Because This Must Be The Place - Last Night

Because This Must Be The Place - Late Night. The late night mood has evolved into a theme of versions. The last several tracks of the previous mix were covers or alternate versions of well known songs and ended with George Harrison's Version Two of Isn't It A Pity.

This sixth mix in the series starts off with the angelic harmony voices of The Beatles singing Because without the well known keyboard accompaniment. All the songs on this mix are either covers of songs by other artists or alternative versions of songs by the original artist or songwriter. Frank Black does a weird version of his Pixies song Where Is My Mind?. Perry Farrell doing Led Zeppelin. The Cure doing Hendrix. Damien Rice doing Prince.  Lots going on here.

The last few songs hark back to the angelic voices with the Ray Davies classic Waterloo Sunset done with a choral backup followed by a Beach Boys 1967 rehearsal session of God Only Knows. The closer is from the wonderful acappella group The Persuasions covering a Grateful Dead song.


1.   The Beatles - Because (Alternate Version) (Anthology Vol. 3, 1996)
2.   Shawn Colvin - This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody) (Cover Girl, 1994)
3.   The Watson Twins - Just Like Heaven (Fire Songs, 2008)
4.   Damien Rice - When Doves Cry (Like A Version, 2005)
5.   Perry Farrell - Whole Lotta Love (Rev, 1999)
6.   The Cure - Purple Haze (Join The Dots: B-Sides & Rarities 1978-2001, 2004)
7.   Frank Black - Where Is My Mind (Frank Black Francis, 2004)
8.   Swans - Love Will Tear Us Apart (Red Version) (Love Will Tear Us Apart, 1987)
9.   Flunk - Blue Monday (For Sleepyheads Only, 2002)
10. M. Ward - Let's Dance (The Transfiguration Of St.Vincent, 2003)
11. Cat Power - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (The Covers Record, 2000)
12. Pretenders - Creep (Pirate Radio, 2006)
13. Aimee Mann - The Scientist (Lost In Space, 2003)
14. Patti Smith - Smells Like Teen Spirit (Twelve, 2007)
15. Indigo Girls - Clampdown (Burning London: The Clash Tribute, 1999)
16. Ray Davies - Waterloo Sunset (The Kinks Choral Collection, 2009)
17. The Beach Boys - God Only Knows (demo) (Rehearsal Sessions 1967, 2006)
18. The Persuasions - Brokedown Palace (Might As Well: The Persuasions Sing Grateful Dead, 2000)

60 Albums 1989

Time to get back to listing my favorite albums of all the years I've been collecting and here is 1989. This was the year I had my brain aneurysm surgery and I seemed to spend much of it on my back. Sean was also born that year and much of the time he was laying on my chest as I laid on my back while Katie was standing there next to the couch looking at my head. Becky kept it all together and I was lucky to fully recover but it took about a year to feel normal again. I spent a lot of the year laying around the house listening to music but because I wasn't working a whole lot that year I wasn't going out and spending money on new music.  A lot of my music from my collection over the years got me through this rough time but there were a few new albums that I got that had an immediate healing affect on me and that was especially true of the Stone Roses. Other albums that I got during that time was the XTC, Cure, Peter Case, Nanci Griffith, Blue Rodeo, Dylan, FYC, Chris Isaak... well really most of the top 20. This was also the time when I really wanted to know if my brain was still working and I started looking into going to graduate school and trying to figure out what I was really interested in after almost ten years of working selling art supplies. By the end of the year I was on my way to a new career as a librarian.

Lots of great stuff here.

1. The Stones Roses - The Stone Roses
2. XTC - Oranges & Lemons
3. Pixies - Doolittle
4. The Cure - Disintegration
5. Peter Case - The Man With The Blue Postmodern Fragmented Neotraditionalist Guitar
6. Blue Rodeo - Diamond Mine
7. Elvis Costello - Girls Girls Girls
8. Nanci Griffth - Storms
9. Chris Isaak - Heart Shaped World
10. Bob Mould - Workbook
11. Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians - Queen Elvis
12. Fine Young Cannibals - The Raw & The Cooked
13. The Jesus and Mary Chain - Automatic
14. Marshall Crenshaw - Good Evening
15. Bob Dylan - Oh Mercy
16. Galaxie 500 -  On Fire
17. Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever
18. BoDeans - Home
19. Roy Orbison - Mystery Girl
20. The The - Mind Bomb
21. Julee Cruise - Floating Into The Night
22. Exene Cervenka - Old Wive's Tales
23. Peter Gabriel - Passion (Music For The Last Temptation Of Christ)
24. New Order - Technique
25. Kate Bush - The Sensual World
26. Lou Reed - New York
27. Daniel Lanois - Arcadie
28. Stan Ridgeway - Mosquitoes
29. James McMurtry - Too Long In The Wasteland
30. Indigo Girls - Indigo Girls
31. The Jayhawks - Blue Earth
32. Meat Puppets - Monsters
33. The Connells - Fun & Games
34. Spacemen 3 - Playing With Fire
35. Yo La Tengo - President Yo La Tengo
36. Leo Kottke - My Father's Face
37. John Mellencamp - Big Daddy
38. Soul II Soul - Club Classics, Volume One
39. k.d. lang - Absolute Torch and Twang
40. Bauhaus - Swinging The Heartache: The BBC Sessions
41. The Replacements - Don't Tell A Soul
42. Let's Active - Cypress/Afoot
43. The Godfathers - More Songs About Love & Hate
44. Bongwater - Too Much Sleep
45. Pere Ubu - Cloudland
46. Van Morrison - Avalon Sunset
47. Squeeze - Frank
48. Paul McCartney - Flowers In The Dirt
49. Faith No More - The Real Thing
50. The Flaming Lips - Telepathic Surgery
51. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Will The Circle Be Unbroken, Volume 2
52. The Mekons - The Mekons Rock 'n' Roll
53. Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique
54. Love Tractor - Themes From Venus
55. Tuck & Patti - Love Warriors
56. Slint - Tweez
57. Tin Machine - Tin Machine
58. Poi Dog Pondering - Poi Dog Pondering
59. Television Personalities - Privilege
60. UB40 - Labour Of Love II

Here a few compilation album from my collection released in 1989.

1. The Rolling Stones - The Singles Collection: The London Years
2. The Band - To Kingdom Come: The Definitive Collection
3. The Kinks - Greatest Hits
4. Velvet Underground - The Best of the Velvet Underground
5. Todd Rundgren - Anthology 1968-1985
6. Opal - The Early Recordings
7. Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels - Rev Up: The Best of Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels
8. John Hiatt - Y'all Caught: The Ones That Got Away 1979-1985
9. Nick Lowe - Basher: The Best of Nick Lowe
10. Flamin' Groovies - Groovies Greatest Grooves
11. Tommy James & The Shondells - Anthology
12. The Selecter - Selected Selecter Selections
13. Lloyd Cole & The Commotions - 1984-1989
14. Jack Bruce - Willpower: A Twenty Year Retrospective
15. Rosanne Cash - Hits 1979-1989
16. The Style Council - The Singular Adventures of the Style Council
17. Jesse Winchester - The Best of Jesse Winchester
18. Various Artists - Brazil Classics 1: Beleza Tropical
19. Tangerine Dream - The Best of Tangerine Dream
20. Various Artists - The African Variations

Later On That Night - Late Night

Later On That Night - Late Night. I was really going to end this mix series with the fourth mix after about 60 songs. This was originally supposed to be a long 60@60 mix but I broke it up into parts so it would be easier to handle. However, I've been carried away with this late night theme and the songs keep coming. Of course they're not always about night and dreams but the mood remains consistent. Reflective. A strange ride in the dark or sitting around late at night with another bottle of wine. It's been fun to peruse my collection and come up with these wonderful tunes.

The mix starts off with a couple of groups from New Zealand. It's great that The Bats are back making music again and of course the Finn brothers from Split Enz continue to make great music. I discovered Split Enz back in 1980 with this album which will always be my favorite.   The Rain Parade was always my favorite of the so called Paisley Underground bands of the early to mid 80s. In particular I really liked their guitarist David Roback who later formed Opal which then evolved into Mazzy Star.  Mercury Rev and The Flaming Lips... awesome weirdness.

The Ghost of a Sabre Tooth Tiger is a duo consisting of Sean Lennon and Charlotte Kemp Muhl. Classic T. Rex, Bowie and John Cale.  The mix ends with a set of covers.


1.   The Bats - Later On That Night (The Guilty Office, 2009)
2.   Split Enz - One Step Ahead (True Colours, 1980 )
3.   The Rain Parade - Talking In My Sleep (Emergency Third Rail,  1984)
4.   Mercury Rev - Tides Of The Moon (All Is Dream, 2001)
5.   The Flaming Lips - What Is The Light? (The Soft Bulletin, 1999)
6.   The Ghost Of A Sabre Tooth Tiger - Dark Matter, White Noise (Acoustic Sessions, 2010 )
7.   T. Rex - Ballroom Of Mars (The Slider, 1972)
8.   David Bowie - Wild Is The Wind (Station To Station, 1976)
9.   John Cale - You Know More Than I Know (Fear, 1974)
10. Talk Talk - I Believe In You (Spirit Of Eden, 1988)
11. Emmylou Harris - I Don't Want To Talk About It Now (Red Dirt Girl, 2000)
12. Bob Dylan - Not Dark Yet (Time Out Of Mind, 1997)
13. Warren Zevon - Knockin' On Heaven's Door (The Wind, 2003)
14. Nico - These Days (Chelsea Girl, 1967)
15. Marianne Faithful - Beware Of Darkness (Rich Kid Blues, 1984)
16. George Harrison - Isn't It A Pity (Version Two) (All Things Must Pass, 1970)

Light Up The Night - Late Night

Light Up The Night - Late Night. The long night of music continues into the fourth hour. Dreams and weirdness. Late night interludes.

This was originally supposed to be a set of 60 songs on a theme broken up into four parts. But there is still plenty of night and another couple of hours of music should appear soon.



  
1.   The Besnard Lakes - Light Up The Night (The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night, 2010)
2.   Still Corners - The Twilight Hour (Creatures Of An Hour, 2011)
3.   The Blue Nile - Saturday Night (Hats, 1989)
4.   Cowboy Junkies - Walking After Midnight (The Trinity Session, 1988)
5.   Richard & Linda Thompson - Shoot Out The Lights (Shoot Out The Lights, 1982)
6.   The Doors - End Of The Night (The Doors, 1967)
7.   The Walkabouts - Slow Red Dawn (Nighttown, 1997)
8.   Elysian Fields - Dream Within A Dream (Queen Of The Meadow, 2000)
9.   Azure Ray - Dancing Ghosts (Drawing Down The Moon, 2010)
10. The Sleepy Jackson - Good Dancers (Lovers, 2003)
11. Dexys Midnight Runners - All In All (This One Last Wild Waltz) (Too-Rye-Ay, 1982 )
12. The Cave Singers - Dancing On Our Graves (Invitation Songs, 2007 )
13. The Afghan Whigs - Crazy (1965, 1998)
14. The Beatles - I'm So Tired (The Beatles [White Album], 1968)
15. Syd Barrett - Late Night (The Madcap Laughs, 1970)
16. Joy Division - New Dawn Fades (Unknown Pleasures, 1979)

 

Reamde - a new Neal Stephenson novel

My first completed book of the year so far and it may stay at the top of my list of favorites of the year for a while. It's the latest novel from Neal Stephenson and it was a real page turner that I couldn't leave alone for very long. This is my fifth novel of his that I've read and the first of his thrillers. I haven't read any of his previous books from the 80s and 90s which were mostly sci-fi cyberpunk and thriller novels.  That seems a little odd to myself because I've read tons of sci-fi and especially cyberpunk so how did I miss this guy back then. Don't know. I'm going to pick up a couple of them this year.

The first book of his that I read was Cryptonomicon which came out in 1999 but I read in back in October of 2004. It was an awesome novel and totally hooked me on Stephenson's style. I then immediately started wading through the Baroque Cycle of three massive novels published in 2003 and 2004.  I read them one after another in 2004 and 2005. They were huge books in every sense of the word that were technologically dense and a remarkable 3,000 page plus series. In 2008 he came out with Anathem which was a return to science fiction but  actually was more speculative fiction in some alternative world.

This new book is a return to the thriller genre and I found myself looking forward to every opportunity for reading it. This book included his usual interest in computers and technology but added to a fast paced story of terrorism. Stephenson is a fantastic writer and it is amazing to see him turn his talents to a genre thriller. Yes, there are some B grade moments and some strange coincidences that move the plot forward but after reading so many of his truly thought-provoking and serious literary masterpieces it was fun to fly through this book. Highly recommended.

One More Night - Late Night

The third in my Late Night series. More songs with dreamlike qualities and quiet reflective moments of weirdness. A nice mix for late night hanging out. Old and new, some familiar and some deep cuts. Mostly soft but sometimes loud.







1.   Can - One More Night (Ege Bamysi, 1972)
2.   Yo La Tengo - Little Eyes (Summer Sun, 2003)
3.   Alexi Murdoch - Breathe (Time Without Consequences, 2006)
4.   John Martyn - Solid Air (Solid Air, 1973)
5.   R.E.M. - Try Not To Breathe (Automatic For The People, 1992)
6.   Robbie Robertson - Somewhere Down The Crazy River (Robbie Robertson, 1987)
7.   Chris Whitley - Big Sky Country (Living With The Law, 1991)
8.   Los Lobos - Kiko and The Lavender Moon (Kiko, 1992)
9.   Jimi Hendrix - Burning Of The Midnight Lamp (Electric Ladyland, 1968)
10. David Bowie - Moonage Daydream (Ziggy Stardust, 1972)
11. The Only Ones - Out There In The Night (Special View, 1979)
12. Tyrannosaurus Rex - By The Light Of The Magical Moon (A Beard of Stars, 1970)
13. H.P. Lovecraft - The White Ship (H.P. Lovecraft, 1967)
14. Fleet Foxes - Tiger Mountain Peasant Song (Fleet Foxes, 2008)
15. Elliot Smith - Alameda (Either/Or, 1997)
16. Interpol - NYC (Turn On The Bright Lights, 2002)
17. Radiohead - Go To Sleep (Little Man Being Erased) (Hail To The Thief, 2003)

More Than This - On Stage

On Stage Pt. 1 is the first mix in a series that tries to capture the feel of a live concert. All of the songs are taken from live albums and they cross fade together for a seamless blend of music and crowd sounds. I've made a few mixes like this in the past. They are fun to make and fun to hear.

The live XTC is really special. They never toured very much and live recordings are rare. It sounds like it must have been a great concert.


1.   Roxy Music - More Than This (Roxy Live, 2003)
2.   Talking Heads - Take Me To The River (Stop Making Sense, 1984)
3.   XTC - Making Plans For Nigel (Transistor Blast Box Set, 1998)
4.   Devo - Satisfaction (Q. Are We Not Men? A. We Are Devo Deluxe Version, 2009)
5.   The Clash - Capitol Radio (From Here To Eternity: Live, 1999)
6.   The Jam - The Modern World (Live Jam, 1993)
7.   Pretenders - The Wait (Live in London, 2010)
8.   Echo & The Bunnymen - Do It Clean (Crystal Days 1979-1999, 2001)
9.   Depeche Mode - Everything Counts (101, 1989)
10. The Cure - Lullaby (Disintegration Deluxe Version: Live at Wembley 1989, 2010)
11.  Pixes - Here Comes Your Man (Death To The Pixies 1987-1991, 1997)
12.  Blur - Beetlebum (Best of Blur Live Bonus Disc, 2000)
13.  Pavement - Summer Babe (Slanted & Enchanted: Luxe & Reluxe, 2002)
14.  R.E.M. - Catapult (Murmur Deluxe Edition: Live in Toronto 1983, 2008)
15.  Elvis Costello - No Action (Live at Hollywood High 1978, 2010)
16.  The English Beat - Get A Job/Stand Down Margaret (What Is Beat?, 1983)

60 Albums 1972

Another 60 albums from my collection from a great year in music.  I was really torn between Exile and Ziggy as my favorite of the year. It probably depends on the moment I'm doing the list. I have a lot of long time favorites on this list.

I spend most of 1972 overseas but we had a nice network of getting music throughout the ship. People got occasional packages from home that contained music and people shared. I was back in the states off and on throughout the year and always tried to catch up on albums. A lot of these I picked up a few years later for myself after hearing the music from friends. This year we also heard the expanded version of Exile On Main St which also sounded much better. It was almost like hearing the album for the first time.

1. The Rolling Stones - Exile On Main St.
2. David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars
3. Stevie Wonder - Talking Book
4. Lou Reed - Transformer
5. T. Rex - The Slider
6. Neil Young - Harvest
7. John Fahey - Of Rivers and Religion
8. Big Star - #1 Record
9. War - The World Is A Ghetto
10. The Band - Rock of Ages
11. Roxy Music - Roxy Music
12. Al Green - Let's Stay Together
13. Yes - Close To The Edge
14. Miles Davis - On The Corner
15. Curtis Mayfield - Superfly
16. String Driven Thing - String Driven Thing
17. Captain Beefheart - Clearspot
18. Mott The Hoople - All The Young Dudes
19. The Allman Brothers Band - Eat A Peach
20. Nick Drake - Pink Moon
21. Can - Ege Bamyasi
22. Van Morrison - Saint Dominic's Preview
23. Steely Dan - Can't Buy A Thrill
24. Bill Withers - Still Bill
25. Santana - Caravanserai
26. John Lennon & Yoko Ono - Sometime In New York
27. Manassas - Manassas
28. Jackson Browne - Jackson Browne (Saturate Before Using)
29. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Will The Circle Be Unbroken
30. Strawbs - Grave New World
31. Todd Rundgren - Somthing / Anything?
32. Little Feat - Sailin' Shoes
33. Hawkwind - Doremi Fasol Latido
34. Hall & Oates - Whole Oats
35. David Bromberg - Demon In Disguise
36. The Moody Blues - Seventh Sojourn
37. Elton John - Honky Chateau
38. Joni Mitchell - For The Roses
39. Leo Kottke - Greenhouse
40. Eric Andersen - Blue River
41. Stevie Wonder - Music of My Mind
42. Tim Buckley - Greetings From L.A.
43. David Bromberg - David Bromberg
44. Weather Report - I Sing The Body Electric
45. Dr. John - Dr. John's Gumbo
46. Vinegar Joe - Vinegar Joe
47. Neu! - Neu!
48. Gordon Lightfoot - Old Dan's Records
49. Hot Tuna - Burgers
50. Amon Duul II - Wolf City
51. Rod Stewart - Never A Dull Moment
52. Slade - Slade Alive!
53. Poco - A Good Feelin' To Know
54. Grateful Dead - Grateful Dead 72
55. Eagles - Eagles
56. Pure Prairie League - Bustin' Out
57. Leon Russell - Carny
58. Fleetwood Mac - Bare Trees
59. Chicago - Chicago V
60. Loggins & Messina - Loggins and Messina

When The Night Comes - Late Night

The second part of a mix series for late at night. This continues where It's Four In The Morning ends. The series now resides on my iPod as one long continues playlist that goes on for hours.

The mix starts off with some side projects from Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys and Tyler Ramsey of Band of Horses. The Postal Service also had Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie as a member.

Night and dreams obviously flow through this mix and sets the mood of another brooding, quiet, reflective journey in the night. It's also another collection of small sets.

  
1.   Dan Auerbach - When The Night Comes (Keep It Hid, 2009)
2.   Tyler Ramsey - A Long Dream (A Long Dream About Swimming Across The Sea, 2007)
3.   The Postal Service - The District Sleeps Alone Tonight (Give Up, 2003)
4.   Robyn Hitchcock - I Often Dream of Trains (I Often Dream of Trains, 1984)
5.   Jesse Colin Young - Four In The Morning (The Very Best of Jesse Colin Young, 2005)
6.   Big Star - Nightime (Third/Sister Lovers, 1978)
7.   This Mortal Coil - Kangaroo (It'll End In Tears, 1984)
8.   Echo & The Bunnymen - A Promise (Lo Fi Lulabye Mix No. 1) (B-Sides & Live, 2007)
9.   Ambulance LTD - Fearless (New English, 2006)
10. Yim Yames - All Things Must Pass (Tribute To, 2009)
11. Radiohead - Exit Music (For A Film) (OK Computer, 1997)
12. Julee Cruise - Falling (Floating In The Night, 1989)
13. Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazelwood - Some Velvet Morning (Nancy & Lee, 1968)
14. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Nobody's Baby Now (Let Love In, 1994)
15. Stars - One More Night (Set Yourself On Fire, 2005)
16. The Cure - Lullaby (Disintegration, 1989)
17. Opal - Happy Nightmare Baby (Happy Nightmare Baby, 1987)
18. Jackie Greene - I Don't Live In A Dream (Giving Up The Ghost, 2008)

60 Albums 2010

Last year. 2010.60 albums but of course again I couldn't stop at 60. Robert Plant is my top pick. So retro. Well, I enjoyed that album over and over. Maybe something about the familiar voice. I really loved his duet album with Alison Krauss from 2007 which has become one of my favorite albums. This new album is also a wonderful selection of songs and Plant is in great voice again.

Arcade Fire put out another superb album along with some of my other mainstays Ariel Pink and the Black Keys. I thought the new Damien Jurado album was more full band sounding than previous efforts.with great songwriting as usual. I think Tom Petty released one of his best albums of his long career.

David Bowie has put out a few live albums and some new releases of old live material has come out recently including a wonderful second bonus disc of a concert during the Thin White Duke tour supporting Station To Station. However, this new live album A Reality Tour was the best concert recording he's done in his also long career. It wasn't a collection of hits from the past either and the new and recent songs blended perfectly with the great songs from the past and he also pulled out many deep tracks from classic albums. Throughout the wonderful music Bowie really sounded like he was enjoying himself out there especially after that near fatal heart attack in 2004.

Overall lots of great music came out in 2010.

1. Robert Plant - Band of Joy
2. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
3. David Bowie - A Reality Tour
4. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Before Today
5. The Black Keys - Brothers
6. Damien Jurado - Saint Bartlett
7. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Mojo
8. The National - High Violet
9. Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz
10. Darker My Love - Alive As You Are
11. The Besnard Lakes - The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night
12. Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest
13. Beach House - Teen Dream
14. Caribou - Swim
15. Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - I Learned The Hard Way
16. Junip - Fields
17. Dean & Britta - 13 Most Beautiful: Songs For Andy Warhol's Screen Tests
18. Fitz & The Tantrums - Pickin' Up The Pieces
19. Blitzen Trappen - Destroyer Of The World
20. Alejandro Escovedo - Street Songs of Love
21. Neil Young - Le Noise
22. Broken Bells - Broken Bells
23. Field Music - Field Music (Measure)
24. Carolina Chocolate Drops - Genuine Negro Jig
25. Menomena - Mines
26. MGMT - Congratulations
27. The Drums - The Drums
28. Azure Ray - Drawing Down The Moon
29. Elf Power - Elf Power
30. Laura Marling - I Speak Because I Can
31. Fistful of Mercy - As I Call You Down
32. Los Lobos - Tin Can Trust
33. Mary Gauthier - The Foundling
34. Peter Gabriel - Scratch My Back
35. Superchunk - Majesty Shredding
36. Patty Griffin - Downtown Church
37. John Hiatt - The Open Road
38. Tift Merritt - See You On The Moon
39. Nada Surf - If I Had A Hi Fi
40. Sufjan Stevens - All Delighted People EP
41. Tindersticks - Falling Down A Mountain
42. Justine Townes Earle - Harlem River Blues
43. Aloe Blacc - Good Things
44. Josh Ritter - So Runs The World Away
45. Mavis Staples - You Are Not Alone
46. Drive-By Truckers - The Big To-Do
47. Spoon - Transference
48. Teenage Fanclub - Shadows
49. Midlake - The Courage of Others
50. The White Stripes - Under Great White Northern Lights
51. Nina Nastasia -Outlaster
52. The Black Angels - Phosphene Dream
53. Jamey Johnson - The Guitar Song
54. Crocodiles - Sleep Forever
55. Band of Horses - Infinite Arms
56. Bruce Springsteen - The Promise
57. The Autumn Defense - Once Around
58. Eli "Paperboy" Reed - Come and Get It
59. Lower Dens - Twin Hand Movement
60. Blue Giant - Blue Giant
61. John Mellencamp - No Better Than This
62. Roky Erickson & Okkervil River - True Love Cast Out All Evil
63. LCD Sound System - This Is Happening
64. Black Dub - Black Dub
65. Betteye Lavette - Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook
66. Ray LaMontagne - God Willin' and the Creek Don't Rise
67. The Tallest Man On Earth - The Wild Hunt
68. Solomon Burke - Nothing's Impossible
69. The Sadies - Darker Circles
70. Ty Segall - Melted
71. Allison Moorer - Crows
72. Wolf Parade - Expo 86 
73. Elvis Costello - National Ransom
74. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Beat The Devil's Tattoo
75. She & Him - Volume 2
76. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
77. Sun Kil Moon - Admiral Fell Promises
78. The Radio Dept. - Clinging To A Scheme
79. Eels - End Times
80. Sharon Van Etten - Epic
81. David Byrne & Fatboy Slim - Here Lies Love
82. Surfer Blood - Astro Coast
83. Ray Wylie Hubbard - A. Enlightment B. Endarkment (Hint: There Is No C)
84. Villagers - Becoming A Jackel
85. Laura Veils - July Flame 
86. Sleepy Sun - Fever
87. Gayngs - Relayted
88. Bardo Pond - Bardo Pond
89. Woven Hand - The Threshing Floor
90. The Dead Weather - Sea of Cowards
91. Eric Clapton - Clapton
92. Jonsi - Go
93. Ryan Bingham - Junky Star
94. Dead Meadow - Three Kings
95. The New Pornographers - Together
96. Kings Go Forth - The Outsiders Are Back
97. Shearwater - The Golden Archipelago
98. Isobell Campbell & Mark Lanegan - Hawk
99. Black Mountain - Wilderness Heart
100. School of Seven Bells - Disconnect From Desire
101. Stars - The Five Ghosts
102. Peter Wolf - Midnight Souvenirs
103. Breathe Owl Breathe - Magic Central
104. Interpol - Interpol
105. Jackie Greene - Till The Light Comes
106. Liars - Sisterworld
107. The Grip Weeds - Strange Change Machine
108. Suckers - Wild Smile
109. Dum Dum Girls - I Will Be
110. No Age - Everything In Between
111. The Moondoggies - Tidelands
112. Best Coast - Crazy For You
113. The Acorn - No Ghost
114. The Secret Sisters - The Secret Sisters
115. Land of Talk - Cloak and Cipher
116. The Extra Lens - Undercard
117. Girl Talk - All Day
118. Vampire Weekend - Contra
119. Yeasayer - Odd Blood
120. Megafaun - Heretofore

Sex & Drugs & Rock 'n Roll - Songs 1977

Part 3 of song from 1977 from my collection. All four parts play as one playlist on my iPod or as a 4 CD set.









1.   Ian Dury & The Blockheads - Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll
2.   The Motors - Dancing The Night Away
3.   Ultravox - Saturday Night In The City Of The Dead
4.   Dead Boys - Sonic Reducer
5.   Wire - 12xu
6.   Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers - Born To Lose
7.   Talking Heads - Psycho Killer
8.   The Clash - Police & Thieves
9.   Peter Tosh - Stepping Razor
10. Bob Marley & The Wailers - Exodus
11. Horace Andy - Do You Love My Music/Music Dub
12. Augustus Pablo - East Of The River Nile
13. The Brothers Johnson - Strawberry Letter 23
14. Parliament - Bop Gun (Endangered Species)
15. The Commodores - Brick House

It's Four in the Morning - Late Night

One of my favorite mixes. I put this together several years ago and some of my mixing friends will have seen and heard it before. Nothing has changed. It's an example of looking for that perfect mix. This mix is part of my Late Night series.

It has many of the characteristics that I've strive for in a mix.  It holds a certain mood or feel and as part of my Late Night series it can be brooding, quiet, hypnotic, reflective, etc. Most of the time it is soft and quiet but can also be loud and forceful at times. It also includes songs from many different eras.

This is part 1 of 4. 

1.   Leonard Cohen - Famous Blue Raincoat (Songs of Love and Hate, 1971)
2.   Nick Drake - Pink Moon (Pink Moon, 1972)
3.   Richard Thompson - Waltzing's for Dreamers (Amnesia, 1988)
4.   Elliott Smith - Waltz #2 (XO, 1998)
5.   Mazzy Star - Five String Serenade (So Tonight That I Might See, 1993)
6.   R.E.M. - Nightswimming (Automatic for the People, 1992)
7.   The Arcade Fire - Crown of Love (Funeral, 2004)
8.   Beck - The Golden Age (Sea Change, 2002)
9.   Nada Surf - Blonde On Blonde (Let Go, 2003)
10. The Shins - New Slang (Oh, Inverted World, 2001)
11. Band Of Horses - The Funeral (Everything All The Time, 2006)
12. My Morning Jacket - The Way That He Sings (At Dawn, 2001)
13. Neil Young - Don't Let It Bring You Down (After The Goldrush, 1970)
14. Lou Reed - Perfect Day (Transformer, 1972)
15. Tim Buckley - Song to the Siren (Starsailor, 1970)
16. Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah (Grace, 1994)
17. Jennifer Warnes - Bird on a Wire (Famous Blue Raincoat, 1987)
18. John Cale & Suzanne Vega - So Long, Marianne (Bleecker Street: Greenwich Village in the 60's, 1999)

Notes from the original post:

Leonard Cohen is perfect to start this mix. The mix title comes from the opening lines of this opening song... "It's four in the morning". The mood is immediately set in place. The backing vocals are awesome.

Nick Drake is a great followup. It's from the same time period and carries the same feeling. It could have been any Nick Drake song but choosing "Pink Moon" is a popular favorite for many people. The Richard Thompson song continues the quiet self examination going on in the mix.

Often times a mix is really a collection of smaller sets of similar music. A group of songs that work well together connected to other small groups. The transition is always important. I've never liked jarring contrasts that a mixer puts there just to shake up the listener.

The next three songs are from popular albums from the 90's and not only maintain the general mood of the mix but add a slightly classical music feel... the waltz, the string serenade and the piano along with the yearning vocals.

The Arcade Fire comes in with some pomp and emotion with a tempo changing interlude. This was a late addition to the mix when I was looking for something to transition different groups of songs. It also comes from what I think was probably my favorite album of the last decade.

"The Golden Age" was the opening song from Beck's Sea Change which was another favorite album of the decade. The Beck, Nada Surf and Shins songs have been together on this mix since it's very earliest versions. They do everything I want together. "New Slang" is a particular favorite for many people.

The Band of Horses song adds some heavier guitar sounds to the mix along with some very intense quiet moments. The vocals move the song forward and move the listener to the very distinctive singing of My Morning Jacket. Their classic rock sound is a perfect lead in to Neil Young. After The Goldrush is a great album from 1970 and I picked a deep cut but that was an album that was played everywhere by everyone at the time. You heard it all the time and every song was familiar so it's nice to hear the not so obvious song from an album.

The next song is another deep track from a classic album. Lou Reed's Transformer is mostly known for "Walk On The Wild Side", "Vicious" and "Satellite of Love" but the pop sheen and mood of "Perfect Day" is the perfect song for the this mix. It is followed by Tim Buckley, one of the great vocalist of the 60's, whose wildly experimental vocal style highlights the classic "Song to the Siren" from 1970's Starsailor.

That little set of 70's singer songwriters is followed by a set that pays tribute to Leonard Cohen who opened the mix. Tim Buckley's tragic son Jeff Buckley gives a nearly definitive reading of Cohen's "Hallelujah" followed by "Bird on a Wire" from Jennifer Warnes' 1987 Cohen tribute album. The closer is a wonderful version of Cohen's "So Long, Marianne" by John Cale and Suzanne Vega. A fitting tribute to a great artist and the ending to a search for a perfect mix. Well, still not perfect but time to move on to the next one.

Happy New Year Crazy Conservative Uncle

It's 2012 and I'm a sixty something. So I'd thought I'd start the new year post with a nice political rant. I should clarify my use of the "crazy conservative uncle" phrase. I do have some conservative uncles... and probably a few aunts too but I'm not calling them personally crazy. I am calling their views crazy and in particular I am calling their incessant right wing emails that regularly pollute my inbox really crazy. I don't see them very often and inevitably the conversation turns to politics. Over the years that really didn't matter too much but the forwarding email thing of the last five years or so has gone too far. They also liked to forward all kinds of urban myths and false warnings about everything from email viruses, dangerous products and all sorts of weird criminal behavior to avoid in parking lots. If it was just me on their mailing list I could just delete and ignore but unfortunately there are lots of our young family members also getting these crazy emails. I would regularly go to Snopes or one of the other fact checking sites and politely let the offenders know that they were forwarding false information and that often times been disproved many years ago. Often times the crazy false information emails were political in nature.

This week I got one that says basically you can't believe Snopes because George Soros owns it and it is a front for liberals to attack conservatives trying to educate their families with information the mainstream media is trying to hide. So here below is a comment from an uncle I received recently.

"For several years, I have had second thoughts about the Snopes reports. 

This message supports and verifies my earlier suspicions that Snopes

has a left leaning tilt.  I credit the depth of Snopes' analyses.  But the

strains of the left that I recognized prevade their reports.  I"m not surprised

to hear that Snopes is financed by George Soros.  Now I recognize the

Soros agenda in the Snopes reports.  I now see that they are forwarding

the Soros agenda.   It's true that Snopes has been leaning left."

That was his take on the message below

The following email was received today, and the facts are not surprising.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Joe

Many of the emails that I have sent or forwarded that had any anti-Obama in it were negated by Snopes.  I thought that was odd. Check this out.

Snopes, Soros and the Supreme Courts Kagan We-l-l-l-l now, I guess the time has come to check out Snopes! Ya' don't suppose it might not be a good time to take a second look at some of the stuff that got kicked in the ditch by Snopes, do ya'? We've known that it was owned by a lefty couple but hadn't known it to be financed by Soros! Snopes is heavily financed by George Soros; a big time supporter of Obama!

In our Search for the truth department, we find what I have suspected on many occasions. I went to Snopes to check something about the dockets of the new Supreme Court Justice, Elena Kagan who Obama appointed and Snopes said the email was false and there were no such dockets so I Googled the Supreme Court, typed in Obama-Kagan, and guess what? Yep you got it; Snopes Lied! Everyone of those dockets are there.

So Here is what I wrote to Snopes:

Referencing the article about Elena Kagan and Barak Obama dockets:

The information you have posted stating that there were no such cases as claimed and the examples you gave are blatantly false. I went directly to the Supreme Courts website, typed in Obama Kagan and immediately came up with all of the dockets that the article made reference to. I have long suspected that you really slant things but this was really shocking.

Thank You, I hope you will be much more truthful in the future, but I doubt it. That being said, Ill bet you didn't know this. Kagan was representing Obama in all the petitions to prove his citizenship. Now she may help  rule on them. Folks, this is really ugly. Chicago Politics; and the beat goes on and on and on. Once again the US Senate sold us out! Now we know why Obama nominated Elana Kagan for the Supreme Court. Pull up the Supreme Courts website, go to the docket and search for Obama. She was the Solicitor General for all the suits against him filed with the Supreme Court to show proof of natural born citizenship. He owed her big time. All of the requests were denied of course. They were never heard. It just keeps getting deeper and deeper, doesn't it? The American people mean nothing any longer. It's all about payback time for those who compromised themselves to elect someone who really has no true right to even be there.

If you are not interested in justice or in truth, simply delete. However, if you hold sacred the freedoms granted to you by the U.S. Constitution; by all means, PASS it ON! There truly is tyranny afoot.

Some great lines here...  

"Snopes lied"  

"Once again the US Senate sold us out"  

"Folks, this is really ugly" 

"this was really shocking" 

"He owed her big time"

"The American people mean nothing anymore"

"someone who really has no true right to even be there"

"there truly is tyranny afoot"

I went and looked up this accusation that Snopes is funded by that liberal boogieman George Soros and rather than going to Snopes itself I checked several other fact verifying sites and guess what. They too debunked this entire story. The Snopes Soros connection was disproved back in 2008 but of course the clowns now have the Kagan angle to distract from the basic falseness of the story. I like the giving Kagan a supreme court position to pay her back for hiding documents. Yes, birthers. "someone who really has no true right to even be there". 

So this whole thing is a combination kill the messenger and in particular I was one of those persons constantly throwing Snopes in their face. Now they want to say to me Snopes is a Soros lefty site and you can't trust anything they write. This message also stokes the birthers. Yes, my uncle is a birther as of my last conversation with him this past summer. He also thinks Michelle Bachman would make a good president. I really laughed hard at that one. I guess he is really is a "crazy conservative uncle"

It's going to be a crazy new year on the political front.