A Mix CD Joe Gave Me

 A Mix CD Joe Gave Me

2014

What Surgery, Bitch? Records

Format I Own it on: CD-R



Woah...I just got in from taking out the trash and our neighbor was blasting some country song really loud and it's about "Day Drinking"...And they rhymed it with "Sun sinking." That can't be good...

While I was out, I decided to check the mail and was excited to find a package from my old buddy Joe (pictured above)! Yes! I love getting packages from Joe! They always have some badass mix CD full of either (a. old favorites that I haven't heard since the 90's and/or (b. New stuff that I haven't heard, which gives me new things to look for when I'm at the record store...There's no printed track listing or anything so I'm either googling or guessing what a lot of this is...Whever possible, I put in a video so you can hear Joe's Mic CD too...Some of 'em weren't on youtube though and I didn't feel like making videos, so...

Track 1: Lee Bains III and the Glory Fires: Dereconstructed

Oh yea! I listened to these guys a few weeks ago on youtube...I can't believe I haven't heard anyone come up with this sound before...At its core it's the kind of rootsy Southern rock you'd expect to hear on the radio but he overlays this big, noisy, distorted guitar over the whole thing that instantly makes everything 10 times more exciting...You have to turn this shit up...It's a must...Plus he gets points for having an Alabama shirt...I think my Mom went to an Alabama show somewhere in the 80's and I want to say John Schneider from the Dukes of Hazzard was there also...Am I remembering that correctly? 

Track 2: Daniel Romano: Hard On You

Joe also recently introduced me to the musical stylings of Daniel Romanao...I remember watching a live video of the song "There are Lines in My Face" and marveling at how much the bass player looked like Jeff Goldblum in Buckaroo Boinzai...Man, Daniel Romano always has the coolest country duds...Musically, it reminds me of Gram Parson's spacey country style...Wide-eyed and shimmering with cosmic awe...God bless the kids these days for putting out stuff like this...






 

Track 3: Ryan Adams & the Cardinals: Numbers

I have a few Ryan Adams albums but I've never heard this one...I always think Ryan is at his best when he's rocking out...Sure, I like the quieter, singer-songwriter stuff too, but I like ROCK even more! And this shit rocks...Tight, power-pop guitars and he tosses in a country breakdown too! Mixing shit up...I love it...His recent self-titled album has been one of the best things I've heard all year and it's put me on a huge Ryan Adams kick, so I think I better check out this "III/IV" record...

Track  4: J Mascis: Me Again

I know that old croak anywhere! It's the shambling front-man for Dinosaur Jr! Except there are no overloaded amps or screaming guitar solos in sight...It's 100% acoustic, but his style is so identifiable that you hardly even notice how unadorned it is...You could easily plug in the guitar and toss Murph behind the drumkit and you'd have a solid Dinosaur Jr number...I've been meaning to check this album out but I've been holding out for a vinyl copy because that album cover is so fucking amazing that a standard CD booklet just can't do it justice...Look at it!!!

Track 5: The War on Drugs: In Reverse

Oh, I love this song...Joe told me check it out before, so I dutifully went to youtube and listened to it a few times in a row...It's absolutely stunning...Reminiscent of both 70's Bob Dylan and atmospheric 80's rock...It feels great to get lost in the song's hazy epic running time...After I youtubed it I went to Zia Records that day to purchase a copy and for some reason they didn't have one, which made zero sense...This is the exact type of thing that store usually carries...So I'm happy Joe burned this for me...I've spent the last few days at work playing it over and over...

Track 6: Real Estate: Primitive

Maybe its all the Dire Straits I've been listening to lately, but when this song started I fully expected to hear Mark Knopfler singing...It's got that same ultra-clean noodly sound...Damn, these guys are smooth...

Track 7: Drive By Truckers: Puttin' People on the Moon

I'm just about to get to the Drive by Truckers section of the blog...There's a coupla bands before them, but they're the next big one...And for the sheer amount of DBT albums I own, there are still a large number that I don't have...This being one of them...Nobody does detailed storytelling like these guys...Their songs are like novellas for the ears...Wait, I guess that would be an audiobook...Yea, these guys are like an audiobook with a Southern Rock soundtrack...Pretty humbling stuff for any aspiring songwriter...

Track 8: Ryan Adams: Cold Roses

Ryan Adams doing some gospelly-type country-rock...I can't recall hearing this before but he's very good at this whole dusty, shuffly 70's thing...

Track 9: Kurt Vile: Society is My Friend

I only know Kurt Vile's music through Joe's previous mix CD's but I used to see the name a lot and imagined him being some sort of punk singer or something...In reality,  he does this really dreamy, cloudy stuff...This has some sort of relaxed tribal beat throughout that makes me think of  80's Cure for some reason...Super interesting...

Track 10: Lee Bains III and the Glory Fires:The Kudzu and the Concrete

Yay! Some more Lee Bains...I like the choice from going from the Kurt Vile to Lee Bains...You get kind of lulled into Kurt's haze and then BAM! That fuzzy guitar  slaps you back to reality...



Track 11: J Mascis + the Fog: All the Girls

More J Mascis! The man with the golden groan. This is from his pre-Dino reunion period...It sounds exactly like the later Dinosaur Jr albums, which were essentially J Mascis solo albums anyway...

Track 12: Jason Isbell: Sunstroke

From the minute I put on Drive by Trucker's "Decoration Day" and heard "Outfit" for the first time I knew Jason Isbell was the man...What was the new guy doing stealing the show? It's one of those songs with lyrics so vivid that they proved unforgettable...Eventually he left DBT and started his own solo project..."Sunstroke" is nice...An understated melancholy waltz that has a pretty cool Wilco-esque noise section...One of those songs where you're hanging out w/ your buddies drinking beer and everybody suddenly goes quiet so they can listen to the song...

Track 13: Ryan Bingham: The Other Side

Even though he dresses like Han Solo, I enjoy Ryan Bingham...Rough-voiced rootsy bar-rock...When I listen to "The Other Side" I immediately picture neon PBR signs, watery beer  and uneven pool tables...I did a post on Ryan's "Junky Star" album that Joe sent me a year or so ago...You can read that post here: lhttp://fridaynightrecordparty.blogspot.com/2013/09/ryan-bingham-dead-horses-junky-star.html

Track 14: I don't know what this is but it's one of the best songs on the mix...It sounds like Ryan Adams contributing a track to the White Album...



Track 15: Lucero: 1979

Woah! This guy sounds like he means it...Hey! I was alive in 1979! I was pretty young though...Holy shit...I'm an old man...When I was a kid years started with 19's...

Track 16 The War on Drugs: Lost in the Dream

Google tells me that the US has spent over 1 trillion dollars fighting these guys...I wonder why...They seem like pretty cool guys...Now I'm in the mood to listen to some old Bob Dylan...

 Track 17: Real Estate: Hard to Hear

I like this even better than the last Real Estate song on here...It's very subtly catchy...Gets stuck in my head without me even noticing...I think this officially sells me on these guys...Are these guys any relation to Sunny Day Real Estate? They have the same last name...

Track 18: Kurt Vile: Pure Pain

This song goes all kinds of places...See, you can be soft and relaxing without being boring...It's got a very cool, knotty rhythm and some spacey finger-pickin'...

 Track 19: Drive by Truckers: Bob

Hey, I know this one! This one was also on the last CD Joe burned for me...It's pretty hilarious...I don't think I've ever heard the term "Light in the Loafers" used in a song before...Mike Cooley cracks me up sometimes...He can write a good weeper, but I love it when he's the darkly humorous counterpoint to Patterson Hood's epic tragedies...This is a weird song to write though...Bob sounds like a pretty cool guy...I kinda want to hang out with Bob...

Thanks for the package Joe!!