CD # 2
ROCKET’S REVOLUTION :
Rise Up & Listen
Hi CD Clubbers!
I am always listening to music, my days are like long music videos, and music always either magically matches my mood, or changes it, depending on what I need. Since it is such a strong influence, I’m sure you understand that it’s important to always be surrounded by good music. With this in mind, I wanted to pull together a compilation of tunes that offer tidbits of advice that remind us to rise up, listen and live!
1) Wash it down – K’Naan: Okidoke. We’re starting with some more K’Nann. I had this planned out long before DJ Pants’ compilation, honest, and though I toyed with removing it, I decided I felt fine including this track with the reasoning that I’m including him more for his CanCon connection. He is currently the toast of Toronto. I love this track because a) despite all the bullshit, we must remind ourselves, music is like water – we can’t live without it and b) the sound of music in the background is so comforting.
2) Parade – Pretty Girls Make Graves: A fun and poppy call to arms. Also: heard this while in some trendy store in Brooklyn, this song playing over and over again. Awesome staff rebellion and you could just picture a musical theatre number with them meeting in the back room, throwing down their push brooms, hanging up their apron ties, and storming out in a perfectly formed chorus line. I love it!
3) Gadje Sirba – A Hawk and a Hacksaw: a short musical interlude segueing our way into the 4-song series of Balkan beat music (happily, a region not on our world tour, so no overlap here).
4) Ultimate – Gogol Bordello: they say you either love or hate these guys, though a recent review stated those who don’t like Gogol Bordello don’t like fun, and I know you y’all like fun, so I felt safe putting them on. And if a reminder to have fun weren’t enough of a reason to be included on this compilation of life advice in song, the opening chorus is: “there were never any good old days, they are today, they are tomorrow, it’s a stupid thing we say, cursing tomorrow with sorrow.” Live in the now - Hoptza!
5) Adir Adam – Balkan Beat Box: I have never played a song that got the people dancing as quickly as this one does, so this song reminds us to get the people dancing!
6) Elephant Gun – Beirut: our final Balkan influenced tune, and honestly, since I’m weak with lyrics, I really have no idea what’s going on in this song. But I think this song is sublime. And sometimes in life, that’s all you need. The performer also has a funky back story – inspired by the Magnetic Fields, he dropped out of high school because he wanted to make music, made some albums, travelled, got caught up in the Balkan/gypsy movement, and made some more albums. And he’s all of 20. From this we take the notion that you need to live life like you want and if that’s sometimes just airy and light, that’s okay – not everything has to mean something.
7) Gore Veil – Deadly Snakes: I feel like there has been so much loss lately, so I had to include a song about our mortality. The end of this song concludes that maybe we’re here to for the simple things, that we need to cherish the quiet moments. Following in the wake of the Elephant Gun, momma music reiterates not everything has to mean something. I remind myself of this on the difficult days. Ba bad da ba.
8) Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist – Avenue Q: everyone is, so let’s just get over it, and get on with it, yeah? (for more detes on the play, see: http://www.avenueq.com/
9) You are What You Love – Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins: the first song in this compilation’s trio of love songs. Frankly, we need not look beyond the title for the important kernel from this song: you are what you love. Sage advice if ever I heard any. (Tidbit: Jenny Lewis is the lead singer for Rilo Kiley and stared as Shelley Long’s daughter in one of my fave old movies: Troop Beverley Hills).
10) No Sissies – Hawksley Workman: from my fave troubadour we learn that if we are what we love, then we shouldn’t love the sissies.
11) Absolutely Cuckoo – Magnetic Fields: and Stephen Merritt reminds us to stay away from the crazies, too. This concludes the trio of love songs - I hope we’ll each walk away a little clearer on love thanks to these tunes.
12) Us – Regina Spektor: nothing is forever – everything will decay, even statues. This is both relieving and sad, but important to remember. Also, in my head (I am, however, one of the crazies song 11 warns us to stay away from…), I decided this song was about the statue on this CD cover (Vera Mukhinas’s Worker and Kolhoznitsa), so this song had to be included.
13) Joyful Girl – Ani Difranco: because if we’re not doing it for the joy, then why bother?
14) Самоцветы – Всё, что в мире есть у меня – kids, basically, the most important advice I can leave with you: always finish with a showstopper. In this case: Soviet Disco.
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9 comments:
Please Mister Postman, look and see / if there's a letter in your bag for me / Why's it takin' such a long time / for me to hear from that club of mine?
I got this in the post on Saturday, so hurray! Full review to follow, but I love the Beirut track. I love it so much. I am yet to be convinced by the Soviet disco, tho. Give me time.
of course the girl married to a russian guy has to make a cd with revolution as a theme. i totally love it.
the nice thing about making the first cd is that no standard has been met. but now with cd #2, the bar has been raised. i love the whole thing, but there are a few standouts:
i’m all for the girl power in song number two. great tune.
i love the crazy balkan shit. songs four to seven are where this cd really flies. i can’t believe i’ve still never seen gogol bordello live, despite several near misses. that is a great song. and i can’t get the balkan beat box song out of my head. it reminds me of the indian song i put on cd #1 – i feel a bit guilty for loving it so much. i’m a total sucker for the horns/violins/what am i hearing? of the beirut song. and that deadly snakes song is awfully catchy.
the absolute highlight for me, however, is the regina spektor song. wow. such a shame i’m already married. maybe the drama of this song will get old after a while, but i don’t think so.
and i want to learn to love soviet disco, but i’m not sure the people in the offices next to me are going to let me.
nevertheless, viva la revolucion!
pants
Alright, here come the a-funk liner notes notes:
1. It's a grower. Better the fifth time around. I'm looking forward to the tenth.
2. I like the fact that you went for quality and didn't feel you had to maximize the 80 minutes a CD could hold (which doesn't mean that would have been bad though).
3. I don't totally agree with the liner notes analysises. :)
4. Nothing from my collection this time either (although I did see Regina Spektor perform "Us" a couple of weeks ago).
5. The official pick is "Всё, что в мире есть у меня" (#14). Soviet Disco definitely rocks.
6. I had a hunch and I did some research and it turned out that with CD #1 and CD #2 we've so far had 10 songs from the 90s and 23 songs from the 00s. It surprises me a bit. Was there an unspoken agreement with this club to only put "new" music on these CDs? Of course it's nothing wrong with that, CDs #1 and #2 are great, but I myself had as many songs from the 60s and 70s in mind for CD #11 as from the 90s and 00s. Is that wrong?
in response to a-funk...
3. what does this cryptic comment mean? what don't you agree with?
6. this is a very good point for discussion. i think when rocket and i first started planning this club, the idea was to introduce other club members to a) your favourite music, and b) your music in a clever or enjoyable format, but most importantly c) your music that other people might not be familiar with. i reckon you're more likely to have music that others don't know in the 90's and 00's, but if there are little-known gems in the a-funk 60's and 70's collection, bring them on. i've already started thinking about cd #13, and there will likely be at least one song from the early 70's on it.
what think the rest of you? you're awfully quiet...
I find as I get older I get less interested in new music and more interested in old stuff I haven't heard. So if we'd have put together this GOSPLAN of music 5 years ago, my CD would have had nothing over a year old. Now, though, there will be a couple of old choons in November's disc for you all. Maybe even from the 50s....
3. I think it's OK to love sissies. And cuckoos. Even if they're crazy in the coconut.
6. I don't mind songs I have heard. I think the mix is king.
Ahh...the big debate – Yay!
I found myself struggling a lot while putting the cd together. I wasn’t totally motivated by introducing “new” music (and by “new” I mean songs/artists you might not have heard before, whether they be from the 90s or 00s or not). I’ve got my faves - those who’ve received a mixed cd from me in the past can attest to the presence of repeats. Frankly, I’m kinda stuck in a rut, and that’s why this club is so awesome – after a year of exchange, I’m sure I’ll have many new tunes in my repertoire.
But – what is king: the mix? Or the song? Is there even a King?
The mix (in my mind meaning the flow and cohesion of a cd), of cd #2 is really poor, to non-existent. Yeah, this bothers me. A lot. But I attach myself to songs, which is why I’m not really a DJ (obviously), but really just a music lover. So, I made a cd of songs I love.
I was initially inspired by song #2 to try to make a cd of anthems, but when I started working on that, it sounded too much (to me) like a cd of gay anthems for Friday night clubbing, which is awesome, but not so much what I wanted to share. So then I thought, well, I’m really loving this Balkan shit, and I’ve been collecting it for quite some while, so maybe I’ll put together a mix of my fave Balkan-y tunes. But then it just seemed like I was creating a compilation cd similar to ones I already have, so I thought – okay, I’ll put a taster on, and if folks like it, I’ll recommend the pros (which, incidentally, would be DJ Shantel for the Balkan stuff). So then we just have a hodgepodge of songs, loosely fitting together by the tidbits of good advice they offer in the lyrics (largely in the chorus, which is generally the only bit of songs I can understand/ remember).
So on the mix vs song debate: I vote for song.
Can’t wait till #3 – which is who?
PS: you’re free to love the sissies and cuckoos – but, remember, you get what you pay for and you are what you love.
PPS: a-funk – I LOVE that you love the showstopper - for that a special prize will come your way.
PPPS: wouldn’t it be fun, at the end of the year, to make a compilation cd of the #1 fave songs from each cd?
PPPPS: and finally, anybody opposed to have the capacity to upload music to this blog. Just for bits and bobs we come across that would be fun to share?
this is just a quick note to say that DJ Wordplay is up for september. i've been in touch with him, and he assures me that he's up for it. bring it on - i need something to distract me from my new obsession with regina spektor.
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