#181

@bornin69x have thoroughly enjoyed your mix, thank you! Really eclectic mix of tracks/artists and overall quite upbeat given the theme (although it does contain Holocaust which is one of the most depressing songs ever!)
The Bowie, Big Star & Sleater Kinney songs were on my long list but got cut, great songs all.
I’ve never listened to FGTH besides hearing the singles, but really liked that version of Two Tribes.
Also really enjoyed the Sleaford Mods tune. I haven’t really connected with them & have found listening to an entire album tough going, but will give Divide & Exit another go.
The star of this show was the Bunny Wailer tune which was new to me and is absolutely brilliant. I don’t have a lot of reggae, any pointers on where I should start?
Kudos again for the cover art, which is undoubtedly the best I’ve seen so far.

#182

I’m really glad you liked it. I always try to make my mixes varied, although I know others deliberately try to get a consistent feel throughout (which is also perfectly valid, of course) my ideal is always something that sounds a bit like the Peel shows I grew up on. That was challenging with this theme, which is why I found it difficult.

I’m particularly glad you enjoyed the Bunny Wailer. Reggae was actually my first love, and there was more on my original long list (there are a lot biblical ‘day of judgement’ type of reggae songs). I’ve often had negative ‘I don’t like reggae’ reactions when I have put similar stuff on previous mixes, which I find depressing (I would never write off a whole genre of music like that - Peel again, I guess).

‘Where to start with reggae’ is a bit of a massive question, contrary to some people’s expectations it’s a massively varied range of music. Some ‘classic albums’ with a similar(ish) feel to the Bunny Wailer track I included would be:

The Congos- Heart of the Congos
Bunny Wailer - Blackheart Man
Burning Spear - Marcus Garvey/Man in The Hills/Social Living
Dennis Brown - Visions
Max Romeo - War Inna Babylon
Junior Murvin - Police and Thieves
Hugh Mundell - Africa Must be Free by 1983 (tragically hard to get hold of, unfortunately)
The Abyssinians - Satta Massagana
The Gladiators- Trenchtown Mix Up
Mighty Diamonds - Right Time

There are loads of good reggae compilations around too, look for anything on Soul Jazz, Blood and Fire, Trojan etc. Stuff similar to the Bunny Wailer track would usually be described as ‘Roots’.

1 Like
#183

@woweezowee I’ve listened to your mix a couple of times now so it’s about time I gave you some feedback.

I was very pleasantly surprised by the opening version of Born in the USA, totally different, far more stripped back and raw, definitely preferred it to the original.

When I initially said I’d not heard any of the tracks on your mix before this was based on a quick scan of the track list, on first listen I realised I knew the Portishead and Talking Heads tracks very well I just didn’t recognise them from their names for some reason. Hadn’t heard the live version of Roads before though.

I enjoyed your little interludes and mixing, the transition from Nena to William Onyeabor worked really well. I found his track overstayed its welcome a bit for me though.

The inclusion of The Road intro in the second half was inspired, one of my favourite books that made the transition to film surprisingly well. That bit to the end of the disc was my favourite. Love that Flashbulb track, I’ve not heard of them before so will be investigating more. I liked the little Tom Waits bedtime story to end on as well, where did that come from?

The only downsides, Americana is not one of my favourite genres so unfortunately a few tracks on the cd didn’t really do it for me, Rainer, Calexico, Jim O’Rourke and Cake for example. But I can totally see how they fitted into the theme. Overall a really interesting mix of tracks that flow really well.

@Trev still need to give yours a proper listen, I will have some feedback for you soon.

#184

@funkycow

Thanks for this - another enjoyable mix. Beautifully crafted and presented too, I really like the song titles tied into a little bit of apocalyptic prose - great little touch!

Familiar with half of the artists and plenty to get stuck into. NIN is always an artist I enjoy but have stuck to what I know (Ghosts, Downward Spiral, The Fragile) so it was nice to hear a new track to me. OPN is one of my favourite artists of recent years but I’d not heard this one, conveyed a sort of frantic breakdown after the smooth Fila Brazilia track.

Lemon Jelly certainly a blast from the past with the Baz Luhrmann-esque spoken section! Who doesn’t like a bit of the Sugababes?! I’m imagining Kim Jong-un dancing to this in the manner of Hugh Grant in Love Actually, in some sort of Pyongyang nuclear facility.

The gem in the crown for me is Tim Hecker - hadn’t heard this work and it’s wonderful. Fuzzy and droney and all the things I love in ambient music. Will definitely be checking this out soon, right up my street. Whilst I’m a fan of Tim, I’d never heard of Richard H. Kirk, so this would be my favourite completely new find from the mix. What a corker from the early 90s on Warp (did a little research), again this is another I’m going to have to check the full album.

Always great to hear YLT but wasn’t overly keen on the final four tracks, but I think I just wanted to disappear down a fuzzy ambient rabbit-hole after the previous tracks. and I’d deem any mix that makes me want to make me listen to a full release (very much an albums man) a success so there’s two big ticks there, thanks!

#185

@woweezowee finally some feedback on yours… and what a mixtape it is. I know I’m echoing others in commending the quality but it’s shit hot fair play to you.
I was pretty familiar with a lot of the material, however the interludes really added extra layers. There are a coupe of gems I didn’t know as well that I’ll seek out further.

Great choice to open with Springsteen’s stripped down version of Born In The USA, a really chilling performance.
I like Calexico a lot, but hadn’t really enjoyed Garden Ruin. I’ll need to revisit as All Systems Red had passed me by before this but here it sounds amazing.
The sequence from Portishead right through to Mark Kozelek/Jimmy Lavalle is probably the best I’ve heard from any of the mixes I’ve received!

I was going to use The Road (probably my all time favourite novel & a very fine movie adaptation), it works so well on your mix… and leads really well into the apocalyptic doom of Earth (who I did put on my mix, although a different song)

Stuff I wasn’t familiar with but will need to seek out more of (Rainer, Tycho & Ernest Gonzalo)

Overall, this is a great listen & it’ll be getting plenty more airtime.
Thanks a million!

#186

Great, thanks for that… I’ll check out some of those in the next week or two!
I do love the eclectic approach that a lot of the participants take on here, I find that these are the mixes where I discover most new music - although there might be more songs that I end up skipping.
Personally, I’ve found that my mixes have been more about connecting the songs to each other, which can be a bit risky if the recipient isn’t into particular genres.
Depending on what we pick next time out, I think I’ll try to follow a different path.

#187

Some feedback on the two I’ve received so far - thanks!

@shucks this is much heavier than I ever listen to, so did feel quite apocalyptic! So I think the ones I enjoyed in comparison were GosT and the sountracky Martin O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori songs.

@keith , this one is similar in sound to shucks’ cd I think (you both had the same Shellac song). I really loved the Bonnie “Prince” Billy song, and also liked Unkle and 65 days Of Static.

1 Like
#188

@ninetyeightytwo So I’ve had a chance to give yours a proper listen and I really like it! So many songs that I wasn’t aware of and many that blew me away. I really really liked the Sun Ra choice ‘Nuclear War’. I had heard it before somewhere (was it on a film soundtrack or something?) but I didn’t know it was Sun Ra and listening to it now was amazing. The ride cymbal tone alone makes the song worth while! Similarly loved the Marma track (never even heard of them before) as it shared the multi-vocalist group dynamic which I love (something that it shares with the Silver Mt Zion track I ended my CD with).

I loved the way that you kicked off with a spoken word intro! Reminded me of Mogwai Young Team :slight_smile:

My only real fly in the ointment was the track ‘In the Army’. I’m no stranger to vocalists intoning stream of consciousness over throbbing beats (I do like The Fall) but I found this almost impossible to get to the end of.

Oh and I was disappointed that ‘The Earth Dies Screaming’ wasn’t a cover of the similarly titled Tom Waits song, but you can’t have everything!

Overall a great mix and some real gems. Definitely going to have it on heavy rotation.

#189

Oh no, my handwriting! It’s MAGMA, not Marma, and they’re amazing. They sing sprawling operas in a made-up language, all referring to some strange future dystopia. Definitely worth obsessing over.

Not sure where you might have heard the Sun Ra before. Do you like Yo La Tengo? They’ve been known to cover it. It’s one of their “let’s end this set with a searing feedback blowout” songs.

In The Army is tough going, but only if you take it seriously. I just think it’s hilarious… but then, you know, the implications.

I wasn’t aware of the Tom Waits song before this exchange started. Space Age Thrills is the music project of a film blogger. Clearly heavily influenced by Suicide - I really like it!

Glad you enjoyed it.

#190

Ah yes I think it might have a Yo La Tengo gig many many years ago!

You should definitely check out Tom Waits’ ‘Bone Machine’ album. It opes with ‘The Earth Died Screaming’. I reckon from your taste on the CD it would be right up your street!

2 Likes
#191

I’d second ‘Bone Machine’ (my favourite of his, a fantastically skeletal record…)

#192

Then I shall listen. Oh yes.

I can’t see how anything of his can top Swordfishtrombones, but I’ll settle for just as good.

#193

Hi @dollarsandcents - thank you for the great feedback. Glad you enjoyed the narrative, it can feel a bit pretentious writing that sort of thing but I just wanted to show how the tracks followed a story from election to apocalypse! Haven’t listened to much latter day NIN, but The Slip (which wasn’t the source of that track) is right up there with his best (if you haven’t listened to it).

Glad you appreciated Sugababes - picked more for the track title than anything, but I like the tune and it does work with with Goldfrapp pretty well. Weirdly, the Tim Hecker track isn’t one of my favourites of his, but if you liked it I would go with Harmony In Ultraviolet as a starter. He gets more like latter day OPN on Love Streams and Virgins. I would tend to agree with @Twinkletoes that Ravedeath is strangely overrated (I find listening to it like trying to escape from a dull headache). There’s a roaring static beauty to TH’s earlier work that is missing from his later stuff.

The Richard H Kirk album is a winner throughout. While I’ve tried to engage with Cabaret Voltaire, it’s just not the same and this is his standout for me. Thanks again for taking the time to feedback in detail, it makes it all worthwhile!

1 Like
#194

Virtual State? If so, I checked it out based on a list you made a while back of great electronic albums and it’s terrific. I’ve only listened to Red Mecca by CV. It feels like an important record but not necessarily a brilliant one, if that makes sense. Like it paved the way for much more accomplished industrial records.

#195

Yes and yes!

#196

I’ve inspired myself to binge on Skinny Puppy

#197

Thanks @funkycow . A fantastic mix. Loved the packaging, the story and the mixing. Great flow to it and all the snippets worked so well. This is definitely were I need to up my game on my mixes. I see from a previous post you used Audacity so think I’m going to have to get hold of it and have a play around ready for the next one.

Nine Inch Nails – The biggest revelation on your mix. One of the bands were the name has put me off ever listening to them thinking they would be some kind of awful heavy rock band. A great surprise to hear I got it completely wrong. Love the industrial feel to it, the bursts of noise and the pop sheen. Will definitely be investigating further.

New Kingdom – This is good! Great thick, gritty production. Made me want to turn it up loud. A lazy comparison would be that it reminded me of Beck Odelay era.

Anais Mitchell – Seen the name before so thought I knew what to expect and then that growling, craggy voice started up! I take it this is a collaboration?

Richard H Kirk - A complete unknown but along with NIN the biggest find from your mix. Have just seen the recommendations for Virtual State so will be starting there immediately!

I’ve got and enjoyed the Hospitality debut album but haven’t got anything since so will rectify that based on this track. Although Chinese Bombs isn’t anywhere close to being my favourite Blur song the short, sharp shock of it worked really well in the middle of your mix. As did the pop one two of Sugababes and Goldfrapp. Both in my collection and I’m gutted I completely overlooked them for my mix as it would have helped to lift the bleakness! Big Yo La Tengo fan and this song was perfectly placed.

Probably the only track I really didn’t get on with was Oneohtrix Point Never. Not a genre I listen too much and when I do I tend to go for the more ambient droning sound. This kind of felt like it had too much going on to drift along too but not enough to grab my attention. Although it worked well in the mix it was hard to gauge much from the Los Campesinos! track. I remember seeing them at Green Man years ago and not being impressed so have never bothered to listen to them on record. I know they get a lot of love on here but I think that’s the first time I’ve got one of their songs in a mix.

That’s a great hit rate though and plenty of new stuff for me to delve into so a real winner of a mix. Thanks again!

#198

Hi @DustyNothing! Thanks for your really kind feedback, as I said to dollarsandcents above, it makes it all worth it.

With NIN, I’d start with either Downward Spiral or The Slip (the latter being about half ‘bangers’ and half his more ambient stuff - so in that respect, a very good intro). There are a couple of New Kingdom fans on here. Their debut (Heavy Load) is more traditional hip hop, but their second and last album (Paradise Don’t Come Cheap) is a dirge-y masterpiece and I can’t recommend it highly enough.

I think the Anais Mitchell track may be on another mix further up the page. It’s from Hadestown, which is a folk opera based on Orpheus. It’s a narrative album based around her (acquired taste) vocals and significant guest spots by yer man Bon Iver and others. This track isn’t really representative but fit the story I was trying to sell…

Re: audacity, it has the great advantage of being free and easy to master. You need the program itself and a lame encoder (it’s all accessible on the audacity website). The mixing process is really easy (there we go, done away with the mystique there). As I said above, the last step really for me is to resplit the tracks once mixed (which would require mp3tagging and the like), can’t really say whether Reaper makes this easier (ask @woweezowee above) than audacity.

Thanks again for listening!

#199

Hello @WardrobeGruber thanks your disc arrived at the weekend. Looks very interesting so looking forward to listening to it.

I’ve finally finished my track listing so just need to get some packaging sorted now. @WardrobeGruber @paulo13 @bornin69x @si_2001 @woweezowee you are my recipients this time around so expect something in about a week as I’ll do the sleeve at the weekend.

Be warned: the apocalypse involves brass instruments, nearly half of my tracks have someone honking a horn on them.

1 Like
#200

Sorry.