2006年 06月 19日 月曜日 09:37

I'd done 2 mixtapes for the Painfully Alone. This is a sort of companion piece or simply for late night listening when you're having problems falling asleep. While those were about lyrics and sentiments, thhis one is all about soundscapes and textures

1. One Evening (Gonzales Solo Piano) – Feist
Taken off Feist’s remix album Open Season, the piano alone starts the night off. Silky and contemplative.

2. I Found A Reason – Cat Power
Cat Power’s cover of Velvet Underground’s classic stripped bare and stares straight into your soul.

3. Judah and the Macabees – Damon and Naomi with Ghost
I never had that much faith in Damon and Naomi after Galaxie 500 broke up. They never seemed the same without Dean Wareham at the helm. But this gorgeous number the did with Ghost is haunting (excuse the pun). My favourite track by them.

4. Stargazer – The Zephyrs
One of those slow-burners that takes its time to build up and float across your room.

5. Altantic City (Gonna Make A Million Tonight) – East River Pipe
FM Cornog is one of the most underrated songwriters around. He’s been doing this for a long time now, and it was great to see Lambchop giving him some kudos when they covered his tracks on What Another Man Spills. Gasoline Age is one of my favourite ERP albums. I’ve never been down a great big highway at 3am in the morning across America, but if I did, this would be on the soundtrack to that journey.

6. If You Ever Need a Stranger (to sing at your wedding) – Jens Lekman
A fascinating sentiment from Mr Lekman. If I could have gotten hold of him, I would have taken him up on his offer for my wedding.

7. The Night is Young – The Bathers
Operatic, cinematic, painfully, painfully melancholic. If you haven’t heard them yet, you need to.

8. Wild Horses – The Sundays
Harriet Wheeler’s vocals and David Gavurin’s guitars aren’t quite Keith and Mick, but shimmering and glowing like fireflies in a field, they illuminate the cover of night with the faintest but most brilliant of glows.

9. I Put A Spell On You – Nina Simone
The high priestess of twilight voodoo. I love how her vocals wrap around the song, and there’s almost a sense of desperation as she puts the hex on you. Slightly sinister, romantic, you can almost smell the smoke and sweat of her singing this in a smoky bar after hours.

10. Do You Believe In Rapture – Sonic Youth
A gorgeous track off their latest Rather Ripped album. Thurston Moore intones about the coming of the Rapture. Heed the man.

11. Fairest of the Season – Nico
Nico’s songs are always perfect for listening in the death of the night.

12. Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois – Sufjan Stevens
If you’ve stayed up late enough and stared hard enough at the night sky, you’ll probably be seeing what Sufjan sees no matter where you live.

13. Little Girl Blue – Chet Baker
Chet’s got the kind of forlorn voice that conjures up images of a fragile soul. I guess its easy for him with the kind of life he had.

14. Sea of Sound – The Pale Saints
Like gentle waves slowly crashing onto the shore. Imagine sitting there at 3am, on the beach letting the waves build on and on and on…

15. Protection (The Eno Mix) – Massive Attack
Massive Attack with Tracey Thornstripped down to bare basics by Brian Eno on this remix. Just Thorn’s vocals and atmospherics, brooding and brewing.

16. Virgin Beauty – Ornette Coleman
I’d just like to say first of all that I am not a big Ornette Coleman fan. I only know snatches of his work. But when I came across this track of his a few years back, it kinda grabbed me. Its somehow melodic, yet it ain’t. I thought I needed to inject a little dissonance into the mix, yet not stray too far.

17. No One – Trespassers William
Off their latest album, Having, this floats. Bringing a sense of calm back into the mix.

18. Elle – Blueboy
A simple short and wistful classical guitar piece.

19. A Single Wish – This Mortal Coil
By the time this songs hits, it should be daybreak. Lovely as the sun slowly peaks out from beyond the horizon.

20. In A Landscape – John Cage
Again, I’m no John Cage aficionado, but I heard this off David Toop’s Ocean of Sound compilation years back and it’s a marvelous way to come way down and try to get yourself into dreamland. Fading piano lines moving geometrically, dynamically, spiraling, winding taking you down unknown lanes. I'd just checked the link for this track preview on Last.fm, and its an electronica version by William Orbit. I'd just like to say that Cage's original version is nothing like the version on preview.

Ok…I think I should try to do a Summer Soundtrack sometime soon. In the meantime, let know what you think of this new mix.