May 2012 Reviews

[dgs]

Lovely 14 track mix for me this month, mixing across a number of genres but hitting a nice flow.
So, away we go..........

1. Starts with an acoustic riff which builds, vocals kick in and it’s something I think I recognise. Nice and gentle start into the disc with a track which sets the tone for what is to follow, nice and easy. Great change in pace where the piano kicks in.

2. Track two has a female vocal which sounds not a million miles away from being Tracy Thorn. Lots of bass, twangy guitar and deep synthy sounds. I am sure that it is Tracy Thorn but not sure whether it is EBTG or solo Tracy, either way it’s great stuff.

3. OMD with the romance of the telescope, love this and the first 4 albums.

4. Great slice of slow soul, that electric guitar sound is just brilliant. If I had to take a guess I’d say that this is Al Green. But it’s the guitar in this track that is taking my interest, really interested to find out who this is.

5. With a start this is reminiscent of the Travelling Willbury’s slowed right down, this next track is alt. Country, could be Steve Earle, probably not but it’s that sort of vocal delivery. I like this one, there is something about the alt. country genre, that harder edge which appeals to these ears.

6. Switching genres again into an alt. Folk style, this one tips it’s hat in the direction of Nick Drake but is a much more modern production. I like this one, I think it’s called black leaf falls and I ‘d guess the singer is American, actually reminds me a bit of Conor Oberst. Good stuff though, liked this one.

7. Funky soul track for no 7, a nice tune to groove along too, not even going to try and guess anything on this one, more distinctive guitar playing though.

8. Horns greet the start of track 8, i am expecting these to grow but they don’t they lead the track if what is a funky instrumental but one which doesn’t seem to go anywhere or deliver a killer riff or punch. Nice enough, but I think from the start I was expecting a bit more.

9. Horns and another slice of laid back soul. Keeps the pace and the flow of the disc moving along, considering the mixing of the genres here the selection of the tracks to keep that flow is great. This is one that I could envisage listening to in the back garden, with the sun shining.

10. Spoken word over a downbeat and melancholic backing track. Love this, no idea s to who it is, but its a tale of a woman leaving her man. Love the subtle string way down in the mix. More wah wah guitar, but again low in the mix not dominating but adding.

11. Shift again and a band that I never thought I’d here on BCB, Love like Money, Lips like ether. I always thought it was a shame that they were around the same time as Wet Wet Wet as they got labelled in the same vein but in reality were something completely different. Great stuff.

12. Piano and acoustic start, reminds me of something else and then not a vocal I was expecting. Nice downbeat track though, liked this as it grew on me after a few listens.

13. Slow builder here with ethereal sounding start, female vocals in what I’d call another alt. Country style. A very gentle song which up kind of expect to kick up in pace at the chorus but it refrains from doing so and is the better for it.

14. I know this one as well it’s been used by David Holmes on one of his soundtracks to the Oceans movies. Great stuff. That organ sound is brilliant.

Thanks mixmaster for the disc, really enjoyed this, a mix of tunes that I recognise or know alongside a number that I don’t. Great flow and feel to the disc. Cheers

[Moleskin]

Lovely 14 track mix for me this month, mixing across a number of genres but hitting a nice flow.
So, away we go..........

1. Starts with an acoustic riff which builds, vocals kick in and it’s something I think I recognise. Nice and gentle start into the disc with a track which sets the tone for what is to follow, nice and easy. Great change in pace where the piano kicks in.

Will you kick yourself when I tell you this is Elvis? Possibly my favourite of his songs at the moment - 'I'm Leavin'. This disc is the highlights of three themed lists, one of which was 'Leaving'.

2. Track two has a female vocal which sounds not a million miles away from being Tracy Thorn. Lots of bass, twangy guitar and deep synthy sounds. I am sure that it is Tracy Thorn but not sure whether it is EBTG or solo Tracy, either way it’s great stuff.

And this is k.d. lang with 'A Sleep With No Dreaming' from her recent Sing It Loud album. I love her voice.

3. OMD with the romance of the telescope, love this and the first 4 albums.

Indeed, and here it's in the (in my view superior) b-side mix, rather than the album version.

4. Great slice of slow soul, that electric guitar sound is just brilliant. If I had to take a guess I’d say that this is Al Green. But it’s the guitar in this track that is taking my interest, really interested to find out who this is.

Al Green's probably a good guess, but this is Curtis Mayfield, 'Hard Times' from the album There's No Place Like America Today.

5. With a start this is reminiscent of the Travelling Willbury’s slowed right down, this next track is alt. Country, could be Steve Earle, probably not but it’s that sort of vocal delivery. I like this one, there is something about the alt. country genre, that harder edge which appeals to these ears.

Indeed, this is Steve Earle from the El Corazon album, 'If You Fall'. You almost got something from his son's recent LP too.

6. Switching genres again into an alt. Folk style, this one tips it’s hat in the direction of Nick Drake but is a much more modern production. I like this one, I think it’s called black leaf falls and I ‘d guess the singer is American, actually reminds me a bit of Conor Oberst. Good stuff though, liked this one.

Sea Wolf - 'Black Leaf Falls', as you correctly note, from the album Leaves in the River. He's basically a one man band, and has put another album out since this came out in 2009 or so, but I haven't heard it.

7. Funky soul track for no 7, a nice tune to groove along too, not even going to try and guess anything on this one, more distinctive guitar playing though.

This is Shuggie Otis, with 'Hurricane' from Here Comes Shuggie Otis. I just picked up the three CD box of his solo albums for £10. A one man soul artiste who wrote 'Strawberry Letter #23'.

8. Horns greet the start of track 8, i am expecting these to grow but they don’t they lead the track if what is a funky instrumental but one which doesn’t seem to go anywhere or deliver a killer riff or punch. Nice enough, but I think from the start I was expecting a bit more.

Kool & the Gang from their funk-band pre-hits incarnation. this is 'Chocolate Buttermilk' from the s/t album.

9. Horns and another slice of laid back soul. Keeps the pace and the flow of the disc moving along, considering the mixing of the genres here the selection of the tracks to keep that flow is great. This is one that I could envisage listening to in the back garden, with the sun shining.

Earth Wind & Fire, again from the pre-hits incarnation. The song is 'This World Today' from the s/t debut.

10. Spoken word over a downbeat and melancholic backing track. Love this, no idea s to who it is, but its a tale of a woman leaving her man. Love the subtle string way down in the mix. More wah wah guitar, but again low in the mix not dominating but adding.

Another of my favourite voices. Steve Earle's sister-in-law, Shelby Lynne from her breakout album I Am Shelby Lynne. It's called 'Leavin'. Any of her albums is worthwhile though.

11. Shift again and a band that I never thought I’d here on BCB, Love like Money, Lips like ether. I always thought it was a shame that they were around the same time as Wet Wet Wet as they got labelled in the same vein but in reality were something completely different. Great stuff.

Indeed. Love & Money.

12. Piano and acoustic start, reminds me of something else and then not a vocal I was expecting. Nice downbeat track though, liked this as it grew on me after a few listens.

This comes from the only album by Sunhouse. They formed to record some songs for a Shane Meadows film and went on to make Crazy on the Weekend. It's a cracker of an album though, with barely a weak track. This one is 'Good Day To Die'.

13. Slow builder here with ethereal sounding start, female vocals in what I’d call another alt. Country style. A very gentle song which up kind of expect to kick up in pace at the chorus but it refrains from doing so and is the better for it.

This is Steve Earle's wife (and Shelby Lynne's sister) Allison Moorer. 'Like The Rain' from her recent album Crows. Allison & Shelby did a joint tour last year which looked to be awesome but of course never left the States.

14. I know this one as well it’s been used by David Holmes on one of his soundtracks to the Oceans movies. Great stuff. That organ sound is brilliant.

A well-known piece, this. 'Theme from "Get Carter"'; this version is by Stereolab from their Aluminium Tunes compilation.

Thanks mixmaster for the disc, really enjoyed this, a mix of tunes that I recognise or know alongside a number that I don’t. Great flow and feel to the disc. Cheers

I'd like to take credit for the 'great flow' but I'm not sure I can. It felt more like I was throwing stuff at the wall to see if it stuck at the time. Really glad you liked it though.

I keep thinking I should put together a mix reflecting some of my more abrasive tastes but tend to end up in the same mostly laid-back place. Still, one of these days someone's gonna get Art Bears and Yoko Ono on a mix club CD.

[fange]

Received a very cool cd from my mystery mixer recently, lots of different styles that i've really enjoyed spinning this last week.

1. A nice soulful, rockin tune that sounds like Boz Scaggs - the vocal’s a little thin as was often the case with him, but lots of feel in the song and the band is cooking, as was also very much the case with him. Nice start!

2. A racy little old-school country music gem about the perils of talking in your sleep. I don’t listen to as much country as I probably should (not the newer ‘pop country’ stuff though, coz it just annoys me), and this reminds me how much more there is to explore.

3. Like this one, a nice updated soul number – by the sound of the synths and production it’s 80s vintage – where our purring singer advises her beau to ‘spread yourself over me like peanut butter. Fun and funky and there’s never anything wrong with that, baby. I’ll get my spreading knife.

4. It took me a while to recognise the voice/voices here, and it only really struck me when they started harmonising on the choruses and the middle eight that it's probably the Posies! A nice tune, poppy and engaging in a hummable way. Don’t really know much of their stuff after the mid-90s, so looking forward to the reveal.

5. A romping modern blues burner, excellent! It’s an older white guy on the vocals, a little stretched vocally in the Johnny Winter, Charlie Musselwhite, Paul Butterfield style, and the inclusion of the Little Walter-styled harp blowing makes me think it might be one of the latter guys, or someone influenced by them. This is a good one to turn up nice and loud and blow the cobwebs out, and that harp sounds mighty good.

6. Love it – a sassy female blues-belter, going for all she’s worth on a two-minute double-entendre, ‘baseball as lovin’’ tune. The band is cooking – man, whoever is walking that double bass is fucking killer – and our lady is putting everything into the vocal. This stuff is where I live.

7. An interesting one this. A long, slower tempo tune with lots of bluesy/jazz feel, but the vocals are not your typical fare – lots of overdubs, double-tracked stuff, foreign language excerts and accented asides… an interesting mix. This certainly sounds like a recent tune, but it could be from anytime in the last 20 years or so. The fake fade into another tune is great! Looking forward to the reveal.

8. This might well be my fave track on disc. It sounds like a black doo-wop or rock and roll band trying to stretch everything great about the late ‘50s and ‘60s R&B/Soul explosion into 3 minutes of music - the organ punctuations, the hand claps, the silly frenetic lyrics, the church-born vocal arrangements – ahh, and those vocals, pure joy – everything is unalloyed and wonderful. I want more!

9. A left turn into very different territory, a tune that mixes a lot of different styles together into an interesting blend. Lots of North African percussion, mandolins or other plucky stuff, mariachi-style horns, along with a laconic indie style male singer. Not sure if I could sit through a whole album of this kind - a bit ‘busy’ in some way I can’t explain, maybe not enough ‘air’ in the song - but this is nice here, creates an interesting contrast.

10. If that ain’t Jay Farrar I’ll go hee. I’ve tried a couple of his Son Volt titles since Eric put one of his tunes on a recent mix, and have enjoyed them, although without the deeper connection I felt towards the UT stuff. Nice tune; makes me wanna reach for a bourbon, though my workmates keep shooting me worried looks.

11. A rock tunes with a country feel, sounds like an older voice, telling us ‘don’t think about her when you’re trying to drive’. Like the steel guitar flourishes, and it’s nicely arranged, but not something I’d usually seek out.

12. A perfect follow up here though, The Big O with ‘The Same Street’- the country-flavoured clip-clop beat, the lonesome harp, lovely string touches for feeling, and THAT voice… never beaten. So much emotion and power in one package. Love it.

13. It’s Hank Ballard! Don’t know the tune, a slower ballad style R&B number, with the Midnighters I’m guessing, but it’s might fine.

14. Another sharp musical turn, this time into some noisy alternative pop, nice and melodic under the feedback in a 90s Dinosaur Jr kind of way. A good jumping tune, and I always enjoy a bit of scuzzy guitar pop.

15. The unmistakable voice of Sonny Boy Williamson, and with ‘Polly Put The Kettle On’. Lovely urban blues with a wink and a smile, and that wonderful laidback, back and forth harp style he had is perfect for the song.

16. And a brilliant tune to close out, a burning country blues with just a slide guitar and a blues harp from what I can make out, with an almost indecipherable vocal interspersed here and there amongst the 3 wonderful minutes. The quality of the recording makes it hard to guess its vintage – it’s the kind of tune that was often done in the '40s or ‘50s by many roaming country blues guys, but the sound is so clear and defined it very well might be from later than that. The hypnotic repeated licks by the two instruments working together is a real joy - I love closing my eyes on this kind of track and just letting my mind get lifted away and carried by their twisting energy. Beautiful.

A lot of fun and much to enjoy, thanks mixer!

[Moleskin]

I seem to have neglected to give you the tracklist, dgs, so here it is:

Elvis Presley - I'm Leaving
k d lang - A Sleep With No Dreaming
OMD - Romance of the Telescope (12" version)
Curtis Mayfield - Hard Times
Steve Earle - If You Fall
Sea Wolf - Black Leaf Falls
Shuggie Otis - Hurricane
Kool & the Gang - Chocolate Buttermilk
Earth Wind & Fire - This World Today
Shelby Lynne - Leavin'
Love & Money - Lips Like Ether
Sunhouse - Good Day To Die
Allison Moorer - Like The Rain
Stereolab - Theme from 'Get Carter'

[Moleskin]

And now here is my review ---

1. Rolling toms and guitar, half spoken vocal. This is firmly in post-punk/indie style. It’s a relatively quiet/laidback start to the disc, not a blasting-out-of-the-gate one. It’s reminiscent of all those JD inspired bands like Editors and Interpol. I like the way it builds in tension before the sudden cut to the coda.
2. This follows on nicely. Similar lackadaisical vocal, but the guitars are fuzzier here. Dissolves into noise a bit at the end – but in a good way.
3. A change of pace – flutes open this psych-era number. Not something I’m familiar with but it may be called ‘What Can I Do?’ When it comes right down to it I have no critical faculties with this sort of thing, it’s my favourite period of music and I love it all.
4. Now this is a voice that’s very familiar. Is it Hope Sandoval? I think there’s a new Mazzy Star album in the offing isn’t there? Though presumably this is from one of her solo records. Sweet soporific sounds.
5. I like the use of the drum machine on the opening of this. It rather disappoints when a ‘proper’ drum sound comes in but not so much as to spoil my enjoyment. ‘Have You Ever Been On a Star’?
6. Another dip into the sixties. I think I’d call this ‘sunshine pop’ – ‘Good Morning Mr Milkman’. I don’t think I know it but (again) this is right in my favourite era.
7. The mellotron flutes date this to the same period, or slightly later. A wistful song this one with a slight progressive edge.
8. Still back in my toddlerhood! Another ‘sunshine pop’ song, this one about a man in a shop, and things to be said about loneliness. Oftentimes, listening to comps of this sort of vintage material, it can become all too clear why such and such a song didn’t become a hit. This one is just a bit short – a better chorus perhaps. I don’t want to damn this however, my point is general rather than specific, and even if I can hear weaknesses in the material, it doesn’t detract in the end from my enjoyment of it.
9. I can’t help thinking my mixer has recently purchased a compilation of sunshine pop and other delights. This one is very much in the same vein as the last three. Quieter, wistful and liminal. Like it a lot.
10. This one shifts us up a gear, edging into ‘Nuggets’ territory. Considering the number of compilations of this sort of thing I own, I am either embarrassed or pleased not to recognise them. This must be called ‘Hearts to the Sea’, and seems to quote from the Monkees ‘For Pete’s Sake’ in the fade.
11. A complete change now. An instrumental from Electrelane: ‘Blue Straggler’. One of my favourite bands of the noughties.
12. And we dip backward again. I think it’s 1968 now. Raw and blues-based with a short guitar solo.
13. I like the sixties vibe on this one too. Nice group vocals on the ‘where is my mind?’ hook. The guitar and organ could place this happily on one of the Nuggets boxes. Another corker.
14. I really like this one. Two vocalists, male & female, basic drumming and guitar/keyboard stabs.
A really nice disk which I have enjoyed listening to. Unfortunately it didn’t play in the car stereo (which announced there was a TOC error) but it’s been given a good airing elsewhere. Many thanks!

[Duncan]

And now here is my review ---

How do, this was mine. It sort of sprouted from a nostalgic mix that I was putting together of stuff that I was listening to at uni. I'd put together a disc full of tunes from the early-mid 00s but then decided that it was probably a bit self-indulgent for Mix Club so I cherry picked some of the best tracks and mixed it up with a psych playlist that I'd been tinkering with. I was going for a sunny evening kinda vibe. So it's origins are a bit sloppy, and it jumps about a bit between the 60s and the 00s, but I think it worked. Anyway, glad that you enjoyed it. Give me a shout if you'd like any further listening.

1. Rolling toms and guitar, half spoken vocal. This is firmly in post-punk/indie style. It’s a relatively quiet/laidback start to the disc, not a blasting-out-of-the-gate one. It’s reminiscent of all those JD inspired bands like Editors and Interpol. I like the way it builds in tension before the sudden cut to the coda.

The Wrens - Happy. From one of my favourite indie albums of the 00's, Meadowlands.

2. This follows on nicely. Similar lackadaisical vocal, but the guitars are fuzzier here. Dissolves into noise a bit at the end – but in a good way.

Sparklehorse - King Of Nails. This is actually a different track to the one that I thought I'd included, but it's all good.

3. A change of pace – flutes open this psych-era number. Not something I’m familiar with but it may be called ‘What Can I Do?’ When it comes right down to it I have no critical faculties with this sort of thing, it’s my favourite period of music and I love it all.

End - Cardboard Watch. Some of my very favourite British psych. Famously (relatively) produced by Bill Wyman.

4. Now this is a voice that’s very familiar. Is it Hope Sandoval? I think there’s a new Mazzy Star album in the offing isn’t there? Though presumably this is from one of her solo records. Sweet soporific sounds.

Nina Nastasia - Superstar. I love how unhurried this is. It shimmers.

5. I like the use of the drum machine on the opening of this. It rather disappoints when a ‘proper’ drum sound comes in but not so much as to spoil my enjoyment. ‘Have You Ever Been On a Star’?

The Notwist - One With The Freaks. German chaps - from the album Neon Golden (2002)

6. Another dip into the sixties. I think I’d call this ‘sunshine pop’ – ‘Good Morning Mr Milkman’. I don’t think I know it but (again) this is right in my favourite era.

The Starlites - Good Morning Mr Milkman. Proper twee. Proper lovely. There aren't enough songs about milkmen.

7. The mellotron flutes date this to the same period, or slightly later. A wistful song this one with a slight progressive edge.

Holopaw - Hoover. Significantly later - this is from 2003.

8. Still back in my toddlerhood! Another ‘sunshine pop’ song, this one about a man in a shop, and things to be said about loneliness. Oftentimes, listening to comps of this sort of vintage material, it can become all too clear why such and such a song didn’t become a hit. This one is just a bit short – a better chorus perhaps. I don’t want to damn this however, my point is general rather than specific, and even if I can hear weaknesses in the material, it doesn’t detract in the end from my enjoyment of it.

Marmalade - Man In A Shop. I love the chorus, but I can see where you're coming from. The brassy bits, and the arrangement in general, are great too.

9. I can’t help thinking my mixer has recently purchased a compilation of sunshine pop and other delights. This one is very much in the same vein as the last three. Quieter, wistful and liminal. Like it a lot.

Califone - Orchids. Gentle Americana from 2006.

10. This one shifts us up a gear, edging into ‘Nuggets’ territory. Considering the number of compilations of this sort of thing I own, I am either embarrassed or pleased not to recognise them. This must be called ‘Hearts to the Sea’, and seems to quote from the Monkees ‘For Pete’s Sake’ in the fade.

The Sunsets - Hot Generation. I grabbed this from a great comp of 60's Australian garage (also called Hot Generation - check it out).

11. A complete change now. An instrumental from Electrelane: ‘Blue Straggler’. One of my favourite bands of the noughties.

Electrelane - Blue Straggler. One of my favourite noughties bands too. They were incredible live.

12. And we dip backward again. I think it’s 1968 now. Raw and blues-based with a short guitar solo.

Macabre - Be Forwarned. I'm not sure of the exact date, but I think that it's early 70s. The dirty bass kills me. This is as wild and terrifying as psych got.

13. I like the sixties vibe on this one too. Nice group vocals on the ‘where is my mind?’ hook. The guitar and organ could place this happily on one of the Nuggets boxes. Another corker.

Pesky Gee - Where Is My Mind? More heavy, acid drenched psych weirdness. These were a Leicester band that went on to form Black Widow.

14. I really like this one. Two vocalists, male & female, basic drumming and guitar/keyboard stabs.
A really nice disk which I have enjoyed listening to. Unfortunately it didn’t play in the car stereo (which announced there was a TOC error) but it’s been given a good airing elsewhere. Many thanks!

D+ - Pre-Amp. Lo-fi goodness from Bret Lunsford (Beat Happening)'s side project.

[beenieman]

Two discs this month. It’s been a while since I’ve been the beneficiary of such munificence

Track 1 – Tony Bennett’s I left my heart In San Francisco. A track like this would have been scorned by most (all?) of us 20-30 years ago. Now we are mature enough to appreciate it. Great track
Track 2 – Judy Collins with “Who Knows Where the Time Goes”. I’ve never been much of a fan & while I’ve doubtless heard this track before i can’t recall it, I recognised the title/ It sounded great here though
Track 3 – Another excellent track. Black Sabbath with Electric Caravan isn’t it? It fits right in with Judy & Tony. They weren’t heavy all the time. Love those bongos.
Track 4 – Johnny Cash’s the Beast in Me. Not sure who this is but it’s not Johnny. Lovely song & lovely version:
The beast in me
Is caged by frail and fragile bonds
Restless by day
And by night, rants and rages at the stars
God help, the beast in me
Track 5 – This one I don’t know. Female vocalist with another beautiful track. I’m mellowed.
Track 6 – Having lured me in with familiarity another track unknown to me. A country lilt.
Track 7 – Continues our winners. Timeless stuff.
Track 8 – This is a bit more complicated. I feel I know the artist but can’t place it.
Track 9 – This is great. Changes the musical genre but not the mood. I’m thinking someone from the 80’s like Human League but can’t place it.
Track 10 – More greatness. Sounds like Cracker. I’d pay for this
Track 11 – You & Your Sister. Mortal Coil did this but I’m not sure who this? Goodness.
Track 12 – A favourite, among many. No idea who it is.
Track 13 – The mood continues. Laid back quiet vocals over a light, but not easy listening backing.
Track 14 – Steps up a bit but not much, good
Track 15 – More music that feels like it could come from almost any time or place
Track 16 – This is much louder than prior tracks but flows well. We’re wrapping up soon and no letdowns yet. As with many other tracks the sound is familiar, though not the particular song.
Track 17 – Bridge Over Troubled Water. Not sure who’s doing it. Great version

A wonderful disc. You could sell this. I lok forward to the reveal & will review the second disc shortly

[The Fish]

Received a very cool cd from my mystery mixer recently, lots of different styles that i've really enjoyed spinning this last week.

Hi Ange. Your disc this month came from Mix Club central. Glad you enjoyed it.

1. A nice soulful, rockin tune that sounds like Boz Scaggs - the vocal’s a little thin as was often the case with him, but lots of feel in the song and the band is cooking, as was also very much the case with him. Nice start!

It is indeed Boz. A Mix Club staple for me this track. I love Boz in any case, but always think those who find Silk Degrees a bit too smooth (not me) should hear this. From the self totled album recorded in Muscle Shoals with Duane Allman on guitar. As you say - Cooking !

2. A racy little old-school country music gem about the perils of talking in your sleep. I don’t listen to as much country as I probably should (not the newer ‘pop country’ stuff though, coz it just annoys me), and this reminds me how much more there is to explore.

Various artists comps always provide a fruitful seam for Mix Club. This is from one of the Bear Family Shot In The Dark boxes (Nashville Jumps and Tennessee Jive) which sort of plug the gap between the mainstream and what was happening elsewhere in a kind of Blues/Country crossover territory. All terrific stuff if not well known, This guy goes by the name of Randy Hughes.

3. Like this one, a nice updated soul number – by the sound of the synths and production it’s 80s vintage – where our purring singer advises her beau to ‘spread yourself over me like peanut butter. Fun and funky and there’s never anything wrong with that, baby. I’ll get my spreading knife.

Gwen Guthrie, best known for Nothing Goin' On But The Rent, although for me the real gems are to be found on her first two albums. You may have noticed a similarity to some of Grace Jones later stuff, especially Pull Up To The Bumper as this is indeed the same band, i.e the Compass Point house band - Sly & Robbie, Wally Badarou and Mikey Chung.

4. It took me a while to recognise the voice/voices here, and it only really struck me when they started harmonising on the choruses and the middle eight that it's probably the Posies! A nice tune, poppy and engaging in a hummable way. Don’t really know much of their stuff after the mid-90s, so looking forward to the reveal.

It is indeed one of the more recent outings for The Posies. I love Solar Sister as much as anyone but dug this one out recently and decided they still had it.

5. A romping modern blues burner, excellent! It’s an older white guy on the vocals, a little stretched vocally in the Johnny Winter, Charlie Musselwhite, Paul Butterfield style, and the inclusion of the Little Walter-styled harp blowing makes me think it might be one of the latter guys, or someone influenced by them. This is a good one to turn up nice and loud and blow the cobwebs out, and that harp sounds mighty good.

Good spot. It is indeed a later offering from Charlie Musselwhite

6. Love it – a sassy female blues-belter, going for all she’s worth on a two-minute double-entendre, ‘baseball as lovin’’ tune. The band is cooking – man, whoever is walking that double bass is fucking killer – and our lady is putting everything into the vocal. This stuff is where I live.

Back to the various artists comps. Can't recall exactly whence I took this but almost certainly an Ace comp or maybe Bear Family's Blowing The Fuse series. I'm a sucker for any of this stuff, old style R&B. swing blues, jump blues. jump jive, the full works. Anyway the singer here is one Mabel Scott.

7. An interesting one this. A long, slower tempo tune with lots of bluesy/jazz feel, but the vocals are not your typical fare – lots of overdubs, double-tracked stuff, foreign language excerts and accented asides… an interesting mix. This certainly sounds like a recent tune, but it could be from anytime in the last 20 years or so. The fake fade into another tune is great! Looking forward to the reveal.

The late great Jackie Leven with Johnny Dowd guesting

8. This might well be my fave track on disc. It sounds like a black doo-wop or rock and roll band trying to stretch everything great about the late ‘50s and ‘60s R&B/Soul explosion into 3 minutes of music - the organ punctuations, the hand claps, the silly frenetic lyrics, the church-born vocal arrangements – ahh, and those vocals, pure joy – everything is unalloyed and wonderful. I want more!

From a comp again, but the band here are known in their own right, The Intruders perhaps best known for Cowboys To Girls

9. A left turn into very different territory, a tune that mixes a lot of different styles together into an interesting blend. Lots of North African percussion, mandolins or other plucky stuff, mariachi-style horns, along with a laconic indie style male singer. Not sure if I could sit through a whole album of this kind - a bit ‘busy’ in some way I can’t explain, maybe not enough ‘air’ in the song - but this is nice here, creates an interesting contrast.

Beirut from their debut Gulag Orkestra album.

10. If that ain’t Jay Farrar I’ll go hee. I’ve tried a couple of his Son Volt titles since Eric put one of his tunes on a recent mix, and have enjoyed them, although without the deeper connection I felt towards the UT stuff. Nice tune; makes me wanna reach for a bourbon, though my workmates keep shooting me worried looks.

Yep Jay Farrar. Solo here although I like the Son Volt stuff too, although he's probably never matched the heights of Uncle Tuplo as you say.

11. A rock tunes with a country feel, sounds like an older voice, telling us ‘don’t think about her when you’re trying to drive’. Like the steel guitar flourishes, and it’s nicely arranged, but not something I’d usually seek out.

Thoght something might sound familar here as you almost certainly know all of the players here. Messrs Cooder, Hiatt, Lowe and Keltner in the guise of Little Village. These kinds of supergroup albums invariable end up as less than the sum of their parts, although there's some worthwhile stuff here and I'd say it's one of the better examples

12. A perfect follow up here though, The Big O with ‘The Same Street’- the country-flavoured clip-clop beat, the lonesome harp, lovely string touches for feeling, and THAT voice… never beaten. So much emotion and power in one package. Love it.

Well yes, What more can I add.

13. It’s Hank Ballard! Don’t know the tune, a slower ballad style R&B number, with the Midnighters I’m guessing, but it’s might fine.

Another good spot Hank & The Midnighters

14. Another sharp musical turn, this time into some noisy alternative pop, nice and melodic under the feedback in a 90s Dinosaur Jr kind of way. A good jumping tune, and I always enjoy a bit of scuzzy guitar pop.

I have someone on BCB to thank for this but I can't remember who. There was a thread about Neutral Milk Hotel a while back where opinion was divided as much as ever, and someone suggested this alternative Elephant 6 band, Elf Power. I took a punt and haven't looked back. Should be better known

15. The unmistakable voice of Sonny Boy Williamson, and with ‘Polly Put The Kettle On’. Lovely urban blues with a wink and a smile, and that wonderful laidback, back and forth harp style he had is perfect for the song.

Sonny Boy Williamson as in Sonny Boy Williamson of course (as opposed to Rice Miller)

16. And a brilliant tune to close out, a burning country blues with just a slide guitar and a blues harp from what I can make out, with an almost indecipherable vocal interspersed here and there amongst the 3 wonderful minutes. The quality of the recording makes it hard to guess its vintage – it’s the kind of tune that was often done in the '40s or ‘50s by many roaming country blues guys, but the sound is so clear and defined it very well might be from later than that. The hypnotic repeated licks by the two instruments working together is a real joy - I love closing my eyes on this kind of track and just letting my mind get lifted away and carried by their twisting energy. Beautiful.

Another of my "go to" comps for mix club is this the Arhoolie Records box set. A magical mix of blues, gospel, zydeco, tex-mex, klezmer and stuff that defies description. There are a few "names" present (Lightnin' Hopkins, Fred McDowell, Flaco Jimenez) but for the most part it's the relatively unknown and all of it a step away from the mainstream, The song here is older of course. I think Bukka White did it, but the version here is Johnny Woods.

A lot of fun and much to enjoy, thanks mixer!

Thanks. Glad it hit the mark.

1. Boz Scaggs - I'm Easy
2. Randy Hughes - Talking In Your Sleep
3. Gwen Guthrie - Peanut Butter
4. The Posies - Cleopatra Street
5. Charlie Musselwhite - One Of These Mornings
6. Mabel Scott - Baseball Boogie
7. Jackie Leven - The Dent In The Fender And The Whell Of Fate
8. The Intruders - Jack Be Nimble
9. Beirut - Brandenburg
10. Jay Farrar - California
11. Little Village -Don't Think About Her When You're Tring To Drive
12. Roy Orbison - The Same Street
13. Hank Ballard & The Midnighters - In The Doorway Crying
14. Elf Power - Things That Should Not Be
15. Sonny Williamson - Polly Put Your Kettle On
16. Johnny Woods - Shake 'Em On Down

[whodathunkit]

A May mix entitled "20 Slices of Pi". Have to admit this went right over my head until I saw the playlist on iTunes.Every track weighs in at 3:14. And a lot of them earn their place.

1. Kicks off with an explosion and some 60s garage/white r'n'b goodness. Fuzz guitar and a touch of phasing.What's not to like?
2. More from the same locker with added harmonica and sneery vocals. "Baby I'm rocking my mind". Early Stones/Pretty Things quality which is very high quality indeed.
3. Something live from the Byrds I think. Love the Byrds but I don't know this one. Some spirited playing but not much of a song.
4. More live stuff. "Love Minus Zero No Limit". Had a long debate with myself whether this was Dylan or not. It's close but there's something not quite right about the vocal. And the harmonica's not wheezy enough. And most of all he says "Thank You" during the applause. Not like his Bobness at all.
5. More Dylan. A definite cover of "Buckets Of Rain". Excellent playing although I wouldn't say it's the most sympathetic treatment of a great song. What was originally a melancholy cry of loneliness has now been turned into a bit of a country hoedown.
6. Now this is how you do a cover version! Donovans "I'll Try For The Sun" wierded up with some lovely baroque acoustic guitar/mandolin/ukelele playing and energetic occasionally falsetto vocals. Like all good covers it brings something original to the table while retaining the spirit of the original.Fucking love this one!
7. "A Well Respected Man" done with a jazzy feel, vibes, etc. Pleasant enough.
8. A 90s indie feel to this one. Is it Super Furry Animals? Great production,shame about the song.
9. Got to be Sly Stone. Not familiar with this one but it went down very well
10. "Games People Play" funkified.It's clever but I'll stick with Joe South. I know these guys are supposed to be beyond criticism around these parts but the vocal seems a bit lame - as if he's just reading it for the first time.
11. Not much complaint about the vocals on this one. Lesser known Otis track.Terrific.
12.More soul goodies. Levi Stubbs and I presume the rest of the Four Tops. I really must explore beyond the greatest hits.
13. Prince buried underneath a load of over-production,phasing, backwards tape,treated percussion, etc. He's done better.Could have done with less cowbell.
14. Macca. Don't know it but it's quite pleasant.Which is what I always say about Macca. 40 years of pleasantness.
15. Ben Folds. Don't think I've ever heard a bad song by this bloke although I only have the live album.I know it's stating the bleeding obvious but he really can play that piano.
16. Going back to McCartney, this is the guy I go to the get that thing he used to give me all those years ago.The great Ron Sexsmith and "The Reason Why".
17. Three crackers in a row.Warren Zevon, "For My Next Trick". Made me dig out Life'll Kill You.One of his best.
18. Nice world-weary country duet.The bloke might be Guy Clark or Townes.Whatever it's a good 'un.
19. Lovely bit of dixieland.Armstrong/Ory/Oliver.One of them.
20. Mix ends with big band classic. Can't remember whether it's Ellington or Basie but it's the one that goes "Da-da-da-derrrrrrrrrr. Da-da-da-derrrrrrrrrrrrrr". "Cherokee"? Something like that. Oh go on, I'll plump for the Duke.

All in all a splendid mix. Not a real stinker on it. And track 6 is the reason I'm still in mix club.I'm hoping there's an albums worth of the same quality available somewhere.

[fange]

Thanks. Glad it hit the mark.

1. Boz Scaggs - I'm Easy
2. Randy Hughes - Talking In Your Sleep
3. Gwen Guthrie - Peanut Butter
4. The Posies - Cleopatra Street
5. Charlie Musselwhite - One Of These Mornings
6. Mabel Scott - Baseball Boogie
7. Jackie Leven - The Dent In The Fender And The Whell Of Fate
8. The Intruders - Jack Be Nimble
9. Beirut - Brandenburg
10. Jay Farrar - California
11. Little Village -Don't Think About Her When You're Tring To Drive
12. Roy Orbison - The Same Street
13. Hank Ballard & The Midnighters - In The Doorway Crying
14. Elf Power - Things That Should Not Be
15. Sonny Williamson - Polly Put Your Kettle On
16. Johnny Woods - Shake 'Em On Down

Great, cheers Paul. That Arhoolie set sounds awesome. I'm waiting for my first 'Blowing The Fuse' disc to land some time this week, coincidentally! (starting with '45, and gonna work my way back) And gonna keep my eyes open for some Intruders and Gwen Guthrie too.

[geoffcowgill]

A May mix entitled "20 Slices of Pi". Have to admit this went right over my head until I saw the playlist on iTunes.Every track weighs in at 3:14. And a lot of them earn their place.

1. Kicks off with an explosion and some 60s garage/white r'n'b goodness. Fuzz guitar and a touch of phasing.What's not to like?

Paul Revere and the Raiders with "The Great Airplane Strike"

2. More from the same locker with added harmonica and sneery vocals. "Baby I'm rocking my mind". Early Stones/Pretty Things quality which is very high quality indeed.

Yardbirds "Rack[ My Mind" with some tasty Beck soloing./color]

3. Something live from the Byrds I think. Love the Byrds but I don't know this one. Some spirited playing but not much of a song.

[color=#4040BF]Yes, Byrds, and yes, not much of a song, but a rarity worthy spinning once in a while for Clarence White's blistering fretwork.

4. More live stuff. "Love Minus Zero No Limit". Had a long debate with myself whether this was Dylan or not. It's close but there's something not quite right about the vocal. And the harmonica's not wheezy enough. And most of all he says "Thank You" during the applause. Not like his Bobness at all.

It is Bob, actually, from the Rolling Thunder Tour, about ten years after the original recording of the tune. Like any good live Bob recording, it's rewarding to follow his exploratory phrasing of well-worn words. I like the hissing on this version. And the phlegm in the throat.

5. More Dylan. A definite cover of "Buckets Of Rain". Excellent playing although I wouldn't say it's the most sympathetic treatment of a great song. What was originally a melancholy cry of loneliness has now been turned into a bit of a country hoedown.

This is from the Amnesty International charity album from earlier this year. Fistful of Mercy is the band.

6. Now this is how you do a cover version! Donovans "I'll Try For The Sun" wierded up with some lovely baroque acoustic guitar/mandolin/ukelele playing and energetic occasionally falsetto vocals. Like all good covers it brings something original to the table while retaining the spirit of the original.Fucking love this one!

Would you believe Lindsay Buckingham? It's certainly a unique take, and I'm glad you likeit too.

7. "A Well Respected Man" done with a jazzy feel, vibes, etc. Pleasant enough.

From the Ray Davies tribute album This is Where I Belong, this is Josh Rouse.

8. A 90s indie feel to this one. Is it Super Furry Animals? Great production,shame about the song.

You called it. SFA from Radiator.

9. Got to be Sly Stone. Not familiar with this one but it went down very well

From the debut album, this is one of my absolute favorite Sly Stone songs. Those horns, that bass/drums interplay, that vocal breakdown at the end. Dang.

10. "Games People Play" funkified.It's clever but I'll stick with Joe South. I know these guys are supposed to be beyond criticism around these parts but the vocal seems a bit lame - as if he's just reading it for the first time.

Lee Dorsey, a bit lame? Oh dear.

11. Not much complaint about the vocals on this one. Lesser known Otis track.Terrific.

If there's a bad Otis track, I've yet to hear it.

12.More soul goodies. Levi Stubbs and I presume the rest of the Four Tops. I really must explore beyond the greatest hits.

Again, you got it right. This is from 1970's Changing Times.

13. Prince buried underneath a load of over-production,phasing, backwards tape,treated percussion, etc. He's done better.Could have done with less cowbell.

Well, yeah, he's done better, but I love me some everything-but-the-kitchen-sink Prince pop. From Parade.

14. Macca. Don't know it but it's quite pleasant.Which is what I always say about Macca. 40 years of pleasantness.

One of his many songs-of-pieces, this is "Cage," an outtake from Back to the Egg, though it doesn't really sound much like that album. Seems about three or four years later for the first part and about four years earlier for the middle part.

15. Ben Folds. Don't think I've ever heard a bad song by this bloke although I only have the live album.I know it's stating the bleeding obvious but he really can play that piano.

This is from the first Ben Folds Five album, a pretty solid record.

16. Going back to McCartney, this is the guy I go to the get that thing he used to give me all those years ago.The great Ron Sexsmith and "The Reason Why".

I really wish those two would collaborate.

17. Three crackers in a row.Warren Zevon, "For My Next Trick". Made me dig out Life'll Kill You.One of his best.

The Wind got a lot of, probably to some extent sympathy-generated, accolades, but I think Life'll Kill Ya is his late-period highpoint.

18. Nice world-weary country duet.The bloke might be Guy Clark or Townes.Whatever it's a good 'un.

heh, heh, I snuck a John Cougar Mellencamp tune on here.

19. Lovely bit of dixieland.Armstrong/Ory/Oliver.One of them.

An Armstrong Hot Five recording from 1927.

20. Mix ends with big band classic. Can't remember whether it's Ellington or Basie but it's the one that goes "Da-da-da-derrrrrrrrrr. Da-da-da-derrrrrrrrrrrrrr". "Cherokee"? Something like that. Oh go on, I'll plump for the Duke.

Oh, why choose? This is Ellington AND Basie (and their bands, of course) doing "Jumping At The Woodside" from a '61 collaboration. Great big band performance and clean stereo recording. Yes, please. Seemed a nice energetic way to close the disc.

All in all a splendid mix. Not a real stinker on it. And track 6 is the reason I'm still in mix club.I'm hoping there's an albums worth of the same quality available somewhere.

I'm glad you were pleased with the mix, even though there was little in the way of obscurity (a lot of big names that you spotted right off). The premise of the 3.14 song was admittedly goofy, but I had little idea how to approach this disc considering your excellently catholic tastes, and that helped me narrow down choices considerably. The Lindsay Buckingham that you enjoyed so much is from his album Under the Skin, and it also features a lovely cover of the Stones' "I Am Waiting." The album's not a masterpiece, but well worth checking out.


20 Slices of Pi

1- "The Great Airplane Strike" Paul Revere & The Raiders
2- "Rack My Mind" The Yardbirds
3- "King Apathy III" live The Byrds
4- "Love Minus Zero/No Limit" live Bob Dylan
5- "Buckets of Rain" Fistful Of Mercy
6- "Try For The Sun" Lindsey Buckingham
7- "A Well-Respected Man"Josh Rouse
8- "Play It Cool" Super Furry Animals
9- "If This Room Could Talk" Sly & The Family Stone
10- "Games People Play" Lee Dorsey
11- "Your One And Only Man" Otis Redding
12- "I Almost Had Her (But She Got Away)" Four Tops
13- "Life Can Be So Nice" Prince & The Revolution
14- "Cage" Wings
15- "Kate" Ben Folds Five
16- "The Reason Why" Ron Sexsmith
17- "For My Next Trick I'll Need A Volunteer" Warren Zevon
18- "A Ride Back Home" John Cougar Mellencamp
19- "Put 'Em Down Blues" Louis Armstrong
20- "Jumping At The Woodside" Duke Ellington & Count Basie

[whodathunkit]

20 Slices of Pi

1- "The Great Airplane Strike" Paul Revere & The Raiders
2- "Rack My Mind" The Yardbirds
3- "King Apathy III" live The Byrds
4- "Love Minus Zero/No Limit" live Bob Dylan
5- "Buckets of Rain" Fistful Of Mercy
6- "Try For The Sun" Lindsey Buckingham
7- "A Well-Respected Man"Josh Rouse
8- "Play It Cool" Super Furry Animals
9- "If This Room Could Talk" Sly & The Family Stone
10- "Games People Play" Lee Dorsey
11- "Your One And Only Man" Otis Redding
12- "I Almost Had Her (But She Got Away)" Four Tops
13- "Life Can Be So Nice" Prince & The Revolution
14- "Cage" Wings
15- "Kate" Ben Folds Five
16- "The Reason Why" Ron Sexsmith
17- "For My Next Trick I'll Need A Volunteer" Warren Zevon
18- "A Ride Back Home" John Cougar Mellencamp
19- "Put 'Em Down Blues" Louis Armstrong
20- "Jumping At The Woodside" Duke Ellington & Count Basie

Cheers Geoff. Under The Skin duly ordered.As for Lee Dorsey, well, I suppose if it was one of his own laid-back ditties I would have loved it but that song needs a more full-on approach. Oh and the Mellancamp was a bit of a low blow .

[geoffcowgill]

My disc this month came from Iggy Pop, apparently still living in a trailer park in Ann Arbor. Unexpected.

1- Moody number with electric piano, reverb, distorted hip-hoppery. A little bit of Tricky in it, but I don’t have a clue who it is. A nice opening.
2- This sounds very familiar and like I definitely should have heard it before. Late 70s, pretty low-fi, but about half of it (vocals and rhythm guitar) sounds like early Stones. This can’t possibly be a Some Girls outtake, can it? It doesn’t really sound like that, but certain ingredients suggest that.
3- “King of the Bayou” from Joe Strummer’s great Earthquake Weather. Why isn’t this album more appreciated?
4- A song about a ‘whiskey woman,’ very CSNYy. My guess would be maybe very early Jayhawks or someone similar. It’s pretty loose apart from the harmonies, and the heavy echo on the vocals suggests a band new to the studio and a not very confident singer. But it’s charming, and I’m a sucker for that retroness.
5- Late 80s or 90s pop rockabilly. Dwight Yoakam? I keep thinking I should get a CD of his to try him out. This is pretty good, but I think I’d get tired of it over the course of a full album.
6- I knew this sounded really familiar, but at first I couldn’t place it. A little searching of my iTunes helped me track it down. “Jewel Eyed Judy” from pre-Buckingham/Nicks, post-Green Fleetwood Mac. It’s a good track, but that stuff just doesn’t have a readily identifiable sound to me. Perfect Mix Club song, in a way.
7- “King of the Road” from Roger McGuinn with Tom Petty. There’s some good stuff on that Back From Rio album, and this is one of them to be sure. It was nice hearing this for the first time in many years.
8- Mid-80s American indie, with a Peter Buck-sounding guitar. Voice sounds like Steve Wynn. Is it Dream Syndicate or solo Wynn? --- Actually, I just checked, and I actually do have this track, “Tears Won’t Help” from Wynn’s Kerosene Man (1990, oops).
9- 90s low-fi indie pop, a child of Westerberg or more poppy Guided by Voices type of thing. I’m curious for the reveal.
10- When this track started up I thought it was Aimee Mann, and, recognizing the tune, I thought it was “Crimson and Clover”. By the chorus I realized, of course, that it was “Angel of the Morning,” and I’m pretty certain it’s Chrissie Hynde (with Pretenders, I assume). Sounds like something that was probably from a soundtrack to a movie. Not sure that the fade-back-in was warranted.
11- Not having actually heard him do a lead vocal (that I can remember), I’m going to have to assume this has to be Ronnie Wood. This is a great ramshackle Faces/early-70s Stones sound with Jagger on backing vocals (right?). If it is Ronnie, he sounds, as I would expect him to, almost exactly like a cross between Keith and Dylan. Whoever it is, I’m going to have to get me some. Great! Sleazy, but great.
12- Starts out with wild slide playing before going into a hard rock stomp. Not especially my type of thing. At least the vocals aren’t heavy metal posturing.
13- Interesting rock instrumental, with drums bashing away but more nuanced guitar filigrees and a hint of Link Wray/Duane Eddy old school attitude.
14- MC5? Great guitar solo, but the lead vocal seems a bit overwrought for the more tempered music. After the mid-song quiet down, it comes back together more successfully. I get the feeling that it might need more than the three listens I’ve given it to really gel for me.
15- Could this be my sender, Mr. Iggy Pop? The vocals are so distorted, so it’s a bit hard to tell. I don’t think it’s Stooges, maybe Kill City stuff? I can’t understand what's being chanted in the hook at all. Pretty good, and it makes for startlingly abrupt end to the disc.

So, a good disc, thanks. I'm quite curious about a few of these and it was nice hearing some tunes I hadn't listened to in a long while.

[dgs]

Two discs this month. It’s been a while since I’ve been the beneficiary of such munificence

Track 1 – Tony Bennett’s I left my heart In San Francisco. A track like this would have been scorned by most (all?) of us 20-30 years ago. Now we are mature enough to appreciate it. Great track
Track 2 – Judy Collins with “Who Knows Where the Time Goes”. I’ve never been much of a fan & while I’ve doubtless heard this track before i can’t recall it, I recognised the title/ It sounded great here though
Track 3 – Another excellent track. Black Sabbath with Electric Caravan isn’t it? It fits right in with Judy & Tony. They weren’t heavy all the time. Love those bongos.
Track 4 – Johnny Cash’s the Beast in Me. Not sure who this is but it’s not Johnny. Lovely song & lovely version:
The beast in me
Is caged by frail and fragile bonds
Restless by day
And by night, rants and rages at the stars
God help, the beast in me
Track 5 – This one I don’t know. Female vocalist with another beautiful track. I’m mellowed.
Track 6 – Having lured me in with familiarity another track unknown to me. A country lilt.
Track 7 – Continues our winners. Timeless stuff.
Track 8 – This is a bit more complicated. I feel I know the artist but can’t place it.
Track 9 – This is great. Changes the musical genre but not the mood. I’m thinking someone from the 80’s like Human League but can’t place it.
Track 10 – More greatness. Sounds like Cracker. I’d pay for this
Track 11 – You & Your Sister. Mortal Coil did this but I’m not sure who this? Goodness.
Track 12 – A favourite, among many. No idea who it is.
Track 13 – The mood continues. Laid back quiet vocals over a light, but not easy listening backing.
Track 14 – Steps up a bit but not much, good
Track 15 – More music that feels like it could come from almost any time or place
Track 16 – This is much louder than prior tracks but flows well. We’re wrapping up soon and no letdowns yet. As with many other tracks the sound is familiar, though not the particular song.
Track 17 – Bridge Over Troubled Water. Not sure who’s doing it. Great version

A wonderful disc. You could sell this. I lok forward to the reveal & will review the second disc shortly

Hi Peter, this was me. Just back in town after walking the West Highland Way, so will try and get a reveal within the next few days.

Cheers

[dgs]

Two discs this month. It’s been a while since I’ve been the beneficiary of such munificence

Hi Peter

As previously indicated I was you mixmaster this month and glad to see that the mix seemed to hit the spot for you, so without further ado;

Track 1 – Tony Bennett’s I left my heart In San Francisco. A track like this would have been scorned by most (all?) of us 20-30 years ago. Now we are mature enough to appreciate it. Great track

1. I left my heart in San Francisco – Tony Bennett – Brilliant isn’t I love eth piano start and the bit where the strings kick in. Bliss.

Track 2 – Judy Collins with “Who Knows Where the Time Goes”. I’ve never been much of a fan & while I’ve doubtless heard this track before i can’t recall it, I recognised the title/ It sounded great here though

2. Who knows where the time goes – Fairport Convention – Sandy Denny rather than Judy Collins, I think that even the most familiar of tunes can take a different perspective when you surround them in a mix tune which plays more on a theme or mood.

Track 3 – Another excellent track. Black Sabbath with Electric Caravan isn’t it? It fits right in with Judy & Tony. They weren’t heavy all the time. Love those bongos.

3. Planet Caravan – Black Sabbath – So this far in you are starting to get a feel for the mood of the disc.

Track 4 – Johnny Cash’s the Beast in Me. Not sure who this is but it’s not Johnny. Lovely song & lovely version:
The beast in me
Is caged by frail and fragile bonds
Restless by day
And by night, rants and rages at the stars
God help, the beast in me

4. The beast in Me – Nick Lowe – Lenny’s signature tune. Shamelessly plucked from his Human Abstrakts guide to depression, great song which keeps us flowing along nicely.

Track 5 – This one I don’t know. Female vocalist with another beautiful track. I’m mellowed.

5. Monochrome – The Sundays – You may probably know some of their other tracks but this one is taken from the static and silence album. Harriet has a great voice.

Track 6 – Having lured me in with familiarity another track unknown to me. A country lilt.

6. Lolita Elle – Jack – Don’t know a massive amount about Jack, what I do know is that each of their releases was met with huge critical acclaim but the public never took to them at all. The record buying populous are a strange bunch.

Track 7 – Continues our winners. Timeless stuff.

7. Ghost ship in a storm – Jim O’Rourke – Taken from some of his more accessible stuff this is from the Eureka album, well worth hunting in down as it also includes a great cover of Ivor Cutlers Women of the World.

Track 8 – This is a bit more complicated. I feel I know the artist but can’t place it.

8. The World is as soft as lace – Felt – Everyone needs some Lawrence in their collection, a wee piece of fey indie pop from the 80’s. Tragic what happened to him as an individual but on ever record he has made there is at least one absolute classic masterpiece.
Track 9 – This is great. Changes the musical genre but not the mood. I’m thinking someone from the 80’s like Human League but can’t place it.

9. Kangaroo – This Mortal Coil – love the bass and cello on this one and it keeps a nice mellow but melancholic flow to the disc.

Track 10 – More greatness. Sounds like Cracker. I’d pay for this

10. Sad & Beautiful World – Sparklehorse – Evry home should own some Sparklehorse. A cut from the now sadly departed Mark Linkous. This track comes from the vivadixiesubamrinetransmissionplot album, which many contest to be the best but in reality they are all great.

Track 11 – You & Your Sister. Mortal Coil did this but I’m not sure who this? Goodness.

11. You and Your Sister – Chris Bell – A cup favourite this year but not with this track, which is the country version.

Track 12 – A favourite, among many. No idea who it is.

12. Temptation – Moby – well known as a Joy Division fan, the bald one takes the New Order classic, slows it down and turns it into a beautiful mournful lament.

Track 13 – The mood continues. Laid back quiet vocals over a light, but not easy listening backing.

13. Rhymes of an hour – Mazzy Star – Taken from the Among my Swan album, Hope Sandaval on vocals.
Track 14 – Steps up a bit but not much, good

14. The Rhythm Divine – Billy MacKenzie – ex of the associates, this is actually a collaboration with Yello but which was latterly re-recorded with Shirley Bassey on vocals and was a massive hit for Yello across Europe. Both great versions.

Track 15 – More music that feels like it could come from almost any time or place

15. Bellevue – Balloon – Piano on this is amazing. Did one album, and disappeared all together, thankfully they left behind a collection of stunning tracks.

Track 16 – This is much louder than prior tracks but flows well. We’re wrapping up soon and no letdowns yet. As with many other tracks the sound is familiar, though not the particular song.

16. Stop Your crying – Spiritualized – Taken from the album of the same name and after the bombast of LGWAFIS, this was almost a return to the good old days, the orchestral choirs are still there but it is more tempered and both lyrically and aesthetically, it keeps with the flow of the disc.

Track 17 – Bridge Over Troubled Water. Not sure who’s doing it. Great version

17. Bridge over troubled water – Elvis Presley – Somehow, I ended up with a recording of the Elvis: the way it is, and this is the undubbed version without the crowd. From the gentle piano start it builds into an absolute monster of a track, I love the bit where the strings kick in with the bass. He wasn’t called the king for nothing was he. Stunning vocal performance.

A wonderful disc. You could sell this. I look forward to the reveal & will review the second disc shortly.

Glad you enjoyed it.

1. I left my heart in San Francisco – Tony Bennett
2. Who knows where the time goes – Fairport Convention
3. Planet Caravan – Black Sabbath
4. The beast in Me – Nick Lowe
5. Monochrome – The Sundays
6. Lolita Elle – Jack
7. Ghost ship in a storm – Jim O’Rourke
8. The World is as soft as lace – Felt
9. Kangaroo – This Mortal Coil
10. Sad & Beautiful World – Sparklehorse
11. You and Your Sister – Chris Bell
12. Temptation – Moby
13. Rhymes of an hour – Mazzy Star
14. The Rhythm Divine – Billy MacKenzie
15. Bellevue – Balloon
16. Stop Your crying – Spiritualized
17. Bridge over troubled water – Elvis Presley

[TG]

My disc this month came from Iggy Pop, apparently still living in a trailer park in Ann Arbor. Unexpected.

I was your Iggy Pop this month! This was a mix of things I was listening to one Friday night after work. A little bit all over the place but I enjoyed it and I'm glad you found something to like here.

1- Moody number with electric piano, reverb, distorted hip-hoppery. A little bit of Tricky in it, but I don’t have a clue who it is. A nice opening.

Last Temptation by The Twilight Singers - one of Greg Dulli's post Afghan Whigs outfits. He makes some tremendous records.

2- This sounds very familiar and like I definitely should have heard it before. Late 70s, pretty low-fi, but about half of it (vocals and rhythm guitar) sounds like early Stones. This can’t possibly be a Some Girls outtake, can it? It doesn’t really sound like that, but certain ingredients suggest that.

Garland Jeffrey's Wild in the Streets - an early 70s NYC based, Velvets influenced singer songwriter. I have no idea if he did anything else of worth but I dig this single.

3- “King of the Bayou” from Joe Strummer’s great Earthquake Weather. Why isn’t this album more appreciated?

I have no idea why this record isn't appreciated more. It's a fine CD from start to finish and it always seems like I'm the only one who likes it. I'm glad to find another fan.

4- A song about a ‘whiskey woman,’ very CSNYy. My guess would be maybe very early Jayhawks or someone similar. It’s pretty loose apart from the harmonies, and the heavy echo on the vocals suggests a band new to the studio and a not very confident singer. But it’s charming, and I’m a sucker for that retroness.

A favorite band and LP of mine. Whiskey Woman from the Flamin' Groovies "Teenage Head" LP. I think the singer (Roy Loney) is probably far more confident than he has a right to be. He does wonders with the talent he has. I've gotten way into this record and their previous effort "Flamingo" lately through the reissues and I've been enjoying them both a lot.

5- Late 80s or 90s pop rockabilly. Dwight Yoakam? I keep thinking I should get a CD of his to try him out. This is pretty good, but I think I’d get tired of it over the course of a full album.

L.A.'s Dwight Yoakam doing Fast As You. I heard some band do a cover of this about a year ago and I could not, for the life of me, figure out what it was until it finally hit me and I played it that night. Consequently you got it on the mix.

6- I knew this sounded really familiar, but at first I couldn’t place it. A little searching of my iTunes helped me track it down. “Jewel Eyed Judy” from pre-Buckingham/Nicks, post-Green Fleetwood Mac. It’s a good track, but that stuff just doesn’t have a readily identifiable sound to me. Perfect Mix Club song, in a way.

One of my favorite F. Mac albums. I've always thought this could have been a hit if covered by a pop band. A favorite track of mine.

7- “King of the Road” from Roger McGuinn with Tom Petty. There’s some good stuff on that Back From Rio album, and this is one of them to be sure. It was nice hearing this for the first time in many years.

I hadn't heard this track in years either. I saw it on the CD shelf and played it and it struck me as the perfect Mix Club track. I've played it a few times since and it holds up well.

8- Mid-80s American indie, with a Peter Buck-sounding guitar. Voice sounds like Steve Wynn. Is it Dream Syndicate or solo Wynn? --- Actually, I just checked, and I actually do have this track, “Tears Won’t Help” from Wynn’s Kerosene Man (1990, oops).

That's the one. Mr. Wynn had made a lot of good records in his time.

9- 90s low-fi indie pop, a child of Westerberg or more poppy Guided by Voices type of thing. I’m curious for the reveal.

This is another real fave o' mine. The Liquor Giants (featuring Ward Dotson of Gun Club & Pontiac Brothers renown) doing Hideous Pleasure. A tragically overlooked Power Pop band. I think they had a bit of fame in Australia back in the day but couldn't do much in the U.S. It's a shame cause they were really good.

10- When this track started up I thought it was Aimee Mann, and, recognizing the tune, I thought it was “Crimson and Clover”. By the chorus I realized, of course, that it was “Angel of the Morning,” and I’m pretty certain it’s Chrissie Hynde (with Pretenders, I assume). Sounds like something that was probably from a soundtrack to a movie. Not sure that the fade-back-in was warranted.

Pretenders it is. Another one I found on the shelf that night and played for the first time in years. I believe it was from a S/T and it almost didn't make the Mix Club cut due to the pointless fade-back-in but ultimately I left it in.

11- Not having actually heard him do a lead vocal (that I can remember), I’m going to have to assume this has to be Ronnie Wood. This is a great ramshackle Faces/early-70s Stones sound with Jagger on backing vocals (right?). If it is Ronnie, he sounds, as I would expect him to, almost exactly like a cross between Keith and Dylan. Whoever it is, I’m going to have to get me some. Great! Sleazy, but great.

Close. I think Ronnie Wood actually may play on this along with Keith and Mick who are there for sure. It's John Phillips doing She's Just 14 from his post Mamas & Papas junk filled foray into Stonesville. It's a little more disconcerting since daughter Mackenzie's tales of incest but I decided to include it anyway.

By the way if you haven't heard Ronnie Wood doing any solo stuff I'd recommend YouTubing tracks like Seven Days or Can You Feel The Fire. He did some nice work early in his solo career.

12- Starts out with wild slide playing before going into a hard rock stomp. Not especially my type of thing. At least the vocals aren’t heavy metal posturing.

Austin's True Believers. The track (and the album it came from) suffers from 80's production but they were a good band. I saw them live way back when and they were really good in that setting.

13- Interesting rock instrumental, with drums bashing away but more nuanced guitar filigrees and a hint of Link Wray/Duane Eddy old school attitude.

Guns & Roses' Izzy Stradlin from either his 1st or 2nd solo record. It's called Surf Roach and it's a swangin' little modern day surf instro.

14- MC5? Great guitar solo, but the lead vocal seems a bit overwrought for the more tempered music. After the mid-song quiet down, it comes back together more successfully. I get the feeling that it might need more than the three listens I’ve given it to really gel for me.

MC5 doing Over and Over. From the High Times LP. I like this track and the LP it came from a lot. I'm just realizing how much early 70s pre-punk I've managed to squeeze into this mix. I'm showing my age.

15- Could this be my sender, Mr. Iggy Pop? The vocals are so distorted, so it’s a bit hard to tell. I don’t think it’s Stooges, maybe Kill City stuff? I can’t understand what's being chanted in the hook at all. Pretty good, and it makes for startlingly abrupt end to the disc.

A track from last year. Pere Ubu offshoot Rocket From The Tombs in their reformed mode with Television's Richard LLoyd on guitar. This 45 came out and a full length album was to follow. If it came out I missed it but based on this song (and its B-Side) I'd buy it. The hook you can't understand is "Honey, I Sell Soul".

So, a good disc, thanks. I'm quite curious about a few of these and it was nice hearing some tunes I hadn't listened to in a long while.

Here's the track list-

Last Temptation The Twilight Singers
Wild In The Street Garland Jeffrey
King of the Bayou Joe Strummer
Whiskey Woman The Flamin' Groovies
Fast As You Dwight Yoakam
Jewel Eyed Judy Fleetwood Mac
King Of The Hill Roger McGuinn
Tears Won't Help Steve Wynn
Hideous Pleasure Liquor Giants
Angel of the Morning The Pretenders
She's Just 14 John Phillips
She's Got True Believers
Surf Roach Izzy Stradlin
Over And Over MC5
I Sell Soul Rocket From The Tombs

[beenieman]

1. I left my heart in San Francisco – Tony Bennett
2. Who knows where the time goes – Fairport Convention
3. Planet Caravan – Black Sabbath
4. The beast in Me – Nick Lowe
5. Monochrome – The Sundays
6. Lolita Elle – Jack
7. Ghost ship in a storm – Jim O’Rourke
8. The World is as soft as lace – Felt
9. Kangaroo – This Mortal Coil
10. Sad & Beautiful World – Sparklehorse
11. You and Your Sister – Chris Bell
12. Temptation – Moby
13. Rhymes of an hour – Mazzy Star
14. The Rhythm Divine – Billy MacKenzie
15. Bellevue – Balloon
16. Stop Your crying – Spiritualized
17. Bridge over troubled water – Elvis Presley[/b]

A fantastic disc & truly one of my all time favourites. Thanks. A review, less favourable I'm afraid, of the bonus disc is on the bonus disc thread.

Thanks again.

[T. Willy Rye]

May's disc was somewhat of a mixed bag for me with the middle Aussie/New Zealand portion being very enjoyable.

1. So, things get off to a rocky start between me and this disc. Track # 1 isn't without its merits. It's bouncy and the horn's appearance is plenty welcome, but those vocals are unforgivable, perhaps from the Spandau Ballet school of over emotiveness.

2. Not sure who did this, but I probably should know. The first time I listened I didn't like it, but the playful bassline and punchy guitar is starting to win me over.

3. Clever indie pop that could have been made any time during the last 15 years. Definitely was made over there (UK). Have no idea who it is, another song that I could come around to.

4. I like the bored delivery of the female vocalist. I was gonna say something like the song sounds like mood music for people who don't buy many cds and don't they know Sade has already cornered the market there? Maybe that's not being fair. The song doesn't demand much from me and seems content to become wallpaper.

5. It's the 1980s again and not the good 80s either. I don't like the electric keyboard noises. Wait,I know this one, it used to come blaring out of my sister's bedroom. Nick Kershaw, Whistle Down the Wind. I'm sure I uttered some kind of rant about it being music for pussies and threatened to kick him in the nuts if I ever met him, but that was the 14 year old me. The 43 year old just wonders why?

6. This is where things take a turn for the better. Nice upbeat pop track with a lot more going on then in the 5 previous, strong vocals nice interplay between instruments. Just an altogether winner.

7.EDIT- The Church with “An Unguarded Moment.” Even though I came to the Church in 87 or 88, after this track, this still fills me with nostalgia for the southern Cal of the late 80s. 91X would play 3 in a row by one artist and this often came up along with Milky Way and another track; Reptile sometimes. I should probably own more by the Church.

8. Mixer's now on a roll. The Clean with “Point That Thing Somewhere Else.” One killer track.

9. This is the Triffids' with Chicken Killer. Another really strong track. This disc is starting to seems like it could have come from Magilla, but I'm pretty sure he's sitting this month out.

10. Possibly another band from that corner of the world. Another winner. Were Pavement listening to these guys? Bet they were.

11. This sounds like it's close to the same vintage as many of the above. I think more emphasis is given to the lyrics, which I guess, are clever. Musically not very interesting. A British thing, perhaps?

12. I don't know, things kind of swerve off the tracks here. I guess I view 80s UK pop as a somewhat shallow pool. I'd be happy to let this lost gem to continue on its road to obsolescence.

13. This one's a little better. Is that Julian Cope?

14. Lloyd Cole with Charlotte Street. Welcome here.

15. The last song is God awful.

Thanks mixer, particularly for your tour of Oceania.

[Duncan]

Great mix of summery pysch and acid folk this month. Right up my street, so here goes.

1. One of my favourite UK psychers. Listening to Kaleidoscope is like being wrapped in a fuzzy blanket. Precious, twee and daft (but in a good way).

2. Another track that's just about perfect; Fairport Convention's Tale In Hard Time. Wonderful harmonies, some of Thompson's best licks, and that delicate harpsichord. I'd forgotten how good this track is, so thanks for that.

3. This starts off like something out of David Lynch film before quickly turning into something more in-keeping with the mood. I love the organ. Vocals aren't great, but the rest of it is strong enough that it doesn't really matter.

4. Folky noodling. Perfect for the summer evening sunshine (if I ever get to experience such a thing). Doesn't outstay its welcome.

5. More sublime harmonies, this time from the Moby Grape boys. Warm and thoroughly lovely.

6. Fiddling fun. I like this a lot, although it reminds of something that I can't quite put my finger on, which is mildly bothersome. Regardless, is terrifically jaunty.

7. Donovan - Colours. Perhaps a little too wet and hippyish for me, but it's charming enough in its own way and I dig the intro.

8. Pleasantly restrained folky chanteuse. I quite like the playful woodwind action. Nice production too, the whole thing feels like it would shatter in to a thousand pieces if you tried to pick it up.

9. Sitar time. The instrument seems slightly at odds with the subject matter but it actually works quite well.

10. Trippy cosmic nonsense. An interesting artifact from its time but I had to skip it after the first few times.

11. More quick fingers and some killer percussion work. The ghostly vocals add an extra splash of acidy goodness.

12. A country-tinged version of Nilsson's She Sang Hymns Out Of Tune. I think that I prefer this to Harry's. Crackin' vocals (that I will kick myself for not recognising) and a tidy arrangement.

13. I found this to be a little one-paced and earnest at first but it's grown on me a bit. Not a favourite, but it's pleasant enough. Clocking in at five minutes, it's definitely too long, though.

14. This is more good stuff. I love little touches toward the end. This has to be Marc Bolan, surely? I don't think that I've heard it before, though. I really should pay more attention to T-Rex.

15. I love the sleepy sitars but I did struggle a bit with the whiny, out of tune vocals.

There you have it then, an absolute cracker. One of my favourite discs. It flows really well and the whole thing is just so relentlessly warm. The artwork was jolly lovely too.

Thanks again.

[fange]

this track...still feels me with nostalgia

What kind of set up are you using there, Eric?

(Mental note - pack a chastity belt when i go to Eric's to 'listen' to some tunes.)