dom's september '05 mix
1. The Exit - Home For An Island - 01 - Dont Push (4:19)
This is the stuff of good college radio. An indie band, yet it has the typical verse-chorus-bridge, and excitement of a radio-friendly pop single. Thought it would excite a new listener and not scare him/her off by being too unfamiliar and inaccessible. I wish I understood the meaning of more of the lyrics. I think there was a car crash and a death and now he wants someone to appreciate the love they still have? Just a guess.
find your angel, lose your heartbeat... kiss of death upon the door, that's what you get for taking home a whore, shouldn't say that, doesn't sound nice, fate removes my fear sometimes... in your bed, drunk with adreneline
2. Built To Spill - Keep It Like A Secret - 03 - Carry The Zero (5:44)
If you liked early Modest Mouse, before they went mainstream, you'll like BTS. I hesitate to say BTS is better than MM, but they're definately not worse. Again we're carrying with the distortion theme, trying to break in a punk fan so that he is tricked into liking other music by slowly going from punk-sounding stuff to stuff more my style.
didn't add up, forgot to carry a zero... you're so occupied with what other persons are occupied with and vice versa... you've become what you thought was dumb, a fraction of the sum...
3. William Shatner - Has Been - 01 - Common People (4:40)
"Has Been" is definately one of my Top 5 albums of 2004. It's as great as "Transformed Man" was awful. It's that good. I chose Common People because it fit my punk theme, but there's plenty of fantastic tracks from the album. Most of them collaborations with Ben Folds, like "That's Me Trying", the heart-breaking tune, written by Nick Hornby, my favorite author, telling the story of a father who wants to reconnect with his estranged daughter after 20 years. But this one's about rich people and another reason to hate them.
you'll never get it right, when you're lying in bed at night, watching roaches climb the wall, if you called your dad he could stop it all.
4. Eels - Souljacker - 02 - That's Not Really Funny (3:19)
Eels are a lot like Cake only a little more serious. This is not one of their more serious songs.
did you think that i would laugh, when you said i was small?
...a little boy will wipe his nose because it's runny, then point at me and laugh, but that's not really funny.
5. Citizen Cope - Mistaken I.D. (4:12)
Such a cool group. Every song by Citizen Cope has just got this "cool" vibe. Like you're walking down the sidewalk in a city you love and everyone knows you.
Randy, where ya been?
6. Lamb - Daft Jazz - 01 - Ha Ha Ha Ha (Live) (3:55)
After Portishead, Lamb is the best Trip-Hop band in the world. This song does not really fit their style. This one is more bluesy jazz with the upright bass and the coffee-house feel. It's great too, but everything else they do is really great trip-hop. Check 'em out. You'll like "Gabriel". Anyway, I love this one... learned it on my acoustic bass and I often play it around a campfire while everyone else claps or snaps along.
i don't wanna labour the point that, you were so wrong. i don't wanna gloat, but there's a time and a place for everything and my time is now.
7. Capitol K - Pillow (3:12)
So now we're getting into songs that are a little more digital. A little more electronic. I started out with one here that digitized some distortion so it's still flowing from the beginning of the mix. It's a fun one about a guy whose girlfriend is a little sick. It's sweet.
some one is sick tonight, tomorrow i'll see you. i'll give you a ring in the morning, to find out how you do.
8. Postal Service - Against All Odds (4:12)
If you haven't experienced Postal Service yet, then their CD "Give Up" is the very first CD you need to go find and devour. Don't even bother getting the rest of this mix. You need to start with the basics. Postal Service is the side project of Ben Gibbard from Death Cab For Cutie. He and the guy from DNTEL, the electronica duo, send parts of songs to eachother through the US Postal Service {hence, the name} and they each add something to the song and send it back. It's electronica with emotion, and thus some of my favorite stuff. This song is not on the CD so even fans might not have heard it. It's a cover of the Phil Collins song, possibly better known as "Take A Look At Me Now".
there's nothing left here to remind me, just a memory of your face
9. Frou Frou - Let Go (Garden State) (4:11)
Frou Frou is adorable and I think you will like this song, but I can't be sure that my being in love with it isn't just a carryover from my being in love with the movie. Imogen Heap's voice is captivating, but it's the electronic elements to this song that really get me going. I don't know. Tell me what you think.
drink up baby doll, hmm are you in or are you out?
...there's beauty in the breakdown.
10. Imogen Heap - Speak For Yourself - 05 - Hide and Seek (4:28)
And here's another song by Imogen Heap after she went solo from Frou Frou. It's just her amazing voice with some digital effects and that's it. It's so raw and yet so full. And I don't know what seems so powerful about the lyrics to me. Take a look at them and let me know if they do anything for you. But they inspired me to write something very heartfelt and moving for me that I may post here if I ever get it just right.
Where are we? What the hell is going on? The dust has only just begun to form Crop circles in the carpet. Sinking, feeling. Spin me around again And rub my eyes This can't be happening When busy streets Amess with people Would stop to hold Their heads heavy
Hide and seek Trains and sewing machines
All those years They were here first
Oily marks appear on walls Where pleasured moments hung before The takeover The sweeping insensitivity of this still life
Hide and Seek Trains and sewing machines (you won't catch me around here)
Blood and Tears They were here first
Hmm, what'd you say, mmm, that you only meant well?
Well, 'course you did
Hmm, what'd you say, mmm, that it's all for the best
Of course it is
Hmm, what'd you say, mmm, that it's just what we need
You decided this
Hmm, what'd you say, mmm, what did she say?
Ransom notes keep falling out your mouth
Mid-sweet talk, newspaper word cut-outs
Speak no feeling, no I don't believe you
You don't care a bit, you don't care a bit
(Hide and Seek)
Ransom notes keep falling out your mouth
Mid-sweet talk, newspaper word cut-outs
(Hide and Seek)
Speak no feeling,I not believe you
You don't care a bit, you don't care a, you don't care a bit
(Hide and Seek)
Oh no, You don't care a bit
Oh no, You don't care a bit
Oh no, You don't care a bit
(Hide and Seek)
You don't care a bit
You don't care a bit
11. Jem - Finally Woken - 01 - They (3:16)
This little tune's a real jem. Get it? Jem? Yeah. Anyway. It's a really fun song and it seems to me to be speaking to a child about coming of age and facing the "they" of adults who tell you what to do and we don't question it when we should. But your milage may vary.
who made up all the rules, we follow them like fools, believe them to be true, don't care to think them through...
and it's ironic too, cause what we tend to do, is act out what they say, and then it is that way...
12. Phoenix - United - 04 - If I Ever Feel Better (4:26)
Phoenix is the side project of one half of Kings of Convenience. This one has such a 70's disco groove that I can't help but get my boogie on, however the lyrics seem to be much less fun, even though you don't notice it! Listen to them and tell me if I got this right, but it seems to me the chorus is a biting, snarky quip to an ex-friend or lover that brings him down. Like, if he ever feels better he would go to her to make him feel bad again? And is he being sarcastic?
if i ever feel better, remind me to spend some good time with you, you can give me your number, when it's all over i'll let you know.
13. Bj�rk - Med�lla - 09 - Oceania (3:24)
Yes, I had a major Bj�rk obsession and I'm over it for the most part, but I had to include something of hers. Her quirky style continues to digress into more and more unlistenable, inaccessabile experimentation, ... which is awesome for her, more power to her. But I recognize that someone handed a comp. of new music probably wouldn't jump into this track head first. I love it, but I don't expect anyone else to. It's from Med�lla, which was her all-voice album. There's not a single instrument on the CD. All the sounds and beats you will hear in this track were made by human voice. But don't let that scare you away from trying. You might like it. She's singing from the standpoint of being the Ocean. It's got some evolution in it, but the concepts are still quite interesting. If we had evolved, that means we are the same as everything else. "Every boy is a snake is a lily, every pearl is a lynx is a girl." Beautiful. And as usual, Bj�rk has some awesome remix collaborations. If you're interested, I have a remix she did of this song with Kelis (as in, My Milkshake Brings All The Boys To The Yard).
You show me continents, I see the islands, You count for centuries, I blink my eyes.
14. Beck - Guero - 04 - Missing (4:43)
Beck was gone for a while. I don't know where he went, but he's back. Back to the style that works. Back to his Odelay feelings. Guero brings him back to his Latin roots, amazing grooves, nonsense lyrics, and fun. "Missing" is one of those late-night, speeding on the highway, windows-down, music-blasting, body-grooving songs.
We're together, even though you know there's something missing.
15. Pinback - Penelope (4:46)
Pinback is so relaxing. The music's so good that you might not actually be put to sleep, but you will definatley be relaxed. It's like a day at the spa. Not that I've ever been to a spa or had a massage, but if I did, I'd imagine they'd be playing Pinback.
Oh Penelope, are you filled with air? Swallowed oxygen, makes you float up... It's depressing me, to see you struggle.
16. Radiohead - OK Computer - 04 - Exit Music (For A Film) (4:24)
I felt like cheating by putting something as mainstream as Radiohead on this mix, but some things never lose their luster. This song was once playing while I was sleeping and I had a powerful nightmare/daydream that upset me so much that I had to write the dream down in the form of a poem that went with this music. Maybe I'll post it someday. (Not responsible if you kill yourself after hearing this song.)
Wake from your sleep, get drying all your tears, today we escape, we escape.
Pack and get dressed, before your father hears us, before all hell, breaks loose.
Breathe, keep breathing, don't lose your nerve.
Breathe, keep breathing, I can't do this alone.
Sing us a song, a song to keep us warm, there's such a chill, such a chill.
You can laugh, a spineless laugh, we hope your rules and wisdom choke you.
Now we are one, in everlasting peace.
We hope that you choke.. that you choke
17. R�yksopp - The Understanding - 01 - Triumphant (4:20)
R�yksopp is an amazing electronic duo from Norway. I included one of there insturmental tracks as this cd is winding down to a close, but there is still something so powerful and emotional to me about this track. "Triumphant", I guess you could say.
18. Devotchka - How it ends - 05 - how it ends (6:59)
And we close on this song, which you may have already heard, since I blogged it here. Devotchka is such an interesting band. They have this Spanish, French, Russian, Gypsy feeling. They're very European and they're not even from Europe. This one conjures up all sorts of emotion and images in my mind. Friends who gave up. Loves who quit. A girl, clutching her Bible, and her decision and a jump off a cliff. An old man dying and regrets. A new system and missing people, without pain, but without them at all.
you already know how this will end.
Posted by heydomsar
2005-09-04
go back | random brainstorm | go forth
Rachel Ray - 2009-05-03
The cold wind was the reason - 2009-03-02
The Collected Wisdom of Angela Chase - 2009-02-15
All's well that ends well. - 2009-01-07
In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. - 2008-10-04
