Comedian: Jeff’s 2016 Summer Songpile

It’s the second songpile mix of 2016 – in this case titled Comedian. It has songs on it! A pile of ’em! They are chosen, as usual, from stray tracks that came my way during the last three months (outside of songs from entire albums I own).

Here they are (two giant mp3 files with songs segued – where each track begins is listed at the end of each track listing):

Part 1

1. Roger Joseph Manning Jr. “What You Don’t Know About the Girl” 0:00
2. Holy Wave “Minstrel’s Gallop” 2:49
3. Sonoi “Fooling the Doves” 6:14
4. Cool Ghouls “Sundial” 8:40
5. Kip McGrath “Clock Hands” 12:51
6. The Monkees “Me & Magdalena” (electric version) 16:42
7. Michael Peter Smith “Panther in Michigan” 20:27
8. Kwesi Foraes “Pentacle 13” 25:21
9. Father John Misty “Real Love Baby” 29:12
10. Destroyer “My Mystery” 32:20
11. Lionlimb “Domino” 37:33
12. Chris Cohen “As If Apart” 41:08

 

Part 2

1. Papertwin “The Pool” 0:00
2. Bunny Plasm “Irrelevant” 3:51
3. Weaves “Tick” 8:26
4. Cerise “Shades in Shade” 11:20
5. Lera Lynn “My Least Favorite Life” 14:02
6. Living Hour “Seagull” 17:27
7. Ashley Shadow “Tired” 22:46
8. Used Cassettes “Ducati” 25:56
9. Tiger “I’m in Love with RAF Nurse” 29:31
10. B-Boys “Get a Grip” 31:24
11. Speedy Ortiz “Emma O” 34:33
12. Kevin Abernathy “Noticed the Moon” 37:56
13. Sparks “The Final Derrière” 42:44

 

Wax: 2016 Covers Mix #1

Here’s the first batch of fun covers I ran into this year, titled Wax. The links are to two segued files of all the tracks (Clyp has a 100MB limit, so it’s two such “sets” rather than one). I found some particularly effective segues this time, so enjoy…

Part 1

1. “Hey” Matthew’s Celebrity Pixies Covers (in the style of Prince) (Pixies cover) 0:00
2. “Back in Black” Hot Kangaroo (AC/DC cover) 3:28
3. “Blue Monday” Orkestra Obsolete (using entirely instruments and such available no later than the 1930s) (New Order cover) 8:26
4. “Some Velvet Morning” Peter Zaremba’s Love Delegation (Lee Hazlewood & Nancy Sinatra cover) 12:11
5. “Use Me” Holly Golightly (Bill Withers cover) 14:53
6. “From a Buick 6” Gary U.S. Bonds (Bob Dylan cover) 17:51
7. “Sway” Yeti Lane (Rolling Stones cover) 22:10
8. “Mote” The Faint (Sonic Youth cover) 26:56
9. “Too Late” Band of Susans (Wire cover) 31:07
10. “Gimme Danger” Game Theory (Iggy & the Stooges cover) 34:35
11. “Blackstar” Jherek Bischoff, Amanda Palmer, Anna Calvi, Kronos Quartet (David Bowie cover) 36:51
12. “There Goes a Tenner” Parenthetical Girls (Kate Bush cover) 45:22
13. “Parasite” Robyn Hitchcock (Nick Drake cover) 48:54

Part 2

1. “Paranoid” Surf Sabbath (Black Sabbath cover) 0:00
2. “Amanda Ruth” The Everly Brothers (Rank & File cover) 2:45
3. “Tempted” The Corner Laughers (Squeeze cover) 5:55
4. “Eleanor Rigby” Ilous & Decuyper (Beatles cover) 9:56
5. “Today” Ulver (Jefferson Airplane cover) 14:34
6. “Dancing Barefoot” Her Majesty (Patti Smith cover) 17:52
7. “Lovesong” Kumbia Queers (The Cure cover) 22:24
8. “Emotional Rescue” St. Vincent (Rolling Stones cover) 26:24
9. “Purple Rain” Bruce Springsteen (live) (Prince cover) 31:38
10. “SOS” Portishead (ABBA cover) 38:00
11. “Oh No, I Don’t Believe It” The Fraternity of Man (Frank Zappa cover) 41:23
12. “I’m Set Free” (Fickle Sun part iii) Brian Eno (Velvet Underground cover) 47:42
13. “Twist and Shout” Matt Keating (Lou Reed – uh, Beatles/Isley Brothers cover) 52:48

Spring 2016 Songpile: Chameleon

First batch of songs for 2016 – stuff that came to me that isn’t on albums I own. This time, the playlist is divided into two files on Clyp (links below). Each file presents the tracks in uninterrupted sequence cleanly segued.

(part 1)

1. The Moles “Beauty Queen of Watts” 00.00
2. Peter Stringer-Hye “Throw Away the Day” 02.21
3. Belle and Sebastian “A Politician’s Silence” (technically I have this album…but this is from the extended LP version and not on the CD/download version) 06.37
4. St. Vincent “Teenage Talk” 12.16
5. Holy Wave “California Took My Bobby Away” 16.17
6. The Good Listeners “Everybody Join the Party” 21.52
7. Weekender “Floaty Feeling, Blue” 26.24
8. Phèdre “Zastroszy” 30.57
9. Suuns “Translate” 34.39
10. Cotton Mather “Child Bride” 39.37
11. Quilt “Hissing My Plea” 42.20
12. Courtney Barnett “Three Packs a Day” 46.41
13. The Soft Hills “Sweet Louise” 49.26
14. White Fence “Before He Met Her (Decomposing Lime)” 53.00

(part 2)

1. Golden Daze “Never Coming Back” 00.00
2. The Quick “Pretty Please Me” 02.06
3. Sun Hex “Sun Hex” 06.33
4. Cold Sun “Here in the Year” 10.00
5. Horse Jumper of Love “Ugly Brunette” 18.48
6. Guided by Voices “Sucker of Pistol City” 21.42
7. Hamilton Leithauser & Paul Maroon “My Reward” 24.04
8. Yardsss “Granfalloons II” 28.29
9. Baby Birds Don’t Drink Milk “Love Me Denver” 34.04
10. Joe LaRose “Things That We Should Have Done” 37.22
11. Peter Buck “World Spins Around You” 40.54

A Metronome of Quilts: second 2015 covers mix

The last of my year-end flurry of mixes…this one consisting of the covers I most liked among those I ran into (or became reacquainted with) during the second half of 2015. Here it is: A Metronome of Quilts:

1. Anton Barbeau “Sometimes I Wish I Was a Pretty Girl” (Robyn Hitchcock) 0:00
2. Continental Drifters “When You Dance I Can Really Love” (Neil Young) 2:22
3. Paul Myers “I Want to Tell You” (the Beatles) 6:00
4. Grace Vonderkuhn “Love My Way” (Psychedelic Furs) 9:23
5. Cristina Quesada “Just Like Honey” (Jesus & Mary Chain) 13:02
6. Susanna Hoffs “Ghost of His Smile” (Sparklehorse) 15:05
7. Show of Hands “The Boys of Summer” (Don Henley) 18:09
8. Casper Iskov “Schizophrenia” (Sonic Youth) 22:14
9. Field Report “Take Down Your Flag” (Peter Mulvey) 26:17
10. The Unthanks “Shipbuilding” (Elvis Costello/Robert Wyatt) 29:28
11. Makrosoft “Losing My Religion” (R.E.M.) 33:09
12. PMJ ft. Sara Niemietz “This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)” (Talking Heads) 38:11
13. Elvis Costello & Burt Bacharach “My Little Red Book” (Manfred Mann) 42:09
14. Of Montreal “Time Will Show the Wiser” (Emitt Rhodes Merry-Go-Round/Fairport Convention cover) 44:34
15. These United States “To Ramona” (Bob Dylan) 48:16
16. Mandible “Cousin Kevin” (The Who) 52:14
17. Popdudes “Kinder Murder” (Elvis Costello) 56:15
18. Race Horses “No Man’s Land” (Syd Barrett) 59:26
19. Manishevitz “Free Will and Testament” (Robert Wyatt) 1:01:25
20. Leo Kottke “Eight Miles High” (The Byrds) 1:05:32
21. Glenn Mercer “Third Stone from the Sun” (Jimi Hendrix) 1:09:02
22. D’Cuckoo “No One Receiving” (Brian Eno) 1:15:35
23. Corinne Bailey Rae “Since I’ve Been Loving You” (Led Zeppelin) 1:20:51
24. White Flag “Wuthering Heights” (Kate Bush) 1:25:12
25. XTC “Ella Guru” (Captain Beefheart) 1:29:09

As always (recently)…this is one big mp3 file. If you like any of the songs, please consider actually buying them.

Winter Songpile 2015: Certified Clean Idol

Favorite songs that came my way during the last three months but which aren’t on albums I own (yet)…Certified Clean Idol:

1. Ricked Wicky “Temporarily Inane” 0:00
2. Moonsocket “The Way Is Shut” 2:56
3. The Feelies “Fa Cé-La” (1977 single version) 6:25
4. Raccoon Fighter “Mr. Cool” 9:15
5. A Sunny Day in Glasgow “Jet Black, Starlist” 12:51
6. Beliefs “1992” 15:40
7. Very Fresh “Clean Touch” 19:37
8. Red Krayola “Hurricane Fighter Plane” (1978 re-recording) 23:09
9. Cotton Mather “Book of Changes” 26:10
10. Surfer Blood “Island” 29:35
11. Salad Boys “No Taste Bomber” 33:18
12. Sheer Agony “Fizzical Lime” 38:12
13. Eleanor Friedberger “False Alphabet City” 42:24
14. Bad Bad Hats “Say Nothing” 45:58
15. Strange Faces “I Saw Your Face” 48:46
16. Primitive Parts “Miracle Skin” 51:04
17. Poppy Seed and the Love Explosion “Look at You” 53:48
18. Lionlimb “Turnstile” 1:00:15
19. Mitylion “Maybe Tonite” 1:03:42
20. Field Music “The Noisy Days Are Over” (single version) 1:07:33
21. Preoccupied Pipers “Minor Doorsteps” 1:12:29
22. Hop Along “Texas Funeral” 1:14:10
23. The Black Ships “Dead Empires” 1:18:37
24. Jesse R. Berlin “Wash Your Boat!” 1:23:36
25. Alex Chilton “All of the Time” 1:27:19

(The link is to a single, long .mp3, sequenced and segued: if you like any of these songs, please consider actually purchasing them.)

 

 

A Watched Clock Never Boils (the songs of my favorite 2015 albums)

The order here is musically determined (i.e., they’re not in any sort of ranked order). Also: I spent a bit of time getting the levels and segues adjusted – otherwise, of course, it’s easy enough nowadays to find these tracks individually. Given how easy it is to find them to listen to for free, I want to state that these are here to encourage you to actually, you know, buy these records if you like them.

Without further ado…

1. Deerhunter “All the Same” (Fading Frontier) 0:00
2. The Chills “Aurora Corona” (Silver Bullets) 3:04
3. The Corner Laughers “The Girl, America” (Matilda Effect) 7:31
4. The Orange Peels “Wintergreen” (Begin the Begone) 10:24
5. Dutch Uncles “Accelerate” (O Shudder) 14:41
6. Lower Dens “Sucker’s Shangri-La” (Escape from Evil) 17:58
7. Beauty Pill “Exit without Saving” (Beauty Pill Describes Things As They Are) 22:51
8. Cheatahs “Colorado” (Mythologies) 26:31
9. Swervedriver “Autodidact” (I Wasn’t Born to Lose You) 30:08
10. The Black Watch “Pershing/Harvard Square” (Highs and Lows) 35:04
11. The Figgs “Late Nights and Early Flights” (Other Planes of Here) 38:04
12. Courtney Barnett “Dead Fox” (Sometimes I Sit and Think, Sometimes I Just Sit) 42:26
13. The Dodos “Bubble” (Individ) 45:59
14. Destroyer “Midnight Meet the Rain” (Poison Season) 49:09
15. Of Montreal “Empyrean Abattoir” (Aureate Gloom) 52:34
16. Father John Misty “The Ideal Husband” (I Love You, Honeybear) 57:06
17. Sleater-Kinney “Bury Our Friends” (No Cities to Love) 1:00:40
18. Viet Cong “Bunker Buster” (Viet Cong) 1:04:02
19. Wilco “Random Name Generator” (Star Wars) 1:09:57
20. FFS “Johnny Delusional” (FFS) 1:13:44
21. Chris Stamey “Dear Valentine” (Euphoria) 1:16:54
22. Robert Forster “A Poet Walks” (Songs to Play) 1:20:03
23. Richard Thompson “Long John Silver” (Still) 1:24:57
24. Regular Einstein “Jimmyville” (Chimp Haven) 1:28:53
25. Sam Cohen “The Garden” (Cool It) 1:31:33
26. Shmu “Diamonds” (Shhh!!!!) 1:35:18
27. The Fall “Black Door” (Sub-Lingual Tablet) 1:38:01
28. Robert Pollard “You Only Need One” (Faulty Superheroes) 1:39:45
29. Blur “Thought I Was a Spaceman” (The Magic Whip) 1:41:57
30. Low “No End” (Ones and Sixes) 1:48:09

(Coming next…Winter 2015 songpile, and second covers mix of 2015)

2015 favorite albums

Here’s my annual round-up of my favorite new albums from 2015. Full-length studio albums only: not EPs (well, except at the bottom where I list a few), not live albums, not compilations…

The top few

• Courtney Barnett Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit
• Beauty Pill Beauty Pill Describes Things as They Are
• Blur The Magic Whip
• Cheatahs Mythologies
• The Dodos Individ
• Sleater-Kinney No Cities to Love
• Chris Stamey Euphoria

The next few

• The Black Watch Highs and Lows
• Sam Cohen Cool It
• Destroyer Poison Season
• Father John Misty I Love You, Honeybear
• FFS (Franz Ferdinand & Sparks) FFS
• Robert Forster Songs to Play
• Low Ones and Sixes
• Lower Dens Escape from Evil
• Swervedriver I Wasn’t Born to Lose You
• Wilco Star Wars

Still very, very good

• The Chills Silver Bullets
• The Corner Laughers Matilda Effect
• Dutch Uncles Shudder
• Of Montreal Aureate Gloom
• Robert Pollard Faulty Superheroes
• Regular Einstein Chimp Haven

Next tier

• Deerhunter Fading Frontier
• The Fall Sub-Lingual Tablet
• The Figgs Other Planes of Here
• The Orange Peels Begin the Begone
• Shmu Shhh!!!!
• Richard Thompson Still
• Viet Cong Viet Cong

Still pretty damned cool

Beach House Depression Cherry; The Black Ryder The Door Behind the Door; Kathryn Calder Kathryn Calder; Deradoorian The Expanding Flower Planet; Dick Diver Melbourne, Florida; Dungen Alles Sak; Ezra Furman Perpetual Motion People; Grooms Comb the Feelings through Your Hair; Albert Hammond Jr. Momentary Masters; Invisible Familiars Disturbing Wildlife; Jaill Brain Cream; Tommy Keene Laugh in the Dark; Mac McCaughan Non-Believers; The Mountain Goats Beat the Champ; The Orange Humble Band Depressing Beauty; Jim O’Rourke Simple Songs; Panda Bear Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper; Ricked Wicky King Heavy Metal; Speedy Ortiz Foil Deer; Statuesque Introversial; Sufjan Stevens Carrie & Lowell; Vinyl Williams Into; Wire Wire

Some other good ones

B and Not B Popular Pastimes; Beach House Thank Your Lucky Stars; Belle and Sebastian Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance; Mikal Cronin MCIII; Lana Del Rey Honeymoon; Drinks (Tim Presley & Cate Le Bon) Hermits on Holiday; Freedy Johnston Neon Repairman; The Mantles All Odds End; Laura Marling Short Movie; Mini-Mekons & Robbie Fulks Jura; Mercury Rev The Light in You; Momus Turpsycore; Mount Eerie Sauna; Pop 4 Summer; Regal Degal Not Now; Shriekback Without Real String or Fish; Ken Stringfellow & Holly Muñoz The Record; Suuns & Jerusalem in My Heart Suuns and Jerusalem in My Heart; Tame Impala Currents; They Might Be Giants Glean; Unknown Mortal Orchestra Multi-Love; Waxahatchee Ivy Tripp; Paul Weller Saturn’s Return; Yo La Tengo Stuff Like That There; The Zags The Zags

Also: best EPs of the year

The Besnard Lakes The Golden Lion; Cheatahs Sunne and Murasaki; The Decemberists Florasongs; LA Font Hangtime Vol. 1; Sharon Van Etten I Don’t Want to Let You Down

(Later: playlist for best tracks from the bullet-pointed albums above)