankration left, I ended up in the emergency room with an enlarged spleen, a result of having mono for months and not knowing it, although it's more exciting to say that the Pankration stayed with me and left me in the hospital.
"Sugar" by System of a Down
"New Noise" by Refused
"Black Jack Mastered" by Pretty Mighty Mighty
"Nagarkot" by Very Secretary
"Soda Jerk" by Buffalo Tom
"My Own Worst Enemy" by Lit
"Little Black Back Pack" by Stroke 9
"Is Anybody Home?" by Our Lady Peace
"Change (In the House of Flies)" by the Deftones
"Why Does It Always Rain On Me?" by Travis
"One" by Sunny Day Real Estate
"No Sensitivity" by Jimmy Eat World
"Everything In Its Right Place" by Radiohead
"Tinfoil" by Rainer Maria
"Sweetness (demo)" by Jimmy Eat World
"Sonny" by Palo Alto
"Spite and Fire" by Rainer Maria
"What I Would Say To You Now" by Jimmy Eat World
"Mark David Chapman" by ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead
This mix is very evenly divided between the last half of my final year of grad school (through Our Lady Peace) to the beginning of my stay in Atlanta. Much of the first half was influenced by the top 40 station I listened to while working at the gas station in Athens, Ohio.
And to connect everything together, this was not my first experience with the awesomely named Trail of Dead. Years earlier, they were supposed to play in Athens, and my band, Middle Kittanning, was supposed to play with them. They were then supposed to go up to Akron for a show, which they were going to play with my friends in the Underground Asian Movement. Unfortunately, Trail of Dead got robbed after a show in New Orleans and had to cancel the rest of their shows, and thus my brush with rock stardom was destroyed.
This issue was brought on by the first few months I lived in Atlanta, when the Pankration came to live with me for a week. That wasn't their intention, but a dying van and an opportunity to play a second show a few days after the first one lead to them sleeping in my living room for multiple nights. They were still waiting to get copies of their CD, but had hand packaged a few, and since I had the inside track, they gave me a copy.
As far as memories go, living with the Pankration is hard to match.
But you'll notice that there's no Pankration song on this mix, just as there were no songs by Putty on earlier mixes. My rationalization behind this is that, if I were to start putting songs onto mixes by people that I know, it would be never ending. Even worse, what would I then do about my own bands? Clearly those bands represent a specific time even more so than these songs. So I just decided to steer clear of the entire issue.
Entertaining side note: a few weeks after the Pankration left, I ended up in the emergency room with an enlarged spleen, a result of having mono for months and not knowing it, although it's more exciting to say that the Pankration stayed with me and left me in the hospital.
"Sugar" by System of a Down
"New Noise" by Refused
"Black Jack Mastered" by Pretty Mighty Mighty
"Nagarkot" by Very Secretary
"Soda Jerk" by Buffalo Tom
"My Own Worst Enemy" by Lit
"Little Black Back Pack" by Stroke 9
"Is Anybody Home?" by Our Lady Peace
"Change (In the House of Flies)" by the Deftones
"Why Does It Always Rain On Me?" by Travis
"One" by Sunny Day Real Estate
"No Sensitivity" by Jimmy Eat World
"Everything In Its Right Place" by Radiohead
"Tinfoil" by Rainer Maria
"Sweetness (demo)" by Jimmy Eat World
"Sonny" by Palo Alto
"Spite and Fire" by Rainer Maria
"What I Would Say To You Now" by Jimmy Eat World
"Mark David Chapman" by ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead
This mix is very evenly divided between the last half of my final year of grad school (through Our Lady Peace) to the beginning of my stay in Atlanta. Much of the first half was influenced by the top 40 station I listened to while working at the gas station in Athens, Ohio.
And to connect everything together, this was not my first experience with the awesomely named Trail of Dead. Years earlier, they were supposed to play in Athens, and my band, Middle Kittanning, was supposed to play with them. They were then supposed to go up to Akron for a show, which they were going to play with my friends in the Underground Asian Movement. Unfortunately, Trail of Dead got robbed after a show in New Orleans and had to cancel the rest of their shows, and thus my brush with rock stardom was destroyed.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Biographical Mix, 1999: Insert Prince Joke
I have a lot of really specific memories from the songs on this mix, more so than most of my mixes. While all of them give me a sense of a period of time, not all of them make me think of exact moments in time, but I think perhaps this is all due to the fact that the final year of the 20th century (and those who argue that the first year of the new millennium is 2001 should consider the fact that hitting 1 marks the end of the first year, so '99 was actually the 100th year of the 1900's -- just like birthdays, people, it's not science) and, being the sentimental sort that I am, everything seemed amplified.
There's also the simple fact that 1999 marked the end of a lot of important things for me, from the end of my last, full fledged band, the end of my first, long term relationship, the start of my last year of college. In other words, this mix is kind of mushy in spots, which is funny, given that next year I would start an entire series of mixes featuring only slow songs (but I will spare you those, unless you're a sadist).
"Clarity" by Jimmy Eat World
"Breakfast of Champions" by Rainer Maria
"Coffee and TV" by Blur
"Carnival" by Burning Airlines
"Generator" by the Foo Fighters
"Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck" by Prong
"Wear Two Eyes (Boom)" by June of '44
"Atlantic" by Rainer Maria
"Devil You Know (God Is A Man)" by Face to Face
"Virgin State of Mind" by K's Choice
"I Don't Care For You" by Action League
"Disappear (Version Chula Vista)" by J Church
"Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps" by Cake
"With or Without You" by U2
"Days Were Golden (live)" by Sunny Day Real Estate
"Goodbye Sky Harbor" by Jimmy Eat World
Buffy continue to have an influence on my life, as the Face to Face and K's Choice songs are from the soundtrack. The two songs after that are from the "Songs for the Broken Hearted" compilation that I actually bought well before being broken hearted. While that Sunny Day Real Estate song is from the album they released the previous year, this was a live recording they'd release in 1999, and it was a song that I really, really loved when I saw them play it live.
That Prong song might be the best example of how one person can work a song into my life; my friend Jay used to play that every night before parties. I still can't hear it without returning to the living room at 18 Oak St., expecting to see Jay with a cigarette in one hand and a bottle of whiskey in the other.
Sadly, those days were numbered after the century ended. My mixes, however, would continue on undeterred.
There's also the simple fact that 1999 marked the end of a lot of important things for me, from the end of my last, full fledged band, the end of my first, long term relationship, the start of my last year of college. In other words, this mix is kind of mushy in spots, which is funny, given that next year I would start an entire series of mixes featuring only slow songs (but I will spare you those, unless you're a sadist).
"Clarity" by Jimmy Eat World
"Breakfast of Champions" by Rainer Maria
"Coffee and TV" by Blur
"Carnival" by Burning Airlines
"Generator" by the Foo Fighters
"Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck" by Prong
"Wear Two Eyes (Boom)" by June of '44
"Atlantic" by Rainer Maria
"Devil You Know (God Is A Man)" by Face to Face
"Virgin State of Mind" by K's Choice
"I Don't Care For You" by Action League
"Disappear (Version Chula Vista)" by J Church
"Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps" by Cake
"With or Without You" by U2
"Days Were Golden (live)" by Sunny Day Real Estate
"Goodbye Sky Harbor" by Jimmy Eat World
Buffy continue to have an influence on my life, as the Face to Face and K's Choice songs are from the soundtrack. The two songs after that are from the "Songs for the Broken Hearted" compilation that I actually bought well before being broken hearted. While that Sunny Day Real Estate song is from the album they released the previous year, this was a live recording they'd release in 1999, and it was a song that I really, really loved when I saw them play it live.
That Prong song might be the best example of how one person can work a song into my life; my friend Jay used to play that every night before parties. I still can't hear it without returning to the living room at 18 Oak St., expecting to see Jay with a cigarette in one hand and a bottle of whiskey in the other.
Sadly, those days were numbered after the century ended. My mixes, however, would continue on undeterred.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Biographical Mix, 1998: The Local Arm
A lot happened to and for me in 1998. I graduated from college and, not yet ready to let that gravy train come to an end, decided to go to grad school at the exact same school I'd just graduated from. I joined a new band, The Local Arm, which, I think, was some what more forceful in its style. Sunny Day Real Estate got back together and released a new album, and even went on tour. And, of course, I discovered Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
I like this mix an awful lot. If I were to rank my various mixes, I'm sure this would be somewhere near the top. I listened to a lot of great albums during this year of my life -- that and the fact that I was in a new band had me as hyped for music as I'd been in a while.
"Somethin' Hot" by the Afghan Whigs
"If You Are to Bloom" by Hum
"Be Quiet and Drive" by the Deftones
"Enjoy the Silence" by Therapy
"Green to Me" by Hum
"My Own Summer" by the Deftones
"A Disgust for Details" by Coalesce
"Good Intentions (original)" by For Love Not Lisa
"Pillars" by Sunny Day Real Estate
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" by Nerf Herder
"Cavity" by Boy Sets Fire
"Milwaukee Sky Rocket" by Braid
"Color of Contrast" by Compound Red
"My Bejing Hot Rod" by Flu Thirteen
"Five Corporations" by Fugazi
"Of Information and Belief" by June of '44
"Polyethylene, Parts 1 and 2" by Radiohead
"How It Feels To Be Something On" by Sunny Day Real Estate
"Little Chang, Big City" by Seam
Odd fact: I have a very mild form of synesthesia. I can remember, after band practice one day, asking the other guys if they saw our songs as colors. They all kind of looked at me like I was insane. They then quizzed me, asking what color each of our songs was. And I had answers for all of them.
This mix, more so than any of the others so far, has a color to me. And while the obvious answer would be "green," it is, in fact, blue. I have no idea why. You just have to trust me on this. It still happens to me to this day, although not as often as it used to.
I like this mix an awful lot. If I were to rank my various mixes, I'm sure this would be somewhere near the top. I listened to a lot of great albums during this year of my life -- that and the fact that I was in a new band had me as hyped for music as I'd been in a while.
"Somethin' Hot" by the Afghan Whigs
"If You Are to Bloom" by Hum
"Be Quiet and Drive" by the Deftones
"Enjoy the Silence" by Therapy
"Green to Me" by Hum
"My Own Summer" by the Deftones
"A Disgust for Details" by Coalesce
"Good Intentions (original)" by For Love Not Lisa
"Pillars" by Sunny Day Real Estate
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" by Nerf Herder
"Cavity" by Boy Sets Fire
"Milwaukee Sky Rocket" by Braid
"Color of Contrast" by Compound Red
"My Bejing Hot Rod" by Flu Thirteen
"Five Corporations" by Fugazi
"Of Information and Belief" by June of '44
"Polyethylene, Parts 1 and 2" by Radiohead
"How It Feels To Be Something On" by Sunny Day Real Estate
"Little Chang, Big City" by Seam
Odd fact: I have a very mild form of synesthesia. I can remember, after band practice one day, asking the other guys if they saw our songs as colors. They all kind of looked at me like I was insane. They then quizzed me, asking what color each of our songs was. And I had answers for all of them.
This mix, more so than any of the others so far, has a color to me. And while the obvious answer would be "green," it is, in fact, blue. I have no idea why. You just have to trust me on this. It still happens to me to this day, although not as often as it used to.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Biograhical Mix, 1997: Variety Is the Spice of Life
In the spring of 1997, I met one of the pre-requisites for snobby music lovers: I got a job at a record store.
While that job might have been awful in a lot of ways, it did give me easy access to a wide variety of music. It also made me aware of the fact that frat boys of the mid to late 90's bought every single hip hop record that was released no matter who it was by. Really. It was mind boggling to me how every week on new release day, a stream of Greek letter hat wearers would come into the store and buy every single thing related to the hip hop genre. I have never seen the complete lack of thoughtfulness that I saw during those days. It was amazing to me.
Anyway, between working at a record store and being in a band with three other people who felt nearly as strongly about music as I did, I began to delve outside my comfort zone, at least a little.
"Beetlebum" by Blur
"All Mine" by Portishead
"Bachelorette" by Bjork
"Karma Police" by Radiohead
"Taneytown" by Steve Earle
"Sponge" by R.E.M.
"Motorist" by Jawbox
"The Council" by Team Dresch
"Rain Yr Hand" by Rainer Maria
"I Never Trusted the Russians" by the Promise Ring
"High and Dry" by Radiohead
"Poison Lovers" by Steve Earle
"107" by Team Dresch
"Caboose" by Snapcase
"Ina" by Ethel Meserve
"Anisette" by June of '44
"For the World" by Shai Hulud
"Zombie Prescription" by Snapcase
This was kind of a hard mix to put together as far as transitions are concerned. Radiohead to Steve Earle isn't so jarring, but Steve Earle to Team Dresch is a little weird. June of '44 into Shai Hulud isn't exactly smooth, either, but I guess this all goes to show how diverse this mix was. For the record, Steve Earle is the most country thing that will ever appear on a mix, as Johnny Cash kind of flitted throughout my life, never really landing on one particular year, thus avoiding any specific mix.
Although, Cash shows up on my "Veronica Mars" mix. I mentioned that, not because I'm going to post said "Veronica Mars" mix, but because it's one of a few TV show inspired mixes that I have, although of which were created in the last few years. Before that, I just added songs from TV shows into my regular mixes, something that will become clear on my next mix...
While that job might have been awful in a lot of ways, it did give me easy access to a wide variety of music. It also made me aware of the fact that frat boys of the mid to late 90's bought every single hip hop record that was released no matter who it was by. Really. It was mind boggling to me how every week on new release day, a stream of Greek letter hat wearers would come into the store and buy every single thing related to the hip hop genre. I have never seen the complete lack of thoughtfulness that I saw during those days. It was amazing to me.
Anyway, between working at a record store and being in a band with three other people who felt nearly as strongly about music as I did, I began to delve outside my comfort zone, at least a little.
"Beetlebum" by Blur
"All Mine" by Portishead
"Bachelorette" by Bjork
"Karma Police" by Radiohead
"Taneytown" by Steve Earle
"Sponge" by R.E.M.
"Motorist" by Jawbox
"The Council" by Team Dresch
"Rain Yr Hand" by Rainer Maria
"I Never Trusted the Russians" by the Promise Ring
"High and Dry" by Radiohead
"Poison Lovers" by Steve Earle
"107" by Team Dresch
"Caboose" by Snapcase
"Ina" by Ethel Meserve
"Anisette" by June of '44
"For the World" by Shai Hulud
"Zombie Prescription" by Snapcase
This was kind of a hard mix to put together as far as transitions are concerned. Radiohead to Steve Earle isn't so jarring, but Steve Earle to Team Dresch is a little weird. June of '44 into Shai Hulud isn't exactly smooth, either, but I guess this all goes to show how diverse this mix was. For the record, Steve Earle is the most country thing that will ever appear on a mix, as Johnny Cash kind of flitted throughout my life, never really landing on one particular year, thus avoiding any specific mix.
Although, Cash shows up on my "Veronica Mars" mix. I mentioned that, not because I'm going to post said "Veronica Mars" mix, but because it's one of a few TV show inspired mixes that I have, although of which were created in the last few years. Before that, I just added songs from TV shows into my regular mixes, something that will become clear on my next mix...
Monday, September 7, 2009
Biographical Mix, 1996: Middle Kittanning
Being in a band in college is so completely different than being in a band in high school that I feel like there should be different terms for them. Going a step further, being a "singer" in a band in high school (and, yes, that should be in quotes) and being a guitarist (and main songwriter) in a band in college are like night and day. Suddenly, everything I listened to became an influence on what I was producing, and as a direct result, my basic criteria for music became simple: I wanted to listen to stuff that I would like to play.
I was also surrounding myself with very specific group of people. Athens, Ohio is a pretty small town and the live music scene there is pretty fractured among many sub-divisions, but even a small sub-division was more than I'd ever been a part of before. For as much as I loved being in Oral Groove, and for as much as I talked about being in Oral Groove, it was never something that defined me, mostly because everyone knew me before I joined the band. In college it was different. In college I became guy in a band and everything spread out from there.
This was both good and bad. On one hand, I discovered some great music, got to play in the first of what would be two bands in college, and met some great people. On the other hand, it was completely insular. It also took over my life in ways that are impossible to explain to most people.
Like I said, though: I discovered some great music, and while lots of new bands show up on this mix, a few of the old standby's managed to stick around.
"Cherry Coke" by Karate
"Fagetarian and Dyke" by Team Dresch
"June Miller" by June of '44
"Stretched Too Thin" by the Crownhate Ruin
"Blame, Etc." by the Afghan Whigs
"Hey, Latasha" by Seam
"Spoiler" by Jawbox
"Scenic Pastures" by Archers of Loaf
"El Scorcho" by Weezer
"Visible Distance" by the Universal Order of Armageddon
"Corpse Pose" by Unwound
"Screwing Yer Courage" by Team Dresch
"What Did You Expect?" by Archers of Loaf
"Going to Town" by the Afghan Whigs
"Call It In the Air" by Jimmy Eat World
"Something to Forget" by Texas Is the Reason
"The Prizefighters" by Seam
"Sink Is Busted" by June of '44
"Desert Sea" by Jawbox
"Leave" by R.E.M.
"Shade and the Black Hat" by Jeremy Enigk
Over the next year, though, the other members of Middle Kittanning would start to have even more of an influence on what I was listening to...
I was also surrounding myself with very specific group of people. Athens, Ohio is a pretty small town and the live music scene there is pretty fractured among many sub-divisions, but even a small sub-division was more than I'd ever been a part of before. For as much as I loved being in Oral Groove, and for as much as I talked about being in Oral Groove, it was never something that defined me, mostly because everyone knew me before I joined the band. In college it was different. In college I became guy in a band and everything spread out from there.
This was both good and bad. On one hand, I discovered some great music, got to play in the first of what would be two bands in college, and met some great people. On the other hand, it was completely insular. It also took over my life in ways that are impossible to explain to most people.
Like I said, though: I discovered some great music, and while lots of new bands show up on this mix, a few of the old standby's managed to stick around.
"Cherry Coke" by Karate
"Fagetarian and Dyke" by Team Dresch
"June Miller" by June of '44
"Stretched Too Thin" by the Crownhate Ruin
"Blame, Etc." by the Afghan Whigs
"Hey, Latasha" by Seam
"Spoiler" by Jawbox
"Scenic Pastures" by Archers of Loaf
"El Scorcho" by Weezer
"Visible Distance" by the Universal Order of Armageddon
"Corpse Pose" by Unwound
"Screwing Yer Courage" by Team Dresch
"What Did You Expect?" by Archers of Loaf
"Going to Town" by the Afghan Whigs
"Call It In the Air" by Jimmy Eat World
"Something to Forget" by Texas Is the Reason
"The Prizefighters" by Seam
"Sink Is Busted" by June of '44
"Desert Sea" by Jawbox
"Leave" by R.E.M.
"Shade and the Black Hat" by Jeremy Enigk
Over the next year, though, the other members of Middle Kittanning would start to have even more of an influence on what I was listening to...
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Biograhical Mix, 1995: The Morning Dung Crew
He called himself Sacdelicious (a play on a Simpson's joke -- and I still call him that, although it's Sac D. for short). I called myself Kent Shakespeare. And, for a brief time in early 1995, we ruled the airwaves of Ashland University's radio station.
Okay, that's hyperbole, but we did have a couple of decent shows. We each had our own, we did plenty of fill-in gigs for others, and every Monday morning from 6-9, we were the Morning Dung Crew. Why? It had something to do with the dung beetle, I believe, and the fact that Ashland was a really, really conservative school with pretty stricts limits on what you could and could not say on the air.
While the radio station had set programming, we received a lot of promos from various labels, and I ended up listening to a lot of bands I don't think I ever would have discovered otherwise. I had also fully submerged myself in all things DC at this point, so my mixes were becoming progressively less and less recognizable to the average person.
This mix begins with the last song Sac and I would play after every show.
"Feel the Pain" by Dinosaur, Jr.
"Bitter" by Certain Distant Suns
"Glass Sparkles In Their Hair" by Pond
"Can We Be Mature?" by the Dismemberment Plan
"Brooks" by Shiner
"No Voices in the Wire" by Rollkicker Laydown
"Mean Hot and Blessed" by Circus Lupus
"Delusional" by Quicksand
"Savory" by Jawbox
"Long Division" by Fugazi
"25" by Veruca Salt
"No Sleep" by Huggy Bear
"Flatbroke" by Thumbnail
"Aspirin Kid" by the Nation of Ulysses
"Crazy Town" by Velocity Girl
"Underdogs of Nipomo" by Archers of Loaf
"Good Intentions" by Love Not Lisa
"Demolished" by Unwound
"Bed For the Scraping" by Fugazi
"Wrong" by Archers of Loaf
"Friday" by Sunny Day Real Estate
"Absenter" by Jawbox
What I (and most likely no one else) find interesting about this particular mix is how vividly it covers certain parts of that year. Everything through "25" by Veruca Salt came during the second half of my freshman year at Ashland. The four songs after that were very specific to that summer, when I was driving a delivery van for a grocery store. Everything from "Underdogs of Nipomo" on was from the first part of my sophomore year, after I'd transferred to Ohio University.
It's kind of cool for me to be able to see that transition...but probably not so much for anyone else.
And while I'd begun to listen to less and less mainstream music, there was a big musical influence coming up on the horizon, one I'd experienced briefly before, but would hit me in an entirely different way this time: being in a band.
Okay, that's hyperbole, but we did have a couple of decent shows. We each had our own, we did plenty of fill-in gigs for others, and every Monday morning from 6-9, we were the Morning Dung Crew. Why? It had something to do with the dung beetle, I believe, and the fact that Ashland was a really, really conservative school with pretty stricts limits on what you could and could not say on the air.
While the radio station had set programming, we received a lot of promos from various labels, and I ended up listening to a lot of bands I don't think I ever would have discovered otherwise. I had also fully submerged myself in all things DC at this point, so my mixes were becoming progressively less and less recognizable to the average person.
This mix begins with the last song Sac and I would play after every show.
"Feel the Pain" by Dinosaur, Jr.
"Bitter" by Certain Distant Suns
"Glass Sparkles In Their Hair" by Pond
"Can We Be Mature?" by the Dismemberment Plan
"Brooks" by Shiner
"No Voices in the Wire" by Rollkicker Laydown
"Mean Hot and Blessed" by Circus Lupus
"Delusional" by Quicksand
"Savory" by Jawbox
"Long Division" by Fugazi
"25" by Veruca Salt
"No Sleep" by Huggy Bear
"Flatbroke" by Thumbnail
"Aspirin Kid" by the Nation of Ulysses
"Crazy Town" by Velocity Girl
"Underdogs of Nipomo" by Archers of Loaf
"Good Intentions" by Love Not Lisa
"Demolished" by Unwound
"Bed For the Scraping" by Fugazi
"Wrong" by Archers of Loaf
"Friday" by Sunny Day Real Estate
"Absenter" by Jawbox
What I (and most likely no one else) find interesting about this particular mix is how vividly it covers certain parts of that year. Everything through "25" by Veruca Salt came during the second half of my freshman year at Ashland. The four songs after that were very specific to that summer, when I was driving a delivery van for a grocery store. Everything from "Underdogs of Nipomo" on was from the first part of my sophomore year, after I'd transferred to Ohio University.
It's kind of cool for me to be able to see that transition...but probably not so much for anyone else.
And while I'd begun to listen to less and less mainstream music, there was a big musical influence coming up on the horizon, one I'd experienced briefly before, but would hit me in an entirely different way this time: being in a band.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Biographical Mix, 1994: D.C. Comes Calling
I could just as easily referred to my 1994 mix as "The Dying of Alternative," at least in my world at that time. A fad that I had so completely submerged myself in was beginning to lose its appeal, as most fads do after just a few years. Part of it was the fact that the mainstream was now hyping up incredibly bad bands with the "alternative" label, so the genre itself was getting watered down (as my brother once said, "alternative to what?"). The other part was that I discovered independent labels and, more specifically, the wide wonderful world of the Washington, DC music scene.
It should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me that the band that got me into Discord Records and all the various smaller labels associated with wasn't Minor Threat or even Fugazi, it was Jawbox. Sure, I knew who Fugazi was and I was even growing to enjoy their music, but Jawbox was much more my style of music. They were far less abrasive (although I do generally like abrasive), their lyrics were weirder, and they had a chick bass player -- I was sold. I don't even remember why I bought the cassette of their second album, Novelty, but I did, and I practically wore it before buying the CD version, simply because it had two extra songs on it.
Still, while there are glimpses of what people would call punk or post-hardcore or indie music on this music, there was still a healthy heaping of mainstream, alternative rock, probably the most that would end up on any of my mixes going forward.
Oh, and after a disappearance from the last mix, R.E.M. makes their triumphant return, making them 4 for 5 on mixes.
"Work For Food" by Dramarama
"What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" by R.E.M.
"Sick of Myself" by Matthew Sweet
"Waiting Room" by Fugazi
"Static" by Jawbox
"Unfulfilled" by Quicksand
"Seven" by Sunny Day Real Estate
"Fountain and Fairfax" by the Afghan Whigs
"Interstate Love Song" by Stone Temple Pilots
"Right Turn" by Alice In Chains
"Get It Together" by the Beastie Boys
"Cut Your Hair" by Pavement
"Basketcase" by Green Day
"My Name Is Jonas" by Weezer
"Milktoast" by Helmet
"March of the Pigs" by Nine Inch Nails
"All Apologies (unplugged)" by Nirvana
"Big Empty" by Stone Temple Pilots
"Corduroy" by Pearl Jam
"My World Is Empty/I Hear A Symphony (live)" by the Afghan Whigs
There are some interesting songs on this list. Even though Fugazi had a number of albums out by this point, I dutifully bought their music in chronological order, although for the life of me I don't know why.
The aforementioned Oral Groove covered a Green Day song, although it was "Longview," not "Basketcase." My friends Matt and Rob (also of Oral Groove) and I discovered Quicksand because of an episode of Beavis and Butthead. I bought two CDs before going to college that I considered essential: "God Fodder," by Ned's Atomic Dustbin (I'd been listening to a copy I got from Matt or Rob) and the "What Jail Is Like" EP by the Afghan Whigs, specifically because it had live tracks on it, and I thought they were the greatest live band I'd ever seen.
It's also interesting that Sunny Day Real Estate snuck their way onto this list, given how huge they would become in my life.
It should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me that the band that got me into Discord Records and all the various smaller labels associated with wasn't Minor Threat or even Fugazi, it was Jawbox. Sure, I knew who Fugazi was and I was even growing to enjoy their music, but Jawbox was much more my style of music. They were far less abrasive (although I do generally like abrasive), their lyrics were weirder, and they had a chick bass player -- I was sold. I don't even remember why I bought the cassette of their second album, Novelty, but I did, and I practically wore it before buying the CD version, simply because it had two extra songs on it.
Still, while there are glimpses of what people would call punk or post-hardcore or indie music on this music, there was still a healthy heaping of mainstream, alternative rock, probably the most that would end up on any of my mixes going forward.
Oh, and after a disappearance from the last mix, R.E.M. makes their triumphant return, making them 4 for 5 on mixes.
"Work For Food" by Dramarama
"What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" by R.E.M.
"Sick of Myself" by Matthew Sweet
"Waiting Room" by Fugazi
"Static" by Jawbox
"Unfulfilled" by Quicksand
"Seven" by Sunny Day Real Estate
"Fountain and Fairfax" by the Afghan Whigs
"Interstate Love Song" by Stone Temple Pilots
"Right Turn" by Alice In Chains
"Get It Together" by the Beastie Boys
"Cut Your Hair" by Pavement
"Basketcase" by Green Day
"My Name Is Jonas" by Weezer
"Milktoast" by Helmet
"March of the Pigs" by Nine Inch Nails
"All Apologies (unplugged)" by Nirvana
"Big Empty" by Stone Temple Pilots
"Corduroy" by Pearl Jam
"My World Is Empty/I Hear A Symphony (live)" by the Afghan Whigs
There are some interesting songs on this list. Even though Fugazi had a number of albums out by this point, I dutifully bought their music in chronological order, although for the life of me I don't know why.
The aforementioned Oral Groove covered a Green Day song, although it was "Longview," not "Basketcase." My friends Matt and Rob (also of Oral Groove) and I discovered Quicksand because of an episode of Beavis and Butthead. I bought two CDs before going to college that I considered essential: "God Fodder," by Ned's Atomic Dustbin (I'd been listening to a copy I got from Matt or Rob) and the "What Jail Is Like" EP by the Afghan Whigs, specifically because it had live tracks on it, and I thought they were the greatest live band I'd ever seen.
It's also interesting that Sunny Day Real Estate snuck their way onto this list, given how huge they would become in my life.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Biographical Mix, 1993: The Oral Groove Effect
On February 12th, 1993, my friend Rob held out his hand and asked me if I wanted to be in his band. If I were to make a list of the pivotal moments in my life, this was definitely one of them.
Being in a band obviously changed the way I viewed music, although it would take some time for that part to really hit me. No, the immediate impact that joining Oral Groove (generally spelled all in lower case, ala e.e. cummings) was being introduced to Ned's Atomic Dustbin. Ned's enjoyed some moderate success during the 90's alternative craze, but most people don't really know them. To this day, I think the five former members of Oral Groove can be held together simply by their shared knowledge of all things Ned's.
Of course, 1993 was also the continuation of the alternative movement in popular music, and I was continually looking for the next big thing.
"Kill Your Television" by Ned's Atomic Dustbin
"Rain Will Fall" by I Mother Earth
"Ugly Truth Rock" by Matthew Sweet
"Cherub Rock" by Smashing Pumpkins
"Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle" by Nirvana
"Creep" by Radiohead
"Elderly Woman Behind the Counter In A Small Town" by Pearl Jam
"Small Victory" by Faith No More
"Unsung" by Helmet
"Grey Cell Green" by Ned's Atomic Dustbin
"Time Capsule" by Matthew Sweet
"Tourette's" by Nirvana
"In the Meantime" by Helmet
"Midlife Crisis" by Faith No More
"Not Sleeping Around" by Ned's Atomic Dustbin
"Slam" by Onyx
"Sober" by Tool
"Today" by Smashing Pumpkins
"Intact" by Ned's Atomic Dustbin
I was clearly a product of my time, although I'll be honest and say that I feel bad for those who weren't able to experience their formative years in the 90's. That decade really did make me who I am today.
And while I was pretty submerged in the "alternative" music scene, I was beginning to move further away from the stuff that was getting played on MTV. Very soon, a whole new world of music was going to open up to me...
Being in a band obviously changed the way I viewed music, although it would take some time for that part to really hit me. No, the immediate impact that joining Oral Groove (generally spelled all in lower case, ala e.e. cummings) was being introduced to Ned's Atomic Dustbin. Ned's enjoyed some moderate success during the 90's alternative craze, but most people don't really know them. To this day, I think the five former members of Oral Groove can be held together simply by their shared knowledge of all things Ned's.
Of course, 1993 was also the continuation of the alternative movement in popular music, and I was continually looking for the next big thing.
"Kill Your Television" by Ned's Atomic Dustbin
"Rain Will Fall" by I Mother Earth
"Ugly Truth Rock" by Matthew Sweet
"Cherub Rock" by Smashing Pumpkins
"Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle" by Nirvana
"Creep" by Radiohead
"Elderly Woman Behind the Counter In A Small Town" by Pearl Jam
"Small Victory" by Faith No More
"Unsung" by Helmet
"Grey Cell Green" by Ned's Atomic Dustbin
"Time Capsule" by Matthew Sweet
"Tourette's" by Nirvana
"In the Meantime" by Helmet
"Midlife Crisis" by Faith No More
"Not Sleeping Around" by Ned's Atomic Dustbin
"Slam" by Onyx
"Sober" by Tool
"Today" by Smashing Pumpkins
"Intact" by Ned's Atomic Dustbin
I was clearly a product of my time, although I'll be honest and say that I feel bad for those who weren't able to experience their formative years in the 90's. That decade really did make me who I am today.
And while I was pretty submerged in the "alternative" music scene, I was beginning to move further away from the stuff that was getting played on MTV. Very soon, a whole new world of music was going to open up to me...
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
The Biographica Mix, Part Three: 1992 - Grunge Grungy Grunge Grunge
You know, I actually thought I'd get more response from people with these mixes, particularly given how much reaction I got from my nostalgic Pearl Jam post. I could see, though, how this might be boring to read for some people, particularly those who didn't know me at these points. I'm pretty sure, though, that I'll cover all of you at some point.
Still, I'm enjoying writing these out, as it's making me listen to them while I type.
Sheep that I was, grunge was my flavor of the day. Besides more bands from Seattle, I also added a few choice "alternative" acts that had bubbled up, and I got my first taste of a punk/noise/art rock giant. Of particular note is that, of the three mixes I've listed so far, there's one band that has appeared on all of them.
"State of Love and Trust" by Pearl Jam
"Dive" by Nirvana
"Would" by Alice In Chains
"Sex Type Thing" by Stone Temple Pilots
"Drown" by Smashing Pumpkins
"Drive" by R.E.M.
"100%" by Sonic Youth
"Gratitude" by the Beastie Boys
"Killing in the Name" by Rage Against the Machine
"Nearly Lost You" by the Screaming Trees
"Somebody to Shove" by Soul Asylum
"Dyslexic Heart" by Paul Westerberg
"Try Not to Breathe" by R.E.M.
"Sugar Cane" by Sonic Youth
"Plush" by Stone Temple Pilots
"Them Bones" by Alice In Chains
"Bullet in the Head" by Rage Against the Machine
"Wish" by Nine Inch Nails
"Aneurysm" by Nirvana
It's not hard to see the influence the movie "Singles" had on my listening tastes, although I don't know that I've really listened to another Paul Westerberg or Screaming Trees song than the ones on that soundtrack.
Most notable, of course, is "Somebody to Shove," a song the first band I was ever in would end up covering. We were nothing if not products of our time.
Still, I'm enjoying writing these out, as it's making me listen to them while I type.
Sheep that I was, grunge was my flavor of the day. Besides more bands from Seattle, I also added a few choice "alternative" acts that had bubbled up, and I got my first taste of a punk/noise/art rock giant. Of particular note is that, of the three mixes I've listed so far, there's one band that has appeared on all of them.
"State of Love and Trust" by Pearl Jam
"Dive" by Nirvana
"Would" by Alice In Chains
"Sex Type Thing" by Stone Temple Pilots
"Drown" by Smashing Pumpkins
"Drive" by R.E.M.
"100%" by Sonic Youth
"Gratitude" by the Beastie Boys
"Killing in the Name" by Rage Against the Machine
"Nearly Lost You" by the Screaming Trees
"Somebody to Shove" by Soul Asylum
"Dyslexic Heart" by Paul Westerberg
"Try Not to Breathe" by R.E.M.
"Sugar Cane" by Sonic Youth
"Plush" by Stone Temple Pilots
"Them Bones" by Alice In Chains
"Bullet in the Head" by Rage Against the Machine
"Wish" by Nine Inch Nails
"Aneurysm" by Nirvana
It's not hard to see the influence the movie "Singles" had on my listening tastes, although I don't know that I've really listened to another Paul Westerberg or Screaming Trees song than the ones on that soundtrack.
Most notable, of course, is "Somebody to Shove," a song the first band I was ever in would end up covering. We were nothing if not products of our time.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
The Biographical Mix, Part Two: 1991
I remember, in the fall of 1991, listening to the local "alternative" station, 107.9 The End. They were just about to play Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" yet again. As a lead in to the song, the DJ started talking about how no one knew quite how to describe the music. It appeared to lack a definitive genre. She then announced that the term that had been thrown around in music circles was "grunge." It was honestly the first time I'd ever heard the word.
As is evident by my mix for 1991, I loved grunge, at least the first few years worth of it (not unlike emo, to be honest). My obsessiveness led me to a lot of those early bands faster than most, but I was still fully submerged in the latest fad. This one was depressing, though, so I felt right at home.
I think I actually got "Ten" and "Badmoterfinger" on cassette for Christmas.
Also of note are the two hip hop songs that start off this mix. The early 90's were fantastic for hip hop, in my opinion. For all the merit in the gangsta rap movement, it definitely blew things up so quickly for that genre that it suffered in quality...not unlike grunge and emo, actually.
I was so obsessed with this handful of bands, that this is one of the few "Best of" mixes that had room for multiple songs by the same band.
"Bring Tha Noize" - Public Enemy and Anthrax
"Scenario" - A Tribe Called Quest
"You Could Be Mine" - Guns N' Roses
"Enter Sandman" - Metallica
"Outshined" - Soundgarden
"Drain You" - Nirvana
"Once" - Pearl Jam
"Losing My Religion" - R.E.M.
"I've Been Waiting" - Matthew Sweet
"Wherever I May Roam" - Metallica
"Rusty Cage" - Soundgarden
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" - Nirvana
"Jeremy" - Pearl Jam
"Shiny Happy People" - R.E.M.
"Girlfriend" - Matthew Sweet
"November Rain" - Guns N' Roses
As is evident by my mix for 1991, I loved grunge, at least the first few years worth of it (not unlike emo, to be honest). My obsessiveness led me to a lot of those early bands faster than most, but I was still fully submerged in the latest fad. This one was depressing, though, so I felt right at home.
I think I actually got "Ten" and "Badmoterfinger" on cassette for Christmas.
Also of note are the two hip hop songs that start off this mix. The early 90's were fantastic for hip hop, in my opinion. For all the merit in the gangsta rap movement, it definitely blew things up so quickly for that genre that it suffered in quality...not unlike grunge and emo, actually.
I was so obsessed with this handful of bands, that this is one of the few "Best of" mixes that had room for multiple songs by the same band.
"Bring Tha Noize" - Public Enemy and Anthrax
"Scenario" - A Tribe Called Quest
"You Could Be Mine" - Guns N' Roses
"Enter Sandman" - Metallica
"Outshined" - Soundgarden
"Drain You" - Nirvana
"Once" - Pearl Jam
"Losing My Religion" - R.E.M.
"I've Been Waiting" - Matthew Sweet
"Wherever I May Roam" - Metallica
"Rusty Cage" - Soundgarden
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" - Nirvana
"Jeremy" - Pearl Jam
"Shiny Happy People" - R.E.M.
"Girlfriend" - Matthew Sweet
"November Rain" - Guns N' Roses
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