1) TED LEO & THE PHARMACISTS/Little Dawn
2) DUNGEN/Gjort Bort Sig
3) SONS & DAUGHTERS/Johnny Cash
4) RICK BAIN & THE GENIUS POSITION/Linear High
5) ENGINEERS/Come In Out Of The Rain (Alan Moulder mix)
6) AC NEWMAN/The Town Halo
7) ART BRUT/Good Weekend
8) DETROIT COBRAS/Hey Sailor
9) BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE/Wasting Away
10) COMET GAIN/The Punk Got Fucked
11) ...AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD/Worlds Apart
12) SUPER FURRY ANIMALS/Herman Loves Pauline
13) THE FALL/I Can Hear The Grass Grow
14) OKKERVIL RIVER/No Key, No Plan
15) PERNICE BROTHERS/Weakest Shade of Blue
16) WOLFMAN f/PETE DOHERTY/For Lovers
17) DEVENDRA BANHART/Long Haired Child
18) THE KOOKS/Eddie's Gun
19) DAMN PERSONALS/Little Armor
20) ARCTIC MONKEYS/Scummy
21) RAZORLIGHT/In The City
About the songs
"Little Dawn" - I love the intro and buildup of this song. I like to have a certain flow in my mixes, and I think this song is a perfect starting point. It's from Ted Leo's last album "Shake The Sheets", released in 2004
"Gjort Bort Sig" - In case you're wondering what language this is, it's Swedish, and no, I don't know what the hell he's singing about. When he sings with the passion heard here, I'd kinda like to know, but I'm afraid to be disappointed to find out it's just another breakup song or something. From the "Te De Lungt" CD, released in 2005 in the US.
"Johnny Cash" - Sons & Daughters feature former members of Arab Strap, and Franz Ferdinand love them - they've toured with FFF several times so far. This song is from their EP "Love The Cup", which I think was initially released in 2003 overseas and made its way to my ears in early 2004.
"Linear High" - Rick Bain & The Genius Position only released one album, "Crooked Autumn Sun" in 2000 and I happened across them when they opened for The Dandy Warhols at the Middle East on the "Thirteen Tales..." tour. As far as I can tell from this album, RB & GP were a contemporary of the bands featured in "Dig", and Rick is still playing as a solo artist.
"Come In Out of the Rain" - I'm always cautious about the placement of mellow songs in mixes, but I think this one picks up where the drugged out Britpop of Rick Bain leaves off. This may be a remix, but the original isn't far off. The original is from the Engineers US debut, released last year.
"The Town Halo" - if you're a New Pornographers fan, you're usually either more partial to Neko Case or Carl Newman. My loyalties lie squarely with Carl, who released the brilliant "The Slow Wonder" in 2004. The song is good in so many ways it's hard to describe in a concise manner.
"Good Weekend" - of all the overhyped bands coming out of the UK right now, Art Brut is one band that hasn't gotten enough. I just imagine this song being performed live to a capcity, beer-soaked audience and it always puts me in a good mood. See them on April 3 at the Middle East downstairs, and help me beer-soak the place.
"Hey Sailor" - I thought my mix would probably be a little too Britpop-heavy for a lot of Noise Boarders, so I made an effort to find some great garage-y tunes that I thought some of you might not know. Ironically enough, I discovered this song after they played it at The Pill one night.
"Wasting Away" - I started on this mix right after watching "Dig" for the first time, and I thought this one fit well with the original version of the mix. After removing the songs that originally came before and after it, I decided to leave it be. This one's from my favorite BJM album, "Strung Out in Heaven", released in 1998.
"The Punk Got Fucked" - Comet Gain first appeared on my radar in about 1997 with an indie pop album called "Casino Classics". The band members responsible for the indie pop sound left after the debut CD and formed Velocette, leaving the rest of the band to continue on a path that led to this grimey spoken word track. It's from the band's latest effort, from late 2005.
"Worlds Apart" - Racous, upbeat, and short - I love it. The political undertones of this song will come as no surprise to anyone who's seen me in action in the political threads. Title track from their 2004 release.
"Herman Loves Pauline" - the UK single version of a track from SFA's best album (in my opinion) - Radiator, released in 1997 in the UK and 1999 in the US. Should've gone after the Comet Gain track, but I thought they were a little too similar in feel to go back-to-back.
"I Can Hear The Grass Grow" - as I've gotten older and delved deeper into underground music, I've come to realize the genius of Mark E. Smith. Granted this is a cover song and says nothing of his songwriting, but I chose this track from the 2005 "Fall Heads Roll" because I've always thought a good mix should contain something familiar for everyone, and I figured some of the Noise Boarders who are less familiar with current underground rock might get a kick out of this one.
"No Key, No Plan" - Will Sheff is a fucking genius. Sure, I'd barely heard of him a year ago, but Okkervil River's "Black Sheep Boy" has been in my CD player for a full year now. This track is from "Black Sheep Boy Appendix", released at the end of 2005 and collecting some BSB out-takes with some new tracks.
"Weakest Shade of Blue" - One of only two local bands on my comp (although Okkervil River's Will Sheff is from New Hampshire originally). I think Joe Pernice is one of pop music's most underrated songwriters, and I provide this song to back up that statement. Go ahead, just try to hate it. It's not possible.
"For Lovers" - Recorded right after Doherty's falling out with the Libertines, this strung-out, lovelorn ballad released with his friend Wolfman is probably one of the better things either musician has ever done. Available only on import for a long time, it was finally released by Rough Trade in the US last year.
"Long Haired Child" - While I don't care for early 70's music, the aesthetic of that time period can sound pretty damn awesome in the right context. Devendra Banhart was one of those artists who remained under my radar until "Cripple Crow" came out last year, and has be going back to re-discover past releases.
"Eddie's Gun" - The Kooks come pretty close to a bullseye in the quest to write the perfect pop song. Unfortunately, the album version of this song is much more tame, so to get this two-minute romp as is, you'll need to track down the import single, released last year.
"Little Armor" - The new Damn Personals record is the best thing they've done yet, and last time I spoke to Michael he said it may not even be released, due to Anthony's commitments with the Dirty Pretty Things over in the UK. So give a listen to this one, and next time you see Mike around, implore him to get this album out - the whole thing is just as good as this track.
"Scummy" - A demo version of a song re-named "When The Sun Goes Down" on the AM's new album. Granted this demo isn't far off from the album version.
"In The City" - If I was in a band, I'd probably make songs like this. Or at least try. I always pay close attention to what songs to end a mix with, and this one I've found works well both as the first and last song of a mix. So be my guest and start your listening with this one if you like. From "Up All Night", released in 2004.