cd #13: boy meets girl, boy loses girl

i’ve long believed that 90% of songs are about love. they can be longing songs about unrequited love, they can be appreciative tributes to a great love, they can angry break-up songs, or they can be forlorn songs about love lost. regardless, it drives a lot of music. i think that has started to change as people write more irreverent songs, but i still say most songs are love songs in one manner or another.

this cd is a collection of some favourite tunes that i’ve largely heard for the first time in the last year, with a few exceptions. i mostly listen to bbc radio 6 and KEXP radio (university of washington), and troll some mp3 blogs for new music.

follow along as boy meets girl, boy loses girl, and boy gets girl again.

1. Good Fortune – P.J. Harvey

when pj harvey is good, she’s great. this is one of my favourite pj songs, and is a great example of the excitement of new love. the lyrics are brilliant throughout, including this gem: “when we walked through little italy, i saw my reflection come right off your face”. it also helps that this is accompanied by great music. an all-time favourite of mine.

2. Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa – Vampire Weekend

one of the great things about being 37.9 years old and living in edmonton, alberta, is that i have absolutely no clue what kids today consider cool. i have a sneaking suspicion that vampire weekend is some hot indie band, but i’m really not sure. i just like the summer breeze that accompanies this song, and the innocence of young love portrayed.

3. Before I Knew – Basia Bulat

your first canadian content. basia bulat has just been nominated for the polaris prize, canada’s equivalent of britain’s mercury prize. i haven’t heard a lot of her music, but i love this song. i only wish it was longer.

4. Ever Fallen in Love? – Nouvelle Vague

big shout out to dj rocket for introducing me to nouvelle vague a couple of years ago. bossa nova rhythms combined with remakes of classic tunes from the 80’s. what’s not to like? i lived in brazil for a year, and i just wish all the bossa nova there sounded as good as this. i highly recommend both nouvelle vague albums if you like this.

5. Unless it Kicks – Okkervil River

i discovered okkervil river through an mp3 blog that occasionally read. they proclaimed this song as “the best rock and roll song of 2007”. it’s hard to argue with that sentiment. this song just keeps getting better and better for me. i love the way the momentum builds, wanes at the bridge, and then comes back even stronger.

6. Be Good – Tokyo Police Club

hmm... i think tokyo police club might be another one of those hip bands that have completely passed me by. i like the brief intensity of this song.

7. Let Her Go – The Lodger

great indie brit-pop here. not much else to say.

8. Hang Me Up to Dry – Cold War Kids

something about this song brings me back to the 80’s and new wave bands. maybe it’s because i saw the video for “take on me” by a-ha the other day. anyway, i mention this because i’m concerned this song might age the way new wave has. but, hey, wasn’t new wave great while it lasted?

9. Weighty Ghost – Wintersleep

here’s some canadian pop. i can’t put my finger on why this song is so great. it’s simple, but it’s awfully catchy.

10. I Lied – Orillia Opry

orillia opry is a montreal duo that could have made dj schwa’s “produit du quebec” cd. i hesitated to put this song on, because it slows things down a lot. but it’s a great song, and things will pick up later. these guys have been very obviously influenced by neil young, here and even moreso in other songs, but that isn’t really a bad thing.

11. We Get On – Kate Nash

i prefer this live version to the studio version of this song. forget the music (which is nice) – this song has a hilarious story running throughout. brilliant lyrics, including such gems as “and my friends were, like, what-eva, you’ll find someone better, he’s eyes are way too close together” and “Saturday nights, I watch Channel Five. I particularly like CSI.” pure genius.

12. Calm Down Dearest – Jamie T

this song is a great musical throwback to the 70’s, with some street vocalizing that makes me long for england.

13. Take Her Back – The Pigeon Detectives

i reckon this is a blatant arctic monkeys rip-off, but it is great brit-rock . the lyrics in this one are also hilarious, including this: “His mates found out, he feels a fool. They saw her on the bus to school. Should that really make any difference? What would her dad say if he knew? She’s on her knees; he’s 22.”

14. Challenge – Japanther

i love the opening to this song, and the energy throughout. i almost considered an entirely different theme for this cd just based on the first 30 seconds of this song. this song is now a top choice for any time i need to get pumped up (along with the go team’s “the power is on”).

15. Reunion – Stars

following along with our theme of boy meets girl, boy loses girl, this is the part where the boy gets the girl again. the only flaw in this beautiful segue is that this song is about a high school reunion, and only partly about lovers reuniting. but perhaps you’ll forgive me, since it’s such a great song. this song resonates with me for a lot of reasons, not the least of which being the fact that next year i’ll be 20 years out of high school. the “tainted love’s too fast to dance to” lyric really takes me back to high school dances. sadly, i was there for tainted loves original release, not for the multiple comebacks. time flies.

16. I Love You Suzanne – Lou Reed

this is the notable exception to the recent music presented on this cd. but, lou reed is such a dude he fits in any era. i heard this on the radio last year for the first time in years, and i realized i had to include it on this cd. sweet jane would also have worked here, but i went for the less obvious choice.

17. Marry Me – St. Vincent

apparently st. vincent is a musician named annie clark who is part of sufjan stevens’ band. i love the beautiful simplicity to this song. another great lyric: “john, come on, let’s do what mary and joseph did... without the kid.”

18. Yankee Bayonet – The Decemberists

this is the kind of song that sounds instantly familiar to me, which means that either it’s a brilliant song or it’s a total rip-off of some song i’ve forgotten. you be the judge. the duet sounds a bit contrived to me, but i like it anyway.

19. Fistful of Love – Antony & the Johnsons

kudos to dr. pepper, who gave me an antony & the johnsons cd a few years ago and said “you should check this out”. brilliant gender-bending emotional songs. this one starts slowly and builds. as always, i love the horns in the background. sadly, it’s a song about abuse, but it’s really beautiful nevertheless.

20. La Ritournelle – Sebastien Tellier

at this point, you might be saying “what does this song have to do with our boy meets girl theme?” well, after i heard this song, i put “la ritournelle” into the altavista translator (shame on me, i know). anyway, what the translater gave me back was “the old story”. pretty much a perfect ending to this cd, wouldn’t you say?

CD #12: Get your rocks off

Well, here we finally are... Welcome to June’s edition. Get your Rocks off fellow DJs! First of all, apologies for the slight lateness of both the CD and liner note contribution – I already have DJ Pants breathing down my neck eager to post July’s notes...

Anyways, after a lot of ‘umming and ahring’ as we say here in the UK I came up with this slightly odd mix of songs... I have an organic approach to making these mixes and never really know where I will end up once I start. This certainly was the case for this CD. I suppose I was prompted by a major concern: there seemed to be a distinct lack of rock music in this years’ CD club contributions (apart from the russian hard-rock song the memories of which still take me back to that Russian Bar for DJ Pant’s wedding in Ottawa... ).

Now don’t get me wrong, I am no longer a long haired, headbanging youngster getting off of cock-rock, however there are a couple of bands that still rock my world and take me back to the good old days of cheap thrills helped along by cheap cans of beer, wine, or benzol!! I also added a couple of more recent favourites into the mix. I hope you enjoy it!

1) KYUSS – Freedom Run
I know what you are saying – “Shit opener – too long, too weird. And what’s with the guitar wanking??” To be honest, you are probably right. However, I do love this tune – and it’s played by a 19-year old Josh Homme on lead guitar who later went on to form Queen’s of the Stone Age. So, get your rocks off to some mid-90s LA Psychadelic Metal – I certainly still do.

2) Fu Manchu – Urethane
I love these guys. Formed shortly after Kyuss split up, they produce honest good rock. This song is perfect for cruising along the motorway in a heavy duty vehicle and gets my juices flowing – certainly when the bass kicks in. It’s particular good when loud!!

3) Queens of the Stone Age – If only
This has got to be one of their best tracks – if little known. Released a good 10 years ago on their debut album it’s dominated by the very catchy lick and Josh Homme’s eerie voice. Rock’n’Roll!!

4) Sloburn – Pilot of a Dune
This is the last installment of Desert Rock on this CD. Sloburn unfortunately didn’t have a long shelf-life and only produced an EP entitled ‘Amusing the Amasing’ which I think certainly makes the top 10 of all-time greatest EP/Album names. Either way, it’s the last of the Desert Rock on this CD. To be honest, I probably could have gone on to include some numbers by Monster Magnet, Masters of Reality etc. but thought i’d diversify slightly.....

5) System of a Down – Toxicity
I don’t really know much about these guys – or even like a lot of their stuff. However, a couple of tunes stand out – including this one.

6) Presidents of the USA – Dune Buggy
These guys have their own distinct sound – using low-tuned guitars. Despite being a lot more famous than Morphine (next tune), they were influenced by Morphine rather than vice versa. Great tune!

7) Morphine – I know you (part III)
This band is a bit of a mystery. Despite all the right ingredients, mainstream success never happened. Maybe this is why i’m so keen on them. They are the musical enactment of how I imagine morphine to be – not that I am tempted. Their career was tragically cut short when their front man collapsed and died on stage in 1999. What a way to go man – truely rock’n’roll!!

8) Ben Harper – Oppression
Similar to DJ Cola I could have produced an entire album of Ben Harper tunes. He is one of my favourite contemporary artists. In fact I only recently saw him in Hyde Park. If you ever get the chance to see him play you should – he’s really worth his salt. Funnily enough he is virtually unknown in the UK and I found myself surrounded by Aussies and Kiwis at the gig in Hyde Park...

9) Arctic Monkeys – From the Ritz to the Rubble
This bunch of teenage rockers took the world by storm a couple of years back on release of their first album. What makes them stand out from the masses of other equally talented indie bands are their formidable lyrics as well as Northern wit. It comes as no surprise that Alex Turner – their front-man – was featured in the Guardian’s ‘Great lyricists’ along the likes of Bob Dylan or Morissey. The music critics here are lapping it up – and so am I.... Luvin it!

10) 16 Horsepower – Black Soul Choir
Here I musically salute the contributions of my fellow DJs Cola, Wordplay and Cucumbah with a quick stop in the world of alt-rock. Chaps, you should really check out 16HP if you don’t already know them. Quality stuff – this tune being one of my favourites. A great video too (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HO9My5_H6dg)

11) The Coral – Pass it on
One of the most under-rated bands in the UK today. Heralding from Liverpool, they connect to the city’s great musical heritage of Skiffle and Irish Folk (this is pre-Mersey Beat). Some great melodies and nice harmonies. A pity they’re a bunch of miserable men when performing.... Their music is anything but....

12) SixNationState – Just Hide Yourself Away
This is a bit of a personal choice – I just want to big up these guys as I used to be their drummer. They are now signed and have released an album... not only that, but they managed to win DJ Pants over with their great live performance in Cambridge a little while back. Who knows, I may still go down in rock history as the Pete Best of SixNationState.
I really hope you enjoy this. It’s taken from an early unreleased demo – but I think you’ll still be able to appreciate the vocal ability of the lead singer.

13) Kyuss – Space Cadet
So, we’re into the final part of this voyage – and I felt it was time to bring it back to the blues... This is a very untypical track for Kyuss – but likalble nevertheless. Good for those hot summer evenings...

14) Stephen Stills – Black Queen
I put this on not only because it’s a good tune – but it’s also got a great catch-phrase in it... I’m sure you’ve alread spotted it. But I must agree with Stephen when he says ‘One thing the Blues ain’t.... is funny’. Tell ‘em how it is man!

15) Gomez – Get Miles
These guys are a little known band from Ilkley in Yorkshire. No-one could believe these guys were a bunch of pasty students when listening to the opening tack of their debut album in 1998. The guys voice is something else....

16) Kings of Leon – Milk
Getting dangerously close to the mainstream now – but took this often over-looked gem from their critically acclaimed 2004 album ‘Aha Shake Hearbreak’. Did I menion I am going to see them in Brixton Academy in a couple of weeks????

17) Red Hot Chilly Peppers – Road Trippin’
I once got a mix tape for my birthday and this was the last tune on it... It’s a great way to end this collection I think and will hopefully make up for the slightly ‘riskey’ opener. I must say that, similarly to the Chilly Peppers themselves, my age is showing as the CD has got more and more mellow as it goes along. I still hope you are enjoyed it.

Rock On – DJ Style!