Category Archives: Get

To bypass my yapping and get the mix, click here.

I set about making this mix with a road trip in mind. Specifically, a road trip that Sarah and I will be taking next month. I wanted something that reflected the things and places we’d see along the way. Utah and the desert played a huge roll in that line of thought. As did generalities like the open road and people who we might meet along the way.

Well, along the way, I somehow got sidetracked.

The mix is still all about these things, but somewhere, somehow, it took a more somber turn. I’m not really sure when or what happened to make this occur, but the mix I envisioned was a much different thing than the end result.

That said, I really do like this mix. Though I wanted it to be happy and uplifting and it turned out to be somber and sort of dower, there is something in the thread that runs through it that perfectly captures the road.

Road trips themselves can be like that. You got into it thinking that it will be this amazing thing, but as you go, it starts to turn into something you didn’t expect. It’s not always bad – actually, it’s most often good – but the difference surprises you. And this surprised me.

The mix starts as I wanted it, as a sort of tribute to the teenage movies of the late 50s. Many of the samples that I used came from those (more on that in the next post). I wanted a theme song and found The Sonics’ “Have Love Will Travel.” I figured that it would work perfectly since they were from Seattle.

And I’ve always wanted to use Sugarhill Gang’s “Hot Hot Summer Day” in a mix. I even got to do a fun little re-edit of the song. It didn’t quite seem to flow with the idea of a road trip, but I figured that it set the scene. It’s summer, it’s the end of school.

I got farther off the course with Spark’s “With All My Might.” It’s not a road song at all. But it’s a clever song and I think it fits. I mean, it didn’t fit with my original idea, but as that began to slide into an idea all its own, the Sparks song slid along with it.

“Gold It’s In The…” by Pink Floyd is just a great classic rock song from an album stuffed full of similar songs. This is a road song about the journey, plain and simple. It’s a song about someone you’d meet in a roadside cafe or maybe you’d talk to while filling up the tank. He’s in it for the road, not the gold.

But Naomi Shelton’s “I’ll Take the Long Road,” is all mine. This is how I travel – physically and spiritually. I may not get there as fast as you, but I’ll get there.

I wanted this mix to utilize my ever-growing fascination for early 80s electronic music. Instead, I chose Martial Canterel’s “Windscreen,” a song that was recorded only a few years ago, though all upon early 80s analog synths. I wanted a song about the desert to lead us into Utah. I got that.

Getting lost in the desert is such a cliche, but it’s possible and very scary. Nobody can beat the desert. You can escape it, even live in it, but you have to respect it. The desert always wins. Los Angeles will figure this out soon enough. I know that “Where Do We Go From Here” by Death isn’t about any of that. But it’s easy to bend and shape things to seem what they’re not in a mix like this.

Especially when you bleed it into the Beach Boy’s “Long Promised Road.” Sure, the lyrics are a bit corny, but still pretty inspirationally foolish, when you realize you’re in the desert.

And in the desert is Utah. And in Utah is Brigham Young and the rest of his Mormon followers. You can’t touch Utah and not address the Mormons. They settled the place and built it what it is today. The history, however, is littered with all sorts of horrible and nasty episodes – but then, whose isn’t? Still, I do a bit of delving with the Carter Family’s “River of Jordan” (possibly my favorite Carter Family song) and OMD’s “Genetic Engineering.”

Following OMD, I drew a line connecting Brigham Young and Jim Jones. There’s some odd similarities going on there. Obviously one wasn’t the other, but maybe Jones could have had his Zion if things would have worked out better. “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” right?

This is all put to a stop by Lost in the Trees’ “Walk Around the Lake.” I picked this song simply because I wanted a song about a lake. Lyrically, however, I believe it fits with the motif. That said, where did the road trip mix go? Utah, I guess.

So we have to, once again, rely upon The Boss to bring us back on track. But getting back is more of a segue than an abrupt jump. “Promised Land” could be about Utah. In fact, that’s where it takes place. But instead of Utah being the promised land, as it was for Brigham Young, anywhere but Utah is the promised land in this song.

But out of Utah doesn’t mean out of the desert, and certainly doesn’t mean out of the West. And it’s strange for a wild west song from Big Audio Dynamite, but damn if they don’t deliver. With references to Custer and the cavalry, it’s like they watched “Die with Your Boots On” and then wrote a pop song about it. In fact, that’s where I nabbed the samples leading in and out of this one.

Just as it’s nearly impossible to make a road mix without Springsteen, it’s equally impossible for me to do one without the Handsome Family. Their song “Loneliness of Magnets” is, like a few other songs here, not really about the road. There is, however, a open West, even Native feel to it. Dreams and such.

I know that John Foxx’s “No One Driving” isn’t really about ghost towns, but it really does seem like the perfect song for living in a ghost town. Maybe someone you’d meet in an abandoned village would write this. Who knows? By this time, you’re tired and you’re thinking about home.

With those nasty thoughts of home come the nasty thoughts of all the things you have to do. Anthrax’s cover of Joe Jackson’s “Got the Time” perfectly captures that and the interplosion of “You’ll Never Walk Alone” is enough to remind you that there’s at least one other that feels the same.

“All at Sea” is a strange way to end this. But that’s how it ends. The road is the sea and there is always more to it. Road, if you are incredibly fortunate, is home.

Just click on the button and it’ll take you to another site. Click on the link to download and save the zip file to your desktop. Then open the zip file with WinZip (or whatever program you use to open zip files). Add to your MP3 library or burn it to a CD-R. Easy as pie!

Technical Information:
Media Used:
Vinyl LPs from my personal collection.

SoundConverter 1.4.4
-Converted WAV to 320kbps MP3

To download the mix, click here.

It seems like forever since I posted a mix, but it’s only been about four months. And it’s been well over four months (probably closer to seven) that I’ve worked on Taken for Lost and Gone. I guess it started when I first heard the Beach Boys Smile LP for the first time, back in the fall of 2011. Smile was the record that was mostly finished, but then indefinitely shelved as it was basically unfinishable at the time.

To download the large version of the cover, click/save here.

With the release of the five CD boxed set, which contained four CDs of studio outtakes, I became obsessed. At first, I thought it would be fun to make my own version of the Smile album. Many have done this, using bootlegs and bits that had been officially released. My favorite is the weirdly-titled Alternate Brian Wilson Presents Smile. It’s well worth tracking down the torrent to get this. More on that in a bit. Anyway, I heard the official release of Smile and after thinking about making my own, gave it up and decided to take the themes in the album and construct my own mix around them.

Smile is usually seen as having three movements: Americana, The Cycle of Life, and The Elements. Along with heaping helpings of samples (including many from Smile, I think I’ve created a fun and maybe even interesting seventy-three minutes of musical mixing.

For every mix, after selecting a theme, I pick out the songs. This is no easy task and there’s always good or weird reasons for selecting what I do.

I chose to start the piece with an introduction. I use bits of “Heroes and Villains” by the Beach Boys, but really start things with a demo version of The Cure’s “Pillbox Tales,” a song about shellshock and war.

Americana
I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with America. This comes through probably more than I wanted in the mixing of the samples and songs. “Turn Around” by Devo was the b-side to “Whip It” and was covered by Nirvana. It’s one of their most straight forward songs and pulls few punches. The Housemartins’ “Me and the Farmer,” however, seems all happy and cheerful, when really it’s about (in this case) migrant workers and a farmer who exploits them. “The American” seems a bit angry at Americans (“What do you know about this world, anyway?”), but was written after visiting an exhibit of American modern art.

I finally got my hands on a (cheap) copy of Karate’s “Cherry Coke” 7″. When this was released in the early/mid 90s, everyone loved it. I saw these guys play in State College and have been hooked on them since. What is more American than cherry pie or Coca-Cola? Cherry Coke! And to end the Americana movement, Elvis Costello’s “Big Light,” which, though he’s English, is a rather American-sounding song about a very American thing.

The Cycle of Life

I’ve seen Smile‘s second movement depicted as either the life cycle or simply “teenagerdom.” I sort of split the difference. “Dry Ice Hot” by Fishfood isn’t really about much at all. But when you’re a teenager, you write and love bad poetry. This song is full of bad poetry, but, like a teenager, it’s all very earnestly done. When you’re in your teens, you dream of running away, and Duran Duran’s newish “Runway Runaway” is about just that. I’ve played around with some samples to make me happy.

But when it comes to songs I’ve played around with, De La Soul’s “Say No Go” has been most messed with. I originally took the “Say No Dope Mix” and did almost a mash up with The Beach Boy’s “Vega-Tables” and The Funky Four’s “That’s The Joint.” I’ll talk more about that when I talk about samples. But I really love this version of the song.

Nirvana’s “Son of a Gun” is a Vaselines cover that appeared on the Hormoaning EP. I’m not really sure what struck me as being so teenage about it, but “The sun shines in the bedroom when we play. The raining always starts when you go away.” just seems very teenage. In a good way. Bringing up the end of the Cycle of Life is David Harrow’s “Our Little Girl,” a song you’ve probably not heard before, but quickly became one of my favorite 80s songs that nobody’s ever heard before.

The Elements

The primordial elements (earth, water, fire, air) round out the entire mix. I wasn’t quite sure how to find a cohesive thread that bound them all together, but I think I might have accidentally made one. Earth is represented by Sparks’ “Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth,” a goofy song that doesn’t make a lot of sense, but might be about earthquakes, and Mission of Burma’s “Dirt,” about being treated like earth, but not in a good way.

Gary Numan’s Tubeway Army recorded the creepy “My Love is a Liquid,” which I somehow made a bit more creepy with the opening samples. But Echo & The Bunnymen save the day with “Seven Seas,” that starts the religious exploration that would typically accompany The Elements.

Fire is the easiest and for some reason, I chose two songs about nuclear holocausts. The Louven Brothers proclaim that you can escape “the horrible destruction” by being “prepared to meet the lord,” which doesn’t technically save you from radiation poisoning. Fad Gadget’s “Fireside Favourite,” explains just what radiation poisoning does to you before you meet the lord. It’s not pretty, but it is fire.

I decided to end with air. And with air is breathing and that brings two songs immediately to mind. XTC’s “No Language in Our Lungs,” which has one of my favorite good/bad lyrics of all time: “but nobody can say what they really mean to say and / the impotency of speech came up and hit me that day and / I would have made this instrumental but the words got in the way” and Pink Floyd’s “Breathe” from Dark Side of the Moon. However, before they recorded that, Roger Waters did a soundtrack album with Ron Geesin. On that album, he did a song called “Breathe,” which contains a sliver or two of Dark Side‘s Breathe. I like this one better. I also tack on “Give Birth to a Smile,” from the same soundtrack. All four Floyd members are present and it’s a nice way to close out the mix (with a smile).

Actually, like the original Smile, I have a conclusion, which is “Give Birth to a Smile” and a quick, but hopefully fun, reworking of “You’re Welcome” – which is how the original Smile ended.

To download the large version of the back cover, click/save here.

Just click on the button and it’ll take you to another site. Click on the link to download and save the zip file to your desktop. Then open the zip file with WinZip (or whatever program you use to open zip files). Add to your MP3 library or burn it to a CD-R. Easy as pie!

Technical Information:
Media Used:
Vinyl LPs from my personal collection.

SoundConverter 1.4.4
-Converted WAV to 320kbps MP3

Another Christmas, another mix. This one is probably the biggest I’ve ever done. It’s also the one where I got to do some wonderful musical research. I came up with the idea in March or April and worked on it throughout the year. Each song was either released and/or recorded in 1975, the year of my birth.

It’s pretty common to delve into the music you grew up with, but my folks pretty well stopped listening to popular music when I was born. Sure, there was some odd radio stuff, but mostly it was top 40 and pretty bland.

If I had my way, I would have made tons of these and given them out to everyone I’ve ever met, but sadly, I could only do a short run of them. Lots of folks who I wish could have gotten them, weren’t able to. I do apologize greatly for this. However, at least you can download it here.

I divided the mix into three discs, each representing three different kinds of music. The first covers a diverse array of pre-punk/urban/etc. bands. These range from Funkadelic to the Talking Heads, from Lou Reed to some odd ska stuff. I specifically skipped anything disco-related here. The closest we get is glam like Hello and Slik. There’s a bit of funk, some electronic weirdness and even Brian Eno inexplicably covering “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”

The mid 70s was a transition period for metal. Nothing really heavy, like Iron Maiden, came until later, but still, there’s some loudness here, what with Black Sabbath and Alice Cooper. Metal was really coming into its own, and it wouldn’t quite get there until a few years later, but it’s great to see its evolution. There’s even a power ballad (“Triumverat’s “Deadly Dream of Freedom”). At the end of the disc, check out Death’s “Politicians in My Eyes.” How this was written and recorded in 1975 is beyond me. It’s at least a decade before its time.

Rounding out the mix is Disc 3, which has an obvious country feel. Country was a big thing in the 70s. There was a resurgence, complete with CBs, truckers and a healthy dislike of cops. The hippies were still holding on and other bands, like The Who and Queen were dabbling in it a bit. Keep an eye on Elf, which was Ronnie James Dio’s first(ish) band. If you know his later work in Sabbath and Dio, you’ll be more than a bit surprised by this one. Of course, no mix would be complete without a sad Bruce Springsteen song, so I give you a depressing acoustic version of “Thunder Road.”

Each song was recorded from vinyl from my record collection. Details of that are at the bottom.

Of course, the music is only part of the mix. I try to see the whole project as a bit of art. This year, I decided to screen print the covers. It was the first time I printed with water-based ink on something that wasn’t a tshirt. Each of the records were from 1975 and I can’t thank Jive Time Records in Seattle enough for this. Inside the sleeves are bits of this and that, some of them hand colored with a big box of crayola crayons (though the ones I’ve included with the mix are uncolored, just in case you wanted to print them out and color them yourself).

The discs themselves were spray painted with three different colors of primer. I’m not 100% sure this was safe to do (for the disc – I know it wasn’t safe for my health). I sure do hope that none of the discs fail from the painting.

I love doing stuff like this. Though it took me months to complete, it was a whole bunch of fun. I’ve got no idea what I’ll do for next year’s mix… well, I mean, I have some ideas, but I’ve also got a whole year to work on it. So by April, I’m sure I’ll have it pretty well set.

So go ahead and down it. I hope you enjoy it greatly.

Thanks a bunch!

Since this mix is spread over three discs, I had to upload three different zip files. To get the whole mix, you’ll have to down all three.

Just click on the button and it’ll take you to another site. Click on the link to download and save the zip file to your desktop. Then open the zip file with WinZip (or whatever program you use to open zip files). Add to your MP3 library or burn it to a CD-R. Easy as pie!

Technical Information:
Media Used:
Vinyl LPs from my personal collection.

SoundConverter 1.4.4
-Converted WAV to 320kbps MP3

Stay tuned for 2012 mix news coming soon!

Get the mix here and now and/or continue reading (182MB)

In my fairly pointless commitment to make a mix each month, I’ve discovered that November/December aren’t the easiest months in which to find the time to mix it up. It’s during those months (especially November) when I’m working my little heart out finishing up the Christmas Mix (which will be posted on Christmas).

So this year, I gave Smartz the run of my record collection, and had to pick out 70ish minutes worth of the finest music I’ve got. She did a great job and here’s Smartz to explain why she picked some of the songs she did:

Many of the songs on my mix are songs that I’ve been introduced to by Eric. One of the first mix cd’s the he gave to me was a Pet Shop Boys mix, and while I had never heard anything Pet Shop Boys except for “West End Girls,” I have loved them ever since. We used to listen to that mix ALL the time while driving around on Pennsylvania’s back roads. While driving on the back roads of Utah and New Mexico I became a Mission of Burma fan. The first memory I have of listening to them was while we waited in the car at the north end of a train tunnel to take a photo of the exiting train.

My favorite song on the mix is most definitely Big Country’s “Porrohman.” This also is probably one of my top three favorite songs of all time. Stuart Adamson’s sweet Scottish voice combined with the band in this mostly instrumental is one of the most pleasant sounding songs I think you will ever have the pleasure of hearing. Treat yourself and listen to some Big Country! It’s Smartz approved.

So there you go! Thanks, Smartz!

Just click on the button and it’ll take you to another site. Click on the link to download and save the zip file to your desktop. Then open the zip file with WinZip (or whatever program you use to open zip files). Add to your MP3 library or burn it to a CD-R. Easy as pie!

Technical Information:
Media Used:
Vinyl LPs from my personal collection.

SoundConverter 1.4.4
-Converted WAV to 320kbps MP3

Get the mix here and now and/or continue reading (182MB)

Yesterday, I posted the first part of the 2CD Johnny Cash mix. Today it’s time for the second part. Again, all of the songs herein were ripped from my weirdly large Johnny Cash vinyl collection.

Like yesterday, I’ll take each of the songs and tell you a bit about them. Are you ready? Let’s start!

Engine 143 – Cash recorded this version of the old Carter Family song (though it pre-dates them) in the early to mid 60s. It was never used and didn’t see the light of day until Bear Family Records released it in 1978. That’s where this comes from. Cash also recorded it again for a Carter Family tribute album. It was the last full song he ever recorded.

Custer – Funny song about a real bastard dying. This is from the 1964 concept album Bitter Tears (Ballads Of The American Indian). Great album. “Custer split his men, well he won’t do that again!”

Sam Hall ’02 – Cash first recorded this in 1965 for the LP Sings the Ballads of the True West. This version, from American IV: The Man Comes Around is more bitter. The one on the Ballads LP is full of sarcastic laughter, but in this one, Sam is all grown up. “Damn your eyes!”

Hey Porter – Though this was written while Cash was stationed in Germany, it was recorded in 1954 and released as a single a year later. It’s one of his more famous early numbers, but I like it anyway. It doesn’t hurt that it’s about trains.

No Earthly Good (demo) – This was first demoed in July of 1974, but that recording didn’t show up until 2006 when his son went rummaging through his father’s old tapes. He formally released it on 1976′s Rambler and again for the American Recordings sessions in the 2000s. This is as spiritually honest as Cash gets.

Transfusion Blues – Most folks know this as “Cocaine Blues” from the At Folsom Prison album. This was the first version, from Now, There Was a Song!, 1960. Originally, when penned by T.J. Arnal, it was called “Cocaine Blues,” but for whatever reason, Cash changed it and then changed it back.

Waiting for a Train – Second to Cash, Jimmie Rodgers is one of my favorite country singers. So when Cash covers a JR song, I automatically love it. This appeared on 1962′s Blood, Sweat and Tears LP.

Give My Love to Rose (Alternate Take) – The first take of this sad little song was recorded on July 1, 1957. The version that was finally released (the fifth take) was overdubbed with a chorus, as too many of his songs were.

Down There By the Train – Here’s an Tome Waites song, and outtake from the early American Recordings sessions. I think this actually appeared on the first album, but this is a different take. “There’s no eye for an eye, no tooth for a tooth. I saw Judas Iscariot carrying John Wilkes Booth” is probably one of the greatest lines ever written.

Delia’s Gone – Oh Delia! This is a fun Halloween song, I guess. A great little history lesson, too. Cash apparently recorded this four times. This one is the first, appearing on 1962′s The Sound Of Johnny Cash. One more round!

Big River (Demo) – We get some early studio banter and an extra verse with a “rounder” in Natchez from this November 1957 demo. This seems like a really early arrangement. If you’re familiar with the later version, you’ll enjoy this one. I don’t think I like this version better, but it’s great to hear it.

Don’t Take Your Guns to Town (Live) – In 1959, Cash and his band appeared on the radio program “Town Hall Party.” These were finally released a few years ago. It’s odd to hear the girls scream for Johnny Cash. He did this song a lot, and they’re words to live by.

The Engineer’s Dying Child (Demo) – Another gem from Cash’s tapes found after his death. It’s a sad, sad song from 1973 that has a surprisingly happy ending. Times were very rough way back in the age of steam. “Thank God the light was green.”

The Road to Kaintuck – I’ve always wanted to travel on the Wilderness Road. This is a wonderful song that can’t be ruined by even the Statler Brothers. It’s from 1973′s Sings The Ballads Of The True West. You really believe him when he says “IIII bet I’m gonna make it to Kaintuck.”

Guess Things Happen That Way – It’s a pragmatic love song! What a great idea. It was released by Sun as a single in 1958. When they did, they overdubbed a chorus over it. Unfortunately, that version seems lost to antiquity.

It Ain’t Me, Babe – “Naw Naw Naw it ain’t me, baby!” I’ve very open about my dislike of Bob Dylan, but even I have to admit that he’s a great songwriter. You can tell this was recorded after “Ring of Fire” as it tries to emulate the horns. But even that can’t ruin a great duet with June.

All God’s Children Ain’t Free – Sometimes Cash just let it loose. I really appreciate it when he does. I love how he equates a “share cropper’s shake” with a “penitentiary.” This is from 1964′s Orange Blossom Special LP.

As Long As the Grass Shall Grow – Tom Petty does the four-count and June joins in. This version is an outtake from the American Recording sessions, but was originally recorded in 1964 for Bitter Tears. I like this version best. Especially the ending. Nearly brings a tear to my eye.

A Thing Called Love – I have no idea why, but I love this song. A lot. Jerry Reed originally wrote and recorded it, but Cash did it in 1972, on the album of the same name. The vocal chorus is silly, but I think I like the drums during the refrain. “It can lift you up… never let you down.”

In Them Old Cotton Fields Back Home – For my money, CCR perfected this song, but Cash’s version is quaint and fine. His voice dips way down on this cut from The Sound of Johnny Cash (1962).

Born to Lose (Early Take) – Can’t go too far wrong with a Hank cover. Sun released this in 1962, but it was recorded four years earlier with minimal vocal chorus, which was later overdubbed. This was before that happened. I think Woody Guthrie said that he didn’t like songs that told you that you were born to lose. Whatever. I do.

Mean Eyed Cat – It took Sun Records six years to release this weird little tune about sending a gal away because she paid too much for a hat. At least he didn’t kill her, I guess. This is on the Sings Hank Williams LP, though it’s not a Hank song.

Rock Island Line – “I fooled you, I fooled you, I got pig iron, I got pig iron, I got allll pig iron!” 1957 was a fun year for Cash and that’s when this one was recorded and released. It was never a single, but appeared on this first album Hot and Blue Guitar.

Folsom Prison Blues (Alternate Take) – Ever want to hear Johnny Cash singing in what is the closest thing to a falsetto as he’ll get? Here’s your chance. It’s eerie. This was the third take of a day full of takes that would never get released from late 1954 or early 1955. They eventually used a take from July of 1955.))

Streets of Larado ’02 – He recorded this one a few times. In 1965, 1969, 1977 and again in 2002. The latter is what we’ve got here, from The Man Comes Around LP. I like that he doesn’t completely splice up the song with “And beat the drum slowly…” I like the addition, but it was too much in the 1965 version. This one is perfect.

Oney – From 1972′s Any Old Wind That Blows LP, it’s sort of an early take on “Take This Job and Shove It,” though the poor guy has to wait until he retires to tell his boss to shove it. Actually, in Cash’s song, he decks him. It’s very 1970s country, but in a good way.

Wo Ist Zuhause, Mama – Cash recorded a few songs in German in 1959. This one is “Five Feet High and Rising.” I don’t really know German, it mostly sounds like “bark bark bark” to me, but it’s a great oddity to begin closing the mix.

This Town – In 1971, Cash did the soundtrack to a movie called I Walk The Line. He used a few old songs and wrote a few new ones. This one became my new Springsteen, my new “Thunder Road.” I live in Everett, Washington, and this is how I feel about that.

Ain’t No Grave – This song got a lot of attention, and was even played on commercials after he died. It was released in 2010 on the last American Recordings album of the same name. It’s a fitting way to end this mix.

Just click on the button and it’ll take you to another site. Click on the link to download and save the zip file to your desktop. Then open the zip file with WinZip (or whatever program you use to open zip files). Add to your MP3 library or burn it to a CD-R. Easy as pie!

Technical Information:
Media Used:
Vinyl LPs from my personal collection.

SoundConverter 1.4.4
-Converted WAV to 320kbps MP3