If I Take You Home, Will You Respect Me in the Morning - A dnorwood mix in two parts
1.
Van Hunt - If I Take You Home (Upon...) – Hmm, nice way to kick things off. I’m not familiar with the artist or this song. Kind of a cool theme title, too, by the way. Anyway, this is got a slinky, sexy vibe that is contrasting rather sharply at the moment with my existing mood and my decaf coffee. However, the groove is working its way into my brain. Apparently the artist grew up emulating the pimp lifestyle of his father. I choose to take that literally as opposed to the current, rather stupid, use of that word as an adjective for everything from clothes to peanut butter. This is a great opening song. 3.5/5
2.
Chic - Good Times – Okay, full disclosure time. I don’t hate disco, particularly disco that sounds like this. This, of course, was widely sampled on ‘Rapper’s Delight’ and, in my mind, one of the greatest songs of all time ‘The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel’. This is a fantastic song and I’m enjoying here it, even though it’s way too fucking early to be playing something this groovy. I choose not to be a drag. These are the good times. 4.5/5
3.
Bill Withers - Use Me – I really, really love this song. I always have. This tune is pure cocaine. 5/5
4.
Roxy Music - Take a Chance With Me - Kind of a weird segue, to be honest. For that first minute and a half, I started wondering if I was listening to Black Sabbath without the heavy. I’ve never really heard Roxy Music before Radcliffe set me up with their debut album. I do enjoy Bryan Ferry’s voice, but I still don’t understand the fascination that many have with them. It’s not terrible by any means, but doesn’t really touch me with that ‘wow’ stick. I suspect it is a relative to a certain time period. 2/5
5.
Nirvana - Love Buzz – Nice touch here. I like the early Nirvana stuff and haven’t heard the songs on
Bleach in a long while. I can’t believe Kurt’s voice here; I don’t think I’d have recognized this immediately, to be perfectly honest. I love Nirvana, then and now. 3.5/5
6.
The Jam - Start! – I’m a fairly big fan of this band. In contrast to Roxy Music, for instance, when I first heard the Jam I could see why this excited people. This song is fucking great with killer bass line. I love the ‘If I never, ever see you’ bridge. And another great thing about this song, it’s short too. I’m a big fan of snappy tunes like this. (When I finish this mix review, the very first thing I’m putting on is The Jam) 4.5/5
7.
Count Five - Psychotic Reaction – Ahhh, more good stuff. This is another great track. (To be honest, my mood is vastly improved 7 songs in, I’m really feeling this and it can’t be the coffee because it’s decaf). I don’t know what more anyone can say about this song. It’s just great rock and roll. I’m trying to remember the first time I heard this and I can’t at the moment. Maybe I’ve
always heard it. Think about that. 5/5
8.
T. Rex - 20th Century Boy – My mood has now flip flopped like some shit-heel politician. This song is single-handedly responsible. This fucking song is better than the most potent strain of Zoloft squeezed from the very best trees of the Amazon owned by Pfizer. They can’t patent this, though. 5/5
9.
Dead Kennedys - Police Truck - I’ve only heard a few songs by this band. I borrowed
Bedtime for Democracy from a friend when I was in grade 9 and I shut it off. I thought it was pure crap. Had I borrowed
Give Me Convenience.. I would NOT have shut it off and who knows where I would be today? Maybe I’d be skinny from all the speed. 4/5
10.
Killing Joke - Eighties – Awesome! AAAAAHH EIGHTIES!!! I really dig this song. With it’s ‘Come As You Are’ intro and perfect inclusion in the party scene from “Weird Science” this song makes me want to hop around the apartment. Of course I’d be all alone and would look quite the fool. And frankly I don’t have the energy right now, but I will get trashed tomorrow and put this song on full blast. And then, I promise to hop around. 5/5
11.
Bad Brains - I Against I – This is one band I’ve heard of but never listened to, however, they are supposedly one of the most important bands in American Hardcore. According to that recent documentary, they ‘changed music’. With that hyperbole aside, I can safely say that this isn’t a bad tune at all. I generally have an extremely negative opinion of hardcore music, particularly their fans. I get that ‘punk changed your life’, now shut up. That being said, I probably would have listened to this in early high school. 3.5/5
12.
Bauhaus - Stigmata Martyr - Another kind of weird segue in terms of tone, but not years, I suspect. I think the latter two bands co-existed in the early 80s. I was aware of them, but never heard anything outside of ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’. Anyway, this is kind of dark right out of the gate and I see why folks really got into these guys. I like Peter Murphy’s voice, but to be honest, this song sounded dreadful to me. I don’t know if he was shouting Latin phrases or some variation of backwards speak, but I really wanted him to shut the fuck up. The saving grace of this song was at minute 3.41. 0.5/5
13.
Fugazi - Bad Mouth - This is something I can appreciate. Never heard much in the way of Fugazi either, although my music magazines always yakked about them. I wish this song would have kicked in and actually started though. I was waiting for something that never delivered. Kind of like...life? Heyyy, maybe that's the hook. 1/5
14.
Depeche Mode - Useless This is Depeche Mode??! This is pretty good, I’m not familiar with this song at all. With the prominent guitar, I’m guessing this is latter day period (EDIT, yep 1997). I’ve got a bunch of DM albums, that still get a decent amount of play, but I don’t think I’ve heard anything past
Violater. Based on this song I’d be interested in checking out some more. 3/5
15.
Sinead O'Connor - Red Football - Wow. I’ve never heard this song before. I really love this first two Sinead albums, but she lost me after her caberet album. She’s still sounds pretty great here. I actually miss Sinead, she had so much promise. Then she went bucky. Too bad. 3/5
16.
Concrete Blonde - 100 Games of Solitaire - WHOA. I don’t know this song and I consider myself a monster Concrete Blonde fan. I see that it’s on the
Still in Hollywood compilation. Fuck, I had in my mind that it was like a greatest hits compendium and I never even bothered. I’ve got all their albums and even Johnette’s spin-off bands Pretty & Twisted and Vowel Movment. Anyway, this song is tremendous. This sounds like it might be an outtake from the
Walking in London period. It’s got an excellent shuffle to it and my god does she sound great here. I love her. 5/5
17.
Blondie - I Know But I Don't Know - I love Blondie. This is such a good song, and couples greatly with the previous track. I’ve actually never put the similarities this close together, but wow. This has such a great groove. 4/5
18.
Dimitri From Paris - Une Very Stylish Fille - Full disclosure, part II. The Later Years: I have a fondness for the French electro/disco pop, stuff like Air, Mirwais, Daft Punk, rhinoceros, and Dmitri from Paris. Nice song. 3.5/5
19.
The B-52's - Lava - I’ve never been a huge fan and don’t own a single album but I’ve actually always enjoyed their songs when I hear them, even during the
Cosmic Thing era when one particular song was threatening to drive an entire world mad. This song is no exception, although it did push it a bit by going nearly 5 min in length. 3/5
20.
Southern Culture on the Skids - Soul City - I was
this close to putting a SCotS song on my mix too. I can’t remember which one, but it was from a DGC compilation. Anyway, this is really great. Your choice was better than mine. This is toe-tappingly awesome actually and by the end I’m singing along. And the best part?! 2 min, 34 seconds long. Bee-yoo-tee-full. 4.5/5
21.
Drivin' n' Cryin' - Whisper Tames the Lion - Hey, this I like. Good chuggin’ groove going here. I’d never really listened to this band, they fell between the crack somehow. This is basically what the Tragically Hip sounds like, so I have to like it. 3.5/5
cd 2
22.
R.E.M. - Camera – Always a good choice, from any era, in my opinion (save for the last couple of albums). This song is not one of my favourites, to be perfectly honest. It just never picks up, not necessarily in tempo, but just in emotion or soul. Is it possible he’s been a dead this whole time and is actually a zombie? 2/5
23.
Andrew Hyra and Kristian Bush – I Don’t Know Much – Not familiar with these guys at all. This is pretty good overall. Not too spectacular, but I don’t know if it should be. Based on the lyrics and music I feel I should be touched by the emotion, but I’m not. 2/5
24.
Let's Active - Crows on a Phone Line - I’ve heard of these guys, usually mentioned in the same sentence as REM, Athens and jangle. This is pleasant, but a bit unremarkable. Basically, I don’t know where they’re going in the song. There’s not a spot here that hooks me in, and I don’t necessarily mean a catchy chorus. 2/5
25.
Luka Bloom - The Acoustic Motorbike - Now
this song hooks me less than 30 seconds. It did what the previous track couldn’t do in nearly 4 min. It’s kind of a weird Irish folk-hip hop. I’d be interested in hearing more of this. 3/5
26.
U2 - An Cat Dubh/Into the Heart - Wow, I’ve only heard a bit of early U2. And by a bit, I mean hearing this album about 3 years ago. Outside of that, I’m obviously quite naïve regarding their pre-Joshua stuff. It’s hard to believe that this is the same band that crafted ‘Vertigo’, isn’t it? I mean, it’s qualitatively a totally different band, for better or worse. This song is pretty great, actually despite the fact it’s over 8 min long. 3.5/5
27.
Archer Prewitt - Wilderness - Another artist I’ve heard of, but never listened to previous to this song. I think there was quite a bit of board buzz about him, but I can’t remember when. Either way, I like this a lot. My nearly universal rule is that if there are handclaps, I will like it. This definitely qualifies 3.5/5
28.
The Cure - Like Cockatoos - Never been much of a Cure fan, mainly due to lack of exposure. I simply didn’t hang around people who listened to this band. In the towns I grew up in, if there
were Cure fans, I’m sure they had already killed themselves long before I could ask to borrow
Staring at the Sea. That being said, I don’t hate this song, but it’s didn’t do much for me. 2/5
29.
Bauhaus - Mask - Like my own mix, I doubled on a few artists that were important to me. I see you have done the same. I’m not going to comment on this one, out of respect. 1/5
30.
Duran Duran - Palomino - I’m an acknowledged fan of this band, I had all the albums back then. I only have
Decade in my collection now (although I’m still looking for
Notorious on cd). I’ve never even heard this song before, so I’m pleasantly surprised by how much I like it. 4/5
31.
Turin Brakes - Emergency 72 - I can’t believe it’s a guy singing, first off. That’s kind of freaking me out. Anyway, I rather like this song. It’s kind of sexy, actually, despite the strange voiced ‘man’ singing. So far, this is a standout track for me on cd2. 4.5/5
32.
David Bowie - Wild-Eyed Boy From Freecloud - I’m a fairly big Bowie fan, but I’ve never heard
Space Oddity mainly because I’ve never liked the title track. However, the handclapping has me liking this song and I see I’ve thrown the bowie out with the bathwater again. I’ll make a point of checking out the whole album now. 4/5
33.
Scissor Sisters - The Other Side - Full Disclose, part III, the present: I enjoy the Scissor Sisters, quite a lot sometimes. I think it's great pop music. This isn’t one of my favourites off the new album, because if I’m listening to them, I want the crazy, over-the-top shit, like ‘I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’ or ‘Filthy Gorgeous’. If I’m gonna be ghey, I’m going all the way, but don’t hold me to that. 4/5
34.
David Gray - As I'm Leaving - I’m not familiar with a lot of his work, but this is really, really nice. I’m very impressed by this. This could be a great country song. Seriously. If I heard a pedal-steel right now I’d be in heaven. I clearly need to check out a few more David Grey songs. 4.5/5
35.
James Angell - Call Off the War - Never heard of this dude, but apparently he’s like a musical Unabomber, living in the woods after being ripped a new one by the music industry. I respect the guy’s decision to persevere in the face of adversity and personal defeat, but maybe it’s for the best? This isn’t the worst thing I’ve ever heard, but damn it’s just not that great. And it’s nearly 6 min long. 1.5/5
36.
Crowded House - You're Not the Girl You Think You Are – Wow, nice addition here. I haven’t heard a lot of Crowded House, but this is a welcome surprise. There’s something to be said for a simple song like this, although it might be contrast enhancement compared with the previous track. 3/5
37.
Peter Murphy - Cascade - Okay, it’s not Bauhaus, for that it’s immediately more welcome in mind. I actually had a friend in high school who played
Deep constantly in his car. I mean this guy was a Beatles/Led Zep fan, a real classic rock kind of guy, but something in that Peter Murphy album resonated with him. This is far more pleasant than hearing his former band, but isn’t doing much for me, I’m afraid. 2/5
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Wow, Dana thanks for the effort that went into this Herculean task. Considering the variety in your mix I’d imagine sequencing must have been a bitch. I definitely get a sense of your musical history over the years, and based on this mix I think I'd feel more positive recommending certain bands for you to check out. Overall, I think it’s clear that I was a much bigger fan of disc 1 than disc 2, which just never really worked for me, despite there being several songs I really enjoyed. It’s possible that these may grow on me further after a few more listens, but overall, I’ll be keeping Disc 1 out and near my stereo, (with a couple of tracks programmed out
. )
My overall rating: 8.1/10 and 6.1/10
