2.7.10

Occupancy of the Hormones

For loud summertime car trips - Occupancy of the Hormones.

1. Collision With A Frogman... - Swell Maps
2. Roaming the Foam - LFTR PLLR
3. My Valuable Hunting Knife - Bils Negra (GBV cover)
4. Smile Now - Thee Headcoats
5. Got To Get Me A Job - Ann Alford
6. With My Rifle - Bloody Phoenix
6. Big Bed - Danko Jones
7. Money I$ King - Lee Fields & the Expressions
8. Animal Party - King Khan & the BBQ Show
9. Captured Danish Photographer - Men's Recovery Project
10. She Ain't A Child No More - Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings
11. World of Mirrors - France Has the Bomb
12. Women Police in England - The Mighty Terror & His Calypsonians
13. Yr Belligerent Face - Dan Melchior und Das Menace
14. Flat Foot Hustlin' - Dillinger
16. I'm So Glad You Love Me - Juanita Rogers (Sun Ra Doo-Wop Jawn)
17. Nothing Left Inside - Karp

Get at some loud, in-the-car jamz this summer. Sho' ya right!

16.6.10

These Minerals We Seem Lacking

I promised the Doog that I would compile hims some "between sets jams" for him to rock whilst being a soundguy at various rock clubs. Doog is the only live music aficionado I know who hates music. So he has been alternating between a Meters collection and Talking Heads - Remain in Light for several years while bands get their shit together. I mean, he could have picked worse shit to groove out to between changing over gear, but I understand the frustration of the club managers who are probably sick of "The Great Curve".

So while I am diggin' in the crates and trying to paint some aural buffet for my man to use on the job, I can't seem to put down Plants and Animals latest, La La Land. I was not bowled over by 2008's Parc Avenue - it seemed to leave a lot of holes where the songs could have gotten much more rich and then would just fall flat. But La La Land picks up with a much more cerebral meatiness... less folk-noodling that seemed to be so en vogue with the success of bands like Animal Collective, who every indie band seemed to be aping at the time.

I have not seen the live show translation of Plants and Animals, but there definitely seems to be a lot of room for improvisation. I am hoping they stay "plugged in" and keep the layers working, because La La Land is a solid listen. It may be a little too difficult to fit into the Doog's mid-show setlists, but I may try to sneak a track like "Fake It" into one of the more energetic moments.

Check La La Land here... and then, if you are down, do the right thing.

13.5.10

Driving and Talk Radio: Go Fuck Yerself

It has finally worn off... I cannot stomach anymore talk radio. These pandering windbags on the right and the left are just stoking the social brain damage with every passing caller. the people that call are certainly 38 - 42% dialing in from some payphone in an asylum somewhere. Don't expect me to back this up with some over-the-top bullshit segment I heard today or yesterday or whenever... this is a culmination of the isolated brain wanderings inflicted upon me by my 2 hours of isolation per day trapped in Ye Olde Family Truckster to and fro the shore from my suburban home.

I am going to now only listen to heavy, evil, angst-ridden sludge so that I may surround myself in a deafening sonic cocoon that reflects the dangerous and primeval thoughts that I mull over at a maddening rate while swerving thru shit-fuck tourists at 90 MPH on yonder AC Expressway.

Can you handle the deep fucking rage? I am gonna bringin it to you directly, and it's disfigured, scarred, and oozing-tumor face will stare back and whelp it's tears of despair. You will know just how I feel.

14.4.10

Where is the Learned Pig?

Don't cry yet children... these shadows run long and deep, but the darkness wanes for the sake of heaven's gravity.

What does that mean?

It means I am stirring the stew and the shit is hot.

21.7.09

Pistols At Dawn (could only work for so long...)

Hey, I like making mixtapes. You do too... come on. Who hasn't made one for their lady or dude in the day?
Yeah, no one has actually put the shit on a cassette in ages, but a mixtape is a mixtape, right?

For several years now, the Dibbick Schmibbick Collective has taken the art form of mixtape composure to a next level, a nearly competitive stratus. We started hosting Mix Trade Parties as a way to challenge one another into making the "most fly" mixtape and then sharing it with the group. Inevitably, themes pop up or common strings to make sense of all the song-mashing... I love it.
I was always the dude who would force his headphones on unsuspecting chumps or force people to "hey, wait... listen to this shit!" when hanging out. My late entry into the world of driving held me back from forcing others to listen whatever kooky jams I would be bumping in the whip, so I had to make up for it by working at Hall of Heroes and playing the most anti-retail music I could come up with to drive my Michal Jackson-obsessed boss up a tree.
So, I am natural mixtape obsessive. I have spent years working on my craft. MP3s and the digital media have made the shit almost too easy... just draggin' and droppin' shit into a playlist isn't the same as spending hours in front of your tape deck making sure your 'transitions' are on point. But c'est la vie... I go with what works. Embrace the future.

Just a few weeks ago, my main man Jack Luminous hosted this summer's Mix Trade BBQ and my goofy summer schedule prohibited me from joining the fracas. But that does not mean I didn't compose a submission that I am very proud of. Early on, while thinking of what I would do to put the "most fly" mixtape together, I was inspired by the couplet "...but pistols at dawn, could only work for so long..." from the Destroyer track Helena (click here for the Dan Bejar lyric generator - it's fun and will give you snob points +5). Heavily drawing from the term Pistols At Dawn, I wanted to craft a mix that would evoke the feeling of morning, or sunrise. As most of my mixes tend to do, the shit went off-track real quick, though there are some elements of "morning" and "renewal" and of "breaking the fast" present in my ultimate selections. Though the theme can be a little heavy-handed at times, I think I approached the mix with a really open-mind and let loose with some shit that has been in both heavy rotation and, as always is the unspoken intention of the mixtape, some shit that I am hoping will get those that may be unfamiliar with the artists chosen perhaps a bit more familiar.

So, here is my submission - Pistols At Dawn. I had some dope artwork worked out for it, and still plan on distributing the "hard copies" as it were, so the images used her are like the plan B jawns.

PISTOLS AT DAWN - TLP 2K9 / PIX MADE TRARTY
1. The Wheel Rolls On - Archie Bronson Outfit
2. Early In The Morning - Harry Nilsson
3. Indian Summer - Spectrum (Sonic Boom)
4. First Heart Mighty Dawn Dart - T Rex
5. Mini-Manhunt - David Shire
6. Check Your Bucket - Eddie Bo (NOLA)
7. Empty Is - Frank Sinatra
8. Helena - Destroyer
9. Can You See? - Thee Oh Sees
10. Wild Eyes - Vivian Girls
11. Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down - Kris Kristofferson
12. Tight Frame Loose Frame - Smart Went Crazy
13. Weeds Breaking Through The Concrete - Jonathan Richman
14. Good Morning Kaptain - Jackie-O Motherfucker
15. Shelter - Black Mountain
16. I Don't Feel at Home In This World Anymore - Two Gospel Keys

So, download the shit here. But, because I love everything I added to this mix and would be stoked to see the artists get theirs, each track in the listing above is linked to a spot to buy the shit right-proper. Do the right thing.

And to those involved in JL's Mix trade BBQ that I pussied out on and and could not make it to, I am very sorry. Please know that I have the hardest of the hard copy ready for you to hold in your grubby hands.