Stray Marvels: Built To Spill - "Cortez The Killer"

Ah... the weekend at last.

Let's start this one right:

Built to Spill - Cortez the Killer

Also: if you happen to be looking for some good beer to drink, why not check out my friends Bob's blog, appropriately titled Bob's Beer Blog.

Enjoy (and keep warm).

The Hold Steady - Desperate Pageant: B-sides & Rarities

Update: after the fall of Megaupload, all my blog links went dead. Since there's been demand, though, I re-uploaded this one. I do remain adamant, however, that the band should be issuing this collection officially because these songs deserve a proper release.

***

A song without an album is a funny thing. Many listeners assume---sometimes correctly, sometimes not---that the non-album track must have been discarded (or, at least, hidden away) for a reason. After all, why would any band sentence a song to a life of scarcity and fan-only obscurity if it were truly great? Or even very good? Bad songs have to go somewhere, right?

Right?

Well, maybe... sometimes.

Though I've certainly heard my fair share of lackluster tunes released as B-sides or as bonus tracks tacked onto the album proper, I've also come across quite a few hidden gems that more than justified sifting through all that sonic refuse. On rare occasions, I've even come across what can only be described as a treasure trove of album-free brilliance. Maybe it has something to do with talent (or a lack thereof), or else maybe some bands are simply less concerned with quality-control that others. Regardless, is there anything better (for a music fan, anyway) than finding out your favorite band has over an hour's worth of non-album material that is as good, if not better, than much of their LP-based output? It's a rare thing, sure, and often requires quite a bit of online crate-digging on behalf of the fan, but some bands truly do reward the effort.

Which brings us the The Hold Steady.

People who know me personally know how near and dear this band is to my heart. As a fan of lyric-heavy music, Craig Finn is something of an idol; a completely original and staggeringly inventive voice in a world that favours sing-song platitudes and overly-sentimentalized cliches. His densely woven, acutely detailed tales of degradation and redemption in the American Midwest sound like nothing before them. And yet, with the Hold Steady backing him, Finn's speak-sing-yelp mutates into something strangely familiar, traditional but somehow totally unique. Like classic rock from the future. For many, especially those who didn't grow up in the same sort of drug-addled chaos and druken confusion that Finn so loves to chronicle, The Hold Steady never really clicks. But, for me (and, I suspect, the many people I've introduced the band to who have grown to love them just as dearly) The Hold Steady is that band. The one where the singer isn't just singing, he's singing to you.

I guess it's like Finn says, "certain songs just get scratched into our souls."

The collection I'm positing here took me around four months to finish and contains every non-album studio track released prior to their latest and, sadly, weakest (though still pretty good) album Heaven Is Whenever. I've tried to arrange the songs as chronologically as possible, in order to preserve context (though some thematic adjustments were made). Though I plan to do a Hold Steady introductory mix at some point in the future, this compilation serves as a excellent summary of their style and progression over the course of their first four albums. In fact, I would easily rank this collection, which I have taken the liberty of dubbing Desperate Pageant: B-sides and Rarities, above at least two (and perhaps more) of their actual LPs, such is the quality on display here.

I would also like to thank the online Hold Steady community for helping me, both directly and indirectly, to complete this compilation. Some of these songs were actually e-mailed to me by other fans and are, generally speaking, impossible to find online, legally or otherwise.

Please, if you like the band, go out and buy their records or, at the very least, go and see them live. I assure you that very few bands are as compelling a live act as The Hold Steady.

Here's the tracklist.

01. Milkcrate Mosh
02. Hot Fries
03. Curves & Nerves
04. Modesto Is Not That Sweet
05. You Gotta Dance (With Who You Came To Dance With)
06. 212 Margarita
07. For Boston
08. Girls Like Status
09. Arms And Hearts
10. American Music [Violent Femmes Cover]
11. Teenage Liberation
12. Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window? [Bob Dylan Cover]
13. Ask Her For Adderall
14. Cheyenne Sunrise
15. Two-Handed Handshake
16. Atlantic City [Bruce Springsteen Cover]
17. 40 Bucks
18. Spectres
19. Take Me Out To The Ballgame

And here's the download link:

http://www.mediafire.com/download/3v5ho4nallem8my/THS_DP_BSIDES.zip

Enjoy (and share).

Jesse 5 [April 2010]

Every year for his birthday---in lieu of an actual gift---I give my roommate Jesse a mix CD. I don't remember when I started this tradition, though I imagine my finances were not in the best shape, but I do think there is something to be said for the lost art of making gifts. Too often, come birthday or holiday time, I am forced to select a present for this person or that person and, without much inspiration, I end up purchasing some item or another that, though enough to fulfill the great invisible gift-giving social contract, still feels, to me, somewhat... hollow.

In my eyes, mix CDs are a great alternative to all the charade and skulduggery that is modern gift-giving. Hell, they are as fun to make as they are to receive, especially if the recipient is that just-right kind of person who loves good music but, for whatever reason, can't seem to discover it on his/her own.

Like Jesse, for example.

The one I'm posting here, Jesse 5, is the latest (and definitely largest) of the Jesse mixes, crafted for the occasion of his 26th birthday. It's also the last one I intend to make him, at least for the foreseeable future. Why? Well, the kinda-downside to living with someone is that the awesome new music you're listening to doesn't sound quite so fresh to them after they hear you blaring it non-stop in the living room for weeks. So, I decided that---at least until we no longer share occupancy---this mix would be the last. Of course, this called for something special. But what? Then it hit me.

I had to attempt the oft-fabled double mix.

And so it began.

I don't prescribe to that many rules while making mixes, but I do follow one or two that I think help insure quality and originality. Here are a few of them:

1) Never start a mix with the first song from an album and never close a mix with the last song from an album (too obvious, too easy).

2) Never put two songs by the same artist on the same mix.

3) Never put the same song on mixes for two different people.

4) Always try and include at least two songs by female artists.

Though I admit to having broken all of these self-made rules at least once, this is, generally speaking, the code I live by.

Amateurs, take note.

To make things more complicated (for me), I've also established certain recurring rules for mixes made for specific people. Though it wasn't planned, the first two mixes I made for Jesse both contained 22 tracks. So, from the third one onward, all Jesse mixes contain 22 tracks. That's a lot of music, which usually means that CD-R is packed to the brim. It also means I have to get creative, finding cool shorter songs to fill gaps, and making sure longer songs earn their place.

All Jesse mixes also contain at least one Bob Dylan song, because Jesse (and everyone else, for that matter) needs to listen to more fucking Bob Dylan. I also occasionally find ways to sneak in even more Dylan via covers.

This mix in particular is also interesting because, similar to my Stoner Night Mix, it is separated into darker and lighter halves. Again, the first part (disc one) is filled with songs of a darker nature, more despairing and desperate both lyrically and musically than those found on the second part (disc two), which is considerably more hopeful and optimistic in tone. While this was challenging (and not totally rational, given the already lengthy list of criteria), it was definitely a refreshing experiment, and one that I think, in the long run, made for a more satisfying mix.

When I first began making mixes it was mostly a game of drag-and-drop from my mp3 library. As I got older, however, I began taking my time and paying more attention to detail; digging deeper for better and stranger songs while also discovering more and more amazing music in the process. That's another beautiful thing about mixes, they are for and about more than just the specific person you are making them for. They're also about the mixer himself (or herself).

For me, mix CDs are like musical time-capsules. They remind me of the things I've loved and the things I've lost, and how much (or little) I still have left.

And that's why I'm so very glad that I can begin sharing them with you. I sincerely hope that some of you enjoy listening to them as much as I enjoyed making them.

I sincerely doubt that's possible, though.

Here's the track-list:

Disc One:

01. Earth - "Tethered to the Polestar"
02. The Feelies - "Original Love"
03. Joy Division - "Passover"
04. Bonnie "Prince" Billy & Matt Sweeney - "Death in the Sea"
05. Sonic Youth - "Catholic Block"
06. Brian Eno - "Everything Merges with the Night"
07. The Mountain Goats - "Lovecraft In Brooklyn"
08. The Cars - "All Mixed Up"
09. Deerhunter - "Cassette Cathedral"
10. Black Flag - "My War"
11. Smog - "Bathysphere"
12. Mekons - "Club Mekon"
13. Antony & the Johnsons - "Hope There's Someone"
14. Wire - "Used To"
15. Art Brut - "Stand Down"
16. Radiohead - "Up on the Ladder"
17. Bob Dylan - "Cold Irons Bound"
18. Big Black - "Fish Fry"
19. Jana Hunter - "Recess"
20. Sebadoh - "Drama Mine"
21. Lifter Puller - "Star Wars Hips"
22. Sean Moriarty - "The Brown Thorn"

Disc Two:

01. The Futureheads - "Decent Days and Nights"
02. Neko Case - "Vengeance Is Sleeping"
03. New Order - "All Day Long"
04. Loudon Wainwright III - "The Swimming Song"
05. Dinosaur Jr. - "Freak Scene"
06. Taken by Trees - "My Boys"
07. Radiohead - "Lull"
08. Drive-By Truckers - "Self Destructive Zones"
09. John Cale - "Buffalo Ballet"
10. The Magnetic Fields - "Take Ecstasy with Me"
11. Lou Reed - "Nobody's Business"
12. Steve Reich - Nagoya Marimbas"
13. Big Star - "Thirteen"
14. Silkworm - "Dead Air"
15. Wilco - "Via Chicago"
16. St. Vincent - "Apocalypse Song"
17. Pixies - "I've Been Tired"
18. Fennesz - "Got to Move On"
19. Andrew Bird - "Fake Palindromes"
20. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - "Nothing Without You (Tery Bina)"
21. Yo La Tengo - "From a Motel 6"
22. Destroyer - "Don't Become the Thing You Hated"

And here's the (mammoth) download link:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=40JRMDSO

Enjoy (and share).

People Fall Off Buildings Presents: An Introduction to... Modest Mouse

To put it simply: there's a lot of bands I like.

And then there's Modest Mouse.

Who better then to inaugurate my new (and hopefully ongoing) mix series, People Fall Off Buildings Presents: An Introduction to..., which aims to present a brief career retrospective of some of my favorite bands in hopes that it helps introduce them to a wider audience or, in some cases, reintroduce them to people who may have written them off prematurely.

Now, I know that Modest Mouse isn't exactly an obscure band (especially their post-"Float On" stuff), but I think much of their earlier (and, to me, far more impressive) work has gone largely unnoticed in the wake of their surprising success (Kidz Bop 7, anyone?). As such, this compilation leans heavily on lesser-known material from the first half of their career, beginning with their first single, "Broke", from 1996. Still, songs from every era (including the ubiquitous "Float On") are included here, though I opted not to include any songs from their shelved 1994 debut (later released as Sad Sappy Sucker in 2001). I've also tried to arrange the songs as chronologically as possible, in order to present a clear picture of the band and their progression.

So, please, have a listen. There are few bands as singular as Modest Mouse and even fewer that I love quite so dearly.

Here's the track-list:

01. Broke
02. Dramamine
03. Custom Concern
04. Tundra/Desert
05. A Life Of Arctic Sounds
06. The Fruit That Are Itself
07. Teeth Like God's Shoeshine
08. Trailer Trash
09. Bankrupt On Selling
10. Never Ending Math Equation
11. 3rd Planet
12. Tiny Cities Made Of Ashes
13. Alone Down There
14. Life Like Weeds
15. Float On
16. Bury Me With It
17. Parting Of The Sensory
18. The Whale Song

And here's the download link:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=PP8T6JWK

Enjoy.

James' Best Songs Of 2008

From what I recall, 2008 was a pretty good year.

I finished school, which was nice. I still don't have a decent job (or any job, for that matter) or make a decent living, but I remain glad to be rid of academia and the cloying, isolationist environment it fosters. Which isn't to say that I hated school, quite the opposite, just that after five years of it I was happy to have it over and done with.

And I still am.

This was also the year that I moved out of my kinda-first apartment (after a fairly acrimonious split with my longtime roommate) and back in with my parents for two long, agonizing months. The plus side of this was that Pamela and I found a much better new place, which I reside in to this day.

I'm sure some other stuff happened too. I think I got my wisdom teeth out that year.

Oh, and, of course, The Dark Knight came out and delivered on a prayer that most Batman fans thought would never be answered. I think some other people might have went to see it too . . .

Musically there were some real high notes. Portishead returned and, even though I didn't really care about them before, I did (and continue to) love their Third album. We also got some really good records from Destroyer, The Hold Steady, Deerhunter and The Walkmen, among others.

So, yeah, a pretty good year all around, and one you should definitely re-visit. Like right now.

Here's the track-list:

01. Portishead - "Magic Doors" [from Third]
02. Destroyer - "Foam Hands" [from Trouble In Dreams]
03. No Age - "Teen Creeps" [from Nouns]
04. Hercules and Love Affair - "Blind" [from Hercules and Love Affair]
05. The Hold Steady - "Constructive Summer" [from Stay Positive]
06. Spiritualized - "Death Take Your Fiddle" [from Songs in A&E]
07. Cut Copy - "So Haunted" [from In Ghost Colours]
08. Fleet Foxes - "White Winter Hymnal" [from Fleet Foxes]
09. TV on the Radio - "Stork and Owl" [from Dear Science]
10. Vampire Weekend - "Oxford Comma" [from Vampire Weekend]
11. Department of Eagles - "Around the Bay" [from In Ear Park]
12. Wolf Parade - "An Animal in Your Care" [from At Mount Zoomer]
13. Beach House - "You Came to Me" [from Devotion]
14. Fucked Up - "No Epiphany" [from The Chemistry Of Common Life]
15. Bonnie "Prince" Billy - "Lie Down in the Light" [from Lie Down in the Light]
16. Deerhunter - "Nothing Ever Happens" [from Microcastle]
17. Bob Dylan - "Red River Shore" [from The Bootleg Series Vol. 8 – Tell Tale Signs: Rare and Unreleased 1989–2006]
18. The Walkmen - "In the New Year" [from You & Me]

Here's the download link:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=QJ7PX5SC

Enjoy.

Stoner Night Mix [January 2010]

I've recently decided to go back and start posting some old mixes that I've made over the years, both for specific people and otherwise, along with a short write-up reflecting my current thoughts on what past-James might have been thinking/digging when he made said mix.

Let's begin:

Earlier this year, my roommate Jesse asked me to make a mix for him and his new (and now former) boyfriend, Andy, to listen to while indulging in a little smoked cannabis (something Andy was largely unfamiliar with). As a vocal advocate of the ancient tradition of "getting high and listening to rock music", I happily accepted the challenge and went about crafting a suitable stoner night mix. From what I recall, Andy and Jesse enjoyed it immensely. Here's hoping that you will too, even if you don't play in the grass.

For the people who raise an eyebrow at the inclusion of certain songs on my list, please keep in mind that I am very much a lyrics-guy and, as such, I find a revelatory verse to be just as awe-inspiring as any extended jam-band guitar theatrics or murky, oscillating atmospherics. Not that I excluded those, of course, but my mentality here was both to cover all the bases and to make a mix that I personally would love to listen to while high. And, at least in the latter regard, I can claim some measure of success.

Also interesting to note is how the mix is informally separated into two sections: the first half (tracks 1-9) being much darker in key and character then the last half (tracks 10-18), which is much warmer and of a brighter tonality. I'm not certain why I did this, and it certainly isn't totally consistent (no one will argue that "End Of Radio" is a warm song) but there was some deliberate effort on my part to begin in a dark place and move towards the light.

In my own work I strive to mix feelings of dread and tension with those of beauty and hope, and perhaps this mix is something of a reflection of that ideal. Or maybe it was just an accident, a pattern I noticed and expanded on. Who knows.

Either way, I hope that a few of you get some enjoyment out of it (preferably gathered around a bong). Please share it freely.

Here's the track-list:

01. Smog - "Permanent Smile"
02. Talking Heads - "Memories Can't Wait"
03. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - "Lament"
04. Liars - "Broken Witch"
05. Jonny Greenwood - "Eat Him By His Own Light"
06. The Velvet Underground - "The Murder Mystery"
07. The Mountain Goats - "Ezekiel 7 And The Permanent Efficacy Of Grace"
08. Joy Division - "The Eternal"
09. Sonic Youth - "Trilogy"
10. Rock Plaza Central - "The Things That Bind You"
11. Fever Ray - "Keep The Streets Empty For Me"
12. Neil Young - "Powderfinger"
13. Shellac - "End Of Radio"
14. Silver Jews - "The Wild Kindness"
15. Radiohead - "Last Flowers"
16. Pavement - "Fin"
17. Bob Dylan - "Not Dark Yet"
18. Pink Floyd - "Dogs"

And here's the download link:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=DWO2I3DW

Enjoy.

P.S. If you are lacking in a reliable green energy source, please do not hesitate to contact me.

James' Best Songs Of 2010

So, yeah, I know I haven't updated my blog in a year. For a guy who spends much of his time chatting about music over the internet, you'd think I'd have invested more in this kind of thing.

But here we are.

Moving on. I'm back! Well, at least long enough to post my yearly best songs list.

It's been a hectic year for me. I'm playing in three active bands now which, don't get me wrong, is great, but consider also that I am the sole songwriter in two of them. Yeah . . . that's a lot of work. What this means is that I've listened to way less new music this past year. Which is a shame, but it's a small price to pay for being able to do what I love with the people I like for the people I am ambivalent toward but would like to have pay me. Did that make sense? Regardless, expect to be facebook concert-spammed very, very soon.

As some of you will surely notice, this year's list is shorter than last year's. In fact, it's the shortest list I've done since I first started making them in 2005 (though I didn't start giving them away to people until 2007). Now, despite what I said earlier, I did listen to a ton of great records this year and not all of them were included on this list. Unlike last year's two-part behemoth, I opted to start the new decade with a short, concise list of the songs I loved the very most in 2010. While I enjoyed doing it the other way, part of me felt I had to work too hard to fit in songs by bands that, while great, make better albums than they do singles. Also: this was way less work.

Anyway. Feel free to download it and share it with friends. And please let me know what great songs/records I missed out on. Being a music fan means constantly playing catchup and I'm sure there were a ton of record released this year just waiting for me to love. Hopefully I can find the time before the onslaught of great new music begins again in 2011.

As much as I hate to say it, this might be my last year doing this list. Though I'll never stop listening to new music and giving it to/forcing it upon friends, I'm usually too busy writing my own songs these days to listen to songs by anyone else. Total gift/curse, believe me.

Oh, and if this does happen to be my last year I'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate Spencer Krug on being the only artist to have a song on every year-end list I've ever done. It really baffles me how prolifically brilliant this guy is. Seriously, dude releases like two albums a year and he is only getting better (some might argue that point, but no one could argue that he's getting worse). My guess is that he is actually some kind of wizard (which would explain all the dragon references).

Here is the list:

01. LCD Soundsystem - "I Can Change" [from This Is Happening]
02. Gil Scott-Heron - "New York Is Killing Me" [from I'm New Here]
03. The Hold Steady - "The Weekenders" [from Heaven Is Whenever]
04. Joanna Newsom - "Good Intentions Paving Company" [from Have One On Me]
05. Liars - "The Overachievers" [from Sisterworld]
06. The Tallest Man On Earth - "Troubles Will Be Gone" [from The Wild Hunt]
07. Wolf Parade - "What Did My Lover Say? (It Always Had To Go This Way) [from Expo 86]
08. The National - "Anyone's Ghost" [from High Violet]
09. Woods - "Death Rattles" [from At Echo Lake]
10. Grinderman - "Heathen Child" [from Grinderman 2]
11. Spoon - "Out Go The Lights" [from Transference]
12. Arcade Fire - "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)" [from The Suburbs]

And here is the download link:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=GWDIZE6J

Enjoy.