Notes Mistaken for Useful: 1. Having unlisted bonus tracks at the end of the CD is *so* '90s... I'll note that it's musically related to a later track - which isn't a coincidence (i.e., it's by the same artist, of course). I fucked around with the opening a bit. 2. John Cale "Magritte" (Hobo Sapiens, 2004) I can't recall earlier Cale records where he uses a falsetto. Works pretty well, I think - except at the end when he tries to sing too fast and loses a bit of control. As usual with Cale, I have about no idea what he's on about. 3. Mercury Rev "In a Funny Way" (Laurel Canyon soundtrack, 2001) I like this song better than most of the last couple Rev albums. I watched the movie without knowing what was on the soundtrack, and not expecting Mercury Rev, I wasn't sure who the song was by - but I really liked the way it worked, and the string parts in particular. 4. James Angell "Ooh Love" (Private Player, 2001) I wrote about this at my website a few months back; this is probably the most musically direct song on the CD. 5. Björk "Mouth's Cradle" (Medulla, 2004) I'm too lazy to do the diacritic over the "u" so sue me. Anyway: I still haven't quite digested this record yet. I'm intrigued by it, impressed by it...but not entirely sure if I like it yet. 6. Robert Fripp "Disengage" (Exposure, 1979) There was a weird moment or two when folks like Fripp decided they liked some of what punk seemed to offer and attempted to instill a bit of it into their own music. At the time I thought it was a bit forced...but now I can appreciate it as an exercise of sorts: let's play intensely and noisily, and then have the singer do his best bug-eyed maniac vocalizing over the top. (It gets funnier when you realize said vocalist is Daryl Hall.) Anyway, of all the prog rockers, Fripp was always likelier to bring the intense noise. 7. MX-80 "Someday You'll Be King" (orig. Out of the Tunnel, 1980) I used Multiquence to sequence the tracks, thereby allowing exact placement of beats and overlap between tracks - this is one of my favorite segues that resulted. In fact one of the coolest things about mixes in the digital world is the ability to hear and manipulate track transitions: usually, the next song is suggested for me by some aspect of the previous song - usually, from within a previously selected list of songs, but sometimes I'll just free-range the whole thing. Anyway: I still like these guys from the early '80s, whom I probably wouldn't have discovered except I was a Ralph Records maniac for a few years there (see last track...). Rather atypical for their roster at the time. 8. Butterfly Child "Mother Have Mercy" (The Honeymoon Suite, 1995) I think it was Paula Carino who introduced me to these guys, who are mostly this guy Joe Cassidy. Sometimes it's a little overwrought for me, but when I'm in the mood it works just beautifully. 9. Luminous Orange "Sugarplastic" (single? downloaded, I think from label website) Accidents can happen: I think I was looking for a copy of the Sugarplastic's song from the Powerpuff soundtrack - when this song came up. Well, I had to check it out - because our cats are named Lumen and Oranj (pronounced as in the Fall song, accent on 2nd syllable). Turns out they're Japanese shoegazers with a touch of Stereolab influence - so I ordered a full-length from them - liked it a lot. (I think I eventually found that Sugarplastic track...) 10. Stereolab "La Demeure" (Margerine Eclipse, 2004) For whatever reason, most Stereolab albums take a while to grow on me...but this one, for some reason, struck me as a bit water-treading. It would be facile to blame that on Mary Hansen's death - and frankly it's more likely, given my history with the band, that I'll come around. This song, though, I liked right away. Not sure why - it's not radically different from the rest of the album. I've decided I really like putting the drums in one channel and/or having two different drum kits playing in alternate channels - must be a '60s thing... 11. Momus "Michelin Man" (orig. on Hippopotamomus, 1991) Apparently the Michelin corporation didn't feel Momus's subject matter was appropriately linked with their brand, and so they sued to have this track removed. That Nick Currie - always with the lawsuits against him... Anyway, I think it's pretty funny, and the sonic treatment is ideal for the "Bip" image. And also... 12. JC Chasez "Blowin' Me Up (With Her Love)" (Schizophrenic, 2004) ...this track, which came way way courtesy of Aaron Mandel's massive cache of best-of-2004 mp3s (at his website), inescapably makes me think it's a take-off of the Momus track. The sound production, the rhythm - even the title phrase (in one interpretation) all seem inspired by the Momus song. Hmmm... 13. 9353 "Famous Last Words" (To Whom It May Consume, 1983) Ran across this at Dana Paoli's "Mystical Beast" website. It's hard not to end up repeating the deadpan lines after hearing this... 14. Add "Let it All Burn" (Divider Why Are You Doing This?, 2004) Another of a handful of tracks from Aaron's best-of mix. The arranging, in particular the way each verse adds or subtracts parts, reminds me of Wire circa Ideal Copy. Rather different from the other songs on the album though (which I bought shortly after hearing this song). 15. The Mitchells "Stakeout" (Hear Where You Are, 2003) I think this song is wonderfully arranged: the way the melody lingers on a note that clashes with the chord that follows, the guitar parts, etc. 16. Kings of Convenience "I'd Rather Dance with You" (Riot on an Empty Street, 2004) I like the way the song thankfully doesn't decide to obviously be "dancey" - and that I'm not entirely sure the singer's aware of how clueless he sounds or if that's just me. 17. Jens Lekman "Black Cab" (Maple Leaves, 2004) I'm pretty sure that harpsichord thing's borrowed from somewhere...the Left Banke maybe? Anyway - I just like this track. Spooky bells. 18. The Sugarplastic "Hesperus and Phosphorus" (7x7x7 bonus CD, 2004) A somewhat atypical arrangement for these guys...although their recent songs (from the brand-new CD Will, and from Resin a couple years back) have been moving away from the minimal guitar-based arrangements typical on Bang! The World Is Round. I like the wobbly vocal sound and the clip-cloppy bass synth. 19. Fleetwood Mac "Red Rover" (Say You Will, 2003) In some ways, mp3s bring us nearly back to the singles age - and in many ways, that's a good thing. I've rarely been satisfied over the entire length of a Fleetwood Mac album, or even a Lindsay Buckingham album - but Buckingham in particular writes brilliant songs fairly often. I don't think I would have heard this song if it come out ten years ago, in other words. My loss. The extraordinarily rapid strumming here, along with the rather tricky rhythms (which always end up fitting in a consistent meter, just with accents shifted and traded), make this track sound almost electronic - yet I think it's almost entirely acoustic. Buckingham's voice has thickened a bit with age, but it's still a fine instrument. 20. Renaldo & the Loaf "Bearded Cats" (Arabic Yodelling, 1983) Surprisingly, there are several tracks on this album that display the influence of '30s French jazz, of all things. I've always thought that for a couple of Ralph Records weirdos, these guys were quite melodic - one of the things that made accusations of Residents wannabe not stick for me. And we're done. I hope you have time to say a few words onlist about this - I'm curious to hear your thoughts.