I heard a rumor that you… died and went to hell… But it was too cold for you, and you never kiss and tell. About high time for a new mixtape… Enjoy. Cool times and tasty love await you…
Nico Vega: Beast
I kinda hit the snooze button with this band at first. There was some buzz around LA, their name got dropped on me here and there, but with only their name to go on, I took them for some sort of psychedelic shoegaze folk band or something. I was way off.
Take the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ formula, but replace the New York with some Los Angeles. Take out the indie spaz-outs and replace that with some good old fashioned (occasionally cocky) rock n’ roll. Serve warm and sweaty.
Electric Six: Dirty Ball
I don’t think Johnny or I have ever made a mix CD without some Electric Six on it somewhere. This one’s off their latest, which we had sex with in September. Put it in your ear hole and be liberated.
John Lennon: Steel And Glass (Outtake Version)
I first heard this song when Dios Malos covered it at the Buddyhead Holiday Party last year. Fucking blew me away. Joel sent me this obscure outtake version, which his cover was based on.
Portugal. The Man: And I
Pop Levi: Semi-Babe
We’ve talked about these two (very different) bands a lot here over the past year or so. I won’t beat broken unicorns- just check ’em out.
Grant Lee Buffalo: Mockingbirds
Obscure 90s alt rock deep cut. A kid named Coz I grew up with was all about Grant Lee Buffalo’s Mighty Joe Moon one summer about a million years ago. They probably have a ton of great tracks, but only this one managed to permanently lodge itself into my soul. You can find it in the jukebox at Spaceland in Silverlake last I checked. Blow the hipsters’ minds with it next time you’re there.
William Elliott Whitmore: Hard Times
I love this song. And I just realized that It’s one of the simplest, musically, ever written. The verse is one chord. The chorus is one chord. And there’s a little bridge part that’s one chord. If you own a guitar, you can probably already play this song. A, D, E.
But that’s the mark of a truly ageless song. I don’t mean a song that’s still cool 2 decades years after it’s written. I’m talking a song that’s still cool 2 centuries after it’s written.
Only a true artist can make a song this good with so little. The guitar and vocals are really just accompanying Will’s old soul.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Dull Life
It took me a little while to come around to this album. Johnny called it their best to date when he reviewed it, and I was skeptical. But he was right.
Nine Inch Nails: Non-Entity
Jane’s Addiction: Pig’s In Zen
We’re excited for the NIN/JA 2009 tour, despite the cheesy but inevitable name. Here I could say something overly romantic about the energy these bands brought to the music scene in the 90s and how them getting back together for one last jaunt could wake the record industry out of its coma. But the fact of the matter is it’s been brain-dead for years, and all we’re really hoping is that after these bands retire, we’re fortunate enough to have something half as good around, to keep us all from blowing our brains out.
The NIN track comes off their free NIN/JA tour sampler, an outtake from With Teeth. The Jane’s track is one of a few that made a fan out of me. It found its way onto a few memorable road trip mixes when Johnny and I lived survived in San Diego.
Res: They-Say Vision
Res is one third of Idle Warship, and an artist I’ve been a fan of for years. I don’t want to ruin the surprise, but we’re going to be doing something really exciting with Res here very soon. She deserves the chance Geffen never gave her… in a very big way.
