2010 Quarter 1 Mixtape

Alright folks! I was going to post this much earlier in the month, but with such a hefty collection of solid releases in May I really wanted to hold a little bit. That, and I wasn't too floored by anything that came out before this month (sure there were albums I liked, but nothing hit me on the level of say, High Violet or This Is Happening). SO. Take these 13 tracks (whittled from about 30) and see how we compare on a year that I believe still has plenty of tricks up its sleeve.

01. Crystal Castles - Doe Deer
I love how every CC review begins, "Holy shit we wanted to hate this album, but..." BUT this song is just manic as all get-out. The fuzz and wail; the way the electronics seem to evolve into an uncontrollable force the more the song progresses. This baby's raw energy.

02. Yeasayer - Ambling Alp
I've heard a fair amount of beef about the Yeasayer record. Perhaps it's justified. I've kind of grown a tendency of immediate eyeroll at the mention of an 80s-pop influenced record. I think this song is a commendable way to approach it; have your own sound, let the influence bleed through in choice aspects of the recording (in this case, those massive stadium drums). And I just like the hook a lot. "Wear your wounds with pride." And also that sick organ solo at the end.

03. Surfer Blood - Fast Jabroni
On the whole, the Surfer Blood record seemed a bit derivative. I'm contradicting myself already. Because this song is essentially one of those trendy 80s throwback tracks. I guess I love the melody enough to excuse the things I don't like about it? I also like how it takes the pop-punk-ish turn at the "Just think it over" part. It didn't have to, but maybe that's what makes it good. It's kind of a breezy, fun song that I can see having a lot of replay, especially during summer.

04. Woods - Suffering Season
Oh, Woods. Woods is so bizarre. Because they seem like they've got this schizophrenic are-we-psychedelic-or-are-we-a-folk-band thing going. But with this song they just subvert expectations and say, "let's just write an incredible pop song in our own way." "Who knows what tomorrow will bring?" Amen. This seems more like a mission statement for them as a band than just a song lyric. I love the drum double-time change-up, which I know can be a source of contention for some. It just does it for me.

05. Nada Surf - Electrocution
Nada Surf? What the hell. This is a cover of someone called Bill Fox, with whom I am unfamiliar. This is just a solid pop rock song with great harmonies and a fantastic progression. You know, sometimes that's all it really takes.

06. Sonny & The Sunsets - She Plays Yo-Yo With My Mind
Sonny & the Sunsets' record Tomorrow is Alright is great, with a lot of great tracks. But for some reason, this song, which was done for the second (fantastic) Raven Sings the Blues compilation is the best I've heard from them. I love the pace, the way it builds, the smoothness in instrumentation. Overall, just a cool ass song.

07. Adam Green - What Makes Him Act So Bad?
So Adam Green, one half of one of my most reviled groups of all time, The Moldy Peaches, wrote a fucking gem of a song here. Like the Sonny song, it's just a mellow, well-paced rock song. And as a person who has been questioning why I am the way I am, I can surely agree with the sentiment.

08. Joanna Newsom - On A Good Day
Have One On Me is still pretty hard for me to get into. I love certain tracks, but listening front to back is like knocking off The Fountainhead in an afternoon. This song just shows that she doesn't need to write ambling narratives to write great songs. "Hey hey hey the end is near. On a good day you can see the end from here." That might be my favorite line of the year so far.

09. The National - Conversation 16
High Violet is the only album so far this year that I can legit put up there with my favorites of the past few years (to decade). And honestly, I'm not even sure if "Conversation 16" is my favorite or the best track on it. I love them all in their own way. I think I chose this as the one because, well, not a lot of songs have a "surprise zombie chorus" that mysteriously arrives halfway through the song (listen to the drums on the "I'm evil" chorus; brilliant). And it might showcase some of Matt Berninger's best lyrical work on the album. "You'd never believe the shitty thoughts I think." Sounds like something I can connect with.

(Note: Due to artist request, "Bloodbuzz, Ohio" has been inserted into the list as a replacement. Like I said, with an album so full of amazing tracks, this is no big deal.)

10. Titus Andronicus - No Future Part Three: Escape From No Future
I have proclaimed this as my favorite track of the year, but I'm not so sure anymore. It's way up there ("Suffering Season" may have the honor right now). I have been starting to feel a disconnect from the more electronic side of the indie spectrum. I think that there's going to be a backlash to the Beach Houses and Yeasayers out there in favor of more angry rock music. I love this song's emotion and honesty, and it's such a refreshing change from songs that don't really seem to be about anything.

11. Harlem - Friendly Ghost
This was the best show I saw of the first quarter so far, far and away, hands down. Harlem has potential to do a lot of great things. It's always a close call between this song and "Gay Human Bones." I chose this one because it's more concise. And I love the melody.

12. Sleigh Bells - Rill Rill
I have a lot of conflicting views on Sleigh Bells. On one hand, they write some good pop songs. On the other hand, they feel like a band created by some hipster-capitalization machine. Treats completely feels like Brooklyn bait, but so be it. How can an album be so loud and abrasive and yet so gay at the same time? They have this weird dichotomy of wanting to be hard and wanting to be super poppy, and I'm not sure if it's successful. Having said all that, I think the album would be a wash without "Rill Rill," which stands out in that it isn't their super-loud formula. This song is going to soundtrack summers; and I don't see that as a bad thing.

13. LCD Soundsystem - All I Want
I've been watching a fair amount of interviews with James Murphy recently; and jeez that guy's smart. That intelligence in range of influence is felt in the music, and his intelligence of the human condition is reflected in his lyrics. I'm excited for This is Happening to grow on me more and more, because I feel it's only going to start making more and more sense the older I get. I think there hasn't been a straight LCD backlash yet because Murphy has never dumbed shit down to his listeners. He assumes that the people he's writing for are in, or have been in, the same places he is/was; which might not necessarily the case. But he puts himself out there. There's a bizarre reverse psychology in his music; where most artists do their best to write something relatable, Murphy is opening his door up and asking you to walk in, not meeting you on the front lawn. And that's brave, and the payoff is great.

8tracks: External:


Best,
Erik

My 100 Favorite Tracks of All Time (80-71)

I really should restrict myself to a more consistent regiment of when I post these. I have no firm schedule. But my goal is to have it all available by the end of next week.

Alright. Part three!! Definitely out of the 70s and 80s punk realm for a while, I believe. I think the list will bring a little bit more variety from here on on (though, for the record, it has been pretty eclectic thus far, in my opinion). Note: I encourage all of you who check this out to make a similar list! It's a fun exercise if you're serious about the music you love. I also encourage you to discuss/judge this list.

A recap of parts ONE and TWO:

100. Stuck in America - Sugarcult
099. History Lesson - Part II - Minutemen
098. To Clean (Acoustic) - Woods
097. Furr - Blitzen Trapper
096. At the Chime of a City Clock - Nick Drake
095. Search and Destroy - The Stooges
094. Scott Farcas Takes It On The Chin - Less Than Jake
093. Ruby Soho - Rancid
092. B.O.B. - Outkast
091. Monk Time - The Monks
090. Waiting Room - Fugazi
089. Ain't That Peculiar - Marvin Gaye
088. (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone - Minor Threat
087. Daylight - Aesop Rock
086. In the New Year - The Walkmen
085. Judy is a Punk - Ramones
084. I'm the Man Who Loves You - Wilco
083. My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down (Bonzo Goes To Bitburg) - Ramones
082. White Riot - The Clash
081. Many Rivers to Cross - Jimmy Cliff

080. Lived In Bars - Cat Power (http://is.gd/9uaOC)
Chan Marshall turns me to putty. Ugh. It's not fair to have a voice so velvety and sultry (and to also look like she looks!? So mean.). This song just puts me outside on a warm summer night drinking with friends underneath stars and moons and tiki torches. And then that turn at 2:30 just seals the deal. Check your pulse if your toe isn't tapping.

079. Venus - Television (http://is.gd/9ucOO)
And we're back to CBGB in the 70s (you were warned!). For those of you who have listened to Marquee Moon in it's entirety you know it is just unbelievable. For those of you who haven't; please get with the program. There are a lot of songs on this list that offer little snapshots of a given time or place; I like to think of this song as a little picture of New York in '76-'77, complete with references to Richard Hell. But the highlight of this track are the guitars. The technique and interplay is fantastic. I prefer this track to the more notable title track just for length. I get tired in most 10-minute songs. But the whole album is sellar.

078. In The Neighborhood - Tom Waits (http://is.gd/9ugaH)
"With Swordfishtrombones, The Black Rider was thrown out of the nightclub into the alley and, finding himself in his true element, he made its trashcan residents and urine stink the genetic code of the rest of his career." -Rob Mitchum, Pitchfork. "In the Neighborhood" is like a cartoon sketch of any inner city. It's simultaneously playful and depressing, sugar and spice, and, of course, it's Tom Wait's as the ringmaster, drunkenly spewing concrete on a piano somewhere dirty. And oh how I love it so.

077. Losing My Edge - LCD Soundsystem (http://is.gd/9ukZA)
What is the point in doing anything if you take yourself so seriously? I love the music video, because I feel with every reference he throws out that I understand I'm catching a slap in the face. And it's totally fine. I can relate to a lot of the sentiment in this track ("the kids are coming up from behind.") And you can dance to it too, which is always nice. And because I'm the master of meta (ugh I feel like an asshole right now):

076. Vitamin C - Can (http://is.gd/9uqpz)
Krautrock was a bizarre, bizarre movement in Germany in the late 60s and 70s. I think what made it so fascinating, to me, was how disjointed everything was. From early electronic experiments to crazy jam rock, it encompassed nearly everything. But my personal favorite of the entire "genre" is, and always will be, Can. Those drums! Do you breakdance? Well you do now! I love this track so much because it doesn't sound like it belongs anywhere. It just mysteriously came from this crazy nebula of jazz, funk, rock and punk and burrowed into our ears.

075. International Player's Anthem - UGK (feat. Outkast) (http://is.gd/9urYY)
Andre 3000's verse.

074. Someday - The Strokes (http://is.gd/9utTp)
There are some songs on this list that I can't even fully explain. They just hit me. "Someday" is one of those songs. Maybe it's Julian Casablancas' voice, or the simple yet perfect guitar riff, or the lovely nostalgic lyrics, or the consistent and effortlessly excellent rhythm section, or the, shit, it's obviously all of the above and more.

073. These Days - Nico (http://is.gd/9uvLD)
I think in order to really appreciate the Nico version you have to know the original Jackson Browne version. Her version is completely turned on its ear. Instead of being one of the millions of songs about regret after a relationship, little twists in the words made her version about regret at the end of life. This song just levels me. Especially Nico's haunting voice and the orchestration. Just beautiful.

072. All Falls Down - Kanye West (http://is.gd/9uwYt)
This track comes from notorious doucher Kanye West. I want to hate him so much (and in many ways I do), but then I go back and listen to his old albums when he had shreds of sincerity and get completely blown away. The beat is so soulful and the lyrics are such a refreshing change of pace from the kind of rap that populated manstream hip-hop for the majority of the decade. I guess this song is also bittersweet to me, because I see what happened to Kanye, who I sort of regarded as a bastion of honesty in the world of rap, and see what's become of him. "When it falls down, who you gonna call now," indeed.

071. Debaser - Pixies (http://is.gd/9uAcD)
This song is a sort of late edition. Originally I had "Here Comes Your Man," but then I went back and listened to the Pixies a bit more. And I realized "Here Comes Your Man" doesn't really capture what I really love about the Pixies, or what they do best: and that is rock. "Debaser" fuckin' rocks, man. And as a film student, I was forcefed "Un Chien Andalou" like a billion times.

8Tracks: External:


OK! You know where we're headed from here.
-Erik

2009 Discs 1 and 2: The Singles and The Calm

As noted, this (last) year's end of year mix came in 3 parts. The first was the cassette (2009 in Lo-Fi), the second was Disc 1: The Singles and the last was Disc 2: The Calm.

Disc 1: The Singles is meant to play at random. None of the songs are meant to flow into each other. It was designed to be listened to on an iPod, in a playlist on shuffle. The first and last tracks are designed as opener/closer, respectively to bookend the list, but they still function anywhere else in playing order. The track list is as follows:

01. Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Optimist vs. The Silent Alarm (When the Saints Go Marching In)
02. Girls - Lust for Life
03. Camera Obscura - Honey in the Sun
04. Passion Pit - Moth's Wings
05. Delorean - Seasun
06. Sleigh Bells - Crown on the Ground
07. Raekwon - Kiss the Ring (feat. Inspectah Deck & Masta Killa)
08. The Very Best - Chalo
09. Foreign Born - Early Warnings
10. Double Dagger - The Lie/The Truth
11. Cymbals Eat Guitars - Some Trees (Merritt Moon)
12. The Shaky Hands - Allison and the Ancient Eyes
13. Dirty Projectors & David Byrne - Knotty Pine
14. Animal Collective - My Girls
15. The Mountain Goats - Deuteronomy 2:10



Disc 2: The Calm is meant to play like a standard album, front-to-back. It's much more folky/acoustic. Generally speaking, throw on some headphones, lay back and relax and listen. Track list:

01. Mazes - Laid in the Darkness
02. Neko Case - This Tornado Loves You
03. White Antelope - Silver Dagger
04. Mumford & Sons - Sister
05. Bowerbirds - Northern Lights
06. The Tallest Man on Earth - Pistol Dreams
07. Telekinesis - I Saw Lightning
08. Beirut - Mimizan
09. Dirty Projectors - Two Doves
10. Woods - To Clean (Acoustic)
11. The Clientele - Bonfires on the Heath
12. Grizzly Bear - While You Wait for the Others
13. Pink Mountaintops - Vampire
14. Antony and the Johnsons - Dust and Water



That's all!
Erik

Next lists will be my 100 favorite tracks of all time. Stay tuned!

(Special thanks to Matty [SS# 386-05-1812] for album art!)

2009 Part 1: Orphans

This play-list is the first of 4 parts to the 2009 mix. It's songs that, while still sweet, just didn't quite have a home on the three real mixes. Also note: there were a few songs not included on this list (though I really wanted to!) that I first came to appreciate after hearing other people's '09 mixes. But it felt like cheating, so I didn't. Either way:



External Link: http://8tracks.com/bubblewolf/2009-part-1-orphans

Best,
Erik

Day 98: Wildcard (22)

New Week, New Wildcard.

YouTube:
01. The Hold Steady - Stevie Nix (30 sec. on imeem, "40 Bucks" instead)
02. Weezer - My Name is Jonas
03. Delorean - Seasun
04. 10cc - Dreadlock Holiday
05. Sublime - Badfish
06. Joshua James - You're the Cocaine (N/A)
07. She & Him - Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?
08. The Buggles - Video Killed the Radio Star
09. Ben Folds Five - Brick
10. Rosa Passos - Doce Presenca (N/A) (30 secs. on imeem, "Wave" instead)
11. Simon & Garfunkel - Keep the Customer Satisfied
12. Hall & Oates - You Make My Dreams Come True
13. Pet Benatar - Hit Me with Your Best Shot
14. Black Eyed Peas - Weekends
15. Neon Indian - Terminally Chill
16. Chuck Berry - You Never Can Tell
17. Suicide Machines - I Never Promised You a Rose Garden
18. Velvet Underground - Stephanie Says
19. Climax Blues Band - Couldn't Get It Right (30 secs. on imeem)
20. Osker - Patience

imeem: External:

Day 98: Wildcard (22)

(Image by James Emery, Licensed Under Creative Commons)

Day 91: The Atomic Age

On this day in 1945, I would argue, America began a course of destructive events that would strip the world of its innocence forever; somewhere in the American Southwest the Trinity Nuclear test laid the groundwork for the technology that would be used in Nagasaki & Hiroshima.

When I say stripping mankind of its innocence, I mean it in the sense of not only an unprecedented capacity for mass destruction, but an ability for that destruction to be completely remote and impersonal. There is no understating the barbarism and brutality of war, but the ability to take the lives of 200,000 people in a single day without setting foot in the city escalated mankind's potential for chaos.

This chaos, this unbridled ability for carnage, permeated nearly every aspect of society, especially music. The loss of innocence and Cold War tensions were manifested heavily in (obviously) metal and punk, but surprisingly in pop music. I've put together a list of 10 songs about nuclear war. Enjoy.

YouTube:
01. Genesis - Land of Confusion
02. Randy Newman - Political Science (Raaaaaaaandy!!!)
03. The Clash - Stop the World (Not the greatest song by any means, but the lyrics are pretty phenomenal)
04. Can - Mushroom
05. Ozzy Osbourne - Thank God for the Bomb
06. Nuclear Assault - Critical Mass
07. Iron Maiden - 2 Minutes to Midnight
08. Nena - 99 Red Balloons
09. The Specials - Man at C&A
10. The Postal Service - We Will Become Silhouettes

imeem: External:

Day 91: The Atomic Age

Duck & Cover,
Erik

Video:


(Image by Jhayne, Licensed Under Creative Commons)

Day 90: Wildcard (19)

Hey folks!!! I know, it's been a while. Hopefully you missed me as much as I missed you. I finally have Internet and some free time, so I am actually able to get back to this a little bit. Today is a Wildcard day.

YouTube:
01. Rakim - Guess Who's Back
02. Michael Jackson - Dapper Dan
03. Huey Lewis & the News - I Never Walk Alone
04. Elvis Presley - Suspicious Minds
05. Charlie Rich - Behind Closed Doors
06. Youngblood Brass Band - Human Nature pt. 2
07. Black Crowes - Kickin' My Heart Around
08. AC/DC - Hells Bells
09. The Future of the Left - Arming Eritrea
10. Exhorder - Into the Void
11. Minor Threat - Out of Step
12. The Kinks - All Day and All of the Night
13. Little Richard - Tutti Frutti
14. Peter Bjorn and John - Young Folks
15. Animal Collective - Summertime Clothes
16. J Dilla - Milk Money
17. The Bird & The Bee - Birthday
18. Belle & Sebastian - I'm A Cuckoo
19. Regina Spektor - Dance Anthem of the 80s
20. Dashboard Confessional - Stolen

imeem: External:

Day 90: Wildcard (19)

RIP MJ
Erik

(Image by Javier Sanchez, Licensed Under Creative Commons)

Day 82: Wildcard (17)

It's Wednesday, babay. You know the drill. And, as always, old Wildcards can be found here.

YouTube:
01. Public Enemy - Welcome to the Terrordome
02. Aerosmith - Love In An Elevator
03. Cream - Strange Brew
04. The Hives - Hate To Say I Told You So
05. The Creation - Making Time
06. Boards of Canada - Roygbiv
07. Cocteau Twins - Lorelei
08. School of Seven Bells - Half Asleep
09. The Pop Group - We Are Time
10. Berlin - Take My Breath Away
11. Jefferson Starship - Jane
12. Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood
13. DangerDoom - Sofa King
14. All-4-One - I Can Love You Like That
15. The Charade - Keeping Up Appearances (N/A)
16. Rilo Kiley - Execution of All Things
17. Madness - One Step Beyond
18. Neko Case - This Tornado Loves You (N/A on imeem, "Middle Cyclone" instead)
19. Times New Viking - The Early '80s (N/A)
20. LCD Soundsystem - Losing My Edge (Burn!)

imeem: External:

Day 82: Wildcard (17)

5-Laced,
Erik

(Image by Art G., Licensed Under Creative Commons)

Day 67: Oh, Sad Canada

April 28 brings a strange holiday: National Day of Mourning in Canada. It's supposedly designed to remember those who have died in workplace-related accidents; which is pretty sad stuff I guess. For the holiday I've put together my list of 10 of the saddest songs by Canadian artists. Because I'm creative like that. Enjoy!

YouTube:

01. Joni Mitchell - Blue

02. Gordon Lightfoot - The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
03. Feist - The Park

04. Stars - Celebration Guns (N/A)

05. Alanis Morissette - You Oughta Know
06. Sum 41 - Still Waiting

07. Ron Sexsmith - Words We Never Use

08. Chad VanGaalen - Willow Tree

09. Neil Young - Old Man

10. Leonard Cohen - Stranger Song

imeem: External:

Day 67: Oh, Sad Canada

Here's A Tissue, Eh,

Erik

(Image by Just Us 3, Licensed Under Creative Commons)

Day 53: Wildcard (11)

We have quite a diverse little Wildcard this week. Unfortunately, to get them all onto imeem I had to delete a couple old songs I uploaded. But it's all good. Enjoy.

YouTube:
01. Gangstarr - Work
02. Björk - Army of Me
03. Hey Marseilles - Goodbye Versailles (N/A, Web site)
04. Van Dyke Parks - Vine Street (N/A)
05. Jethro Tull - Skating Away
06. Stars - Your Ex-Lover is Dead
07. Naked Eyes - Always Something There To Remind Me
08. M83 - Kim & Jessie
09. The Streets - Don't Mug Yourself
10. American Cream Team - It's Not A Game (N/A on imeem, instead, Beatnuts - Watch Out Now)
11. The Creators - The Music (N/A)
12. Funkadelic - Hit It and Quit It
13. The Spinners - It's A Shame
14. Lynn Anderson - Rose Garden
15. T Rex - Cosmic Dancer
16. X - Los Angeles
17. No Age - Teen Creeps
18. Margot and the Nuclear So and So's - Vampires In Blue Dresses
19. Laura Marling - Ghosts
20. Kiss - Beth

imeem: External:

Day 53: Wildcard (11)

Best,
Erik

Bonus Video!


(Image by Roadsidepictures, Licensed Under Creative Commons)

Day 46: New Music Monday (1)

So! As opposed to doing a genre tour this week, I'm going to do something different. I figure every couple/few weeks I'll do one of these. It's just a little update on some new music that I've come across that I think is pretty good. Most of these tracks aren't on imeem, so I've decided to use the 8tracks player. I guess that's all for now!

YouTube:
01. Casiotone For The Painfully Alone - The Optimist VS. The Silent Alarm (When The Saints Go Marching In) [MySpace]
02. Pomegranates - Corriander (Starts at around 2:54) [MySpace]
03. Men Without Pants - My Balloon (N/A) [MySpace]
04. Cursive - From The Hips [MySpace]
05. Double Dagger - The Lie/The Truth (I'm Very Excited About These Guys) [MySpace]
06. Young Governor - Virginia Creeper (N/A) [MySpace]
07. Mazes - I Have Laid In The Darkness Of Doubt (N/A) [MySpace]
08. Mumford & Sons - Sister [MySpace]
09. Woods - Rain On (N/A) [MySpace]
10. The Week That Was - It's All Gone Quiet [MySpace]

8tracks: External:


Don't Buy the Hype on Wavves,
Erik

(Image By Idhren, Licensed Under Creative Commons)