Secret Santas Early Gift
I got 3 discs and here's what I thought:
1. AJDaGreat's Santa'd & Enchanted:
AJ and I have basically the same taste, and basically the same sources to draw from. Therefore I've heard 90 % of the tracks before (I even bought an Apples In Stereo CD on his sayso) which made it considerably more easy to appraise and enjoy.
What I liked best:
1) The transition from Todd Rundgren to Gang Of Four is surely one of my favorite musical moments of 2004.
2) Musical diversity.
3) Cool American flag CD and a great title.
What I liked least:
1) The sequencing of tracks is sometimes pretty rough.
2) Al Stewart (just kidding, or am I)
2. A CD labelled "II" and with a tiny green tree.
This mix contains some of the strangest and intrisically interesting music I've ever heard.
What I like best:
1) Musical diversity! Holy Crap!
2) The "listen first" proviso on the back of the playlist (which I did BTW).
3) Jacques Brel.
4) A lot of really fun, unusual songs.
What I like least:
1) Very little flow in the choices which makes the collection more like a list of singles than a cohesive whole.
2) Solomon Burke's "Hold On, I'm Coming" (I've never liked this cover).
3) Clash of musical styles and song tempos can get a tad irritating.
The CD that ends with "David Sedaris' Six To Eight Black Men".
A mix which balances subtly emotional pieces and pop rockers with aplomb.
What I like best.
1) Excellent choice of music that creates a mood.
2) Very good sequencing forming a cohesive whole.
3) Suzanne Vega's The Queen And The Soldier (I love that song too)
4) Length: at 68 minutes and 15 tracks this mix never overstays it's welcome.
5) Stands up to multiple listens.
6) The inclussion of a comedy sketch (David Sedaris: Six To Eight Black Men) at the end is truly brilliant! (not to mention hilarious)
What I like least
1) There wasn't a second disc.
Advice
1) Whoever made this collection could make mix tapes as a profession.
Wow, stook, thanks for all the praise heaped on my "Six to Eight Black Men" mix! My musical taste stagnated pretty well after college, but I've been working on that for the past year or so. I was worried I'd spent all my best material on my mix last year, but I'm happy with the way this one came out. I fear next year might expose my inability to make mix tapes professionally though!
I wish I'd had a chance to listen to your mix before sending it along (I remember you asking for feedback). After I ran out of time I tried to make a copy, but for some reason my burner software threw an odd, "this disc is protected by the next-generation copy protection scheme", or something like that.
Anyway, happy holidays, and again, I'm thrilled you like the mixes you received!
This compilation has been put on my best of 2004 list as well, holding up #20.
I'm thinking I'll have to stay a member of listology just to catch your "sophtmore release" as it were. The web site and per-life are coming together well, so I'm going to focus some time on listology and return with several posts.
Merry Christmas right backatcha.
Are you feeling the "how do I top the 2004 mix" pressure already? :?)
T'ho
Oh man, maybe I shouldn't let my subscription to Uncut lapse. I'll need it now more than ever if I'm going to make a halfway decent mix in '05!
I'm oh-so-very-very-very happy you're coming back to Listology! What a lovely Christmas present!
You're an "Uncut" man...interesting, I'm a Maxim Blender man myself, more chance of gratuitous nudity. :?D
I'm happy that your happy that I'm back and happy, or at least I think that's what it is.
T'ho
Thanks for the comments! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Sorry about the Al Stewart. My friend sent me that song a while ago and on a whim I decided to include it. I thought it was a pretty interesting song, at least. But anyway...
I'm sure there were a few songs on there you didn't know, right? Had you heard the Adam Again, Mark Heard, World Party, or Jude songs before?
How about that wonderful song by the Cicadas? I won't be able to put that song on again until Secret Santa 2021! :-)
I had a lot of fun listening to your mix while trying to avoid looking the playlist and guessing songs. :?)
I hadn't heard: Mark Heard, The Cicadas (great song), Adam Again. Everything else was used goods (:?D) but when building a mix tape it's all about context, everything sounds different when juxtaposed with a different style (the amazing sound of Gang Of Four following Todd Rundgren...AND IT ACTUALLY WORKS!) Good job!
T'ho
Wait a minute. Had you heard that answering machine message where the mother sings Happy Birthday? Really?
Thanks for the kind words. I did try to make the order interesting, but sometimes it was hard. The Jesus and Mary Chain song, for example, shouldn't be juxtaposed with anything.
I wonder who else got my mix...
Well, you know, I've heard it, just not being said by that voice if you get my meaning (with more when are you gonna impregnate some poor hapless girl type innuendo). So I guess the answer is a yes tinged no. Where the heck is that from anyway?
Yeah I have the same question, I know Imposter got mine (poor fellah) but who else?
T'ho
It's from a really hilarious CD called Amy's Answering Machine that my mom decided to buy on a whim one day. It's 28 real messages from the answering machine of Amy Brokowsky (a Jewish girl from New York) by her mother (a stereotypical Jewish mother). There are some other gems on there, so I'll have a huge supply for future mixes.
I've heard of this, it was mentioned on "New Music" (a Canuckian program dealing with the obvious). What was suprising about the three mixes is all included a spoken word section, that's kinda spooky.
T'ho