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

[Brett]

From a conceptual standpoint, this is far an away the strongest mix so far. I was skeptical of the "Side A" and "Side B" thing at first, but after my first listen-through, it totally made sense, especially in regards to the collage-style assembly of the mix. Also, unlike the previous four mixes, there's not a song on here that I really dislike.

Things kick off extremely well on the first half of the mix. A short sample opens the proceedings for a neat 13-minute jazz tune. I have no real knowledge of jazz, so I can't even venture a guess as to who this may be, but I generally liked it. It's a good opening piece. It's followed up by a somewhat quirky, high-energy rocker that had some rather oddball lyrics that I just had to look up. Turns out, it's Man Man, and the song's "Pink Wonton."

Following that is a wonderful instrumental song that's got some jazz elements alongside a beautiful, almost electronic, rhythm section. I definitely want to know who this one is. At about twenty minutes into the mix, the song leaks into another sample, seemingly from a film. This then transitions into another great song, Jesu's "Silver." Again, I'm not really deep into Jesu, but of the songs I am familiar with, this is one of their best.

Side A finishes with a sparse folk song that is shrouded in some sort of reverb, as if it we're recorded in a stairwell or something. There's some additions to the arrangement as the song goes on, with a some simple percussion, a trumpet, and what I believe is bass notes provided by a harmonium. It's not a particularly great song, so it's the first step down in the mix, but it's not bad, either.

Side B opens with an oddly amusing sample with a pretty ambient swirl underneath. This continues into a low key, moody piece that is carried by some clarinet and vibraphones, and punctuated with some bass piano notes. Another really nice song that I want to know the artist behind. Whoever this mixmaker is, they're definitely ticking a lot of the right boxes for me, which is a wonderful surprise.

The next sample is kind of annoying because of its length, but the climax to the speech transitions perfectly into the following song. This one is also a more rock-oriented number, with some cool swagger and some great low-end thrust. It's unfortunately knocked off-kilter a bit when the vocalist enters. He's a throaty, punk-rock shouter that reminds me a bit too much off the Offspring's singer. A different vocalist, or perhaps none at all, would have made this song more enjoyable, but since the vocals are only present for one verse, it's a forgivable error for a decent tune.

A more indie-pop-style song follows this one up, but despite my usual weariness for songs of this ilk, this one's pretty nice. The "verses" are very minimal with just a voice and a chiming, one-note-at-a-time keyboard melody. The "choruses" introduce a more full band arrangement with a bit of a wistful, Carribean style. Certainly, another one that I like. Next up is a song that has a bit of country twang, married to a Northern-soul piano lead. The singer reminds me very slightly of Tindersticks' Stewart Staples, although his voice isn't as deep or powerful as Staples's is. This one's another slightly weaker song on what is otherwise a stellar mix, and again, it's not bad, just not great, either.

Once more, a short film sample introduces the next song, a mid-tempo folk-rock thing that doesn't do much for me. I didn't recognize this one until it hit the chorus, but it's "Have You Forgotten" by Red House Painters. As I said, not my cup of tea, and it's sort of a mood killer, though I can understand the intention of using it to quietly lead the mix into its denouement.

The final song is a finger-picked folk tune with some pretty female vocal harmonies. It works well as a closing piece, with its delicate tendencies, though I can't say that it feels like an appropriate ending for this particular mix.

Anyway, aside from a few weaker songs, I really enjoyed this mix on the whole, so kudos to the mixmaker. I wish i could venture a guess as to who this is, but it's eclectic enough to be difficult to pin on anyone. I'm going to agree with Varis, though, and say this one could be Spenno's.

[Birds in Hell]

Guys, it wasn't me.

[stip]

Brett writes excellent reviews

[Lament]

Yeah, I always enjoy reading Brett's reviews.

[stip]

The voice over stuff is silly and should feel affected, but the first one works really well. It gives that jazzy number a noir-ish feel of danger and sloping descent into insanity. Not a fan of Jazz, but this actually worked pretty well with the introduction. Nice job slowly phasing out the dialogue and letting the music take over.

It’s very nice background music. I can’t imagine myself ever putting this on because I want to hear it, but I find myself moving a little bit faster as I sit here paying bills and cleaning up my desktop

I do confess that after 9 minutes I started to wonder if this was going to be all of side A. It’s just that you hear these stories about jazz…

Going back to the crime story (the sirens) at the end was an excellent transition into the next piece. For something that was a total 180 in terms of feel and direction this is was remarkably seamless. The music even has a bit of a Dragnet cop show feel to it. A welcome burst energy after the first track, too. I liked the music in the verses quite a bit, and the song did a pretty nice job drawing me into its world. I was a fan at the end. Here’s where the Side A/Side B format is unfortunate. I’d probably pull this track off the mix and into the keep pile if I could do so easily

Track 3—I feel almost cheated that this was a fairly vanilla transition. Music has a ‘lesser radiohead’ feel to it, at least at the beginning. It starts to feel like a ‘modernized’ version of the first instrumental by the end. Another nice piece of background music. I wonder how the mix would have sounded if this was the second song on the mix.

Track 4: Not usually a fan of this sort of ‘wall of noise’ track, although like the second song, it did a nice job drawing me into the track by the end. Not a song I’d likely seek out, but something I’d listen to if it came up. It does drag a bit though. By the end I was waiting for this to be over. The dialogue intro to this one didn’t really fit the music—at least not as effectively as the first track. That was brilliant. This felt like it a gimmick

Track 5: The echoey lone man in a big empty room feel to this song is an interesting contrast to the hugeness of the previous song (although that one also had a curiously intimate feel to it, which ties it into this one). Wasn’t particularly moved by this one, though. These types of songs are really going to come down to whether or not you are moved by the singer, and I wasn’t. It’s easy enough to imagine why people would be , as it’s not a bad song. Just not for me.

Side B: Clean state, and so there’s another long voice over intro for the next song. Another vaguely unnerving start. The mix maker did a great job picking music that matched up well to what were otherwise absurd pieces of dialogue. The voice over comes back over the end, and it is to the mix makers credit that this somehow feels organic. In general the instrumental pieces on this mix were well chosen. Isolated by madness, resenting the loneliness, and craving inclusion

Track 2: Another loud guitar track. Now I wonder if this is Speeno’s mix just because I know he’s a fan of these kinds of songs. Feels like it’s lacking the subtle flourishes of track 4, which was better.

Oh shit, the singer just arrived. Jesus, how do people voluntarily seek this kind of shit out? Way too petulant for me. Easily the low point of the mix.

Track 3: A lullaby for adults that turns into something dynamic and wistful. This was a nice song. Like track 2, this is one that I’d probably seek out as an individual song.

Track 4: It feels like we’ve segued into more of a traditional mix at this point. In some ways this feels like a more self-assured and romantic version of the previous song. They work well together as a pairing, though I prefer track 3. As with the last song on side 1, this is a track that will rise and fall on what you think of the singer, as the music exists almost soley as a backdrop for their voice and their story. This guy was just okay. Nothing too dynamic or notworthy about the performance. It felt a bit like a teaching piece, actually—like you would play this for someone if you wanted them to learn how to write this kind of song. It shows you all the component parts (right down to the slide guitar accents), but there’s no personality to it, so it won’t influence your own choices.

Track 5: We’re back to the voice over transitions. This one worked well for the song, although it felt a bit out of sync with the darker and cracked tone in the other ones. Maybe this is meant to be an alternative ending. This was a very pretty song. Delicate and wounded and forgiving.

Track 6: Another stark acoustic track, similar to the one that closed out Side A. I like this one a bit more. The singer has a very pretty voice with some interesting harmonizing with herself (hmmm, applause at the end—was this actually live or did the mixmaker add that in?). It ends the mix with a bittersweet feel that seems appropriate.

Overall this was a very strong mix. Arguably the best one so far. Chud’s probably produced more songs I’m going to keep listening to (especially since I can’t pull stuff out of this one), but this easily felt the most cohesive—the first one where the whole listening experience felt like a journey. The craft on display here was remarkable as well. Some missteps along the way, and no truly standout songs, but the overall piece was stronger than the sum of its parts, the whole elevating the individual moments.


I’d really like to see the mix maker upload the individual songs.

And I’d hate to follow this one. This will be tough to follow with the traditional ‘here’s a bunch of songs I like’ mix.

[stip]

speaking of chud's mix, I keep going back to Zero. Is that pretty indicative of their work as a whole?

[Norah]

speaking of chud's mix, I keep going back to Zero. Is that pretty indicative of their work as a whole?

No, the album that included that song was a huge departure for them. But it's indicative of the album and I believe what followed.

[stip]

Worth checking out, or does that song tower above the rest of it?

[Norah]

Zero is easily my favorite, but check it out and decide for yourself.

[Lament]

Worth checking out, or does that song tower above the rest of it?

It's worth checking out. The first two albums are awesome too, but they don't have the big synths and are much more in the realm of moody art-punk. The fourth album goes back to veering closer to the first two.

[Jorge]

Guys, it wasn't me.

We all know who made this thing.

[Jorge]

I've been pretty busy lately and fell behind with this thread. But thanks for thinking that one was mine. Guess it was on account of the obscurity?

I was the first one who threw out your name and I was reacting to the fact that the first half of the mix has a few scuzzy, punky tracks. Good stuff, anyway, good work bodysnatch.

[Brett]

Aw, thanks for the kind words, Stip and Lament. I try to make my reviews coherent, even though I lack in detailed musical knowledge.

[Lament]

Gonna try to get some thoughts on this mix up either tonight or tomorrow. After several listens over the past few days, I think I'm ready.

[stip]

It would be nice if all the people who have submitted mixes reviewed other peoples beyond the same 4-5 people every week

[Lament]

Alright, here goes nothing...

The thirteen minute song that opens Side A has turned out to be my favorite part of the mix. I've tried quite a bit to get into jazz over the years and have always had a difficult time doing so, so it's nice when I do find something from that genre I can get into. The song really peaks for me a few minutes in, but even as it stretches itself out (especially around the nine minute mark), it still kept my attention. I do love when everything builds back up again near the end, and then grinds to a halt as the cop sirens come in.

The second song does a good job of not being completely overwhelmed by the enormity of the first one, which is no easy task. I enjoy it in the context of the mix. I'm not sure whether I still would outside of the context, but that's kind of irrelevant. It would have been easy to put a second track that would have really narrowed the breadth of the mix just for continuity's sake here, so that it steps out from the first without killing the flow is a nice achievement. I'm a big fan of the drumming on this track.

I enjoyed the horns in track three. They worked very well over the atmospheric, almost futuristic sounds going on underneath. This was probably my second favorite song on the mix. There's some more strong drumming on this one. Track four kind of lost me a bit. I get why it's here, and for the most part I think it “works,” but I just didn't find myself caring for the song. The fifth track is a nice, sparse closer for the Side A. The first half definitely stands well on its own, and I found myself preferring this side to the other one (though I suppose having my two favorite songs from the mix on this side would tend to cause that).

Side B starts of pretty slowly, which I didn't care for approach-wise when I listened to to it immediately after finishing Side A, but found to be much less of a problem the time I listened to it on its own. Things pick up with the second number. I liked the production and the guitar work on this one. It does a good job of getting things going again. This is probably my favorite song on Side B.

The third track seemed meek coming after the song before it. It builds some steam at the end, but each time I played the mix I found myself wishing the energy carried forth for at least another track. Track four was a nice enough tune, and I definitely found myself getting the “Coming out of the fog” part stuck in my head. It doesn't jump out at me as something I'd seek out, but it's very possible I'll end up coming back to it in the future if the hook is already getting caught in my head.

Track four was the one song I recognized. It's a pretty song, and I think for me personally the familiarity with something helps this mix down the home stretch. The mix felt like it could have ended here, actually, but I'm glad it didn't. I like that the pace (and mood) pick up slightly for the final song. The strength of this one are in the vocals, which are very well-arranged. This is the other highlight of Side B for me, and I'm glad this mix ends on a strong point.

I appreciate the craftsmanship put into this mix. It was definitely the most ambitious mix we've had so far, and I tried to make sure to give it a few extra listens before I reviewed it just for that reason. It'll be interesting to see if any future mixers in this thread attempt to integrate some of the approaches included in this one into the mixes we'll be hearing over the next few months. Either way, the time and energy put into this one is definitely appreciated and much respected.

[Jorge]

Since that'll likely be the last review before the next mix goes up, I'll go ahead and claim this mix & post the tracklist.

Side A:
1. Charles Mingus- "Haitian Fight Song"
2. Man Man- "Pink Wonton"
3. Floratone- "The Bloom is On"
4. Jesu- "Silver"
5. Crooked Fingers- "Boy With (100) Hands"

Side B:
1. Bohren & der Club of Gore- "Im Rauch"
2. Diarrhea Planet- "Ugliest Son"
3. The Antlers- "Bear"
4. Arbouretum- "Coming Out of the Fog"
5. Red House Painters- "Have You Forgotten" (Electric version)
6. The Staves- "White Winter Trees" (live)

Thanks for listening and especially to those who posted reviews. I think the whole "craft" thing is a bit overstated; I just pasted a bunch of stuff that I thought would sound cool together, without any high concept or story behind it. It just made sense to me to include stuff other than just songs, like dialogue from films. I did want it to end on a sweet note, hence the last couple of songs. I do feel like I should've spent more time on the mix; as soon as I submitted it I started getting ideas of other things that would've been cool to do, and to make it more cohesive.

I'll try to be better about posting more detailed reviews of the other mixes, this has just been a particularly busy couple of months.

[PryTo]

I'm late to this game, but here are some thoughts while listening to Mix #5

Love the opening song, but I find the film sample (Jimmy Stewart, but not sure of the film) distracting after about a minute. I’m trying to focus on the music. As for the jazz song, I dig it. Not sure who it is. I’m going to guess Thelonius Monk (the piano sounds like his playing) or Charles Mingus (same for the bass).

Track 2 is a pretty jarring jump. Not crazy about this song. It’s got some energy (maybe a bit too much energy) but the lyrics don’t do much for me. The singer sounds like he’s trying to do a Springsteen sort of thing. The female backup singers are distracting. I want to throw them under a bus.

Track 3 is more along the lines of what I would expect after the opener. I like it, although it’s kind of background music-y. Pleasant, but not really something I’m going to lock in and focus on. But I like it. Tortoise?

Track 4. A song like this shouldn’t work here but it actually fits nicely. I’m not crazy about the droning, shoegazing, wall-of-noise thing but this is listenable. A good example of how adding a dynamic kick-ass drummer could transform the song. The drummer here makes everything plod along in a way that works against what the rest of the band is doing. Decent band. Badly in need of a new drummer.

Track 5 is a good way to close out side one, although not really my cup of tea. This sounds like a contemporary band playing an outtake from The Wall.

Side Two opens with another atmospheric piece. I really like it, but it works more as background music for me. I’m not sure how much the spoken word bits really add. This sort of thing is very tough to pull off. It can work for a single listen, but becomes distracting after a few listens.

Track 7 is great until the singer comes in. Not my type of singer. At all. Too bad because the band is doing some interesting things.

Track 8 is pleasant enough but doesn’t really bowl me over or anything. Again, good band average singer. Listen to the way he closes out the track, with the double-tracked helium vocals. This isn’t someone singing his ass off and putting his very being into the act of doing so. This sounds like some teenager who’s afraid to show any emotion and acts goofy instead. But the guy is probably 35, which just makes it lame.

Track 9 – Coming out of the fog. I really like the musical backdrop here, but again the singer is just not putting any feeling into this. I realize he’s coming out of the fog, so that’s intentional but by staying locked into the same, steady singing range, he doesn’t add any dynamics to the song. It just sits there, in a foggy state. A great singer will take this somewhere, at least at the end of the song. A great singer will give a song like this some build, releasing the tension at the end. This is all tension with no build and release.

Track 10. See track nine. The mixer obviously likes this sort of thing a lot, but for me to get invested in music, I need some dynamics, some build, songs that start someplace and end up somewhere else. That said, I like this song a bit better. Really like the band and the harmony vocals.

Track 11. Lovely song, great voice on the lead singer. Love the harmonies too. Is this First Aid Kit? The Secret Sisters? Not sure, there are a few bands working this sound right now. This is a nice way to end the mix. This and the opener are my two favorites here. This is one I’d listen to again for sure. Oh and it’s live, no less. Even better.

[PryTo]

Ah, Plat. I didn't see your tracklist before I posted that, but glad that I called Mingus!

[Jorge]

I realize he’s coming out of the fog,

Track 10. See track nine. The mixer obviously likes this sort of thing a lot, but for me to get invested in music, I need some dynamics, some build, songs that start someplace and end up somewhere else.

I understand that critique, but to quote another RMer,

That's become such a default criticism--"oh, it sucks, it doesn't go anywhere"--what is this constant obsession with movement? Some of the best music in the world just finds a comfortable spot and lingers there. Part of most journeys, after all, is getting to where you're going and spending some time there.

Tension and release and internal dynamics are a huge part of the kind of music I'm interested in, but I also like the kind of song that seeks to explore a specific emotional space for its duration. Kozelek does this with aplomb in this track, IMO. The original version is also really nice, and a little bit less morose: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7aLPQEfrFE