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Thursday, February 07, 2013

MY INSPIRATIONAL "MIX TAPES" Circa 1997-2013


It's been a long-standing tradition - almost a ritual rite of passage - among music geeks to make "mix tapes." It's fun to play D.J., to find hidden connections between disparate songs we like, to go back after a few years to check out what it is we were into way back when. Indeed, the uber-music-geek film High Fidelity almost hinges on the mix tapes our hero makes at various points in the narrative.

Back in 1997 when I was recording my first CD Strange Lullabies, I had a big pile of music that I kept returning to because the songs seemed to relate to what I was doing in some way. My reasons were as varied as the music: it might have been the lyrical content, might have been the production, or might have just been the emotional triggers they pulled, but I kept playing them over and over on my long trek to the recording studio, and I occasionally played them for my right-hand-man Don Richmond to show him what I was after in my own work.

1997 was a few years before it was easy to "burn" a compilation CD of one's own, but by late 2000 when I was working on Penny Dreadfuls it could be done. Again, I gravitated to a body of work that inspired me, and this time I slapped the songs on a single disc that I could just pop in anywhere to keep my musical mood on track.

Now (a shameful 13 years later!) I'm finally working on another CD of my original songs, and now I can just click and drag a song from my main body of iTunes music into a "playlist" and again, take it anywhere I go. I have done this. Not to mention that as I was building up to my one-man show of original artwork at Gerald Peters Gallery late last summer, I found myself drawing and painting to the same semi-limited list of music, so I made a "mix tape" for my opening! (Then I forgot to bring my iPod to the gallery, so nobody heard it but me! Dang it!)

Obviously none of us have time for me to go into deep musicological exegesis about all these tunes. But for your mild listening pleasure, I thought it might be an interesting window for y'all into my twisted little mind if I gave you my "inspirational mix tapes" of my various projects, including my upcoming one. If you go so far as to seek out this music and duplicate my playlists and listen for yourself, you may wonder what they have to do with my own music - at least sometimes. There's often no clear connection. There's certainly no song-for-song correlations to be drawn. It boils down to lists of songs that support whatever mood it is that I'm distilling in my own work. Heck, sometimes even I wonder why I chose these songs! Regardless, here's my playlists, if you'd like to explore 'em for yourself. (And by the way, lots of these artists are independent and self-produced, and lots of them are my friends. Don't try to rip these songs for free! BUY THEM! This is how we make our living!) (And by the way again, when I say something is "by" a given artist, that may or may not mean that particular artist actually wrote the song indicated... that's just the version I listened to!)

STRANGE LULLABIES: There was never any physical manifestation of this "mix." I just carried around a bunch of CDs everywhere I went. Thus, I've lost track of every single song I was listening to for inspiration. Here, however, are the ones I'm positive were in the pile:

1. Dying Days by Screaming Trees from the album Dust
2. Wild Mountain Thyme by Bert Jansch from the album Heartbreak
3. Dreaming by Blondie from the album Eat To The Beat
4. Isis by Bob Dylan from the album Desire
5. Superman's Song by Crash Test Dummies from the album The Ghosts That Haunt Me
6. Cragie Hills by Dolores Keane and John Faulkner from the album Farewell to Eirinn
7. Yes I Am by Melissa Etheridge from the album Yes I Am
8. Siuil A Ruin by Connie Dover from the album The Wishing Well

PENNY DREADFULS: Ah, yes... we're a little more clear here. I actually made (well... Don made it for me) a CD of this mix, and so I know this is the line-up. (Beware... like Penny Dreadfuls itself, this one's a downer...)

1. Lone Star Song by Grant Lee Buffalo from the album Mighty Joe Moon
2. Leaving Train by Gillian Welch from the album Horse Whisperer Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
3. Dirt In The Ground by Tom Waits from the album Bone Machine
4. Out Of This World by Freakwater from the album Old Paint
5. Into Dust by Mazzy Star from the album So Tonight That I Might See
6. Liquid Diamonds by Tori Amos from the album From The Choirgirl Hotel
7. Witches by Cowboy Junkies from the album The Caution Horses
8. Stars All Seem To Weep by Beth Orton from the album Central Reservation
9. Every Little Thing About You by Raul Malo from the album Today
10. Tanguedia III by Astor Piazzolla from the album Tango: Zero Hour
11. Can't Wait by Bob Dylan from the album Time Out Of Mind
12. Not Long For This World by Kelly Willis from the album What I Deserve
13. Woke Up This Morning by Alabama 3 from the album Exile On Coldharbor Lane


1. Persephone by Stellamara from the album The Seven Valleys
2. Damask Rose by Vangelis from the album Blade Runner Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
3. Tallis: With All Our Heart by Jeremy Summerly: Oxford Camerata from the album Tallis: Spem In Alium, Missa Salve Intemerata
4. Ole Yaman by Djivan Gasparyan from the album I Will Not Be Sad In This World
5. What Must Be Done by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis from the album White Lunar
6. Before Night Falls by Peter Gabriel from the album Passion: Music For The Motion Picture Last Temptation Of Christ
7. Last Dance by Sarah McLachlan from the album Surfacing
8. Till Farmor (To Grandma) by Vasen from the album Whirled
9. Zephyrus by Stellamara from the album Star Of The Sea
10. Memories Of Green by Vangelis from the album Blade Runner Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
11. A Cool Wind Is Blowing by Djivan Gasparyan from the album I Will Not Be Sad In This World
12. Gethsemane by Peter Gabriel from the album Passion: Music For The Motion Picture Last Temptation Of Christ
13. Leda by Stellamara from the album Star Of The Sea
14. Rachel's Song by Vangelis from the album Blade Runner Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
15. Ronda De Sanabria by Radio Tarifa from the album Rumba Argelina
16. Tallis: Missa Salve Intemerata - Agnus Dei by Jeremy Summerly: Oxford Camerata from the album Tallis: Spem In Alium, Missa Salve Intemerata
17. Whipping The Horse's Eyes by Calexico from the album Feast Of Wire
18. Tales Of The Future by Vangelis from the album Blade Runner Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
19. Anno 1643 by Vasen from the album Whirled
20. Anon: Une Jeune Fillette by Rolf Lislevand, Jordi Savall, Montserrat Figueras, Maria Cristina Kiehr from the album Tous Le Matins Du Monde Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
21. En Csak AZT Csodamlom (Lullaby For Katherine) by Marta Sebestyen from the album The English Patient Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

And finally: not only the inspirational playlist but the "official" announcement of my upcoming project - my new CD - O How I Wish My Bad Heart Was True:

1. Northern Winds by Norman Blake from the (Steve Earle) album Train A Comin'
2. Fire In The Hole by Hazel Dickens from the album Matewan Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
3. One Door Opens by Richard Thompson from the album The Old Kit Bag
4. I Hear Them All by Dave Rawlings Machine from the album Friend Of A Friend
5. 200 More Miles by Cowboy Junkies from the album The Trinity Session
6. Down In The Valley Of Hollow Logs by The Handsome Family from the album Through The Trees
7. Dream Of A Miner's Child by Keith Whitley and Ricky Skaggs from the album Second Generation
8. Farewell Angelina by Tim O'Brien from the album Red On Blonde
9. What If What I Want Is Not Enough by Tom Flannery from the album Edward
10. Bethelridge by Robbie Fulks from the album Let's Kill Saturday Night
11. Goddamn Lonely Love by Drive-By Truckers from the album The Dirty South
12. The Last Days Of Tecumseh by Grant Lee Buffalo from the album Mighty Joe Moon
13. Barton Hollow by The Civil Wars from the album Barton Hollow
14. In The Lord's Arms by Ben Harper from the album Burn To Shine 

Well, enjoy this stuff, everybody! Here's hoping you find something new and interesting in these "mix tapes" and... didn't I promise this blog posting would be more fun than my last few political rants!?

Keep the faith, y'all, and see you soon!

 

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