Back Tracks: June 1998

It was 20 years ago today

Semisonic taught the world to stay

Until last call to finish their beer

You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here.

I mentioned previously that I used to routinely write down my personal top 40 (sometimes 30, occasionally 20) of the week once I realized that my ten-year-old self needed to branch out from his ritualistic logging of Casey Kasem's American Top 40. I've saved some of those over the years and will share what I can find (I know I've got more in storage) from time to time.

Here's one from almost exactly 20 years ago, along with a corresponding Spotify playlist (minus a few songs that aren't available on the service). Keep in mind that this was 20 years ago and I made no apologies for my love affair with Creed's first album. I lost interest soon thereafter, but man...I was really feeling me some watered-down, second generation grunge-influenced, cock-rock from this point forward for the next couple years. In hindsight, the late 90s / early aughts was my (then) most recent manifestation of a long love of heavy metal / hair metal / butt rock. 

Lots of alternative (that was kind of a big thing in the 90s), a handful of mainstream pop songs (Madonna, Goo Goo Dolls, Alanis Morissette), and the requisite inclusion of a couple tunes from the late 90's great swing revival formed the foundation of what I considered the best of what I was aware of at the time. A time when I gleefuly witnessed local act, Cherrry Poppin' Daddies, finally achieve "one-hit-wonder" status with "Zoot Suit Riot". A time when Sarah McLachlan was still lauded for her musical contributions and not yet irreversibly associated with malnourished fur friendsof for her ASPCA commercials. Great cause, sure, but those insanely depressing ads that may have been a partial impetus for the increase in American antidepressant use. ♫♫♫ In the arms of an angel...♫♫♫ GAH!!! A time when Ben Folds just wanted his damn black tee-shirt back and Harvey Danger's "I'm not sick, but I'm not well" was the mantra for a generation that had yet to feel the power of Nickleback.

The number on the left is the song's ranking. The far right columns are (left-most) the movement from the previous week (up +, down -, hold, or new) and (right-most) the number of weeks that the song had been on my chart at the time. 

Weezer vs Toto: The Sequel

While I ripped on Weezer the other day for a lackluster cover of Toto's "Rosanna", I have to say I'm all in on their latest Toto cover. Yes, it's true. The internet won and Weezer's version of the 80s soft-rock classic, "Africa" has happened.

For those who have no idea who Toto is, why they made a yacht-rock paean about Africa, or what music videos were like in the halcyon days of MTV, maybe the 4:35 of the "ya didn't have to be there, but it kind of helps" video below will shed some light on these mysteries.


And while we're on the topic of Toto, here are my top ten Toto tracks.

Mixtape 5/29/18 - This is still This is America

Three weeks on top for the man they call Troy Barnes, Lando Calrissian, and Childish Gambino. If you didn't realize that Donald Glover is the man behind the Community student, the rebooted Star Wars character, and the musical entity that recently passed 200 million (yes, a fifth of a 'billy') YouTube views for one of the most impactful videos I've ever witnessed, don't worry. You've got pretty good company in Cardi B.

Powerful vid aside, this track is on top because it's everything I need to hear right now. Elements of pop, hip-hop, mumble-rap, and choirrific gospel soul seamlessly melt in to each other to create the sweet syrup masking the medicine of its message, rendering me at once elated and deflated. Motivated and decimated. It evokes and provokes, which is what art should do.  



Jeff Rosenstock is number two, also for three weeks straight, after being on top pretty much since he surprise-released POST- on the second day of this year. Who the hell is Jeff Rosenstock? I wasn't aware of him before, so I absolutely had this question. I came to the conclusion that he's just some slightly unhinged indie guy that's not thrilled about our President, channelled his frustrations through music, and may lose his shit at any minute. Plus he rocks, which just ain't the case with a lot of 'rock' music these days. I discovered "All This Useless Energy" a few days after it came out and realized Jeff has been around for a couple albums. I haven't gone backward in to his catalog much because I've been obsessed with the entirety of POST-, but it's on my to-do list. POST-  It was one of those discovery moments I've previously mentioned living for. POST- may very well end up my album of 2018...time will tell. I still listen to it straight through a few times a week and "All This Useless Energy" consistently gets a few plays a day. Best line: "I haven't found the rhythm yet to anchor down my life."

Camp Cope also hit my ears for the first time ever back in January with "How to Socialise & Make Friends." There is no shortage of female solo artists (Snail Mail, Soccer Mommy) or female-led bands (Beach House, Middle Kids, Speedy Ortiz) on the Mixtape, but I do believe that Camp Cope is the only all-female power trio currently calling the Mixtape home. "How to Socialise..." showed up on my radar at the end of January and steadily increased its presence month over month until now, where I make a point to hear it a couple times a day. 




Notable activity this week includes me finally getting my shit together and realizing how good Beach House is. Critically acclaimed, sure. Indie darlings? Maybe at one time...they're kind of a BIG deal now. Worthy of the praise that's routinely heaped on them by Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, and others? Yup. "Dive" and "Drunk in LA" have been getting repeat listens from me the past couple weeks and this week sees both of those songs moving toward the top. "Dive" is in at #6 and "Drunk in LA" isn't too far behind at #14. 

I also haven't been able to stop listening to Sparkle Hard, the fourth Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks album. "Shiggy" (#5) and Bike Lane (#20) are my initial standouts on what's rapidly becoming my favorite Malkmus yet (Pavement aside, of course). 

We're five months deep in to 2018 and I'm still actively listening to the oldest song on the Mixtape - MGMT's lead single and title track of their latest album, Little Dark Age. I get excited about anything MGMT does usually. I've been on board that roller coaster since their 2005 Time To Pretend EP came out ahead of their full-length debut (and still my favorite MGMT album) Oracular Spectacular. This is one of their strongest, most accessible songs in years and, while other tracks from LDA have come and gone on the Mixtape the last several months, "Little Dark Age" debuted back in October 2017 and still feels like it has another month to go before it gets bumped off. 

What could cause it to leave sooner? Maybe new Kanye West and/or Father John Misty songs? Both Mr. Kardashian and the artist formerly known as Josh Tillman have albums coming out this Friday, meaning they will get lots of plays throughout next weekend and could cause a ruckus in the Mixtape's current pecking order next week. Stay tuned, music fans...

Today's finds

Elon Musk's girlfriend is making new music with K-Pop group, Loona/yyxy. Just bring on the new album already, c. Engage light speed, if you must!




This is probably not going to be most folk's first choice for summer jam of 2018, but it's jamming up my earwaves now and most likely will be until autumn's colors start dotting the sky.




Sink ya teeth in to this one. Post-punk bass grooves with hell of a lot of Hallelujahs. Disco for these modern times.




I want to love this as much as I once did the original...hell, I want to love Weezer like I did for the first couple albums and a handful of singles that followed them. Music is spot on, Rivers' voice just seems too whiny for an effective cover. Fun, but disposable, cover. Even if it's not them covering Africa like the internet seems to want. What do you think?




What do you think about Weezer's take on Toto? Mash them keys, tap them screens, and let me know if I'm wrong in thinking it should've just been an instrumental version.

Tuesdays aren't just for Tacos anymore

If I'm going to relaunch this blog, then the 40 songs that are dominating my headspace at any given time - what I lovingly refer to as this blog's titular list - should be routinely provided to my readership at a consistent interval. Weekly. On the same day. 

Historically, New Music Tuesday (which was a weekly holiday in my world for what seemed like an eternity) was that magical day when new music releases came out. I'd find myself at a local music shop or Tower Records to grab the new offerings that were on my radar like it was my job. Fast forward to a few years ago when New Music Tuesday became New Music Friday and (I'm almost certain of this) the ensuing shift ripped open a hole in the time-space continuum. 

Well, I'm back. The Mixtape is back. And Tuesday will now be the day of The Mixtape. Or Tunesday (or maybe not). Just know that if it's Tuesday, the latest version of my "The*Mixtape" Spotify list (yes, in order from #1 - most loved - down to #40) will be published here. Sometimes with rambling descriptions of songs, why I love them, notable new releases, etc... Sometimes, like today's post, I'll make like Aerosmith and let the music do the talking. 

One of my turns

Big wheel keeps on turning. Or is it "Wheel in the sky keeps on turning..."? To everything, turn turn turn? All of it applies, really. Without regard for the headlines of the day or the contemporary climate of society, life keeps on happening. Love is routinely found, lost, remembered, and revered. The need to work never seems to cease, but how we work and what we find ourselves doing is a perpetually evolving, shape-shifting slice of our collective reality. Friends, lovers, co-workers, pets, bosses...nothing is safe from change. 

Even as it too finds itself morphing, music sustains as a constant and connecting force through all of life's changes. A simultaneous soundtrack for these present times and gatekeeper to our pasts. Music connects us as a people globally (seriously, people love Drake everywhere). It is both therapist and entertainer. For me, it's everything. One of my life's obsessions has consistently remained seeking out and discovering new music to supplement the lifelong lyrical lexicon permanently lodged in my grey matter. I love the tunes in my rear view, but I live for that moment when I find a song or artist that blows my mind and changes my life. Or at least makes me rethink what music can be. It doesn't happen often, but it's freakin' magic when it does. 

I stopped blogging in 2011. Life happened, work involved very long days, and I more or less detached from being up on all the new acts and tracks as I always had been. Lately, I've submerged myself back in to the culture of New Music Friday (RIP New Music Tuesday) and am again obsessing over what's new and finding the next artist to put a smile on my face. 

The songs on the The Mixtape are new and recent releases that manage to stake their space between my ears, cozying up with the news of the day, myriad disparate work thoughts, and whatever my cat is trying to say to me. The Mixtape is essentially my Top 40. I started writing down Casey Kasem's American Top 40 every Saturday morning as a seven-year-old, cataloging it religiously and subsequently remembering the names of the songs and their respective artists). I did that for a few years until I started writing down my own top 40 each week, which I kept up with (weeks, sometimes months, were missed occasionally) for the better part of the next 30 years. 

Casey's Top 40, my own, or this blog...each at one point or another has motivated and enabled me to indulge in the fine art of finding my next favorite artist. It's good to be back. I'll get around to what I'm listening to now, and much more, soon. For now, here's a quick and dirty list of some of my favorites since I've been gone. No order. Just songs I loved when they came out that still sound great to me today. 


 

Moving forward by looking back

Moving forward in my case, means making another attempt to keep this blog alive and active. Those that know me know my work days are 13 or 14 hours with commute and I don't have a laptop to work on this as I ride MAX for a combined 2.5-3 hours a day. Believe me, I would definitely welcome that opportunity. That lack of time, coupled with my wife's present health issues (occurring for the past two months and still going strong), makes me wonder what I will have to devote to this in 2011.

2010 was the year I forgave Kanye West for that whole Taylor Swift thing. HA!. Let's face it. I really never cared he did that. Was he an ass? Sure. But I'm not gonna stop listening to someone who has flashes of brilliance just because he's an asshole that can't obey simple social constructs. To get back in my (and everyone else's) good graces, Kanye released a (pretty damn good) new song every week for three months. Not really a full-on stinker in the bunch. Then, for an encore, he put out his most realized, most complete album to date.

Yes, it was the year I fell back in love with 'Ye for realizing his full potential. It was the year I quietly clapped for Eminem as he enjoyed the biggest success of his career while truly not giving a shit about anything he put out for the first time since he told us what his name was.

It was the year the flirting between Best Coast and I developed into a full-on love thing. 2010 also marked the time I finally got my shit together and called it quits with Interpol, My Chemical Romance, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Dr. Dog, and the saddest breakup of all, Kings of Leon.

I do have the hope (and the desire) to do this personal passion of mine and it has to start somewhere. So here it resumes, with a look back at my favorite music of 2010. Reliable favorites like LCD Soundsystem, The National, and Deerhunter mixed it up with new discoveries including Best Coast, Bear in Heaven, and jj to fill my ears with the sweet sounds that simultaneously drowned out the voices inside my head while making the reality outside of it much more bearable.

The Mixtape's Top 50 songs of 2010

1. I Can Change / LCD Soundsystem
2. Desire Lines / Deerhunter
3. Bloodbuzz Ohio / The National
4. Lovesick Teenagers / Bear In Heaven
5. Angela Surf City / The Walkmen
6. Up All Night / Best Coast
7. What Would I want? Sky. / Animal Collective
8. What Did My Lover Say? / Wolf Parade
9. Glitter / No Age
10. Flash Delerium / MGMT
11. Bad Vibrations / Black Angels
12. Home / LCD Soundsystem
13. Runaway / Kanye West (and Pusha T)
14. Golden Town / Super Wild Horses
15. Power / Kanye West
16. Drunk Girls / LCD Soundsystem
17. Walls / Shout Out Louds
18. Hellhole Ratrace / Girls
19. My Way / jj
20. Revival / Deerhunter
21. The High Road / Broken Bells
22. 11th Dimension / Julian Casablancas
23. Go Outside / Cults
24. Monster / Kanye West
25. A More Perfect Union / Titus Andronicus
26. Laredo / Band of Horses
27. World Sick / Broken Social Scene
28. Brought It Out / BRAHMS
29. When I'm With You / Best Coast
30. Cousins / Vampire Weekend
31. Shutterbug / Big Boi
32. Tell 'Em / Sleigh Bells
33. All Summer / Best Coast, Kid Cudi, and Rostam (of Vampire Weekend)
34. Stylo / Gorillaz
35. The Last Prom on Earth / Gayngs
36. Solitude is Bliss / Tame Impala
37. Soldier of Love / Sade
38. Dance Yrself Clean / LCD Soundsystem
39. Helicopter / Deerhunter
40. GOOD Friday / Kanye West
41. Round & Round / Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti
42. Marathon / Tennis
43. The Day / Curren$y (w/ Mos Def and Jay Electronica)
44. Congratulations / MGMT
45. I Think Ur A Contra / Vampire Weekend
46. England / The National
47. Always On My Mind / Reading Rainbow
48. Mickey Mouse / Wavves
49. We Used To Wait / The Arcade Fire
50. Crystallized / The XX

The Mixtape's Top 10 Albums of 2010

1. Halycyon Digest / Deerhunter

The last thing I needed to grasp on to and call friend during one of the darkest times of my life was this introspective musing on nostalgia. I didn't need to have the notion that the best times lie behind burned into my brain while I fought to make it through each repetitive, answer-less, depressing day. While my wife spent most of a month in a hospital and my zombie-like carcass trudged to work before most people were awake, I thought I needed the complete opposite of this album.

Despite it's few pop-leaning moments, I thought I needed more of the shiny, polished hooky goodness of "Fountain Stairs" and "Revival." To counteract the hazy mental malaise that I still find myself under, I believed I required more of those happy sing-along moments and much less of the sparse, insular ones that comprised the core of "Earthquake", "Helicopter", and "Sailing".

What I found, aside from irony finding yet another way to say "howdy", was a sanctuary in sound. Musical consonance wrapped around lyrical dissonance. A temporal pleasure rooted firmly in nostalgic tendencies. What I've found in the three months since it was released and put in my ears, is that I've played every song on Halcyon Digest at least 45-50 times with "Revivial" and "Desire Lines" approaching the 150 mark. What I found was the most complete, most expertly sequenced, incredibly perfect sounding collection of songs at the exact moment I needed them. My album of the year, by a mile.

2. This Is Happening / LCD Soundsystem

James Murphy and company continue to mature and evolve with each amazing release. This time out may be their last according to rumors, but if so, they're doing so at the top of their game. No other band makes dance music this cerebral and elegantly produced. Every plink, pluck, snap, bump, and crash are precisely where they need to be, all the time.

No one else makes precision and densely layered instrumentation feel looser and more natural than Murphy and this ridiculously tight band. Most importantly, the end result never feels forced or over-wrought. It just makes you want to move. I'm still happily worshiping at the Church of LCD.

3. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy / Kanye West

America's douche-bag or hip-hop's savior? Selfish, ego-driven asshole or misunderstood multi-talent? Idiot savant or just straight idiot?

For me, everything that has been covered by the media about Kanye in the media is eclipsed by the fact that he is really, really good. Since he shifted from full-time producer to artist in 2004, Mr. West has been releasing good, sometimes great albums that revealed his biggest flaw to be an lack of editing. The music, not what passed his lips. As he bridged the distance between old soul, rap, hip-hop, and pop, West often tried to be too many things to everyone at the same time.

This album is a result of Kanye keeping the best of what he's done this past year in one place. His dozen or so songs that were released each Friday or Saturday on his GOOD Friday blog were all pretty amazing and you could put those all on another album that would be almost as good as MBDTF, but he picked the right songs with the right guests and put them in the right place. I hope when all is said and done, Kanye is remembered for his work more than being a jerk. His musical output in 2010 eclipses 75% of his catalog in terms of production and overall quality. Not what we expected from Mr. West, but he's rarely predictable.

4. High Violet / The National
5. Everything in Between / No Age
6. Lisbon / The Walkmen
7. Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty / Big Boi
8. Treats / Sleigh Bells
9. Contra / Vampire Weekend
10. Congratulations / MGMT