Fast Times at Subprime High

Conceived of as early as a year ago, dated March 2009 when the sequence was fairly well in place, and only finalized yesterday after much indecision about volumes and edits. It’s so familiar at this point, I feel like maybe I already posted this. Lossy here, physical upon request or precedent.

01. The Charlatans “Alabama Bound” (The Amazing Charlatans, 02)

I love the way this track almost imperceptibly transforms from a lazy, easy going folk/blues/ragtime cover to a somewhat mind altering droner, paralleling the way SF scene godfathers & olde timey dressers The Charlatans paved the way for the hippy hordes to come. Also appears on the Love Is the Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets 1965-1970 box set.

02. Pauline Murray & The Invisible Girls “Mr. X” (Pauline Murray & The Invisible Girls, 10)

I copied a bunch of mp3′s from my friend KQ at one point, and going through them, I was about to delete this album by former Penetration singer Pauline Murray when the song “Sympathy” began to catch my ear. Later I got into “Mr. X”, for which there’s actually a bit of video extant. Finding a copy on CD anywhere became a quest of many months, which finally ended one day when I found it in the punk section of Amoeba SF. Great insistent vocals, cool bass, and there’s some compellingly weird treatment of the percussion. Produced by Martin Hannett of Joy Division fame. I added a fade up at the end to transition into…

03. Dungen “Gör Det Nu” (Tio Bitar, 03)

A rocking track from everyone’s favorite Swedish retro rockers. My favorite thing about this are the intense drums, especially right at the beginning, and the cool way the guitar is shaken while its overdriven sound slowly decays.

04. Santogold “Unstoppable” (Santogold, 09)

Santi White (fomerly staged named Santogold, now Santigold) seemed to come out of nowhere with her great varied debut record, featuring this rad tune, which has a bit of a M.I.A. feel to it, but apparently she used to be in a punk band, and has co-written songs for GZA, Res, and Lily Allen.

05. Sloan “Ana Lucia” (Never Hear the End of It, 11)

It was this album that rekindled my love for Sloan, and this is the song that really did it. For a long time, I thought they were singing “Andalusia”.

06. The Who “Heaven and Hell” (Live at Leeds, 01)

As the man said, Live at Leeds was really a turning point for them (inside joke). Anyway, talk about full-on, this is full on. Keith Moon is in full effect, and Pete ain’t doing too bad either, rocking the chords and the solos. Great lyrics by Mr. Entwistle.

07. Bat for Lashes “Trophy” (Fur and Gold, 02)

Though there’s some Bjorkish stuff on the debut Bat for Lashes album, this tune by Natasha Khan has a more idiosyncratic spooky vibe.

08. Beck “Chemtrails” (Modern Guilt, 03)

A lot of people seem to have given up on Beck, but I think this is an awesome dreamy tune. Although, given his Scientology, I wonder if he actually believes in chemtrails too. Great chugging bass, some cool guitar scree at points.

09. Black Moth Super Rainbow “Sun Lips” (Dandelion Gum, 06)

BMSR (from Pittsburgh, who knew?) are just what the doctor ordered, with cool drummings, analog drenched melotronrific sounds, and vocoder robot humans at play.

10. Donovan “Hi It’s Been a Long Time” (The Hurdy Gurdy Man, 06)

Perfect little ditty, great lyrics. “Proud as any woman should be, proud of womankind”.

11. Yeasayer “2080″ (All Hour Cymbals, 03)

Now that 2010 is no longer the distant future, we must write songs about 2080. Some of their songs are a bit too earnest, but this one hits the mark.

12. The Replacements “Unsatisfied” (Let It Be, 07)

After many years of ignoring, or briefly considering and then ignoring the Replacements, I finally got into them with Let It Be. A strange mix of 12-string emotion and scruffy rock from the same album as “Gary’s Got a Boner”. “Look me in the eye, then tell me, that I’m satisfied”.

13. Public Nuisance “America” (V/A – Love Is the Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets 1965-1970 (Disc 2), 16)

Hear Sacramento calling on this grungy slice of goodness from the “Suburbia” disc of the SF Nuggets box set.

14. The Waterboys “I Will Not Follow” (The Waterboys, 06)

On the flipside, The Waterboys deliver what appears to be a bit of an anti-American screed. Compelling vocal delivery, and some sax action for all you ’80s heads.

15. Luna “Beautiful View” (Pup Tent, 02)

This was on my pending mix list for many go rounds. I think maybe I didn’t think the chorus as good as the verses, but its fragile beauty has overcome all objections. Dean Wareham can really destroy you with his delivery over those Luna guitars. “Don’t waste your time, learning Klingon, it ain’t no use”.

16. Moby Grape “Looper (demo)” (Truly Fine Citizen, 16)

Another goodie from the Grape. Seems to me that the demo version actually rocks more than the album rendition.

17. Pearls Before Swine “Another Time” (One Nation Underground, 01)

Speaking of fragile beauty, this little ditty destroyed me immediately upon first listen.

18. Shocking Blue “Send Me a Postcard” (Singles A’s and B’s, 03)

Another quest of months was the acquisition of the more recent remaster of this singles comp by classic Dutch rockers Shocking Blue, better known for “Venus” and “Love Buzz”. Another perfect tune.

19. Les Savy Fav “Brace Yourself” (Let’s Stay Friends, 06)

I’ve seen LSF live a number of times, and the focus always seemed more on Tim Harrington’s antics than on the noisy music they were playing, so I was a bit surprised to discover this dreamy gem when I finally gave their album a listen.

20. Pavement “Cream of Gold” (Terror Twilight, 04)

One day I was trying to figure out what mix I had put this on, only to discover that I hadn’t used it before! I think it didn’t make the cut for a prior mix, and then I started with a clean slate on the next one. At any rate, this is a really cool tune. Part of it really reminds me of “Mexican Radio”. The guitar work at the end reminds me of King Crimson. “Time is a one way track, and I am not coming back”. This album is going to be reissued with the suffix “Farewell Horizontal Edition”, but I couldn’t wait that long.

21. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young “Everybody I Love You” (Déjà vu, 10)

I tried for a long time to figure out some way to segue into this song, but finally gave up after noting that it also has an abrupt non-segue on the album on which it appears.