Secret Mixtape Review: Mix #16 (10-31) is up!

[Lament]

It'll be up till at least the 12th.

[Brett]

I should have a "full" review of this up before the next mix comes along. I wanted to jot down a few thoughts, now, though, since I just listened to it a bit ago. Overall, it feels rather odd; it seems there was a flow and goal in mind for the first several tracks, but then it lost focus, almost as if there were a few different mix ideas pasted together.

The inclusion of a hidden track is also very unusual for this sort of thing. I don't know if I like the idea in general, but it's pretty novel this one time.

[Brett]

As promised, here's my full write up for Mix #12.

Track one: We start off with a groove that is interrupted by some sort of mistake, either in the recording process, or in the performance. Either way the song restarts itself, and then we get going with a little blissed-out sunshine groove-along song that sounds more like a pastiche than an authentic genre piece. I hope it is the former, because it does a pretty decent job of highlighting and exaggerating some of the characteristics of this sort of song. I like the breakdown to drums and bass just past the halfway point.

Track two: Into the '60s we go. The little "turkey" vocal thing that's going on underneath most of the song is kind of weird. The rest of the song is an okay blue rock thing that I'm not really into. It's got a nice bridge, though. Not keen on the harmonica, but I'm usually not fond of its utilization in this style of music.

Track three: A little further into "classic rock" territory, but I'm still not quite certain if any of these tracks are actually from the eras that they're sounding like, or if they're simply homages. This one's pretty okay, too. It's got some real nice instrumental interplay that serves to provide something to pay attention to, since the vocals are uninteresting.

Track four: Now here's some authenticity that pretty much everyone will be able to recognize. I think it's pretty obvious by now that I'm not real well-versed in the intricacies of rock music history, so I'm not familiar with this particular tune. Is this one an old blues standard that's been adopted? Obviously, there's a lot of focus on the guitar work here, which is probably great, if you're into it.

Track five: Continuing our stylistic journey, we've got some classic soul music. I don't recognize the artist or the song because this is pretty far outside of my own upbringing, both literally and musically. Again, I've got nothing particularly critical to say about this track, because it's just "there" for me. I do enjoy some of the arrangements, which is a plus.

Track six: Peter Griffin takes over the mix on this tune, with a brass-heavy New Orleans big band tune. I looked this one up because I was curious, and discovered that it's

Spoiler: show

Randy Newman.

I like it in a humorous fashion, though I don't know if that's what the mix-maker was going for.

Track seven: A little bit of a quieter folk style here, which makes it a highlight in my eyes. Some light banjo and guitar strumming that's accompanied by an emotive fiddle and a singer who's not trying to be the star of the show. I like the way that the music rises and falls in waves that are less predictable than a standard build-to-climax formula.

Track eight: Varis mentioned this one as being "Mexican," which I don't think is quite right. The language sounds more like Portuguese to me, which leads me to believe that this is Brazilian. It's got a little bit of that not-quite-Bossa-Nova feel to it that reminds me of Milton Nasciemento in a way. Another highlight song, as it's well put together and doesn't sound played out to me.

Track nine: Once again, we're shuffling along through a tour of musical genres, and here we land in the midst of some classy old pop songs in the style of Frank Sinatra, et al. I'm not a fan of the female vocalist's drunken slur style, but looking at Varis's review reveals the reason behind it. This is more music that is far outside of anything I've ever really associated with, but it's nicely arranged. My only other gripe is with the big "epic" climax at the end. Nothing about the rest of the song seems to support that kind of huge payoff.

Track ten: This one's totally out of place and is where I think the mix-maker lost the plot. Not that the song's necessarily bad. I like the "underwater" beat that supports the vocals. It reminds me in a vague way of early Polmo Polpo, though more rock-oriented. With the vocals being the only thing not mixed under oceanic depths, there's a strange minimalist quality at play. And then again, even some of the vocals are recorded the same way. And then it stops, and there's a break to some cheering. What the hell?

Track eleven:

Spoiler: show

Gogol Bordello.

I like these guys in small doses. I think they try at times to be too "zany," which helps to lose my attention, but they always seem to go full on with whatever they're up to. This is one of their more well-known songs. Accordion, tambourine, violin, bouzouki (perhaps); lots of Baltic, Eastern European musical elements topped off with a vocalist who is quite mad.

Track twelve: The "final" song of the mix takes us back to rock, but with more stylistic derivations from punk than the bluesy genres of early on. There's an anti-war theme at play here, though it's hard to get a bead on the complaints because of the vocalist's quick-spitting delivery. Like Varis, I don't know from whence this song comes, since it also seems to have some of the new(no)-wave elements of bands like Television. A fun little warped outro, too.

Track "thirteen": Our hidden track is live cut. Wait, is this the same song that opened the mix? I believe that it may be. If not, it's at least extremely similar, giving the mix a cyclical feel. I'm not really a fan of albums that include live versions of tracks of songs already present, and I can't say that I like it any better on a mix. While I applaud the effort that the mix-maker took to stitch this hidden track in using audacity or whatever, it's kind of left a sour taste for the end of the mix.

Still, thanks for the time and effort. I have no clue who this may be.

[Jorge]

I should really get back to listening to these

[stip]

you must have a mix coming up next week

[Jorge]

Why don't you go fuck yourself.

[stip]

by the end of the weekend I should be done with all the tournament playlists, at which point I can get to this mix, whether it is current or not.

[bada]

Now that the tourneys are pretty much over I'm going to start listening again. I've felt guilty.

[stip]

LMS

Bon Iver: Insert standard Bon Iver comment here. See also: Stevens, Sufjan.

Nick Cave: there are a few nick cave songs I love, but for some reason I’ve never been able to fully commit to him. He should be right up my alley. This was pretty good

Bonnie Price Billy: See also Iver, Bon and Stevens, Sufjan. This was decent.. This may be a bit too relaxed of a song for me to fully appreciate right now.

Four Tet: Is the skipping sound a gimmick in the song or a bad recording. It was irritating, which was too bad because I was getting into the music. Seems like a gimmick, just not a good one

Fleet Foxes: Did this song appear somewhere? It sounds really familiar. This was very good. The best thing on this mix so far. I think the second half definitely drops a step, though.

Kurt vile: I’ve yet to hear a Kurt Vile song I care about, despite it hitting all the right notes on paper. See also: National, The

Laura Marling: This was good. Pretty and agile

M83: 10 seconds into this song and that keyboard part is already grating. That never really changed. This song has 44 million hits? What the hell?

Joy Formidable: This was pretty cool. Another artist I’d check out if I had more time

Swans: some interesting/exciting moments in the music. Not a fan of the singer, but he's a small part of the song.

[stip]

Letmesleep BARELY gets my vote. Overall I thought it was the better mix, though there were probalby more moments I was excited for on Delimas.

[bada]

Wrong thread buddy. <waits to hear how it's the kids fault>.

[stip]

well, Mia was waking up on the monitor

[Brett]

Is there a new mix on the way? I know Lament pretty much quit the board, outside of the Sports Forums and GD. Are we just giving everyone else a chance to get caught up?

[Lament]

I'm just waiting on a few people who have said they're about to send me mixes any day now. As soon as I get one, I promise it'll go up.

[stip]

okay, finally going to listen to this.

In the meantime, lament, you should go post in the u2 thread. What did you think?

[Lament]

In the meantime, lament, you should go post in the u2 thread. What did you think?

I might post some thoughts in the general U2 thread, but I don't really have any interest in popping in and seeing whatever the Songs of Innocence thread has ultimately turned into.

[Lament]

Actually, if I don't get a mix in the next day or two, maybe I'll open up a free for all and post whatever the first mix I get sent is, regardless of who it's from.

[stip]

1. I liked the music in this one almost right away, though the false starts were a bit annoying. Such a good matured song. Easy enough to like, though I'm not sure it'd be easy to love. Like Brett said, I have to wonder if it's a pastiche. It does go on a bit longer than maybe it needs to, but it's not like this song is going to lose its own thread, or dilute some big impactful statement.

2. that hooting sound was kinda interesting. I couldn't quite figure out whether or not I liked it or not, but it was the most interesting part of what felt like it would have been the 60s equivalent of a Bush song. But I'm also not a fan of this garage sound

3. I don't know these songs but they all feel like the perfect average examples of some classic rock genre or brilliant throwbacks. I'm guessing/hoping the later and looking forward to the answer

4. God, this is gonna eat at me. My hats off to the mixmaker for finding this stuff

5. Probably my favorite so far

6. No, this one is. Is this about Huey Long? I guess he was due.

7.This was another nice track. The 5-6-7 track has been pretty strong

8. I'm listening to this while I'm catching up on some work e-mails, and this was the first track to really go in one ear and out the other

9. Another track that I strongly suspect is recent but just feels like it HAS to be old. If these are genre exercises they're really brilliant. It's an excellent Tony Bennet impression

Spoiler: show

ahh, that would explain it. Thanks, Varis

10. Kind of a cool song, but felt out of place on the mix

11. What the hell is this? I kinda liked the absurdity of it, but I have no idea how to classify it.

12. This song kinda sucks. Probably the worst song on the mix. I liked the live version of the first song as a hidden track.


This mix was either brilliant or pleasantly mediocre.

[stip]

In the meantime, lament, you should go post in the u2 thread. What did you think?

I might post some thoughts in the general U2 thread, but I don't really have any interest in popping in and seeing whatever the Songs of Innocence thread has ultimately turned into.

I have a 5 page review and McParadigm likes it. Rangi posted a few funny pictures. Dime linked to a a good interview with Bono. Some discussion about how successful the reach of the launch actually was. It's generally a positive thread, actually.

[Brett]

Apologies if I sounded too impatient. I'm just curious to see who the last mix came from and for this section of the board to recover from its U2 hangover.