Slow Jamming the Swine Flu

Ah, the silly titles continue unabated. This mix took form in July 2009. CD’s available upon request or by precedent, lossy files here.

01. The Crazy Dogggz “Doggie Bounce” (Introducing The Crazy Dogggz, 01)

Pretty much the best song on TeeVee, way better than anything from those guys in “Flight of the Conchords”. “It ain’t against the law, make your hand into a paw”. I have a feeling they’re going to be cranking out one #1 hit after another.

02. The Knife “Neverland” (Silent Shout, 02)

Great creepy Swedish electronica. I feel like the lyrics may be referring to Michael Jackson with lines like “where’s the monkey that I’ve been told of” and “he’s pointing with the fingers that are left on his hand”, but I haven’t seen any corroboration of my theory. Replete with techno thud and filter sweep.

03. King Khan & The Shrines “(How Can I Keep You) Outta Harms Way” (What Is?!, 01)

King Khan & The Shrines blew me away at the Pitchfork Festival with their rockin’ soul. High energy goodness with trashy guitars and decending brass. Had to reduce the volume a bit though, cuz it was mastered ridiculously loud. So loud in fact that parts of it, including when the brass first comes in, seem to be quite distorted. I wasted several hours trying to figure out if something was messed up with my Mac or with the problematic home stereo system I’ve been utilitizing over the holidaze, before I finally realized it’s just that way in the track itself.

04. Pearls Before Swine “Drop Out!” (One Nation Underground, 05)

A fine hippie anthem from Mr. Rapp with some nice soft/loud/soft action. “Don’t you worry…”

05. St. Vincent “The Strangers” (Actor, 01)

This track leads off St. Vincent’s most recent album. Pretty much knew this was going on a mix the first time I heard it, with quirky but compelling construction that sticks right inside your head. I guess the lyrics are actually “paint the black hole blacker” rather than being directed at a black girl.

06. The Bee Gees “Please Read Me” (Bee Gees’ 1st, 13)

Nice song from the brothers Gibb, again from their pre-disco days. Great vocal harmonies, but what got me was that lilting guitar part that comes in every so often. Covered by Nina Simone.

07. No Age “Sleeper Hold” (Nouns, 07)

No Age didn’t blow me away live (always hard to live up to MBV comparisons, in my book), but upon later listening to their album, this taut piece of intensity caught my attention. Really reminds me of Henry’s Dress.

08. Sloan “Ill Placed Trust” (Never Hear the End of It, 21)

Sloan at their most badass. “People tell me that I take it too far”.

09. Selda Bagcan “Ince Ince” (Selda, 05)

I think I first heard this on the radio in the b.a., but if not, I then heard it on a mix from Monitor Mix’s Carrie Brownstein back in the heady days of the muxtape. From Selda’s self-titled 1976 album, this Turkish psych track pretty much rules. I’m assuming the CD is probably a vinyl transfer. Apparently in the previous decade, Selda had been Turkey’s answer to Joan Baez, but on this album she utilizes “the talents of popular backing band Dadaslar under the guidence of Anatolian rock stalwart Arif Sag and master electronic producer and pioneer Zafer Dilek”, and the result is magic. She was later imprisoned by the authorities for her political outspokenness.

10. Lush “Nothing Natural” (Spooky, 02)

My obsession with this song continues. The defining feature is really the hypnotic bass, but to it is added beautiful vox and those Lush guitars, always dreamy but with a dark noisy wash.

11. The Cure “The Blood” (The Head on the Door, 03)

The Cure is one of those influential bands that I never really heard back in the day, and I’ve only just started checking out their back catalog. Certainly wasn’t expecting to find the cool Spanish guitar strummings on this gem, but glad I did.

12. Pauline Murray & The Invisible Girls “Sympathy” (Pauline Murray & The Invisible Girls, 05)

Was almost about to delete this album I’d copied from a friend from my hard drive when “Sympathy” started to tweak my ear. I started liking it against my better instincts, and before long I began to realize just how much the album ruled. When the punks are making dance music, you know you’re in the post-punk age. Pauline Murray is a unique talent, and the band was a perfect fit for her. It’s really too bad they didn’t make much more music after this.

13. Sigur Ros “Agaetis Byrjun” (Heim, 04)

A beautiful acoustic version of their melancholic song whose title translates as “good start”.

14. Ride “Magical Spring” (Carnival of Light, 10)

Took me a while to finally listen to Ride’s less shoegazey effort from 1994, but when I did, I fell in love with this song. Wistful and triumphant, seems perfectly put together to me.

15. Shocking Blue “Dream on Dreamer” (Singles A’s and B’s, 08)

Another great tune from Dutch group Shocking Blue from 1973 to calmly and intricately rock you.

16. The Hollies “Have You Ever Loved Somebody” (Evolution, 10)

Infectious Hollies tune, great reverbed vox. Funny how different it sounds in headphones vs speakers. Maybe I should’ve cranked the volume on this up a bit, hmm…

17. The Runaways “Heartbeat” (Queens Of Noise, 09)

This doesn’t seem to have been one of their hits, but damn, I think it’s great. The highlight of course is the ladies reverbedly singing “Stop! Look! Listen!” in unison with some power chord action.

18. Thin Lizzy “Look What The Wind Blew In” (Thin Lizzy, 05)

Another track I stole from Carrie Brownstein’s muxtape, from Thin Lizzy’s 1971 debut. Slightly odd guitar tone that reminds me a bit of Queens of the Stone Age, with shakedown parts probably influenced by Irish folk.

19. Broken Social Scene “Lover’s Spit” (Bee Hives, 09)

Beauty in slow motion. No idea why they didn’t use this version with vocals by Feist in the first place.

20. The Byrds “It’s No Use” (Mr. Tambourine Man, 09)

Dig the crisp purity of the guitars and the economy of construction.

21. Sonic Youth “Walkin Blues” (The Eternal, 11)

Though they never went away, the Youth are back. Nicely liquid guitar lines on this cool Lee Ranaldo tune.