September 8, 2011
#44
A weekly sampler of what we're listening to (new and old), and what we think you might like, too.
01. JACK -- "Blue Line Swinger", Yo La Tengo
02. TONY -- "The Winter", CAKE
03. CHASE -- "Doldrums", Fungi Girls
04. ECON -- "Tune Grief", Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
05. OATESS -- "53rd & 3rd", The Ramones
06. DUNN -- "One More Saturday Night", Grateful Dead
07. MARK -- "A Stone", Okkervil River
Labels: mid-week mixes
by Chase at 8:55 PM |
7 Comments:
Not my favorite mix. It didn't flow well. A few things:
-That Cake song was really unexpected. Unexpected in the sense that I was expecting a rave-up but it was a ballad. I can't say I enjoyed it. The electronic backing is a little too joke-y for the (somewhat) serious tone of the song. Also, the vocals. They're typical Cake vocals. That doesn't work in a song like this. Sorry. Thumbs down.
-"Doldrums" was a song I thought I would like when I heard the sweet fuzzed-out lo-fi guitar, but the vocals killed it for me. They're tuneless. Also, there's no semblance of a hook in this song. Sorry again.
-That's why the Malkmus song following was such a great rebound. There's actually melodies! And a hook! Those "wooh-ooh" backing vocals in the prechorus are nice. In general I guess it's nothing special, but I like Stephen Malkmus in general so that is my own personal bias.
-The Grateful Dead was a pleasant surprise. I know virtually nothing about their music and whenever I do hear their songs I'm always surprised that they're a lot less druggy than I thought.
-Okkervil River is good. But I feel like it's best appreciated when presented in the sequence of an album (or thematic mix). Maybe because the lyrics are so dense. This song was really good though. I like the horns at the end of the song.
(I just realized some of these song criticisms sound mean. Not my intent. I just don't care for them. Sorry.)
Kind of an abrasive response to a selection of seven songs ordered (kind of) at random from a small group.
I definitely should have been more diplomatic about that. Apologies, all.
Oddly enough, I found myself looking for the "like" button while listening through this.
The new Cake album has really grown on me.
Yeah, it might have been the weather outside or something, but I also found the songs enjoyable. And running into the Ramones in the second half was a blast.
I was nervous about a 9-minute-long song at the very beginning, but it ended up working perfectly. Love that YLT song, anyway.
Yeah, I dunno. The straight-up catchiness of last week's hit the spot a lil better. I know it's heresy of a wafer-stabbing degree, but I don't much care for Malkmus. It's likely I'd change my mind if I put some effort into it. But. Meh.
And, yeah, the transition from Jerry Lee Lewis to that particular Okkervil song was pretty awful.
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