Waxing Musically, or, Missing My Old Mix Tapes
Yawn...
Just for the sheer hell of it, I’m going to keep a running track of the songs that I listen to this morning, since my iPod’s set to shuffle. And yes, it’s been that quiet of a morning if I’m doing this to keep myself awake. Besides—you’re reading this already, right? J
Part of the reason I’m doing this is because I’ve finally started reading a book I got last Christmas: Love Is a Mix Tape, by Rob Sheffield. It’s a simple but sincere story and memoir of sorts, as he recalls his relationship with his deceased wife through the mix tapes they made each other. I’m not too far into it yet, but it’s an addictive read so far, mainly for two reasons (aside from him being a good writer—I’ve read some of his stuff for Rolling Stone, and he strikes me as a laid-back, music-nerd version of Hunter Thompson without all of the heavy drugs).
The first reason is because it’s been a trip to waltz down amnesia lane by reading the bands (lots of 90’s stuff, but a good dose of classic rock and others) on the tapes that they made for each other. Beth (one of my coworkers) and I were talking about how Nine Inch Nails’ Pretty Hate Machine turns 20 years old next year, and started waxing nostalgically about how the music we grew up with in high school is approaching or at classic rock status (and let’s face it, the first indication was when I heard tracks from Appetite for Destruction on a classic rock station out of Toledo). So hearing Sheffield reminisce about Belly, The Cure, L7, Pavement, Nirvana, The Pooh Sticks, The Church, The Smiths, and so forth—well, it makes me realize, and not in a bad way, that musical time has moved on. Wait until I remind my mom that this summer is the 40th anniversary of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band…
The other reason is that I’m still a fan of making mix discs (not tapes anymore, but still the same fundamental idea), either for myself or for others. Whether or not I do it well is something that’s up to others to decide, but for whatever reason, it’s fun to compile them. A lot of the albums that I’ve loved over the years or that I enjoy today (the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street, Gorillaz’ Demon Days, Dr. Dre’s The Chronic, and John Brown’s Body’s Spirits All Around Us come to mind) have a cyclical, ebbing and flowing nature…like you’re being taken on a journey of sorts. That, combined with feeling like you’re reinventing the song—or the meaning of the song—by placing it in a new context, lets me feel creative in a certain way…like I’m creating a new, listenable breed of monster, of sorts. The producer Danger Mouse probably did the ultimate bit of this when he mixed The Beatles’ White Album together with DMX’s The Black Album to make—you guessed it—The Gray Album, so I at least like to think that what I’m compiling has at least some good listening gusto to it.
John Lennon: “Watching the Wheels”
311: “All Mixed Up”
Billy Joel: “Piano Man”
Maharishi: “Sonic Breeze”
Pink Floyd: “Money”
Jimmie Vaughan: “Dengue Woman Blues”
Nirvana: “Love Buzz”
Led Zeppelin: “What Is and What Should Never Be”
Traveling Wilburys: “Last Night”
Ohio Players “Love Rollercoaster”
Michael Jackson: “Beat It”
Led Zeppelin: “Bring It On Home/Black Dog”
Everton Blender: “Lift Up Your Head”
Beethoven: “Symphony #9 (fourth movement)”
Jane’s Addiction: “Three Days”
Yoko Kanno: “After, In the Dark”
Gorillaz: “Latin Simone (Que Pasa Contigo?)”
Rage Against the Machine: ”Bombtrack”
The Ark Band: “Pain and Misery”
Live: “All Over You”
Bob Marley and The Wailers: “No Woman No Cry”
Groovemaster: “1865 (96 Degrees In the Shade)”
Ohio Players: “Who’d She Coo?”
REM: “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?”
George Clinton and P-Funk: “One Nation Under a Groove”
Mono: “Rise”
Stevie Wonder: “Living For the City”
Sir-Mix-a-Lot: “Baby Got Back”
The Wailers: “Cobra Style”
Skankin’ Pickle: “Hussein Skank”
Gorillaz: “Demon Days”
Nirvana: “You Know You’re Right”
Dr. Dre: “Deez Nuts”
James Taylor: “Mexico”
Seefari: “I and I”
John Brown’s Body: “Original Man”
Delbert McClinton: “A Mess of Blues”
Bob Dylan: “Lay Lady Lay”
Taiko: “Die Blechtrommel”
Booker T. and the MG’s: “Green Onions”
Just for the sheer hell of it, I’m going to keep a running track of the songs that I listen to this morning, since my iPod’s set to shuffle. And yes, it’s been that quiet of a morning if I’m doing this to keep myself awake. Besides—you’re reading this already, right? J
Part of the reason I’m doing this is because I’ve finally started reading a book I got last Christmas: Love Is a Mix Tape, by Rob Sheffield. It’s a simple but sincere story and memoir of sorts, as he recalls his relationship with his deceased wife through the mix tapes they made each other. I’m not too far into it yet, but it’s an addictive read so far, mainly for two reasons (aside from him being a good writer—I’ve read some of his stuff for Rolling Stone, and he strikes me as a laid-back, music-nerd version of Hunter Thompson without all of the heavy drugs).
The first reason is because it’s been a trip to waltz down amnesia lane by reading the bands (lots of 90’s stuff, but a good dose of classic rock and others) on the tapes that they made for each other. Beth (one of my coworkers) and I were talking about how Nine Inch Nails’ Pretty Hate Machine turns 20 years old next year, and started waxing nostalgically about how the music we grew up with in high school is approaching or at classic rock status (and let’s face it, the first indication was when I heard tracks from Appetite for Destruction on a classic rock station out of Toledo). So hearing Sheffield reminisce about Belly, The Cure, L7, Pavement, Nirvana, The Pooh Sticks, The Church, The Smiths, and so forth—well, it makes me realize, and not in a bad way, that musical time has moved on. Wait until I remind my mom that this summer is the 40th anniversary of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band…
The other reason is that I’m still a fan of making mix discs (not tapes anymore, but still the same fundamental idea), either for myself or for others. Whether or not I do it well is something that’s up to others to decide, but for whatever reason, it’s fun to compile them. A lot of the albums that I’ve loved over the years or that I enjoy today (the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street, Gorillaz’ Demon Days, Dr. Dre’s The Chronic, and John Brown’s Body’s Spirits All Around Us come to mind) have a cyclical, ebbing and flowing nature…like you’re being taken on a journey of sorts. That, combined with feeling like you’re reinventing the song—or the meaning of the song—by placing it in a new context, lets me feel creative in a certain way…like I’m creating a new, listenable breed of monster, of sorts. The producer Danger Mouse probably did the ultimate bit of this when he mixed The Beatles’ White Album together with DMX’s The Black Album to make—you guessed it—The Gray Album, so I at least like to think that what I’m compiling has at least some good listening gusto to it.
John Lennon: “Watching the Wheels”
311: “All Mixed Up”
Billy Joel: “Piano Man”
Maharishi: “Sonic Breeze”
Pink Floyd: “Money”
Jimmie Vaughan: “Dengue Woman Blues”
Nirvana: “Love Buzz”
Led Zeppelin: “What Is and What Should Never Be”
Traveling Wilburys: “Last Night”
Ohio Players “Love Rollercoaster”
Michael Jackson: “Beat It”
Led Zeppelin: “Bring It On Home/Black Dog”
Everton Blender: “Lift Up Your Head”
Beethoven: “Symphony #9 (fourth movement)”
Jane’s Addiction: “Three Days”
Yoko Kanno: “After, In the Dark”
Gorillaz: “Latin Simone (Que Pasa Contigo?)”
Rage Against the Machine: ”Bombtrack”
The Ark Band: “Pain and Misery”
Live: “All Over You”
Bob Marley and The Wailers: “No Woman No Cry”
Groovemaster: “1865 (96 Degrees In the Shade)”
Ohio Players: “Who’d She Coo?”
REM: “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?”
George Clinton and P-Funk: “One Nation Under a Groove”
Mono: “Rise”
Stevie Wonder: “Living For the City”
Sir-Mix-a-Lot: “Baby Got Back”
The Wailers: “Cobra Style”
Skankin’ Pickle: “Hussein Skank”
Gorillaz: “Demon Days”
Nirvana: “You Know You’re Right”
Dr. Dre: “Deez Nuts”
James Taylor: “Mexico”
Seefari: “I and I”
John Brown’s Body: “Original Man”
Delbert McClinton: “A Mess of Blues”
Bob Dylan: “Lay Lady Lay”
Taiko: “Die Blechtrommel”
Booker T. and the MG’s: “Green Onions”
posted by Reggae Joe at
9:19 PM
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