Thursday, June 23, 2011

Weekly Mix #69

2009 wasn't know as a great year for music but sometimes there are little nuggets to found. If nothing else the older songs are real good. Enjoy if you can; I think all but the final song is legally downloadable.


1. Do It For The Kids by Velvet Revolver
I dig the melody in this song.
2. One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer by George Thorogood & The Destroyers
Look man, come down here! Hilarious story and worth the listen.
3. Treat Me Like Your Mother by The Dead Weather
More deep, trippy rock music; it's not their best song but it seems the most energetic
4. These Eyes by The Guess Who
5. Thirteen by Danzig
Sometimes I think it would have been great to just receive a number over a name and just bring bad luck wherever I go. This is a badass gloomy song
6. Hey Hey What Can I Do by Led Zeppelin
A song that was supposed to be on Led Zeppelin III but suffered from some production error which made it the B-side of the Immigrant Song; not bad.
7. Modern Monkey by The Bardo
When you don't know anything about a band sometimes it's cool but sometimes it makes the experience flat. I know nothing of this band besides a couple songs that sound young and tough.
8. Mind Eraser, No Chaser by Them Crooked Vultures
Josh Holme, Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones, I guess it's a super group.
9. Sick Love Song by Mötley Crüe
It's a good effort long after the dream was over
10.Electric Funeral by Black Sabbath
Psychedelic heaviness by Ozzy and the boys
11.Rooster by Alice In Chains
If the 80s were all led Zeppelin knock offs then the 90s were all Black Sabbath rip offs. I love these guys if you haven't figured that out yet. More haunting heaviness from Seattle.
12.Down Boy by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
This song is from an E.P.; how awesome is that? The E.P. is a concept that makes no sense anymore but at when it did the Extended Play format meant an artist released an album with only four or five songs rather than the 8 plus on L.P. or Long Play album. Down is gloomy and angry.
13.Us Alone by The Vulcan Dub Squad
There is something so sad in this song that I can't really explain, maybe it's foreign language, maybe it's the wailing through out. This song should have been recorded in 1986; it would have been the greatest depressing song ever then but about 20 years younger than that it's different.
14.Lose Yourself by Eminem
Maybe his best song; it won him an Oscar
15.Death to All But Metal by Steel Panther
I agree, Metal rules and everything merely just gets us by
16.Drop It Low by Ester Dean & Chris Brown
Let's get the party started!
17.Whole Lotta Rosie by Guns N' Roses
ANGUS! I love a bootleg and this is a good one from G N' R's early days as they grind out some AC/DC.
18.Dirty Water by The Standells
If you're from Bean Town you know this song well. It refers to the Charles River which was disgusting as was much of the nations urban water ways back in the 60s. Now it's much more clean but for those of us who remember the pre clean up in the 80s know this song was no joke. This tune is also associated with the Red Sox as the song is played at Fenway Park after a Boston victory. It's funny that the best song about Boston is by a band that wasn't from there. "I love that dirty water, Boston you're my home"

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Dead Stars Clarence Clemons

The Big Man as he was known in The E Street Band passed away on June 19th from complications due to a stroke. My memories of him are going to be of him wailing away at on his saxophone for Bruce Springsteen but he definitely did his solo thing as well in grand 80s fashion. I'll remember his smile from videos and what seemed to be a joy of life.



He will be missed in that odd way we miss entertainers, Rest In Piece.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Weekly Mix #68

This is one of the worst mixes I've ever put together. Sorry for the let down but hopefully you can get a little joy out of some of it. There are quite a few covers on here so that makes it sort of fun. Next weeks is totally better.


1. I Wanna Rock by Twisted Sister
I guess I really just enjoy kicking off mixes with 80's rock. This song got some notoriety when closed minded Atlanta Braves pitcher John Rocker. Twisted Sister made him stop using it as his walk on music.
2. So So Special by The Bardo
You don't know this band and don't pretend you do. They seem like good ol' boys playing good ol' rock and who knows, maybe they are.
3. K.I.A. by JET
Killed In Action, JET continues to suck and blow all at once but it's sometimes the only rock out there.
4. Down by 311
Chill! Rap and rock together at last! Well not really, they just expanded on the genre. Is this their biggest hit?
5. Meds by Placebo
Take your prescription drugs, be better, that's what this song is about.
6. This Is Why I'm Hot by Mims
Some songs make you feel cool/hot this is one of them. It makes me want a yacht and and all that goes with it.
7. I Told You I Was Freaky by Flight Of The Concords
Joke music is sometimes better than the real thing.
8. The One by Slaughterhouse
Hey! More rap rock that sucks! It was a free download.
9. Ain't No Rest For The Wicked by Cage The Elephant
This song is kinda' groovy but then it sucks all at the same time.
10.Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen
This is the original, not the Jeff Buckley version or one of those stupid American idol attempts, this is the old man getting weird.
11.Don't Worry Baby by The Beach Boys
Romantic and backed with a huge Brian Wilson sound; this song is emotional and tender
12.Bad Romance by Lady GaGa
She can't really sing, she can't really dance  and she looks are Medusa like but she's a star. Every song she does is taken from someplace else almost shamelessly; this one to me starts off sounding like Eurasure.
13.Hang Up the Pinup by Cobra Killer
Here is your buzz saw indie rock for the week; it's the sort of song that evil elves would listen to.
14.Heartbreaker by Nirvana
Kurt replies, "I don't know it" to a fan who yells for the band to play the Zeppelin classic and then figures it out as if the hammer of the gods came down and smashed it into him. His vocals are proof to some sort of anguish at least.
15.Nice Boys by Rose Tattoo
Australian rockers showing up and getting down. Not everything down under is AC/DC and INXS
16.You're Crazy by Guns N' Roses
G n' R covered Rose Tattoo's  Nice Boys and they even covered this song on their EP. 
17.California Queen by Wolfmother
My interest in Wolfmother ended with their second album and it probably should have ended before that. More Aussie rock!
18.Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows by Lesley Gore
Leslie Gore is crazy as I've stated before, how can she sing this song, It's My Party and Now It's Judy's Turn To Cry? Wacky!
19.Hungry End by Dan Sartain
He's had much better songs and this one just seems like he's in a funk
20.Laura by Girls
It's a little ditty that makes one want to skip along the sidewalk
21.Long Tall Sally by The Backbeat Band
Remember this movie, Backbeat, starring Stephen Dorf as the fifth Beatle? The band they used to do the music had a line up that included Dave Pirner , Thurston Moore, Mike Mills, Dave Grohl and a couple other dudes; it's very aggressive pop.
22.Red Right Hand by Arctic Monkeys
Cover Nick Cave takes balls, I like the original best butu this version has a bit more speed.
23.Murder By Number by The Police
When this came out it wasn't on the record and only on the cassette. Sting and the boys show their humorous side by explaining you can kill people and rhyme.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Weekly Mix #67

Here we go with another 2009 creation but with three songs from 1984, do yo know them off the top of your head? This whole mix is very 80s feeling.


1. Here I Go Again by White Snake
Hated this song until just a couple years agao when suddenly I decided I was David Coverdale
2. Check My Brain by Alice In Chains
The boys from Seattle are back but not with lead singer Layne Staley who overdosed on Heroin some years back. This song rocks!
3. What You Need by INXS
We're going back to the 0s when pop and rock found perfect harmony . . . another band, another dead singer.
4. Empire State of Mind by Jay-Z feat. Alicia keys
Because New York needs another anthem, a more modern one.
5. Come Together by The Beatles
This is weird song but it sure is groovy. As I made this mix this song was all over the television as the main song on some music video game.
6. Sort Of by Silversun Pickups
This is a dizzying song, frantic and almost desperate and still showing Billy Corgan that they're better at being him than he is.
7. Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) by David Bowie
One of my favorite Bowie tunes, what phase was this?
8. Uprising by Muse
This is from Muse's huge The Resistance album that spawn a lot of good music. This is not the best song on it and that's okay.
9. Make It Take It by Amanda Blank
Just a club girl and her ambitions
10.Magic Man by Heart
Try to understand, he's a magic man; he's got magic hands. One of Heart's big three, Magic Man, Crazy On You and Barracuda. Some say this song is sleazy and they're kind of right; it has a dark 1970's vibe.
11.Drive by The Cars
This song was so huge it's hard to explain, maybe it's the Mutt Lang produced synthesizers deep woosh or Benjamin Orr's vocals, maybe it was the Timothy Hutton directed video with Paulina Porizkova. Whatever it was this song represents the band at the hugest commercial point. It's not their sunniest tune but it's arguably their best.
12.Kind of a Girl by Tinted Windows
Their are some who say the Cars were a shitty synth New Wave band that never made a impact on music but just listened to songs like this by almost super group Tinted Windows. Members of Hanson, Cheap Trick and Smashing Pumpkins came together to produce this 80s inspired ear candy.
13.New Girl Now by Honeymoon Suite
Speaking of the 80s . . . Beisdes Rush and Bryan Adams this is what was going on in Canada. This is New Wave rock magic. Big drums, keyboards and echo laced vocals. Props to the video for having a Delorean!
14. For What It's Worth by Placebo
This band always makes me think of the 80s but I don't know why. This ain't no Pure Morning, showing that they aren't a single note group again. The brass in the song is a bit disarming.
15.Pretty In Pink by Psychedelic Furs
Here's more of the real deal. This I believe is the original version not the more excitable version they did for the movie.
16.Tangled Up In You by The Mumblers
This is not Bob Dylan but I suppose the song title might be an allusion to Tangled up in Blues.
17.Wake Up by The Doors
I love some of Jim Morrison's live poetry; it's very charged with lizards and sex.
18.Yellow Ledbetter by Pearl Jam
The best song that was never on a an album. It is so mellow it makes me think of 80s beer commercials.
19.Hippy Hippy Shake by Georgia Satellites
From the movie Cocktail, this song was nothing in the gigantic shadow of Tom Cruise's star power and The Beach Boys Kokomo
20.(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You to by Weezer
Is this Weezer's most epic song? It's a big one and that's why it caps off the mix.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Weekly mix #66

This is a 2009 mix with several songs that I never listen to but wanted to represent represent on a modern mix. Sometimes I think that I have to put more emphases on modern, current tunes than better ones in  fear that I may become an old fart. Maybe I just need to dig more deeply into the unknown . . .

1. C'mon Let's Go by Girlschool
I guess women are allowed to be tuff too.
2. Dirty little Rockstar by The Cult
Still making jams after all this time, adjusting to the times well enough.
3. That's My Tune by Morningwood
Some songs drone and drone well, this is one of them
4. My Own Worst Enemy by Lit
This song just gets funnier as the years pass
 5. Porno Star by Buckcherry
Josh and the boys are not subtle by any means. They are a band who needs a scene.
6. My Way by Miss Crazy
A band that wanted the 80s back in all their glam metalness. Sorry guys, you missed the boat.
7. Primary Colours by The Horrors
It's a sweeping  song from band that used to be anything but. It reminds me of 80s music I never heard.
8. Petition The Lord With Prayor by The Doors
You Cannot petition the lord with prayer!
9. United States of Eurasia/Collateral Damage by Muse
Showing their love for Queen and Radiohead full on!
10.Beach Town by Le Loup
It's kind of etherial and kind of hypnotic but mostly it's not much of anything you'd have an urge to hear
11.Fine For Now by Grizzly Bear
Only slightly more friendly than the last song, this tune has some nice harmonies but mainly makes you turn into a drip.
12.Every Rose Has It's Thorn by Poison
There's something about a huge hit ballad that can make unknown indie rock seem totally lame
13.Art isn't Real (City Of Sin) by Deer Tick
Sometimes one discovers a little indie song that is remarkably good and you wonder why nobody else knows about it. I found this song on a Penguin music sampler.
14.Everymorning by Sugar Ray
I liked them better when they just wanted to fly.
15.T.N.T by AC/DC
Yup, snap out of it we're blowing shit up with the greatest thing ever to come out of Australia.
16.Cryin' by Aerosmith
I'm getting soft because after years of denying any like for this song I finally caved.
17.Standing Next To Me by The Last Shadow Puppets
More sixties inspired rock. I feel like I should be riding in a black cab through London , heartbroken, wondering where it all went wrong.
18.Coffin Faftory by The Mumblers
Some boys from Silicon Valley got out there organ and made some music, there should have been a movement around this but that's just me being' wishful.
19.Time Has Come Today by The Chambers Brothers
Are these guys one hit wonders? I think so. It's a good 60s song about change and all that 60s garbage.
20.Use Somebody by Kings of Lyon
This should be the end of the mix but I decided I didn't want to be a total wuss
21. You Could Be Mine by Damone
Worship the power of GN'R even if it through a cover song by a very underrated band.