song,artist,(commentary)

polly,moose,

no cabaret!,vhs or beta,

walk like a man (you can call me),grand funk railroad,

why can’t he be you,patsy cline,(why can’t he?)

pulled up,talking heads,(have i mentioned how much i love this band?)

crash,david byrne,(since i’m now in talking heads mode)

the man who sold the world,david bowie,(eanna’s child, finn, thinks i am the goblin king)

all i need,radiohead,

land mines,st. vincent,

you can’t go home again,dj shadow,(you truly, truly can’t)

the perfect needle,telescopes,

c30, c60, c90, go!,bow wow wow,

on broadway (live),gary numan,(wallace, if you don’t listen to much numan, please start.)

i set my face to the hillside,tortoise,(this album is rife with pleasant melancholy)

feeling stronger,the voluptuous horror of karen black,(eek!)

orange blossom special,the nitty gritty dirt band,

a good taste of the gnorrhee,bacon shoe,(the shoe cannot stop, kids…ever…)

i am she, nikki giovanni,(for my dear, old friend angel)

roughly 73 minutes long. click here to visit the download page for an .mp3 (67mb, one track).

song,artist,(commentary)

relapse,boot hill,(defunct kc band featuring the infamous gary cloud)

one of a kind,atmosphere,

high 5 (rock the catskills),beck,

palace of illusions,cold fusion,

something about us (love theme from interstella 5555),daft punk,

puppets,depeche mode,(for sunshine)

blue lines,massive attack,

chubb sub,medeski, martin & wood,

heartlight,neil diamond,(where my neil fans at? emaw?)

dakota,robert rodriguez & carl thiel,(what a creepy track to follow neil)

minimal,pet shop boys,(artie, w00t!)

walking through the darkness,tekitha,

the nothing left garden human condition,shai no shai,

hey love,stevie wonder,

clowns and jugglers (octopus),syd barrett,

peace krime #1,the legendary pink dots,

x-execution of a bum rush,the x-ecutioners,

verbage,illogic,(this one is for prater and marcelo to jam on)

dr. feelgood,mötley crüe,(turn up the volume on your stereo and your hair)

in yellow moonlight,chris lee

i saw red (acoustic version),warrant,(because the acoustic version really brings out the emotional complexity)

roughly 79 minutes long. click here to visit the download page for an .mp3 (73mb, one track).

song,artist,(commentary)

crazy [orange factory mix],seal,(this song, no matter how you mix it, never ceases to move me. i dunno why.)

isfahan,duke ellington,

big red rocket of love,reverend horton heat,

my opinion,shock g,

falling out of love,mary gauthier,

7/4 [shoreline],broken social scene,

i just found out about love,shirley horn,

oh, oh, i love her so,the ramones,

same all over,canned heat,

pacific shores,phantom surfers,

knock me a kiss,(swingin’, man)louis jordan,

queen of las vegas [mesopotamia outtake version],b52s,(i love this band more and more with every passing year. you should hear sarah and i karoake ‘love shack’, by the way.)

hot pink, distorted,50 foot wave,

e.s.t. [trip to the moon],alien sex fiend,(one of the greatest band names ever)

world of confusion,infam,(not to be confused with genesis’s ‘land of confusion’ and it’s creepy-ass puppet video)

kaw-liga,hank williams jr.,(this song is the fucking funkiest country song you’ll ever hear)

two horse town,stereo mcs,(i don’t remember these guys ever getting the credit they deserved…maybe they did sometime, from someone from whom such credit usually issues forth…but i don’t remember it.)

straight up and down,the brian jonestown massacre,

i started something i couldn’t finish,the smiths,

last day of magic,the kills,(off one of my favorite albums from last year,”a little tornado, a little hurricano…”, love that shit.)

roughly 79 minutes long. click here to visit the download page for an .mp3 (72mb, one track).

it’s early in the morning (as I type). it’s spring and the weather in KC is all over the place.
nevertheless, i’m stirred up and ready for cycling, hanging out in the park with the fam, and cruising in my black benz limo with the cellular phone…

song,artist,(commentary)

posse on broadway,sir mix-a-lot,(posse up)

this is the industry,calvin harris

blunt picket fence,giant drag,(i’m a fan)

timeshaker,white flight

how we do it,gritsitory

on your side,pete yorn,(bet you never thought you’d hear him after gritsitory)

rideline,dubtribe sound system,(again, thank you forever, kari)

sweetness follows,r.e.m.

technologic (peaches no logic),daft punk,(peaches used to be an elementary school teacher)

laila,bally sagoo

dub revolution (part 1),lee scratch perry & the upsetters

freaks of the industry,digital underground,(never gets old)

secret language,mobius band

how to live with the thought that sometimes life ends,moneen

klawsterfobia,strung out

the light,love and rockets

earth by earth,mac lethal,(awesome use of a jane’s sample)

Click here to open the playlist in Spotify.

team wayne or team winn? man, i’m torn. how about you?

song,band,(commentary)

mountain side,the flaming lips,(team wayne?)

this must be the place (naive melody),the arcade fire,(team winn?)

accusations,the juan maclean,(this is human league 2009 and likely to become one of my faves this year. awesomeness.)

black tongue,yeah yeah yeahs,(dirty)

parisian goldfish,flying lotus

trick for treat,neon neon,(fuh-resh)

you and me and this,the hillary step,(fantastic kc band)

travelling at the speed of thought [hip house club mix],ultramagnetic mc’s

michael a grammar,broadcast

overcome,tricky,(man, me and tony rone listened to the heck out of this record.)

el jefe deconstruxion,the flying skulls,(blips,beeps,twips,tweeps)

can’t stand it,telepathe

in the depths of mania,die form

run home,the safety of the north

almost there,the nobodys

to be loved,joan as policewoman,(oh, joan wasser…)

feeling yourself disintegrate,the flaming lips,(team wayne?)

wake up,the arcade fire,(team winn? damn, if this song doesn’t grab you by the heart and twirl you around you’re inhuman.)

Roughly 76 minutes long. Click here to visit the download page for an .mp3 (70MB, one track). Click here for the Spotify playlist.

i enjoy cypress avenue – but why does it seem like every other week is the stones, van morrison, or the boss?

song,band,(commentary)

the girl next door,screeching weasel,(one of the all-time greatest punk bands)

allegedly dancefloor tragedy,suspiria

red velvet or nothing,belong,(for gilmore)

the healing game,van morrison,(bill #1)

love song no. 7,clap your hands say yeah,(didn’t like their recent show on jimmy fallon)

the last time,the rolling stones,(bill #2)

for my friend,bill withers

i gotta get drunk,the little willies

on the train,basement jaxx,(thanks to victor for turning me on to these cats.)

coast to coast,the jesus and mary chain

a mile long lump of lard,the orb

memphis skyline,rufus wainwright

dancing in the dark,bruce springsteen,(bill #3)

she lets me in,big smith,(for my peeps in springpatch)

dancing bear,the mamas & the papas

i was in the house when the house burned down,warren zevon,(bill #4)

in shakespeare’s garden,cause & effect

come what may,ewan macgregor & nicole kidman,(i adore moulin rouge: the film, the music, the story, the everything. thank you so much, kari.)

Roughly 77 minutes long. Click here to visit the download page for an .mp3 (71MB, one track). Click here for the Spotify playlist.

Mostly recent tracks for this week’s mixy mixness:

song,band,(commentary)

the ghetto, too $hort (even thought the streets are bumpy…)

when i grow up, fever ray (the music is haunting, but the second verse lyrics crack me up)

siren song, bat for lashes (oooooooooooo)

hot boyz, casiotone for the painfully alone ( 🙂 )

malherido, juana molina (this lady makes some pretty incredible music)

kim & jessie, m83 (this entire album has been non-stop listening for me)

prince of peace, school of seven bells (same with this one)

best supporting actor, one for the team (fans of old-school anniversary will enjoy)

gone gone gone, the notwist (to quote connie magic, “sigh…”)

stars in the rearview mirror, hammock (moody)

someday we’re through, sambassadeur (i like these guys)

buck and judy, deerhoof (this song is interesting)

angelz, mf doom (this sample is sick)

prismatic room, crystal stilts (i want to shoot a video for this song)

nine lives, midnight juggernauts (dance, mf-er, dance)

blood visions, jay reatard (now tear some shit up)

penultimate persian, chris clark (now dance some more – eco, i’m looking in your general direction)

california dreamin’, eddie hazel (now lay back and slide. thanks, brandon. this song is downright durrrty)

Roughly 74 minutes long. Click here to visit the download page for an .mp3 (68MB, one track).Click here for Spotify playlist.

This week’s goodness (and oh, you wouldn’t believe the trouble I went through to put this together for you…):

song,band

the prisoner, iron maiden (you should all have this entire album memorized)
family tree, belle & sebastian (nothing says mixtape like maiden followed by belle & sebastian)
the lovers, ladytron
gonna find you, operation ivy (this band made perfect songs)
electromagnetic azoth, secret chiefs 3 (this band makes interesting songs)
motorboat, love is all
all my tears, julie miller (fantastic cover of an emmy lou harris gem)
preoccupation, pamper the madman (greatest kansas city band ever)
planet earth, duran duran
read it in books, echo & the bunnymen
epitaph for my heart, magnetic fields (rebecca braverman saw them perform all 69 love songs. i hate her.)
if you wanna know, ugly duckling
saint behind the glass, los lobos (‘kiko’ is a masterpiece)
muriel, tom waits
sleeping beauty, miranda sex garden
god bows to math, minutemen (if you don’t have any minutemen records why bother listening to music?)
sacrifice, the roots (holy funk, i forgot how schmoove this track was)
theme for runaways, psyche
for kristoffer, money your love (this is from a burned cd the singer gave to my wife at a jr./sr. show many, many moons ago)
dirt off your shoulder, danger mouse
among his tribe, ween
the number of the beast (live), iron maiden (yes, a maiden sandwich)

I had to move to simply providing you a download link – no embedded player. Couldn’t find a free file-sharing service that also allowed direct linking. At any rate, the page linked to below has ads, but should be pop-up free.

Roughly 79 minutes long. Click here to visit the download page for an .mp3 (72MB, one track). Click here for the Spotify playlist.

So there’s a new (to me) meme going around that asks you to pick 15 albums that changed your life or affected you in some grand way. I really couldn’t do 15 albums only, so did 15 albums from 1980 to 1992:

talking heads – remain in light
michael jackson – thriller
vangelis – blade runner soundtrack
newcleus – jam-on revenge
prince – purple rain
beastie boys – licensed to ill
n.w.a./eazy e. – straight outta compton/eazy duz it (bought ’em the same day so they’re forever one album to me)
leonard cohen – i’m your man
the pixies – doolittle
nine inch nails – pretty hate machine
public enemy – fear of a black planet
my bloody valentine – loveless
rhcp – bloodsugarsexmagick
the orb – the orb’s adventures beyond the ultraworld
the pharcyde – bizarre ride II…

Taking it one step further I put together a mixtape of one song from each of the albums above. I think I’m going to start a weekly mixtape feature here. Some weeks will have a theme. Others will just be random rawk. Enjoy.

Roughly 78 minutes long. Click here to visit the download page for an .mp3 (72MB, one track). Click here for the Spotify playlist of all the records!