Mix Tape

Big Future -- January 2007

Doesn't everyone try to start out the new year with a brighter, more hopeful outlook? I find this practice a little odd as the day after December 31 is just another day in the long march of time, but as we choose to mark the advancement of time on that very day each year, we also use it as an opportunity to try and regain control over our lives after the long, hectic holiday season. I never make new year's resolutions, but I do find myself vowing to get more done or be more positive or just plain try to be a better person. This month I imagined making a soundtrack for a more joyous, more productive life -- though I have already resumed some of the bad behavior I swore off just a few days ago. Oh well...
This month's Mix Tape written by Mark Taylor, Senior Interactive Producer, KQED Arts & Culture

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It's the perfect way to greet the day, rise from bed, put the needle down (I do use record on needle here cause the Cobras remind me of one of my all-time fave groups, the Shangri-La's -- "Leader of the Pack," the sixties, tough chicks kicking ass), take a belt, light a cig and then open your eyes. Hey sailor, it's a brand new day, the high octane Cobras in combination with the stimulant of your choice should you get jump-started. I have to paste in a bit of the Cobras' own hype here, cause it's totally true: "Singer Rachel Nagy and guitarist Mary Ramirez are the bad girls by the exit doors at the school dance, all leather and heels, sneaking smokes and passing the flask." Local filmmaker Danny Plotnick turned me on to this group (he has produced a new podcast, Nest of Vipers, cultural chitchat for know-it-alls, ne'er-do-wells and nattering nabobs everywhere, which launches on KQED mid-February 2007.

San Francisco art rockers, Deerhoof make a wonderful racket. On "+81" they begin with a great marching band sound and then kick into some garage rock topped off by Japanese singer Satomi Matsuzaki's loopy vocals. Is there anything more joyous than a chorus that consists of "choo choo choo choo beep beep?" I don't think so. The 'hoofs are on a world tour and will be back in SF at The Great American Music Hall on January 30, 2007. Purchase tickets (at gamh.com).

OK. Now that you are surely awake, you should probably shake your booty for awhile, dance around in your underwear to this chopped-up vocal-chant, which sounds like this year's "Galang," MIA mashed up with "Numbers" by Kraftwerk. Oh that makes me want to listen to "Numbers" right now (an alternate mix, perhaps...)

DJ and Blogger Dennis Scheyer, who doesn't do best of's recommended this tune in his 2006 "Best Of" column. Iggy Pop is not only A punkrocker, he is THE punkrocker. You gotta hand it to someone who has pretty much been the ultimate inside-outsider since the late '60s, when he invented punk rock with The Stooges. Not only is this song rockin' with attitude, you should check out the least likely pairing in history, Iggy Pop and Terry Gross on Fresh Air. Iggy is hilarious.

I just like Of Montreal, who aren't of Montreal at all but Georgia or some such. Now this ditty here makes me want to frolic in a field of California poppies. When you listen to these guys it's so easy to imagine yourself as a cartoon character flying through a digital video blue sky, distracted by the repetitive, fluffy cotton-ball clouds that float by. This is where I would have plugged their show at the Bottom of the Hill on February 1, but that show is beyond sold out, so you should go and see them at The Great American Music Hall instead. Purchase tickets (at musichallsf.com).

OK. The Mix Tape is 'sposed to expose folks to the new and the obscure. Yes, that's true and if you haven't heard The Shins, like the biggest indie band in the past couple of years, then you have probably lost your hearing during that period and too bad for you because they make great pop songs, and though you will end up over-hearing this song within the next several months, it just came out and I can't stop playing it. So, I probably should have been a better person, just like I said I would at the beginning of the year, and chosen something by a more obscure band -- we're only a few weeks into 2007 and I've given up (AND GIVEN IN) already!!! But this song is so sensuous, with that seductive Motown back beat and smooth Pixies background vocal deal at the end, which probably references the Beach Boys, that I couldn't resist and don't think I should be held responsible. Blame The Shins for being irresistible.

Now if you're walking down the street and want to just STOMP, this Keren Ann song, which isn't wispy and whispery like most of her work, has just the jaunty beat you would need. It's also got a sly slinky bass-line that reminds one of the classic melodic figure used to accompany a villain as he sneaks up on potential prey. Plus the story of the sailor and the widow is a fun one too, about murder, me thinks. Music blogger Buzzy Jackson has further thoughts on Keren Ann.

"Easier" is a bit of a mellow out. Gorgeous horns float in the background, out of tune piano in the fore, a jangling banjo bubbles like a brook to one side and bells descend and twinkle throughout. It's a mood elevator that will, if you are four or five years old, be the perfect song to spin around the room to. If you're older, you might not want to try that move, hips are replaceable, but pricey! And -- Sheesh! Everyone is coming to The Great American Music Hall! They should sponsor us... Grizzly Bear will be there on February 20, 2007. Purchase tickets (at musichallsf.com).

"The House Under the Hill" is what inspired this whole mix. It's a gorgeous folk hybrid! I don't usually love such a sweet vocal style, but this one just caught me off guard and then Carolyn Pennypacker Riggs' voice proceeded to bore a hole into my skull and wrap itself around my brain. What inspired THIS mix was the group vocal at the end of the tune, which reminds one slightly of "Auld Lang Syne." The Finches are locals who have just released a new album, Human Like a House and are about to hit the road to support it. They'll be playing Amoeba Records on Saturday, January 27 at 2pm and at Cafe du Nord on Wednesday, January 31, 2007 in San Francisco. Blogger Christopher Appelgren waxes poetic on the duo.

This tune was recommended by Craig Rosa, the Interactive Producer for Quest, KQED's new science show, because I said I wanted to make a mix about being hopeful and about new beginnings. Doris Henson makes "plans for a big future" sound majestic, grandiose and a little threatening at the same time. Is it just me or is there something ominous to the way this song builds? I think it's the big horn synth sound, which manages to be both a little sinister and grandiose. In any case, I hope those big plans work out.

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Please Note: Some songs may contain explicit lyrics.