Audio Mix: Listology Secret Santa: Dan's Mix: 2006

I was hoping that I'd get your mix ever since you put up the track list. I love your taste in music and I just can't get me enough of that Jesus Christ Superstar. When I was much younger I remember beer commercials on the radio featuring Yvonne Elliman.

Not only was I too young to drink I was also too young to know that Ms. Elliman had one of the hits on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. I thought it was pretty neat-o that one of the leads from JCS got an endorsement deal from Budweiser (or was it Michelob?) I also had no idea who Hoyt Axton was and why he was the other celebrity spokes-singer.

For a handful of years it didn't seem like it was Easter unless I or one of my friends was in a production of Jesus Christ Superstar... ahhh, good times. Except for the excruciating boredom of the 39 lashes. Pardon my French but, Jesus! that was awful. We'd never rehearse the entire sequence. It'd go something like: digga dow-now-now dow dow, ONE! digga dow-now-now dow dow THIRTY-EIGHT! digga dow-now-now dow dow, THIRTY-NINE!! But come performance time we had to go through the entire stupid sequence. Ugggh.

"Superstar," on the other hand, I love unconditionally. I collect different versions including ones by Social Insanity and an awesome one by Don Ellis. The instrumental electric big band Ellis version uses quarter-tone trumpets and is in a bunch of different time signatures. It starts in 15 (8+7... or 4/4 dropping a beat every four bars, whatever.) After briefly dropping into 4/4 for the chorus Ellis bites off a trumpet solo in 7/4. And then, then the band breaks up into sections, each in their own time signature! Delightful! Not at all nutritious but I do love those "odd" time signatures

Isaac Hayes - Run Fay Run
Oh! I love that Zigaboo second line funk groove. That is wonderful. Have you ever seen the documentary Wattstax? It's a great 1973 concert film intercut with clips of Richard Pryor in a bar working through racial issues that would soon enter his act. One of the (many) great moments is Jesse Jackson trying to introduce Isaac Hayes while persuading the audience to return to their seats. During the previous act's set the audience had stormed the stadium infield. With memories of the Watts Riots and Altamont fresh in the mind it seems that Jackson, complete with afro and dashiki, might fail in calming the waters. And then...

Isaac Hayes hits the stage in full-on Black Moses mode, stripped to the waist and with a vest made of gold chains. The crowd explodes and sits back down. Hayes's charisma is so powerful that nobody wants to be the one to cut short his performance. And now the song been over for a while and there have been no vocals. Where'd you find this track? I do love it 'n' all but I wasn't expecting that.

I once worked with or, more precisely, near a piano player who would seed his tip jar every night with a $100 bill with a picture of Isaac Hayes on it. He never gave me a bit of trouble after I asked him if he wanted me to break it into two Barry Whites or five Curtis Mayfields.

Ugly Duckling - Let It Out
I think the rap version of the Spector wall of sound is so neat. Who are these guys? If they've really been around since 1993 then I'm surprised I don't know them (him?) I didn't recoil from pop music until '97 or '98. When was this made. The production sounds really recent. These guys are clever. I miss the funny, light-hearted, agile rappers. Where have you gone De La Soul? A nation turns its lonely eyes to you. I like the references. James Brown, Tracey Bonham, Scorsese (if the song isn't too old)... nice old school scratchin' and "primate... tri-state." Is the final gunshot a slap at the gangstas?

Whatever happened to 3rd Bass?

The Kinks - Around The Dial
Ahhh... old-schole pre-Clear Channel rock. The world sure has changed. Alan Freed, Wolfman Jack, John Peel... even Casey Kasem. Disc jockeys have joined phone booths, carbon paper and Communists in the ranks of the inexplicable. There is something about Ray Davies' voice that I just don't understand outside the context of "Superman."

"Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars."

A Band of Bees - Chicken Payback
Wonderful. I love crowd singing, switch one word songs. "The Name Game" et al. This track also sounds new to me. You gotta love with the line, "Pay the monkey back."

I've just remembered how much I miss Gary Larson.

David Bowie - Queen Bitch
I would have sworn that this was Lou Reed until about halfway through when Bowie starts singing in his "Suffragette City" range. I'm assuming this is from the same era. My brother read Bowie's first wife's autobiography. He says that she makes a compelling case for her contribution to Bowie's chameleon persona(s). She also emphasizes that his last culturally relevant transformation occurred just about the time they split up. I think I like this song but I'm going to have to look up the lyrics. There's something "bippity-boppity." I enjoy Bowie when he talks about wanting to play saxophone for Ray Charles. I should break out my Sound + Vison box set. I can see if the video still works. I much prefer it when Bowie sings in his "Young American" and "TVC-15" register...

and ohhh my beloved Goblin King from Labyrinth. A friend of mine ("David") says that if he had been born just a couple months later his mother would have named him "Jareth." I am very, very old.

How did I hate Tin Machine? Let me count the ways: every way.

Executive Slacks - Fire and Ice
I have no idea what the vocals are saying. I get the feeling that I could perform this song. I don't know how I feel about that.

Ocean Colour Scene - Hundred Mile High City
So... do you like upper-mid register songs with a full/busy sound... and guitars? I like this. "Colour." So they're British. Wait a minute: I'm really enjoying how this track is constructed. The different sections, the layering of sounds, the unison playing... the guitars; there is something very Queenish to it. And there's a touch of that "Incense and Peppermints" song to the vocals. I can't remember the name of the band to save my life. It's a side effect of my meds.

Back to the Britishness. I really need to get out more. Is the rest of their stuff this good, interesting and/or well-constructed? I liked that. It was cool.

Kings of Leon - Molly's Chambers
You know what, I'd swear that I've heard this in some television commercial. I enjoyed it. Although I'd have to say that it must be a ineffective commercial because I can't remember what the product was. (A credit card?) It feels as if half of my song selections in the past were used in adverts. I don't know if I'm proud or embarrassed about that... or who I'd be proud/embarrassed for. I do like that other people think the songs are evocative.

Sloan - The Good In Everyone
I can understand and appreciate studio work. But I think that everyone should see their favourite artists live in concert. Even if they suck you can gain an appreciation of what they do in the studio or get a sense of their personality. Everyone should see more live shows. Most of them cost less than seeing a movie and some are as cheap as a latte. A musician I like once wrote in liner notes that he hoped, "that the number of people who can say, 'I saw them when there were only six people there' will not increase.." Think about it.

Of course one of his band mates once said on stage that, "You should never pick your nose after going out for sushi." Think about it. I think that's the most brilliant stage chatter I've ever heard.

Sloan - The Lines You Amend
This almost sounded like "Stuck in the Middle with You" at first.

Sloan - Everything You've Done Wrong
So... you like Sloan. I think I can see why.

Procession - Living Alone
This I did not like. I'm probably being unfair because it's late and I'm getting cranky. At first this track just didn't grab me. When I went back to try and figure out why this was the case I started looking for a fight. I've settled on them hitting the beat(s) like a metronome or an aggressive click track. I've also decided to go to bed.

Falling Joys - You're In A Mess
Ooh! female back up vocalist! Is this what Neil Finn is doing with himself. I like songs that tell me how screwed I am.

Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs - And Your Bird Can Sing
Oh Susanna! best Bangle ever. If I recall correctly, Matthew Sweet annoys me. I think it's because he was on MTV when I was weaning myself off of the channel. It is very difficult to strike the right balance on Beatles covers. Their songs are so iconic that straight performance rarely works. But that also means that an artist's interpretation can't wander too far from the source... unless it's a novelty version. There's a really weird Beatles-covering performance by Sarah Vaughn. It is quite frightening what happens when a record company decides to try and force an artist to sell records.

I like the unique pairing quality here.

Aerosmith does a fine "Come Together." Come to think of it, Aerosmith should perform nothing but covers. That would make me happy(er.) I like it Joe Cocker's many Beatles covers. I love his version of "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window" more than the original Beatles snippet from the Abbey Road medley. What a wonderful farewell F-you that medley was from the Beatles to all the other bands. The Beatles throw a half-dozen great pop songs on the pyre for their last album... and then George comes out with a triple album, All Things Must Pass, with two albums' worth of "John and Paul were so mean that they would only let me have one song per album" compositions. Joe Cocker should also do nothing but covers... and I think he does.

Brad Mehldau has covered Beatles songs (as well as Radiohead, Paul Simon and others.) I like his approach because you usually can't tell that they are cover tunes until near the end when he finally quotes the melody. It forces you to go back and re-think the performance based on a new context. Bobby McFerrin has an insane version of "Blackbird" performed live that you gotta hear to believe.

I love the story that Sinatra would introduce "Something" as his "favourite Lennon and McCartney song."

Todd Rundgren - Hodja
So... do you like Queen?

What a great producer. Once again I love crowd songs ("Bang on the Drum All Day") even if it is just Rundgren layered over himself ala Queen.

I had no idea that Liv Tyler's fake dad knew anything about Nastraddin Hodja. I assume that "teach me how to spin" means that Rundgren wants to become a dervish. I'm looking forward to the Rundgren produced album of Qawwali.

There are some great stories about Hodja and Hitur Peter, Turkish and Bulgarian wise fools. It's funny, Bulgaria seems to have kept more Hodja folk tales than Turkey if only to beat up on him. Love this song.

Titans - Don't You Just Know It
Fantastic.

Incubus - Azwethinkweiz
Hey! whistling. I have very little idea what these guys are singing but I like the music... are they swearing at me. That's what I get for listening to something. Nice ride cymbal for parts of this. Hey! there's backwards masking vocals commanding me to... eat more chocolate.

Whatever you say, Incubus.

The Waterboys - Fisherman's Blues
Col. I love modernized British Isles folk groups. Planxty, Coolfin, Solas, Steeleye Span ("All Around My Hat"), The Bothy Band... Mervent (okay, they're Russian but their hearts are Celtic.) The Chieftans are usually just a bit too precious.

Pizzicato Five - Such A Beautiful Girl Like You
All right! Women. Chicks. Babes, broads, dames, gals, ladies...

Your taste is much more sophisticated than mine. This is great and all but I prefer the shallow sugary froth of J-pop. What's that voice telling me to do at the end of the track? I don't speak Japanese but I think it was about more chocolate.

Gun shot, backwards masking, Japanese conversation... do you have a thing for the incongruous closing flourish?

R.E.M. - Life And How To Live It
Great. I remember the days when I liked everything R.E.M did. Now I either love or hate what they do.

The Stranglers - Golden Brown
I love that it's in 6/8... the rest of it I don't really get.

Emiliana Torrini - Sunnyroad
This really sounds like Erin McKeown to me. That's good. I think that you're trying to ease off the accelerator, slow it down, mellow out, relax but I'm chock full o' chocolate. I will have to come back to this.

Yvonne Elliman - Everything's Alright
Yes. Everything's better than all right.

That was excellent. Thank you for that... just can't get me enough of that Jesus Christ Superstar. Allow me to close with:

!gnaB I just shot a guy from Tokyo.