Category Archives: Info About

I uploaded a new mix not too long ago. Have you heard it? Give it a try. It’s a roadtrip mix with a slightly darker edge to it.

That darker edge comes not just from the songs, but from the samples I picked to wiggle around in between songs.

So let’s begin at the beginning.

The mix starts out with the opening fan fair from an American International Pictures movie. I wanted to keep the intro short. The last mix’s intro seemed to last through the first several songs. I liked that, but wanted this to be different.

I mixed together bits from Blues Brothers (“We’re on a mission from God”) and Faster Pussycat Kill Kill (“Let’s use the backdoor”). Over all of it is the opening to the Ramones’ “Rock and Roll Radio.” I think I threw in a few other radio samples as well.

Song: The Sonics – Have Love Will Travel

Song: Sparks – With All My Might
- During song: Dialog about hitchhiking comes from It Happened One Night

Song: Pink Floyd – The Gold, It’s In The…

-”Why don’t you say some righteous for a change…” from Oddball

Song: Naomi Smith – I’ll Take the Long Road

-”You won’t find it down there, Columbus!” from Faster Pussycat Kill Kill

Song: Martial Canterel – Windscreen

-Sample of train sounds taken from an old railroad sound effects record
-”You can’t beat the desert” from Vanishing Point

Song: Death – Where Do We Go From Here?
–During song: Most quotes are from High School Hellcats, but a couple obvious ones are from Faster Pussycat Kill Kill. “Don’t panic” is from Young and Dangerous. Car noises are from Gun Crazy

Song: Beach Boys – Long Promised Road

-There’s a collage of samples following. Most are from a weird little short about Utah, Desert Empire, while some are from a filmstrip for Mormons called “Man’s Search for Meaning.”

Song: Carter Family – River of Jordan

-”You must first understand your beginnings…” is from the filmstrip “Man’s Search for Meaning.”

-The next few samples are interesting. The ones that sound like a vocorder come from a Speak & Spell. The first ones you here are ones that I added. The words are: child, mother, terror, plague, scissors, heaven, butcher, believe.

This is overcut by what sounds like some crappy 3M documentary from the 70s. I’m not sure where it actually comes from, but it was in OMD’s “Genetic Engineering” from the start. I didn’t add these.

I also didn’t add the Speak & Spell bits during the OMD song. Those were originally there. The words used are: baby, mother, pastor, earth, preacher, judgement, butcher, engineer.

What happened was that I found audio files to a Speak & Spell emulator and tried to gather all the words used in the OMD song. I could only get about half of them, and so I added my own. I think both work quite well.

Song: OMD – Genetic Engineering

-Most of the clips that follow are from the Jonestown Massacre. The collage ends with Desert Empire

Song: Lost in the Trees – Walk Around the Lake
Song: Bruce Springsteen – Promised Land

-”Do you know that you’ve haunted me….” from They Died with their Boots On.

Song: Big Audio Dynamite – Rewind
-All samples during the song are native to the song, except “All white men are thieves,” which is from Winchester ’73, and the talk about a regiment, which is from They Died with their Boots On.

Song: Handsome Family – Loneliness of Magnets

-”That’s how come I don’t drive, see,” is from Repo Man.

Song: John Foxx – No One’s Driving
-Quotes during song are from JG Ballard’s Crash.

-Chimes leading into Anthrax are from Pink Floyd’s “Time.” There’s also some ticking from Anthrax’s “Persistence of Time” in there somewhere.

Song: Anthrax – Got the Time
-All quotes during song are from Faster Pussycat Kill Kill
-Song at the end is from Pink Floyd’s “Fearless.” It’s a recording of “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”

Song: Budgie – We are All the Sea
-Quotes during are from the weird and fun little movie Baby Doll

-The entire ending is ripped off from the ending of Baby Doll. I messed with the sound a bit (obviously), but that’s pretty much the whole thing. It’s a nasty way to end a mix, but this isn’t your typical mix.

And that’s pretty much it.

If you’ve got any questions, do let me know.

I guess I’m pretty much always working on mix. When I was finishing up Taken for Lost and Gone, I started thinking about what I’d do next. And, of course, the Christmas mix.

Before the last mix was even posted, I had a rough draft of an idea for the next mix. Sarah and I hope to take a trip to Utah this summer. She suggested that I make a roadtrip mix for the occasion. It didn’t take a lot of convincing.

Here are my notes...

The first thing I do after picking a concept is come up with a list of about twenty songs. About half of that list never makes the final cut, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

After picking out the songs, I arrange them into some logical (to me) order. And then starts the listening. I’ll listen to it three or four times, taking notes as I go. Some songs are moved, others are cut, and, as they pop into my head, new songs are added.

While I’m listening, I try to figure out what little extras (samples, etc) might come in handy here or there. That goes in the notes, too. I’ve decided that my mixes will all be like the last one I did – brimming with samples, remixes and extra stuff like that. All of this is done at work. I have a pretty lovely job.

It takes about as long as it takes to finally get the songs in order. Sometimes it’s a week, other times it’s a month or more.

With this mix, songs by REM, Sons of the Pioneers, and the Grateful Dead were all axed. Sometimes you just can’t make one song sound essential when placed next to another song. There really is an art to this. I mean, you don’t want a slew of downer songs surrounding some country swing song, right? You don’t want a poppy synth tune crashing into a thrash song. You need flow. You need continuity. Cutting these songs helped me achieve that.

I kicked around songs by Utah Phillips, Public Image Ltd, Simple Minds and Miracle Legion, but just couldn’t make them work.

But today… oh today I think I’ve finally got it! Of course, I left my notes at work, so whatever changes I made today, I can’t make until tomorrow. You’d think I’d remember where I wanted to place Naomi Shelton’s “I’ll Take the Long Road,” huh. Did I want to move “Promised Land” after Lost in the Trees? I think so, but who knows? And will John Foxx’s “No-One Driving” really slide seamlessly into Anthrax’s “Got the Time”? And what does “You’ll Never Walk Alone” have to do with it? Yes, of course it will. You’ll see.

If I were doing “normal” mixes, I’d be finished at this point. But I’m not doing normal mixes. There’s a lot more going on here.

With this mix in particular, I’ve decided to focus on traveling in the west. Not all the songs are road songs, of course. Some are about places or people you might meet along the way. It doesn’t really tell a story, though the mix is kind of a narrative. It’s music, so I guess it’s the opposite of narration. There’s a start, there’s Utah, and there’s a road home.

For now, that’s all I know.

On Monday, I uploaded my newest mix, a take on the ideas from the Beach Boys’ Smile LP. If you’ve not had a chance to give it a listen, you can do it below:

You can also get it here.

Throughout the mix, I used a LOT of samples and I’ve had a few questions about what this or that sample is. So here is a list (in order) of the samples I used and where they came from. Mostly.

We start off with Godzilla’s stompin’ feet with the Beach Boys’ “Our Prayer” played over it. The spoken words and screams are from the US version of the Godzilla trailer. Then we go into the Beach Boy’s “Gee” and “Heroes and Villains.” I must have used a stereo version.

“I haven’t got any words” – from a Cure bootleg.
“Good afternoon, I came to pick up Tom” – the Sandy Frank version of Gamera vs. Gaos (I think).

Song: The Cure – Pillbox Tales (Demo)

“Thank you again” – the Sandy Frank version of Gamera vs. Gaos (I think).
“Ladies and Gentlemen…” – Mole People introduction with interruptions of an old TV.
–music played over that is “Heroes and Villains.” I added some effects.

First Movement: Americana
Sounds from actual WW2 battle from BBC Radio
“Face the flag” / John Wayne thing is from some John Wayne thing. Born Against used it too.

Song: Devo – Turn Around
Song: The Housemartins – Me and the Farmer

“The bust’s comin’…” – “Seed of Tomorrow” short from 1947

Song: Simple Minds – The American (I used the 12″ mix and switched some stuff around)

“This is the story of American…” – “Freedom Highway” short from 1956. Produced by Greyhound Buslines. The wormy guy from “This Island Earth” is in it.

“Are you now or have you ever been…” Howard Lawson testimony before the House Unamerican Activities Committee, 1947.

Song: Karate – “Cherry Coke”

“America” by Allen Ginsberg. I messed with this a bit. Sorry.

“Heroes and Villains” by the Beach Boys. I mixed several versions together.

Song: Elvis Costello – “The Big Light”

“Guy kinda mopes his way through life…” – “It’s Your America” short from 1945. About being a good American citizens after seeing your friends guts blown out all over Italy or France.

“Our flag reflects the past…” – John Wayne again.

“Oh Jesus Christ, it’s me and I’m alive!, etc” – from Johnny Got His Gun, as is the bomb dropping.

“Heroes and Villains” by the Beach Boys. I thought this added the whimsical touch needed for the two previous samples.

Second Movement: The Cycle of Life
“This is the story of Star Wars…” from the children’s read-a-long book and record. I used to listen to this a LOT when I was a pup.

“*random Chinese words*” – No idea where they originate. I got them from the White Zombie album La Sexorcisto: Devil Music, Vol. 1.

Song: Fishfood – Dry Ice Hot

“Yes, I guess I have been going steady with Jeff…” from “Going Steady” a 1951 short about going steady. With Jeff.

The lead up to the Duran Duran song is a collage of several songs, mostly from Duran Duran, including “Rio,” “New Religion,” “Girls on Film,” “Save a Prayer,” and “Hold Back the Rain.” Also, Pink Floyd’s “Breathe” is in there, too.

Well hidden, but there are some samples from the intro to Mole People again.

“Have you heard of the name Duran Duran?…” from the film Barbarella.

Song: Duran Duran – Runway Runaway — Throughout the song are more samples from Barbarella

Song: De La Soul – Say No Go – I created almost a mash up here. Most of the song is a remix of the De La Soul song. But to it I’ve added:
– “Vege-tables” (mostly outtakes) by the Beach Boys
– “Let’s really rehearse this…” is an outtake from the Smile Album
– “We can build a nation…” from the movie True Stories
– “Where’s that voice coming from….” Not sure where it originated, but I got it from the De La Soul is Dead LP.
– “That’s the Joint” by the Funky 4+1
– “It’s upon the hour…” this was from the remix of the De La song, but it was at the beginning and sounded stupid.
– “That’s the Joint” by the Funky 4+1 (again… and again)
– “Vege-tables” by the Beach Boys (again – this one was really difficult to get timed right.)

Song: Nirvana – Son of a Gun

“Heroes and Villains” by Beach Boys. Most of these are outtakes or alternative takes.

“Swell! The records are right in the cabinet!” Oh this is my new favorite short ever. “Young Man’s Fancy,” a 1952 film about a girl, the boy she loves and electricity. My friend Ryan will love this one. Samples of this run through the next song, making the boy seem either gay or completely uninterested or a completely misogynist. In the short, he was none of these things. I’m a jerk.

Song: David Harrow – Our Little Girl

Third Movement: The Elements
“Ladies and Gentlemen…” from Mole People, again. So is the music.

Under it all is “Heroes and Villains” again.

Right Channel: features Estus Pirkle, the insane preacher who made exploitation movies. This one is Burning Hell.

Left Channel: “There is no way out of here…” from Manos the Hands of Fate.

Also, there’s a sliver of a sample from the Monkees Head that repeats later.

Song: Sparks – Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth

“Impressions of our Earth from space….” This is from an educational short called “Your Chance to Live” from 1972.

Song: Mission of Burma – Dirt

“Marian…” from 1957′s “Social Acceptability” short.

“Water” by the Beach Boys

Song: Tubeway Army – My Love is a Liquid

“The Rolling Deep” as sung by The Shakers of Sabbathday Lake. Recorded in the early 70s.

Song: Echo & The Bunnymen – Seven Seas

“Boys and Girls…” This comes from a record that I picked up at a local shop by a Native American preacher called Black Buffalo. It’s freaky.

“Dyno-MITE!” comes from a Jimmy Walker LP that I picked up at the same time. Weird, no?

Song: The Louvin Brothers – Great Atomic Power

“Sounds like a lot of supernatural…” from the Monkees Head album. And possibly the movie, though I’ve yet to see it. Lame, I know.

Song: Fad Gadget – Fireside Favourite

Wind from some wind special effect (but it’s real wind).

“Does that shock you?…” it’s Estus Pirkle again! I wrote about him here.

Some breathing sound effect (but it’s real breathing!).

Song: XTC – No Language in Our Lungs

Song: Roger Waters – Breathe > Give Birth to a Smile The orchestral stuff is from The Body soundtrack that these two songs come from. I sloppily tacked on “Give Birth” to “Breathe.”

“You’re Welcome” by the Beach Boys. This is an outtake.

“Our Prayer” by the Beach Boys – played backwards with a bit of echo.

And that’s it, folks!

I would like to do more mixes like the road trip mix I did last summer. To refresh your memories, that mix CD was more like a mix tape than anything. It had two tracks, side one and side two, each “side” having ten or so songs on it. The songs were accompanied by little sound bites from educational shorts, noises from cars and general strangeness.

Doing that mix was really enjoyable and I’d like to do it again. I’d probably continue where I left off, making a sort of sequel to the road trip mix.

I’m not really sure how many people actually listened to the first one though. Most folks who are used to CDs or playlists wouldn’t really jump at the opportunity of being “forced” to listen to 40 minutes of continuous music with songs you can’t skip over.

If you haven’t listened to the mix, I’d like you to. You can download it here. Musically, it’s got something for almost everybody. But, like I said, the format (for some) leaves a lot to be desired.

But those who remember making mix tapes will get it.

How you can help is by letting me know what you think of the format and if you think it’s even worth doing another one like it.

So go go go go and download Hot Sun Beating on a Blacktop. You can listen to it on your computer or burn it to a CD. Go ahead.

And while you’re at it, why not check out my other mixes…