Sunday, August 17, 2008

sys18 :: THE SENOR OF SEEK


I love me my awesome mix tapes....

1. Ol' Dirty Bastard - "Brooklyn Zoo"
For a really depressing week or so back in Fargo (circa summer of '05, I suppose), I had a really s***** job cleaning a prison's visiting room, NAVTEQ offices, etc. -- and this was my soundtrack....

2. Ben Folds - "Adelaide"
3. Ben Lee - "Close I've Come"
4. Ben Kweller - "Hear Me Out"
The Bens! Which one's your favorite? I'd have to go with Kweller, but Folds is always entertaining and this Ben Lee track, "Close I've Come," brings back the only fond memories I have of that bizarre/aforementioned cleaning job. (Speaking of which, I miss my YH-925GS Samsung MP3 player I had during those days. Without a doubt, it would put my iPod's sound quality to shame.)

5. Elf Power - "Why Can't I Touch It?" [Buzzcocks cover]
I don't think I want to know what this song is about....

6. Veruca Salt - "Burned" [Buffalo Springfield cover]
Haven't heard from these lovely ladies in awhile, but, man, what a comeback!

7. Tift Merritt - "Tell Me Something True"
A little "quiet" for my (usual) taste, but I find this strangely alluring.

8. Pennies for a Dime - "Home"
These guys -- Pennies for a Dime includes Dustin Fennessey, Portraits for Judith's impressive singer, and Number One Common's exceedingly talented gutiarist, Mikey Trifilette -- are so new that when I first got their demo CD, they didn't even have a name! Expect great things, as this mellow number evokes pre-suckage Red Hot Chili Peppers. A gratifying listen, to be sure. UPDATE: The band now has a MySpace page -- check it out!

9. Black Kids - "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You" [The Twelves Remix]
Thanks again to Sir Walt Dizzo, who first introduced me to this group on his eclectic radio show (heard every Thursday night from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. on KUWS).

10. The Rumble Strips - "Motorcycle"
Say what you want about Chicago, but horns almost always sound good in rock songs.

11. The Dead Trees - "Head Trauma"
This year's Sir Salvatore strikes back with another would-be No. 1 shot. Come on, where's their iPod commercial?

12. The Hidden Chord - "Beauty is an Ugly Mask"
Hailing from ... Minneapolis? Funny, I always thought these guys were British!

13. Tool - "Lipan Conjuring"
Something I wish more Tool songs were: short.

14. The Flaming Lips - "Hot Day"
15. Beck - "Time Bomb"
I'm so proud of these artists, whom I've been following since my elementary days. Of all the groups I was listening to at that time, I had no idea how huge these two would get. It's just beyond me.

16. The Owls - "All Those in Favor"
One gracious melody.

17. Atmosphere - "@"
No disrespect to Slug and Ant, but they've sure come a long way. No disrespect to the earlier stuff -- especially this instrumental -- of course, as it deserves almost as much of your time as the new records.

18. Black Milk feat. Fat Ray - "Take Control"
Like the Atmosphere classic "God Loves Ugly," this Detroit MC (whose productions values sound more similar than not) gets his records distributed via Fat Beats.

19. Toadies - "You'll Come Down"
Seeing as how we're two days away from this Texas group's comeback record, I thought I'd revisit some material from the landmark sophomore release "Hell Below/Stars Above."

20. 764-HERO - "Wait Until Five"
A staple of these awesome mix tapes -- heretofore known as "Don't Tell a Soul" -- since my college radio days.

21. Conor Oberst - "Danny Callahan"
Just who is this Danny Callahan fella? Answers.com sez ... "Daniel Callahan (born 1930) was a philosopher widely recognized for his innovative studies in biomedical ethics. The co-founder of the Hastings Center, an internationally-acclaimed research institute for biomedical ethics, Callahan was best known for proposing that a looming crisis in health care resources would require society to set priorities and limits on medical care."

22. Jamie Ness - "I Like the Moonlight"
Wow, what a family -> one's the mayor of our fair city and one's a bona fide rock star!

23. Low Flying Owls - "Strange Connection"
Easily rivals anything on Beck's triumphant 2002 opus "Sea Change."

24. AM/FM - "Head Gone Vertical"
When in doubt, scavenge the Amazon.com reviews for comparisons: "Modest Mouse meets the Beach Boys." (Thank, time2panic!)

25. The Glands - "This is the Coat"
David Cross-approved indie rock that *ahem* really doesn't require David Cross' approval: One listen and you'll be hooked.

26. They Might Be Giants - "Havalina" [Pixies cover]
Always one of my favorite Pixies tracks, now immortalized for a second time by one of the quirkiest veteran groups haunting the scene. Kudos, John and John!

Thus concludes your eighteenth dose of SHAKE*YOUR*SHORES.

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