Mix CD #24 - Last Chance To Change

Hello and welcome to the 24th mix! It's not been too long since the last one but as that was an artist specific mix I guess it's been a while since an actual proper mix. Six weeks or so. Anyway yeah, here's another one. As usual it's a collection of tunes that I've been enjoying and thought would fit together nicely.

All of my CD's, of which there are many, are stored away up in the attic, I was up there last week and had a rummage through a couple of crates that were accessible, I dragged out quite a few old albums that I've been listening to and enjoying.
As there's already quite a bit of older stuff on this mix, I've left them off for now but expect songs cropping up over the next couple of mixes. You'll know which they are as it's the kind of uninteresting fact I like to include  in my pointless, rambling anecdotes about each song. Speaking of which you can pore over and enthuse about my latest enscribings below, under the download link

Cheers,
Luke
x

Tracklisting
D-A-D - Last Chance To Change
Jackdaw4 - Frobisher's Last Stand
Liberty 37 - Revolution
The Crucified - Mindbender
Haken - Celestial Elixir
The A-OKs - You're A Bomb
Marmozets - Back To Blackout
Balaam & The Angel - Don't Look Down
Agnès Milewski - Ship Is Sailing (Live)
Manic Street Preachers - Judge Yr'self
Better Than A Thousand - I Can Make A Difference
Groovenics - Superstar
The Darkest Of The Hillside Thickets - Varcolac
Crunchy - Fanatic
Karine Polwart - Tears For Lot's Wife
I Love You - Hang Straight Up
Life Of Agony - Bag Of Bones
Boris The Sprinkler - Sugar Machine
Sacred Reich - Ask Ed
Greg Graffin - Millport

You can download the mix HERE if you want.


D-A-D - Last Chance To Change
Taken from the 2006 album Scare Yourself

This Danish band have been around for a couple of decades now. Initially a weird hybrid of Country and Punk, they gradually veered more towards a more Hard Rock sound and their last couple of albums have been more radio friendly. That said, Jesper Binzer's raspy vocals could never be considered mainstream and are instantly recognisable. One thing I've always loved about them is his lyrics, he's often clever or wryly observant and the fact it's in a second language is doubly impressive. This song cropped up while I was driving and I really enjoyed it. It also fitted well with the image I used for the cover too, which is nice. 

Jackdaw4 - Frobisher's Last Stand
Taken from the 2007 album Bipolar Diversions

I miss Jackdaw4. Willie Dowling's current work with The Dowling Poole is great and quite similar but I still miss Jackdaw4, all four of their albums were incredible. They mixed up Indie Rock with a little bit of Prog and big harmonies to make something special. Willie has always been one of my favourite lyricists and this song is a fine example. The Frobisher in question is Martin Frobisher, a former pirate (from Yorkshire, hurrah!) who fought alongside Sir Francis Drake against the Spanish Armada and eventually won his own Knighthood.

Liberty 37 - Revolution
Taken from the 1999 album The Greatest Gift

Another old Rock band I miss. Liberty 37 were a Welsh band who wrote imtelligent Alternative Rock and released two very different albums around the turn of the Millenium; The Greatest Gift was a positive and lively album whereas The God Machine was very bleak and subdued. Both were excellent though. 
Revolution was one of a handful of singles from The Greatest Gift and is all about listening to music because it's good not because it's popular.

The Crucified - Mindbender
Taken from the 1991 album The Pillars Of Humanity

Yet another old band sorry! This time it's the Crossover Thrash band The Crucified. I only heard about them in the last couple of years as two of the band, Jeff and Mark, are now in one of my favourite bands, Stavesacre (you might have seen my blog dedicated to them HERE) and I was poking about, looking for things I didn't have,. The Crucified were much heavier and a little bit more preachy but you can hear the link between the bands still. This whole album is great but the riff in this song is a monster and one that I keep singing to myself. Duvvaduvvaduvva.

Haken - Celestial Elixir
Taken from the 2010 album Aquarius

Their album Affinity was a highlight of 2016 for me but this song is the one that introduced me to the band and sucked me in. It's such a vast, emotional epic that doesn't meander, doodle or waste a minute of it's expansive track length. It begins like the theme to some 80's sci-fi blockbuster before chucking a bit of Polka. The first verse eventually turns up after about four minutes.
The main body of the song is quite slow and atmospheric, I love the chorus, both for the guitar line and the refrain of "She may never return, but I will wait forever". The whole song perfectly captures the mental image of a lovelorn immortal waiting for someone that isn't coming back. There's a great little breakdown about halfway through that's half Charleston, half Iron Maiden too. 
It's not a song you can listen to casually or very often, I have Punk and Grindcore albums shorter than this one song, but it's a glorious listen when you have the time.

The A-OKs - You're A Bomb
Taken from the 2014 album Funemployment Benefits

Completely different to the last band, The A-OKs are an energetic Ska-Punk band from Colorado. They're among a very select few bands(for example Random Hand and Streetlight Manifesto, who I've both featured on previous mixes) who are actually making credible and relevant Ska-Punk and you shouldn't dismiss them out of hand. This song is a speedy burst of joy and ebullience, I like it a lot.

Marmozets - Back To Blackout

Taken from the 2011 EP Passive Aggressive

This Alternative Rock band from West Yorkshire have, so far, only released the one album, though it's done very well in the couple of years it's been out. A second album must surely be due out soon? Prior to the release of The Weird And Wonderful Marmozets they released a couple of EP's of which Passive Aggressive was the first. They tend to be a little more Mathcore than later material though this song is one of the more melodic ones.

Balaam & The Angel - Don't Look Down
Taken from the 1986 album The Greatest Story Ever Told

I used to be obsessed with this album when I was 15-16 and, it might be nostalgia talking but, I think it holds up pretty well now. They went a bit pub rock after this album,I don't think that suited Mark Morris' voice so much, but their first couple of albums were jangly Gothic Rock along the lines of The Cure, Fields Of The Nephilim, The Mission etc. 
Incidentally, the band comprises of three brothers: Mark, Jim and Des Morris. The previous band, Marmozets,  also contain a pair of brothers s well as a brother and sister. That's a whole load of siblingery going on.

Agnès Milewski - Ship Is Sailing (Live)
Taken from the 2013 Live At RDC sessions

This Austrian singer plays piano based Alternative Pop, much like Tori Amos, and has just released her fourth album, Seven Demons. I don't have that yet so I'm including a track from her last album, Almost Spring instead. It was quite a somber album, with a few Jazz twiddles popping up here and there. Slap band in the middle however, is this irreverent, upbeat song about the Media. This live version is especially charming.

Manic Street Preachers - Judge Yr'self
Taken from the 2003 album Lipstick Traces: A Secret History Of...

Judge Yr'self was the last thing recorded by the band before the disappearance of Richey James, and was originally intended to be on the OST for the Sylvester Stallone Judge Dredd movie before eventually coming out on this Rarities collection. it's a blistering, acerbic track that's still dead catchy. I especially like the rhythm guitar in the verses that's quite easy to miss. I wish they still made songs like this, don'tlikechangegrumblegrumble.

Better Than A Thousand - I Can Make A Difference
Taken from the 1998 album Discography

Ray Cappo has sung in several straight edge Hardcore bands over the years, with Youth Of Today and Shelter being the most notable. Better Than a Thousand were a brief side project with members of another straight edge band, Battery. Better Than A Thousand obviously sound similar to Shelter but without so much of the Krishna influence. Their songs are generally shorter and harder too, as evidenced by this particular track.

Groovenics - Superstar
Taken from the 2001 album Groovenics

Poor old Nu-Metal. It was such an exciting and vibrant scene to be part of  in the 90's but both the fashion and a lot of the music haven't dated too well at all. Groovenics came along towards the tail end of it when it was starting to get too bogged down with mediocre bands with no originality and/or talent. Thankfully their only album was well executed, suprisingly eclectic and, as this track demonstrates, they didn't take themselves too seriously. They were generally quite upbeat and didn't moan about their dads even once. 
I dug the CD out again a couple of years ago and still enjoy it. One thing I don't enjoy however, is that mine is missing their version of Pour Some Sugar On Me which I am very cross about. Unless my copy is worth something, that is.

The Darkest Of The Hillside Thickets - Varcolac
Taken from the 2017 album The Dukes Of Alhazred

This Canadian band are currently frontrunners for my album of the year with this album. They mix their Stoner Rock with some Punk and a dash of Prog. The majority of their songs are Lovecraftian in theme but with a sprinkling of humour too. The Dukes Of Alhazred, from which this song is taken, is their strongest album to date, and I loved their last, A Shadow Out Of Tim, a lot. 
If you're wondering, a Varcolac is a mythical creature of East-European origin. Asfar as I can tell it's somewhere between a werewolf and a vampire. Probably best to keep your distance if you see one.

Crunchy - Fanatic
Taken from the 2003 album Clown School Dropout

When the Texan Prog-Metallers, Galactic Cowboys split in 2000, bassist/co-vocalist Monty Colvin switched to guitar and released three albums of muscular Pop Punk under the name Crunchy. The songs are bouncy and upbeat but there's also some bite to the guitars too. There's a definite influence of The Wildhearts in their music which I obviously love.
Galactic Cowboys have since reformed and a new album, their first in 17 years, is due anytime. I am very excited about it.

Karine Polwart - Tears For Lot's Wife
Taken from the 2012 album Traces

I don't know a whole lot about this Scottish Folk singer other than I somehow acquired one of her CD's, Scribbled In Chalk, and I really like it. This album is also very good. There are other I'm not yet privy to but I imagine they're pretty good too. This song is a haunting, creepy one; adapted from a poem by Anna Akhmatova It tells the Biblical tale of an unnamed woman married to, and you'll be surprised by this, the Prophet Lot. Lot lived in Sodom which, along with Gomorroh, was due to be destroyed by the decree of God. Two angels warned Lot, who was a good man, to take his family and flee the city and not look back which he duly did. Unfortunately, as the destruction began, his wife turned to see and was transformed into a pillar of salt. 
Morbidly, upon Mount Sodom in Israel, there is a, vaguely human-sized pillar of salt, You can see it HERE

I Love You - Hang Straight Up
Taken from the 1991 album I Love You

One of the early Grunge bands, they released a couple of albums but split after this one. I used to listen to this on tape all the time at college, it's hard to believe that's over 25 years ago now! 
Anyway yeah, they were more '70's influenced Hard Rock than a lot of their contemporaries, Chris Palmer had quite a soft voice for the style of music they play but it's interesting and fits well I think. This was the opening track and the lead single from the album. It's worth tracking down if you like this song.

Life Of Agony - Bag Of Bones
Taken from the 2017 album A Place Where There's No More Pain

I've been impatiently waiting for this album for a while now, it was due last year but has only just been released. I say released, it's not actually out until the 28th so I guess I mean leaked. I have preordered a CD though so I don't feel too bad about downloading it.
A Place Where There's No More Pain is their first album since 2005's Broken Valley and also their first since vocalist Keith Caputo became Mina Caputo. To be honest it hasn't made much of a difference to their sound but it's an interesting little bit of gossip if you're so inclined. It's an excellent album, though I need a few more listens for it to sink before I decide if it's better than Broken Valley or not. It's definitely up there with my favourite albums of the year though

Boris The Sprinkler - Sugar Machine
Taken from the 1999 album Suck

Boris The Sprinkler were an irreverent Pop Punk band that released a few albums in the '90's and split around 2001 or so. This whole album is great, there's loads catchy choruses and a few laugh out loud moments. This song is a frenetic burst of energy that's infuriatingly catchy yet impossible to sing along to. Have fun!

Sacred Reich - Ask Ed
Taken from the 1996 album Heal

Sacred Reich started out as a Thrash/Speed Metal band in the 80's but edged more towards Groove Metal with their last couple of albums. I wasn't really into Thrash as a teen so I passed them over and only really started listening to them a few years ago. I feel great shame. All four albums are great and while I do prefer their Thrashier side (now!) the Groovy stuff is still good too. Ask Ed is about smoking weed at school and is them at their grooviest. It's almost Stoner Metal which makes sense I guess.

I intensely dislike using the word 'Groovy' or any of it's derivatives. 

Greg Graffin - Millport
Taken from the 2017 album Millport

If you weren't aware of who Greg Graffin is, you could well think the above photo is of an R.E. teacher knocking out a bit of Kumbaya. He's in fact the frontman of the legendary Punk band Bad Religion, a band I very love.
Millport is his third solo album of rootsy Country/Folk and his voice suits this sort of music well. This song is about all the tiny little villages, hamlets and settlements that are dotted around most countries that seem impervious to change and have stayed pretty much the same for decades or even centuries now. 

Bizarrely, the same month this came out, both Ginger Wildheart from The Wildhearts and Nergal from Behemoth released (similarly excellent) Country/Folk albums. Danny Worsnop from Asking Alexandria also released a Country/Folk album that month though I include him only for statistical purposes.