Almost didn’t make this month! I had good reasons for the delay though. My daughter turned one year old. This required family to fly in from all over the country for the big party. Which meant turning our house from a personal dwelling into a public meeting space. It was worth it but took most of the month to get ready for. So it is May 30, but it is still May! Think of it this way, in two weeks or so you will have June’s mix so the wait won’t be as long! Better late than never.
May is an interesting month. The weather starts to heat up giving us an indication if we are in for a hot or mild summer. Here in Texas it is clear that it will be a scorcher. Which is ironic since this month’s mix is a real hot one as well! We got classic Bowie from 1971, a sweet serenade from Alison Krauss, modern blues from The Black Keys and much more! See you next month!
"A little Madness in the Spring
Is wholesome even for the King."
- Emily Dickinson
COMPLETE ALBUM LISTING http://treyminator.com/albumindex.htm
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Track #1
David Bowie
Hunky Dory
“Life On Mars?”
You could put this song on the radio today and it would be a hit all over again. The album Hunky Dory from David Bowie has this timeless quality that holds up to today’s standards just as well as it did when it was released in 1971. The album was the third album Bowie would release before his alter ego, Ziggy Stardust, would take over the world sending him into the upper echelons of fame and legend. Life On Mars has its origins from an occurrence when Bowie was asked to write English lyrics to a French song ("Comme d'habitude"), the song he came up with was titled "Even a Fool Learns to Love". The Canadian songwriter Paul Anka bought the rights to the original French version, and rewrote it into an English song called "My Way," later made famous by Frank Sinatra. Bowie's version was never released. "Life on Mars?” was Bowie waxing about losing out on a fortune; it has a similar chord progression to "My Way," and as Bowie explained in an interview with the BBC, it is a "modernistic take" on the Anka/Sinatra song.
Featured Lyrics : “Snorting Sailors, Fighting in the dance hall. Oh man! Look at those cavemen go. It's the freakiest show. Take a look at the lawman, Beating up the wrong guy. Oh man! Wonder if he'll ever know
He's in the best selling show. Is there life on Mars?”
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ueUOTImKp0k – A official video for the song
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Track #2
Amplive
Rainydayz Remixes
“Video Tapez (ft. Del the Funky Homosapien”
When Radiohead released “In Rainbows” last year it inspired lots of artists to do something new and original. Some released their albums for free. Amplive, one half of the hip hop duo Zion I, decided to remix the album and bring in some of his rapper friends to add some personal touches to it. The result was RainyDayz Remixes. It was released for free to anyone who forwarded him a receipt verifying that you had purchased the original Radiohead album. The released was delayed about a month when Radiohead found out and called him to the table for negotiations. They went well apparently because a month later he released the album with the full blessing of the band. It really reinvents the tracks in a unique refreshing way with some great guest rappers like Too $hort, MC Zumbi and Charli2na. On this track he pulled in a legend of his own, Del the Funky Homosapien. Del had already proved himself many times over with his many unusual collaborations including Dan the Automator’s futuristic outing with Deltron 3030. This song, which is arguably the saddest song on the In Rainbows, is transformed from a sad song to a more upbeat number with a sense of hope fleeting in and out.
Featured Lyrics : “When I'm at the pearly gates, This'll be on my videotape, my videotape”
http://youtube.com/watch?v=BlKdf31T298 – Fan made video for Nude (Amplive remix) featuring Too $hort and MC Zumbi
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Track #3
All That Remains
The Fall of Ideals
“Not Alone”
I will freely admit that I have a very soft spot for hard metal\rock. I have certain bands that bring out that rocker in me. And Massachusetts metal band All That Remains is one of those. The music is blistering with hardcore elements of the best metal has to offer but at the same time reigning it on every once in a while to show you their talent. This includes amazing guitar solos and soaring choruses. Great driving music, great cleaning music, great jogging music. It picks you up by your ears and slams you to the ground. In this song we have the band lamenting about their inspirations. The solo at 1:38 is the best reason the stick through this song! They have a new album dropping this year with a great producer that promises to take everything good about this album and make it even better!
Featured Lyrics : “I'm not alone, With the touch of your hand, I am whole again”
http://youtube.com/watch?v=mnDEFyV88Qs – Official video for the song
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Track #4
We the Kings
We the Kings
“Check Yes Juliet”
A couple of months ago I was watching MTV and these guys came on. The video is a clever take on 80’s movies with the hip rocker who the parents hate trying to find time to hang with his favorite girl. The chorus is also a great hook that won’t let you go. The kids in high school are surely eating this one up. I may be getting older but I can still enjoy pop rock in all its sappy goodness. Plus the lead singers hair do is one for the records!
Featured Lyrics – “Check yes Juliet, I'll be waiting, Wishing, wanting, Yours for the taking, Just sneak out, And don't tell a soul goodbye, Check yes Juliet, Here's the countdown 3... 2... 1... you'll fall in my arms now,
They can't change the locks, Don't let them change your mind
http://youtube.com/watch?v=s1R_txIuuio – Official video for the song
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Track #5
Goldie Lookin’ Chain
Guns Don’t Kill People, Rappers Do
“Greatest Hits”
This rap collective out of South Wales had some early success with this song back in 2004. It is a satirical look at rappers in the Unites States. The group has made a name for themselves composing songs that are often humorous, controversial and explicit. Kind of like the silly British version of the Wu-Tang Clan. In 2004 they released their first official release on a major label simply titles “Greatest Hits”. This song took them all the way to #4 in Britain. This year is going to be a big year for them if they stick to their self imposed plans of releasing three albums this year.
Featured Lyrics : “Guns don’t kill people rappers do, From Bristol Zoo to B&Q,, I wanna rap, I wanna rhyme, Heard it in a song now I’m into gun crime, It’s a sign of the times like Prince changin his name.”
http://youtube.com/watch?v=xv-2XYOtgCg – Official video for the song
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Track #6
Ill Nino
The Undercover Sessions
“Red Rain”
This Latino tinged Metal band from LA have always walked the fine line between fame and obscurity. They take cues from metal bands such as Sepultura and Suicidal Tendencies’ by forging the Latin sounds of South America with the crunching guitars of Metal’s elite. The result is like a fresh rain, or maybe a Red Rain? In this case the “Red Rain” is the remake of the classic Peter Gabriel track. This comes from the 5 song EP, The Undercover Sessions that was released last year. A new album just dropped this year from them, but I am stuck on this great song. Listen for the great congos pounding the beat this song.
Featured Lyrics : “Well I’ve seen them buried in a sheltered place in this town, They tell you that this rain can sting, and look down, There is no blood around see no sign of pain, Hay ay ay no pain, Seeing no red at all, see no rain.”
http://youtube.com/watch?v=mmlqmnuPDqg – Ill Nino’s official video for the newest single “The Alibi of Tyrants”
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ynr8R9G2e9w&feature=related – Peter Gabriel performing the song live on Letterman in 1994.
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Track #7
Ca$his
The County Hound EP
“Just Like Me”
This rapper hails from Orange County in California. His rap group sent Shady Records (Eminem’s record label) a demo. They didn’t get signed but Ca$his did. He is working on a full length debut due this summer. But in the meantime he cut a track on Eminem’s The Re-Up and put out a six track EP. This song details the relationship he has with his seven kids.
Featured Lyrics : “You hear the stories 'bout your daddy floatin 'round town? But you call me up like, ‘Daddy I been findin out, that you caught Rico slippin, beat him up and stomped him out’, So when you go to school, you wanna do it too? You just like me, how can I be mad at you?”
http://youtube.com/watch?v=iGcKiVZrFdc – Official video for “You Don’t Know” featuring Eminem, 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks and Ca$his.
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Track #8
Puscifer
V Is For V**ina
“Momma Sed”
Everyone knows I love Tool. Therefore anything that Maynard does, I must have. Following his success with Perfect Circle, he continues his lucrative sound projects with this perceived solo project. He is the only permanent member to the band. The album was mixed by the legendary Alan Moulder. The album features the work of members of NIN. Rage Against the Machine, Slipknot, Black Light Burns and others. This song is a creepy ode from a mother to her son where she teaches him about the harsh realities of the life he is facing.
Featured Lyrics : “momma said like the rain, (this too shall pass), like a kidney stone, (this too shall pass), it's just a broken heart, son, this pain will pass away”
http://youtube.com/watch?v=8Pcr05C5ppM – A great fan made video mixing scenes from the movie “The Fountain” with the song.
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Track #9
Alison Krauss and Union Station
Live
“Ghost In the House”
The first time I heard this song I thought to myself, this has to be the saddest song ever written. At first listen it seems to be a women living by herself, her lover gone long ago. Everything reminds her of a past that is no longer. But the song is really about a couple that has grown apart. The lover still lives in the house, the ghost is the lover who she doesn’t recognize anymore. The fact that they let the relationship linger even when the fire is gone is what makes it even sadder than the typical “lover who left her” story. Alison Krauss has a great solo career but also performs vocal duties for the Bluegrass band, Union Station. This is the live version of the song. I picked this over the studio version because it shows you just how great her vocals are and the exceptional camaraderie that she has with her band. The song was originally written and made a hit by the country house band, Shenandoah. But their version is just way too country for me while Alison’s version is more like a sad movie.
Featured Lyrics : “I'm just a ghost in this house, I'm just a shadow upon these walls, As quietly as a mouse I haunt these halls, I'm just a whisper of smoke, I'm all that's left of two hearts on fire, That once burned out of control, You took my body and soul, I'm just a ghost in this house.”
http://youtube.com/watch?v=nqyWgGgIe8w&feature=related – Official video for her remake of the John Waite classic, “Missing You”
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Track #10
Neon Neon
Stainless Style
“I Told Her On Alderaan”
1985 is back! Producer Boom Bip got together with Gruff Rhys the singer for Super Furry Animals and formed a band called Delorean in 2006. It was later changed to Neon Neon. And this year they released their debut effort full of all the 80’s flashbacks you can take. The album is a concept of sorts attempting to tell the story of John Delorean the guy who invented the car famous for being the time machine traveler in Back to the Future. The album follows him through his rise and eventual fall due to smuggling cocaine in the cars he created. It is full of fun synth pop beats that want to make you pull out your old VHS copy of Sweet Sixteen.
Featured Lyrics : “I told her on Alderaan, That there was nothing going on.”
http://youtube.com/watch?v=z4lZqDmCO9c&feature=related – Official video for “I Lust U” featuring Cate La Bon
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Track #11
The Black Keys
Attack and Release
“All You Ever Wanted”
This blues rock duo want you to know they mean business on the third album. The last two albums were spent living in the exciting, yet sometimes monotonous, world of pain and heartache of the old South. But this Ohio band has decided on the third album to show those who doubt that they have the ability to be innovative. It all started with Ike Turner two years ago. The producer behind Jay-Z’s Grey Album, Gorillaz and Gnarls Barkley, Danger Mouse, contacted Ike about making an album with him using The Black Keys as his backing band. Both sides agreed to the venture and it was on track until Ike died suddenly last year. So with no legend to produce he turned his eye to producing a new album by The Black Keys. The fruit of the collaboration is this album. A blues album smartly mixed with dance nuances that suddenly make them come alive like they haven’t been able to do previously. The lead track on the album is “All You Ever Wanted”. It is a slow ramble of a song until the 30 seconds when you get the church blast of the organ. Just a super way to start the album. If you love blues but also like more contemporary music, this album might be just for you.
Featured Lyrics – “I'll be your black bird darlin', Hanging on your telephone wire, Flap my wings, oh yeah, And set your heart to fly .”
http://youtube.com/watch?v=tRKeCNqycE8 - The official video for “Strange Times” the first single off the album
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Track #12
Portishead
Third
“Machine Gun”
Ten years after putting out their last album that changed trip hop as we know it and then dropping off the face of the earth we have the return of Portishead! Not that they ever broke up, they just were dormant. Each doing their side projects, they finally reunited for the third album simply entitled Third. This is a album that promises to be a breath of fresh air this year. Beth Gibbons the singer won’t do interviews and the other two make for confusing interviews. So the mystery of Portishead continues on this haunting album. The electronic stuttering of “Machine Gun” shows just how far they have come from where they were ten years ago. It is a dark and raw song full of emotion. It is a great way to reintroduce you to their sound.
Featured Lyrics : “but now I realize, that I'm only for me, if only I could see, return myself to me, and recognize the poison in my heart, there is no other place, no one else I face.”
http://youtube.com/watch?v=BKm-OkHj-VM – Official video for the song
“To me, making a tape is like writing a letter — there's a lot of erasing and rethinking and starting again. A good compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do. You've got to kick off with a corker, to hold the attention (I started with "Got to Get You Off My Mind", but then realized that she might not get any further than track one, side one if I delivered what she wanted straightaway, so I buried it in the middle of side two), and then you've got to up it a notch, or cool it a notch, and you can't have white music and black music together, unless the white music sounds like black music, and you can't have two tracks by the same artist side by side, unless you've done the whole thing in pairs and...oh, there are loads of rules.”
-Nick Hornsby
NOTE
**All mp3's contained in this mix are posted for a short time and are for promotional purposes only. This is music I love and think you will too, so if you hear something you like, please support the artists. Buy their albums and go see them in concert. If you represent an artist featured on this mix and would like your songs removed, please contact me via email.**
Friday, May 30, 2008
ONCE May 2008 Mixtape
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
ONCE March 2008 Mixtape
It is March already!! I hope you enjoyed the “ONCE There Was a Record Mixtape” that I put out earlier last week. Some thought that by putting that out, you weren’t going to get an official ONCE mixtape this month. Not true! I couldn’t possibly keep all this good music to myself. This was a weird month because lots of great albums came out this month and I had to do a lot of listening to catch up. But it was worth it. Among the goodies is a track by Jeff Healey who passed away this month. As well as new tracks by 90’s rock legends Silverchair, The Black Crowes and The Counting Crows (two crows [crowes]… that wasn’t intentional). Also don’t miss Kenny Rogers as a hippy! We also have the self-described satanic Everley Brothers (The Gutter Twins), an ivy league band and a dance group in hiding. There was so much music this month I had trouble deciding what to put on this one. So you can be sure I have already started working on April’s mix. Beware the Ides of ONCE!
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Track #1
Cadence Weapon
Afterparty Babies
“In Search of the Youth Crew”
This Canadian rapper is back with his third album. The album is dedicated to all the “Afterparty Babies”. Those babies who were conceived after a heavy night of partying and debauchery. Being conceived that way apparently touched him because he spends the entire album trying to explain this unique demographic of youth. It is a disco beat with a rolling lyric line that keeps you dancing. It ends with a great story told by his grandmother.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=zL3Qeot5KvE – A live video of him performing the song
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Track #2
Silverchair
Young Modern
“Straight Lines”
The 90’s are back. They gave you the song “Tomorrow” in 1995 when they were just 15 years old and now they are back with a new album. The album was a few years in coming because of the singer Daniel John’s arthritis. But things are a little better for him now and the band sounds as cohesive as ever. Now approaching 30 the band shows the years of maturity on their backs. The songs are huge flowing arrangements that often involve orchestras. This song seems to equate a serious illness with love and the need to walk the straight line.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=jCjtcrAO5ws& – Official video for the song
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Track #3
Atlas Sound
Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See but Cannot Feel
“River Card”
Deerhunter frontman Bradford James Cox strikes out on his own with this beautiful ambient album with many different themes. The entire album was created using a software program and all the lyrics were recorded as they were on the first take. Makes for a very interesting album that seems to float as if it were a leaf on a stream of water. The song is based on a Puerto Rican short story called “There’s a Little Coloured Boy at the Bottom of the River”. The story describes a boy who falls in love with his reflection in a river, though he believes it is another boy. In the conclusion of the story, the boy jumps into the water and drowns.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=k64NZiZaruU – Official video for the song
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Track #4
The Gutter Twins
Saturnalia
“God’s Children”
And now we have the newest in Greg Dulli projects. The Gutter Twins are comprised of Greg Dulli (Afghan Whigs, Twilight Singers) and Mark Lanegan (The Screaming Trees, Queens of the Stone Age). With a dark delivery and boding lyrics they slither through each song on the album with intensity. This song starts out with a slow burn then develops into a five alarm fire with the help of staccato drums. They don’t put out videos and if you see them in concert it is almost completely dark.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpU1oA0NVak& - Performing On My Way To Canaan’s Land
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Track #5
The Black Crowes
Warpaint
“Movin’ On Down the River”
The Crowes are back with very much what you would have expected. A very southern tinged rocker with twangy guitars and wailing vocals. If you like them, then you will like this album. This particular track is a stand out on the album for me. I would love to see it performed live. Got a very bluesy vibe to it. Everything is going be all right brothers and sisters!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGRKkxoh_Q0 – Video for their first single off the new album, “Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution”
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Track #6
MGMT
Oracular Spectacular
“Time To Pretend”
This group is so cool! They have been called a dorm room experiment gone right. Ben Goldwasser and Andrew Van Wyngarden are from Brooklyn and make up the whole of the band. The album is like a wonderful soundscape of hums and pops with beautiful harmonies woven in between it all. This song touches on the feeling we all have when we get to a certain age and wish to go back and start anew and experience all the things that made our childhoods so much fun.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVnRzEjpUmE – Official video for the song (Think Lord of the Flies mixed with Peyote)
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Track #7
Kenny Rogers and the First Edition
The First Edition
“Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)”
The year is 1967. Kenny Rogers has yet to sail for the islands in a stream or take up gambling. But he is a hippie in a psychedelic rock band. The First Edition had such hits as “Ruby (Don’t Take Your Love To Town)”. They had multiple hits but ended up breaking up in 1974 after Kenny Rogers career kicked into high gear and the “First Edition” was no longer necessary. This song has a very spry Rogers singing smoother than his usual raspy self. It is every bit as good as any of the hits by the rock and roll legends of that time. And the video of him performing on the Smothers Brothers show is one of the more trippy things I have seen in a while.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZ8k6fVe25k – The famed performance of the song on the Smother Brothers show in 1969. (the bed of tie dye!)
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Track #8
The Counting Crows
Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings
“Cowboys”
This album is really cranking up to be one of their better ones that San Francisco natives The Counting Crows have released in a while. It drops at the end of this month. But we have this preview of the album which features the Crows rocking harder than they have in a while. It is reminiscent of “Angels of the Silences” off of Recovering the Satellites. All the familiar characters that frequently pop up in their songs like the satellites, circuses and cowboys make their appearance yet again. Their myspace (http://www.myspace.com/countingcrows ) has several songs up from the new album just in case you’re curious.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlqzpIUQyVs – Studio video of them recording the new song 1492
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Track #9
Jeff Healey
See the Light
“Angel Eyes”
This blind guitar virtuoso was at the top of his game in 1988 when this song hit the radios and stayed all year. Many a proms were built around this single that year. He also appeared that year in the Patrick Swayze hit, “Roadhouse” as the blind bar musician. This month he passed away from the same cancer that took his eyesight at the age of 2. He will be remembered as a gentle soul who battled his entire life to live the way he wanted to. RIP Norman Jeffrey Healey (March 25, 1966 – March 2, 2008)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYz_LHKrgDY – Official video for the song (check out the mullet!)
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Track #10
Wilco
Sky Blue Sky
“Hate It Here”
Chicago natives Wilco are back with their sixth album. This song illustrates the diversity of Jeff Tweedy. It has a almost upbeat and optimistic feel to it. But at the core of the song is a man that is mourning the mistakes he made and the special someone he ran away. Everything he does keeps him occupied just so he can await her return.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYLaWXjUr8A – Fan made video for the song
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Track #11
Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend
“Oxford Comma”
This New York band teased us last year with an short track EP. This year saw the first proper release of their career. The album easily so far ranks up with the best of 2008. The year is just beginning but it is going to be hard to beat this album. The entire album is great. They embrace what people are calling afro-pop. It describes the combining of African music with western classical music. Brings to mind the great Paul Simon album “Graceland” which employed a backing choir of African tribesman. You will not be disappointed with the album if you like this song at all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hq5D5_tRSog& - The song performed live in LA at the Echo.
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Track #12
Goldfrapp
Seventh Tree
“A&E”
The band that gave us the great dance song of “Ooh La La” in 2006 are back with album that is determined to be a stripped down effort with less disco pop as they had before. This album has acoustic instruments and lovely souring vocals. This song compliments the video for it better than any other video this year so far. It is a very sad song about witnessing an overdose and possible death because of it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VPyso87fZU – Official video for the song (watch out for the living bushes!)
