Mix Tape: September 7-14, 2023
Create a “mix tape” (playlist) using Spotify or some other service that allows you to share music. (If you don’t have access to such a service, just give us the song titles and artists in order so we can find them ourselves.) Your playlist can have a unifying theme, or just be a collection of songs you love and want to share. Give us a link to the playlist where we can listen to it (if you can), and a list of the tracks and artists. Bonus points if you feel inspired to create an image or artwork to go with it.
Due September 14 by 7:00 p.m.
The Submissions:
by Espy la Copa
I did extra credit for this assignment and incorporated the Surrealism project I didn't have time to finish last week! So you get two for one - on the cover of the tape is my homage to Max Ernst's L'Ange du Foyer (The Angel of Hearth/Home), one of my favorite Surrealism pieces. The title of my mix tape (and my angel collage) is L'Ange de la Vestiaire, loosely translating to "The Angel of the Mudroom," since my angel looks like a doofus who was assigned to a less popular room of the house... He's a hot mess.
Here is another hot mess of random songs that I think everyone should hear. They're just good songs that I've had on repeat over the last few years, no big theme.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0h03rrfKX2OIAGluoZNb2P?si=a77bc6c8c2b34713
01 Smoke Rings (Les Paul, Mary Ford) - tiki, smoke, breath
02 Trust the Sun (Elbow) - chill, odd cadence, morning
03 Lovely Head (Goldfrapp) - dark, sensual, Wiltshire countryside
04 Missing (The xx) - lost, longing, cathedral
05 When I’m Small (Phantogram) - driving, dark room, ghost
06 Dinner for Two (David Byrne, St. Vincent) - end credits, omen, cutlery
07 Good Luck (Broken Bells) - walking, apocalypse, anthemic
08 The Night We Met (Lord Huron, Phoebe Bridgers) - love lost, bourbon-forward, night woods
09 Timefighter (Lucy Dacus) - building power, helpless, time eats all
10 Provider (Bershy) - queer love, empower, Cincinnati
11 きっとね! (Kaho Nakamura) - Japanese magic, quirky, jazz adjacent
12 Hocking (Cosmo Sheldrake) - London chaos, stomping jazz, naturalist
13 Heart of Nowhere (Noah and the Whale) - cinematic, driving, you're not the boss of me, dad
14 Let Go (Multimagic) - beat pop, night out, Cincinnati
15 Pet Cemetery (Tierra Whack) - 1 minute, packed with flavor, go watch her music videos
16 Eso Que Tu Haces (Lido Pimienta) - Latinx, atmospheric, baby-daddy issues
17 Did We Live Too Fast (Got A Girl) - lounge scotch (neat), retromodern, Mary Elizabeth Winstead
18 Andropolis (The Yugos) - positive bois, midnight, Cincinnati
19 I Know The End (Phoebe Bridgers) - reflective, self-imploding, the end
“The Valkyries” - by The Kilsigliere
Theme: Bangers, mostly. Women, entirely. To quote Kathleen Hanna, these are the " TRUEPUNKROCKSOULCRUSADERS" . Lots are missing. It's almost as if one playlist isn't enough for all the female rockers. Anyway, in my personal Valhalla, all these gals are there.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5IMEwufNrrqtNyZDHcCdUT?si=0d200d3cc2524112
Track Listing:
1. Cherry Bomb- The Runaways
2. Nutbush City Limits- Tina Turner ( and Ike, Unfortunately)
3. Drivin' on 9-The Breeders
4. Midnite Blues-The Detroit Cobras
5. Gloria- Patti Smith
6. Leather Jacket- Thunderbitch
7. Hounds of Love-Kate Bush
8. Didn't it Rain-Sister Rosetta Tharpe
9. Fuck the Pain Away-Peaches
10. I'm Gonna Catch Me a Rat-Fabienne DelSol
11. Ball and Chain- Janis Joplin (Big Brother and the Holding Company)
12. Rebel Girl- Bikini Kill
13. Spitting Off the Edge of the World- Yeah Yeah Yeahs & Perfume Genius
14. Hound Dog- Big Mama Thorton
15. Never Say Never- Romeo Void
16. Funnel of Love- Wanda Jackson
17. Can't Let Go- Lucinda Williams
18. Take It Off- The Donnas
19. Game Is My Middle Name- Betty Davis
20. Shitlist- L7
21. What A Way To Die- The Pleasure Seekers
22. You're Dead- Norma Tanega
23. 50ft Queenie- PJ Harvey
24. Rip Her To Shreds- Blondie
25. Baby, I'm In The Mood For You-Odetta
26. 7 AM-Jacqueline Taieb
27. Nobody's Baby-Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
28. Spellbound- Siouxsie and the Banshees
29. Voodoo Woman-Koko Taylor
30. Black Tongue- Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs
31. Fist City-Loretta Lynn
32. Precious-Pretenders
33. I'll Take You There-The Staple Singers
34. The Next Messiah- Jenny Lewis
35. Woman- Karen O. (Danger Mouse)
36. We Don't Need Another Hero- Tina Turner
“I Used to Be Cool” - by Journal Kurtz
by Anonymous Frau Redux
Ha ha! This one made me chuckle because sometimes what comes out of my vehicle speakers isn’t what you might expect. If I’m on my own- the playlist varies on mood or destination.
Looking forward to other mixes.
by Captain Quillard
Style-wise, this is all over the board. But that’s fine with me as long as I follow my number one rule for playlists: Each song needs to flow well into the next. Hopefully that’s mostly the case here.
No real unifying theme, other than this is where my head’s at, music-wise, at this moment in mid-September, the weird, in-between-seasons moment where everything feels a bit up-in-the-air.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5ZOzJhxfag0lFVAGszaXxk?si=859d124cac8d49e1
1. “The Show Goes On” – Bruce Hornsby & The Range
Admittedly, this song is on here because I loved season two of The Bear, which included this song beautifully in an episode and made me want to start a playlist with it. But, also, a few parts of my life are experiencing moderate change at the moment and, yeah… the show goes on.
2. “Old Skin” – The War on Drugs
A moody, “sad dad band” I like, patiently building to a driving crescendo.
3. “Space Invader” – The National
Speaking of sad dad bands… That term was probably invented for The National. This song’s second half is nearly all instrumental, with an incredibly cathartic, drum-driven three minutes that begs to be played loud.
4. “Having Been Is No Way to Be” – Jeff Tweedy
I was more or less obsessed with this song and its lyrics when it first came out. Somehow haven’t tired of it despite playing it so often.
5. “This Must Be the Place” – Iron & Wine and Ben Bridwell
A beautiful cover of a great Talking Heads song, featuring the always-ethereal Iron & Wine.
”Out of all those kinds of people, you’ve got a face with view.”
6. “A Beautiful Life” – Heartless Bastards
A lighter-than-usual song from an originally-local rock band. “It’s a beautiful life… if you let it be” is a sentiment I need to be reminded of frequently.
7. “The Promise” – Sturgill Simpson
How can you not love Sturgill? I could have included any number of his original songs, but I first heard him play this one live and could not believe he was covering a late ‘80s song by When in Rome – and making it wonderfully his own.
8. “I Need You to Tell Me Who I Am” – John Moreland
Discovered this guy when he opened for another band I was seeing, and was instantly impressed by his songwriting skills
9. “Shank Hill Street” – Shovels & Rope
‘tis (almost) the season for a murder ballad. Plus, how’s this for imagery? “For one last minute, he’d feel that hot, red drip – drip – drip – drip – drip – drip – drip.”
10. “Down on the Bottom” – The New Basement Tapes
This is such a slow burn. It builds and builds, adding layer after layer, and I love it.
11. “Everybody” – Heather Redman & The Reputation
Local band that would not surprise me if it became nationally known in the near future
12. “Black Minute Waltz” – James Booker
Ivory-tickling from the piano prince of New Orleans – the Bayou Maharajah himself
13. “Kenner” – Jon Batiste
Sticking with piano for a moment – and another New Orleans native – doing his thing live
14. “Bad Bad News” – Leon Bridges
It’s a groove. And he can “see right through a powdered face on a painted fool.”
15. “Eyes Are Red (Don’t Be Afraid)” – Deep Sea Diver
Another band discovered as an opening act for another band I was seeing. Jessica Dobson’s three minutes of haunting guitar delivered while perched atop a stage amp box knocked me out.
16. “Everybody Here Hates You” – Courtney Barnett
Indie rock that sounds more like old school rock than indie rock. That’s a compliment.
17. “Smile More” – Deap Vally
An unapologetically feminist, in-your-face rocker
18. “Young Lady, You’re Scaring Me” – Ron Gallo
Fun, semi-dark, semi-funny rock song that for some reason gives me “Werewolves of London” vibes
19. “Coal Black Mattie” – The Black Keys
Cover of a Delta blues song that instantly takes me back to driving through the kudzu-lined back roads of central Mississippi at sunset, windows down, blasting this song as I drove to visit the old juke joint where it was recorded.
20. “Walking Spanish” – Tom Waits
A made-up term about the final walk of a death row inmate. Worth it if only for the line “Even Jesus wanted just a little mo’ time when he was walking Spanish down the hall.”
21. “Bloodless” – Andrew Bird
This song has been a balm for me in these trying, “Late-stage Capitalism” times. Uplifting, reassuring you that you’re on the right side of history, positive and affirming, yet at the same time dark in the way in points out how awful things are, and strongly revolution-leaning in referencing Catalonia and noting that the situation remains bloodless… for now.
22. “Remember the Mountain Bed” – Billy Bragg & Wilco
I’m craving cooler weather, and this song feels autumnal to me.
23. “All for Nothing” – Matt Berninger
Solo effort from Matt with nice orchestration - surprisingly (to me, at least) produced by Booker T. of Booker T. and the M.G.s
24. “Whole” – Robohands
A short, jazzy, loungey, spacey-sounding interlude
25. “Glass, Concrete, & Stone” – David Byrne
The man may well be a genius.
26. “I’m on Fire” – Cassandra Violet
Sparse and lovely cover of a Springsteen song I discovered playing over the credits for the movie Pig.
27. “In a Sentimental Mood” – Duke Ellington & John Coltrane
We’re on the cusp of the sentimental season, and it’s hard to argue with a Duke/Coltrane collab.
28. “King of Oklahoma” – Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit
Isbell is a great songwriter, and his latest album is a showcase of his skill. This song about a guy losing everything he had thanks to an injury-caused addiction to pain pills is a testament to his ability to tell a vivid story in just a few words.
29. “South Gotta Change” – Adia Victoria
It really does. I don’t even remember hearing this song before, but I stumbled upon it in my “liked” songs this week and enjoyed it.
30. “Look at Miss Ohio” – Gillian Welch
A brief long distance dating situation was highlighted by exchanging mix CDs – I would make the first song Ohio-themed and the last one New York-themed, and she did the reverse. The first CD she sent me ended with this song, celebrating the feeling of wanting to do right, but not right now.
31. “Can’t Take Back” – Dyson Stringer Cloher
I believe this song came out a couple years after the radio station WNKU folded, but something about it reminds me of the kinds of songs they used to play. I miss that station a lot.
32. “Mantra” – Dave Grohl, Josh Homme, & Trent Reznor
Another slowly building tune that gets more intense as it goes. A collaboration recorded in sessions for the Sound City documentary. Three rock musicians combining to create something different than - and yet similar to - their typical styles.
33. “Entrustment” – Vijay Iyer, Linda May Han Oh, & Tyshawn Sorey
I discovered Vijay through an episode of Hanif Abdurraqib’s “Object of Sound” podcast (thanks, “The Kilsigliere,” for the recommendation) devoted to protest songs without lyrics. This is off the “Uneasy” album, which also has a great song called “Children of Flint,” but I like this one a lot and it feels like a good end to the playlist.
Next Week’s Assignment:
Design a tattoo - for you, for someone else, for no one at all - using whatever art medium you like. Bonus points if you actually get it tattooed permanently on your body.