Cover image by loleia
[UPDATE on 5 October 2009 - the download might not have worked for a couple of days, if you've had problems, do try again. If you still have problems, leave a comment!]
October’s Music Mix wasn’t easy to do as I had so many songs I wanted to include – in the end I had to make it 21 songs instead of the normal 20 as I just couldn’t delete one more song.
I hope you enjoy – it starts with two monster songs by Magazine and The Decemberists lasting over 22 minutes – just classic. Then it simply steams along with tracks by Siena Root, Our Lady Peace and Silversun Pickups before slowing down a bit with Tom Baxter and Fink (amongst others). The concluding tracks are gems by Martha Wainwright (about her Dad), Lauryn Hill and finally we arrive ‘Home’ with The Engineers – bliss, pure bliss. What God gave us ears for.
Please remember if you like a song on the Mix, let me know, I would love your feedback, but also to buy the album as I’m sure you’ll like.
Happy listening.
Laughing Dog
The Music Mix [a 161mb zip file] will be available for one month from today – until 31 October 2009.
Please support the artists – if you like a track, buy the album!
Music for the Month ~ Music Mix 03 ~ October 2009
| # | Track | Length | Artist | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marquee Moon | 10:40 | Television | Marquee Moon |
| 2 | The Island, Come And See, The Landlords Daughter (You'll Not Feel The Drowning) | 12:26 | The Decemberists | The Crane Wife |
| 3 | Driving Down Alvarado | 04:50 | Anne McCue | Koala Motel |
| 4 | Blowin' Free | 05:18 | Wishbone Ash | Argus |
| 5 | Waiting for the Sun | 05:57 | Siena Root | Far From The Sun |
| 6 | Starseed | 04:05 | Our Lady Peace | A Decade |
| 7 | Panic Switch | 05:43 | Silversun Pickups | Swoon |
| 8 | Night Like This | 04:36 | Tom Baxter | Skybound |
| 9 | Barfly | 03:55 | Ray LaMontagne | Till the Sun Turns Black |
| 10 | Sweet Jane | 03:34 | Cowboy Junkies | Tarantino Connection (Soundtrack) |
| 11 | This Is The Thing | 04:32 | Fink | Distance and Time |
| 12 | Lay Me Down - Ring of Fire (Medley) | 04:06 | Frames | Set List |
| 13 | Who's Gonna Find Me | 03:27 | The Coral | Roots & Echoes |
| 14 | Quattro (World Drifts In) | 04:37 | Calexico | Feast of Wire |
| 15 | Ammilana | 05:43 | Toumast | Ishumar |
| 16 | Gravity | 05:49 | John Mayer | Try! John Mayer Trio Live in Concert |
| 17 | Up The Junction | 03:12 | Squeeze | Singles 45s and Under |
| 18 | Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole | 03:14 | Martha Wainwright | Martha Wainwright |
| 19 | I've Got Your Number | 04:48 | Elbow | Cast of Thousands |
| 20 | To Zion | 06:09 | Lauryn Hill | The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill |
| 21 | Home | 04:07 | Engineers | Engineers |
Mr LD
This is really good even better I think than last one and I thought that was good.
I remember my father playing the Wishbone Ask song on his guitar so it had some good memories for me also like Silversun Pickups and Our Lady Peace but they all sound great. Hope you dont miond but I copied to CD and gave to a friend I think she will enjoy as well
Don’t know what’s going wrong, but I can’t get it to download. Keeps telling me page not found.
Spacepig, thank you very much for letting us know – not sure what happened but the link to the October mix went back to the September mix (which is obviously no longer available). Could you try it again and let us know if you have problems? Cheers!
I had no problem downloading maybe you have banana fingers Mr SP
Don’t think so (although it is possible). Look at Liefste zus’s reply above. I will try it again when I get home tonight.
OK, got it now, thanks Liefste zus. Lets get in with some comments!
Television – I’ve had this CD for longer than I care to remember, but I haven’t played it in yonks – don’t know why. It’s just lain at the back of the CD cabinet feeling unloved for years. Thanks LD for reminding me what a great CD it really is, and of course this is the best track off the LP. Could be that it’ll get an airing again quite soon.
The Decemberists – never heard of them until now. Don’t know how I’ve missed out on them but great, I love this song. That’s another one on the buy later list.
Anne McCue – heard the name, never got around to listening to anything of hers up until now. Can’t say it really does that much for me, can’t find anything original in it. Annoyingly it reminds me too much of someone else, just can’t think who though.
Wishbone Ash – another old classic, much loved. They used to play quite regularly in my local club back in Scotland and always manged to squeeze this one in. Maybe not their best track on the CD, but always guaranteed to get the crowd going. Argus itself is of course nothing but a masterpiece, especially the remastered version. If you only need one Ash CD it has to be this one.
Siena Root – well what can I say? I am so glad that The Dog took up my suggestion to give them a listen and even happier that he liked them. He could have chosen any track off the two CDs he has up till now and they wouldn’t have sounded out of place on this mix. Excellent choice.
Our Lady Peace – I can see why the youngsters might enjoy it, but for me there’s too much of the yeah, yeah, yeah stuff. Not really that impressed.
Silversun Pickups – Quite good. I can’t see myself buying the CD, but it’s certainly not offensive or anything. The singer has a nice, dreamy sort of voice. Some day I’ll introduce you guys to Nova Drive and we’ll play them side by side.
Tom Baxter – Now this is good. In places reminds me a bit of John Martyn, well the voice anyway. I can see myself lazing back with this one on a cold winters night in front of a roaring fire. Now ordered from Amazon marketplace.
Ray LaMontagne – years ago I worked as a steward at the concerts back in Scotland. This guy appeared as support for David Gray when no one had ever heard of him. I thought he was OK, certainly a million times better than the headliner. Still think he’s just OK.
Cowboy Junkies – I was really looking forward to this one – anything that’s good enough for Tarantino is good enough for me. Sadly, the gremlins (or Der Elektrolurch) struck and this song didn’t download. Maybe Liefste zus can take a look at it.
Fink – a bit slow, but the songwriting appears to be quite clever and the guitar is interesting. Further investigation required.
Frames – They’re huge here in Ireland but to tell you the truth, not really my kind of thing. Good enough song though. But I don’t think they’ve done good ‘ol Johnny any favours with this interpretation – best left to the master.
The Coral – I can’t tell what they’re trying to do here. Whatever it is if they keep on trying they might get there. They do appear to have one or two talented musicians, I’m not going to count the singer among them though.
Calexico – one of Mrs Spacepig’s favourites. In her opinion, and probably mine as well though, their best stuff is on The Black Light.
Toumast – Yes I like this. I would worry that a whole CD of it might become repetitive but as I have pointed out previously on other posts, I do like to experiment. Anything similar tucked away that you haven’t told us about yet?
John Mayer – nothing wrong with a bit of the Blues is there? Good, if similar to countless others, enjoyable all the same. I do have one or two earlier releases of his, haven’t heard any live stuff before so it was interesting.
Squeeze – a lot of fun back in the day. Just a catchy clever song. Haven’t heard it in eons, brings back lots of happy memories. Still sounds great even now.
Martha Wainwright – the title put me off for a start, just headline grabbing if you ask me, obviously not a wide enough vocabulary to express herself in intelligent terms. It didn’t really pick up from there. Not for me I’m afraid Dog.
Elbow – I had to hit the skip button on this one. Next please!
Lauryn Hill – The Fugees were not too bad at what they were doing although not the kind of music I listen to, I thought they had some good ideas. This by comparison is just plodding blandness. Will it ever end?
Engineers – Oh dear Mr Dog, I had high hopes for this band, but….
There we go then. Hope I’ve been fair and not offended anyone too much. All in all, a good mix, maybe going downhill a bit towards the end but at least there’s plenty of variety. And I’ve found two new bands to listen to from it so that’s good going. Roll on next month’s mix.
Dear Mr Spacepig
I do love your comments!
Thanks Sin – Glad you enjoyed
Please share with friends – why not get them to join us here, they would be more than welcome
Hi Spacey – glad you enjoyed.
You have made the Dog laugh a bit more tonight as your comments are the reason why I started this blog – to introduce fellow music lovers to new music and to chat about the music we love – nice one.
The Decemberists are a good band – this album is their best – was not too impressed with earlier work and I’m still trying to get my head around ‘Hazards of Love’ their latest album.
Fink has been likened to John Martyn – I have Biscuits for Breakfast and Distance and Time, waiting for his new one to arrive – he really is worth exploring more, as is Tom Baxter
You are right about Toumast – but there’s still enough on the album to enjoy. I don’t have much African music but Bowmboï and this compilation of Mali Music make me go mmm on a warm winter night.
John Mayer is not just a pretty face and popular American ‘Rock star – he can play a mean guitar as well as this album proves
‘Up the Junction’ must be in my top 10 of all time – why weren’t these guys huge?
You don’t like Elbow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OK move on
Lauryn Hill was my first rap/R&B/nusoul whatever you want to call it album and I love the whole idea behind this album plus her voice
I feel the same about The Engineers – very poor
Well thanks for your comments – glad you enjoyed.
Good music here of course but I feel you have gone for the popular choice of track. For example everyone knows Blowin’ Free – a better song would have been “The King Will Come” or “Lady Whiskey” from their first album.
Again your choice of “I’ve got your number” by Elbow is a little weak and predictable – my choice would have been “Scattered Black and Whites” the final track on ‘Asleep in the Back’ a great song.
I must admit never hearing of Siena Root before and I do like this song and your video track of them, so I may buy
More comments my friend
Wishbone Ash – been listening to their first album alot the past few days forgotten how good it is – Ken may have a point especially tracks like ‘Handy’ and ‘Lady Whiskey’
I’m impressed with Silversun Pickups – even impressed my pups when I played this for the first time – it has a good feel to the whole album
Big fan of The Frames almost picked the studio version of this song but the atmosphere was just so good – have you seen these live?
The Coral – try ‘Magic and Medicine’ album then we’ll talk again
Hi Ken,
Gosh you a hard man to please!!!
You are right though – I do tend to pick tracks that could be viewed as popular but I’m aiming to please all and this sometimes means I go for the instant song, the song that most people know and will hopefully enjoy. Although most of the tracks have been picked because they sound bloody good
Really, when it comes to Wishbone Ash there’s plenty of tracks you could have chosen, I have always had a soft spot for Pilgrimage. But if, as I think it was, the intention was to encourage people to give them a listen, then it had to be something from Argus. And why not Blowin’ Free? OK it’s probably their best known one but it also rocks along well and I think it was a good choice.
I haven’t seen The Frames, they tend to sell out here really quickly, think they’re playing again in the next few weeks. I’m not going to get much of a chance to see them anytime soon cause with the dreaded Christmas period coming up its getting really busy at work. I suppose now, that I am going to have to make an effort to see them soon enough though so I can give you a report.
We have to get this Filezilla thing up and running sooner or later. Then I will send you a few Nova Drive tracks and ask you to compare them with Silversun Pickups. I am going to lay odds that you will prefer Nova Drive. Not that I have anything against your choice, I just think Nova Drive do much the same thing, only better.
And I will hold off any further comment on The Coral until I have heard a little bit more. I know its not really fair to write them off after one track, but I don’t think I was too harsh on them. I did say I could see some kind of potential there. Guess I just have to make the effort to work out what it is they’re trying to do.
Quick message to Ken – good on you for giving Siena Root a go. I highly recommend A New Day Dawning if you can track down a copy. They also have a new one out in the next few weeks. At this rate I’m going to be chasing them up for royalties. I would like to see them get the recognition they so richly deserve though.
BTW whats this Filezilla thing up?
Message to Mr Ken as well
You said “I feel you have gone for the popular choice of track” and “your choice of “I’ve got your number” by Elbow is a little weak and predictable”
I think you are being to hard on MR LD the songs on each music mix that I’ve downloaded have been excellent. Each time I listen which is often I hear something new and each song seems to mix with the next one so well.
I disagree with you and ask that you listen again to the music
Hi Mr SA
I don’t really have a problem with short songs as such, indeed one of my favourite songs of all time clocks in at a massive 2:36. Catch it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKLF3-Qvk84
I do have a problem however with these so called ‘Best Of’ releases. My problem is that if a band is good enough for me to invest money in them, then in due course I am going to buy all their CDs anyway, so why waste money buying someone else’s opinion of what their best tracks are? Same thing with this Singles collection, who says their singles would necessarily be their best tracks?
And this isn’t directed at The Coral by any means. During the course of my CD buying period I have bought a total of one ‘greatest hits’ CD. The reason for that one was because in addition to the Best Of CD, there was a CD of unreleased stuff included.
I have said that I will reserve further judgement on The Coral until I have heard some more. I’m not prepared to invest anything in them yet so I will borrow a few CDs and give them a listen.
And BTW, Filezilla is a file sharing program we are trying to get up and running
Agreed
Thanks for your support – but don’t be too harsh, I welcome feedback and in fact “Scattered Black and Whites” is a great song – worth you listening to.
Hi Spacey
I buy loads ‘Best of’ releases – for the very opposite reasons to you. I don’t want to buy all the CDs of a band I may or may not like as in many cases the total output will not be very good and the ‘best of’ will be – simple. I also don’t have the time or money or the inclination to buy everything every band I like has produced. And in many cases the best of collection will be an excellent album.
I must have around 150 of the buggers from Van Morrison to U2 to Simon and Garfunkel to The Pixies to The Tourists and they do serve a purpose (i.e.) I don’t want to buy every album these guys have made but I do like some of the songs they have made.
I can’t see your point Mr Dog, but – how do you know if you have actually got the real Best Of? Haven’t you just got someone else’s idea of their best releases? I’m not sure if you have noticed or not (he says with an ironic sneer) but my idea of a great song is somewhat different from the majority decision. Therefore, if I were only to buy the Best Of or whatever, I am sure that I would miss out on my idea of their best songs.
Just as a random example, I have picked this one:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Very-Best-Jethro-Tull/dp/B00005ASIL/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1255894671&sr=8-2
Now, great selection as it is, if I had bought this and decided that I had their best songs, I would have missed out on such classics as Hunting Girl, The Clasp, No Lullaby, to name but three. Life would be incomplete.
However, having bought every release they have ever had, I believe I could if I so wanted to, compile a much better selection than is presented here. But of course I wouldn’t because being the grumpy old man that I am I would rather hear the album the way the artist intended, ie, from start to finish.
Slight error in previous post. In the first sentence substitute can’t for can. And another thought occurred to me. If you only like the odd track here and there, why not just download the ones you do like and save yourself some money?
Best of compilations serve one purpose – to make even more money for greedy record companies. Very little artistic input is made here I avoid like I would avoid a whore
Mr Ken and Mr SP – I must disagree with you I buy ‘Best of” cds all the time, they are a good way of listening to good songs by bands and singers that I would not normally buy plus I would not really buy all the cds of one group just cos I like one song. eg – I recently bought ‘Collected’ by Massive Attack great cd
Hi Mr SA, I will agree with you on one point. Massive Attack’s Collected is a great compilation. But I go back to my point and agree wholeheartedly with Ken. Every Massive Attack CD is worth buying because they all have great songs on them, many of which aren’t on Collected.
I really don’t see the point in them unless you are merely dipping your toe into an artist to see whether or not you might like them other than a track or two you may have heard on the radio. In which case I don’t see how the record companies can justify the outrageous prices they charge for them. Surely it would be to the benefit of the moguls to sell them incredibly cheaply in an attempt to persuade you to go and spend real money on the ‘proper’ releases?
And, as Ken says, the artistic merit goes clean out the window. I think any album (apart from compilations) should be viewed as a whole and not taken as just odd bits and pieces of it.
Spacey – I think you are missing the point here
Some people do not want to buy all the songs ever recorded by an artist – I don’t. But I’m happy buying an album of good songs (most best of compilations are) especially if I haven’t heard these songs before. In this case the best of albums are good value.
I may have given a bit of a wrong impression. It’s not that I hear a song I like then decide that I have to buy everything done by that band. Far from it, Mrs Spacepig would soon veto that idea for a start. But, if I do come across a consistently good artist or band, then eventually I will end up with a fairly comprehensive collection of their output.
That doesn’t mean to say that I go round to HMV and spend every last penny on anything I can find with their name on it. But with CD’s being so cheap on Amazon Marketplace and Ebay, with a little bit of caution and know-how, you can soon get a good collection together.
I discovered Dead Can Dance a year or two back after my local barman played a couple of tracks for me one quiet afternoon.Within two or three weeks I had picked up eight of their best releases for less than 30 quid. I really don’t see the point in spending 10 -12 quid for one CD with what may or may not be their best, when I can get the lot for that kind of outlay.
I can see that we’re not going to agree on this though so let’s just slug it out in the pub car park at closing time.
agreed – water pistols or snow spray you select the weapon
Problem is we don’t have any pubs here!!!
No pubs!!!!!!!! How can we possibly have a slugging match if there’s no pubs to have it in?
Tell you what, why don’t you come to mine? Here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIbeYUX2aig
Its quite well positioned too. There’s the most polluted river in the Northern hemisphere right across the road to fall into afterwards.