MIXTAPE MAD(LUCAS)NESS.
All of the songs here inspire me as an artist, a musician, a songwriter, and a person. They fill me with an energy and a purpose and provide me with a permanent cure that a lot of other music provides as a band-aid, a wormhole for me to investigate and broaden my brain and cause me to think differently.
1. YO LA TENGO - “Blue Line Swinger,” from
Electr-O-Pura. I cannot say enough nice things about this band. They've never made the same album twice, and sometimes it can sound like a different group altogether from one song to the next. I chose this song as an opener because of how it builds, one instrument at a time, from free-tempo to a locked-in groove. This song is the aural equivalent of a brain putting the dots together.
2. LUNA - “23 Minutes In Brussels,” from
Penthouse. Featuring guitar-work from Television's Tom Verlaine, this is my favorite song off my favorite Luna album. I could listen to, play along with, and write words to this groove for days.
3. DEERHUNTER - “Nothing Ever Happened,” from
Microcastle. Everything I said about the Luna track (minus Tom Verlaine) applies here. The instrumental expository section is a surprise journey to me every time I hear it.
4. IVY - “Wish It All Away,” from
Lately. This group is probably best-known for their songs in the movies
There's Something About Mary and
Shallow Hal. They are probably equally as known for one of their members being a member of a much more popular band (Fountains Of Wayne). I wish they were known for their songs, for their lush instrumental backgrounds, and for their beautiful vocal and harmonic layering. Every time I put this on, I have to listen to it at least twice.
5. VELOCITY GIRL - “Formula 1 Throwaway,” from
Gilded Stars & Zealous Hearts. Few bands have ever made a “perfect” records, but in my opinion this band made three perfect albums before disbanding. I've been fascinated with how they approach their sound (many if not most musicians will tell you that the melodic guitar would require the heavier sound than the rhythm guitar, something they seem willfully ignorant or opposing to), and I am a sucker for competing melodies/harmonies in a pop/rock song. Someone once said Aimee Mann is a genius lyricist (I agree) because her lyrics are things you know you've thought to yourself but never said out loud; I think Velocity Girl's lyrics are genius because you KNOW you've said them (“did you have to go and bring that up again?”) but never thought to put to music.
6. ETTA JAMES - “I'd Rather Go Blind,” live recording from
Live In San Francisco. So so so so SO many recordings of this I could have picked, including the one that this arrangement is based on (when she re-titled the song “Blind Girl” for her criminally overlooked
Deep In The Night album), but I went with this because it's the version I first heard and fell in love with. I remember putting this car on in a moment of extreme heartbreak and finding my real singing voice for the first time.
7. JOHN COLTRANE - “Afro Blue,” from
Live At Birdland. One might wonder why I chose this recording of all the Coltrane recordings out there: it's not Coltrane's most impressive or exploratory solo, McCoy's piano and Jimmy's bass are borderline obscured. My theory is that a microphone was ill-placed when this was recorded, making Elvin Jones the star of this show. The listener has two choices, like I do every time I listen: let the thunderstorm of Elvin cause them physical convulsions resulting in involuntary dancing, or truly listen past them to absorb what is happening underneath all of it, forcing your ear to hear things in a different way. I think even if this had been recorded “properly” it would still retain all of its glory and excitement.
8. ORBITAL - “The Box – Part 2,” from
In Sides. I love electronic music, and this recording was the first one that ever forced me to take notice (thanks to a beautiful video directed by Luke Losey). This song opened me up to a world I didn't realize had a soul pulsing through all those wires and samplers and I am grateful for it.
9. BJORK - “Joga,” from
Homogenic. It's one thing to blend classical instruments with electronics, it's another for both of those parts to stand up on their own as fully realized arrangements. The beauty is that they need each other: the bassline accompanying the octet's part transforms this song from a major-key love poem to a minor-key “state of emergency.”
10. XIU XIU - “Apistat Commander,” from
A Promise. I spent years wondering what the hell an “apistat commander” was, and, if I believe Jamie's explanation from the “director's cut listening notes” that accompanied a recent reissue, then I am terribly disappointed. Fortunately, it does nothing to dampen my joy of this song. If you find a tear on your face and you are confused as to whether it is because you find what is happening beautiful or because you are terrified, you're not alone on this one.
11. VELVET CRUSH - “Why Not Your Baby,” from
Teenage Symphonies To God. Velvet Crush is one of the most under-discussed bands of the last 30 years. It's no accident that a band devoted to power pop, beautiful vocal arrangements, and creating new memories from sonic nostalgia would name their second album the alternate title for The Beach Boys'
Pet Sounds. The first time I truly listened to this Gene Clark cover, I kept having to rewind the ending pedal steel solo. I bought a pedal steel the next day. Hardest instrument on earth? Possibly, but Greg Leisz makes it sound effortless.
12. BEACH BOYS - “I Can Hear Music,” from
20/20. My first music love was The Beach Boys, especially these out-of-print hard-to-find compilations that I bought on cassette when I was 8
(22 Sun & Surf Hits and
Sunshine Dream, namely)
. Carl's voice has always been my favorite and has been featured on some of my absolute favorite Beach Boys songs (“Wild Honey,” “God Only Knows,” “Good Vibrations”). Whenever someone tells me they are a fan of
Pet Sounds, my follow-up question is “but have you ever heard
20/20?” I have worn through a few copies over the years, and this song is one of the reasons I keep coming back.
13. TED LEO & THE PHARMACISTS - “Bridges, Squares” from
Hearts Of Oak. Ted Leo is not necessarily overlooked as a songwriter or lyricist, but no song of his has caused me more pause and reflection on the lyrics than this one.
14. SLEATER-KINNEY - “Dig Me Out,” from
Dig Me Out. Sometimes I just need to jump around the room and shout and throw things. Then I remember I am a grown ass adult, and I just play this really loud and for three minutes imagine doing that instead of dancing in my kitchen.
15. DAR WILLIAMS - “After All,” from
The Green World. I am ending this on a personal tip. Dar Williams has at least one song an album that can reduce me to tears if I really am paying attention to her lyrics (“You're Aging Well,” “Mortal City,” “If I Wrote You”), and this is one of them. This song is different, though: it is not sad, although there is a sadness to it; it is not strictly about overcoming, although everyone in the song overcomes something; this song is not about joy, although there is a joy to it. I don't think I am the only one who has ever entered or come out on the other side of truly dark times. This song takes it a step further, confessing there was a point in her life where she thought about ending those times once and for all... only to realize, much, much later how grateful she was to not have gone through with it because of everything she would have missed out on. I know I identify with that, and I am sure many people reading this will too. In Dar's words, “I think that
life chose
me after all.”
I hope you enjoy the 15-songs that encompass this listening experience.
What did you like?
What did you hate?
What did you discover?
What did you take away?
Don't hold back. I am looking forward to talking with all of you!
Sincerely,
John
Playlist · John Pioli · 15 items · 4 likes
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