Treme

If you haven't checked out 'Treme' yet...from a musical and overall good perspective...it's worth a look.

You 'Wire' fans will catch the tidbit at the end.

The Verve - 'Velvet Morning'

Feeling like a bit of a monopolist now, but still feeling the groove and this is such an amazing tune from an amazing album.

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Imperial Drag - 'Are you a boy or a girl?'

If you can't already tell....I don't have to get up early in the morning and am pulling some tunes from the archives!

The Soul Rebels - 'Let Your Mind Be Free'

And now for something completely different. It's a bit longish but I've recently been listening to quite a bit of southern gospel/jazz/bluesish funkiness, and this fits the bill.



P.S. It is not lost on me that within my last couple of posts there have been songs about state of 'mind'. I'm not sure what that means but it is a curious coincidence nonetheless.

Small Sins - 'Why Don't You Believe Me?'

While it's possible that I've simply been sucked in by the sickly sweet chorus of this song, I do think it is worth a listen or two.

Superblood - "Normal Person"

Superblood is my buddy Noah's band. I love the passion that he's bringing to this project, screaming his guts out! With a Sonic Youth noise-rock feel.

Normal Person by Superblood

The Head and the Heart - 'Lost in my Mind'

Faceman - "Darkest Day"

Love this song, just not versatile enough to make any of my mixes.

DarkestDay from FaceMan on Vimeo.

B Real ft. Damien Marley - "Fire"

This track reminds me of the Nas and Damien Marley track from SG10 "As We Enter". This one featuring B-Real from Cypress Hill naturally has more of a weed focus to it. Blaze it up!

Luomo - "Spy"

Luomo is a Finnish house music producer. I was very into Scandinavian house when I DJ'ed back in the early 2000s. Trippy, dubby, mellow generally as a rule, but with enough backbone to keep you groovin'. Here's a new one from his forthcoming album "Plus" on Moodmusic Records.


Luomo - Spy by sasuripatti

Starfucker - "Hungry Ghost"

I'm really digging these guys right now...and one of their tracks will definitely end up on Mixtape 10. This track features the voice of Alan Watts, one of the first westerners to "tune into" Buddhism. I like the message here. "To make life poignant, it's always going to come to an end".

Hungry Ghost from Ryan Parker on Vimeo.

This band presents an emerging challenge on the mixes too: their name. As my kids become more into music, something I love to share and guide them in, I become aware of things that are let's say "not appropriate". The biggest and most recent example of this was Hawksley Workman's "Warhol's Portrait of Gretzky" from Mixtape 9. The original super-catchy chorus is "pretty fucking sexy". I sprang for the 'clean version' amending it to "pretty bloody sexy". I'm glad I did, because it's my kids favorite tune from the mix, and they sing it all the time. Even hearing them sing "pretty bloody sexy" is a bit disconcerting.

Anyways, these guys have gone by STRFKR for awhile, but on their latest album "Reptilians", they are back to Starfucker, and may show up as Star****er on Mixtape 10.

First Rate People - Funny Games

Well, while one of my least favorite genres of music was early 90's Top40 Dance music (e.g. Haddaway,  Technotronic, etc.), and while the first time I heard this song I couldn't help but shiver and shudder as bad, bad memories came flooding back of being trapped at parties, school dances, clubs, etc. where there was no escape from bad Top40 Dance music in the early 90's, this song – Funny Games – grew and grew on me when it kept coming up a big random mix I had going in the spring, to the point that it's now found a spot in one of my iTunes playlists. It takes the basics from that sound, and gels it with some rather melodic, indie-esque, slacker-singing.

Does it foreshadow the next generation of really bad, 90's-sounding Top40 Dance music? I hope not. God I hope not. But here it is, a fusion of sounds, that to my surprise, actually works. Enjoy!

Galapagos – "Nowhere Else"

So, in most instances, I don't like these post-rock songs that sound like a 14-year old boy is playing with the volume dial on the stereo on a family road trip just to annoy everyone else, but sometimes the sound works ... like really works. And "Nowhere Else," in my opinion, is one of those songs.

I have no idea what images the track will conjure up in your mind, but I can only see early morning sun burning off tropical fog along a stretch of beach, with gentle ripples of still ocean water.

I like it!

Great idea boys...I am impressed both by the brainpower to think this up and even more so by the actual follow through in getting it done! I would love to contribute and thanks for the invite.

Given my implicitly simple nature and all-around lack of attention-span - basically an overall inability to do two things at once combined with a lack of any sort of technological no-how, I am just going to post songs - sans video.

Two reasons:

1) I can't figure the shit out.

2) I have often found that when I listen to music it is best that I am doing absolutely nothing else, in order to hear it's full effect. That being said, I will of course be checking out all of the amazing songs you both will no doubt be posting, but will be staring at the ceiling or doing something else similarly non-constructive.

Can I suggest posting the lyrics to songs as well? Just an idea. Well done again!

Rural Alberta Advantage – "Edmonton"

This was cut from Summer Guide 10, but as soon as I heard CBC open their first Hockey Night in Canada episode, "Live from Edmonton," I was kind of kicking myself.

If anyone's spent a good chunk of time in Edmonton, you'll likely be able to relate to the lyrics.

What I like best, though, is how the girl drummer can drum and play the keyboard at the same time.

Beastie Boys ft. Santogold - "Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win"

New Beastie Boys video, from the album Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 2. This one in "Supermarionation" like Team America or the Thunderbirds. This was directed by Spike Jonze who continues to come up with groundbreaking stuff for these guys. He also directed the "Sabotage" video, an all time classic.

The Beastie Boys Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win ft. Santigold from Beastie Boys

RED BACTERIA VACUUM - "恋愛ミュージック"

One of the best all-girl punk rock bands from Tokyo! I don't know what they're saying. I don't care! They rock hard!

Neko Case - "Magpie to the Morning"

It's the 18th of July, and while it feels like summer's just got started, a third of it is behind us. It's also Monday morning, and I'm feeling sloggish. I went to bed and woke up with this song running through my mind. It's fitting all around.

Neko Case - Magpie To The Morning by melmtree

Mungo Jerry - "In the Summertime"

I was totally going to post this today after a hot day at the beach. I always thought "Mungo Jerry" was an unfortunate name for a fellow who had a massive hit with this song in 1970. However it turns out it was a group.

Rock that funky jug buddy!

AV Club featured this cover by Yellow Ostrich this week, for a more Indie Rock scrawling version.


Yellow Ostrich covers "In The Summertime" by Mungo Jerry on WBEZ's deck

Ruste Jaxx - "Get Up"

Ruste (Rusty) Juxx has his son Lil Vic rhyming on the chorus of "Get Up".



How much do you want your kids to follow in your footsteps?

Bazooka Joe

Bazooka Joe trying to be more relevant (DJs are cool with the kids right?).





Still not funny.

New Order "Blue Monday"

Just reading about the intense dislike that the members of New Order have for each other these days. The four of them can't speak to each other. Too bad, because they did make fantastic and groundbreaking music back in the day.

"New Order, of course, are frequently cited as a band who really weren't terribly wise with money, and who were not well advised about what to do with it. Everyone knows the myth of how their Blue Monday single lost money despite being the best selling 12in of all-time, because of the cost of its sleeve."

"Then there was the Factory nightclub, the Haçienda, built with New Order's money, and which was empty for years on end. When people finally started filling its dancefloor, during the first flowering of acid house in the late 1980s, all the punters were so walloped on ecstasy they completely ignored the bar – any successful nightclub's major money earner. Factory eventually collapsed with debts of more than £3m in 1992, though New Order escaped to the majors. "

This is captured to some degree in the wicked movie 24-hour Party People, about the Factory Records, the burgeoning Manchester scene, the Happy Mondays, and New Order.

"Blue Monday" is one of my all-time favorites.

Sally Seltmann - "Dream About Changing"

Sally Seltmann is an Aussie songstress who co-wrote "1-2-3-4" with Feist. Her first two albums were released under the name 'New Buffalo'. This tune is from her third album "Heart That's Pounding" out on Arts & Crafts Records. It was on steady rotation on CBC R2 awhile back. Such a great tune!

Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Pretty Little Ditty"

The Red Hot Chili Peppers have a new album dropping Aug 30th. You will be certain to hear it on classic rock, modern rock, top 40 stations, and every station in between. There was a time when the Chili Peppers weren't so ubiquitous. Fuck those guys used to be punk rock! Performing with only socks on their cocks! That's hardcore.

The thing that caught my attention is that Mr. Brainwash is doing promotion for the new album. Mr. Brainwash aka Thierry Guetta was made famous in Banksy's movie Exit Through the Gift Shop, a meditation on commerce, art, reality, and authenticity. One of my favorite movies of the last year.

I think Mr. Brainwash and Red Hot Chili Peppers are an interesting combination of outsider/punk-rock esthetics with a full-on commercial savvy. Made for each other.

Anyways, this is one of the tunes that made me fall in love with the Peppers in the first place. Cheers to Esko for in the introduction back in the day.

The Nightgowns, "Buoy"

I will say that this video, and how unwilling (or afraid) The Nightgowns are to giver 'er, does't do their song justice. This was cranked in my car several times, and while I listened to it I couldn't help but picture scenes of freedom and working folk stickin' it to the man. Oh well, it's a great song.

Chase - "Get it On"

I think Funk-Rock is one of the best Mixes I have made. It's balls-out time to party good times, and in some future post I would like to review some of the white soul, horny horn good times contained therein.

Tonight we're "celebrating", Em [our 3-year-old daughter] made tickets for a "dance party" and we threw on some records. She specifically requested "a rock-n'roll song with good drums" and when this one came on '20 Solid Hits' compilation record ...

And immediately she said "this is a good one".