Hope you're not getting tired of these, I still enjoy making them. This is Number Nine in the Sound Bites Summer Fridays series, designed specifically to eliviate seasonal stress and alergies. This week's edition features fake reggae, real reggae, fake Thin Lizzy, French pop, goth pop, Swedish pop, an appearance from the Elephant Six roster, various aural ephemera and new tracks from BOAT, The Xx, Champagne Socialists and Cornershop. That's exciting, isn't it? Cover art this week was done by me, mainly because I forgot to get back to the people who've actually offered make one. (Will get back to you, I promise.) Have a swell weekend, and no shuffling!
Here's the tracklist:
1. 10CC - Dreadlock Holiday
2. Hot Chip - The Warning
3. Augustus Pablo - King Tubby Meets the Rockers Downtown
4. The Blue Nile - Tinseltown in the Rain
5. Broadcast - Come on Let's Go
6. Belle & Sebastian - I'm a Cuckoo
7. BOAT - Lately
8. The Boo Radleys - Wish I Was Skinny
9. The Xx - Basic Space
10. The Chrysler - While the Tide is High
11. The Olivia Tremor Control - Courtyard
12. The Champagne Socialists - Blue Genes
13. Imperial Teen - Ivanka
14. Phoenix - Consolation Prizes
15. Modern English - Life in the Gladhouse
16. Cornershop - The Roll Off Characteristics (Of History In The Making)
17. Max Eider - Who Loves You Now?
If you're interested in making cover art for one of these, do get in touch.
Liner notes after the jump.
I always saw 10cc as the UK equivalent of Steely Dan, and not just because both bands' names were sexual references. (Look it up.) Super-smart pranksters. This song is supposedly based on a true story about the Moody Blues misadventures in Barbados. There is a certain guilty pleasure element to this song, but if you were to ask if I like it, I'd have to say "no...I LOVE IT!"
2. Hot Chip - The Warning
Title track from the best album of 2006. I listened to The Warning so much I had to put it away for a while, but I recently pulled it out and it's still amazing. Electronic, but 100% human.
3. Augustus Pablo - King Tubby Meets the Rockers Downtown
The melodica is a cool instrument but in the wrong hands it will just make you sound like The Hooters. In Augustus Pablo's hands, it becomes sinister and sexy. And this was the track first did it.
4. The Blue Nile - Tinseltown in the Rain
Absolutely gorgeous single from the Blue Nile's classic, essential debut album, A Walk Across the Rooftops. If the "Do I love you? YES I love you!" part doesn't get you, you have a heart of stone.
5. Broadcast - Come on Let's Go
The temperature just dropped about 20 degrees with this track, maybe the ultimate Broadcast song from their album The Noise Made by People. I remember reading chickfactor at the time and nearly every band interviewed picked this as their single of the year.
6. Belle & Sebastian - I'm a Cuckoo
When Belle & Sebastian announced that Trevor Horn was going to produce their then-new album, visions of bombast (Seal, ABC, Frankie Goes to Hollywood) danced through our heads, but what he really did was put the focus back on great pop songs. Which meant mostly Stuart Murdoch's songs. This one's clearly a musical nod to Thin Lizzy, who are also mentioned in the lyrics (rhyming "Tokyo" with "Thin Lizzy-oh").
7. BOAT - Lately
Hey look it's new BOAT! This if from their forthcoming album, Setting the Pace, which isn't out until October. It is awesome and I couldn't resist putting this track on a mix, as it's really a summer kind of album. When they played NYC last year, they closed with this song at both shows. If BOAT lived in NYC, I would go see every local show they play.
8. The Boo Radleys - Wish I Was Skinny
From their sprawling Giant Steps album, which turned them from noisy shoegazers to a band with a lot more possibilites. My friend Toby and I were pretty much Boo Radleys superfan completists, though we never went as a far as getting the Giant Steps cover art tatooed on our backs. Nice little pop song, this.
9. The Xx - Basic Space
Minimal electronic quartet from England who will be in NYC in two weeks -- they're opening for School of Seven Bells at the Seaport. I realize it slows things down at the start of the song, but I like the space in this song. There's a lot of room to breath here, which in today's compressed-as-shit recording technics, a little fresh air is welcome.
10. The Chrysler - While the Tide is High
Great, underheard Swedish band whose latest album, Cold War Classic is absolutely worth picking up if you like this track. Winsome, melancholic, dreamy folk pop. That's enough adjectives.
11. The Olivia Tremor Control - Courtyard
Other Music used to be on my walk home from work back when it first opened which was around the time the whole Elephant 6 thing was big, and I have distinct memories of this album being played in the store somewhat constantly. It's a weird record, with a lot of noisy, psychedelic diversions but a lot of great pop in there too.
12. The Champagne Socialists - Blue Genes
New single on Slumberland, a label that shouldn't be ignored these days. The Champagne Socialists are from LA, they're a duo and this is a catchy song. Don't know much beyond that, but certainly that's enough for now.
13. Imperial Teen - Ivanka
This is my favorite Imperial Teen song, it's from 2002's On. If you don't know, this was the band Roddy Bottum formed after leaving Faith No More. I don't really get a chance to drive these days, but if I did I imagine this song would be a fun one to listen to while breaking the speed limit.
14. Phoenix - Consolation Prizes
I used "Lisztomania" on my SoundBites Of Spring mix, which is currently odds-on-favorite for single of the year. This one's from 2006's It's Never Been Like That and it's almost as good. This song is impossible to dislike, though I'm sure some people claim they do. But they're in denial.
15. Modern English - Life in the Gladhouse
From the same album as "I Melt With You" but this is the best track. And it will never be used to sell cheeseburgers. Go ahead and prove me wrong, Carl's Jr!
16. Cornershop - The Roll Off Characteristics (Of History In The Making)
First new Cornershop album in six year, it's called Judy Sucks a Lemon for Breakfast. This is the current single and is good to dance around your home to, when no one is watching.
17. Max Eider - Who Loves You Now?
Technically this song is by the Jazz Butcher, from the Distressed Gentlefolk album but it's the only one Max sings, so I'm going to go and rewrite history and just credit it to him. Because it's true. He'd make an album of similar jazzy material the same year, The Best Kisser in the World, which is great and worth seeking out.
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