SexSexSexSexSexSexSexSexSexSexSexSexSexSexSexSexSexSexSexSexSexSexSexSexSexSexSexSexSexSexSexSexSexSexSex

There – now I have your attention.

You just can’t beat great sex – you just can’t beat great music. Put the two together and one can experience an orgasmamontronic moment – have you tried bonking to ‘Overkill’ by Motorhead (the extended version)? I have once. Next time I’ll try it with the wife.

Anyway enough words, my thanks to Cheeze who has taken up the challenge and created a masterpiece – a music mix that is so exhilarating, so exciting, so passionate, so kinky… so damn sexy… I need a lie down.

01 Let’s Get It Up AC/DC [For those about to Rock]
02 Let Me Put my Love Into You – AC/DC [Back in Black]
03 Rolling In The Deep – Adele [21]
04 Surfing On A Rocket – Air [Talkie Walkie]
05 Swing On This – Alice in Chains [Jar of Flies]
06 Down In A Hole – Alice in Chains [MTV Unplugged]
07 Am I Inside – Alice in Chains [Sap]
08 A Horse With No Name – America [The Definitive America]
09 Mongrel Anthem – Amplifier [Insider]
10 Let Me Put It In – Andre Wiliams [Silky]
11 The stuff that dreams are made – Beardfish [Destined Solitaire]
12 Romance – Beth Gibbons and Rustin Man [Out of Season]
13 If I’m In Luck I Might Get Picked – Betty Davis [Mojo Presents]
14 More And More – Blood, Sweat & Tears [Super Hits]
15 Love Came Down – The Blue Nile [Peace at Last]
16 Battery In Your Leg – Blur [Think Tank]
17 Night Moves – Bob Seger [Greatest Hits]
18 Do It Till We Drop(Drop It!) – Brian Robertson [Diamonds and Dirt]
19 Hammer And Tongs – Budgie [The Best of Budgie]
20 Expecting To Fly – Buffalo Springfield [Retrospective]
21 I Am The Ride – Chris Smither [Up On the Lowdown]
22 One More Night – Can [Ege Bamyasi]
23 Oh Yeah – Can [Tago Majo]

The Sex mix (146 mb) will be available to download for the next month (until midnight on 15 July 2011).

Cover image by Kaptain Kobold

I used to be able to do lots of things in 5 minutes.

Run from my house to Dickie’s sweet shop, buy a bag of cheese and onion crisps and a Mars bar for 3p and run back. I could drink 3 pints of Brains SA without stopping for a pee or falling over. I could drag the missus into the woods in Thomastown Town Park and have my wicked way……….twice

These days it sometimes takes me 5 minutes to tie my shoe laces, 5 minutes to uncork Le Vino, 5 minutes to……..I’ll leave the rest to your imagination.

But I do know how to spend 5 minutes listening to good music – as all the songs in this Mix are 5 minutes long and good

01. Saltwater – Chicane (Best Of)
02. Bride Of Suicide – The Kings Of Frog Island (3)
03. Marry You – Eric Clapton & B.B. King (Riding With The King)
04. I Got A Mind To Give Up Living – The Paul Butterfield Blues Band (The Butterfield Blues Band & East West)
05. Another Night In – Tindersticks (Working For The Man)
06. Are We Really Through – Ray LaMontagne, The Pariah Dogs (God Willin’ & The Creek Don’t Rise)
07. I Want To Know If It`s Still – Secret Machines (Ten Silver Drops)
08. Simple – Nick Harper (Miracles For Beginners)
09. Weird Sisters – Sparklehorse (Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot)
10. Winona – Matthew Sweet (Girlfriend)
11. Flies and blue skies – King’s X (Dogman)
12. Blind – Talking Heads (The Best Of Talking Heads)
13. Old Man Down – Chris Smither (Time Stands Still)
14. Those Three Days – Lucinda Williams (World Without Tears)
15. Zoetrope – Boards of Canada ( A Beautiful Place Out In The Country)
16. Coming Second – Elbow (Asleep In The Back)
17. Sweet And Saddest – Sun Domingo (The World’s Alive)
18. The Wait – Built To Spill (You In Reverse)
19. Torture Garden – Hugh Cornwell (Guilty)
20. Let It Roll – Chris Rea (The Blue Jukebox)

The The Best 5 Minutes for the Next 5 Minutes mix (145 mb) will be available here to download for the next fortnight (until midnight on 6 April 2011).

The subject and creator of the cover image is not known, it’s part of a collection of “mystery black and white photos” widely available across the internet.

Cover image by Rodrigo Lozano

Well, Laughing Dog, you’ve given me so much pleasure listening to your mixes, it’s nice to give something back.

[1] Kings Of Leon – My Party [Because of the Times]
Love this band, totally unique. Best album IMO.

[2] Paul Cusick – Ever Blue [Focal Point]
Don’t know anything about him but great album.

[3] Steve Hackett – Emerald and Ash [Out of the Tunnel's Mouth]
LD played a track off of this album on a mix recently, here’s another one!

[4] Robert Plant – Hey Joe [Dreamland]
You all know this song, but this is way different.

[5] Radiohead – 15 Step [In Rainbows]
Just loved their last 2 albums, they just keep getting better.

[6] Pink Floyd – Sheep [Animals]
This one’s for Techy from an underrated album.

[7] Jack Bruce – Lost in the City (Jam Mix) [More Jack Than God]
Just a great track.

[8] John Mellencamp – Circling Around the Moon [Mr Happy Go Lucky]
Love this guy, great album.

[9] Nick Harper – Simple [Miracles For Beginners]
Roy’s son, just love the words.

[10] The Who – Amazing Journey/Sparks [Live at Leeds]
Love this track, Keith Moon’s drumming is all over it.

[11] Turin Brakes – Blue Hour [Ether Song]
Saw these at Oxford, amazing!! One of the best gigs I’ve been to.

[12] Chris Smither – Time To Go Home [Up on the Lowdown]
Underrated over here, glad I found him.

The It’s a long and winding road Music Mix [an 85 mb zip file] will be available for one month from today – until midnight on 29 September 2010. As always, your thoughts and comments are much appreciated in the comment box below.

Cover image from Deviant

Please remember to respect copyright law; if you like a song from the mix, there’s a very good chance you will also like the album – so do me and the artist a favour and buy the CD.

February 2010 Notes for Music Mix

[01] King’s X – Over My Head
What a good song to start February’s Mix. An old band that not many people know and love but have been making great music since the early 80’s. I can remember buying this album in Spillers in Cardiff and being the only guy I know who had actually heard of them (you know that smug feeling I had right!!). I haven’t heard much of them for a while but one of my pups saw this CD and sent it to Santa who promptly delivered it Xmas morning – I like Santa.

[02] Elvis Costello – Monkey to Man
I like this guy – for me he can do little wrong and every album he’s involved with has something on it that makes you go “wow, when will this guy stop writing such great songs”. This album from 2004 showcases what he does best, even including contributions from Lucinda Williams and Emmylou Harris and really does stick two-fingers up to his critics – nice one Declan.

[03] Steve Winwood – Raging Sea
Another of Santa’s gifts – what did I do to deserve pups with such good taste in music – or were they all buy one get one free? Anyway, this song from his Nine Lives album has such a good riff and groove – apparently very hard to play – and demonstrates that quality music is still being made. Unfortunately there aren’t many new bands doing it – thank God for the old gits.

[04] Ian Drury and The Blockheads – Wake Up And Make Love With Me
And talking of gits – here’s one that is sadly missed. What a song, what a groove, what poetry, what a shame he’s not here now to show some of the young arseholes how to make music. One thing I’ve always thought is – shouldn’t it be Wake up and Make Love to me, not With Me? Anyway, I hear there’s a film out soon about the man – let’s hope his music will be heard and enjoyed by a new audience.

I come awake
with the gift for womankind
you’re still asleep
but the gift don’t seem to mind
rise on this occasion
halfway up your back
sliding down your body
touching your behind
you look so self-possessed
I won’t disturb your rest
it’s lovely when you’re sleeping
but wide awake is best
ow, wake up and make love with me

wake up and make love
wake up and make love with me
I don’t wanna make you
i’ll let the fancy take you
and you’ll wake up and make love
you come awake
in a horny morning mood
and we’ll have a proper wriggle
in the naughty, naked nude
roll against my body
get me where you want me
what happens next is private
it’s also very rude
i’ll go and get the post
and make some tea and toast
you have another sleep luv
it’s me that needs it most
ow, wake up and make love with me
wake up and make love
wake up and make love with me
I don’t wanna make you
i’ll let the fancy take you
and your’ll wake up and make love
wake up and make love with me
wake up and make love
wake up and make love with me
wake up and make love
wake up
wake up
wake up
wake up

[05] Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More
You may think I don’t like any new bands – wrong of course – I’m always on the lookout for something fresh that makes me go “mmm…I like that” and this band do. Their album is full of great harmonies, great songs and a guy that knows his way around a banjo. I wouldn’t say “I have been completely mesmerized by this maelstrom of musical wizardry. It is the most uplifting music I have heard for many a year” as some guy wrote on Amazon but it’s good, good enough for me to include here.

[06] Ruthie Foster – Heal Yourself
What a voice, as good as anything you’ll hear this year – what a shame the album title makes me want to puke. Anyway, ignore that and you will discover the joy that is Ruthie Foster, backed by a great band the album offers a stylish and well-designed framework for Foster’s booming voice on such songs as Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s “Up Above My Head” and Eric Bibb’s “A Friend Like You”. Her own songs don’t really reach the same heights but it’s still gospel/blues at its very best.

The Phantom Band – [07] The Whole Is On My Side [08] Folk Song Oblivion [09] Island
As my notes on this band in February’s Album of the Month post reveal, I do like this album. I also like the fact that the band can do it live as my pups reckon these were one of the highlights of last year’s Greenman Festival – now you can’t say this about all new bands. The three songs chosen here showcase the band at its best and demonstrate that they do allow a song to breathe (the 3 songs are over 20 minutes long) and flow together really well.

[10] Elton John – Captain Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy
Yes you hear right – Elton John, that fat, gay, bald arsehole that makes bland, boring music for the coffee table. That’s now – but cast your mind back to the five years between 1970 – 1975 when he was a young and talented singer/songwriter and produced (with Bernie Taupin of course) a series of classic albums that are quite simply stunning. Listen to Tumbleweed Connection, Madman Across the Water, Honky Château, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and of course Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy and you will hear genius.

Captain Fantastic raised and regimented, hardly a hero
Just someone his mother might know
Very clearly a case for corn flakes and classics
“Two teas both with sugar please”
In the back of an alley

While little Dirt Cowboys turned brown in their saddles
Sweet chocolate biscuits and red rosy apples in summer
For it’s hay make and “Hey mom, do the papers say anything good.
Are there chances in life for little Dirt Cowboys
Should I make my way out of my home in the woods”

Brown Dirt Cowboy, still green and growing
City slick Captain
Fantastic the feedback
The honey the hive could be holding
For there’s weak winged young sparrows that starve in the winter
Broken young children on the wheels of the winners

And the sixty-eight summer festival wallflowers are thinning

For cheap easy meals and hardly a home on the range
Too hot for the band with a desperate desire for change
We’ve thrown in the towel too many times
Out for the count and when we’re down

Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy
From the end of the world to your town

And all this talk of Jesus coming back to see us
Couldn’t fool us

For we were spinning out our lines walking on the wire
Hand in hand went music and the rhyme
The Captain and the Kid stepping in the ring
From here on sonny sonny sonny, it’s a long and lonely climb

[11] A A Bondy – When the Devil’s Loose
A. A. Bondy, also known as Scott Bondy, is an American folk/alternative artist and his album almost made it as my album of the month but was pipped at the post by The Phantom Band – and even I couldn’t justify having two. It was also very hard selecting two songs from it as they are all so good.

Robert Plant – 3 In A Row:
[12] Robert Plant & the Strange Sensation – Another Tribe
 
 
 
 
 
 
[13] Scott Matthews – 12 Harps (duet with Plant)
 
 
 
 
 
 
[14] The Honeydrippers – Sea of Love
 
 
 
 
 
 
What can you say that hasn’t already been said about the great man – I know – Robert Plant dances like a tin of beans. Don’t think I’ve heard that before but it’s true, and if you watch him live (as I have done a lot lately) you will agree that his has no groove, no mojo, the man can’t dance.

But, of course this doesn’t matter much when you’re recognized by 93% of people with ears to be one of the outstanding vocal talents of the 20th Century. And he’s still doing it – still contributing fantastic music – still singing – still delighting us. Long may it continue.

[15] Lee Morgan – The Sidewinder
My Dad is a big jazz fan, has been for over 50 years – he even saw the likes of Duke Ellington and Count Basie play live when he was a youngster. Now I don’t follow his obsession with jazz but I did spend some quality time with him last summer when he played me his favorite jazz tracks and albums. One of these was Lee Morgan who was a prolific recorder, both on his own and with the likes of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and John Coltrane. This track is just perfect with its groove and style and superb soloing from Morgan on trumpet, Joe Henderson – tenor saxophone, Billy Higgins – drums, Barry Harris – piano and Bob Cranshaw on bass – mmm …nice.

[16] Susan Tedeschi – Back to the River
Couldn’t find any Derek Trucks in Doha but I did find his wife – and what a pleasant surprise this is. I hadn’t heard anything from her before but have really enjoyed this album – great songs, great guitar; really tight band reminds of Bonnie Raitt… oooh back to the river…
 
 
[17] Chris Smither – Someone Like Me
This song is from Time Stands Still which is the eleventh album from Smither in a career that started in the 70’s with his first album I’m A Stranger, Too!. Also worked with Bonnie Raitt writing Love You Like A Man for her. What I really like about this guy is not only his range of emotion – you can hear in his voice that he’s led a life worth living, but it’s also how he shapes and develops these songs. They’re simple songs but convey a deepness, a message that only artists who know themselves can achieve.

[18] A A Bondy – Mightiest of Guns
The hardest thing for me was only picking two songs from this album as it’s all so good. This is the opening track and sets the scene with its wonderful melody and crisp vocal – it’s one of those rare albums that once you have played it; you feel you want to play it again straight away.
 
 
[19] The Boxer Rebellion – Misplaced
This song is just massive and it’s one that almost slipped under the radar as it took me ages to really appreciate it. I’ve always enjoyed the album, it contains some good songs, Evacuate and Soviets to name but two, but it wasn’t until one night while playing with my shuffle that this song came on and just blew me away. It has layers and layers of wonderful sounds that just ooze quality – the guitar and vocal working together so well – the pace and silence make this a treasure reminding me of Coldplay’s first album. Bet Chris Martin wishes he could write songs like this now.

Misplaced
Given chances you won’t take
Shy away from the heart ache
Just a means to an end

Your quick fix
In the ring of the conflict
With nothing to work with
And nothing in mind

And then
We’ll rise
With fire in our eyes
And take you by surprise
Make up, deceive
a voice to receive
A light that never leaves

Slow right down

Lost love
With little to speak of
These feelings of bad blood
Must go quickly away

Your loose ends
Realising your true friends
In a war that no one wins
Let the sleeping dogs lie

[20] Big Big Train – Summers Lease
The last track on The Difference Machine album and what a way to end what is an excellent album. It is sort of old school progressive rock, sounding especially like early Genesis and Yes but hey who cares – I hear great melodies, strong songs, a wonderful flute and a band that are doing what they want. This song is one of many highlights (see also Perfect Cosmic Storm) and shows a more modern and folkie side to the band – incidentally visit their website for loads of free stuff including now a four hour podcast with interviews with the band and what influenced them.

[21] Drive By Truckers – Goodbye
And the time has come to say goodbye for another Music Mix and I can’t think of many better ways than with the Drive By Truckers – such a good band, such a good song. The only problem with these guys is that there are so many albums to buy – not only from the band itself but all the solo albums from past and present members.

They’ve been called the Lynyrd Skynyrd for the indie-rock set, but that tag does the band a bit of a disservice as they are their own band and have created their own sound and produced some excellent albums.

Anyway, enough of me – I hope you have enjoyed another installment of my favorite tunes. Remember to let me know if you like or dislike a song or if you wish to chat about anything else related to the music here.

The Music Mix 07 [a 154mb zip file] will be available for one month from today – until midnight on 28 February 2010.

Please support the artists – if you like a track, buy the album!

Laughing Dog