"Some more pics of me"




01) Row || Jon Brion
02) The Crane Wife 3 || The Decemberists
03) Black Flowers || Yo La Tengo
04) We Drink On the Job || Earlimart
05) Above You || The Whitest Boy Alive
06) Someday || The Strokes
07) Walking to Do || Ted Leo & the Pharmacists
08) Lions || Headlights
09) Are You Ready for It || The Holograms
10) 5 Alive || Self
11) Like It Like That || Better Than Ezra
12) Rick James || Jude
13) You Make Me Wanna Die || Soft
14) Light Pollution || Dirty On Purpose
15) Heartbeats || The Knife
16) Train in Vain (Stand by Me) || The Clash
17) Sugar Pill || Ambulance Ltd.
18) Something || Sam Prekop
19) Dsappointed || The Frames

Dammit, Rodney. You made me put this up last night and you still haven't reviewed it. Am I the only one to make my own mix thread? You're making me look like a narcissist here.

Whoa....Jude.

I remember seeing him live 6 or so years ago.

"...Rick James was the original super freak....."

ill do it tomorrow - got "busy" today

Love Jude. Have never seen him live, though. Any good?

And Rodney, I believe in you.
I haven't done a single review yet, so I'mma shut up now.

I'd never heard of him before (at the time). I saw him open for Dido, who I really liked back then. They were playing at a Houston club called #s. His set was real intimate because it was just him and an acoustic guitar. But yeah, he was good. People in the audience were impressed.

01) Row || Jon Brion - pleasant opening but I think you could have skipped this and gone right to The Decemberists. 2/5.
02) The Crane Wife 3 || The Decemberists - I love this song. Probably my favorite off of the Crane Wife. Great way to get things started. 4/5.
03) Black Flowers || Yo La Tengo - I'm a pretty big YLT fan. I typically enjoy their more rockin' songs but I like this one. 3/5.
04) We Drink On the Job || Earlimart - well this one is pretty autobiographical, isnt it? I've never listened to much Earlimart but a few people have told me I should check 'em out. This is pretty cool but something about it doesnt really click for me...maybe the voice is just a little too whispery. 3/5.
05) Above You || The Whitest Boy Alive - i kind of like this...the groove is pleasant and mellow and poppy. 2/5.
06) Someday || The Strokes - I think this is my favorite Strokes tune. Way to pick up the pace on the mix. 4/5.
07) Walking to Do || Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - I've always liked this song as well...one of my favorite Ted Leo songs. 4/5.
08) Lions || Headlights - I dont know this band....kind of sounds like Ted Leo.3/5.
09) Are You Ready for It || The Holograms - another band I don't know. Go Go's reincarnated? Man I always had teenage fantasies about Belinda Carlisle. This is kind of annoying to me for some reason...I think the voice. 2/5.
10) 5 Alive || Self - a little too jammy or something for my tastes. Not horrible just not really my thing. 1/5.
11) Like It Like That || Better Than Ezra - wow a Better Than Ezra track. I had their debut album at one time. I like this. I've always kind of liked this guy's voice if it was a little melodramatic. Not sure about this song though. 2+/5.
12) Rick James || Jude - I was excited this would be Rick James...guess not. Im not a big fan of white boy funk like this. 2/5.
13) You Make Me Wanna Die || Soft - I also dont know this band but I kind of enjoy this one. A little Coldplay-ish. 3/5.
14) Light Pollution || Dirty On Purpose - dont know a lot of this stuff, which is a bonus. I like this...nice and poppy and droney. 3/5.
15) Heartbeats || The Knife - Ive heard a lot about this song but never actually heard it. I normaly hate this type of shit but that is a catchy chorus. I know - I've heard the acoustic version of this song in that Sony commercial which I like better than this one. Still, 4/5.
16) Train in Vain (Stand by Me) || The Clash - 5/5. one of my favorite Clash songs.
17) Sugar Pill || Ambulance Ltd. - I bought an ambulance ltd album and do not like it at all. This isnt horrible but kind of meh. 2/5.
18) Something || Sam Prekop - isnt this one of todd's bands? Seems harmless and i tend to like this type of stuff. 2+/5.
19) Dsappointed || The Frames - never heard these dudes. Makes me sleepy in a Nick Drake sort of way. 3/5.

This was actually my one big question before I sent them off. My love for it won out over the flow of the mix in the end.

Thanks for the review, Rodney. Glad you found some new stuff you may like.

01) Row || Jon Brion
Lovely enough song but it cuts off too abruptly; 2/5
02) The Crane Wife 3 || The Decemberists
Nice song and I’m looking forward to hearing the rest of this album; however, the chorus of the song is just a bit too simple, they could have done something more with it; 3/5
03) Black Flowers || Yo La Tengo
Sweet with a nice crescendo; 4/5
04) We Drink On the Job || Earlimart
I like this more and more each time I hear it which means the rating may go up in future; for now its a 3/5
05) Above You || The Whitest Boy Alive
Minimalist but catchy; 3/5
06) Someday || The Strokes
I was in England when these guys broke, so I’ve never really been schooled in them – I do like this song but unfortunately it is the only Strokes song I do know; 4/5
07) Walking to Do || Ted Leo & the Pharmacists
This is one of the better Ted Leo songs I’ve heard to date – nice and poppy; 3/5
08 ) Lions || Headlights
I like the upbeat quality and the harmonizing on this one; 4/5
09) Are You Ready for It || The Holograms
Formulaic but a fun driving tune; 3/5
10) 5 Alive || Self
I don’t know this band but it sounds like an attempt to be “edgy” by a boy band – the lyrics are so calamitous – I just can’t find anything redeemable about it; 0/5
11) Like It Like That || Better Than Ezra
A definite step up from the last one but only just -– is this a cover? If not, then a bit too formulaic for me; 2/5
12) Rick James || Jude
Definitely incongruous – that is, a fun and poppy vibe but with really sad storyline; I like Jude but this isn’t my favorite of his and hopefully people will not assume that all his music sounds like this; 3/5
13) You Make Me Wanna Die || Soft
Nice enough song but sounds like I could hear it, or something like it, on any Clear Channel “alternative” station; 2/5
14) Light Pollution || Dirty On Purpose
I like this one quite a bit but mostly because I like how the bass becomes melodic and climbs around a bit on the bridge; 3/5
15) Heartbeats || The Knife
This one is a grower – on first listen I was not impressed but I’m starting to like it and her voice quite a bit (And, who can resist Casio steel drums?); 3/5
16) Train in Vain (Stand by Me) || The Clash
One of my favorite songs of all time – it seems a bit out of place on this mix though; 5/5
17) Sugar Pill || Ambulance Ltd.
I like the vibe of this song though it is far from the best song from this album; 3/5
18 ) Something || Sam Prekop
I love this album and I really like this song; 4/5
19) Dsappointed || The Frames
A sleepy mix ending but a nice enough song albeit with another too abrupt finish; 3/5

Overall I like the mix and seem to like it more with each listen (I’ve listened 4 x now). Having said that, there are a few songs that seem out of place and a few odd transitions so I’m not sure the flow is quite right which is a pet peeve of mine. NOTWITHSTANDING…the title and the cover art is brilliant (points for Obner related thread usage and witty parody)!

01) Row || Jon Brion
A nice brief opening instrumental from Jon.
7/10

02) The Crane Wife 3 || The Decemberists
I was indifferent to this at first. It builds up well, and the underlying sadness of the lyrics became more apparent to me after several spins. I can't say I'm 100% sure what a "bowsenbelle" is. *edit* nevermind, they're saying "boughs unbowed"
8/10

03) Black Flowers || Yo La Tengo
I recently downloaded all of Beat Your Ass from emusic. This is a good track but isn't one of the ones that's been drawing me into the album overall. I do like the trombone parts on this.
7/10

04) We Drink On the Job || Earlimart
Good live band. OK song. I only have Treble and Tremble so I wasn't familiar with this.
6.5/10

05) Above You || The Whitest Boy Alive
Not a bad song but I started to feel as if I was listening to a sequence of Pac-Man samples towards the end.
6/10

06) Someday || The Strokes
They were never a huge band for me but they have a lot of good songs. I consider this to be one of them.
7/10

07) Walking to Do || Ted Leo & the Pharmacists
I've been curious about Ted Leo's stuff, especially since I've had 2 people tell me I look like him (I don't see the resemblance). I'm impressed with the guitar work on this one. Probably my favorite track here.
8.5/10

08 ) Lions || Headlights
I really like this one too. This has a rhythmic feel that makes me think of Queen's "Tie Your Mother Down" - but a little faster. That melodic synth bleepage coming through the right channel adds a lot. I'm almost disappointed it ends a couple of seconds shy of 2 minutes.
8/10

09) Are You Ready for It || The Holograms
Don't listen to this kind of thing much but this revealed an irresistible level of catchiness after several spins. Kinda Runaways-ish I guess. Never heard of them before.
7/10

10) 5 Alive || Self
A rather odd hodgepodge of percussive sounds and guitar (some sound rather...sampled) over a bouncey rhythm. It reminds me of Beck in parts, just not as clever.
5/10

11) Like It Like That || Better Than Ezra
I could just be hearing things, but is that a sample of the intro to Steely Dan's "Do It Again" hiding beneath the track? I like a few songs by these guys. I wasn't familiar with this one, but it's really catchy. Might toss this on a personal mix of mine for the hell of it.
8/10

12) Rick James || Jude
Until this mix, it must have been at least 5 or so years since I last heard this. I almost forgot that I liked this song. As I mentioned earlier in this thread, the first time I heard it was in a live setting back in early 2000. It was just Jude and his guitar. I've always found him to be a clever lyricist, even though I never fully embraced his work overall. There's another song of his I really like..I think it's called "Indian Lover" or something.
7.5/10

13) You Make Me Wanna Die || Soft
Never heard of this band before. A good example of how a simple driving rhythm can add a lot. I also like the guitar tones.
7/10

14) Light Pollution || Dirty On Purpose
This seems like a band I would like. Sounds like a poppier Yo La Tengo. But after Bush's bore-ish "Glycerine," I've become weary of songs with this chord progression. It's been used many times over. Not that Bush was the first to use it...
5.5/10

15) Heartbeats || The Knife
Silent Shout is one of my favorites of the year. Prior to that I haven't heard anything else they have done....except this. My brother actually put this on a mix he made for me. Not the most original synth line, but it's still good. Lighter than what I have come to expect from them.
6.5/10

16) Train in Vain (Stand by Me) || The Clash
Odd transition. But I love The Clash.
8.5/10

17) Sugar Pill || Ambulance Ltd.
Man....my stereo in my room did NOT want to play this song. I could never get past the first 0:57 seconds. A shame. After listening to it in my car, I realized it's right up my alley. Sweeping shoegazer-lite soundscapes.
8.5/10

18 ) Something || Sam Prekop
A suitable follow up to the previous song. I like the jazzy rhythm and use of the muted trumpet.
7/10

19) Disappointed || The Frames
Heh....This starts off with the same guitar melody of a certain No Doubt song from Tragic Kingdom. Can't think of which one. This is the closest I've come to hearing something by The Frames that truly reels me in. Something about the way he delivers the line "I'm not mad...just disappointed" kind of clicks with me. I think I need more time with it, because right now I just kind of see it as the somber "closing song."
6/10

Thanks SP! Some of these will be in the running for my own personal monthly mixes. And I finally heard Ted Leo, so that's a plus.