Mix Tape Vol. 2Robin Hilton
February 5, 2007
Imperial Teen: “Yoo Hoo” from What is Not to Love
I never saw it, but apparently this song was in the soundtrack to the movie Jawbreaker, a film about three popular high school girls who accidentally kill the prom queen. This is the kind of tune that makes you feel cool for listening to it. I guess this San Francisco band got some attention once the movie came out with their song in 1999. And they’re still together. But I can’t see that they’ve really done anything since.
Eagles of Death Metal: “Flames Go Higher” from Peace Love Death Metal
The two guys that make up this band - Jesse Hughes and Josh Homme - have a great sense of humor and never take themselves seriously. So much so that a lot of people who hear them play assume it’s a joke or comedic rock. I think it’s just great rock, with killer riffs and rhythms. It’s classic garage rock (not death metal as the name would imply), performed deftly. This song is from their debut album, definitely worth getting. They had a follow up (Death by Sexy) in 2006 that’s also strong.
Mirah: “The Struggle” from C’mon Miracle
You’d probably call Mirah (full name Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn) a singer-songwriter, but she’s really so much more than that title suggests. Lo-fi, indie, acoustic, art-folk hits on some of what she does. Really, though, Mirah’s sound is so smart and original, I really can’t think of a label that does it justice. I’ve certainly heard artists juxtapose delicate little guitar lines with electronic bits and drum loops before. But something about Mirah’s songs keep surprising me, and always leave me wanting more. This is from the last album she released - C’mon Miracle - in 2004. Sadly I’ve heard rumors that she may have quit the music business.
My Bloody Valentine: “Sometimes” from Loveless
The way I remember it, Pitchforkmedia.com made a list of the top 100 albums of the ’90s and picked My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless as number one. But they revised the list in 2003 and switched it out with Radiohead’s OK Computer, moving Loveless to number two instead. Both albums are amazing, but I’d have to say that Loveless gets my vote for number one. You have to think of when it was produced. MBV started recording it in 1988 and it took three years to layer all these beautifully distorted guitars to come up with a sound no one had really ever heard before. Radiohead, on the other hand, produced OK Computer at the turn of the century with every digital studio toy you can imagine. Kevin Shields, the guy behind MBV, I think did way more with far less.
Daniel Lanois: “I Love You” from Shine
You know the work of Daniel Lanois even if you don’t recognize his name. When it comes to producing albums, he’s an unquestioned genius. I don’t think there’s anyone on the planet who can coax the kind of sonic space and texture out of both a studio and a band like he can. He did Peter Gabriel’s So, U2’s The Joshua Tree, Bob Dylan’s Time Out of Mind and many, many more. Lanois makes some of his own music as well. Most of it isn’t great. He’s a much, much better producer. But this song, from his 2003 album Sine really is a work of art.
M Ward: “So Much Water” from End of Amnesia
Matt Ward owes a lot to the melancholy whisper-rock-folk singers before him (Nick Drake, Bert Jansch, Elliott Smith), but he’s definitely earned a spot at the table. I’ve read that the drums for this song were recorded by sticking a mic in a large, metal oven to give it that warm, echoey effect. I want to believe that’s true. Every track on this album is a gem, but “So Much Water” gets me the most because it nails the way I feel about my teen years and so many of the people I went to school with.
T Rex: “Mambo Sun” from Electric Warrior
I have friends who make fun of me for liking this kind of stoner rock (T. Rex gave us the memorable classic “Get it On”), but I wouldn’t even call it a guilty pleasure. It’s just a pleasure, and I make no apologies. When other bands were shredding their guitars and amps to make the most noise possible in the ’60s and early ’70s, Marc Bolan of T. Rex was focusing on melody and these cool, spare grooves that just skip along. Electric Warrior is a true classic.
Nina Simone: “My Baby Just Cares For Me” from Little Girl Blue
I’m not a huge dancer, but this song makes me want to get up on my feet and grab a girl and shuffle around the living room. Simone put out some seriously cheesy music. She’s ranked among the jazz greats like Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, but I’m really not so sure. Maybe in part because Simone dabbled in so many genres, including odd covers of various pop tunes. But no matter what, she did give us this wonderful little song in 1958 and it became her signature tune. It was originally written by Walter Donaldson and Gus Kahn in the late ’20s.>
Sparklehorse: “Gold Day” from It’s a Wonderful Life
Sparklehorse (what a great name) is the music of Mark Linkous. He makes some of the most depressing songs I’ve ever heard in my life. Not for the lyrics as much as the mood he evokes with the dreamy dream-dream instrumentation and production, like something from a creepy circus in a strange hell. In the mid ’90s Linkous nearly died when he overdosed on alcohol, valium and anti-depressants. It wasn’t the drug cocktail, though, that did it. He passed out in his hotel bathroom with his legs folded/pinned under him for 14 hours, cutting off his circulation. When paramdeics lifted him up, the rush of juice through his body stopped his heart. Several surgeries later left him in a wheelchair for about six months before he learned to walk again. I love it!
Laura Veirs: “Ether Sings” from Carbon Glacier
Laura Veirs kind of speak-sings with a quirky voice, but it works for her songs. She started off playing chick-punk, then moved to as a more Americana folkie singer-songwriter sound. But her music has evolved over the years to include more electronic blurbbles, beeps and sweeps and slightly off kilter rhythms. The only word I can think of to describe her songs is “charming.” I mean that sincerely, though.
Cat Power: “He War” from You Are Free
Chan Marshall (pronounced ’shawn’) is getting a lot of attention for her most recent album, The Greatest, which is a tribute to Memphis soul. But it’s her earlier emo-art-rock stuff that really knocked me (and the vast majority or her other fans) out. This was her last album before the “Memphis” one and “He War” is probably my favorite track.
Bonnie Prince Billy: “A Minor Place” from I See A Darkness
It’s the creaky, fragile harmonies that make me love this song, along with the lyrics, though I don’t really know what they mean. “I’ve been to a minor place, and I can say I like its face. If I am gone and with no trace, I will be in a minor place.” Bonnie Prince Billy is also known as Will Oldham, Palace, Palace Music, Palace Brothers, Palace Songs and Bonny Billy.
The Magnetic Fields: “I Don’t Want to Get Over You” from 69 Love Songs
The Magnetic Fields is basically the music of Stephin Merritt, who’s also written and recorded as The 6ths, The Gothic Archies and Future Bible Heroes. I really think he’s one of the best if not the best lyricst making music today. He’s got an unusually low voice and I think he uses cheesy synths too much in his recordings. But if you look past the production, the actual songs with their inspired melodies and lyrics are pretty amazing. Merritt is also incredibly prolific. This song appears in a 3-CD collection of, as the name says, 69 love songs.
Ian Love: “The Only Night” from Ian Love
Ian Love is basically just some dude making music in his New York home. We corresponded by email briefly and I asked him what kind of setup he uses. Basically lots and lots of guitars, a desktop computer. He said he uses Reason for some of the drum parts. All very cool. His music has a very layered sound and like the 16th note rhythms that roll and roll and roll.
Death in Vegas: “Girls” from Scorpio Rising
The thing that’s so great about this song is that it’s just two chords with no lyrics, but it just builds and builds and builds until it’s soaring. I first heard it in the soundtrack to Lost in Translation, then went out and got the Death in Vegas album and all their stuff is pretty good, if you like British psychedelic electronica rock.
Elf Power: “Embrace the Crimson Tide” from The Winter is Coming
Elf Power is one of the many great acts to come out of Athens, Georgia and part of this sort of artists community/collective called Orange Twin. They own a bunch of land outside of Athens where they’re building a little colon with a winery, an outdoor ampitheater, eco-friendly homes, etc. I really love the percussion on this song. I’ve seen them perform it live a few times and it was always a rush seeing everyone beat on drums and buckets and whatever else was available on stage.
Neutral Milk Hotel: “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea” from In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
Another Athens, GA artist. This band is mostly the work of Jeff Mangum, the singer, songwriter and guitarist. This album is pure genius, but he hasn’t done jack squat since he released it in 1998. That seems so recent, but good lord man, it was nearly a decade ago. In his defense, I can’t really imagine the pressure he must feel, considering how high he set the bar with Aeroplane. We have some mutual friends. I heard he went to Canada to work on some new material a couple/few years ago, but spent all his time drinking and making out with his girlfriend. Sigh.
The Glands: “Call Me Doctor” from Double Thriller
Three Athens, GA artists in a row. These guys were also pretty brilliant, but haven’t done much of anything since their self-titled album came out in 2000. This song is from their first of two records, Double Thriller, which came out in 1998. I’m telling you, the late ’90s were looking pretty amazing in Athens. Then something mysterious happened and everyone dropped out of sight. Kind of sad. Or… IS it?
Cat Stevens: “The Wind” from Teaser and the Firecat
This song first appeared on the 1971 album Teaser and the Firecat when Cat Stevens was really hitting his stride. Everyone knows he found god, became a Muslim and changed his name to Yusuf Islam. He’s continued to make music under his new name for about 30 years now, though no one cared to listen to any of it. Last year (2006) he returned with his first pop album since the ’70s, called An Other Cup. It wasn’t great. But I heard him play “The Wind” on NPR’s Talk of the Nation and got tears in my eyes. And the words really say so much about where he was heading in his life.
Kevin Shields: “Goodbye” from Lost in Translation (Soundtrack)
Kevin Shileds is best known for his work as My Bloody Valentine. He’s been laying pretty low since that band more or less stopped making music in the very early 1990s. They didn’t really break up. They entered the studio to work on a new album in 1993, but absolutely nothing came out of it. Everyone except Shields left the group, and while rumors of a new album have persisted… still, nothing has happened. That’s why it was particularly stunning to me when Kevin Shields reappeared in 2003 when he produced the soundtrack to Lost in Translation. He included a few new solo tracks for it and this was one of them.
September 15th, 2007 at 7:36 am I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE A LIST OF SONGS WRITTEN BY GUS KAHN.