April was the worst month in a year for Swan Fungus. Only 29,000 page views. What am I doing wrong? Am I not being brazen enough with my fuck-the-world attitude? Should I break the law somehow? Look, I’m not going to lie. I’m not surprised that my numbers have dwindled in recent months. I’m working more, I haven’t gotten to take any fun day-trips in a while, and — let’s face it — I’m just not as funny today as I was six months ago, when Swan Fungus had its best month of all time (47,000 views). I could go back in time and try to figure out what made October such a successful month, but that was actually a really depressing time for me. Wait a minute…maybe I just need to get depressed. That way people will have to read the blog every day to make sure I’m not dead. Evan, you’re a genius!
In the meantime, enjoy this week’s Sunday Mix Tape.
Sunday Mix Tape – Number 184
Gory Days
01. Magic Lantern – Dark Cicadas – I don’t know why I waited for Ian to introduce me to a band from my own city, but I’m supremely un-hip when it comes to music from the LA-area. Wait a minute, maybe that’s why no one reads this page anymore! I don’t actually know anything about anything! What would you call this, psych funk? It’s got a different groove than Mugstar and White Hills, but it’s a GOOD groove. (Buy from Amazon.com)
02. The Saints – Security [Otis Redding] – I am ashamed that I did not know about The Saints until I got a job at a record store. To be honest, I like (I’m) Stranded and Eternally Yours way more than Prehistoric Sounds, but their Stones-y cover of this classic Otis Redding tune is one of the highlights of that album. The great horn section classes it up and adds a nice bit of soulfulness to the otherwise simple guitar/drums/bass instrumentation. (Buy from Amazon.com)
03. The Rolling Stones – Confessin’ The Blues [Walter Brown] – Speaking of The Stones, this one is from Beat Beat Beat At The Beeb. It was originally released on 12×5. This is a nice, dirty blues number which has been recorded by Little Walter, BB King and covered by literally everyone else who has ever played the blues. (Buy from Amazon.com)
04. Alcest – Sur l’Ocean Couleur de fer – Even though not two paragraphs ago I used the phrase “psych funk,” I’m not that keen on genre mash-ups. I’ve heard Alcest referred to as “shoegaze black metal” before, but I don’t see how that can really work. They’re black metal. Okay, fine, they’re black metal for indie kids. Which means you’ll probably really like this song. (Buy from Amazon.com)
05. Mass Of The Fermenting Dregs – Delusionalism – Good up-tempo Japanese pop with a chick singer. Imagine if Shonen Knife were less cute and kicked more ass. Not a lot more ass, but enough more ass that you could get away with saying “this kicks ass.” I, by the way, would never be caught dead saying a band with a chick singer “kicks ass.” And if I did, I’d expect you to slap me across the face and make fun of me. (AVOCADO records, 2008)
06. Sandy Bull – Gospel Tune – Because sometimes you need Sandy Bull in your life. I know I do quite often. This first appeared on Fantasias For Guitar And Banjo (I think) and has been included on a number of Bull compilations as well as one for the Vanguard label. I’ve probably featured it on a mix tape before tonight, but I don’t care about repeating tunes because my musical tastes are so amazing I forget about what I’ve shared before because I’ll hear a song and immediately decide it needs to be included on the next mix tape. (Buy from Amazon.com)
07. Michael Rother – Flammende Herzen – This is from Rother’s first solo album (released by Sky Records in 1977) after his stints in Neu! and Harmonia. As the album’s opening track, the first time I heard this I was like…”What the fuck? Where’s the electronic? Where’s the motorik? And when it kicked in nearly halfway through the track it was sold on Flammende Herzen as a killer record. I didn’t need to hear the other four tracks. I was done. I picked the needle up off my turntable and decided that it was time to stop listening to music. And I haven’t listened to any music since 1977. (Buy from Amazon.com)
08. 1-Speed Bike – Steve Earle One Taliban Commander – When I was at school in Vermont in 2001 I got heavily into Montreal’s Constellation scene. Aidan Girt was the drummer for Godspeed You! Black Emperor as well as Exhaust. His solo project goes by the name 1-Speed Bike. His first album was called Droopy Butt Begone! which I distinctly remember thinking was the funniest album title my eighteen year old brain had ever meditated upon. Girt’s new album, Pashto Translater Needed is the first one I’ve heard since 2000 (even though he’s released maybe 5 records in the interim decade). I like it a lot! It reminds me of MDMA. (Self-Released, 2010)
09. Serge Gainsbourg – Shu Ba Du Ba Loo Ba – Serge is my hero. He was the ugliest motherfucker ever, and yet he banged every hot bitch in the world. I guess the trick to having a Hall Of Fame list of sexual conquests is being a dirty French Jew. Well…two out of three ain’t bad. (Buy from Amazon.com)
10. Bill Callahan – In The Pines [Live] – I don’t think I need to champion the music of Mr. Callahan (or Bill, to his friends…I imagine…sigh) any more than I already have. I’m willing to bet that if I went back through all 183 of the previous mix tapes I’ve compiled, he’d be one of the artists I have most frequently featured. This live cut is obviously out of place in relation to the sequencing of this mix, but it’s hard to make a live track fit in with 11 other tracks. Oh well. The accordion is a nice touch. (Buy from Amazon.com)
11. Heads On Sticks – Coil – Late ’80s industrial/post-punk band from the UK. They remind me of Chorchazade, which is a really, really good thing. (Dead Man’s Curve, 1987)
12. 40 Fingers – Wake Me Shake Me – Who ever said no good music has come out of New Jersey? Wait — was that me? Oh, I think that was me! Sorry about that. It’s not true. Here’s a slice of classic garage rock from Springfield, NJ natives 40 Fingers, recorded in the late ’60s on the Venture label. I’d liked to have lived down the road from these guys back in this era, but I wasn’t alive yet. I’ll bet these guys went on to get nice white collar jobs and make good money, like most Jersey kids do. Then there’s me…I’m the antithesis to everything about moral, ethical New Jersey youth. I’m the bad seed. (Venture, 1968)
