Last month I received complaints that the mix was too obvious and the songs were all kinda played out. I tried to dig a little deeper for this one.
Click the link, type the numbers, download, enjoy!
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ZEE4C46K
So I'm 20 days late. It's not like anyone reads this blog anyway.
01. Sage Francis - Strange Fame
"I wake up with a kitten in my face and that's not innuendo..." God I love indie rap.
I picked this up off Sage Francis' new mixtape Sick Of Wasting... You can download it free at the Strange Famous records website. The record is pretty spotty, but it's a free mixtape, what do you expect?
02. Viva Voce - Rose City
This was my favorite song from The Current's "Song Of The Day" selections for June. Even though I'm sick to death of hearing about how great Portland is, I thought this was a pretty endearing, non-hip-hop "big up to my home city" type song. I especially like the line about bands in basements multiplying and exponentially dividing. Seems to me that that's a pretty good way to describe the Portland scene.
03. Descendents - When I Get Old
Throwback! If you had the good fortune of knowing me between the ages of 17-22 you know that I was absolutely obsessed with the world of Descendents/All. I finally grew out of it, but I still sing every word of those songs while I'm driving. This one struck me because I probably heard it first about 10 years ago and, now that I'm old, I find that I still have no idea what it'll be like when I get old. Ah well...
04. Jeremy Messersmith - Virginia
I don't always go for the singer/songwriter thing. In fact, some days it's the last possible thing I want to hear, but The Silver City is probably one of my favorite records of the last year. I bought it on the strength of "Franklin Avenue," but found the whole album to be enjoyable. I could probably put one song per month from that album on the Flatbasset mixes, but it would probably alienate the three people who actually download it.
05. Paper Tiger - Cannonade
As you have no doubt noticed by now, I will buy and talk up anything put out by the Doomtree family. This one is for people who haven't dug any deeper than the MC's. Paper Tiger, Lazerbeak, and MK Larada are stellar producers in their own right. Paper Tiger's False Hopes is only 8 tracks long (and only one with a Doomtree MC), but it's half an hour of beat junkie bliss. Definitely worth the $7.99.
06. New Order - Round & Round
A couple months back I put the Pet Shop Boys "West End Girls" on a mix and talked about how enjoyable the "Best Of..." albums from those old British dance groups are. Well, guess where this one came from. If you guessed Singles, give yourself a gold star.
I realize that this song sounds particularly 80's (those keyboards at the beginning made me cringe the first time I heard them), but that chorus is sooooo good. Bernard Sumner famously puts little thought into his lyrics, but damn can that man wrap his voice around a hook.
07. Haley Bonar - Something Great
Big Star got a lot of love from the Twin Cities press when it was released last year, but I just never got around to it. I was actually trying to download a Big Star album the other day and this one came up. I downloaded it on a whim and was pleasantly surprised. The album avoids the mistake of presenting any big ballads and just kind of hums along at this breezy pace. The first time I heard it i thought it was a perfect complimentary album to Messersmith's The Silver City.
08. Buck 65 - Way Back When (K-OS Remix)
Goddamn Canadian Rap Music!
09. The Stone Roses - Going Down
I'm such a junkie for this late 80's/early 90's British stuff. I particularly like this song because the Roses slow things down from their usual Madchester dance shuffle and let the hooks speak for themselves. I wish they would have done this more often.
10. Motion City Soundtrack - Better Open The Door
I don't give Motion City enough love. They're really one of the better pop-punk bands out there. This song is basically about living it up in MPLS on the weekend with your friends. I can get behind that.
11. Big Quarters (w/Nomi) - Stories High
Medium Zach & Brandon Allday came up with an fairly clever plan to help Big Quarters survive in the uncharted waters of the music industry. They created BQ Direct. For $5 a month you get five tracks e-mailed to you on the 5th of each month. The songs aren't always fully formed, but it's something to look forward to each month. And sometimes you get tracks like this. Plus both of those guys are pretty cool dudes. If you see 'em at the Turf Club, say hey.
12. Digitata - Marinos Amores
I took this one off of the Musicapolis 2007 compilation that I picked up at, believe it or not, the Musicapolis hip-hop show back in 2007 at the Minnesota Institute Of Photography (that may not be its official name, either way, it no longer exists. RIP Musicapolis). Phil and I were there covering it for a music blog on a super fucking hot day in MPLS. Digitata opened the show, playing directly under the sun. I remember we all stood about 50 yards away from the stage because that was the nearest shady area. Good times.
Sidenote: We also discovered Caffrey's Deli that day. Musicapolis, the gift that keeps on giving.
13. Kanye West (w/Pharrell & Lupe Fiasco) - CRS
Kanye West has stated several times that he's a huge fan of Radiohead & Thom Yorke specifically. He views them as one of the few contemporary artists that's on the same level he is (nevermind that The Bends came out while he was stealing khakis, but I digress...). I feel like Kanye could chop up Radiohead records all day and put out a brilliant record. Bringing Lupe & Pharrell along for the ride is just gravy
Sidenote: I have no idea if this is the actual title of this song. This is what I got when I downloaded it.
14. Constantines - On To You
Goddamn Canadian Rock Music!
I put this and Buck 65 on in celebration of Canada Day. It's not all Feist records people!
15. P.O.S. - All Along The Watchtower
Alright, I know I've put about 40 P.O.S. songs on this mix in 5 months, but I couldn't resist this one. I found it on the Meat Tape mixtape I picked up at Fifth Element. I never thought I'd hear a version of this song that I'd want to hear twice. Maybe if Dylan had dropped a line about the Triple Rock...
16. Two Harbors - You Pulled The Rug Out
This was my favorite of the Minnesota songs from The Current this month. One of my favorite things about the Twin Cities scene is the rough-around-the-edges sound that so many of the rock bands lifted from The Replacements. I think this song sounds like a Band Of Horses song if they had spent more time in the Twin Cities.
17. Elvis Perkins - Sleep Sandwich
A nice, slow burning closer. I saw Elvis Perkins a while back and, once I got over the lovely "While You Were Sleeping," I found this song to be my favorite on his Ash Wednesday album. The drumroll leading into the chorus and the surprise appearance of a theremin are the types of little things that turn a good song to a great one.
Sidenote: Ash Wednesday is my "go to" record when I'm hungover. If you ever see that it's been played on my last.fm site, you can bet I'm in rough shape.
