The female voice is a fickle thing when it comes to some kinds of music. I always used to say that I didn't like most female vocalist fronted bands "oh, except for Sonic Youth, and wait! Bikini Kill! Oh Oh and Kim Deal in The Pixies...." and that seems to go on and on. Because the truth is - the older I've gotten, it seems - I really enjoy a lot of bands fronted with ladies. It just doesn't matter much to me anymore. As long as they sound nothing like Nelly Furtado or some shit like that. Well, there are some ladies that give it a stretch - girls-screaming-metal is almost never cute or brutal. I actually have trouble conjuring up the ballz to sing lyrics I write to some of my band's songs. I always here the singer from Pissed Jeans singing the song in my head. My voice is, sadly, far far from his.
A few nights ago a girl-buddy/bartender of my favorite place, Savages, asked me to help her come with more girl-fronted bands she could play at the bar while working. There is enough testosterone in that joint to fuel a tanker and a few songs with a feminine touch can do nothing but good. But the guys in there don't want to hear sap - so here is a mixtape I came up with. It's chalk-full of brutal femininity while not being a long, whining nag.
In this final week of October - I'm just now getting around to digging into the internet-Halloween craze. Every year lots of bloggers are posting killer Halloween comps - and I'm joining the ranks once again. Behold, one of the scariest comps out there. NSFW or children - this is in the true spook-spirit. Best listened to on headphones and/or in the dark.
The first song is one I put together using some old Aleister Crowley recordings with looped sounds from BBC Sound Effects - Death And Horror, ripped from glorious vinyl. I used Virtual DJ to mix it. The rest of the tracks are all evocative of my Halloweens past. While straying away from obvious classics like The Misfits and Moster Mash stuff - I've included music that reminds me of youth. Sludgy, dark metal like Swine and the twitchy theatrics of Idiot Flesh make me want to load up on eggs and toilet paper, steal a sixer from someone's parents, and hit the Halloween streets.
Download it here, Jannell's Scare Trax 2010, or listen to it below with no download. Spread it around and let me know if you dig it.
There are a few Halloween comps I've run across that I've really been digging. The first new Halloween comp I've come across this year is by http://rockisdeadrip.blogspot.com/The artwork (which is standard CD case format - so you can print it off and give this as a righteous gift) is rad and the artists and arrangement are fantastic.
From the blog: I've been gathering these fiendish tracks from various sources including YouTube which has been very helpful in digging up some pretty spookatucular sounds,and songs.Once again I designed the artwork myself with what I consider to be better than ever.
The months are stacking up like a pile of well read books - stories and events running into each other. The summer is a sudden thing for me; no more winter blues - just sweaty blah. Nostalgia smells strong in this hot-breath air. And the warm air draws people out of hot-box apartments and into the bars, the streets. It has always felt electric and slightly sinister.
*
Walking home from the pub last night - a friend and I went into a recently abandoned apartment building. We were reeling from last call and red-faced from walking all over. It was an older brick building - structurally sound. There are so many abandoned properties that are livable in Muncie - left due to taxes, the recession, etc. The inside was lit with a yellow bulb. The wood trim around the heavy, locked doors, was carved in ornate patterns. The stair railing was wrought iron. It felt solid and cool in my hand.
*
I got the strongest sense of deja vu while standing there. It was a sudden, intense feeling of familiar loss. The walls seemed to be swollen with heat and moisture and the air was redolent with old plaster. It reminded me of the crumbling family home I had to sell for taxes around July or August - 2002. That was such a hot, sticky, somber affair. The walls were caving in in the kitchen - bursting with rainwater and mold. The roof was falling in. There was no a/c and the toilet was broken. It had become a very sad, empty place. I finally had to leave. My mom stayed on until the last possible day. We frantically cleaned it out - sweating over boxes and utter defeat.
*
And I think I just glanced back in my memory - my brain lubed up with beers. I was back at that house - my whole consciousness. Recently on a trip through Anderson I made Jim let me get out of the car and peer in the windows of my old house. It had a sign that declares it unfit for inhabitants. Inside someone had set up a degenerate bachelor pad: a dirty couch, a toaster oven, and bags of clothes were in a corner. It was not my house and I didn't really care. But I have that with me all the time. These things we go through become slight lines on our palms; they are stacked up inside of us and give us precedent for what comes next. To literally make a connection with the past like that was both jarring and strangely natural.
I now present you with a summer mix of melancholy music. It is dangerously woven together with some of the saddest, beautiful songs I have. Mixes like these are coping mechanisms - they are aides in the very important need to grieve occasionally. I don't promote staying in and listening to sad bastard music all the time. But when I do - this is what I jam. I hope you enjoy it.
1. M83 - You, Appearing (3:39) 2. Vivian Girls - Before I Start To Cry (2:23) 3. A-SQUARE (OF COURSE) - Somehow (2:50) 4. The Modern Lovers - Hospital (5:31) 5. The Smiths - Asleep (4:09) 6. Mogwai - I Know Who You Are But What Am I? (5:17) 7. Pink Reason - Motherf*cker (3:18) 8. Guided by Voices - Drinker's Peace (1:51) 9. The Smashing Pumpkins - Blank Page (4:51) 10. The Jesus and Mary Chain - Something's Wrong (4:01) 11. Television Personalities - All My Dreams Are Dead (3:00) 12. Fucked Up - Golden Seal (3:35) 13. Elliott Smith - The Biggest Lie (2:39) 14. Guided by Voices - Learning to Hunt (2:24) 15. Neil Young - Oh, Lonesome Me (3:50) 16. Violent Femmes - Something's Wrong (2:22) 17. Magik Markers - Bad Dream/Hartford's Beat Suite (4:13) 18. Elliott Smith - Waltz #1 (3:22) 19. GG Allin - When I Die (3:53) 20. Band of Horses - The Funeral (5:22) 21. Alessandro Moreschi - Track 1 (2:51) 22. Sonic Youth - mama you've been on my mind (2:30)
I made my friend and other guitarist of Meat Coma, Judi, a spring mix to cheer her up today. We drove to the graveyard and strolled in the sun this afternoon. Threw rocks into strange holes with her son. Said funny names on the headstones out loud. "Squimple," "Bostangaco," "Coffin," "Wiener," etc...
Here is the tracklist w/ the notes. Its a really entertaining mix. I suggest it for spring cleaning background music.*Originally jotted these notes for Judi. That's why some of it may seem vague and dumb.
Link to download is at the bottom.
Judi Judi fresh and fruity: Spring Mix 2010 by DJJNELLLLLLLLLLLz. I always forget to put the lists w/ the mixes. I like jotting down the reason for songs sometimes. Enjoy!
1. Think About Life - Paul Cries (3:16) -This band got a little played out to me. But I really dig the vibe of this song.
2. Pelican - GW (3:34) -This is such a solid, hopeful, wonderful song. This song is THE REASON I mess w/ melodies based in drop-d.
3. The Arcade Fire - Haiti (4:07) -Always been my favorite Arcade Fire song. Something about the white noise shit mixed in there. Weird it's called Haiti.
4. Broken Social Scene - anthems for a seventeen year-old girl (4:35) -For some reason this song makes me think of high school - but in a weird kind of nice way. It also reminds me of something you would have listened to in your bedroom in highschool.
5. The Jesus and Mary Chain - Never Understand (2:57) -I'm really into this whole strange-noise-background stuff right now. This song is a great example. I wish the guitars were up a tad louder.
6. The Singing Dogs - Hot Dog Boogie (2:30) -Snagged this off a comp album put together by Lux and Ivy from The Cramps. I just really love animals on songs.
7. Annette Funicello - Pineapple Princess (2:27) -Sickeningly sweet pop song that reminds me of my mom. She used to sing this sometimes.
8. Nuggets - Summer (60s US Punk) (3:29) -I heard this song one day after I got off the phone w/ you and we had both been moaning about how much this winter has blowed. I think I had been crying about something. Or you had. This winter was for crybabies.
9. The Cure - Another Journey by Train (3:06) -It is kick-ass songs like these that make me want to totes jamband it out. When you listen close you can really hear how cheesy/awesome the keyboard is.
10. Yo La Tengo - Blitzkrieg Bop (2:18) -The most perfect spring song ever. 11. Tokyo Police Club - Cheer it on (2:01) -This song reminds me of the feeling I get when we play Meat Coma live. Cause they're talkin about their band. And its awesome. I love the guitar in this a lot too.
12. Hüsker Dü - New Day Rising (2:34) -Fuck! This is another song that makes me want to stay alive! If I ever get super suicidal - I just need this pumped into my ears. Might want to write that down.
13. Andre Williams - The Greasy Chicken (3:09) -That's RACIST! But that is okay. It is art.
14. jimmy hanna - leaving here (2:22) -Whoooooweeee that is one hot-lickin jam! Makes me think of Chicago.
15. Xtc - Day In Day Out (3:08) -Such a weird but good song. I like the way the guy sings. This is the kind of pop music I like.
16. The Descendents - Suburban Home (1:40) -This is THE song to get me pumped. The shit the Descendents sing about has been a big influence on me since I was a wee jerk. Just such a fucking forceful song.
17. Japanther - Full Cup (2:16) -First of all, duh, Japanther is my absolute favorite band of the 2000s. Second, picture me doing step aerobics on the bottom stair in my dining room to this song at 6am. Yep. That was a hard 2 min workout.
18. Hearts On Fire - This Sultry Day (4:25) -Reminds me of the Vivian Girls. I know you hate female singers more than me - but I think we could pull this song off pretty good. I like it a lot.
19. Something Pretty Beautiful - I Want To Watch (2:43) -This is from my I'm-a-homosexual-teenage-boy-in-the-closet genre of music. It also is quite sunny. And I like the cheesy twang guitars.
20. Frank Black & The Catholics - True Blue (1:49) -Yet another beautiful dittie from Frank Black. Straight up country cruise tunes.
21. The Backdoor Ninjas - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (2:14) -Tyler Soverns, Joey Dreamdate, and Paul Hagan were The Backdoor Ninjas. They made an album of pop covers that rules to this day. Anderson summer classic. Great live. R.I.P.
22. Do Make Say Think - In Mind (4:00) -This was the band that was playing in Chicago I wanted to go see that night. Could have been a boring show - but jeezus this song is beautiful. Don't know if they're from the midwest but doesn't this just remind you of Indiana in the spring?
23. Jens Lekman - Black Cab (4:54) -(see #19) *Also NOT appropriate for children. It says goddamn a bunch.
24. Saves The Day - Hold (2:21) -This is the worst song that I like. But I do. So deal with it. And like it. It is my favorite nice-weather-driving song. I hate myself.
25. Band of Horses - The Funeral (5:22) -So pretty. I usually really dislike vocally centered dream-pop. But I do want this at my funeral.
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