Mix Tape

Something Old, Something New -- September 2006

September's Mix is a bit of a hodge podge. Alison Levy's blog reviewing the Rhino records release of Children of Nuggets got me thinking about how every generation is influenced by the one that preceded it. If you think about it, you can trace all of the music being made today through various twisty roots that reach back to the earliest decades of the last century -- and probably beyond that as well.

I've also been thinking about how many bands these days sound like they just stepped out of a time warp from the '80s, where the bands of my youth dominated the airwaves, launched the punk rock and new wave movements and pretty much created the music video. One thing is for sure, you know you're old when you say, "that band sounds like ... only not as good!" Children of Nuggets, a collection of vaguely psychedelic, sixties-inspired bands from the '80s, reminded me how annoyed I would get when some oldster would comment on my favorite band, "Oh, they sound like The Velvet Underground or The Stooges or The Beatles or The Rolling Stones" as though somehow music began and ended with the bands of their youth! Harumph. The Rolling Stones did their best to sound like Muddy Waters, so screw you!

Whew! Sorry for the rant. I just like music that's good and interesting and puts a new spin on the scene. The following tunes do that, from a Marianne Faithfull/PJ Harvey collaboration to an ancient country gem by the Dezurik Sisters, it's all good no matter who it sounds like.

This month's Mix Tape was written by Mark Taylor, KQED's Senior Interactive Producer || Arts & Culture

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Sixties icon, seventies burn-out, eighties comeback queen Marianne Faithfull keeps cranking out the hits. Her latest album is a collaboration with PJ Harvey and Nick Cave and finds her mining fresh new musical territory while maintaining her own distinctive edge. You gotta love Faithfull for her willingness to embrace constant change. It must be what has made her so vital for so long. I went to see Marianne's last concert at the Fillmore and was surprised to find seating in the place. I don't remember ever going to that club for a sit-down concert before. But once I got a look at the crowd, I quickly understood why. At one point a woman with a walker made her way toward the back of the hall and I thought, ouch! rock and roll is getting old. But you had to love the relish with which Faithfull delivered the naughty bits from "Why'd Ya Do It?" the scathing break up tune from her Broken English album.

I love Lady Sovereign. If you listen closely to her lyrics, you discover a sharp mind with a great sense of humor. Her songs, which are from the British "Grime" genre, really sound modern. "Ch Ching" always makes me want to move.

"Not even The Flaming Lips can ignore the ravages and atrocities of the Bush administration, and I'd certainly rather hear it from them than get one more pumped-up petition request from Move On." says Alison Levy in her review of At War With the Mystics. "Free Radicals" has a stripped-down, funky stop-start groove that reminds one of Prince's great single "Kiss" -- only with a shaking fist instead of a shaking booty. Read the full review.

"'Ghetto Ways' is a good single that pleases after a The Killers and Hot Hot Heat fashion -- meaning it's heavy on the synth with proto-disco drums and slinky vocals that reinforce the catchy chorus riff." So says Christopher Appelgren in his review of locals Scissors for Lefty. To me it sounds definitely eighties with a catchy, borderline Euro-disco synth and way-cool whispered vocals, like the Human League and The Jam got into a tour bus accident somewhere in Italy! Read the full Scissors for Lefty profile.

Speaking of the eighties, why not just play this classic? Arguably the best of all The Psychedelic Furs tunes, the song has a propulsive beat and a build that just keeps on rising. In the landscape of an imaginary "song city," it is a high-rise going up in fast-motion. The lame connection I make back to our text is the title of blogger Buzzy Jackson's article, Into You Like - Uh - Train?, wherein she hates on local band Train and wonders what makes an exemplary San Francisco band.

OK. This song just mixes well after "Into You Like a Train." Still reminiscent of that '80s thing so many bands are doing these days. But these guys are a little on the dark side, which always makes it more interesting to me. A little goth, a lot new wave -- a good mix.

Christina Nunez observes, "Astronautalis is often referred to as a rapper, but the description is a little misleading." It is also true that some folks just SHOULDN'T rap, as sometimes the rapping on this album gets in the way of the really good lyrics and quite intriguing aural/musical arrangements. On "Skeleton" the "rap" comes from inside the head of an aging man who feels lost in a world that seems to have left him behind. If you listen closely, it's actually a very sad song. Read the full review of The Mighty Ocean & Nine Dark Theaters.

Local experimental filmmaker Rock Ross laid this tune on me. He runs the New Nothing Cinema, a local micro-cinema that's been in operation in one form or another since 1987. "I Left Her Standing There" is an old country tune with wonderful bird-like melodies and a gorgeous yodle. You gotta love a good yodle. Read the BBC review of Flowers in the Wildwood.

Called "the mother of all front-porch records" by the Boston Globe, Post-War is the latest in M. Ward's modern "folk" releases. He's got a very distinctive smoky voice that sets him apart from the current crop of folkies and, as evidenced by the last minute of this tune, Ward's not afraid to experiment with sound, really nailing that kind of swampy feeling that, I at least, associate with classic folk tunes.

Before they became The Bangles they were The Bangs, one of the many bands that came out of L.A.'s Paisley Underground, which also spawned Salvation Army/The Three O'Clock, The Rain Parade/Opal -- later Mazzy Star, The Dream Syndicate, The Go-Go's and countless other psychedelia-inspired bands. This jangly tune is representative of what can be found in abundance on Rhino Record's Children of Nuggets collection. Read Alison Levy's review.

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Please Note: Some songs may contain explicit lyrics.