Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Mixtape #2 - It's (not) the end of the world

This mixtape is mainly dedicated to the great band R.E.M., which I was lucky enough to see live in front of the Cologne Cathedral in 2001 before their release of Reveal. They played for free, and they finished their amazing concert with the sublime "It's The End of the World (As We Know It)". As much as I loved R.E.M. back then and still love them now, I've got to admit that the news of their split left me cold. The lacklustre 2004 album Around the Sun left me disappointed and I couldn't be bothered with their following albums. As many fans will agree, R.E.M. never really recovered from their drummer Bill Berry leaving the band in 1997. The drum machines on Up are a painful reminder of how essential Berry was to the band. They did very good songs after 1997 (e.g. At My Most Beautiful), but not another great album.

In the past week, I've discovered Lana Del Rey, whose song Video Games is already one of my favourite songs of 2011. I won't add to the discussion that surrounds her (lips) and let the music speak for itself.

Listen to the mix here:

X-Ray Spex - Germfree Adolescents
Ol' Dirty Bastard - Shimmy Shimmy Ya
Kraftwerk - Trans-Europe Express
R.E.M. - E-Bow the Letter
King Creosote & Jon Hopkins - Bats in the Attic
Emmylou Harris - Heaven Only Knows
Lana Del Rey - Video Games
R.E.M. - The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite
Half Man Half Biscuit - Joy Division Oven Gloves
The Wedding Present - Everyone Thinks He Looks Daft
Anna Calvi - Desire
R.E.M. - It's the End of the World (As We Know It)

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Mixtape #1 - This mess we're in

Boy, this was fun. Inspired by @fromdesktildawn, I've compiled my first online mixtape. I really enjoyed putting the tracks together and listening to them, and I just hope – if anyone's listening – you won't be bored.

A couple of words about my music listening habits: I'm a huge BBC 6music fan. I've started listening to Marc Riley's show in 2007, and I've discovered many old and new fine tunes on there (Marc Riley basically discovered the Ting Tings, you know...), and one of my faves is on today's mixtape: Cockney Rebel's Judy Teen, which is one of the finest Glam Rock songs ever. Most new music I still find on 6music (Tom Ravenscroft! Gideon Coe! The Playlist!), but I also read Pitchfork now and then (although it's getting worse and worse), and I use rateyourmusic.com as a reference. And of course there's Twitter which is a treasure trove.

I still buy music, mainly on vinyl, and this year's harvest included this year's #1 so far, Metronomy's The English Riviera (listen to the slick guitar on Corinne), Radiohead's King of Limbs (it's good but not overwhelming, but hey, limited edition!), PJ Harvey's Let England Shake (undeservedly Mercury Prize winner). Some of my favourite track's from this year are included on the mixtape too: Alex Ebert's Truth, which was already used in Breaking Bad, to my utmost pleasure, Lia Ices' heavenly Love Is Won, the controversial Vaccines If You Wanna, which is a cracker in my book. The rest of the tape is about my love for glam, punk, and drinking songs. Enjoy!

Playlist:

The Clash - White Riot
PJ Harvey (feat. Thom Yorke) - This Mess We're In
Alexander Ebert - Truth
Ramones - Blitzkrieg Bop
Cockney Rebel - Judy Teen
Real Estate - It's Real
David Bowie - Changes
Metronomy - Corinne
Queen - Keep Yourself Alive
The Vaccines - If You Wanna
The Pogues - Streams of Whisky
Lia Ices - Love Is Won