The warm weather put me in a good mood, so I filled this one full of summer jams. This one sounds best coming out of car stereo speakers as you go 'bout 75 down 94. Trust me.
So, hypothetically speaking, if you don't drive, you should probably put this one on your iPod, get your significant other to drive somewhere very fast, turn off MPR (you know it doesn't bump like Flatbasset bumps), roll down the windows and enjoy. Y'know, hypothetically...
Flatbasset-April '10
01. Murs - The Intro
Like I said before, when I put this one together I was aiming for summer jams. Nothing sounds so good hopping in your car on a hot day, paycheck in hand, and rolling as Murs & 9th Wonder on this jam.
I’ve said it before, Murs is like audio prozac. Perhaps I’m naïve, but I’m always reassured by the fact that Murs is doing what he loves and that’s enough. Dude’s not rich, but he makes enough to get by. I can relate to that.
02. Los Campesinos! - Romance Is Boring
Every tune I hear by Los Campesinos! Makes me like them more. They’re really onto something here. I mean, romance is boring! I’ve been there. I’ve seen it. This year of being single has, for better or worse, been anything but boring. Not sure why I didn’t try this sooner.
03. Yeasayer - O.N.E.
This was one of The Current’s Songs Of The Day a while back and it was so good that I tracked down the whole album. I realize that copping this 80’s pose quit being cool in ‘06 or ‘07, but Odd Blood is the best 80’s impression I’ve heard yet. See “Madder Red” for more evidence.
04. Bloc Party - Luno (Bloc Party Vs. Death From Above 1979)
I really like Bloc Party, but sometimes it seems like they’re much more concerned with studio experimentation and dance beats than they are with being a fucking great band. Thank god DFA showed up to remind them how to be a rock n roll band.
05. David Bazan - Bless This Mess
David Bazan is the man behind the late, great Pedro The Lion, a band that started off espousing Bazan’s religious beliefs and morphed into a vehicle for him to question not only those beliefs, but the events that led to him questioning them in the first place. Following the catalog from beginning to end is a quite rewarding experience.
This one was also a Current song. Sounds like his solo career is going to keep this bizarre trajectory going. “God bless the man who stumbles, god bless the man who falls, & god bless the man who yields to temptation…” Translation: We all got problems. Amen.
06. Aesop Rock - Zodiaccupuncture
This song is off the Fast Cars, Danger, Fire & Knives EP, which is hands down my favorite record Aesop Rock has ever put up. I’ve seen this happen with artists before and I’ve developed a loose theory. After an artist puts together a whole album there is a sense of satisfaction and a fear of complacency. However, y’know, they just put out a whole record, which is exhausting. Enter the EP format. Couple that with a fear or repeating yourself yet being afraid to dive into something headfirst (as I’m sure you have to do with a full album) and you end up with something like this. Aesop trying (and thoroughly succeeding) to hit a new flow and a new lyrical themes without the burden of really having to fit them into a bigger picture.
Sidenote: Get bit by the hounds!
07. Pavement - Embassy Row
With Pavement on the road again and a greatest hits album finally on the market, I couldn’t resist the temptation to dig out my Pavement albums. If you’ve been listening to these mixes, you know that I’m a much bigger sucker for good hooks than instrumental noodling, and for that reason Pavement’s never cracked by Top 20 favorite artists. They may not even crack top 30. Still, when they decide to write a hook, it’s usually a gem. When they decide to use that hook to talk shit about the music industry, they sound like they were predicting the future.
08. Amadou & Mariam - Sabali (Paul Epworth Remix)
Even though I spent most of my time out east listening to Why?, DOOM, & P.O.S., for whatever reason, this song reminds me of that summer in New York better than anything else. I have no idea what it’s about or what the original version sounds like. I know that for the next 50 years every time I hear it it’ll take me write back to walking up Fresh Pond road to work in the middle of a sticky New York summer. Isn’t that really the best case scenario for any piece of music you own?
09. Franz Ferdinand - Twilight Omens
It seems as though Franz Ferdinand is going to go down as one of the bands that saved radio from teen pop & hard rock (along with The White Stripes, The Hives, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Strokes, and, since I’m feeling generous, Interpol). That’s really a shame. Everything they’ve put out since that breakthrough album has been better than the last. They’re stylish suits & glorification of being a conflicted ladie’s man about town deserves a bigger piece of history.
10. Outkast - I’ll Call Before I Come
That’s right, ladies, vegans are generous, thorough, freaky lovers. You didn’t know?
11. Matt Pond PA - Our Braided Lives
God knows why, but I was feeling especially romantic one day and was struck by the metaphor in this one. The idea of “braided lives” really appealed to me. At least, it did for about 6 hours while I was putting this mix together.
12. Beck - Mixed Bizness
I wish Har Mar Superstar had a Last.fm account just so we could see how many times he’s listened to Midnite Vultures.
13. Arctic Monkeys - Cornerstone
I’ve been a fan of Arctic Monkeys since the days of internet buzz, yet for some reason I waited a whole year before tracking down Humbug. Part of this was due to the fact that it was produced by Queens Of The Stone Age’s Josh Homme. This was a bad decision. The whole album has the hazy sound of a QOTSA album. For a band that made it’s named off buzzsaw guitars and sharp hooks (remember, “I Bet You Look Good…?”), this is not a good fit. Except on this one, where the hook is unstoppable and the backward sounding guitar solo perfectly fit’s the lyrical theme of being confused in the bar and thinking you recognize some girl and asking her a question that’s completely uncouth. Well played, Homme.
14. Kid Cudi - Pursuit Of Happiness (Nightmare) (w/MGMT & Ratatat)
Every 6 or 8 weeks I have what we’ll call a “bad night.” Life piles up, bills pile up, no one’s calling, whatever… It’s just bad. I usually try to solve these problems by hitting the reset button, aka drinking brandy until I don’t care anymore and waking up much less concerned with those problems and much more concerned with fun new problems like “Why did I sleep in my shoes?” On those nights, this song ALWAYS makes an appearance on Squawk Box. Man, everything that shines ain’t always gold. Believe that.
15. One For The Team - Best Supporting Actress
A peculiar case of a band writing a response song to one of it’s own songs, in this case the classic “Best Supporting Actor,” a brilliant portrait of a resentful boyfriend. If my memory serves, One For The Team is made up of guys and girls and I would think this had something to do with the creation of this song. Or not. What do I know?
16. Mac Lethal - Sunstorm
As I’ve mentioned probably a dozen times, I LOVE hometown pride songs. I had to give this one to Mac Lethal. I mean, it must be tough to rep Kansas City, right? He makes it sound like a bigger version of Red Wing. I do love that the couplet, “I’ve been to bigger cities, they produce bigger frowns, I’ll die right here in this town…” I’m stealing that one for MPLS. Thanks, Mac.
