July ’04 Mix

July 30, 2004

1) July, July! – Castaways and Cutouts – The Decemberists

I’ve been waiting for months and months for July to come just so I could put this song on a mix. There’s a pause right before the chorus where I’m so anxious to yell JULY! JULY! that my heart almost leaps out of chest.

2) July Jones – The Electric Version – The New Pornographers

The other July song I’ve been waiting on. peppy!

3) On The Table – The Slow Wonder – AC Newman

Of all the tracks on AC Newman’s solo album, this is the one that is the most “pornographic.” With its punchy melodies and cacophonous vocals, this song would have blended perfectly with any of the New Pornographers albums.

4) Anything You Want – Girls Can Tell – Spoon

Spoon’s always been this band that snuck up on me. I’ve listened to Girls Can Tell zillions of times, but this sly track came up on random and it still surprised me. Britt Daniel’s vocals are always so effortlessly sexy.

5) Grace Cathedral Hill – Demos – Tiara

Robert Duffy made me download this, but it’s a fantastically cool Decemberists cover. It’s about as bare as the original, but the doubled and echoed vocals give it a haunting depth. Depressingly sad, achingly pretty.

6) C’mere – Antics – Interpol

New Interpol. Sounds like old Interpol. A bit faster.

7) Engine – Live – The Decemberists

“Engine” feels like the bastard child of “Wichita Lineman” and “Driver 8,” The bridge lyrics really knocked me out: “If you don’t love me, let me go / I am a writer / a writer of fictions / I am the heart that you call home / I’ve written pages upon pages / trying to rid you from my bones”

8) Good Year For the Roses – Almost Blue – Elvis Costello

The first verse is arguably my favorite verse of all time, a lyric so good that Elvis Costello was jealous enough to cover it: “I can hardly bear the sight of lipstick / on the cigarettes there in the ashtray / Lyin’ cold the way you left ‘em / but at least your lips caressed them / while you packed / Or the lip-print on a half-filled cup of coffee / that you poured and didn’t drink / But at least you thought you wanted it, that’s so much more than I can say for me”

9) Film – This is Cinerama – Cinerama

Whenever Cinerama pops up on my ipod I feel like I’ve been transported into the greatest spy movie ever. This track was no exception.

10) 18 Wheels – Broken Bottles Empty Hearts – Murder City Devils

This rager isn’t really supposed to be romantic, but I always think a trucker drunk off his ass on the highway thinking about his girl is kind of sweet. Dangerous, but sweet. “like a smuggler, like a trucker / drinking while you should be sleeping / sleeping while you should be waking up / never hung over, either wide awake or way too drunk / the only thing, only thing i ever wanted is gonna fuck you over / its gonna fuck us up, the only thing that i ever wanted / i never wanted you / to be a sailors girl / to be a truckers wife / to be left behind”

11) Abra Cadaver – Tyrannosaurus Hives – The Hives

The Hives are back with this? This track’s got the swagger, but most of the rest of the album borders on extinction. Yes. When you name your album with a dinosaur crack, you’re going to hear a lot of bad extinction jokes.

12) Girl Is On My Mind – Rubber Factory – The Black Keys

The new Black Keys record’s got the same shimmy and swagger as the first two, but a little more of a country, down-home feel. Fucking’ great white boy blues.

13) Walking to Do – Shake the Sheets – Ted Leo/Pharmacists

TED LEO and he’s got something to say and shit to do. Watch the fuck out.

14) Everything I Do, Nothing Seems to Turn Out Right – B-Sides – The Decemberists

YES, this is the 4th Decemberists song! Bet you can’t wait for the December mix. That’s going to really blow your mind… or bore you to death. The title’s kind of the story of my life. The botched and awkward relationship examined in the song is not really the story of my life. “we turned off the tube / and crawled to your room /leaving discarded clothes in our way / we both had some fun / though I twice bit my tongue / and it lasted a bit long / for my taste / there’s a nagging suspicion that just won’t leave me alone tonight / everything I do, nothing seems to turn out right” That’s just hilarious.

Posted in Mixtape