This week I have been taking a stroll down memory lane, recapping some of my most successful Sunday Mix Tapes. The next new one will be number 200, you know. I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that this is a very exciting time for us all. Although I must say, if I’m still doing this after 200 more mix tapes I might have to consider making some big changes in my life.
After mix tape number 100 I decided to make a change. It was January 14th, 2008 when I unilaterally (is that what you’d call it even though I’m the only person responsible for this page?) ended the Sunday Mix Tape feature. Seven months later I started again…with number 102? Whoops! Oh well, it wouldn’t be the first time I lost count, and I most definitely lost count again in the future. Still, mix tapes 102 through 150 featured more mind-expanding music. Also, some genres beyond rock.
Since I can’t post 200 MP3s this week, I’m going to list what is — in my opinion — the standout track from each installment of the series. About half the tracks I’ve chosen will be represented in MP3 form, and I’ll highlight what cool themes I thought of when I first started doing this. I guess, really, this will only be new and exciting for you if you’re a reader who started visiting this website at any point after January 29th, 2006. That’s most of you. Actually, it’s probably all of you. Except MikeM, Sam, and maybe Z. I don’t even think Z reads this page anymore.
The Best Of Sunday Mix Tapes: Volumes 102 – 150
102 – Dennis Wilson – Time – The mix tape officially returned to Swan Fungus on July 20th, 2008. I pretty much hit the nail on the head when I said, “Saturday and Sundays are pretty much useless as far as content is concerned, because my readership drops [no matter what I do].” In order to make the Mix Tape experience more enjoyable, I offered my readers opportunities to curate their own mix.
103 – Tshushimamire – Il Tempo Desu – Almost immediately after throwing down the gauntlet, Swan Fungus Super Fan Stephen in Japan put together a great mix tape featuring some of his favorite tunes spiced up with Japanese shit I’d never heard of before. As it turned out, he was the only reader to respond to my offer by making a Sunday Mix Tape for the site. That’s why he’s Listener 0, the O.G., the only (soon to be) card carrying member of the Swan Fungus Super Fan Club.
105 – Dark Fog – Out Of My Mind
106 – Virgin Prunes – Down The Memory Lane
107 – Picchio Dal Pozzo – Stratavari
108 – Loren Mazzacane Conors – Block That Notion
109 – Across Tundras – Low The Daystar Hangs
110 – U.S. Christmas – Black Lung – Around this time I was pissing off a lot of Billy Corgan fans for writing mean things about him on the Internet. His fans were sending me e-mail threats and calling me “retarded” on their online forums. Even though their idol openly calls his own fans (read: them!) “fucking jerkos,” those retards don’t even realize he doesn’t give a shit about them! Point is, the theme of this mix tape was “No respect” and it featured two clips of classic Rodney Dangerfield comedy gold.
111 – Burzum – Jesus’ Tod
112 – Snakefinger – The Spot
113 – The Incredible String Band – Nightfall
114 – Caroliner – Corn Red Moon – I can’t believe I didn’t grab that copy of I’m Armed With Quarts Of Blood when it came into the store last year. It had this amazing hand-designed cover with dust devils and random hair and a rusty nail sealed beneath the shrink wrap. I think I was afraid to buy it because it seemed like I might get AIDS if I opened it. Caroliner…so fucked up.
115 – Karen Dalton – When A Man Loves A Woman
116 – MoRkObOt – Last Caress
117 – Kevin Ayers – Lady Rachel
118 – Rapeman – Inki’s Butt Crack
119 – Edgar Froese – Stuntman
120 – Child Molsters – Don’t Worry Kyoko
121 – Rodriguez – Inner City Blues
122 – Bobby Byrd – Hot Pants (I’m Coming, I’m Coming)
123 – Soupjam Stevens – Oh God Where Are You Now? – In place of Sunday Mix Tape Number 123, I introduced my audience — and the entire Internet — to the “Sunday Crap Tape.” In what was surely one of the most-negatively received posts in the history of Swan Fungus, I made fun of over a dozen bands for recording shitty music. The compilation was highlighted, of course, by Sufjan Stevens, the worst musician in the history of recorded music. God, I hate that talentless twink.
124 – Jorge Ben – Meus Filhos, Meu Tesouro
125 – Ufomammut – Nero
126 – Wire – Sand In My Joints
127 – Charlie Patton – Some Of These Days I’ll Be Gone
128 – Irina – Keep Everything
129 – Dif Juz – Diselt
130 – Jacaszek – Rytm To Niesmiertelnosc
131 – High Dependency Unit – Stupormodel
132 – Dr. Octagon – Bear Witness
133 – Muse – Time Is Running Out – Due to the overwhelmingly critical response to the first Sunday Crap Tape, it didn’t take long for me to put together Sunday Crap Tape 2. I used songs from Nicci’s hard drive to show what terrible taste in music she has. The response from people who arrived at Swan Fungus just looking for free music was just as amazing as the first Sunday Crap Tape. People hate when their favorite artists are made fun of, and that’s exactly what they discovered upon arriving here. That band you like? Sucks.
134 – Seeweed – She Cracked – The highlight of the third incarnation of the “Covers! Covers! Covers!” mix was, for me, Seeweed covering The Modern Lovers. The track appears on the criminally undervalued John Peel Sub Pop Sessions CD, which costs about a dollar on Amazon. Mudhoney provides three tracks, Pond plays two songs, Tad plays “Herlot” and it concludes with a beautiful rendition of Codeine’s “Broken Hearted Wine.” For a dollar? It’s totally worth buying.
135 – Nurse With Wound – June 15
136 – Gandalf – Golden Earrings
137 – Zoviet France – First Vigil
138 – Jim Ford – To Make My Life Beautiful
139 – Waldteufel – Traumpfad
140 – Glaxo Babies – Maximum Sexual Joy
141 – Plastic People Of The Universe – Traktory – Right now you might be thinking, “But Evan, that was the week you highlighted Record Store Day exclusive tracks!” And if you are, you’re insane. How the hell do you remember that? Don’t answer that question — it’s better if I don’t know the extent to which you’re stalking me. That said, underground Czech music is way cooler than anything that was available as an exclusive on some stupid indie rock 7″ that only hipster fags cared about.
142 – Gong – Radio Gnome Invisible
143 – Abner Jay – I’m So Depressed
144 – Adelaide – Games WIthout End
145 – Foetus – Enter The Entertainer
146 – Long Fin Killie – Matador
147 – Ennio Morricone – Sixty Seconds To What
148 – Shoeb Ahmad – Headlights In My Eyes
149 – Larsen – Radial – This was a fun one. Published on the longest day of the year (June 21st, 2009), I decided to make the longest mix tape of the year! It turned out to be the longest mix tape ever, thanks to the 30-minute long “Why Not Be Utterly Changed Into Fire” by Ghosting. I would have highlighted the Zelienople track from this mix but I couldn’t remember if I already declared them the highlight of one of the previous 148 mix tapes. And that, folks, is the exact same reason I sometimes repeat songs I’ve already used. I can’t remember the songs I chose two days ago as my mix tape favorites, how the hell can I remember if I used a song 3 years ago or not? Ugh. Suday Mix Tapes are the worst.
150 – Hochenkeit – Smoking Skin
