"While there are a seemingly infinite number of ways to share and discover new music, few are as mythologized as the mix tape. From Nick Hornby's romanticizing of the format in 'High Fidelity' to Library of America editor-in-chief Geoffrey O'Brien's assertion that the mix tape is 'the most widely practiced American art form,' no other amateur medium commands the same level of respect from fans and critics alike." -- Mehan Jayasuriya
1. Weezer - "My Name is Jonas"
I didn't really know how to start this mix tape, so I relied on the old tried-and-true =W=. (Sorry for the inadvertent rhyming....)
2. The Dandy Warhols - "Mission Control"
Wow, what happened to these guys? Still a decent track, but singer Courtney Taylor-Taylor sounds like he turned on "faux goth mode" or something.
3. T. Rex - "Jeepster"
Always a classic.
4. The Tisdales - "Faces" [Listen here]
Featuring Rich Mattson (the Glenrustles/Ol’ Yeller) and Tony Derrick (Giljunko/the Hotel Coral Essex), what could go wrong? If this debut single is any indication, absolutely nothing. (p.s. Look for my profile of this group in an upcoming issue of the Budgeteer.)
5. Jeremy Messersmith - "Welcome to Suburbia"
When "The Alcatraz Kid" came out, I said, "Melancholy has a new best friend forever in Jeremy Messersmith." I may have spoken too soon. It's definitely not "Fun, Fun, Fun" or anything, but this track hints at sunshine like the neighborhood in "Edward Scissorhands" does. You may have to go to hell and back to find something resembling a smile, but, in the end ... wait, how did that film end?
6. Atmosphere - "Can't Break"
I'll never forget what Brother Ali told me about “When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint that S*** Gold": “The album is a very specific kind of a project. It’s all Slug, and it’s amazing. It sounds like nothing that any of us have ever done. He’s doing a lot of storytelling on it. I mean, it’s like really vivid illustrations — it’s just amazing.” Truer words have never been spoken.
7. Michael Franti & Spearhead - "A Little Bit of Riddim"
My knowledge of Michael Franti's career is limited -- and that goes double for the Kingston, Jamiaca, reggae scene he's replicating here -- but I at least know one thing: In a just world (i.e. McMattWorld), this would be at the top of the pops. <- Clear Channel "gods," are you listening?
8. Cage - "Perfect World"
Thanks to Cory Jezierski of Number One Common for introducing me to this Q-Tip-circa-"Amplified"-tastic track. Aside from that little anal sex crack, this is hip-hop your girlfriend might just get on board with.
9. Royksopp - "So Easy"
Like a more subtle Chemical Brothers, this is a "wordless sound poem" for the masses.
10. The Chemical Brothers - "Midnight Madness"
They're definitely losing their everything-has-to-be-ubergroundbreaking touch, but, then again, how could any group possibly top something as grandiose and just plain mindblowing as "Come with Us"?
11. Doomtree - "Liver Let Die" [Other MP3s]
"It's like we don't even talk no more."
12. The Verve - "Love is Noise"
Man, listen to that sample in the intro -- I thought I was listening to a leaked Atmosphere track or something! And, yes, I am talking about the same group that got sued/had their souls crushed by the Stones over an orchestral sample that the group had already legally secured in their only No. 1 hit, 1997's "Bitter Sweet Symphony." (By the way, I really f------ hate the geriatric Stones of the last couple decades. "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" is a great song, one of the best, actually, but suing the Verve was just the lowest. Low, low, low.)
13. Irving - "I Can't Fall in Love"
It's on Eenie Meenie, so you know it's good. Unadulterated indie pop for a sunny winter day. (It's coming sooner than you think, cholo.)
14. Golden Shoulders - "Nothing's All Right"
Recommended if you like Beck, but if and only when he's trying hard to secure his status as the second coming of Dylan (aka a weird amalgam of the albums "Mutations" and "Sea Change").
15. TK Webb & The Visions - "Teen is Still Shaking" [Free MP3 here!]
I have no idea what this song is about, but I'm sure fans of grunge survivor acts like Little Black Books and/or modern-day Mudhoney will find nothing to complain about.
16. The Hotel Coral Essex - "One-Handed Paper Hanger"
THIS. IS. AURAL. EXCITEMENT.
17. Both - "Sin On"
So weird ... this kind of sounds like what I thought the Hotel Coral Essex sounded like when I saw them performing at Lakeview Castle for the annual Area 61 UFO Convention so long ago. Morphine-esque, but not in a way that makes you want to hurl. (Yadig?)
18. Sebadoh - "Decide"
Man, I've been waiting to buy this album for years, and just last week I lucked out and found it for only a buck at [LOCATION DELETED BY AUTHOR ... LET'S KEEP IT LIKE A SECRET, MMM'KAY?].
19. The Soviettes - "Paranoia Cha Cha Cha!"
Hey, remember Sleeper? Better yet, remember that dream involving [REDACTED] and the [REDACTED]s? Me neither....
20. Lackthereof - "Choir Practice" [Free MP3 here!]
No, actually this is more like the [REDACTED]s, only fronted by a man and backed up by gorgeous swirling melodies.
21. The Melismatics feat. Mark Mallman - "Hate to Say It"
I picked up the Melismatics' album because the members of Maudlin kept talking it up, and I was pleasantly surprised when I heard this collaboration. If you've followed this blog since its inception, you know I'm kind of a big Mark Mallman fan* (and that's putting it lightly ... in fact, "bordering on obsessive" might be a little more accurate).
22. Big Star - "Thank You Friends"
Many thanks to Bri Smith, a bonafide BFF, for introducing me to this group way back when.
23. Aaron Espe - "Small Town" [Free MP3 here!
"I like small towns / The nights are quiet / No interstate highway / Screaming in the starlight." Having grown up in Crosby, Minn., this song really hits home -- especially the line about the Ben Franklin, for those of you who know this track/are about to download it -- and that's why I don't feel bad about pimping out Espe's upcoming show at Beaner's Central: The Fort Collins, Colo., singer/songwriter will play at 8 p.m. Oct. 3. Cost is ... cheap. I don't know the exact figure yet, but I assume $5, like most shows there.
*And read what Mallman thought about this praise here.
Thus concludes your twenty-second dose of SHAKE*YOUR*SHORES, the awesome mix tape series previously known as Don't Tell a Soul.
1. Weezer - "My Name is Jonas"
I didn't really know how to start this mix tape, so I relied on the old tried-and-true =W=. (Sorry for the inadvertent rhyming....)
2. The Dandy Warhols - "Mission Control"
Wow, what happened to these guys? Still a decent track, but singer Courtney Taylor-Taylor sounds like he turned on "faux goth mode" or something.
3. T. Rex - "Jeepster"
Always a classic.
4. The Tisdales - "Faces" [Listen here]
Featuring Rich Mattson (the Glenrustles/Ol’ Yeller) and Tony Derrick (Giljunko/the Hotel Coral Essex), what could go wrong? If this debut single is any indication, absolutely nothing. (p.s. Look for my profile of this group in an upcoming issue of the Budgeteer.)
5. Jeremy Messersmith - "Welcome to Suburbia"
When "The Alcatraz Kid" came out, I said, "Melancholy has a new best friend forever in Jeremy Messersmith." I may have spoken too soon. It's definitely not "Fun, Fun, Fun" or anything, but this track hints at sunshine like the neighborhood in "Edward Scissorhands" does. You may have to go to hell and back to find something resembling a smile, but, in the end ... wait, how did that film end?
6. Atmosphere - "Can't Break"
I'll never forget what Brother Ali told me about “When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint that S*** Gold": “The album is a very specific kind of a project. It’s all Slug, and it’s amazing. It sounds like nothing that any of us have ever done. He’s doing a lot of storytelling on it. I mean, it’s like really vivid illustrations — it’s just amazing.” Truer words have never been spoken.
7. Michael Franti & Spearhead - "A Little Bit of Riddim"
My knowledge of Michael Franti's career is limited -- and that goes double for the Kingston, Jamiaca, reggae scene he's replicating here -- but I at least know one thing: In a just world (i.e. McMattWorld), this would be at the top of the pops. <- Clear Channel "gods," are you listening?
8. Cage - "Perfect World"
Thanks to Cory Jezierski of Number One Common for introducing me to this Q-Tip-circa-"Amplified"-tastic track. Aside from that little anal sex crack, this is hip-hop your girlfriend might just get on board with.
9. Royksopp - "So Easy"
Like a more subtle Chemical Brothers, this is a "wordless sound poem" for the masses.
10. The Chemical Brothers - "Midnight Madness"
They're definitely losing their everything-has-to-be-ubergroundbreaking touch, but, then again, how could any group possibly top something as grandiose and just plain mindblowing as "Come with Us"?
11. Doomtree - "Liver Let Die" [Other MP3s]
"It's like we don't even talk no more."
12. The Verve - "Love is Noise"
Man, listen to that sample in the intro -- I thought I was listening to a leaked Atmosphere track or something! And, yes, I am talking about the same group that got sued/had their souls crushed by the Stones over an orchestral sample that the group had already legally secured in their only No. 1 hit, 1997's "Bitter Sweet Symphony." (By the way, I really f------ hate the geriatric Stones of the last couple decades. "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" is a great song, one of the best, actually, but suing the Verve was just the lowest. Low, low, low.)
13. Irving - "I Can't Fall in Love"
It's on Eenie Meenie, so you know it's good. Unadulterated indie pop for a sunny winter day. (It's coming sooner than you think, cholo.)
14. Golden Shoulders - "Nothing's All Right"
Recommended if you like Beck, but if and only when he's trying hard to secure his status as the second coming of Dylan (aka a weird amalgam of the albums "Mutations" and "Sea Change").
15. TK Webb & The Visions - "Teen is Still Shaking" [Free MP3 here!]
I have no idea what this song is about, but I'm sure fans of grunge survivor acts like Little Black Books and/or modern-day Mudhoney will find nothing to complain about.
16. The Hotel Coral Essex - "One-Handed Paper Hanger"
THIS. IS. AURAL. EXCITEMENT.
17. Both - "Sin On"
So weird ... this kind of sounds like what I thought the Hotel Coral Essex sounded like when I saw them performing at Lakeview Castle for the annual Area 61 UFO Convention so long ago. Morphine-esque, but not in a way that makes you want to hurl. (Yadig?)
18. Sebadoh - "Decide"
Man, I've been waiting to buy this album for years, and just last week I lucked out and found it for only a buck at [LOCATION DELETED BY AUTHOR ... LET'S KEEP IT LIKE A SECRET, MMM'KAY?].
19. The Soviettes - "Paranoia Cha Cha Cha!"
Hey, remember Sleeper? Better yet, remember that dream involving [REDACTED] and the [REDACTED]s? Me neither....
20. Lackthereof - "Choir Practice" [Free MP3 here!]
No, actually this is more like the [REDACTED]s, only fronted by a man and backed up by gorgeous swirling melodies.
21. The Melismatics feat. Mark Mallman - "Hate to Say It"
I picked up the Melismatics' album because the members of Maudlin kept talking it up, and I was pleasantly surprised when I heard this collaboration. If you've followed this blog since its inception, you know I'm kind of a big Mark Mallman fan* (and that's putting it lightly ... in fact, "bordering on obsessive" might be a little more accurate).
22. Big Star - "Thank You Friends"
Many thanks to Bri Smith, a bonafide BFF, for introducing me to this group way back when.
23. Aaron Espe - "Small Town" [Free MP3 here!
"I like small towns / The nights are quiet / No interstate highway / Screaming in the starlight." Having grown up in Crosby, Minn., this song really hits home -- especially the line about the Ben Franklin, for those of you who know this track/are about to download it -- and that's why I don't feel bad about pimping out Espe's upcoming show at Beaner's Central: The Fort Collins, Colo., singer/songwriter will play at 8 p.m. Oct. 3. Cost is ... cheap. I don't know the exact figure yet, but I assume $5, like most shows there.
*And read what Mallman thought about this praise here.
Thus concludes your twenty-second dose of SHAKE*YOUR*SHORES, the awesome mix tape series previously known as Don't Tell a Soul.
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