Here's a mixtape...

Thanks to the wonderful mixwit site, you can make a playlist and post it other places with a graphic of a mixtape. It's not quite the same as sitting in front of the stereo and creating a perfect mix, but it's close enough. The site does have some interesting songs, quite a few i didn't expect to find. And this is properly set up as a side a/side b 60-minute mixtape format, because that's all I know how to do; I still set up mix cds as the first half/second half. I guess I just miss flipping things over.

So, below is a track listing with a few words, again, just like I would if I was making a mix. The hyperlink on the artist's name will zoom you through the internets to a link of some of the live performances or videos. The graphic itself is how to work the tape. Just run the cursor over the tape and you can play, skip through songs, etc.

Please to enjoy...

Side A

1 "Swing Your Heartache" Young Galaxy
I absolutely love how this song builds through the first verse until that guitar riff into the first chrous just kicks the song widescreen. The swell works better in headphones, but I think even through computer speakers, you'll get the idea.

2 "This Isn't It" Giant Drag
I saw this band three times in a week during CMJ '04 and this song burned its way into my mind and hasn't gone anywhere since. I was kinda surprised that this record didn't make an impact when it came out; there was some major buzz overseas and some buzz over here. I tend to not dig the two-member (i.e. no bass player) line-ups, but it really works well for their overall sound, with the washy, distorted guitar not needing much more additional backup.

3 "Second Chance" Liam Finn
So far, his I'll Be Lightning is the best 2008 release I've heard. It's got a pop sensibility with a frantic, almost creepy melody thrown on top of it. The beauty of the record is that Finn, who usually plays most everything in concert himself with the aid of loops and pedals, makes the recordign should almost as immediate as the live performance. It doesn't sound like it has been fussed over and slicked up in a studio. It still has the fire. Click on his name above and check some of it out.

4 "Behave" Charlotte Hatherley
One of the best things I heard last year. Great hooks, catchy choruses, atypical song structure - this song is as good an introduction to Hatherley's music as any other. Both her records are only available as imports, but worth the money and time hunting them down.

5 "Words You Used to Say" Dean & Britta
And this was my favorite record of last year. And still up there this year. After becoming completely immersed in all things Luna in the summer of 2006. This was the first new music I got to hear after accumilating their entire catalog. So, there was quite a buildup in expectation. And this song and the whole album, Back Numbers far, far, far exceeded anything I expected. Driving four hours away to see them in Atlanta gave me a rush at a show that I haven't experienced in years. I was so hyped up, and it was amazing. Just simply amazing.

6 "Apartment Story" The National
The National are quite unique. Maybe because of that, this song was the huge breakout hit I thought it should have been. After one listen, you'll be repeating it in your head, or if you're more brave, singing it aloud.

7 "Come On/Let's Go" Paul Weller
I've already flashed my Paul Weller Fan Club credential on this blog with my effusive praise for Wild Wood, but couldn't find any of my favorite tracks from that on Mixwit. So here is a blazing tune from his 2005 record, As Is Now. Doesn't sound like a guy who's running out of ideas or spark. Cannot wait for the American release of his new one, 22 Dreams, that just came out in Europe.

8 "Me & Joe Drove Out to California" Drag the River
The two vocalists in the band, Chad Price and Jon Snodgrass, are two of my favorite writers ever. And how they have slipped under the radar for so long is beyond me. They take everything I like about rock and everything I like about country and make damn good music. As do pretty much every other band they're associated with, All (Price) and Armchair Martian (Snodgrass) chief among them.

9 "Suffering" Shawn Smith
Smith sang this song in Satchel on their 1994 debut, EDC, and this one is a live version done solo with Smith at the piano. Satchel changed the way I listen to music and got me out the tunnel-vision I was in around that time listening to a lot of pop/punk and hard rock. It showed me that you can rock with more than just speed or volume (not that there is anything wrong with either of those).

Side B

1 "The Good in Everyone" Sloan
Do you like 70's power-pop? Like a band that can deliver the goods live? Then you probably already know this band. Or should. Some very smart, tasteful people I know insisted I go check them out live some years back before I even heard a single song. And I just stood there in front of the stage, with my mouth hanging open like an idiot, just in awe of how incredible all four of these musicians are. They all write, they can all sing and nothing extra is there. The songs never drone on, they're just right. Always.

2 "Teenage Wristband" The Twilight Singers
Black out the windows, it's party time. This song sounds huge just with the intro, never mind that chorus. Hearing a room full of people singing this at the top of their lungs is the recommended way to hear this song, but this here will do. This revolving lineup, led by Greg Dulli, has a consistent mood and swagger to them that makes the records and show consistently good. And most of the Singers are currently touring as...

3 "Idle Hands" The Gutter Twins
Just add vocalist Mark Lanegan and some other folks and while you think it may be dark and bleak, it's not nearly as apocalyptic as I thought it would be. The full-length, Saturnalia, may require a few spins to take, but it will.

4 "Motor Away" Guided By Voices
I made the mistake of taking a flyer on GBV throughtout their career, only listening to them right after they broke up and missing several opportunities to see their legendary live shows. I've tried to repent for this by collecting as much of their immense catalog as possible and a good number of DVDs as well (the Austin City Limits show is one of the most gloriously unhinged shows I've ever seen). They have a good deal of tunes that sound like a greatest hit the first time you hear it. I would be hard pressed to just select 90 minutes of their music to put on a tape as "the best GBV songs". I couldn't imagine the agony over deciding what to leave on and what to leave off.

5 "Mexico" Billy Reese Peters
And I feel quite the same way about these guys. They have less than 20 songs recorded, but they're all classic in my mind. Anytime I see them play, it's some of the most fun I have hearing live music. The lyrics are permanently memorized and not going to fade away no matter how much scotch or beer might try to wipe them away. No mix I make would be complete without them.

6 "Unsatisfied" The Replacements
Or this band. There are a ton of musicians who are heavily indebted to this band, and I am one of them. No matter what different things I check out musically, I always go back to the Replacements.

7 "Helpless" Sugar
This was fairly popular when it was out, but I'm surprised that more people today are listening to this 90's band led by Bob Mould. It was a college rock staple, but always seems left out of any mention of music from that era. I still listen to both records (and the stellar live CD that was a limited bonus with their B-sides disc) quite a bit.

8 "The Golden State" John Doe
The legendary John Doe (from X) gets better and better with each release. I've thought after this last couple of records that he couldn't improve on the next one. And he repeatedly does. I used to automatically hear Exene from X whenever I hear John's voice. Their singular sound is one of X's cornerstones, but the last few records have seen John singing with many other vocalists and Kathleen Edwards may be the best match in the bunch. This is from his latest, A Year in the Wilderness, one of the songs Edwards appears on. And the beauty here is after being utterly bewitched by this tune, I started checking out Edwards' own records and now have some more great music to listen to as a result. And to see a fantastic covergence of one talented writer covering another click here.

9 "Message of Love" The Pretenders
I almost forgot about how much I love the Pretenders. Almost, until Rhino reissued their first four records with a slew of bonuses. I started out played drums in the late 70s and Pretenders drummer Martin Chambers was one of my idols. He had a sound unlike anyone else in that era and a feel that no one could reproduce once he left the band before the recording of their fourth record in 1986 (returning in the mid-90s). This track from Pretenders II has been a favorite of mine since the first time I heard it. And I spent hours playing along to it, first as a young drummer, then years later when I switched to bass.

The Replacements Let it Be (reissue)

For me, writing about the Replacements is difficult. It's next to impossible to for me to sound objective or have some kind of detached perspective. I heard "I'll Be You" on MTV and the radio when it was originally out, but in my world, they didn't really come to life for me until college. My roommate Jeff introduced me to the albums themselves and they ceased being a band I had heard of and became a band that hardly ever left my stereo.

My favorite Replacements (from here on referred to as "the 'Mats") record changed a bit over the years. I like the early, noisy garage racket of the first two releases when I first started playing in a band. I liked the latter day, major label stuff more earlier in my life, when I was college radio. But a few years ago, it became Let It Be and it's stayed that way ever since.

And that's really where what I have to say about the 'Mats stops to matter much. The story of why they are so good and why you need to hear their stuff is in the songs. Over the last almost 20 years, they've become like old friends, which is how most fans of the 'Mats think of their catalog. When you hear most people talk about the band, they talk about them like their a local band and they hang out drinking at the local bar with these guys. But I've yet to meet anyone who accurately describes the band without sounding like they're overthinking it. The music says it perfectly.

And, thankfully, Rhino Records have begun releasing the catalog with some unreleased material tacked onto each album, after years of rumors of their impending release. They started this week with the quartet of records originally put out by Minneapolis label TwinTone, Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash, the EP Stink, Hootenanny and Let it Be. There are merits and virtues to all of them, but I'll focus on the last TwinTone release.

It opens with the song that everyone should know, but probably doesn't, "I Will Dare". To borrow an overused music critic phrase and mean it for once, it's the hit that never happened. The greatest hit that never was. The monster hit from a parallel universe. Whatever makes you happy. Those kinds of phrases seem overused to me because it lessens the meaning of it when you need to use it. Like here. A killer riff. Great bassline. An incredible hook of a chorus. Mandolin. It's a classic pop song. An amazing song written by one of the best songwriters in music history, Paul Westerberg. He has tons of them and this could arguably be his best.

And I could take a paragraph to talk about each and every track from the original release. To gush over every second would make you doubt my sincerity. There's some great ragged rockers. Some incredible lyrics. Choruses that never leave your head. Excellent guitar playing. A drummer that expertly ties everything together in a way that just can't be imitated; believe me on that one...tons of bands almost sound like the 'Mats, but can't quite get there because it's really hard to play like drummer Chris Mars.

And it also has a Kiss cover. And "Sixteen Blue". And "Unsatisfied".

It's a classic.

So thanks to Rhino for also adding such things as a stellar cover of T. Rex's "20th Century Boy", some home demo stuff, a couple more covers. Getting all four reissues constitutes another new album or two, reason alone to go and shell out the money to buy them all over again. I've got two of them and need the other two. And listening to these songs makes me feel like I'm 18 and just discovered them all over again. Like I need to go pick up my guitar and write some songs. Even though I've most of all of this before, sometimes it can still sound like the first time again. Only some of the greatest music ever made can have that effect.

A couple of great interviews about the reissues and reunion rumors with Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson from Billboard magazine.

The Gutter Twins Saturnalia

I've been listening to whatever Greg Dulli has been doing for years. The Afghan Whigs, Twilight Singers, guest spots on other people's records, almost all of it. Through all of Dulli's work, there's a soulful, wounded heart to his rock. He plays his own songs and cover others all in his own unique style. And we also have Mark Lanegan, a man who has a deep, powerful voice that sounds perfectly weathered, whether it's with Screaming Trees, Queens of the Stone Age, his own stuff, that record he did with Isobel Campbell (you should hunt that one down, Ballad of the Broken Seas) or as a special guest on the last Twilight Singers tour. So, word that Dulli and Lanegan were just going ahead and doing a record together and calling the project the Gutter Twins (a perfect band name for them), I figured I knew exactly what it would sound like.

Sorta. It is dark, which I expected. It's got some sinister vibes to it, again, which I expected. But it also has some quieter moments and other aspects that kinda surprised me. It took me a couple listens to totally wrap my head around it. It did not initially knock me out like I thought it would. But I spent some time, giving Saturnalia more than just an initial listen or two and now I like it more than I thought I would.

The first half has a familiar feel to it, harnessing a sinister, shadowy sound not far removed from what you would hear on a film soundtrack, something I've always felt about Dulli's best work. It sets a mood and pulls you in from the first second with opening track "The Stations" and running straight through to the fifth track, the first song they let folks here on the internet, "Idle Hands". This part fits together very well and rock with a dark edge to it. From there, it shifts gears a bit from song to song and incorporates more strings and a loop here and there, as on "Seven Stories Underground", "Each to Each" and another Dulli masterpiece "I Was in Love with You".

The songwriting styles of the two mesh incredibly well together; it doesn't sound like they simply pitched in a few songs each called it a band.. The recording approach Dulli has been using for the last few years works for the Twins as well. The current line-up of the Twilight Singers all appear as do a cast of other musicians, among them Troy Van Leeuwen (Queens of the Stone Age), Petra Haden and Martina Topley-Bird (whose "Too Tough to Die" was previously covered by the Twilight Singers). It's an approach that has definitely worked before for Dulli and it works just as well here. It feels like a band playing every note together on each track.

While I thought this disc was going to be one sound over and over, and that wouldn't be a bad thing, its diversity threw me a bit at first. Now that it has sunk in, I like it, as a whole, even more than I thought I would. I like that some musicians I've been listening to for years, still have it in them to make great music and still keep it interesting.

The Gutter Twins on MySpace.
The Gutter Twins playing "Idle Hands" on The Late Show with David Letterman.

Young Galaxy Young Galaxy

I had read about Young Galaxy on a few websites and in a couple of magazines and it sounded like something I would want to check out. Could not turn up a copy of the CD anywhere in this town, so I asked my girlfriend to order it through the store she works for. It comes in, I go to pick it up, look at the cover. And was instantly won over.

The cover's graphics make it look like a 5-inch version of a 12-inch vinyl album. An old one. That's been played a ton and refiled into the middle of a huge shelf of records. It has that faded ring around it in the perfect round shape of the platter housed within. A lot of my old records look like that. I flipped through gatefolds and read liner notes like a spaz (how else would I still know who engineered the Power Station record?).

Young Galaxy have a familiarity about them without sounding like any one band from any one time. But they sound like someone I've been listening to for years. I hear elements of shoegaze. I hear a lot of college rock from all eras between 1981 and 1994. Even a hint of the lazy, sun-drenched California rock from the 70's. But at no one time do they sound exactly or solely like any one of them. I think the sunny sounds make the cold, angular aspects sound warmer and more organic. This sounds like it's a huge room full of actual people playing actual instruments together. It may have been pieced all together, but it sure doesn't sound like it.

"Swing Your Heartache", the opener, kind of ruined me for this record for awhile because it is such a good song. It opens with a cold, almost detached feel before a golden guitar riff make the song completely fill the room. It was all I could remember. But repeatedly listens were needed to fully appreciate all it had to offer. Now I know the first six tracks by heart, and totally dig the whole thing. The strong choruses, the male/female vocals, the guitar hooks, things like that make this one stand out from a lot of the really good rock that's been coming out on smaller labels.

Some bands I hear and appreciate the musicianship, can tell the songs are well-written, but they don't bowl me over and become one of the bands I have to put on every mix CD I make. They don't come up in conversations at the bar over a few beers. But Young Galaxy does. "Swing..." has been echoing in my head the entire time I've been typing this. I had to go to into my library and play it because it was driving me nuts. But any song here works. Track it down and check it out. And give it time. It deserves many, many listens, but it's worth it.

Young Galaxy on MySpace. "Swing Your Heartache" is there as of today. And so are three other excellent songs.
Young Galaxy on Arts & Crafts (label) website. Has some more video clips that the MySpace doesn't have.

Tin Machine Tin Machine

Yup, Tin Machine. Now, the only time I ever even hear this name anymore is when some music writer wants to disparage some other musician's side project. And I am one of the very few who don't laugh at the jokes. Because I like Tin Machine. I would go as far as saying that I love all three of their records.

But I can start with this one. It's probably the most solid and definitely the one that grabbed my attention. I remember watching this thing on ABC called the International Rock Awards and seeing the debut of David Bowie's new band. They played this album's opening track, "Heaven's In Here", and I recall it so well because I watched it with my jaw in my lap. Once the song reached the solo and guitarist Reeves Gabrels laid into his solo, I was in. Not too long after a 13 minute video with a medley of most of this record popped up on MTV and I had to have this record.

It's aged just fine with me. Brothers Hunt and Tony Sales, on drums and bass respectively, had worked with Bowie before on some of the music he did with Iggy Pop, including playing on "Lust for Life", which let's face it...that track has one of the best rhythm section performances ever. With Tin Machine, their playing provides the perfect grounding for Gabrels to soar over with some of the most unorthodox rock playing I've ever heard. Bowie, at the time, seemed content to just be one of the guys in the band. It put a lot of casual Bowie fans off, but me, not a big Bowie fan at the time it came out in 1989, I got more interested in Bowie because of it.

And the songs are there, regardless of what you may have heard otherwise. "Amazing" would probably find its way into my Top Album Tracks Ever conversation over some drinks one night. "Under the God" sounds like a punk song after all these years. The studio recording off the aforementioned "Heaven's In Here" has some excellent soloing on it. "Crack City" rides a great lazy riff. All of it is delivered by a truly great group of musicians.

On paper, the straight-forward, muscular rock power of the Sales brothers and the avant-garde explorations of Gabrels should be a mess. And most people think it is. But I don't. And I know a handful of others who agree. Henry Rollins gave the track "Prisoner of Love" some love in his book, Fanatic!. A couple of other musicians I've met over the years have told me they love the Tin Machine records. Some of the good folks at the record store I shopped at for years (and worked at for awhile) had my back on this one, too. I know this record lives in the cheap bins at most used record shops. Actually, it's really easy to find either one of their first two records, this one and the cleverly titled follow-up Tin Machine II. Your collection would really benefit from either of them. Now, if you really want to go over the edge and lose your cred with your friends, get the live one, Oy Vey, Baby. It opens with one of the best covers ever: their live version of Roxy Music's "If There Is Something". There's a studio version on II, but the live one smokes it.

Okay, so it's a punchline for most music fans. But most of the people who drop that reference probably never even listened to a whole record. And if, they did back then, a second listen now would probably surprise most. They only lasted three or four years, but long live Tin Machine!

Here's the video for "Under the God" on YouTube.
Here's that performance of"Heaven's In Here" from the International Rock Awards, also from YouTube. The fifth person on stage is Kevin Armstrong, who played some additional guitar on the first record.

Liam Finn I'll Be Lightning

Liam Finn is a fantastic live performer. Guitar lines loop over each other through an array of pedals. The swirling sounds of the multiple guitar and bass parts fully color in the songs as he sings instantly catchy pop melodies over the top of it all. Sometimes towards the end of a song, he'll sit down and accompany the wall of guitar sounds with a drumkit. As he flails away on the kit, it provides the perfect release to all the energy that song already has. The songs have to go somewhere and the drums help them get there.

The danger, of course, lies in whether or not that can translate to the record. And I'll Be Lightning, Finn's solo debut after his work with his former band Betchadupa. Finn plays almost every note on the record. It sounds a bit like it as well, in a very good way. Bits and pieces flow in and out of the mix, lending itself to a bit of a bedroom recording kind of sound. But it also has impressive arrangements sounding like a solid five-piece group.

And it grabs you quick. It opens with "Better to Be", a nice tune bolstered by noisy guitar blasts and sunshine harmonies. Then, it's followed with first single, "Second Chance", with a tick-tock drum program that alternates between sounding too slow and too fast before the live drums come in and the whole song just explodes out of the speakers.

By then, the record should have already have your attention. And the quality level stays very consistent. Finn's voice has much more sides to it than most one-man bands. I'll Be Lightning is a solid and promising debut for an artist that should have much more up his sleeve.

Liam Finn on MySpace
"Second Chance" (Live) on YouTube from the Beacon Theater in New York, August 2007. You can also probably find his performance of that song with vocalist Eliza-Jane Barnes on the Late Show with David Letterman there as well.

Paul Weller Wild Wood (Deluxe Edition)

A couple of friends whose opinions on music I take seriously told me a few years back to pick up a live record by Paul Weller. I was familiar with Weller from the Jam and the Style Council from years ago, but had never really checked out any of his solo work. That disc was Days of Speed, which is brilliant and well worth tracking down. It led me into an investigation of the solo stuff working backwards and forwards at the same time. The records he put out since Speed, especially Illumination and As Is Now, are big favorites of mine. But I haven't really come across many of the earlier discs.

I was familiar with some of the songs on Wild Wood through the comps and live stuff I've heard, but it's been tough trying to find copies of his earlier albums in the stores around here. I know, the internet has many places for music fans to buy things, but I like finding them and buying them. The instant gratification of going out, buying a disc and bringing it home is still one of my favorite things about being a music fan.

So, Yep Roc has made my patience pay off by releasing this two-disc Deluxe Edition of Wild Wood stateside after its late 2007 release elsewhere. Now I get the full experience of what many call one of his career highlights. And experience is the correct word. With 28 bonus tracks beyond the actual record, it's a lot to take in; not because of the volume of tracks, because of the quality of them.

Let's start with the 15 track original release. Wild Wood is a fantastic mix of the mod and soul influences of a good deal of Weller's work with an added nod to some mellower acoustic music from the 70's, which is talked about a bit in the liner notes as well. According to those notes, Weller spent some time playing records for everyone assembled at the studio working on the album.

Whatever vibe or influence Weller was looking for with those listening sessions would mean nothing without great songs. And Wild Wood has them. Opening track "Sunflower" builds itself upon an addictive spiral of a riff with a knock-out off-beat bridge. The title track is a beautiful acoustic gem. "The Weaver" has this insanely catchy chorus that's been in my head all week. "Can You Heal Us (Holy Man)" sports such a good groove that its later reprise feels entirely essential.

That album alone would be enough, but those bonus tracks make it seem like amazing music was just simply flowing out of Weller around the time of recording. The demos sound close to their fully realized counterparts. B-sides, other singles and some covers (including songs by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Tim Hardin and Small Faces, among others) sound anything but filler, as some bonus tracks can be. Everything here sounds just as good up against the original release and demonstrate just how good Weller and his assembled band - bassist Marco Nelson and drummer Steve White primarily, with some guests along the way, were at the time.

With thirty years of recorded output, catching up on all of Weller's catalog can be tough. But when you hear how much great stuff he put down on tape during this period alone, I can't help wanting to go search for more. But I don't just have to go back. Weller promises a brand new double album later in 2008. Which is good, because I may need a few months to finish listening to this.

Official site for Paul Weller
Yep Roc site(American label) for Paul Weller. There's a link to stream this album.