Mix CD #6 Guest Post: Radiohead Not Included

The first guest post of the blog is brought to you by my friend Eddie, He's the head honchperson over at another Blog I post in called All The Time I Was Listening To My Own Wall Of Sound where you can read reviews of many varied albums and singles. You may view it at the following link

All The Time I Was Listening To My Own Wall Of Sound

Eddie's blurb and song choices can be found beneath the cut, click on Read More.. 

Radiohead Not Included - Tracklisting

01 – Gene – Olympian

02 – Danko Jones – Sugar Chocolate

03 – Death Grips – World of Dogs

04 – Frank Zappa – Bobby Brown Goes Down

05 – Motörhead – We Bring the Shake

06 – James Brown & The Famous Flames - Night Train (Live)

07 – Kendrick Lamar – King Kunta

08 – Grinderman – Honeybee (Let’s Fly to Mars)

09 – B.A. Baracus Band – Mama Said Knock You Out

10 – Jucifer – Amplifier

11 – Dead Kennedys – Police Truck

12 – Urge Overkill – Back On Me

13 – The Divine Comedy – The Complete Banker

14 – Maybeshewill – Critical Distance

15 – Napalm Death – Nazi Punks Fuck Off

16 – Dillinger Escape Plan – Setting Fire To Sleeping Giants

17 – Teenage Fanclub – Neil Jung

18 – Sebadoh – Flame

19 – Soundgarden – Blow up the Outside World

20 – Depeche Mode – Everything Counts

21 – DJ Danger Mouse – Encore 

The Mix can be downloaded HERE

So it is my turn to write a list (and for Luke to correct the spelling & grammatical mistakes that will appear within this page today).  Looking back, it is a strange way how me and Luke got to meet each other.  Many years ago, Yahoo used to have community pages that were essentially message boards.  Luke ran one called Irk the Purists (taking the name from a song by Half Man Half Biscuit).  At first I joined under the delightful email address of rastagoth; I had to re-join after losing access to that email address and setting up a new email of amerikanpreidents (which I have also since lost, there is a pattern with Yahoo for me and my choice of names for email addresses has always been questionable at best). 

  Over the years, we communicated online and I finally got to meet the man when at a festival at Download (I cannot remember if it was a Download, Ozzfest or Monsters of Rock – I am going with Download though) as we watched Danko Jones on one of the smaller stages.  Over the years it has been CD trading, a love of music, gentle mocking, weddings and stuff that has gotten us together.  Now it is my time to write one of these mix tape things, which Luke has given me free licence to create what I will.  The only rule, it has to be under 80 minutes in length (easy); but how do you condense your musical love to such a short format?   In order not to over think it, I have just thrown together a short list which contains some songs that have been bouncing around my head this week.  This is by no means my favourite stuff, I have even dropped some songs for my own reasons, changed a few songs and had a little anxiety about the order which I gave up on after a minute or two.  You can read into the music whatever you want and I will continue my questionable naming method by christening this mix as follows – Radiohead not included:

01 – Gene – Olympian – Taken from the 1995 album Olympian

This is a band that I fall in and out of love with; basically they wish they were the Smiths with a passion and were one of the “also ran/second generation” bands of the Brit-pop era, but this song has always been the one that defies the norm with this band.  It has an inauspicious beginning, a gentle slope to nowhere fast, but the build of the ending is so simple that it drives the hooks into my mind and it never really let’s go.  I do not suffer from guilty pleasures; this is the closest I get to that sort of thing.

02 – Danko Jones – Sugar Chocolate – Taken from the 2001 album I’m Alive & On Fire

I thought I would put on something by the Mango Kid himself, after meeting Luke whilst he was slaying Download.  I actually met Mr Jones when he was supporting the Backyard Babies at Northumbria University in Newcastle upon Tyne.  He signed my copy of the CD and drew arrows pointing to his crotch, he is a strange man indeed and responsible for one of the best support slots I ever witnessed.

03 – Death Grips – World of Dogs – Taken from the 2012 album NO LOVE DEEP WEB

Death Grips are a band I have a love/bemused relationship with, as much as admire their “fuck it, we are doing it our way” and that there are no prisoners taken on any of their albums, they sometimes just piss on their own legacy (the stage show where they did not turn up, later stating it was an artistic statement – please).  However, their music always tends to hit the spot; this is taken from NO LOVE DEEP WEB, an album they leaked to the world after their label Epic refused to release it when the band wanted to release it and has an erect penis with the album title written up the shaft as its cover.  This band does not do comfortable; it is always a confrontation when they release anything, what it there not to love?

04 – Frank Zappa – Bobby Brown Goes Down – Taken from the 1979 album Sheik Yerbouti

Zappa is a genius in my book – the man rarely did anything wrong (apart from add some 80’s production to the album Cruising with Ruben & The Jets), but his humour in places is not something that is fashionable these days.  This song reminds me of a time I was seeking comfort and an old friend let me stay at his whilst I sulked about something, during this time he introduced me to this artist (I had heard a song on a John Peel show years earlier, but this was the first true introduction).  This song is a fictional story about an American Jock (sporty high school student) who is an ass, gets into some trouble with a lady and then ends up admitting his homosexual feelings.  It is very tongue in cheek, very sarcastic and it is morally reprehensible – of course, I find myself laughing at it all the time.

05 – Motörhead – We Bring the Shake – Taken from the 1993 album Bastards

Motörhead need no introduction, but this song (and by default, album) might need a little line or two.  Bastards was released at the height of the Grunge explosion, most bands were putting on lumberjack shirts, ripping off Nirvana (and by default, The Pixies) and all was woe and gnashing of teeth.  Motörhead just kept on doing what they had always done, with this album being released on ZYX records; a label that had focused on dance & rave music before this.  They promoted the album in Germany (where the label was based), but did little to no promotion elsewhere.  Over the years, I have come to think of this as the best album Motörhead ever released.  This song is not my favourite off the album (for the record, that was called On Your Feet or On Your Knees), but this is the one that has been in my head for a few weeks now.  RIP Lemmy.

06 – James Brown & The Famous Flames – Night Train (Live) – Taken from the 1963 album Live at The Apollo (1962)

I am not the biggest James Brown fan, especially his 1980’s output.  However, there are few artists that came into that decade and left it in shining colours.  This shows James Brown live at the Apollo Theatre in 1962, showcasing Brown & The Famous Flames at their best.  At the time, James Brown’s record label did not see the worth in releasing the album and only relented after pressure from James Brown and his management; they were stunned when it proved to be more popular than some of his studio work.  It has since been labelled one of the most important live records ever recorded, it is such a ferocious album and it still brings the party all these years later.

07 – Kendrick Lamar – King Kunta – Taken from the 2015 album To Pimp a Butterfly

I am not the audience that this song was designed for – I am a 40 year old, fat white man who is so far from anything harsh in my life to be honest.  I have had loss, but I am not your average hip hop fan; but I am not your average person at the best of times.  I wish I could play this on the radio show I play, but I am not able to play it; but this is one of the best songs I have heard for a long while.  The bass drives this song as much and Lamar’s lyrical interpretation of the novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family and it lends from the Michael Jackson song Smooth Criminal.  It is a song of power, protest and rebellion – strength in music.

08 – Grinderman – Honeybee (Let’s Fly to Mars) – Taken from the 2006 album Grinderman

Never has a midlife crisis sounded so sublime!  When Nick Cave approached his middle years, after all the drugs, tantrums and fucked up lifestyle – there was not much to rebel against.  So he did what he had to do, he made one of the rawest and powerful records he could.  There were gentler moments on the album, but the venom was back in the mix for the most part – trying to defy the reaper one more time.  The song is chaos in flight and it makes the hairs on my neck stand on end, lets fly to Mars….

09 – B.A. Baracus Band – Mama Said Knock You Out – As far as I know, not off any album…

This is one of two covers on this list, it is a Canadian acoustic duo who just cover random songs.  It is one of those numbers that has always made me jump for joy ever since my friend played it for me when my old band played a gig in honour of the late and great John Peel.  I wish I had more of a story here, but it is just a great cover of an average L.L. Cool J song.

10 – Jucifer – Amplifier – Taken from the 2002 album I Name You Destroyer

 Sludge duo Jucifer has released some great records, they have also been on some amazing labels over the years but I have never gotten past this song with this band, probably never will; it is a song all about a friend who loved music and then took their own exit.  Sometimes it is what people have to do, it does not make sense and it is hard on those left behind.  But this song does have a certain something about it, with a groove that you can never get in the clean, sharp cut world of the mainstream.

11 – Dead Kennedys – Police Truck – B-side to the 1980 single Holiday in Cambodia and as a bonus track to later releases of Fresh Fruit for Rotten Vegetables

They never got past this album for me, it was there opening and crowning moment in one for the Dead Kennedys with Fresh Fruit for Rotten Vegetables.  Even today – 36 years later as I type these words – the album Fresh Fruit… is sadly still one that is relevant to society as a whole (even with different references).  It is one of those raw moments that will keep on burning, this song has a mixture of punk and old school surfer tuneage that always was a pivot for the Dead Kennedys in my book.  There were much better songs, but this one suited this list for me; after all, this is not a greatest hits list.

12 – Urge Overkill – Back on Me – Taken from the 1993 album Saturation

Before they were known as the band who made the Neil Diamond cover for Pulp Fiction; Urge Overkill were one of the most exciting rock prospects in my youth.  I love Saturation, it is one of my eternal regrets having to sell the Orange vinyl 12 inch I had of this album; but needs must at times.  This song about reject is one of many hidden gems, it is just before the drink, drugs and covers killed off the best – all hail Urge Overkill and purchase their records, you will not be disappointed.

13 – The Divine Comedy – The Complete Banker – Taken from the 2010 album Bang Goes The Knighthood

At the height of the financial crisis that started in 2007 with the bursting of the US subprime mortgage market, the repercussions were felt across the word; in the UK, we found out first hand that the people playing with money actually knew fuck all and lot of financial institutions collapsed – Northern Rock, Bradford & Bingley, the Icelandic collapse which led to the Icesave crisis – made the people who work in the higher levels of banking looks like fools and charlatans.  Well, this lovely slice of irony from one of the best musicians from Ireland is dripping with sarcasm and irony.

14 – Maybeshewill – Critical Distance – Taken from the 2011 I Was Here for A Moment, Then I Was Gone

From Leicester in the UK, Maybeshewill performed, recorded and enchanted audiences from 2005 till they split up in 2016.  Over that time, the instrumental quartet created some of the most beautiful pieces of post rock/math rock music that has ever been performed.  I was lucky enough to see them a few times in Newcastle and at a few Damnation festivals.  Whilst I am sad to see them go, it also felt like it was the right time to go; leave the party on a high and with dignity.  This song is one of my favourites and showcases them perfectly.

15 – Napalm Death – Nazi Punks Fuck Off – Taken from the 1993 EP Nazi Punks Fuck Off

This is the second cover of this collection and one of those moments where a band or artist takes a song as their own, it replaces the original as the standard bearer of that number.  This cover of the Dead Kennedy’s classic is timeless, it is a song that is sadly still needed in the world and it has impact from the first note to the end scream.  Napalm Death have been going for many years, the current line up does not have any of the original members attached and they have been releasing some of the harshest music known to man.  I was first introduced to them before I heard bands like the Sex Pistols and Buzzcocks, so when I eventually heard punk (which was supposed to be the most dangerous music out there), I was incredibly disappointed.  This cover showcases what can be done when a song is not a straight forward cover, it is a primal release.

16 – Dillinger Escape Plan – Setting Fire to Sleeping Giants – Taken from the 2004 album Miss Machine

Math-core – it either messes with your head, delights you or an acute mixture of both.  At the time of this release, the band were embracing a side that was not as harsh as earlier releases; it gave a new contrast for the audience and it was further explored on the album Ire Works.  There are passages to Miss Machine which have industrial tones, some have metal explosions, some have truly Avant-garde sequences that will confuse the general masses.  This song is the best example of all those sides in one song, with a Latino break in the middle.

17 – Teenage Fanclub – Neil Jung – Taken from the 1995 album Grand Prix

Along with the BMX Bandits, Teenage Fanclub are the Scottish answer to the Beach Boys & Big Starr.  Starting off as a noisy indie act, it could have easily been over for them in my mind when they started.  However, upon the release of Grand Prix it all seemed to fall into place.  Every song on that album, every note, sigh, beat, bass line, tempo change – all of it came together to form one of the best albums of the 1990’s and a classic for people to discover in years to come.  This song was one of three to be released from the album (at least I think it was three, the interlink is not being helpful today), it is a story of a relationship ending and the fight on both sides.

18 – Sebadoh – Flame – Taken from the 1999 album The Sebadoh

Formed by Dinosaur Jr bass player Lou Barrow as a way of releasing his songs that he was writing and that were not making it onto the Dinosaur Jr records.  This was taken from their one and only alleged “major” label release with Sire records.  I remember seeing them on Top of the Pops (UK music chart show), this strange lo-fi band making a racket that the audience were not expecting.  In front of my TV in North Shields, I found another strange and wonderful band to love.  Sometimes I prefer this act to Mr Barrow’s day job, funny how things go sometimes.

19 – Soundgarden – Blow up the Outside World – Taken from the 1996 album Down on the Upside

This album was supposed to be their last until the release of King Animal in 2012, but it turned out to be just a long pause for the band who were being consumed by the music industry at this point.  The band were fighting and tired, but they went into exile with one of the most destructive grunge records to ever be recorded.  It is not an easy listen by any stretch, you can hear the death drones in places and the funeral match was already in progress; but it is a beautiful album and this song is the crowning glory as their world starts to fall apart and the band ended from within.  If it have had been their last release, it would have been a glorious ending.  It is still a glorious record to these ears…

20 – Depeche Mode – Everything Counts – Taken from the 1989 album 101

101 is a recording of the 101^st show on the Music for the Masses tour of 1989 and was performed at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.  It showcases a band just before they release their magnum opus Violator, this is the final song of the night and you can hear the audience sing along every step of the way.  Considering when they first came out, they were considered to be a silly boy band and were destined for the heap within a few years.  This band defied the odds and still continues to this day, one of the few acts left on my live gig bucket list.

21 – DJ Danger Mouse – Encore – Taken from the 2004 album The Grey Album

This song is taken from an album that some people really hate, some people adore and it is incredibly controversial.  In 2004, DJ Danger Mouse released this mash up album which takes the accapella version of Jay Z’s Black album and mixes it with the music of the Beatles and the White Album (hence being called the Grey Album).  Jay Z approves of it, the two remaining Beatles approve of it, the record label EMI does not.  So, it went underground and has been released via various download sites and is still out there.  This song mixes the vocals from Encore and the music of Glass Onion and Savoy Truffle.  This seems a fitting end to this list and I leave you with a goodbye.