#260

Thanks again for the disc @ninetyeightytwo it was another treat with plenty to explore and plenty I wasn’t familiar with. Particular highlights were the Magma track who I’d heard of but never heard before. Reminded me of a mutant Andrew Lloyd Webber (if he wasn’t shit). They’ve a pretty daunting back catalogue, where might one start with them?

I’ve also been meaning to get some Caretaker, was aware of their ballroom/Shining sound but never got around to it, on the case now.

Overall highlight was undoubtably the Laurie Anderson track, probably one of my favourite ‘new’ tracks I’ve received on any of these DIS swap discs. I don’t think I’d ever heard any of her music, which is a bit odd given how often i see her in the art section of the weekend papers. Again looks like a daunting back catalogue, any pointers?

Only mis-steps would be Current 93 - although it was perfect for the theme as much as I’d like to like him (and think I should given who he collaborates with) I struggle with it sounding almost too apocalyptic. Also got nothing from the Elbow or Andrew Bird tracks, tried and failed before with both those bands.

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#261

F****************CKKKK, the collective disgasm that is Sufjan and not the singer from The National have beaten us to it on the space theme. Actually TBF, this sounds awful. Roll on the mixtape.

#262

Hi P Rob! 500!

The best place to start with Laurie Anderson is Big Science - it’s got O Superman on it, the most unlikely song to ever get to no. 2 in the UK charts.

As for Magma? I started with Mëkanïk Dëstruktïẁ Kömmandöh (the album from which the song on this mix is taken) - from there I went backwards, then forwards. Never looked back.

Elbow and Andrew Bird at the end - I wanted things to end on a positive note. The Elbow song’s about how those that run the world will inevitably be haunted by all that blood on their hands (vindication!) and the Andrew Bird one’s all about having a party in a post apocalyptic world - suggesting that as bad as people can be, they can also be very, very good. A vital message, and as I didn’t want things to get too bleak, I thought it was the perfect note to end on.

All told, glad you enjoyed yourself! Space is going to be fun.

#263

@Otto - thanks very much your mix which I think is pretty much a masterpiece, put together with great skill and lots of care.

Going back to something I was saying earlier n this thread, it’s increasingly clear to me that there are two completely different but equally valid of ways of approaching these mixes. I always look to put together a varied range of music, linked only by the theme as expressed in the lyrics or titles. I try to end up with something a bit like the playlist of an interesting radio show. Others look to put together a seamless set of music that establishes and develops a mood and plays out more like an intelligent dj mix.

Your apocalypse mix is probably the best example of this second approach I’ve heard - it’s incredibly clever how you blend and mix tracks together establishing and developing a mood so that at the end you end up somewhere quite different from where you started without really being conscious of traveling much. To be fair, to do that you have to be quite free with the topic - some of your tracks don’t have much connection other than a vague mood of foreboding (some barely even that).

Detailed track to track feedback is a little hard given the way it is mixed (I wasn’t always sure exactly where I was in the mix). I loved how you built into and away from the two tracks I was familiar with (Portishead and Tim Hecker) - the last third of the mix from just before Chimeras to the brilliant ending is particularly fine. The fact that the tracks around Chimeras (which I absolutely love) didn’t fade in comparison is particularly impressive. There was nothing I didn’t like. Thanks very much.

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#264

Sufjan and co did a gig of those songs about five or six years ago at the Barbican, which I remember really enjoying and then wondering why they never recorded/released an album of the songs. Quite looking forward to it, even if I can’t use any of the songs in time for the next mix!

#265

Hey @shucks, I finally listened to your CD. Sorry it took so long. I am. It’s just that I knew it would be full of the sort of challenging stuff I don’t usually listen to, so I knew that, unless I approached it in the right frame of mind, I simply wouldn’t enjoy it. The time had to be right. So Friday night, I had a pint of dark oatmeal stout and finally took the plunge, browsing certain strange Tumblr pages to match the mood.

Well, it was interesting - and I don’t mean that in a dismissive “oh that’s interesting” sort of way. It was genuinely interesting. I listen to a LOT of music from a LOT of genres, and this mix simply confirmed that, in many ways, I’ve barely scratched the surface. I had no idea that a genre existed called “cinema-grind”, for example! I’m guessing it’s a genre of one. I’d ask for recommendations on where to start with Graf Orlock, as they seem to have quite a back catalogue, but I know that I’d struggle with a whole album. So I’ll leave it for now. Maybe one for Halloween.

It was the first time I’ve heard a Bad Religion song that wasn’t on the Crazy Taxi soundtrack, and the first time I’ve heard a Suicide Machines song that isn’t their cover of Rosegarden (which I really should have put on the covers CD!). I THINK it was also the first time I’ve knowingly heard any Shellac and Atari Teenage Riot! I’ll definitely be investigating Shellac further, but I think I’ll leave the latter.

There was a run of songs that was essentially people ranting over ugly noises (Sleaford Mods are irredeemably awful, sorry), but things really picked up with GosT and that thing from the Halo soundtrack. DJ Floorcleaner was mental and, again, something I intend to explore further, and the Turbonegro guitar solo was ace.

And closing with Fucked Up just gave further evidence that I need to listen beyond David Comes To Life. Any pointers on that front, Shucks?

So like I say, interesting mix. Some of it was very hard going, so I’m not sure I’ll listen to the full thing again. But you’ve given me a few new areas to explore. So thanks!

2 Likes
#266

:open_mouth:

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#267

:smiley: That’s okay! Glad you found some gems in it and thanks for the feedback, appreciate it. Oatmeal stout sounds like a fine beverage to accompany my mix!

Graf Orlock are the best - that track is from an album called Crimetraveler which is based on an idea for a film they haven’t made about a time-travelling Canadian who goes back to assassinate the President. Destination Time Tomorrow is my favourite album of theirs - it’s only 8 tracks and features a brilliant Jurassic Park-breakdown. Graf Orlock - Destination Time Tomorrow | Vitriol Records

Yeah the GosT stuff is brilliant; you can get all his/her/their albums from blood music: https://blood-music.bandcamp.com/

Sleaford Mods are a massively acquired taste :smiley:

That DJ Floorcleaner track is from this breakcore comp: The Beast Within Compilation by Cock Rock Disco Label | Free Listening on SoundCloud - everything is great on this, especially the Teknoist track (it’s about the Fly).

The only other Fucked Up album I’ve got (aside from David Comes To Life) is The Chemistry of Common Life and various MP3s from their comp albums (Reset The Ride, Neat Parts). I’ve got half of Hidden World, which is pretty good. I thought the closing of POTUSA and Fucked Up would be suitably happy/anthemic to give the mix some kind of redemption.

#268

what BATS did you pick this time shucks?

#269

Death To Kent Hovind from their first EP. :smiley:

1 Like
#270

ah of course. AND BATS WILL DESTROY YOU.

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#271

Thank you for the pointers. I habitually listen to “darker” music circa Halloween (it’s the only time of year I’ll listen to Fantomas, for example), and I’ll definitely be adding Graf Orlock and that Beast Within collection to my playlists this year.

Also, for anyone who partakes in these CD exchanges who hasn’t yet received one from Shucks, know this - the album covers are without exception fantastic.

#272

Sorry for the delay. Had money troubles. CDs are burning now. Artwork to be finished by Tuesday. Should be with you on Friday or next Monday at the latest

#273

@prob500, thanks very much for your mix. The artwork was cool and with the preponderance of brass I ended up informally referring to it as The Trump(et)ocaplyse.

Loads of stuff to love on here, especially in the brass heavy numbers. Anna Meridith was very cool, though the song has all these crazy repetitions where I thought the CD was stuck for a while! The Ex was a big highlight - love that frenzy they build up and wasn’t expecting vocals to emerge from them, and then all the progressions in the song but that was really great.

I liked all the instrumental tracks - Gnod, Rock of Travolta and The Ex Orkest.

The Mae Shi song itself was cool, but those vocals set my teeth on edge. That hyper accentuated American accent is pretty weird and I always think it’s the American equivalent of the English estuary yelp that some UK inde bands affect.

Was nice to hear JSBX again (who I hadn’t listened to in years). They’re a bit one trick, but that trick is always good fun. Fela Kuti was a late highlight too - turns out I alreadt had it on my ipod, but not sure I ever listened to it before.

I could take or leave the punk ones - Dead Kennedys and Crass. ‘Sheep Farming in the Falklands’ is a great title mind.

Plenty of stuff to explore further, probably starting with The Ex I think. Thanks!

#274

Thanks for the feedback @woweezowee and glad you got something from the CD.

If The Ex were up your street and you haven’t listening to them before you are in for a treat. They have a monster of a back catalogue, they are definitely in the premier league of bands I like, probably pushing for Europa places (and they have been much more consistent than Spurs since the late '70’s as well). If you are going to spend money on their stuff you can get it direct from the band too:

http://exmailorder.nl/shop/

(and they are on bandcamp)

Personal faves are Scrabbling at the Lock (which is where their track came from on my disc), and Moa Anbessa, an extraordinary album they did with Getachew Mercuria (an Ethiopian saxophonist who recently passed away). Or they did a best-of album a couple of years ago which is a decent route in.

#275

Great, thanks. I was vaguely familiar with the name (think they were at an ATP I went to and seem to remember them doing some of the fishtank series), but I couldn’t have told you anything about them before. I’m guessing that The Ex Orkestra song on the mix was linked to the same band as well - also enjoyed that one.

Their back catalogue looks pretty intimidating from that link - “View full catalogue (178)” - so pointers where to start were much appreciated. Cheers prob!

#276

Yeah The Ex Orkest are (one of many) Ex spin offs. Their album (there’s only one) is also great, and sounds quite different to the ‘normal’ Ex. I saw them at an ATP upstairs at Camber Sands and they were just ridiculously enjoyable, would love to see them play that material again.

#277

Thanks for the words, very nice to read and glad that you liked it : ) I know what you mean about it not always feeling Apocalyptic… my original plan was a bit more over the top and my initial mix was like two and a half hours long but (in my head) seemed to tell a story of sorts. Anyways it didn’t quite work because it was too long and the story not evident enough, so it got cut into what it is now!

Now for my feedback to others now that I’ve listened to all of them a few times.

@ninetyeightytwo - What a great opening! Really loved the tone and mood that track brings about. So good! Tracks 8/9/10 flow really well together. The Space Rock track I’d not heard before, love the rhythm of it. Also great to have The Caretaker, never occured to me that I should include them on my mix and now I feel daft! transitions well into the Elbow track too, even though I’m not an Elbow fan sorry.

@paulo13 - I enjoyed the Broken Records and Jim O’Rourke track a lot. The double hit of Lima worked well too! I thought the second half of the mix was especially strong though and it brought up a good head of steam. Was a neat idea to use Jens Lekman twice. As a whole this felt quite well put together : )

@shucks - Not listened to Please Inform The Captain in a long time, completely forgot about that band. Worked well in the mix, I especially loved the Shellac and Gost tracks, never heard of the latter but I’ll check them out. I liked how this was generally quite a fun stab at the theme but also one of the heavier mixes I got and I appreciate that.

@woweezowee - That Calexico track has such a nice build up to it! Happy to see Portishead too and as said above I enjoyed the Jim O’Rourke track. I actually quite like when there are the same songs in entirely different mixes. Though I liked the sample from The Road and it flowed nicely into Earth, I think it started a little abruptly after Talking Heads but I’m nitpicking a little. Ending with Tom Waits was a great choice.

Thanks to all of you for the time you spent making these I’ve enjoyed them all, and sorry it’s taken me this long to write something!

4 Likes
#278

ok, my two remaining feedbacks:

@DustyNothing
As I think I mentioned above, I’m a big fan of Sufjan, Múm and Bowerbirds, but hadn’t thought of putting them on my cds. I haven’t listened to HEALTH before, but I really like this song and feel to it; although a brief listen to some of their other songs on Spotify sounds a bit too heavy for me.
Hope Of The States - I loved their Black Dollar Bills ep they released many moons ago, although the albums never reached that greatness for me. I have a demo/shorter version of the Static In The Cities song also, but not this longer version - nice to hear them again.
I should properly sit down and listen to Antony & The Johnsons, as I quite like what I’ve heard, but never listened to an album. & I have a few Trouble Books albums it seems, but not this song - it’s a nice ending to the cd, and not too bleak for me to cope with!

@Prob500
Anna Meredith - Nice feeling of foreboding with her song, good choice!
The Ex - I enjoyed this one, despite the noise. Or maybe the noise added to it.
The Mae Shi song reminds me of a band called Terror Pigeon (although they are a bit dementedly happy/upbeat), and so I really enjoyed this one.
Yacht - I didn’t even recognise this as the same song as the Jim O’Rourke one (which I understand is a cover also, so I’ve still yet to hear the original), but I prefer the Jim version!
and I enjoyed The Okkervil River song and the Frankie songs.
Most of the rest of it was too noisy for me, but definitely an apocalyptic feel.

thanks both!

#279

New thread for the next one here if anyone has missed it:

@Otto and @WardrobeGruber I still owe you some overdue feedback. I’ve been listening to both of them lots but the lack of familiarity with the material (particularly yours @WardrobeGruber , not sure I’d heard a single track on there before) and the single mix track means I need to sit down properly and work out what I’ve been listening to. Both absolutely nailed the apocalypse though.