Mix CD #14 - Life Is What You Make It

So here you go, mix number fourteen! It's back to no theme this week, just songs I've liked I want you to like too.
There seems to be an awful lot of older music on this mix this time, While it just seems to have fallen that way, the fact I'm an old man that listens to old music no doubt had quite a large part in it! There's a few Grunge songs and a few 90's Britrock tracks too as well as a bit of Stoner, some Punk and a couple of other bits and pieces.

I hope you like it,

Tracklisting
Doug Pinnick - Life Is What You Make It
Alice In Chains - Sea Of Sorrow
Not On Tour - Oded
Jobriath - I Love A Good Fight
Honeycrack - Gun
Scattered Hamlet - Guilty Plea
Ballboy - Disney's Ice Parade
Def Leppard - Action
Bushfire - NWO33
Die So Fluid - Anubis
Amen - Buy American
Zen Baseballbat - Gangcall At The OK Canal
Crazy Gods Of Endless Noise - Treacle Tummy Fudgetime Treat
Mina Caputo - Got Monsters (I No Longer Exist)
Calabrese - Lords Of The Wasteland
Magnapop - Lay It Down
Last Crack - My Burning Time
The Yo-Yo's - Time Of Your Life
Motorjesus - The Run
The Dogs D'amour - I Don't Want You To Go
Green Apple Quick Step - Ludes And Cherrybombs

You can download the mix HERE if you like.
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Mix CD #13 - Covers Vol 2: Come Out And Play

When I published the first covers mix (that you can view HERE) I said I had songs enough to make plenty of further mixes and I did not lie.
I would imagine I'll be doing another one in a few mixes time we'll see. In the meantime though, I hope you enjoy this one, there's a fairly eclectic array of songs on offer so you should find something you like. If you'd rather look at life negatively then I'm sure you'll find something you hate,

Either way, you can download the mix HERE

The Dollyrots - Come Out And Play
Rage Against The Machine - How I Could Just Kill A Man
Silver Sun - Xanadu
Karnivool - Sleeping Satellite
China Drum - Wuthering Heights
The Slackers - Wanted Dead Or Alive
Marilyn Manson - This Is Halloween
Jason & The Scorchers - Country Roads, Take Me Home
Me First & The Gimme Gimmes - Straight Up
Stone Sour - Too Fast For Love
They Might Be Giants - Bills, Bills, Bills
Tragedy - Hot Stuff
Volbeat - I Only Wanna Be With You
The Divine Comedy - Life On Mars?
Lunachicks - Heart Of Glass
Armored Saint - I Feel Fine
Kick Joneses - The Safety Dance
Richard Cheese - The Girl Is Mine
Weezer - I'm A Believer
Senser - Follow The Leader
The Gaslight Anthem - House Of The Rising Sun
Therapy? - Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight)
Metallica - Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got Out Of Hand?

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Mix CD #12 - The Elephant's Graveyard

Hello all!
Mix number dooze is here for your delectation! As usual it's just a collection of songs I've liked lately that I thought should go on this mix. It's quite eclectic but hopefully you'll still like it. Have a listen, share it about if you want. You could even get in touch and tell me what you think if you felt particularly brave.

You can download the mix HERE

The Boomtown Rats - The Elephant's Graveyard
Muncie Girls - Respect
The Darkest Of The Hillside Thickets - Kablam!
Toehider - Whatever Makes You Feel Superior
Abdoujaparov - Maria's Umbrella
Carl Espen - Silent Storm
Gloryhammer - Rise Of The Chaos Wizards
Imelda May - Right Amount Of Wrong
Biffy Clyro - City Of Dreadful Night
Gay Paris - Shame At The Anvil
Love Zombies - Bummer
Behemoth - Be Without Fear
She & Him - Something's Haunting You
The Monkees - She
Stiff Little Fingers - Who Died And Made You Elvis?
The Wildhearts - Better Than Cable
System Of A Down - Sad Statue
Cardiacs - Come Back Clammy Lammy
Snuff - Romeo And Juliet
Regurgitator - Mountains
The Mad Capsule Markets - What
Salty Dog - Come Along

For more info about each song and my usual ramblings, click on the Read More button. ta.

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Mix CD #11 - Inclusive: The Best of Stavesacre

Back in the late nineties I bought a cheap compilation album that turned out to be a sampler for Tooth & Nail records. I knew nothing about the label, I just wanted to listen to some new Punk bands, It turns out that T&N is a Christian music label and only releases albums by bands of a Christian persuasion. Had I known that at the time I probably wouldn't have bought it, dismissing it as preachy nonsense. If I hadn't I very likely would never have discovered one of my favourite bands. 
The first track on that compilation was Shiv by Stavesacre and was easily the best on the CD. A month or so later, I stumbled on a copy of Absolutes in a bargain bin and snapped it up. I absolutely (haha) loved it. I tracked down everything they did and over the years I've listened to them more and more until they've become of my all time top 10 favourite bands.

The band themselves are a Post-Hardcore band that formed from the ashes of Christian Thrash Metal/Crossover band, The Crucified. Vocalist Mark Salomon and Bassist Jeff Bellew (who switched to guitars) formed the band along with Dirk Lemmenes (Bass) and Jeremy Moffat (Drums). They still retained some of their earlier heaviness but are much more melodic which better suited mark's strong, soulful voice. 
After the release of their first album Friction in 1996, Jeremy Moffatt was replaced by Sam West and following the release of their second album Speakeasy, Jeff Bellew left the band to concentrate on family and Ryan Dennee joined as guitarist. Jeff later rejoined the band for the release of their final EP Against The Silence in 2009 and they now play as a five-piece. At least until they did that hiatus thing that bands do when they don't want to say they've broken up anyway.

There are several reasons I love this band, Mark is a hell of a singer. his voice is strong,  soulful and soars when he needs it to. As a band they're great songwriters too, intelligent lyrics, loads of catchy choruses, memorable lines and huge, pounding riffs held in check with a ton of melody. As for the Christian aspect, admittedly a few of their songs are a little bit "I Love Jesus me" but on the whole they're thoughtful, intelligent and introspective. More often than not Mark actively questions Christianity and his belief which  I can identify with. Nobody should blindly take anything as truth, especially not religion, make up your own mind about it. 

Stavesacre in 2009:
Mark Salomon, Sam West, Ryan Dennee, Dirk Lemmenes and Jeff Bellew

Anyway, there were a couple of reason for this post. Firstly, I wanted to do something themed as I haven't for a while now, secondly, I'm currently reading Mark Salomon's autobiography whcih I'm really enjoying and thirdly, I've just discovered there's to be a new album to be released this year of which I am VERY excited about. I'm less excited about the fact it was crowdfunded and I completely missed the campaign so I'll have to wait an extra 3 months for it to be officially released.

Making this playlist was hard as there was far too many songs I wanted that would fit onto one CD. I also wanted to put something on by The Crucified and also Outer Circle, which was a Punk side-Project Mark was involved in. There just wasn't the room, maybe I'll put them on a future mix, I dunno. There's also nothing from Collective, a Greatest Hits of sorts and also Live At Deep Ellum, I'll let you work out what that is for yourself. 
Give them a listen, try not to let the Christian thing put you off if it normally would. I love this band and would like everyone else to as well. If you do like them try and track down their albums cos they're great.

The Future History Of The Broken Hearted
Sundown Motel
Inclusive
At The Moment
Alice Wishlist
Teeth Like Knives
Freefall (From Hand To Hand)
Bull Takes Fighter
Witch Trial
Sand Dollar
Fear And Love
Why Good People Suffer
It's Beautiful (Once You're Out Here)
Shiv
Yes
Threshold
Minuteman
Side-Stage Syndrome
Zzyzx Scarecrow

You can download the mix, if you so wish, HERE

If you like what you hear then please try and support the band
THIS is the bands Merch store.
The albums can be (expensively) bought on Amazon HERE 
Dunno how it works but you can get them cheaper on Discogs HERE
If you're young and modern then you can listen to everything on Spotify HERE

Blurb below the cut, don't forget!

Mix CD #10 - We've Got A Situation Here

So the tenth mix is here, I feel like that ought to be some sort of milestone? Yay congratulations me! I'll buy myself a drink later.

I was planning on doing another Covers Mix this time but I wasn't really feeling it, plus I had a lot of songs that I've listened to lately that I wanted to share so I just went ahead with another no themed mix.  Also I really liked the Gargamel! song as an opener and I'd made that artwork (took hours of painstaking craftsmanship that did) for it too. The alligator thing is sufficiently in the past now surely?

As always, have a read of my comments below the cut if you like and you can download the mix HERE if you so choose.

 Cheers! 

Gargamel! - We've Got A Situation Here

The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing - Brunel

Sleater-Kinney - Step Aside

Left Side Brain - We All Got It Coming, Kid

Gama Bomb - Tuck Your T-Shirt In

Agnès Milewski - Signs And Messages

Circulus - Song Of Our Despair

Periphery - The Parade Of Ashes

Dirt Box Disco - Top Shelf

Dog Fashion Disco - Scarlet Fever

Sonic Boom Six - The Road To Hell Is Paved With Good Inventions

Professor Kliq - The Dirtiest

Go Home Productions - Paranoid Rock

Diemonds - Overboard

Elvis Presley - A Big Hunk O' Love (Live)

Kingdom Come - Highway 6

Prong - Ice Runs Through My Veins

Consumed - Odd Man Out

Screaming Trees - Winter Song

Kilgore - Double-Edged Sword

Rachel Sermanni - Bones

Rollins Band - Wreck-Age

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Mix CD #9 - Everybody Wants To Be Cool

Mix time again! My original plan was to get a few posts done at first so the blog wasn't too sparse at first glimpse but then to strip it bck down to something like one mix a month, so as not to bombard people with mixes. It's not really worked out that way though but I'm having fun with it and I dunno if anyone else is even listening/reading so bollocks to it, you'll just have to be bombarded for now.

As per usual, there's photo's, info and blurb from me for each band under the cut so you can read that if you like. Go on, be a devil.

You can download the mix HERE

Ruby Cruiser - Everybody Wants To Be Cool
Sense Field - On Your Own
Marmozets- Move, Shake, Hide
The Darkness - Open Fire
Half Man Half Biscuit - Look Dad No Tunes
Ballsdeep - A Life Less Overrated
Toadies - Tyler (Acoustic Version)
King's X - Won't Turn Back
Betty Blowtorch - Dresses
Robochrist - Ghosttrainnosebleed
Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine - Bring On The Girls!
Reuben - Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em
Katie Lee - Repressed Hostility Blues
The Mr. T Experience - Tapin' Up My Heart
Earthtone9 - Sea Of Blades
Send No Flowers - Sepia
Zombina & The Skeletones - Puke It Up
Random Hand - "In"
The Birthday Massacre - Diaries
Metallica - Lords Of Summer
Aurelio Voltaire - God Thinks

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Mix CD #8 - An Otherwise Disappointing Life

Another week, another mix. Yet again there's no theme other than songs that have cropped up whilst driving, on shuffle or have just been part of an album I was listening to that stood out as songs I'd like to put in a mix. 

As always, there's my usual blurb under the cut if you fancy losing 10 minutes of your life. If you do download and listen to it, let me know what you think cos it's a lonely old world if you have a desperate need for approval...

You can download the mix HERE

Frightened Rabbit - An Otherwise Disappointing Life

Care Bears On Fire - Barbie Eat A Sandwich

Thought Industry - Dante Dangling From A Noose

Wolfsbane - Smoke And Red Light

Oh Wonder - Landslide

Danny Frye & The Devil Dolls - Long Gone

Randy - Rockin' Pneumonia And The Punk Rock Flu

Floodgate - Through My Days Into My Nights

The Wannadies - Things That I Would Love To Have Undone

Crooked Saws - Three Minute Long Song

Rancid - A Power Inside

Black Veil Brides - Stolen Omen

P!nk - Blow Me (One Last Kiss)

Dan Webster - One To Remember

Clutch - Your Love Is Incarceration

The Idol Dead - Six Feet Under

Weezer - Autopilot

Drown - The Day I Walked Away

Frankie & The Heartstrings - That Postcard

Cinderella - If You Don't Like It

The Presidents Of The United States Of America - Electric Spider

Trouble - Hello Strawberry Skies

Warrior Soul - My Sky

Mix CD #7 - City Of Lost Souls

There's no theme to the mix this time, just songs I've enjoyed lately. My car is in the awkward position of being too old to have a USB port and too new to have a cassette deck (that I have a cassette/iPod adaptor for) so, to listen to music, I have to play CDs. Instead of having one long, convenient playlist like I used to, I now have to burn a load of CD mixes and listen to music that way. All of these songs have come from recent driving CDs and are songs I thought would go well on here, hopefully you'll like them. Some of them maybe. Just that one over there then. Oh piss off. 

If you do download and listen to this mix then let me know what you think cos Feedback is

nice. Same goes for any of the previous mixes.

Click on the link to download it and click on the fake link to read all my blurb about each track.

Ta,
Luke

The End - City Of Lost Souls
Muscle Tribe Of Danger & Excellence - Old-School Blood Trial
Fugazi - Public Witness Program
Kabuto The Python - Skill Set
Von Hertzen Brothers - Trouble
United Magnetics - Act One Scene One
Thundermother - Roadkill
Psychostick - My Clingy Girlfriend
John Parr - St Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)
You're Pretty - Day
The Main Grains - We're Happy Round Here
Slipknot - Get This
Faunts - M4 Part 2
Danny Kaye & The Andrews Sisters - Civilisation
Neko Case - Night Still Comes
Frank Turner - Demons
Krux - Omfalos
Super Furry Animals - Golden Retriever
8stops7 - The Mark
Bowling For Soup - I'm Gay
Seasick Steve - Heart Full Of Scars

You Can Download The Mix HERE

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.. 

Mix CD #5 - Covers Vol 1. Such Great Heights.

Everyone loves a good cover version. Whether it's a band you like doing something unusual or someone unusual doing a song by a band you like or maybe even if it's just to scoff with derision because "Don't they have any of their own songs?". For a lot of bands a covers album is a contractual throwaway; much like a Best Of or a Live album, it's a way to take up one of the slots in their 4 album deal etc. I love it when bands do them though, it gives an insight into the band, the stuff they like, they stuff they used to like and whatnot. It also gives me a chance to see what songs they picked and either be excited or disappointed by their choices. Hey, I take my thrills where I can.

I have many petty rules and regulations for music that I listen to, cover versions escape unscathéd not. I don't like lazy or safe covers. I don't want to hear something that sounds exactly like the original only with a worse singer, where's the point in that? Another aspect of laziness I dislike is to pick from a selection of songs I have on a list (not an actual physical one. I'm not THAT sad.). It's a list of songs that get covered all the time, ALL THE TIME. Songs like Enjoy The Silence. Songs like Tainted fucking Love. We don't need another version of those songs now thank you please, stop it.

Anyway.

I decided I wanted to do a Covers theme this time. When I compiled the songs I ended up with hundreds , even more then I did with the B-Sides mix I did last time. I'll almost certainly be doing more of these. Hence the Vol. 1 bit.

HERE is the link to download the Mix and a brief overview of the tracklisting. Click on the Page Break thing to find out more info, like original artists and an uninteresting anecdote from myself about every song.

Ben Folds - Such Great Heights
Danny Frye & The Devil Dolls - Back Of My Hand
Within Temptation - Paradise
Peace Brothers - Frozen
Devin Townsend - New York, New York
Jenny Owen Youngs - Call Me Maybe
Machine Head - Negative Creep
Eels - Get Ur Freak On
Tarja - Still Of The Night
Snuff - Wanna Be
Hot Buttered Elvis - Candle In The Wind
Gigantor - 29 x The Pain
Wolfsbane - Born To Run
Hellsongs - Seasons In The Abyss
The Baseballs - Chasing Cars
Million Dead - Pretty Good Year
Chvrches - Stay Another Day
Eureka Machines - We Didn't Start The Fire
Tim Timebomb - Summer Of '69
Pearl Jam - Daytime Dilemma (Dangers Of Love)
Malukah - The Dragonborn Comes
The Gourds - Gin n' Juice