Notes for a Mixtape
Work in progress, to contain the best songs first heard in the past half a year, plus old favorites.
The Notorious B.I.G. – “Juicy”
All I really want is a mix composed entirely of songs like this one, but only Minutemen’s “History Lesson Part II” comes close to being worthy of its company. And I guess it doesn’t matter anymore, about Biggie’s Sega and Super Nintendo, but in 2013 I can’t help but feel so damn happy for his moment.
The Roches – “I Love My Mom”
They don’t usually write in this mode, but it’s no surprise their style doubles so well as childlike simplicity.
Paul Westerberg (as Grandpaboy) – “Let’s Not Belong”
Come to think of it, Mono is as great a rock ‘n’ roll album as Westerberg ever made, and gains a rare something extra by being a private affair. He puts everything he has into this song, willing to risk it sounding silly or overdone with all those voices at the end. It’s both, silly and overdone, and then, because it’s both, it’s neither, nothing but godliness.
Joni Mitchell – “Raised on Robbery”
Her “Scandinavian Blonde.” American Blonde or Canadian Blonde?
Fleetwood Mac – “Mystified”
There are more immediate songs on the excellent Tango in the Night (before Cut Copy, there was “Everywhere”), but this one’s the heart of an “adults + ghosts” theme that might yet become the organizing principle of this mix.
Vivian Girls – “The End”
Constant use of the ride cymbal is all I’m thinking of when I say a band is heavy. So, this band’s second album kind of overwhelms me.
Neil Young – “The Losing End”
Again, all I really want is a mix composed entirely of songs like this, but only CCR’s “Lodi” and The Men’s “Candy” immediately come to mind as having the proper melodic dose.
Sir Douglas Quintet – “Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day”
…oh, and this. But there’s more of a celestial vibe going on here (as opposed to those essential terrestrial songs), like Sahm’s remembering the groove day from his place in heaven.
Bill Withers – “You Just Can’t Smile It Away”
That continues, big time, here. Many soul collections derail at the moment they get to their 80s addendum tracks, but Withers’ 1985 is so weird, intense, vacant, deathly, keyboards included, that you just can’t hear it as anything but the soul’s final necessary detachment from the body.
The Blue Nile – “Automobile Noise”
Ode to the worst sound.
Maybe also: Van Dyke Parks – “Donovan’s Colours” (can I crack Song Cycle by removing its (often multi-part) parts and repeatedly hearing them in a different context?); En Vogue – “Yesterday” (embodiment of the whole point of a girl group, and beautiful); Alison Moyet – “It Won’t Be Long” (smash hit of the early 90s, whether real or imagined).
