Hooray for houseguests. No really. I am so glad that everyone came to visit during October, but I am equally glad that everyone is now tucked away in their own houses far, far away. In celebration of this (and because I should be working on my nano outline among other things), I am going to write up my latest CD mix! The franco-klezmer-soul-indie-hip hop- mixture! (I haven't come up with any kind of clever name, obviously) Anyway, this is one I did with a friend in mind and also a few songs that I had been trying to wrangle for months.
1.Alpha Beta Gaga (Mark Ronson vocal remix) - Air This song has a crazy mix of hip-hop rhyming, ringing bells, jaunty whistles, and... it is well nigh irresistible.
2. Ces Bottes sont faites pour marcher (these boots are made for walking) - Eileen I love this because it is such a fake-out! It sounds exactly like the Nancy Sinatra version, except - en francais! C'est bon.
3. Nifty's Freilach - Naftule Brandwein - I can't remember which mp3 blog I got this from. When I got it, it was unlike anything else in my collection. Even though I haven't heard (or at least listened closely) to much klezmer, this piece really called out to me - so much so that I had to figure out how to get it on a mix. answer: shoehorn!
4. Seven One Eight - Fannypack - From Fluxblog This has a very insistent beat, and JUMP ROPE RHYMES! NC-17 jump rope rhymes to boot. Here's a G Rated sample: you get rude in your underoos/ so so moved by my rap haikus. Hee hee hee. I think I might get tired of 12 songs like this right in a row, but I love, love, love this one.
5. Get Ur Freak On - Missy Elliot w/ Nelly Furtado REMIX - I don't actually prefer this to the original, but it is a version my friend hadn't heard before, and Nelly does bring her own thing to it. This was from the Tombraider soundtrack.
6. Sadder Day - McKay - this is a great soul/electronica style mix. Plus, I like that with the way many Americans enunciate, Sadder Day and Saturday are pronounced exactly the same. I got this from The Number One Songs in Heaven, and he describes the sound much better than I can (always), so you should go read about it there.
7. Jessica - Adam Green Hee hee. Jessica Simpson, where has your love gone? It's not in your music/ Jessica, Jessica Simpson, you've got it all wrong and this came out ages before her TV show! I saw Adam Green open for Badly Drawn Boy - I remember this song more than any other one I heard that night. (what that says about me, I'm not quite sure) Go here to watch the video. (It will open right up in Quicktime. If you want to watch it some other way just google 'jessica adam green') There is ping pong! and an orchestra.
8. Wraith Pinned to the Mist (and other games) - Of Montreal - I might have put this one on another mix too. It's possible - I am crazy about it, as I have recently stated here. it seems too lovely to be true/ but the best things always do.
9. Sitting in the Park - Georgie Fame - this is just a beautiful song and one of the best examples of blue-eyed soul I can think of. (but I don't exactly have an encyclopedic knowledge of B-ES, so feel free to enlighten me). This song just rolls along and sounds just like a warm summer afternoon.
10. Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive - Jon Rauhouse & Kelly Hogan - I saw these two perform this before my perfect and idyllic Old 97's concert last year (almost exactly a year ago). It was so good live, but the recorded version does not disappoint. Kelly Hogan has a huge, generous voice. Plus, I like this song a ton already because it has handy reminders for life: bring joy up to the maximum, bring blues down to the minimum
11. Sista Social Theme Song - Menomena This one starts off like some guy playing piano in the mall and gives me that sinking "oh no" feeling, but then an organ comes in and it all turns around to become something that sounds very much like the Electric Mayhem from the Muppet Show might be playing it. Which gives me that "oh yay!" feeling. Although maybe my imagination is too influenced by their name. From the PDX Pop Now! CD.
12. God Slick - Hank - I know I've put this on another mix too, (after rummaging around the internet - yes! this one). I still love it. They sound like they have been marched to the edge of the sanity plank, but they're not bitter.
13. Jon E Storm - Dog Ruff What's not to like? Bratty girl vocals about a comic book character delivered over a super-fast beat is not something you hear every day. Jon E Storm human torch/ I'm burning up I'm burning up/ naked flame, licking me/ I'm burning up , I'm burning up
14. School - Masta Killa - this has an incessantly speeding up beat, as well as the powerfully addictive Wu-Tang chiming in the background. (and very skillful rhyming - I can't help but think it is harder to adjust the rhythm like he does here than to just go at a steady clip). oOoh, I just read that Masta Killa is "the most mysterious Wu-Member." which predictably makes me like it even more.
15. Go Go Power - Sugar Pie De Santo. Besides having one of the great names of all time (she will go in my name hall of fame with Lefty Frizell and Zoot Sims) she does have go go power! This song defies all powers of keeping still. I'm gonna get up from my seat/ shout when I feel that beat/ dance in my stocking feet/ dance till the crack of dawn
16. The Untold Story - MyG Feat. Mikah 9, Sleep, Zelle Rock- This is also from the PDX Pop Now! compilation. I picked this because it has the klezmer-y clarinet that fits within my framework, but it also sounds like hip-hoppy middle-eastern pop. Like I flipped the channel at 2AM and hit the international channel and can't look away from Iranian music videos. excellent.
17. Change Clothes - Jay Z (Danger Mouse) - I put this on another mix Ideeho, but it is so good! It goes with everything. This is one of Jay-Z's more lighthearted efforts - I love LOVE the erratic "wooo!'s," Danger Mouse plays it over the harpsichord part of The Beatles Piggies song. To read about it sounds like the most ridiculous thing ever, but it works. Is that necessary?
18. La Breeze - Simian - from Fluxblog, I learned that this song became popular and was in an advertisement in France. From myself, I think the repeated here it comes build up and break off sounds an awful lot like the start of the Monkee's TV show theme! Anyway, this all adds up to Must Listen To Repeatedly. The build up does pay off, trust me!
19. Is this Love? - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! Man, they have an exclamation point in their name - it feels like I've found my people! The singer for CYHSY! has a... hmmm... non-traditional singing voice, which I also adore - he sounds like he took a big hit on a helium balloon (in the shape of a gorilla in a tutu), ran around in circles, jumped on a trampoline, ran through a field of daisies or other allergens, and then right up to the microphone to deliver important news. And we can do the zarathustra /We can do the broken fist /We can tear down all the borders /Or abbreviate the list
20. Freilechs Von Der Chuppe - Shicky Gnarowitz & the Transparent Wings of Joy - Transparent Wings of Joy? I loved it before I heard it!! Fortunately for the recipients of this mix, the song lives up to the name. Like School and a couple of others, it speeds considerably from the beginning to the end. I also like that there is a lot of crazy cowboy style "yeee haww!" hooting in the background of this very traditional style song. Also from the PDX Pop Now! compilation.
21. Like a Feather - Nikka Costa - this song represents my first successful appeal to the iTunes music store. Back in 2002 when it came out, they didn't have it. I wrote a letter, and three short years later, they delivered! Don't ever let anyone tell you that crackpot letter writing doesn't see results. I love the fast handclaps, and the crazy bass line. Oh, hell. I just like it all (and I was going to make a quilt based on the light pattern in the video. it's all coming back to me now!)
22. La Fin Du Monde - Francoiz Breut - just lovely. I have no idea what she's singing about (the end of the world, but what about it?), but she can keep doing it! This song also changes up the tempo at least twice. It starts sounding like one thing, morphs into another (with backup singer), and then ends in a handclappy indie pop place. I love that place.
1.Alpha Beta Gaga (Mark Ronson vocal remix) - Air This song has a crazy mix of hip-hop rhyming, ringing bells, jaunty whistles, and... it is well nigh irresistible.
2. Ces Bottes sont faites pour marcher (these boots are made for walking) - Eileen I love this because it is such a fake-out! It sounds exactly like the Nancy Sinatra version, except - en francais! C'est bon.
3. Nifty's Freilach - Naftule Brandwein - I can't remember which mp3 blog I got this from. When I got it, it was unlike anything else in my collection. Even though I haven't heard (or at least listened closely) to much klezmer, this piece really called out to me - so much so that I had to figure out how to get it on a mix. answer: shoehorn!
4. Seven One Eight - Fannypack - From Fluxblog This has a very insistent beat, and JUMP ROPE RHYMES! NC-17 jump rope rhymes to boot. Here's a G Rated sample: you get rude in your underoos/ so so moved by my rap haikus. Hee hee hee. I think I might get tired of 12 songs like this right in a row, but I love, love, love this one.
5. Get Ur Freak On - Missy Elliot w/ Nelly Furtado REMIX - I don't actually prefer this to the original, but it is a version my friend hadn't heard before, and Nelly does bring her own thing to it. This was from the Tombraider soundtrack.
6. Sadder Day - McKay - this is a great soul/electronica style mix. Plus, I like that with the way many Americans enunciate, Sadder Day and Saturday are pronounced exactly the same. I got this from The Number One Songs in Heaven, and he describes the sound much better than I can (always), so you should go read about it there.
7. Jessica - Adam Green Hee hee. Jessica Simpson, where has your love gone? It's not in your music/ Jessica, Jessica Simpson, you've got it all wrong and this came out ages before her TV show! I saw Adam Green open for Badly Drawn Boy - I remember this song more than any other one I heard that night. (what that says about me, I'm not quite sure) Go here to watch the video. (It will open right up in Quicktime. If you want to watch it some other way just google 'jessica adam green') There is ping pong! and an orchestra.
8. Wraith Pinned to the Mist (and other games) - Of Montreal - I might have put this one on another mix too. It's possible - I am crazy about it, as I have recently stated here. it seems too lovely to be true/ but the best things always do.
9. Sitting in the Park - Georgie Fame - this is just a beautiful song and one of the best examples of blue-eyed soul I can think of. (but I don't exactly have an encyclopedic knowledge of B-ES, so feel free to enlighten me). This song just rolls along and sounds just like a warm summer afternoon.
10. Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive - Jon Rauhouse & Kelly Hogan - I saw these two perform this before my perfect and idyllic Old 97's concert last year (almost exactly a year ago). It was so good live, but the recorded version does not disappoint. Kelly Hogan has a huge, generous voice. Plus, I like this song a ton already because it has handy reminders for life: bring joy up to the maximum, bring blues down to the minimum
11. Sista Social Theme Song - Menomena This one starts off like some guy playing piano in the mall and gives me that sinking "oh no" feeling, but then an organ comes in and it all turns around to become something that sounds very much like the Electric Mayhem from the Muppet Show might be playing it. Which gives me that "oh yay!" feeling. Although maybe my imagination is too influenced by their name. From the PDX Pop Now! CD.
12. God Slick - Hank - I know I've put this on another mix too, (after rummaging around the internet - yes! this one). I still love it. They sound like they have been marched to the edge of the sanity plank, but they're not bitter.
13. Jon E Storm - Dog Ruff What's not to like? Bratty girl vocals about a comic book character delivered over a super-fast beat is not something you hear every day. Jon E Storm human torch/ I'm burning up I'm burning up/ naked flame, licking me/ I'm burning up , I'm burning up
14. School - Masta Killa - this has an incessantly speeding up beat, as well as the powerfully addictive Wu-Tang chiming in the background. (and very skillful rhyming - I can't help but think it is harder to adjust the rhythm like he does here than to just go at a steady clip). oOoh, I just read that Masta Killa is "the most mysterious Wu-Member." which predictably makes me like it even more.
15. Go Go Power - Sugar Pie De Santo. Besides having one of the great names of all time (she will go in my name hall of fame with Lefty Frizell and Zoot Sims) she does have go go power! This song defies all powers of keeping still. I'm gonna get up from my seat/ shout when I feel that beat/ dance in my stocking feet/ dance till the crack of dawn
16. The Untold Story - MyG Feat. Mikah 9, Sleep, Zelle Rock- This is also from the PDX Pop Now! compilation. I picked this because it has the klezmer-y clarinet that fits within my framework, but it also sounds like hip-hoppy middle-eastern pop. Like I flipped the channel at 2AM and hit the international channel and can't look away from Iranian music videos. excellent.
17. Change Clothes - Jay Z (Danger Mouse) - I put this on another mix Ideeho, but it is so good! It goes with everything. This is one of Jay-Z's more lighthearted efforts - I love LOVE the erratic "wooo!'s," Danger Mouse plays it over the harpsichord part of The Beatles Piggies song. To read about it sounds like the most ridiculous thing ever, but it works. Is that necessary?
18. La Breeze - Simian - from Fluxblog, I learned that this song became popular and was in an advertisement in France. From myself, I think the repeated here it comes build up and break off sounds an awful lot like the start of the Monkee's TV show theme! Anyway, this all adds up to Must Listen To Repeatedly. The build up does pay off, trust me!
19. Is this Love? - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! Man, they have an exclamation point in their name - it feels like I've found my people! The singer for CYHSY! has a... hmmm... non-traditional singing voice, which I also adore - he sounds like he took a big hit on a helium balloon (in the shape of a gorilla in a tutu), ran around in circles, jumped on a trampoline, ran through a field of daisies or other allergens, and then right up to the microphone to deliver important news. And we can do the zarathustra /We can do the broken fist /We can tear down all the borders /Or abbreviate the list
20. Freilechs Von Der Chuppe - Shicky Gnarowitz & the Transparent Wings of Joy - Transparent Wings of Joy? I loved it before I heard it!! Fortunately for the recipients of this mix, the song lives up to the name. Like School and a couple of others, it speeds considerably from the beginning to the end. I also like that there is a lot of crazy cowboy style "yeee haww!" hooting in the background of this very traditional style song. Also from the PDX Pop Now! compilation.
21. Like a Feather - Nikka Costa - this song represents my first successful appeal to the iTunes music store. Back in 2002 when it came out, they didn't have it. I wrote a letter, and three short years later, they delivered! Don't ever let anyone tell you that crackpot letter writing doesn't see results. I love the fast handclaps, and the crazy bass line. Oh, hell. I just like it all (and I was going to make a quilt based on the light pattern in the video. it's all coming back to me now!)
22. La Fin Du Monde - Francoiz Breut - just lovely. I have no idea what she's singing about (the end of the world, but what about it?), but she can keep doing it! This song also changes up the tempo at least twice. It starts sounding like one thing, morphs into another (with backup singer), and then ends in a handclappy indie pop place. I love that place.
I like a number of the tunes on your list -- was trying to see if there was any subtextual throughline whatsoever here, and happened upon bass lines: your fave Of Montreal song is powered by a good one, as is the Nikka Costa song... are you by any chance a bass player?
ReplyDeleteI wish! My only musical ability is that I like to listen to it - which distorts the meaning of 'ability' beyond all recognizable forms, but it's the best I can do. Other than that, yeah - I think you're on to something - bass definitely has a big part. It's not as prevalent on every song as the two you singled out- but others might have handclaps or a similar start-slow-speed-up thing. It seems to hang together when I listen to it in order or on random, which is my mix CD test.
ReplyDeleteOK. I thought I was done thinking about this, but oh, no. Now I have become obsessed with the bassness of these songs! I thought it was maybe up to half when I replied above, but I have been listening to them slightly differently since the potential bass theme was pointed out. Subtextual? It was totally subconscious. (can a thing be both?) I just like the way they sound together and really hadn't thought *why* I do. Until now! Here's the bass verdict (although some are a lot more basstastic than others):
ReplyDelete1. Alpha beta gaga - yes
2. Ces Bottes sont faites pour marcher - yes
3. Nifty's Freilach - this one has probably the *least* amount of overt bass, although the piano does get pretty bass-like at one point.
4. Seven One Eight - god yes
5. Get Ur Freak On - yes
6. Sadder Day - yes
7. Jessica - yes - although more subtle than some.
8. Wraith Pinned to the Mist (and other games) - yes
9. Sitting in the Park - yes
10. Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive - yes
11. Sista Social Theme - yes
12. god Slick - yes
13. Jon E. Storm - yes
14. School - oh, yeah
15. Go Go Power - yes
16. The Untold Story - yes
17. Change Clothes - YES
18. La Breeze - yes
19. Is This Love? - yes
20. Freilechs Von Der Chuppe - yes
21. Like a Feather - yes
22. La Fin Du Monde - yes
so - good call.