And here’s another…(Halloween mix that is)

Because one just wasn’t enough. I think I will try to post two a year, and maybe just spread them out a little more next time. Probably a lot of well-worn classics here, but maybe a few surprises. Suicide, some Screaming Lord Sutch, a Cat Power song, and “I’m Your Boogieman” only fits the season when Rob Zombie covers it. Also, there’s a more obscure Blue Oyster Cult song, the ORIGINAL “Black Magic Woman,” and The Shaggs. I think between the two of these I’ve covered some of the biggest halloween songs, besides a few of the obvious, “Monster Mash,” “Thriller,” and the Misfits‘ “Halloween,” that I’ve tried to stay away from. I’ll probably slip them in at some point in later mixes. But, here it is, for your listening pleasure…

All Hallows Eve Mix 2 – The Return! (zip file) (download)

1. The Ghastly Ones – Ghastly Stomp

2. Blue Oyster Cult – Career of Evil

3. Misfits – Astro Zombies

4. The Zombies – Spooky Little Girl Like You

5. Bauhaus – Bela Lugosi’s Dead

6. The Cramps – Mystery Plane

7. Fleetwood Mac – Black Magic Woman

8. Screaming Lord Sutch – Dracula’s Daughter

9. Rob Zombie – I’m Your Boogieman(KC & the Sunshine Band cover)

10. The Postmarks – Every Day is Halloween

11. Oingo Boingo – Dead Man’s Party

12. Donovan – Season of the Witch

13. Cat Power – Werewolf

14. Roky Erickson – Burn the Flames

15. Violent Femmes – Country Death Song

16. Concrete Blonde – Bloodletting(The Vampire Song)

17. Suicide – Ghost Rider

18. Misfits – Skulls

19. Roky Erickson – Don’t Shake Me Lucifer

20. The Shaggs – It’s Halloween

1st Annual Halloween Mix – All Hallows Eve Mix

My local “classic rock” radio station used to play a syndicated show called “Flashback,” that would usually just serve as a nostalgic throwback for those that grew up when all that “classic” rock was coming out. It had clips from TV, movies, news, or ads that would create a nice context around the songs, sometimes with a narrative, or theme. One year, I happened to catch a Halloween themed show and it really stuck with me. I guess this was just the first time I paid attention, but I remember I really enjoyed discovering how many songs could be included in a Halloween theme, having never really thought of it before. I became lifelong fans of some of those songs, being not familiar with some of them, or even interested in some before then. Since then, I loved the idea of making a Halloween mix and once tried making one for my sister’s Halloween party. Years later, I got serious about it as an annual thing for a good friend of mine who I exchanged CDs with regularly, and who would probably still be a raging Halloween fiend, even if her birthday didn’t fall around the same time as “Goth Christmas.” (As Warren Ellis calls it.) I’ve discovered, or either finally gave a listen to, many new bands while making these mixes, and still love doing it. So, now that I’m sharing music with everyone here, here’s youlivetillyoudie’s first, and hopefully, annual, Halloween mix.

(It’s a little later than I wanted to post this, but better late than never, right?)

1st Annual All Hallows Eve Mix (zip file) (download)

1. Messur Chups – Intro Monstro Crescendo

2. Redbone – The Witch Queen of New Orleans

3. Dead Kennedys – Halloween

4. Ministry – Every Day is Halloween

5. Roky Erickson – Night of the Vampire

6. Blue Oyster Cult – Godzilla

7. Ramones – Pet Sematary

8. Screamin’ Jay Hawkins – I Put a Spell On You

9. Warren Zevon – Werewolves of London

10. Misfits – Return of the Fly

11. The Cramps – I Was a Teenage Werewolf

12. Bo Diddley – Bo Meets the Monster

13. Ramones – Chain Saw

14. Squirrel Nut Zippers – Hell

15. Lou Reed – Halloween Parade

16. The Specials – Ghost Town

17. The Who – Boris the Spider

18. Roky Erickson – I Walked with a Zombie

19. Siouxsie and the Banshees – Halloween

20. Creedence Clearwater Revival – Walking on the Water

21. The Flaming Lips – Halloween on the Barbary Coast

22. Misfits – Braineaters

The Avett Brothers live from SXSW 2009

There was a hashtag going around twitter a while back, #lameclaimstofame, and I could have done that “I went to art school with Scott from The Avett Brothers.” Which is not to say that The Avett Brothers were lame, far from it, but that I was lame to claim some kind of fame because I knew someone in the band, a band that are so awesome because of their sincerity and authenticity. I can’t say that I was good friends with Scott or anything, but I did know him, and when I say that I know him the point is that it’s really fun to see someone you once knew get better and better at what they do and become more and more well known for it, to the point of actual fame. And now The Avett Brothers seem close to the kind of serious mainstream fame where it can be almost disappointing to see a thing you have a personal connection with become popular and known to people who don’t really understand or respect it. But I think that wherever these guys end up, I will still love seeing them kick ass. Their new album, I & Love & You comes out Tuesday(September 29th), their first major label release, on Rick Rubin’s American label, and is produced by the man himself. You would be doing yourself a favor by picking it up.

However, the point of this post is to share some music. NPR’s All Songs Considered did a podcast a while back of their performance at South By Southwest last year and while it was, as always, a great show, the podcast was frustrating. The podcast started while they were doing the soundcheck, so you had to listen to the commentators go on for 11 minutes before you could hear any music. And to make it worse, one of the commentators had such a hard on for The Decemberists(ok, maybe understandably) who were going on next, that they spent much of that time talking about them, instead of the Avetts. So, I used my computer to cut the audio up, and make the concert more listenable. So, here it is, and if you don’t know their music, here’s videos of two of the songs they played, “Murder in the City” and “Die, Die, Die.”

Download The Avett Brothers Live at SXSW 2009 from NPR All Songs Considered (zip)

I put the NPR commentary at the end on here, in case you want to hear it, but as just the songs themselves, the show is kind of short and comes out to about 26 minutes, which is because of technical difficulties according to the NPR commentators. But you can hear more, and buy the new album, here:

http://www.myspace.com/theavettbrothers

How was the Dan Deacon show, you ask? WELL…

Watch this video for an idea of what it was like in the crowd the other night    You may not be able to see much at some points, but keep watching, the lighting will change…. and change, and change. Look closely and you’ll see the trippy green skull later, then some crowd surfing at the end.

Oh my GOD, that’s the way to close out a summer:

(these look best when not playing choppily on youtube)

Maybe not the clearest video ever, but a great taste of what it was actually like at the performance. Earlier on, Dan Deacon had us separate in to groups, and the guys and girls had a dance off. I was blown away seeing some of my fellow Greenvillains throw down.

(Ex-)Local heroes Future Islands & Lonnie Walker both played that night, too, but my perpetually late self did not make it in time to see the former, and Future Islands didn’t have the kind of light show going on to end up with a serviceable video from my simple digital camera. I found a new love though, in Javelin, who played second. They are signed to the record label of The Talking Head’s David Byrne, and that’s really all you need to know. On record they kind of remind me of a looser Avalanches. A little research on my part, though, and I found an awesome remix Javelin did of a Future Island’s song, “Flicker & Flutter”, that you can hear on Javelin’s myspace, here.

http://www.myspace.com/futureislands

http://www.myspace.com/dandeacon

and even though I missed them, you should check out:

http://www.myspace.com/lonniewalker

And in case you missed it(’cause you should not miss):

http://www.myspace.com/hotjamzofjavelin

Why you should come to Backdoor TONIGHT. Like RIGHT NOW.

Last minute as hell, but that’s the fun of being spontaneous. I made a mix of Dan Deacon who’s playing tonight at Backdoor Skatepark. So, here’s ‘Dan Deacon everyone will like’, or either ‘Soundtrack to a good day:’

Disclaimer: These are not official Dan Deacon videos.

now to get a little more weird on you, but shortened a bit due to youtube:

& finally, now that you are hopefully ready for silliness without any concern for saving face:

“…Ooooh, Why won’t these bee’s leave me alone? These bee’s get me then I say Ooooohhhh…

I hate them bee’s.

….my Dad is so cool he is the coolest dad in dad school…”

About the show tonight->

The Soul of Michael Jackson (part I)

There’s an old obscure album called “The Soul of Michael Jackson,” that was an attempt to capitalize on his popularity by re-releasing old Jackson 5 and early solo songs after he left Motown & became a superstar with Off the Wall & Thriller on Epic. But it was almost hard to imagine Michael Jackson as soulful later in his life, and his weirdness even threatened to destroy any chance of his music being “cool,” at all. As much as I loved some of his music, it always bothered me that it was hard to enjoy his music without something reminding me that he was such a freak. On top of that, the popular songs were so popular, it’s hard for them to sound fresh. About a year ago, though, a friend of mine, Jason, told me about an obscure old Michael Jackson song that he found called “Maria,” that was sampled on a Ghostface Killah song.

I mean, I thought it was a woman singing at first on the sample in the Ghostface song, but even with a child singing it, ”Maria” just sounds pimp as hell, especially when the beat really kicks in about halfway through, and then picks up pace at the end. It’s so fun, I don’t even mind when Michael naively tries that throaty sexy voice, “I need you honey, you’re my sweet sunflower…(actually the part that is sampled on the Ghostface song)”

So, I started researching, and that is when I found out about the three solo albums Michael Jackson had before Off the Wall while he still was with Motown(& in the Jackson 5). More Michael Jackson stuff, with Motown production, and probably even using the criminally under-appreciated “Funk Brothers” Motown backing band? I was in. So, as meticulous as I am, I went through all the solo albums, and even found some non-album singles, and tried to make the guilt free Michael Jackson album.

EDIT: As my good friend Jason pointed out in the comments section, there were actually FOUR solo Michael Jackson albums with Motown before he put out Off The Wall & Thriller. I just can’t count that high, apparently.

As I went through later stuff, I decided that some just didn’t feel right with the old, either they were more pop than soul at that point, or it was after he gained control over his career and his eccentricies became public. In other words, it was hard to see him as soulful, and he just wasn’t as cool anymore. So, the album became a mix to, hopefully, remember Michael Jackson with soul, and nothing else.

I know that the early solo stuff is sometimes not considered “solo”, since his brothers were still a big part, and of course he was just a kid. But, then Quincy Jones was probably a big part of his best work anyway, it was his performance that made him great. And these were officially released as “Michael Jackson” songs. I didn’t include Jackson 5(or The Jacksons) songs because that would make it even more complicated(they could be their own mix themselves), and really, we all know it’s Michael that needs redeeming.

So, here is the first part of my mix, it comes out to two CDs that splits best when he changed labels. I always wanted to share it, and it bothered me when he died, that most of this work seems to be lost in obscurity. I apologize in advance for any volume differences between different songs, but I just can’t figure out anyway to fix that problem.

1. Michael Jackson – I Wanna Be Where You Are (mp3)

Start off with that classic Motown Jackson 5 pop-soul sound. If you don’t already recognize this one, after that hook about a minute in, you’ll be sold.

2. Michael Jackson – Got To Be There (mp3)

3. Michael Jackson – Maria(You Were The Only One) (mp3)

<- You already heard that one.

4. Michael Jackson – With a Child’s Heart (mp3)

A wussy Michael Jackson song that, probably because of “the Funk Brothers“, doesn’t sound weak & pitiful, just damn pretty.

5. Michael Jackson – We’ve Got a Good Thing Going (single) (mp3)

<- Motown backup rocks this song. And finally…

6. Michael Jackson – Up Again (mp3)

So, that’s a start, hope you give them a chance. I’ll try to get to some more up soon in part II. Probably some of the coolest and most fun tracks, as well as probably the most unknown.

Sick of Michael Jackson? Have some Prince… covered by The Twilight Singers.

If you prefer the OTHER pop/soul/rock giant of the 80’s, Prince, like I do, pick up the issue of SPIN out right now, cause they are doing a special issue for the 25th anniversary of Purple Rain, with a download link on their website for a tribute album of Purple Rain covers.

So the question is, of course, who gets chosen to cover “When Doves Cry?” Greg Dhulli and the Twilight Singers are one on a short list of those worthy… and they make a brooding, rocking version, too.

The Twilight Singers – When Doves Cry(mp3)

Stripped down Ironsides & Nolan Smock show

I brought my digital camera to The Spazz Wednesday night hoping to get some video, or at the least some good audio, of an acoustic/stripped down/solo show. It was an EP release show for former local Arielle Bryant(unfortunately, what I recorded of her set didn’t come out too well, but you can listen and find the EP, I am Lemon here), with Nolan Smock of The Charming Youngsters and Josh(as Ironsides) of The Gospel Years both playing solo sets, too. Without their bands, they got to try out a few new or solo songs, and do a few covers. So, when I went through the footage I shot, I found enough good audio to make a pretty sweet EP.

The Ironsides videos are mainly just silhouette, but are still watch-able, and the sound is pretty good. It will give you an idea what it was like Wednesday night, even though it’s a little dark and can’t really capture the atmosphere of the show. Luckily, though, I caught a little bit of Josh describing the inspiration behind this song before he before he played it:

 

 

Ironsides – Pretty Don’t Make it Right(live @ the Spazz 5-27-09) (mp3)

He also did a stripped down version of a Gospel Years song, “Goodbye Figurines” by request, that wasn’t too “solo” with the whole crowd singing along with him:

 

 

Ironsides – Goodbye Figurines(live @ the Spazz 5-27-09) (mp3)

This song sounds GREAT fully fleshed out, too, on The Gospel Years ’ myspace here.

Supposedly this next song was voted down by the band, so it may stay a solo Ironsides song, but I have to say I disagree with them on that one…

 

 

Ironsides – (unknown solo song) (live @ the Spazz 5-17-09) (mp3)

Sadly, the picture is even worse on the videos of Nolan Smock, but there still is some pretty good sound from them. I love the first few lines of this song…

“I was thinking about Ricardo Rooster trying to get laid/But what Hen is going to just give it up/ when her babies are all made/ into… sandwiches with eggs”

 

 

Nolan Smock – Explaining to Do(live @ the Spazz 5-27-09) (mp3)

And even though the video is no better here, I’m still glad I caught what was probably the prettiest moment of the night, when Arielle Bryant came up to duet with Nolan Smock on “What’s Coming to You.”

 

 

Nolan Smock – What’s Coming to You(live @ the Spazz feat. Arielle Bryant) (mp3)

(Nolan Smock &)The Charming Youngsters are so awesome that they got just about everything loaded up on their myspace, here, so you can go grab those right now.

edit:  These songs sound really great together as an EP, so I might work on a zip file of them all(who knows, maybe even a cover?). But either way, I’m glad I got to record what SADLY could be the last show at the Spazz…  That last song inadvertently sounds like an epitaph to one of the greatest things to happen to this town.

Somewhere at the birth of punk is …Death.

I’m not gonna pretend to know everything about punk, but I’ve managed to learn a little as I slowly catch myself up on all the original architects of punk. And somewhere between Stooges/ MC5 protopunk and the big bang of Ramones, sits this obscure Detroit band, Death, who’s music finally found wide release a couple months ago (yeah, I’m probably a little late coming to this by internet standards).

And they have a great story too. Three brothers, David, Dannis, and Bobby Hackney, ditch their R&B sound for rock after seeing an Alice Cooper show.  (David started playing guitar when he found one in the trash the day after he and his brothers saw The Beatles perform on the Ed Sullivan show). Playing shows locally, they eventually caught the ear of the head of Columbia Records when they randomly set up studio time at a company owned by Stax producer Don Davis. They were ready to release an album in 1975, but it all fell apart when they were asked to change their name.

Of course, this would seem to be the perfect punk legend of not selling out, but supposedly part of the reason to stick with the name was that David planned to pen a (decidedly un-punk sounding) rock opera that looked at death in a positive light. Only 7 of the planned 12 songs got recorded. Their self-released  7″ of “Politicians in My Eyes/Keep on Knocking” became collector’s item among hard core audiophiles, but most of the work recorded for the album was not released until February 2009, by Drag City. There are some definitely great songs here, but they’re even more fun when you think about the fact that they were written in 1974.

Death – Keep on Knocking(mp3)

Death – Politicians in My Eyes(mp3)

Get the whole album from Drag City(support the label!) or here. 

Three of the sons of Bobby Hackney from Death now play in a punk band called Rough Francis, which cover a lot of their father’s songs.

No, really, I don’t hate Of Montreal

So, I guess I gave off the impression that I don’t like Of Montreal… not necessarily true… I just meant the I was never really that obsessed with them(like I do with many bands). But, as I made the post, I rediscovered how much I do enjoy them. And while looking for songs on youtube, I found an awesome acoustic version of ‘The Past is a Grotesque Animal’ that seems to come from something called ‘The DL show.’ It’s more reflective and melancholy than the frantic album version. So, I thought I’d post it, for any Of Montreal fans that were put off by my post(and don’t already have it). PLUS, I have more very cool stuff that I want to post… hopefully very soon.

Of Montreal – The Past is a Grotesque Animal(acoustic)(mp3)