Kurt from Maryland! Thank you for your donation! I will definitely write a Post-It note reminding me to seek out another copy of The Life & Times of Laddio Bolocko. As you can plainly see in the graphic above, I have hit a wall here, a little more than halfway through my fundraiser. With exactly one week (that’s 7 days) remaining, I am still $197.45 short of my $350 goal. When I think about how many people look at this page today (~600), I begin to wonder — isn’t one of you in the “wealthiest 1%” of Americans? Oh well, I guess I was never good at pandering to the rich. If you have not already, please donate, dear readers. In case you have not heard, my roommates are moving out and taking their turntable with them, and I don’t have money to buy a new one plus the new phone/contract I have to buy next week. If you love the music you hear on this page, and want to continue hearing it (that’s not a threat, it just means I will not be able to rip weird, rare, vinyl-only releases anymore), you should donate a few dollars to this page so that I can purchase a new turntable and phone. There is a Paypal link at the top left corner of this page. Or, you can bid on one of my eBay auctions. Or, you can e-mail me and I’ll provide you with a mailing address if you want to send a check instead of using Paypal. Thank you. Remember, each donor will be rewarded with a personal “Thank You” gift that I will be tailoring to each person once the web-a-thon has ended (I hope you like disease-ridden needles!).
Hey, look! Touch & Go just released a preview video for the new Calexico album Carried To Dust, and some jackass spelled Tucson wrong. I hope this isn’t a sign of things to come…What a bunch of morons. If I was working for T&G I’d make sure stupid shit like that never happened. It’s pretty embarrassing when a band speaks so much about having pride for their city, and then (if the band was involved in creating that video) nobody notices the glaring typo at the very first second.
Other than that, it’s a relatively good day! For me, Tuesday is Friday (no work Wednesday and Thursday), so I am itching to get this one over with so I can relax for the next 48 hours. The sun is shining, there isn’t a cloud in the sky here in LA, so I’m going to combine two of my favorite pastimes — top ten lists and mix tapes — for the first time ever to bring you:
01. American Analog Set – Punk As Fuck – This one is so light and breezy you might even be able to get away with calling it “twee”, but Andrew Kenny and The American Analog Set are so brilliant they decided to give the song a completely ironic title. The album Know By Heart is unimaginably excellent.
02. Neutral Milk Hotel – Song Against Sex – The first time I heard this song I was abusing Valium and driving to a Mogwai show with Ilya in Brooklyn. This was at least seven years ago. I remember thinking the tape was something a friend of his had recorded, because it sounded horrible and, after all, it was a cassette, and this was the year 2001! When he told me who it was, I was so shocked, SHOCKED, I went out and bought On Avery Island. Yes, I owned this one before I owned In The Aeroplane Over The Sea. And I lied to the girl at Compact Disc World on Route-10 when I told her, “Oh, I already own that one”.
03. Boris – Pink – This is Boris at their most Punk, with everything cranked to eleven. Try driving on the highway with your windows rolled down and this song blasting on a beautiful day without getting pulled over for going 120 in a 65.
04. Brian Eno – Needles In The Camel’s Eye – I thought about replacing this with a Bowie song, but the guitar is so happy I couldn’t resist keeping it. The stop/starts just a little over halfway through the song are a cute little diversion from the otherwise happiness assault.
05. Buzzcocks – You Know You Can’t Help It – I went with something from A Different Kind Of Tension because Singles Goin’ Steady is so overplayed these days. The guitars aren’t as tinny on this album, but the frenetic energy and good-time major-key melodies are still firmly in place.
06. Grandaddy – Crystal Lake – Probably the mopiest song on here, but it has the
distinction of also being the happiest song on the album from which it came! “Should never left the Crystal Lake / The party’s full of folks who flake”? Whatever, just listen to the music and fall in love. From the bridge to the closing seconds is definitely the most upbeat part of the song, even as the lyrics remain somewhat dour for the duration.
07. Beulah – Silver Lining – The Coast Is Never Clear is chock full o’ upbeat, great songs, but I chose this one because I’ve posted a ton of other tracks from the album in the past, and I don’t recall ever using this one for a mix tape. It’s probably in my top five summertime albums.
08. Gun Club – Sex Beat – What’s a happy, good-times mix without “Sex Beat”? I’ll tell you what…a mix tape that sucks so much it rapes puppies.
09. Mogwai – 2 Rights Make 1 Wrong – Thinking about that high-on-Valium Mogwai show in 2001 got me wondering what their most upbeat song was, and it came down to either this or “Mogwai Fear Satan”. I chose this one. I don’t know, what do you think?
10. Pink Floyd – Bike – Nothing beats a catchy, up-beat tune about a guy who rides a bike and bangs a chick while tripping. It’s a perfect way to end your sunshine day because the outro is totally deranged and creepy. Goodnight, kiddies, hope you had a glorious fun Tuesday!
Bonus cuts:
Broken Social Scene – Almost Crimes (Radio Kills Remix) – Speaking of the word “almost”, I “almost” never listen to Broken Social Scene anymore. I know they’re poppy and shit, but it didn’t even cross my mind to include one of their tunes until Ian recommended this one.
Didjits – Captain Ahab – Cocaine = happy, right?
Coachwhips – You Gonna Get It – I love the overblown garage rock, but this one would be just a tad bit too much when combined with the overblown rock of Boris and the overblown pop of Neutral Milk Hotel.
13th Floor Elevators – Slip Inside This House – Nothing says fun in the summer like dropping acid listening to a recording that features an electric jug that NEVER STOPS. Does anyone else think the guitar solo at about the 4:30 mark is eerily reminiscent of The Doors’ “The End”?
Caetano Veloso – Tropicalia – What’s a happy sunny mix tape without some wonderful Brazilian psych/pop? Why, it’s not a very happy sunny mix tape at all, is it?
