International Mix Tapes
October 2005
Got everything out much earlier this month, and I had even more stuff to send, so I'm relatively pleased with myself. No over-arching themes or anything, just two streams of songs that came up late at night that still sounded good in the morning.
Shanon Henry down in Virginia Beach got the actual IMTP CD, which was:
01. Jon Brion - “Theme” (2:24)
02. The Prayers & Tears Of Arthur Digby Sellers - “Lisa” (4:00)
03. Mogwai - “Close Encounters” (3:58)
These three came up randomly and fit together so perfectly I couldn't not start with them. Brion's work for Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind was kind of hit and miss but the good bits are really good, and "Theme" leads nicely into "Lisa". I hadn't seen tP&ToADS live when I made this, and having done so I was a little disappointed that all of their stuff isn't as fragilely beautiful as "Lisa", although they put on a good show. It's written from the perspective of someone's childhood imaginary friend, and it's pretty touching. "Close Encounters" is some old rarity I got from Mogwai's site, and it confirms my prejudice that quiet Mogwai are if anything even better than loud Mogwai. And loud Mogwai are pretty fucking awesome.
04. Oneida - “The Eiger” (2:33)
When I made this I had listened to The Wedding three or four times in quick succession to decide for good whether I was going to keep it. It was close, but the boring bits eventually weighed too heavily against it. The good bits are incredibly great, though, whether they're the weird string-based mountaineering drama "The Eiger" or the heavier psych excursions of most of the other good stuff ("Did I Die", "Lavender", "The Beginning Is Nigh"). I didn't intend the whole disc to be as restful as the first three tracks, and this picks up the pace a little.
05. Royskopp - “Dead To The World” (5:20)
For an album I didn't like that much, I sure am getting some mileage out of the tracks I did enjoy from The Understanding. Not as blissfully propulsive as "Beautiful Day Without You" or "Only This Moment", "Dead To The World" compensates with an equally beautiful sense of drift, suggesting a plusher alternative to the better moments of Brian Eno's Another Day On Earth.
06. Radiohead - “Like Spinning Plates (Live)” (3:47)
Much more of a "song" in the conventional sense than the studio version, what this lacks in the cold rumble of the original (which, yes, I do like) it more than gains in piano. Which leads excellently into the next track.
07. Michael Nyman - “The Sacrifice” (2:50)
I love Nyman's soundtrack to The Piano (and should track down some of his other stuff, some day), but I especially love the mp3 of "The Promise" I have, which doesn't quite appear on that soundtrack. I think I got some sort of "single version" as this song is shorter than "The Promise" on the soundtrack disc and skips straight to the good bits. The main motif from that track is used all over the soundtrack, and I was looking for one particular moment I remembered, when at the end of another song the piano starts slowly picking out that melody. I never found it, and think I was misremembering it, but "The Sacrifice" comes the closest.
08. Low - “Days Of...” (5:57)
Okay, so this whole disc wound up being fairly low key. Even more so than their more famous songs, "Days Of..." is a song where nothing really happens, especially considering how long it is. And it's utterly captivating.
09. Spoon - “Chloroform” (1:09)
Interlude. Back from when Spoon didn't mostly bore me.
10. Underworld - “Jumbo” (6:57)
Say what you will about Beaucoup Fish (and I have, I'm pretty sure), but the best moments on it are phenomenal. "Jumbo" is just dreamy, powerful and textured like all of Underworld's best songs. A little movement to get us going again.
11. Dirty Three - “I Offered It Up To The Stars And The Night Sky” (13:41)
The reason I ordered their Whatever You Love, You Are album, this is pretty much my favourite thirteen minute long song ever. That multi-tracked violin introduction is incredible, and the rest has a lonely, keening strength that is perfect night music. Fittingly enough.
12. Straylight Run - “Existentialism On Prom Night” (4:01)
Emo in the good sense. I guess pianos are kind of a theme this time? But unintentional. After the epic abstraction of the Dirty Three track I wanted something a little punchier, poppier, more singalongable.
13. The Strokes - “What Ever Happened?” (2:47)
One of my favourite moment from the great (and underrated, compared to their debut) Room On Fire album, I wanted something loud-ish before the last two songs I had picked. I often work on mixes from the front and back simultaneously, crafting beginnings and endings and working towards wherever they meet.
14. Corrina Repp - “No One's Telling” (4:41)
It's Only The Future is pretty devastating as a whole, but this is easily the best song, and after the brief spasm of the Strokes track it works extremely well.
15 . The Sycamores - “Biology” (3:08)
My favourite Sycamores song? Possibly. They're coming out with an album soon, I think. Still unsigned. Still one of the best Canadian bands of the past decade.
Total: 66:50
And then one of our winners over at the Stylus Album Art Challenge, a Julie Lipson, asked for a mix as well. This is what she got:
01. Elbow - “The Stops” (4:24)
I made both of these pretty late at night, hence the low-keyness. The quiet chime of the "just keep staring" parts here are almost painfully pretty.
02. Eluvium - “Calm Of The Cast-Light Cloud” (5:30)
Calm is the operative word; I've been listening to this a lot recently, and it always slows my pulse without putting me to sleep.
03. Jens Lekman - "If You Ever Need A Stranger (To Sing At Your Wedding)” (3:18)
My man Jens is playing in Toronto soon, and I will see him. The "Oh, it's just like a whirlwind" part tugs at my heart every time, and although there are a few over-quoted bits here, it's as good as everything off of this album.
04. Paavoharju - “Aamuauringon Tuntuinen” (3:57)
At this point I was worried I was just going to be quiet for a whole CD again, so I threw in something from this fucking amazing CD Bryan Berge and Mike Powell (I think) turned me on to. Finland must be awesome to produce music like this - this particular song is pretty poppy by the standards of the album, but the whole thing sounds like ghosts. Reggae ghosts, at times.
05. Pan.American featuring Low - “Code” (6:37)
I can so make a mix without Alan and Mimi on it. Shut up. A highlight from Pan.American great second album of cold electronic dub (I mean that in the best sense possible) 360 Business / 360 Bypass. And a bit easier to excerpt, because it's relatively short (under seven minutes!) and, well, vocals.
06. Asian Dub Foundation - “Naxalite” (4:43)
On the one hand, this is kind of odd man out; on the other, it flows beautifully from "Code" and I tend to honor the whims of the random skip function. Skittery, political non-dub from their first album.
07. The Mountain Goats - “Up The Wolves” (3:27)
The Sunset Tree should be part of your life. Especially after I saw these guys live. The "I'm going to bribe the officials" part always gives me a chill, and this is poppy as fuck. I love who he writes about what he writes about without lapsing into the maudlin.
08. Jackson C. Frank - “Blues Run The Game” (3:34)
A random find through the Stypod, this is pretty desolate folk(?) about life sucking. Fits nicely between its neighbours.
09. Superpitcher - “Happiness” (6:44)
Still the only Superpitcher song I've ever heard, but it's killer, eh? Thought it was schlocky at first; it's not, at least not in that way. Stretches out like a higway.
10. Local H - “No Problem” (4:14)
Downer time! The flipside to "Nothing Special", the part of As Good As Dead where Scott Lucas admits that, yes, he is the small town fuckup you and he always worried he was. He's wrong, but it's compelling music. There he's angry and self-deprecating, here he's sad and wondering why you bother coming back.
11. Readymade - “Rememberforget” (5:34)
Can I just call it a tie between Darnielle and this record for end of the year lists? I listen to this one more but its high isn't as intense as the Mountain Goats (although still more potent than pretty much anyone else). I can't write about these guys - just trust me, this is great.
12. Red House Painters - “Katy Song” (8:22)
Discovered via Anthony Miccio's Valentine's Day broadcast. The first half isn't bad, but it's the wordless end that kills. So fraught!
13. Oneida - “Lavender” (3:58)
I told you I'd been listening to them a lot recently. The ahhs have it.
14. Constantines - “On To You” (4:36)
In the wake of their new album, a reminder of what they do best.
Total: 67:56
Got everything out much earlier this month, and I had even more stuff to send, so I'm relatively pleased with myself. No over-arching themes or anything, just two streams of songs that came up late at night that still sounded good in the morning.
Shanon Henry down in Virginia Beach got the actual IMTP CD, which was:
01. Jon Brion - “Theme” (2:24)
02. The Prayers & Tears Of Arthur Digby Sellers - “Lisa” (4:00)
03. Mogwai - “Close Encounters” (3:58)
These three came up randomly and fit together so perfectly I couldn't not start with them. Brion's work for Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind was kind of hit and miss but the good bits are really good, and "Theme" leads nicely into "Lisa". I hadn't seen tP&ToADS live when I made this, and having done so I was a little disappointed that all of their stuff isn't as fragilely beautiful as "Lisa", although they put on a good show. It's written from the perspective of someone's childhood imaginary friend, and it's pretty touching. "Close Encounters" is some old rarity I got from Mogwai's site, and it confirms my prejudice that quiet Mogwai are if anything even better than loud Mogwai. And loud Mogwai are pretty fucking awesome.
04. Oneida - “The Eiger” (2:33)
When I made this I had listened to The Wedding three or four times in quick succession to decide for good whether I was going to keep it. It was close, but the boring bits eventually weighed too heavily against it. The good bits are incredibly great, though, whether they're the weird string-based mountaineering drama "The Eiger" or the heavier psych excursions of most of the other good stuff ("Did I Die", "Lavender", "The Beginning Is Nigh"). I didn't intend the whole disc to be as restful as the first three tracks, and this picks up the pace a little.
05. Royskopp - “Dead To The World” (5:20)
For an album I didn't like that much, I sure am getting some mileage out of the tracks I did enjoy from The Understanding. Not as blissfully propulsive as "Beautiful Day Without You" or "Only This Moment", "Dead To The World" compensates with an equally beautiful sense of drift, suggesting a plusher alternative to the better moments of Brian Eno's Another Day On Earth.
06. Radiohead - “Like Spinning Plates (Live)” (3:47)
Much more of a "song" in the conventional sense than the studio version, what this lacks in the cold rumble of the original (which, yes, I do like) it more than gains in piano. Which leads excellently into the next track.
07. Michael Nyman - “The Sacrifice” (2:50)
I love Nyman's soundtrack to The Piano (and should track down some of his other stuff, some day), but I especially love the mp3 of "The Promise" I have, which doesn't quite appear on that soundtrack. I think I got some sort of "single version" as this song is shorter than "The Promise" on the soundtrack disc and skips straight to the good bits. The main motif from that track is used all over the soundtrack, and I was looking for one particular moment I remembered, when at the end of another song the piano starts slowly picking out that melody. I never found it, and think I was misremembering it, but "The Sacrifice" comes the closest.
08. Low - “Days Of...” (5:57)
Okay, so this whole disc wound up being fairly low key. Even more so than their more famous songs, "Days Of..." is a song where nothing really happens, especially considering how long it is. And it's utterly captivating.
09. Spoon - “Chloroform” (1:09)
Interlude. Back from when Spoon didn't mostly bore me.
10. Underworld - “Jumbo” (6:57)
Say what you will about Beaucoup Fish (and I have, I'm pretty sure), but the best moments on it are phenomenal. "Jumbo" is just dreamy, powerful and textured like all of Underworld's best songs. A little movement to get us going again.
11. Dirty Three - “I Offered It Up To The Stars And The Night Sky” (13:41)
The reason I ordered their Whatever You Love, You Are album, this is pretty much my favourite thirteen minute long song ever. That multi-tracked violin introduction is incredible, and the rest has a lonely, keening strength that is perfect night music. Fittingly enough.
12. Straylight Run - “Existentialism On Prom Night” (4:01)
Emo in the good sense. I guess pianos are kind of a theme this time? But unintentional. After the epic abstraction of the Dirty Three track I wanted something a little punchier, poppier, more singalongable.
13. The Strokes - “What Ever Happened?” (2:47)
One of my favourite moment from the great (and underrated, compared to their debut) Room On Fire album, I wanted something loud-ish before the last two songs I had picked. I often work on mixes from the front and back simultaneously, crafting beginnings and endings and working towards wherever they meet.
14. Corrina Repp - “No One's Telling” (4:41)
It's Only The Future is pretty devastating as a whole, but this is easily the best song, and after the brief spasm of the Strokes track it works extremely well.
15 . The Sycamores - “Biology” (3:08)
My favourite Sycamores song? Possibly. They're coming out with an album soon, I think. Still unsigned. Still one of the best Canadian bands of the past decade.
Total: 66:50
And then one of our winners over at the Stylus Album Art Challenge, a Julie Lipson, asked for a mix as well. This is what she got:
01. Elbow - “The Stops” (4:24)
I made both of these pretty late at night, hence the low-keyness. The quiet chime of the "just keep staring" parts here are almost painfully pretty.
02. Eluvium - “Calm Of The Cast-Light Cloud” (5:30)
Calm is the operative word; I've been listening to this a lot recently, and it always slows my pulse without putting me to sleep.
03. Jens Lekman - "If You Ever Need A Stranger (To Sing At Your Wedding)” (3:18)
My man Jens is playing in Toronto soon, and I will see him. The "Oh, it's just like a whirlwind" part tugs at my heart every time, and although there are a few over-quoted bits here, it's as good as everything off of this album.
04. Paavoharju - “Aamuauringon Tuntuinen” (3:57)
At this point I was worried I was just going to be quiet for a whole CD again, so I threw in something from this fucking amazing CD Bryan Berge and Mike Powell (I think) turned me on to. Finland must be awesome to produce music like this - this particular song is pretty poppy by the standards of the album, but the whole thing sounds like ghosts. Reggae ghosts, at times.
05. Pan.American featuring Low - “Code” (6:37)
I can so make a mix without Alan and Mimi on it. Shut up. A highlight from Pan.American great second album of cold electronic dub (I mean that in the best sense possible) 360 Business / 360 Bypass. And a bit easier to excerpt, because it's relatively short (under seven minutes!) and, well, vocals.
06. Asian Dub Foundation - “Naxalite” (4:43)
On the one hand, this is kind of odd man out; on the other, it flows beautifully from "Code" and I tend to honor the whims of the random skip function. Skittery, political non-dub from their first album.
07. The Mountain Goats - “Up The Wolves” (3:27)
The Sunset Tree should be part of your life. Especially after I saw these guys live. The "I'm going to bribe the officials" part always gives me a chill, and this is poppy as fuck. I love who he writes about what he writes about without lapsing into the maudlin.
08. Jackson C. Frank - “Blues Run The Game” (3:34)
A random find through the Stypod, this is pretty desolate folk(?) about life sucking. Fits nicely between its neighbours.
09. Superpitcher - “Happiness” (6:44)
Still the only Superpitcher song I've ever heard, but it's killer, eh? Thought it was schlocky at first; it's not, at least not in that way. Stretches out like a higway.
10. Local H - “No Problem” (4:14)
Downer time! The flipside to "Nothing Special", the part of As Good As Dead where Scott Lucas admits that, yes, he is the small town fuckup you and he always worried he was. He's wrong, but it's compelling music. There he's angry and self-deprecating, here he's sad and wondering why you bother coming back.
11. Readymade - “Rememberforget” (5:34)
Can I just call it a tie between Darnielle and this record for end of the year lists? I listen to this one more but its high isn't as intense as the Mountain Goats (although still more potent than pretty much anyone else). I can't write about these guys - just trust me, this is great.
12. Red House Painters - “Katy Song” (8:22)
Discovered via Anthony Miccio's Valentine's Day broadcast. The first half isn't bad, but it's the wordless end that kills. So fraught!
13. Oneida - “Lavender” (3:58)
I told you I'd been listening to them a lot recently. The ahhs have it.
14. Constantines - “On To You” (4:36)
In the wake of their new album, a reminder of what they do best.
Total: 67:56
