April 2016 Mixtape: How Not to Descend Stairs
Mon, May 2, 2016So this is the moment where my music geekery will become very apparent. I haven’t written too much about music apart from the little “Like List” features at the end of my first few posts. However, if it wasn’t obvious already - I bloody adore music.
This post is a first attempt to make something more of a longstanding tradition I have in creating “Monthly Mixtapes”. Obviously these aren’t cassette tapes, but I’m rather old-fashioned and think it sounds more romantic than “Monthly Spotify Playlists”.
As with most music-related traditions, thar be rules:
- Only 1 song per artist per month.
- A song cannot already be featured in a past monthly mixtape.
- The run-time of the mixtape must be around 2 hours in length (I originally tried 90 minutes to remain in-keeping with the old cassette tape run times, but that was damn near impossible to cut down).
This is my 34th monthly mixtape, so I’ve been doing this for a pretty long time now! I do find it a lot of fun though and love how it acts as a musical autobiography to my life. Even if I revisit the first set of mixtapes I created back in summer 2013, I can picture specific events from that summer clearly when I hear certain songs. It’s almost like a time capsule and helps underline the magic of a well-loved mixtape.
So without further ado, let’s get stuck in to this month’s edition!
#34 How Not To Descend Stairs
The purpose of the mixtape title is to give me a clear personal snapshot of the month. This months title is related to me stacking it down a set of stairs in a London Underground tube station while trying to demonstrate to my sister how quickly I can descend a set of stairs… We were out that day in support of my cousin’s husband running the London marathon, and he ended up in better shape than me! Anyway, it resulted in a visit to A&E and me walking at about half my normal pace for the rest of the month. Plenty of time to digest a lot more music then!
This month kicked off with one of the most insane release days ever on April 1st, as we saw new releases from Explosions in the Sky, Mogwai, Three Trapped Tigers and Hammock. I’m still reeling a bit from that day and haven’t given Three Trapped Tigers or Hammock anywhere near enough attention due to the strength of the recent O’Brother, Deftones and Explosions in the Sky albums.
We also got teased some new tracks from the forthcoming Astronautalis and Thrice albums, which has raised the hype to boiling point for those releases.
This month boasted some pretty spectacular gigs in London with Maybeshewill’s farewell show at KOKO, yndi halda at Hackney’s Oslo and Explosions in the Sky playing in the ever-beautiful Royal Albert Hall. Foxing also did a great job of seeing out the month with a very intense set at The Dome in Tufnell Park.
Five in Focus
In this section I plan to delve deeper in to some of the choice cuts from the monthly mixtape.
1. “Heart of the Matter” by Young in the City
It seems that everything Noah Gundersen touches at the moment turns to gold. Young in the City is his latest project, a rock and roll band based in his hometown of Seattle, Washington. The story is that Gundersen and some old high school bandmates decided to jam again for fun and see if the old songs were any good. They weren’t, so they went and wrote some new ones! The output of those jam sessions is the fantastic 4 song self-titled EP.
“Heart of the Matter” showcases instrumentation that feels as though it was plucked directly out from the American rock scene of the 80s. Despite the retro aesthetic, it manages to feel fresh in the same way that Lost in the Dream by The War on Drugs did back in 2014. I’m very excited by the possibility of Young in the City producing a full length album in the future, so I hope this is only a taste of the greatness that is yet to come.
2. “The Logical Song” by Supertramp
There are certain songs that I will always associate with family holidays, and “The Logical Song” by Supertramp is one of the best of the bunch. When the sax solo hits I am immediately transported to the sun-soaked drives down the beach-front in Limassol, Cyprus and air-saxing away in the back of the car with my sisters. It’s a strangely vivid memory and I can even remember us all shrieking along to the final “WHO I AAAAAAAMMMM” line in an unbearably inaccurate falsetto that would cause my Dad to take his hands off the steering wheel just so that he could cover his ears.
It is strange to listen to “The Logical Song” now as an adult and actually pick it apart, as it is the first time I have been blown away by the instrumentation. There are a total of 14 instruments used in the recording and each of them can be easily identified. Whether it’s the clacking of the castanets in the intro, the organ singing away in the background of the second verse, or the wah-wah clavinet on the outro. They all feel exceptionally well placed and add an extra layer of complexity to the song’s arrangement that prevents it from ever getting old.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading more about the recording process of the song in this 2005 article from Sound on Sound. Check it out and revel in the fact that such an iconic sax solo was actually recorded from the comforts of a toilet!
3. “Bloodlines” by O’Brother
If O’Brother vocalist Tanner Merritt were to choose one song to include in a portfolio that showcases his vocal talents, then “Bloodlines” would be that song. In “Bloodlines” Merritt effortlessly switches between multiple vocal styles with eerie introductory choral chants, vibrato-laden verses, a subdued and haunting falsetto in the bridge, a frenzied outburst of throat-tearing screams and then forceful howling on the closing section that channels the combustible dynamic of Dustin Kensrue’s performances in Thrice’s Fire EP from The Alchemy Index.
Endless Light is the album that instantly turned me in to an O’Brother fan. This comes after years of failing to really get beneath the surface of their previous work barring a couple of remarkable songs off their debut EP. The mood set by the instrumentation is one of relentless impending doom and to say it feels like a soundtrack to the end of the world is an understatement. It feels as though the music reaches beyond that in its bleakness and could swallow entire solar systems by the time it reaches its conclusion.
4. “Stay Lost” by Joe Hertz featuring Amber-Simone
It’s hard to see anything but superstardom ahead for London based producer Joe Hertz. All of his singles to date have been perfect 10s. He has a very distinct and infectious sound that always prompts the following conversation with anyone who hears his music for the first time:
Person Who Isn’t Me: “Who is this?”
Me: “Joe Hertz. Why?”
Person Who Isn’t Me: “This is bloody fantastic.”
Hertz also has a knack for picking outstanding guest vocalists. Amber-Simone is probably the pick of the bunch, with her smooth vocals spreading over Hertz’ pristine production like Lurpak (that’s a very good thing - that stuff is heaven). Hertz has been active for a number of years, but we’re still eagerly awaiting an announcement of a debut EP / LP. I imagine that when that time rolls around it won’t be long before he is a household name.
5. “Hold Nothing Back” by Copeland
It’s amazing to think I’ve been listening to Copeland now for over a decade. They have such a incredibly strong back catalogue, but my personal highlight is 2005’s In Motion, their most aggressive and forceful release to date. Despite most of the appeal drawing from the louder portions of the album, the acoustic closing track “Hold Nothing Back” is the one that has stuck with me the most over the last 10 years. It is akin to a lullaby in its simple beauty and has some of the most gorgeous acoustic guitar melodies.
I recently listened to a Noise Creators podcast featuring producer / musician Greg Dunn of Moving Mountains. I’m really enjoying these podcasts at the moment, but something stood out to me in this podcast as Dunn discussed how he always aims to capture the organic and natural elements of a performance by leaving in the imperfections. These imperfections include little things such as the scratching of a string as the guitar slides from one chord formation to the other, or even the squeak of a drum stool as the drummer shifts his weight before beginning a performance.
Although Dunn did not work on Copeland’s “Hold Nothing Back”, this song is a superb example of how the deliberate presence of imperfections can help transport you to a specific place and time. There are birds chirping, faint conversations in the distance and the stunning guitar work littered with fret buzz and the scratching of strings. If you close your eyes, you could almost picture yourself sat in a park near a busking Aaron Marsh.
Lyric of the Month
“A smile can only bend so far before it breaks”
- “Happy Birthday” by Tiny Moving Parts
The Like List
It feels odd to follow on from an entire post of things I like, to talk about more things I like… However, I’ll keep it short and sweet and just touch on the one thing that needs a big up.
Games: Rogue Legacy
I’ve continued in the self-destructive pattern of failing to play games I already own and instead buying new ones at full price… I have very few regrets for this one though, as Rogue Legacy is an absolute blast. It is a roguelike platformer, where a character death is permanent. The twist is that you can restart the game as a descendent of the previous character, inheriting their wealth and upgrades to give you an element of progression. You have a choice of 3 descendents which differ in classes and character traits to one another. These traits can range from beneficial, to puzzling, to downright hilarious. Here are a few examples:
- ADHD: “So energetic! You move faster.”
- Color Blind: “You can’t see colors because of monochromacy.”
- I.B.S: “Even the most valiant heroes can suffer from irritable bowels.”
I’ve currently defeated 2 of the 5 bosses and have died 92 times. I think I’m doing pretty terribly, but I can’t get enough of the game and am already scoping out other roguelikes such as Spelunky and The Binding of Isaac for when I finish up Rogue Legacy. Check it out in the trailer below for Xbox One: