I made a mix as a wedding gift for my friends Jane & Hamak. (Don’t worry, I got them a real gift too.) Here is the letter I wrote to go with it:

A tape…um, a disc, a flash drive, a disk in any case…full of luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuv sawngs in honor of you. You two. I don’t want to get overly sappy…I’ve tried to lean toward just straight happy, celebratory songs…but some of these tunes do reflect my feelings on the subject.

01.    Yeh Yeh – Georgie Fame & the Blue Flames

Was introduced to this song by They Might Be Giants’ cover (Mink Car 2001) but this version (1965) kind of blows it away. Fame has a great voice and a great vocal technique, and his tone blends so nicely with the sax.

02.    This Time It’s Real – Tower Of Power

One of the happiest songs ever. From Tower Of Power (1973).

03.    Groove Me – King Floyd

Sookie sookie now. From King Floyd (1970).

04.    Kiss – Prince

I defy U 2 name a better pop record than this. …I’m a little self-conscious about the last 2 choices. They’re a little obvious—they’re wedding DJ songs. But I’m not going use Kool & the Gang Celebration, okay? 1 tries not 2 B 2 obvious or 2 obscure. I was 1ce accused (by my 3rd-oldest friend!) of being willfully obscure. (It was over one of my spring tapes. The one with “Ain’t That Nice” and “The Real World” and the French version of “Chick Habit” and the Banana Splits and all that.) I’m not trying 2 B obscure, like just 2 show how cool I am, but I don’t want to give U just stuff U’ve heard a million times. As Cee-lo sed at a Gnarls sho just B4 singing “Crazy”—“I want 2 please U but I don’t want 2 bore U.” But these last 2 joints R so God damn good, who cares. …By the way, I stole this cut from a mix CD a certain bride & groom made as a party favor 4 their wedding, so it contains extra good karma for yall Bcause over 7 years later they remain 1 of the happiest couples I know (Bsides me & Jen of course!).

* Prince spellings in honor of Prince.

05.    This Must Be The Place – Talking Heads

Stop Making Sense version. (1984.) To get sappy for a second…this song is to me the most perfect description I’ve heard of what love is. It makes me cry. I imagine having a big, like, 50th anniversary bash like my grandparents did and singing this song to my dear wife. (I’d need to recruit a couple accompanists…a piano and a flute maybe.)

06.    Jeepster – T. Rex

From Electric Warrior (1971). Great record, “Jeepster”, great record….

07.    You’ll Be Mine – Howlin’ Wolf

Where Marc Bolan stole the opening lyrics (“You so sweet, you so fine/ How I wish you were mine”) and the bump-bump-bump rhythm from. This has always been one of my favorite Wolf tunes. From 1961, this is the classic Chicago Howlin’ Wolf band: Willie Dixon on bass, Sam Lay drums, Hubert Sumlin with that searing guitar of his.

08.    Wig Wam Bam – The Sweet

Self-explanatory. Side 1, cut 3 on the 1973 debut The Sweet.

09.    If It’s True – Yo La Tengo

Doing our best. Muddling thru. Together. I like that. Nicer really than some overblown epic True Love thing. Is it right, is it perfect, is it true? Doesnt really matter. From Popular Songs (2009).

10.    Love And Happiness - Al Green.

Let Al Green explain to you what love is and what happiness is. Another obvious choice? At least it’s not “Let’s Stay Together”. From I’m Still In Love With You (1972).

11.    If I Ever Needed Someone – Van Morrison

Is this here love song directed to God? From His Band And The Street Choir (1970)…which is a killer album.

12.    Some Say – Nina Simone

Such a wonderful, happy song. I luv it when Nina Somone gets all are-&-bea and shit. From my faverit by far of her albums, Silk And Soul. Like “Kiss” this was one of the high points I was trying to build up to. A mix has to have peaks & troughs and in-betweens.

13.    Eye Know – De La Soul

From 3 Feet High And Rising (1989). Nother good choice by De La wld’ve been “Talkin’ Bout Hey Love” from De La Soul Is Dead, but I couldn’t resist the sample. Did you catch it? [One of the records sampled in “Eye Know” holds a particular significance for Jane.]

14.    You Make It Easy – Air

That is what I want. Becuz everything is so damn hard. From Moon Safari (1998).

15.    Lint Of Love – Cibo Mato [my edit]

From Stereo Type A. (1999) Took out the shitty rap and the shitty guitar solo.

16.    Nobody But You – John Paul Hammond

I’ve always liked this song. From Nobody But You (1988). Sweet, simple sentiment. “Put the lid on the pot, put the salt in the bread.” There’s another song, by Ray Charles, which sadly didn’t make this tape (I’ma need to do a “bonus disc” of outtakes), which not only shares the same name but has a similar lyric: “Who is the salt in my bread? Nobody but you. I do mean you.” To be the salt in someone’s bread. Wow.

17.    My Babe – Little Walter Jacobs

Always loved this one too. 1955. So smooth.

18.    Rose Darling – Steely Dan

From Katy Lied (1975)…the first side of which really kicks ass.

19.    Here To Fall – Yo La Tengo

A similar theme to the other Yo La track; sort of a darker flipside. Also from Popular Songs.

20.    Don’t Worry Baby – The Beach Boys

By explicitly saying “Don’t worry,” this song goes further than the last one (“I know you’re worried, I’m worried too”). From their masterpiece, Pet Sounds (1966).

21.    I Love How You Love Me – Jeff Magnum

Such a pretty melody. Sung by such a haunting voice. This old standard, here misattributed to Phil Spector (who produced the Paris Sisters version), is a Barry Mann/Larry Kolber composition. This version comes from a live bootleg and may or may not be identical to the Live at Jittery Joe’s version.

22.    Asleep And Dreaming – The Magnetic Fields

I almost wanted this to be our wedding march, but Jen objected to the “I don’t know if you’re beautiful” part. From 69 Love Songs (1999).

23.    Little Star – Cub

What a nice thing to say about someone. From Betti-Cola (1993).


Welp. I wish much happiness to both of you. Congratulations to Hamak. He definitely got the best of this deal.

Yet another placeholder. Someday I might write posts to go in these holded places.

I’m off to the post office with the final version of my Summer Burn mix. It has changed quite a bit since last time, and of course you knew it would. I took a second look at my first draft and wasnt quite sure what I was thinking. I had started with James Luther Dickenson’s “Casey Jones”. I led off with that! Might be okay for a b-side, but an a-side? I needed a serious overhaul and initially I was at a loss. I decided to divide it up into 2 sections, speaking of a- and b- sides, which I have pretentiously labeled “Program 1” and “Program 2”. It can be a big help to impose artificial “sides” on a mix-ceedee. Last year’s Fuck Yeah Spring mix had 4 sections, making them a little closer in length to actual elpee sides. When you have only 2, they’re more like the sides of a cassette tape, tho still not quite as long. Those 90-minute tapes went on forever, and it’s one of the things I miss about a format I rarely use anymore. But you could divide your silver disc into any number of sections you choose. Jack Logan’s 2-ceedee, 42-song collection Bulk has 9 sides (according to its back cover). By having sides, that ceedee collection is pretending to be a box of elpees; but by having an odd number of them, it ensures that it could never actually be a box of elpees. The odd number of sides has always tweaked me out, even tho they’re not real ones. I’m trying to remember if I’ve ever divided a single disc into 3 sides. It seems like that could be pretty comfortable, around 25 minutes a piece…but I don’t think I’ve ever done it.

Having a b-side gave me an opportunity to go in a slightly different direction. There is kind of a lot of sameness here. I was going for a particular feel and I stuck with it. It’s not as eclectic as many of my tapes are. The flip side has a different but still related feel.

KEEPING COOL: summer burn ‘011
Rolled by: me
June 2011
TRT: 1h13m22s

Program 1:

1. Rolling Stones “Country Honk”
   (Jagger/Richards)
   From Let It Bleed (London 1969)
   
   The album version of “Honky Tonk Woman”.
   
   
2. Ry Cooder “Goin’ To Brownsville”
   (Sleepy John Estes)
   From Ry Cooder (Reprise 1970)
   
   That spiraling mandolin riff sticks in my head persistently thru th years.
   
   
3. Izzy Stradlin and the Ju Ju Hounds “Time Gone By”
   (Rick Richards)
   From Izzy Stradlin And The Ju Ju Hounds (Geffen 1992)
   
   Soft, melancholy tune by the former Guns N’ Roses guitarist, from a record that at the time was called the best Keith Richards album in years. It was a bit throwbacky; and although it is one of this mix’s 4 songs from the 90s (the remainder were all released betw/1969 and 79, and the majority come from the first half of the 70s) it sounds quite a bit like the older material. There are plenty of points where it gives itself away however. It can never really escape it’s time.
   
   
4. Z Z Top “Have You Heard”
   (Billy Gibbons/Dusty Hill)
   From Tres Hombres (London 1973)
   
   Midtempo number from Tres Hombres. Great guitar solo.
   
   
5. Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band “Her Eyes Are a Blue Million Miles”
   (Don Van Vliet)
   From Clear Spot (Reprise 1972)
   
   In evry Summer Burn, I like to include a tune from one of the ceedees I got the previous year. When I heard this Beefheart sawng on CHRIS TREW’S SUMMER BURN 2010, I suddenly had a vision for the mix I would make this year, and surprisingly this mix follows that vision pretty close. The image that this song brang to mind was cruising around aimlessly on a hot summer day with a quart size bottle of weakass Mexican lawnmower beer between yr legs. (If you’re too responsible to countenance such a thing, you cn allus imagine that a passenger is the one with the beer. If even that is too much for you, well, get a life.) I thought of some other mellow, guitar-driven records that could accompany such an activity, and here we are.
   
   
6. RL Burnside “.44 Pistol”
   (Roosevelt Sykes)
   From Too Bad Jim (Fat Possum 1994)
   
   From my brother’s vinyl rip of Too Bad Jim, the totally essential Hill Country Blues album which has the same relationship to 90s hipster bluesrock that the Stooges’ Funhouse had to 70s punk.
   
   
7. Steely Dan “Everything You Did”
   (Walter Becker/Donald Fagen)
   From The Royal Scam (ABC 1976)
   
   Turn up the Eagles the neighbors are listening.
   
   
8. Z Z Top “Shiek” [sic]
   (Gibbons/Hill)
   From Tres Hombres (London 1973)
   
   Nother one from Tres Hombres. Just a little bit more rockin…and a little sinister.
   
   
9. Little Feat “fat man in the bathtub”
   (Lowell George)
   From Dixie Chicken (Warners 1973)
   
   Juanita, my Juanita, what are you up to, my Juanita? Were I to be honest I’d say this is my all-time faverit Little Feat song. It also belongs on my long list of songs that sound kind of like “Sitting On Top Of The World”. I love the way the previous song fades into this one. Seamless.
   
   
10. Rolling Stones “So Divine (Aladdin Story)”
    (Jagger/Richards)
    From the bonus disc in the newest edition of Exile on Main St. (Universal 2010)
    
    I have a version of this sans vocal track on a bootleg ceedee of Let It Bleed outtakes. (I’m not sure but I think much of the material on Exile was originally conceived during the Let It Bleed sessions.) That laid-back, bloozy jam was exactly my taste. I never heard the words until this Exile reïssue came out.
    
    
11. JJ Cale “Let’s Go To Tahiti”
    (Bill Boatman/Roger Tillotson)
    From 5 (Shelter Recording Company, Inc. 1979)
    
    Self-explanatory.
    
    
12. 30 seconds of silence.

Program 2: “funk side”

13. OutKast “Da Art of Storytellin’ (Pt. 1)”
    (Andre Benjamin/Antwan Patton/David Sheats)
    From Aquemini (LaFace 1998)
    
    A classic from the kings of cool Southern rap, that vanished genre with mellifluous, drawling flows—as opposed to the “Dirty South” hollering & grunting that has been so ubiquitous for the past decade, decade and a half. (Nothing against that stuff, mind you.)
    
    
14. James Brown “Spinning Wheel”
    (David Clayton-Thomas)
    From Sex Machine (King 1970)
    
    Reediculous feel good cool jazz version of Blood, Sweat & Tears’ “Spinning Wheel”.
    
    
15. Ike Turner and the Kings Of Rhythm “Funky Mule”
    (Ike Turner)
    Taken from I Smell Trouble!!! by the Ike Turner Review [sic] featuring Tina Turner (ABM) (honestly one of the best $4 ceedees I’ve ever bought). It may have originally been featured on this album, A Black Man’s Soul by Ike Turner and the Kings Of Rhythm (Pompeii, 1969).
    
    Hard funk instrumental.
    
    
16. Van Morrison “I’ve Been Working”
    (Morrison)
    From It’s Too Late To Stop Now (Warners 1974)
    
    Live version of a throwaway song from a throwaway album (I mean that in the best possible way) off the absolute utter classic double elpee It’s Too Late To Stop Now. The horn section spits bullets. The rhythm section drives a death proof stunt car.
    
    
17. Kool & the Gang “Street Symphony”
    (Khalis Bayyan/Kool & The Gang)
    From Light Of Worlds (De-Lite 1974)
    
    Nother great feelgood funkjazz instrumental. A perfect record for cruising around town pretending you’re cool. Out of nowhere, th sax quotes Coltrane’s version of “My Favorite Things”. I should do a whole tape of funk instrumentals like this. Any suggestions? Does “Soul Finger” count as an instrumental?
    
    
18. the jon spencer BLUES EXPLOSION! “very rare”
    (Spencer/Explosion)
    From orange (Matador 1994)
    
    Speaking of instrumentals to tool around town to, this album will always remind me of guiding a silver Mazda up Clearwater Street. The record grinds along like a cartoon locomotive.
    
    
19. Betty Davis “They Say I’m Different”
    (Betty Davis)
    From They Say I’m Different (Just Sunshine 1974)
    
    A smouldering slab of Betty Davis. Lyrical references to chitlins etc remind you that her genius extends to soul-food cooking as well as stanky lowdown sexgrowl.
    
    
20. Rolling Stones “Fingerprint File”
    (Jagger/Richards)
    From it’s only Rock n Roll (Rolling Stones Records 1974)
    
    Is there too much Stones on this tape? Possibly. Too much of any one thing is never healthy for a mixtape, even if it’s spread out like it is here. Just on the cusp of their disco/fake reggae era, the band lays down an shuffle type groove that makes this one of my all-time faverit driving tunes. This song will always remind me of Main Street, at night. Early summer. Chilly. All the windows open. Over top of this interminable boogie, Mick toasts, whispers, growls, and whines thru his clencht throat, at times sounding almost like Michael Jackson. Good night. Sleep tight.
    
    
21. 1 minute of silence.

Favorite transition: Sheik → fat man in the bathtub.
Least favorite transition: Everything You Did → Sheik.

Placeholder.  I’ll let you know. 

This is a place holder.  Please check back later.  Or don’t.  I don’t really give a shit. 

“This track will be called ‘Attitude’.”—Mitch Hedberg

Here it is.  My mixceedee for the Summer Burn eh-twenty eh-ten.  Last year’s mix was made for a summer sunset, and this one is made for a summer night.   Those high-summer nights that don’t ever seem to get dark.

If you want one, you’ll have to wait til the solstice.   My Summer Burn friends get them first, then the rest of yall.   (One of you has it already, but shhh.  That is a promo copy and is not for resale.)

Bright Night
Rolled by Me
Nearly summer Oh Ten
Medium: 5ʺ CD-R
TRT: 1h13m45s

1. Talking Heads “Psycho Killer”
   (Byrne/Franz/Weymouth)
   From Stop Making Sense (Sire 1999)
   
   The opener to the Talking Heads’ legendary concert and concert film. (Top 2, possibly top 1 best live albums ever.)   I like starting a mix with Byrne’s, “Hi. I have a tape I want to play.”


2. Beck “Elevator Music”
   (Hansen)
   From The Information (Interscope 2006)
   
   “Evrybody’s workin hard so the yard’s all clean/ Dishes washed good in the washing machine/ Then you brush your teeth and you comb back your hair/ Drive your vehicle like you just didn’t care/ And you walk into work with the boys and the girls/ And they’re doin’ it to death/ It’s the end of the world.”  Friday or Saturday, doing a good day’s work and anticipating a brilliant party that night.


3. N.E.R.D. “Things Are Getting Better”
   (Pharrell Wms./Chad Hugo)
   From In Search Of… (Virgin 2002)
   
   Still anticipating what’s to come when the sun goes down.   “Now it seems that things are really getting better/ In my life/ Is it just today or things are really getting better?/ We’ll see tonight…we’ll see tonight.”


4. Steely Dan “Time Out Of Mind”
   (Becker/Fagen)
   From Gaucho (MCA 1980)
   
   “Tonight when I chase the dragon/ And the water they change to cherry wine/ The silver will turn to gold/ Time out of mind.”  Now expectations are getting outlandish.  “Keep your eyes on the sky.  Put a dollar in the kitty.  Don’t the moon look pretty?”
   (As Dok Summer pointed out, Michael McDonald was born to do just one thing, sing behind Donald Fagen, sometimes with the girls, sometimes by himself.)


5. The Magnetic Fields “The Sun Goes Down And The World Goes Dancing”
   (Stephin Merritt)
   From 69 Love Songs (volume 2) (Merge 1999)
   
   I love the melody of this tune.  I love the way Merritt uses melody to stretch a phrase.  By going up when you expect him to go down, to the root of the chord, he creates tension that leads to the next line.  Shrewd melody links a set of two or four lines together into a single phrase.  See also “Sweet Lovin’ Man” (the chorus specificly).  This isnt songwriting 101.  It’s 200- or 300-level songwriting at least.


6. Django Reinhardt & Stéphan Grappelli with the Quintette du Hot Club du France “Daphne”
   (Reinhardt/Grappelli)
   From some cheap-ass old comp called In London: Echoes Of France (Giants Of Jazz 2000)
   
   This is a good record, but it’s not an ingenious choice.  I’m filling time here.  It provides a link between the last song and the next, and it’s the right length.


7. The Flaming Lips “Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Pt. 1”
   (The Flaming Lips)
   From Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (Warners 2002)
   
   This is a tune I used to put on a lot of mixtapes.  I’m a little tired of it now, but it fits here.  I like that effect where it sounds like the tape is slowing down at the end of the guitar riff.


8. Morphine “Eleven O’clock”
   From Like Swimming (Ryko 1997)
   
   This driving riff rises up out of the formless noise that finishes “Yoshimi”.   This record’s loud, distorted Rock harkens back to th band’s breakout single (I just typed “breakout single.”  Who am I?) “Thursday” (my favorite).   “Evry night about a, evry night about a, evry night about a leven o’clock … I go out … I go ow-oooot …”


9. David Bowie “Fame”
   (Bowie/Carlos Alomar/John Lennon)
   RCA 2579 (1975)
   
   This record’s fuzzy fade-in mirrors “Eleven O’clock”’s fuzzy fade-out.  I like symmetry.


10. The Ohio Players “Pain” (first part)
    (Andrew Noland)
    From Pain (Westbound 1971, reïssued 2006 with a lotta extra cuts)
    
    Bowie might of stolen the hesitating bass thump in “Fame” from this record.  So I matched up the 2.


11. WAR “Slippin’ Into Darkness”
    (Papa Dee Allen/Harold Brown/B.B. Dickerson/Lonnie Jordan/Charles Miller/Lee Oskar/Howard E. Scott)
    United Artists 50867 (1971)
    
    Part way thru “Pain” we switch, without any gap, to this.  I don’t know why.  I was going on intuition here.  My intuition might be screwy.


12. Trick Bag “Dull Knifin’”
    From Funky Funky New Orleans Volume 2 (Funky Delicacies 2001)
    
    Overpolished, elevatorish instrumental, but I can’t resist it.  This is the 2nd mix I’ve used it on.


13. “Pain” (second part)
    
    The end of the last cut links right back into “Pain” which has by now taken one of many turns.  In a second, it takes another turn and out of nowhere goes into an imitation of “Jungle Boogie” complete with “hah!”s and “hwuh!”s.  It’s a very what-the-fuck? moment.   So I had to blend in the next cut.…


14. Kool & The Gang “Jungle Jazz”
    (Robert “Kool” Bell)
    From Spirit Of The Boogie (De-lite 1975)
    
    Get Down!  As the title might suggest, this is a group improvisation on “Jungle Boogie”.   Basicly “Jungle Boogie” with long solos.   If you’re like me, all you need to know is that such a thing exists and your eyes get all swirly like in the cartoons.


15. Digital Underground “Doowutchyalike (Playhowyalike Mix)”
    (Gregory Jacobs)
    Tommy Boy TB 932 (1989)
    
    Classic party song.   This beat blends surprisingly well with the last record.  Oh yeah, did I mention I’m “blending” now, pretending I’m a goddam deejay??! 
    “Home girls, for once forget you got class/ See a guy you like, just grab him in the biscuits/ And doowutchyalike.”


16. Sam Cooke “Havin’ A Party”
    (Cooke)
    From Live At The Harlem Square Club 1963 (RCA 1985)
    
    The party is ending but we want it to go on forever.   (Maybe I should use this song next to Talking Heads’ “Heaven” sometime.  “There is a party – Everyone is there/ Everyone will leave – At exactly the same time/ When this party’s over – It will start again/ Will not be any different – Will be exactly the same.”)  The final cut on the wonderful Live at Harlem Square album.


17. Donovan “There Is A Mountain”
    (Donovan P. Leitch)
    Pye 7N 17403 (1967)


18. Charlie Robison “Good Times”
    
    This set of 2 songs, this one and the last, is a quote from a mix Aunt B. made called Wolves and Werewolves.   Kicks so much ass I had to bite it. 
    B. sez of this song, “I wish summer could always be like this.”   I agree.


19. North Mississippi Allstars “Glory Glory”
    (trad.)
    From Do It Like We Used To Do: Live ‘96 – ‘08 (Songs Of The South 2009)
    
    In memory of the legendary James Luther Dickenson who laid his burden down last summer.


20. 45 seconds of silence

I had so much fun making a spring mixtape last year, I decided to do it again (and in a more timely manner this year).  Collected a bunch of songs that make me happy.  “Yay happy spring” as my friend Jane once said.  This time I had the bright idea to arrange the disk in sides.  That helped.  I call them sections since they arnt really sides.  (It’s all one long side.)  As always, available only on a shiny polycarbonate circle.  No playlist, no social media widget, no download.  If you give me your address, I’ll totally send you a copy.

FUCK YEAH SPRING MIX – O TEN
Rolled by M. Elias Hiebert
April O-ten
TRT: 73m59s

Section A – Starting up (25ʹ32ʺ)

1. Nina Simone’s “Here Comes The Sun”
   (Harrison)
   From Here Comes The Sun (RCA 1971)
   
   Bought this album on a cheap 2fer ceedee along with To Love Somebody (RCA 1971).  I like her late 60s/early 70s RCA albums.  They used some rockin bands, altho she didnt always seem to gel with them.  This arrangement may be a little overdramatic, but I like the nice quiet start it gives the mix.


2. Stereolab’s “Peng ! 33”
   (Tim Gane/Lætitia Sadier)
   From Peng (Too Pure 1992)
   
   Such a beautiful album.  Warming it up a little here…


3. Talking Heads’ “The Good Thing”
   (David Byrne)
   From More Songs About Buildings And Food (Sire 1978)
   
   …And a little more.


4. Mingus’ “Bird Calls”
   (Charles Mingus)
   From Ah Um (Columbia 1959)
   
   What a classic album.  The title of this tune pretty much tells you what to expect, and it is appropriate for obvious reasons.


5. Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks’ “Cheaters Don’t Win”
   (Hicks)
   From Last Train To Hicksville…The Home Of Happy Feet (MCA 1973)
   
   The Hot Licks sound a little birdcallish too.  I remember driving with Z., both of us maniacally singing along with the girls, “Watch out for cheaters don’t win, watch out for cheaters don’t win, watch out for cheaters don’t win, watch out for cheaters don’t win, watch out for cheaters don’t win, watch out for cheaters don’t win…givin you, givin you, givin you, givin you, givin you, givin you, givin you, givin you, givin you, givin you, givin you, givin you, givin you…”
   Over the frantic vocals, out of nowhere is this out-of-time Velvet Underground guitar riff, just for a couple measures.  This is truly one of the craziest songs I’ve ever heard.  (And I have heard literally dozens of songs.)


6. The Memphis Jug Band’s “Memphis Shakedown”
   Okeh 8960 (1934) reïssued on Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music, Volume Four (Revenant 2007)
   
   Wow that’s some impressive jug playing.


7. The Beatles “Don’t Pass Me By”
   (Starkey)
   From The White Album (Apple 1968)
   
   If you remember this record, you know it won’t sound weird following a jug band tune.
   Ringo’s bound to make you smile, right?


8. [5ʺ silence]

Section B – Kicking ass (17ʹ33ʺ)


9. The Apples in stereo’s “Tidal Wave”
   (Robert Schneider/Chris Parfitt)
   From Fun Trick Noisemaker (spinART 1993)
   
   Just a kick-ass pop rock sawng.  The single may have been the Apples’ very first release.


10. Yo La Tengo’s “Nothing To Hide”
    (Yo La Tengo)
    From Popular Songs (Matador 2009)
    
    This is my fuckin power-pop-fuzz-emo^* anthem of the year.  No matter how loud this song is I want to turn it up.  Harder not faster.


11. Weezer’s “The Good Life”
    (Rivers Cuomo)
    From Pinkerton (Geffen 1996)
    
    Shakin booty makin sweet love all the night.  It’s time I got back to the go-od life. 
    I definitly sing along with the guitar riff in this song.


12. EPMD’s “Strictly Business”
    (EPMD)
    From Strictly Business (Fresh 1988)
    
    This record has aged well.


13. The Kinks’ “You’re Lookin’ Fine”
    (Ray Davies)
    From Face To Face (Pye 1966)
    
    The train chugs to a halt, closing out the (fake) side.


14. [5ʺ silence]

Section C – Coasting (13ʹ38ʺ)


15. The Free Design’s “Kites Are Fun”
    (Chris Dedrick)
    From Kites Are Fun Project 3 Total Sound 1967, reïssued by Light In The Attic 2003
    
    Signature song by obscure folky 60s vocal groop that suddenly became hip in the Ohs.  They could sing.  In fact they could give the Hot Licks a run for their money.


16. Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians’ “So You Think You’re In Love”
    (Hitchcock)
    From Perspex Island (A&M 1991)
    
    This is as sugary as Robyn Hitchcock gets and probably his biggest charter.  JRunty and I have long had a soft spot for it.  I remember seeing him sing this song when it was new, on Letterman, behind a grand piano, tellin me what I am and what I probably ain’t.  Robyn, remind me—am I in love?  Am I high?  Probably?


17. Belle & Sebastian’s “Roy Walker”
    (Stevie Jackson)
    From Dear Catastrophe Waitress (Rough Trade 2003)
    
    Stevie’s magnum opus.  You give me fe-ver…*snap*…*snap*…*snap*…*snap*.  I like the ping-pong ball sound at the end.


18. Saint Etienne’s “Nothing Can Stop Us”
    (Bob Stanley)
    From Foxbase Alpha (Warners 1991)
    
    I can’t resist this song.  It has my number. The flute riff.  The way the melody rises up in the chorus.  Tension and release, that’s th name uv th game.  A muted trumpet doesnt hurt.  It’s a big, beautiful pile of electric schlock.


19. Mike Doughty’s “More Bacon Than The Pan Can Handle”
    (Doughty)
    From Golden Delicious (ATO 2008)
    
    Oh, M. and his sampler.  There’s a little give to it, mm, there’s a little give to it, mm, there’s a little.


20. [5ʺ silence]

Section D – Winding to a close (16ʹ15ʺ)


21. James Brown’s “The Popcorn”
    (Brown)
    King 6240 (1969), recently featured on Diddywah Daht Blahgspaht Daht Cahm.
    
    Slick instrumental complete with shrieks.


22. Ray Charles’ “Doodlin’”
    (Horace Silver)
    Atlantic 5005 (1960) reïssued on The Best Of Ray Charles (Atlantic 1970)
    
    Really mellowing down now.  If this doesnt make y’ smile, I just don’t kno what to tell y’.
    The Best Of Ray Charles is a cool little compilation of instrumental records from here and there.  Get a copy and keep it in the car.


23. Jack Logan & Bob Kimbell’s “Marchin’ With The Saints”
    (Logan/Kimbell)
    From Little Private Angel (Parasol 1998)
    
    Well my grandfather’s fune’ral was in New Orleans, was a big brass band like you never seen, the people dressed up like clowns and snakes, the funeral procession was a big parade.
    I can’t praise Little Private Angel enuf.  The partnership of these two men was so perfect, and this album excels far above anything either of them did separately.


24. Louis Armstrong’s “Skokiaan” part 1 (instrumental)
    with Sy Oliver’s Orchestra
    (August Musarurwa/lyrics by Tom Glazier)
    Decca 29256 (1954) – Stoled from the internet
    
    From the fake New Orleans jazz of the previous cut to a real, classic N.O. jazz tune (tho it was recorded in New York with an NY band, at least a tune by a real (the realest), classic (the classic-est) N.O. jazz guy), whose subject is the novelty of an idealized Africa just as the subject of the previous tune was the novelty of an idealized New Orleans.  Boom. 
    This song came to mind becuz I heard a version of it on the first episode of Treme (which series itself promises to consider deeply the issue of fake vs real New Orleans music…actually, you know, the fetishization of the “real” is something I have kind of a problem with).  What a great melody. 


25. Part 2 (vocal)
    
    Happy happy Africa.  Ending on an up note. 


26. [44ʺ silence]

When I received the reminder email (I’m still on the list even tho I didnt participate last year) and impulsively clicked the link to sign up for this year’s Summer Burn, I already had a concept in mind for my mix.  An image of an outdoor concert, at sunset, in July.   I was thinking of Redrocks specifically.  We go about once a year to see a show.  We sit in the cheap seats. The acoustics arnt as good but you’re closer to th bar.   And I just aint payin $150 to sit in the sweet spot, tho I’m sure it’s great.  I imagined relaxing in the bleachers, a pint or 2 of Dale’s in me stomach, lights starting to come on in Denver skyscrapers far away below me, as the band breaks into a leisurely opening number.  It’s maybe 8:30, the clouds have been turning pink for the last hour and a half, and now the sun finally starting to sink to the horizon.  Immediately sevral tunes came to mind that fit this feeling well.

Here’s what I wound up with.  I had to change the song order many times to make it work.   In the process it expanded to almost the whole length of an 80-minute CDR.  I didnt want it to be quite that long, but that’s the way it playd out.  I don’t like to use the very end of a disk, as that part is most likely to get damaged.  Also I like to leave some room to burn a second disk image where I can store a cutlist and little extras like that, but, cdnt do it this time around.   I think later I’ll post some instructions on how to make a dual-image CD (enhanced ceedeez they uset to call them).

Copies are now on their way to a couple of gals in New York, and hopefully theirs are on route to me.  I’ll be passing out some more copies to friends this summer.   As always, if you’re not already on my list, drop me a line.

Sunset
Rolled by M. E. Hiebert
For Summer Burn 2009
TRT: 1h18m12s

1. Neil Young’s “My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue)”
   (Young/Jeff Blackburn)
   From Live Rust (Warners 1979)

   Decided it’d be good to start with an acoustic song, and I finally thought of Neil Young’s perennial concert opener.  I remember this tune ringing thru the air at a summer festival and running down the hill to the main stage to hear Neil Young & Crazy Horse put on one of the best live sets I’ve ever seen.

2. Taj Mahal’s “Ain’t Gwine To Whistle Dixie (Any Mo’)”
   (T. Mahal/J. Davis/G. Gilmore/C. Blackwell)
   From The Real Thing (Columbia 1972)

   This 9-minit celebration of life from Taj Mahal was the very first song I thot uv.  Whistling thru a piece of cane, Taj leads a big old band outfitted with much weighty brass.  He punctuates the instrumental enthusiasticly shouting the names of the soloists—Howard Johnson! (screeching, joyous tenor) John Hall! (piercingly loud guitar wail) John Simon! (rockin piano), and in between he encourages the players and the audience.  The song follows the basic form of straight-ahead, theme – solo section – return to the theme; but it’s sensibility is not that of jazz.  Decompresst soul, more like.

3. Cee-lo Green’s “My Kind Of People”
   (Thomas Calloway/Headley Bennett/Fitzroy Simpson/Huford Brown/Donat Mittoo/Leroy Sibblies/Lloyd Ferguson/Robert Lyn)
   From Cee-Lo Green…Is The Soul Machine (Arista 2004)

   Cool good time party anthem.  A little Rock n Roll – Whole lotta soul – You’re my kind of people.

   Somebody put good green in the air
   (Ain’t nothin better than some real good music)
   And there’s a lot – of fine-ass women evrywhere
   (Ooh close your eyes and just let ‘Lo do it)
   Ain’t nothin wrong – with dancin and drinkin and havin fun
   (Get on the floor, put your back in to it)
   Why don’t you take your dead ass home if you ain’t havin none
   (Don’t just stand around and watch us do it)

   By the way thanks to Funktual for turning me on to Mr. Green’s solo albums.  Funktual is so unselfconsciously enthusiastic about the artists and the records he loves.  And he loves the music he loves and plays the music he loves, whether it’s hip or not.  (And it’s usually the right music.)  Even tho I’m not a deejay and I’m not nearly as knowledgeable, I almost want to steal his schtick and make some internet videos where I put on a record, dance around, sing along, and talk about how great it is and how evryone needs to buy it.  I love how he holds up his ceedeez and records like trophies, like, see this? remember it.  Find it, get it!  It reminds me of those pages and pages of photos of records in Wax Poetics.  They always said to me, These records exist!  You can find them!   It might be very difficult but you can! They are out there!

4. Joe Bataan’s “Es Tu Cosa”
   (Bataan Nitollano)
   From Mr. New York And The East Side Kids (Fania 1971)

   Quotes extensively the lyrics of the Isley Bros’ “It’s Your Thing” in English and Spanish, but it isnt the same song at all.  I put Bataan’s “Chili Beans” from this same album on my naught-7 Summer Burn mix, and it never fails to make me smile.  I wanted to repeat it this year, but it became clear I needed a mellower song and this was a good choice.

5. Tower Of Power’s “This Time It’s Real”
   (Stephen Kupka/Emilio Castillo/D. Bartlett)
   From Tower Of Power (Warners 1973)

   Happy song by Oakland’s finest.

6. The Band’s “Share Your Love With Me”
   (Alfred Braggs/Deadric Malone)
   From Before The Flood (Asylum 1974)

   A live one from the Band, courtesy my brother A.

7. Soul Coughing’s “Soft Serve”
   (music by Soul Coughing/lyrics by M. Doughty)
   From Irresistible Bliss

   From Soul Coughing’s 2nd album, my faverit of th 3.  It took me a while to warm up to this band but I wuz hookt by the time this one arrived.

8. Laurie Anderson’s “Sharkey’s Night”
   (Anderson)
   From Mister Heartbreak (Warners 1984)

   When I was a kid sometimes after dinner in the summertime, th family would drive to the next town over for ice cream, cause our town wasnt big enuf to have a Dairy Queen.  Six or more of us packt in the car. I remember a big red sun low in th sky and my uncle quoting the first line of this song, “Sun went down like a big bald head.”

   Wm. Burroughs performs a routine over a bass riff, some rough guitar skronk, and a distant echo of the “Sharky’s Day” theme.  The backing trak all shiny and electric and 80s futuristic.

9. Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers’ “Moanin’”
   (Bobby Timmons)
   From the eponymously-titled album sometimes known as Moanin’ (Blue Note 1958)

   Kuh-lassic kuh-hut.

10. Joe Jackson’s “Soul Kiss”
    (Jackson)
    From Big World (A&M 1986) A nerdy note: this album may be unique, or at least rare, in that it is a double elpee with no fourth side.

    Could this be my one bad song?   (I like to have at least one bad song on each mix.)  Th wife hates it.  It’s dated now, fer sher.  But when Jackson sang this song on Saturday Night Live in his pinstriped suit, April 12, 1986, my 8-year-old self knew of few things cooler.

    In my school years SNL was a frequent source of music that seemed new and exciting.  When I saw the Sugarcubes, I just sat there going What. the Fuck. was That?! The Michael Jordan/Public Enemy episode?  I was like, Holy shit! I can’t believe they let Public Enemy go on Saturday Night Live.  Oh my God, Michael Jordan made them have Public Enemy on!   Michael Jordan is even cooler than I thought.  The first time Pearl Jam were on and they did “Alive”, it felt like a moment.  I don’t know why but it felt like something was happening.  Pearl Jam, when they started out, was something my generation could point to and go (in our snottiest voices), This is our music!  It’s one of those stupid things teenagers love to do.

    

    Look at ‘im in ‘is checked shirt, his diagonal striped tie, his pinstripe suit.  Funny, this shot wz taken in 1979, but that’s exactly what th hep cats were wearin last week.

11. They Might Be Giants’ “Dirt Bike”
    From John Henry (Elektra 1994)

    Smoove trumpet-driven Flansburgh tune about a magical dirt bike.

12. Bob Kimbell and Jack Logan’s “220 Volts”
    (Kimbell/Logan)
    From Little Private Angel (Parasol 1998)

    A very happy pairing of 2 nice-guy rockers.  This happy little ode to direct current has graced many a mixtape before.

13. Belle & Sebastian’s “If She Wants Me”
    From Dear Catastrophe Waitress (Rough Trade 2003)

    I like that jangly guitar.

14. Isaac Hayes’s “Let’s Stay Together” (Enterprise 1972)
    (Al Green/Al Jackson/Willie Mitchell)

    Hayes’s lush elevator-music version of the Al Green hit.

15. Oliver Nelson’s “Stolen Moments”
    (Nelson)
    From The Blues And The Abstract Truth (¡mpulse! 1961)

    When it comes to the straight ahead, it doesnt get much better than this.  Tip o the hat to bru’r A fer suggesting this cut.

16. Talking Heads’ “Heaven”
    (David Byrne)
    From Stop Making Sense (1984)

    Oh the way Tina plays those 2 notes on the bass rocking back and forth from one foot to the other.

17. Bob Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released”
    (Dylan)
    From Live 1975 (Rolling Thunder Revue) (Columbia 2002)

    No one can duet with Bob Dylan like Joan Baez can.  Dylan’s phrasing is so good and so idiosyncratic that it’s next to impossible to sing along with him, but Baez does it effortlessly.  She doesnt even have to look at him; she’s just right there.  Their voices are opposites in so many ways—and they are both utterly unique—but they blend so well.

18. Coda:
    The Electric Flag’s “Easy Rider” 
    (Mike Bloomfield)
    From A Long Time Comin’ (Columbia 1968)

    45 seconds or so of a ghostly little guitar riff to close it out.

Segue I am proudest of: “This Time It’s Real” into “Share Your Love With Me”.
Segue I am most unsure of: “Dirt Bike” into “220 Volts”.
Song I wish I c’d’ve used: anything by Buena Vista, like something from the Carnegie Hall concert maybe.

Now that school is out and spring has all but officially turned into summer, I have finally finished my spring mixtape.  Listen to it next year when th crabapple trees bloom.  Inspired by @kellydeal’s call for FUCK YEAH SPRING mixes.  So thank you.  Her playlist is here, tho I havnt a clue how to make that “lala” thing play.

No download. Buzz me for a plastic copy.  Or leave yr address in the comments.

Spring Roll
Rolled by M. Elias Hiebert
May 09 
TRT: 1h13m59s

1. Gilberto Gil’s “Frevo Rasgado”
   (Gil/Bruno Ferreira)
   From Gilberto Gil (1968)
   First cut from that one album where he’s dressd up like Sgt. Pepper.  (Also the one with Os Mutantes.)

   Fanfare.  Oh so bright.  Carnivale music.

2. Talking Heads’ “And She Was”
   (David Byrne/arr. by Talking Heads)
   From Little Creatures (Sire 1985)


3. The Magnetic Fields’ “When My Boy Walks Down The Street”
   (Stephin Merritt)
   From 69 Love Songs (Merge 1999)

   Grand pianos crash together … Everyone sings hallelujah … Butterflies turn into people …when my boy walks down the street.
   I’ve never been crazy about the b-section, but this song needs a b-section.  (Without, it w’d just be a badass 4-chord gay rocksong.)

4. Stereolab’s “Sparkplug”
   (Laetitia Sadier/Tim Gane)
   From Emperor Tomato Ketchup (Elektra 1996)


5. France Gall’s “Laisse Tomber Les Filles”
   (Serge Gainsbourg)
   Stolen from the internet

   My first encounter with this song was the English-language version by April March “Chick Habit”) featured in Tarantino’s Death Proof.  (If nothin else, a Tarantino flick will have a kig azz soundtrack.)  March’s version is undeniable fun, rocks a bit harder; but I felt like going with the sophisticated, skinny cigarette French cafe version.

6. The Kinks’ “She’s Got Everything”
   (Ray Davies)
   The flipside of “Days” (Pye 1968), I took it from the Kink Kronicles collection (Reprise 1972).  (Lot of sweet b-sides on there.)

   One of my long time fave rit Kinks tunes.  I like th rockers.  Beatlesque.  Trash guitar solo.  Can’t not feel good.

   Do do-do do do do-do

7. Willie Mitchell’s “20-75” (Hi 1964)
   (Mitchell)
   Collected on The Hi Records Story (Hi 1989)

   The Hi Records Story is a cool little collection, especially for the early (like, pre-Al Green) stuff—organ tunes and horn instrumentals like this one.

8. Ray Charles’s “Hallelujah I Love her So” (Atlantic 1955)
   (Charles)
   Collected on The Birth Of Soul: The Complete Atlantic Rhythm & Blues Recordings 1952-1959 (Of course, the “complete” part is a lie.  Aint no complete Ray Charles collections!)


9. Van Morrison’s “Blue Money”
   (Morrison)
   From His Band And The Street Choir (Warners 1970)

   One of my faverit Van Morrison songs.  I love it when Van sings nonsense words along with the horn part. Even tho it was a single, this feels like the perfect throwaway track.  The whole album has a “We’re just having fun and we don’t give a fuck” feel to it.  My dad loves this album so much I gave him th cee dee I had and bought th vinyl fr myself.

   What kind of money, honey?  Loose money, juice money.  Blue money.

10. Fontella Bass’s “Rescue Me” (Checker 1965)
    (Raynard Miner/Carl Smith)
    Found on Soul Spectacular! (Rhino 2002)

    A classic.

11. The Flaming Lips’ “Race For The Prize”
    From The Soft Bulletin (Warners 1999)

    On a spring-themed mixtape, I couldnt get away with not using something from Soft Bulletin.  The synth wail, the John Bonham drums, the overly-earnest singin, the thinly veiled Christ imagery.

12. Hüsker Dü’s “Sunshine Superman”
    (Donovan Leitch)
    From Everything Falls Apart (SST 1982) reïssued with supplementary material as Everything Falls Apart And More (Rhino 1993)

    Always smile at this cover tune from the early days of one of the greatest rock and roll bands of the 80s.  At the beginning of their career when their evry song was fast, loud, and angry.

13. The Archies’ “Sugar Sugar”
    (Andy Kim/Jeff Barry)
    Found on squillions of 45s and collections, but this particular copy comes from a very beat edition of Everything’s Archie (Kirshner 1969; cat. # KES-103).  This thick old platter has taken a lickin and kept on groovin.  They don’t make em like this anymore.  Don’t remember where I got it, but I remember it was $1.

    Don’t fight it.

    One thing about the Archies is THEY HAVE BEATS.  DJs, take note of th drum hits during the fade out.  (My faverits tho are the drum breaks in “Feelin’ So Good (S.K.O.O.B.Y.D.O.O)”.  That tune (found on this same elpee), and my pause mix of it, is found on my tape called Fly Yer Kite.)  That Jughead can bang some skins all right.

    The mindfuck-y cover of this album curiously depicts not the fictional members of this fictional band but rather real people wearing t-shirts that depict the fictional band.  It always kind of destroyed the illusion for me.

    By th way, how sexy is Toni Wine—uh, I mean Betty and/or Veronica—singing “I’m gonna make your life so sweet”?

14. Big Bill Broonzy’s “How You Want It Done?” (Oriole 1932)
    Collected on Down In The Basement: Joe Bussard’s Treasure Trove Of Vintage 78s 1926-1937 (Old Hat 2002) – This is about the greatest collection of old records you can buy.

    Tell me lovin’ mama how you want your rollin done.

15. The Magnetic Fields’ “Three-way”
    (Merritt)
    From Distortion (Nonesuch 2008)

    The surface noise from the previous record blends into the fuzz that drenches this peppy opening number from the appropriately-named album Distortion.  Th feedback is downright tuneful.

16. Tom Tom Club’s “Genius Of Love”
    (Tom Tom Club)
    From Tom Tom Club (Sire 1981)

    I did a little editing on the album version.

17. Men Without Hats’ “The Real World”
    (Men Without Hats)
    From Pop Goes The World (Polygram 1987)

    I always put one bad song (heh…at least) on a tape. Here you go.  I’ve had a tumultuous relationship with this album fr twenny years or more.  I oscillate between sincerely appreciating a good pop song and gagging on the smell of mouldy cheese.  It makes me crazy.  It makes me miserable.  I keep coming back.  One night at the bar we were comparing our musical “guilty pleasures.”  I submitted Men Without Hats.  I think I won.

18. Belle & Sebastian’s “I’m A Cuckoo”
    (Stuart Murdoch)
    From Dear Catastrophe Waitress (Rough Trade 2003)

    Cheesey 60s elevator music arrangement. Bright horns, bright guitars, poppy chord progression, backup vocals in just the right places.  A melody I love to sing, joyously.

19. The Dixie Cups’ “Ain’t That Nice”
    (Earl King Johnson)
    The flipside of “Chapel Of Love” (Red Bird 1964)

    The b-side wins again!!  A delicious slab of Phil Spectoresque girl-group pop.

20. The Banana Splits’ “I Enjoy Being A Boy”
    (Joey Levine)
    Stolen from the internet

    Incredible bubblegum psychedelia.  This is from a kids’ show??!

21. Yo La Tengo’s “Mr Tough” (Matador 2006)
    (Yo La Tengo)

    Swoon for Ira’s falsetto!  This tune was on th last mix I made, and it’ll probly be on th next one too.  My song of the year sevral years running.

22. Nina Simone’s “Some Say”
    (Chas. Reuben)
    From Silk & Soul (RCA 1967)

    Ah-I SAY there is nothing in the WORLD like lu-huuu-uv
    O-oh, it’s PROOven day by day that it’s what this world needs plenTY O-OF
    Zooby dooby dooby dooby da da-DUM BA!

    I always love Nina Simone, but when she rocks I love her the most. Silk & Soul is one of her rockenest albums.  You like you some late-60s rockin soul? Get it! I recommend skipping cut 8 tho (that’s cut 3 on side 2 if you’ve somehow got hold of the elpee—it’s too dear for me; besides, the cee dee has a couple pretty good bonus trax, tho it is a bit compresst…), and you might want to skip “Cherish” too.

23. Björk’s “Venus As A Boy”
    (Björk Guðmundsdóttir)
    From Debut (Elektra 1993)

    A leisurely song to roll us downhill to the end.  Remember th video, where she burns the eggs cuz she’s daydreaming? Yeah.…

24. Nick Drake’s “Bryter Layter”
    (Drake)
    From Bryter Layter (Island 1970)

    As usual we cap off with a quiet number.  On the album it’s the introduction to the second side, but here I say it makes a fine closer.

    When I was little and my mom took me shopping, muzak-type services wernt so popular; most stores we went to just played elevator music on a tape loop.  I became intimately familiar with the elevator music at Carson Pirie Scott.  I don’t know how long the loop was, but if I heard the same song 3 or more times in one trip, I despaired of ever getting out of the store alive.  What a horror shopping is for a small boy, interminable crushing boredom interrupted only by white-knuckle fear of the escalator.  Today of course I am nostalgic for that torture.  This soft little flute & violin-led instrumental is exactly how I remember that music sounding.

25. 22 seconds of silence

END.

Segue I am most proud of: “Three-way” into “Sparkplug”.
Segue I am most apprehensive about: “Rescue Me” into “Race For The Prize”.
I’m also a bit surprised how well “How You Want It Done?” into “Three-way” works.
Stuff I wish I c’d’ve included: “Money Hair” by Looper.  Anything by the Jackson5.  And, oh, so much more. I’ll have to do another one of these next year.