Weekly Mix Tape Pt 1

So obviously I am a huge music fan/geek and with that it is without a doubt I love creating mix tapes; I've been doing it since the 80s! So what I'm gonna start doing is suggesting a weekly mix based off the CD's I started making over a decade ago which will explain why there's nothing too recent. You might find the songs ridiculous or you might find them awesome, who knows. Anyway give it a go or just let me know what you think. Each of these mixes will indeed fit on an 80 minute CD. I would love just to give you the music but that could get hairy.




1. Goin' Out West by Tom Waits
This is definitely in my top five tom Waits songs; it's not very representative of his work as it really rocks but then again it is off of Bone Machine

2. Fed Up by Lemonheads
Punkabilly! One of the Boston bands that people seem to always remember even though they just had the one hit with It's a Shame About Ray.
3. Tin Machine by Tine Machine
 David Bowie never rocked this hard! I'm glad he got down to it though.
4. Search & Destroy by The Stooges
Can there be Bowie without Iggy? They were linked  in so many ways back in the 70s. This song is really what punk is all about, sloppy, dirty, angry and loud!

5. Gloria by Them
Van Morrisson's band before he went solo. This song has been covered by everybody from the The Doors to Patty Smith but the original is still the best.
6. Jack-Ass by Beck
Beck gets mellow. This is off that great album Odelay
7. Five to One by The Doors
They were great and they were copied by almost everybody . . . well Jim Morrisson was. Truly one of the most dynamic,  mysterious and drunk front men of all time.
8. Kool Thing by Sonic youth
Maybe my favorite Sonic Youth songs and not because Chuck D's on it and not because it's about LL Cool J.
9. Hot Stuff by Donna Summer
Disco diva number one!
10.Horny by Mousse T.vs. Hot n' Juicy
I thought this song was great but now I find it unbearable.
11.Dangerous Type by Letters to Cleo
More Boston on Boston action. A band from Bean town covering another of the Hub's best, The Cars.
12.Rocks by Primal Scream
Primal Scream is one of those bands that critics praise as the innovators of Madchester and who am I to argue. I kept hearing this was a rolling Stones cover but the Rolling Stone's song doesn't sound like this.
13.More Than A Feeling by Boston
Because I'm from Boston I have no choice but to say I like this song even if I'm not really that fond of it.
14. Spanish Eyes by U2
This was a B side from the Joshua Tree days. You know you're good when your leftovers are better than many people's best.

15.That's The Way (I Like It) by K.C. & The Sunshine Band
Why do I disco so hard?
16.Bodies by Sex Pistols
British Punk was outrageous and these guys were at the forefront of it all!
17.Fly Away by Lenny Kravitz
Not Lenny's best but it wasn't bad, this is when he started to put his music in commercials
18.That's Entertainment by Morrissey
 Morrissey covering the Jam. he slows it down and makes it his own.
19.Starfuckers, Inc by Nine Inch Nails
When I first heard this song I couldn't believe Nine Inch Nails came through but the rest of the album The Fragile wasn't quite as awesome.
20.Plaster Caster by KISS
The biggest band in the world, at least that's what they will tel you. The merchandising kings, the biggest sellouts is what others will say. This song however is ALRIGHT!

Lastly I should also note that as I begun making mix CDs I was trying to continue from where the mix tapes left off so I didn't use any songs that I had used before but as time went on I through that idea away and used anything that hadn't been part of the CD series. The reason for this was I realized it was going to make the mixes stronger and more awesome for listening pleasure. Things I've also learned about mix tapes is they can't be rushed; they must grow organically and be fussed over until all is sound and feels complete. I've rushed a mix before and I regretted it as I had to go back a rework it which made me feel like some time traveling freak.

The Greatest Movies of the Millennium

Film has not been any good since the introduction of sound but without sound there wouldn't be all the awesome explosions we get to hear or more importantly witty dialogue. Where does the last ten years of film stand in comparison with the "golden age" of Hollywood some 60 years ago or the the 1970s when everything suddenly got very real or very fantastic but looked believable (Star Wars)? Where does the last ten years stand against the 1980s when the teen flick got reinvented and everything was a cold war allegory or the 1990s which was almost something of a lost decade and full of big explosions and spectacle (Titantic, Independence Day), and a new generation of directors who learned from the students of film (Danny Boyle, Quentin Terantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, Steven Soderbergh, Kevin Smith) creating the "Independent" movie genre? I can't answer that question because it's too soon and movies have a ways of creeping into the uncontentious and become part of our culture over the years. Fight Club would be a prime example of a movie that critics didn't care for, didn't do very well at the box office but everybody knows ten years later and is even part of some folk's daily lives and philosophies. I don't know the last time I heard somebody talk about watching, "Shakespeare In Love" recently but that could just be the circle I run with. The 2000's continues the 1990's tradition of turning music video directors into Motion Picture directors like David Fincher, Spike Jonze and unfortunately McG. I suppose is a natural progression now especially when nobody has an attention span of more than 3 minutes.
Does a decade's best movies represent that era? Not always, especially when it takes so long to make a film from the time the script is started until opening night could be several years even more than half a decade. So while your movie that you think is quintessencially a 2000s movie may have been inspired and wrote in the 90s.
So Here is my top ten list and let me tell you I'm sure there are a multitude of films that I never saw that might be included but so much for that.

These movies are in no particular order:

In The Mood for Love Dir Wan Kar Wai
Heartbreaking, beautiful to watch and riveting this movie moves me every time I watch it. The sequel 2046 is also very good but a little more . . . out there.




The Departed Dir Martin Scorsese
The most wicked movie of the decade bringing the Irish mob into the light. great performances by all, even though Leo and jack are the weakest things about the movie and I'm not just talking about their accents. Alec Baldwin is very humorous as is Mark Wahlberg.



X-Men Dir Bryan Singer
The rebirth of superhero movies has it's success due to this movie. Bryan Singer isn't an action director but knows how to tell a story and create an allegory very well. He takes comic books and makes the story more accessible to everybody.



High Fidelity Dir Stephen Frears
Ladies and gentlemen, Jack Black! Actually this movie is one that has always spoke to me on an almost embarrassingly personal level. Music and Love. john Cusack does his thing while Catherine Xeta Jones, Lenny Kravitz's ex wife and The Boss all show up for nice little rolls.




Batman Begins Dir Christopher Nolan
Batman is back and the franchise is very, very healthy. Even darker that the Tim Burton movies which in the time were considered dark but that's all due to the 1960s TV show.



Virgin Suicides Dir by Sophia Coppola
This movie may have not really been directed by Sophia Coppola for it could have been her better known father, Frances Ford or her former husband Spike Jonze we will never know. I will say this though, this film moves along like a memory, maybe yours, maybe mine but it captures the idea perfectly. Also Air puts forth a dynamite soundtrack for this movie.



Amelie Dir Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Everybody loves a French girl especially when she is Audrey Tautou and she is too shy talk to the one she loves.



Superbad Dir. Greg Mettola
This was the funniest movie I saw in the past ten years which counts for a lot so screw you. McLovin will be a part of film legend.




Casino Royal Dir. Martin Campbell
Jame Bond is redefined by Daniel Craig as tough as nails spy with a penetrable heart, gone is the effete, suave ladies man with tons of gadgets



Lord Of The Rings (Trilogy) Dir. Peter Jackson
Epic and yes all movies count as one!