The Mixtape 4/24/09: Spring Cleaning

It's Spring cleaning week at The Mixtape with a quarter of last week's songs being replaced by new entries.

Among the fresh sounds are Mixtape first-timers Wale (30), Billy Boy on Poison (34), Cursive (35), and Tweak Bird (40). Old vets seeing new action are Clipse (20), Ben Harper and his kick-ass new band the Relentless 7 (24), The Thermals (33), The Cool Kids (37), Super Furry Animals (38), and even Green Day sneaks in at 39 despite the tongue-lashing I gave them earlier this week.

There's plenty of shaking up going on with the other 30 songs that remain from last week. Iran's "Buddy" leaps from 10-2, proving that we will go ga-ga over anything TV on the Radio-related. Woods' blissfully lo-fi "Rain On" splits the distance to the top, moving from 20-10 while "Who's Asking?" by Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band climbs from 36-29. Steady wins the race for this band and its train-wreck name.

As was alluded to last week, Clipse are the highest of the new entries with their Kanye West collabo debuting at 20 while Ben Harper's first single from his upcoming new longplayer, White Lies For Dark Times, is close behind at 24 in its first week on the 'tape.

On Deck:

Next week should see a couple more new tunes breaking the top 40: Camera Obscura's second Mixtape-bound track from My Maudlin Career, "French Navy" and the return of Hanson. Yes. That Hanson.

The former Mmmboppers should see their lead singer Taylor appear on the 'tape as part of Tinted Windows, a pop-music lovefest featuring an all grown-up Taylor (has been for years now), Fountains of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger, former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha, and Cheap Trick drummer Bun E. Carlos.

The first single from their just-released self-titled debut album, "Kind of a Girl," is a roll down the windows and crank it up, bubblegummy jam that, if you're Adam Schlesinger, is just that thing you do.

1. Panic Switch / Silversun Pickups (4 weeks @ #1) iTunes MySpace
2. Buddy / Iran iTunes MySpace
3. Seaside / Kestrels iTunes MySpace
4. Houses / Great Northern iTunes MySpace
5. Now I'm a Fool / Eagles of Death Metal iTunes MySpace
6. Zero / Yeah Yeah Yeahs iTunes MySpace
7. The Rake's Song / The Decemberists iTunes MySpace
8. Now We Can See / The Thermals iTunes MySpace
9. It's Nice to Know You Work Alone / Silversun Pickups iTunes MySpace
10. Rain On/ Woods iTunes MySpace
11. Oblivion / Mastodon iTunes MySpace
12. Cheerleader / Grizzly Bear iTunes MySpace
13. Night Lights / Golden Bear iTunes MySpace
14. Cemetery Songs / The Archibalds iTunes MySpace
15. Pulling On a Line / Great Lake Swimmers iTunes MySpace
16. Ghetto Love / Spinnerette iTunes MySpace
17. Go Square Go / Glasvegas iTunes MySpace
18. Statues / Clap Your Hands Say Yeah iTunes MySpace
19. Providence, RI / Nickel Eye iTunes MySpace
20. Kinda Like a Big Deal / Clipse ft. Kanye West iTunes MySpace
21. My Maudlin Career / Camera Obscura iTunes MySpace
22. My Girls / Animal Collective iTunes MySpace
23. I Was Once a Loyal Lover / Death Cab For Cutie iTunes MySpace
24. Shimmer and Shine / Ben Harper & the Relentless 7 iTunes MySpace
25. Perfect Games / The Broken West iTunes MySpace
26. Little Bribes / Death Cab For Cutie iTunes MySpace
27. Just Impolite / Plushgun iTunes MySpace
28. Back 'Round / Wolfmother iTunes MySpace
29. Who's Asking? / Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band iTunes MySpace
30. Chillin' / Wale ft. Lady Gaga iTunes MySpace
31. Starting Over / Black Lips iTunes MySpace
32. 1901 / Phoenix iTunes MySpace
33. When I Died / The Thermals iTunes MySpace
34. On My Way / Billy Boy on Poison iTunes MySpace
35. From the Hips / Cursive iTunes MySpace
36. The Box / The 1990s iTunes MySpace
37. Pennies / The Cool Kids iTunes MySpace
38. Mt. / Super Furry Animals iTunes MySpace
39. Know Your Enemy / Green Day iTunes MySpace
40. Whorses / Tweak Bird iTunes MySpace

The Mixtape 4/20/09: Ups and downs, a new TV channel, and the horizon is now.

This week it's more about what's not on the Mixtape than what is.

First, what's on: Six out of the top ten hold their spots this week including the top three. Mastodon (13) ,Grizzly Bear (15), Woods, and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (19) are all making moves upwards while Camera Obscura (21), The Broken West (22), and Phoenix (23) all begin to fade away.

TV on the Radio's Kyp Malone returns to the top ten - a familiar setting for him considering the late 2008 saturation of songs from TVOTR's Dear Science in the upper quarter of the 'tape. This time it's with his pre-TVOTR band, Iran, and theirfirst single off their third album, Dissolver. Buddy is moving quickly up the 'tape and looks to break through the Thermals/Spinnerette/Decemberists log jam next week.

Now for what's not on the Mixtape (but will be very shortly). Sure, there is the inevitable appearance in the next few weeks from Green Day's "Know Your Enemy," the first single from their newest conceptual excess, 21st Century Breakdown. It will get some spins for sure, but I would rather hear another Foxboro Hot Tubs record than American Idiot part deux. Call me a simpleton.

What I did hear today (and is currently on infinite replay) is the new Clipse song featuring Kanye West. Yeezy is actually rapping again without that damn AutoTune nonsense and Pusha T and Malice are flowing like their hustlin' selves. The song, which accurately describes itself, is called "Kinda Like a Big Deal" and will be on the Mixtape next week. It will also most likely be on Clipse's upcoming third album, Till The Casket Drops, which should be out late summer. It's been a couple years since the last time I heard it like this.

1. Panic Switch / Silversun Pickups (3 weeks @ #1) iTunes MySpace
2. Now I'm a Fool / Eagles of Death Metal iTunes MySpace
3. Zero / Yeah Yeah Yeahs iTunes MySpace
4. Seaside / Kestrels iTunes MySpace
5. Houses / Great Northern iTunes MySpace
6. The Rake's Song / The Decemberists iTunes MySpace
7. Ghetto Love / Spinnerette iTunes MySpace
8. Now We Can See / The Thermals iTunes MySpace
9. Go Square Go / Glasvegas iTunes MySpace
10. Buddy / Iran iTunes MySpace
11. It's Nice to Know You Work Alone / Silversun Pickups iTunes MySpace
12. Providence, RI / Nickel Eye iTunes MySpace
13. Oblivion / Mastodon iTunes MySpace
14. Night Lights / Golden Bear iTunes MySpace
15. Cheerleader / Grizzly Bear iTunes MySpace
16. Cemetery Songs / The Archibalds iTunes MySpace
17. Pulling On a Line / Great Lake Swimmers iTunes MySpace
18. My Girls / Animal Collective iTunes MySpace
19. Statues / Clap Your Hands Say Yeah iTunes MySpace
20. Rain On/ Woods iTunes MySpace
21. My Maudlin Career / Camera Obscura iTunes MySpace
22. Perfect Games / The Broken West iTunes MySpace
23. 1901 / Phoenix iTunes MySpace
24. Search and Destroy / Peaches iTunes MySpace
25. I Was Once a Loyal Lover / Death Cab For Cutie iTunes MySpace
26. Back 'Round / Wolfmother iTunes MySpace
27. Starting Over / Black Lips iTunes MySpace
28. Brother Sport / Animal Collective iTunes Myspace
29. Just Impolite / Plushgun iTunes MySpace
30. My Last Mistake / Dan Auerbach iTunes MySpace
31. Little Bribes / Death Cab For Cutie iTunes MySpace
32. Come Saturday / The Pains of Being Pure at Heart iTunes MySpace
33. Wire to Wire / Razorlight iTunes MySpace
34. The Ancient Common Sense of Things / Bishop Allen iTunes MySpace
35. Wrong / Depeche Mode iTunes MySpace
36. Who's Asking? / Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band iTunes MySpace
37. Sleepyhead / Passion Pit iTunes MySpace.
38. One Week of Danger / The Virgins iTunes MySpace
39. Trepanation Party/ Voxtrot iTunes MySpace
40. The Box / The 1990s iTunes MySpace

The Mixtape 4/06/09

Well that didn't take long. After owning the Mixtape back in 2007 with "Lazy Eye," Silversun Pickups return to the top with "Panic Switch," after only three weeks on the chart. There's something about well-crafted straight up guitar-driven rock that brings glee to the 'Tape. It seems like almost a forgotten art these days. Call it three chords and the truth. Call it kickin' out the jams. It seems that the bands that are doing all the rocking these days lack the emotion or sincerity to really resonate. Or I'm getting old. (Nah)

I grew up on 80s metal - all varieties. It started in the early eighties with Def Leppard's Pyromania, Ozzy Osbourne's Diary of a Madman, and Motley Crue's Shout At The Devil. That initial introduction to the harder side of things gave way to the horrible in hindsight (though delightful at the time) hair metal. Then grunge, then...well, sometime after Pantera's third album, alternative rock took metal's place as my music of choice. The last few years have signaled a bit of a comeback for harder, guitar-driven rock for me personally. Bands like the Black Angels, with their droned-out, Velvet Underground meets the Doors aesthetic and No Age's lo-fi, high-energy wall of noise are keeping rock alive in a world where hip-hop continues to rule the masses and alt/indie-rock's skewed song structures and left-field production values dominates the Mixtape on a weekly basis.

This week, the aforementioned Silversun Pickups continue their loudly jamming ways while contemporary metal gods, Mastodon, reach the 'tape for the first time. Wolfmother return this week with their Zep/Sabbath hybrid updated for a new generation. There's always room in the Mixtape for all styles, but it's definitely refreshing to see good, loud, rock and roll return. Rock isn't dead. It certainly isn't what it used to be, but it's far from dead.

1. Panic Switch / Silversun Pickups (1 week @ #1) iTunes MySpace
2. Now I'm a Fool / Eagles of Death Metal iTunes MySpace
3. Zero / Yeah Yeah Yeahs iTunes MySpace
4. The Rake's Song / The Decemberists iTunes MySpace
5. Ghetto Love / Spinnerette iTunes MySpace
6. Seaside / Kestrels iTunes MySpace
7. Now We Can See / The Thermals iTunes MySpace
8. Houses / Great Northern iTunes MySpace
9. Providence, RI / Nickel Eye iTunes MySpace
10. Night Lights / Golden Bear iTunes MySpace
11. Go Square Go / Glasvegas iTunes MySpace
12. My Maudlin Career / Camera Obscura iTunes MySpace
13. Perfect Games / The Broken West iTunes MySpace
14. Starting Over / Black Lips iTunes MySpace
15. My Last Mistake / Dan Auerbach iTunes MySpace
16. Come Saturday / The Pains of Being Pure at Heart iTunes MySpace
17. 1901 / Phoenix iTunes MySpace.
18. My Girls / Animal Collective iTunes MySpace
19. Brother Sport / Animal Collective iTunes Myspace
20. Search and Destroy / Peaches iTunes MySpace
21. Wrong / Depeche Mode iTunes MySpace
22. It's Nice to Know You Work Alone / Silversun Pickups Tunes MySpace
23. One Week of Danger / The Virgins iTunes MySpace
24. Sleepyhead / Passion Pit iTunes MySpace
25. Oblivion / Mastodon iTunes MySpace
26. Buddy / Iran iTunes MySpace
27. No You Girls / Franz Ferdinand iTunes MySpace
28. Statues / Clap Your Hands Say Yeah iTunes MySpace
29. Cheerleader / Grizzly Bear iTunes MySpace
30. Rain On/ Woods iTunes MySpace
31. Back 'Round / Wolfmother iTunes MySpace
32. Wire to Wire / Razorlight iTunes MySpace
33. The Ancient Common Sense of Things / Bishop Allen iTunes MySpace
34. Cemetery Songs / The Archibalds iTunes MySpace
35. Pulling On a Line / Great Lake Swimmers iTunes MySpace
36. I Was Once a Loyal Lover / Death Cab For Cutie iTunes MySpace
37. Just Impolite / Plushgun iTunes MySpace
38. Hang You From the Heavens / The Dead Weather iTunes Official Site
39. Nothing to Worry About / Peter, Bjorn, and John iTunes MySpace
40. Kite Fight/ Hotels iTunes MySpace