Abierman’s Musical World of Indecisiveness



Link: http://8tracks.com/abierm...cisiveness

This mix is a selection of 10 songs that I enjoy listening to for numerous reasons. My musical tastes go up & down, left & right...as you will notice if you manage to sit through. Hence the title of my mix. If I have to categorize it, it would be put into the section ‘alternative’. This does not mean that I am only into alternative music, it only means that it is a genre that triggers me to it explore more & more. More so than i.e. rap, r&b and funk which, to me, I think are a bit more one-dimensional. Alternative music really had its big time in the 90’s with bands like Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins etc. It was a welcome goodbye to those dreadful hairbands of the late 80’s. This mix hopefully shines a light on some other names.
Anyway, the mix doesn’t solely consist out 90’s tunes, it is all over. You will notice that towards the end it will take a total different course with artists & songs which will probably make you think that they don’t belong in this mix. The reason for this is that the songs are in no way connected in my experiences, which might have been the case in other mixes. So, there is no theme whatsoever, only my indecisiveness.
Also, there is no particular lyrical theme either. These songs are selected by sound, instrumentation, maybe some fond memories about them, it is all about sound. Beck Hansen once said: ‘It doesn’t matter what you say, as long as it sounds good’ and I tend to agree with him. But, however, there are some lyrics that appeal to me in some of them and I will indicate them. Each song can be experienced stand alone, if you see/hear a connection, I’m eager to hear it from you.
Hope you enjoy this mix, keep them comments coming!

If You See Natalie - Eels (Blinking Lights and Other Revelations 2005)



I consider Mark Oliver Everett (‘E’) to be one of the best songwriters of this day & age. The songs of Eels always seem to have head & tail and they are storytelling. His music moves me, as it is often depressing. This song is just beautiful, very simple and so common to anyone who has been in love in his/her life.
‘If You See Natalie’ comes from Eels’ 2005 materpiece ‘Blinking Lights and Other Revelations’, I find it beautiful because everything fits...the instrumentation, the flow, E’s voice and, yes, the lyrics. It is a song in its most simple form and therefore it works for me. One of those songs that warms me up and makes me stop whatever I’m doing when I hear it.


I Wonder - Blind Melon (Blind Melon 1992)



In the early 90’s bands like Nirvana, Soundgarden etc. came with a new sound of rock that blasted on the music scene. This was probably a hard time (around ’92) for a young band like Blind Melon to break through with their debut that consist of plain American rock ’n roll. Leadsinger Shannon Hoon had a short break as second voice on Guns ’n Roses’ ‘Don’t Cry’, because he was a childhood friend of Axl Rose. Blind Melon hit the charts with their hit ‘No Rain’, probably best known for the video with the cute bee-girl. Whereas ‘No Rain’ has this hippie-sound, the rest of the album is more traditional with influences of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Grateful Dead and Led Zeppelin.
‘I Wonder’ is a stand-out on this remarkable debut. The song structure is quite amazing to me, yet so familiar. The folky intro, then the roaring guitars and the twist towards the end. Lyrically, Shannon Hoon expresses the so-called ‘teenage angst’ even better than Cobain did in ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’, or more likely, it was understandable.
‘Blind Melon’ turned out to be their only good record, Hoon died of a heroin overdose in 1995. Now, in 2008, ‘Blind Melon’ proves to have stood the test of time and it is still a gem.

Pepper - Butthole Surfers (Electriclarryland 1996)



I don’t know much about the Butthole Surfers and I don’t know much about their music. I do remember hearing ‘Pepper’ for the first time while I was on vacation in the USA in the summer of 1996. This was music that could, back then, only be made in the USA. To me, this song is one of the alternative rock anthems of the 90’s. I do not understand the lyrics at all but they sound right. Loving the psychedelic guitarsound together with the crazy beats and Gibby Haines’ voice.

Hits of Sunshine (for Allen Ginsberg) - Sonic Youth (A Thousand Leaves 1998)



In ’98 the grunge-scene of a few years earlier had more or less subsided, and Sonic Youth didn’t really fit in there anyway eventhough their album ‘Dirty’ was their biggest commercial succes because it lifted on the grunge-bandwagon. With ‘A Thousand Leaves’ it was a return to form. ‘Hits of Sunshine (for Allen Ginsberg)’ an 11-minute epic song which, to me, totally stands out on the album. The song takes you on a trip, Thurston Moore’s almost whispering voice, the ‘underwater’-guitar sound on the slow pace and the two other guitars jamming. I love songs with 3 different guitars. It just keeps on going.
Best to be heard on a steamy hot day blasting from your car-radio while you’re driving on your own, let’s say, through the Mohave Desert from Phoenix back to LA.
Sonic Youth is one of the very best alternative rockbands from the US that still delivers.

Big Day Coming - Yo La Tengo (Painful 1993)



The first time I saw Sonic Youth live was when I was living in the US at the end of the 90’s, they were playing a double-feature together with Yo La Tengo at a club in Providence, RI. I had never heard of Yo La Tengo but desparately wanted to see the Youth so I just went there, on my own. Yo La Tengo took the stage first and it didn’t take long before I really starting to like what I was hearing. After that I started looking for their albums. 1993’s ‘Painful’is one of their best. Ira Kaplan’s soft singing and the guitar-soundscapes got me addicted. ‘Big Day Coming’ portrays all that, the dreamy song moves me and I like the idea of a Big Day Coming. The song also appears on the album in a different, faster rock-version. I prefer this one.
‘Painful’ is a must-have for anyone who is into American indie-rock.

Jenny & The Ess-Dog - Stephen Malkmus (Stephen Malkmus 2001)



Pavement is one of my very favorite bands of the 90’s. I just loved the anarchy of it during their first few albums, especially on their debut ‘Slanted & Enchanted’. The off-key singing of frontman Stephen Malkmus, the crazy guitars of Scott Kannberg (aka Spiral Stairs, later in Preston School of Industry) and the clever songs made me want to be in a rockband,.ofcourse that never happened, but Pavement gave you the feeling that you could and that was enough for me.
In ’99 Pavement delivered their last album ‘Terror Twilight’, but it was already clear that this was mere a solo-album of Malkmus with Pavement as a backing-band.
It took Malkmus until 2001 to come with his official solo-debut. A collection of fun songs, some a bit Pavement-ish but without the anarchy.
‘Jenny & The Ess-Dog’ is not Pavement-ish at all, to me it is an almost perfect pop-song and I love to sing along with it, it makes me smile.

Elliptical - Me’Shell Ndegeocello (‘The World Has Made Me the Man of My Dreams 2007)



Maybe an oddball in my mix sofar, but Me’Shell is maybe the one muscian that I admire in the most complete way one can. I probably admire her more than I did Prince back in the day because, unlike Prince, Me’Shell has yet to release a record that is less than average. Period.
I could have chosen almost any song by her, the reason I chose ‘Elliptical’ is because it puts me totally at easy. Me’Shell’s voice together with the second voice (Supa, who is that?) just go so well togeher, and the minimal instrumentation are just so relaxed.

Son Of Neckbone - Beastie Boys (The In Sound From Way Out 2001)



I just love the Beasties and there are so many tracks to choose from. The reason why I choose this fun little instrumental is simple: I saw the guys live in Amsterdam in 2004 and it blew me away like no other live performance (except maybe Prince) had done before. It was the typical ‘Three MC’s & One DJ’-show. At some point the guys disappeared from the stage and Mixmaster Mike did his thing like only he can. His turntable stand was like a huge altar and at some point the whole thing turned 180 degrees. What appeared from the other side looked like a fullblown Mexican gardenparty, complete with the lights, etc. Mike D (drums), MCA(bass) & Ad-Rock(guitar) were there in suave suits with shades and started playing ‘Son Of Neckbone’ and it was funky. It is a simple little tune, but so funky and it displays just one of the many sides of the Beastie Boys.

Reign Dub - Dual Tone (DJ Kicks: Thievery Corporation 1999)



This song is all about sound. I don’t know anything about Dual Tone but found this song on the DJ Kicks compilation of Thievery Corporation. I like chill out music and I just love the heavy dub-beat of this tune. Also, I like the Rastafari who is rambling throughout this song. Play it loud on your earphones!

Sweet Tides - Thievery Corporation feat. LouLou (Radio Retaliation 2008)



One of the electronic bands I follow is Thievery Corporation from Washington DC. Their mix of electronic beats, bossanova, chillout and reggae-dub is just very suave.
‘Radio Retaliation’ leans very much on the reggae-dub side but ‘Sweet Tides’ is the perfect dreamy closer of the album, and also my mix. LouLou’s voice, together with the heavy, typical Thievery-beats, takes me away to better places, beautiful shores in sundowners.



Hope you sat through it, looking forward to hear what your thoughts are!

footnote: the kid with the eyes is my little nephew Hugo!
[Edited 10/20/08 0:30am]

I love, love, love If You See Natalie at first listen. Beautiful opener. Great lyrics.

HamsterHuey said:

I thought you didn't like 'college-rock'.....

abierman said:

I love typo's.

Yer not easy at all. Primal, yes. Easy, no.

HamsterHuey said:

I've tried to correct them.....guess some slipped through!

abierman said:

I don't if it is features 15 minute long guitar jams or the kind of singers that always seem to have the same kind of raspy voice of which you know they have worn that knitted sweater or Ramones t-shirt too long and have too long greasy hair. Like, ahem, that singer of Blind Melon.



But if it a beautiful song, well paced, written and delivered, then hell yes.

abierman said:

The guy in MY avvie is Nick, in an edited version of his ass-up picture from the hussy thread.

abierman said:

I would leave this one in; it's endearing.

HamsterHuey said:

nothing but good about the dead!!!

abierman said:

I liked the previous song better.

Okay. I like the endless guitar at the end of Pepper, but not the singer. If this would have been an instrumental track, I'ld have liked it.

The guitar reminds me of The Beatles.

HamsterHuey said:

Blind Melon takes me back to my university-years, I love that record.... True, I first had 'Tones of Home' in the mix, but then decided I liked 'I Wonder' better as I was listening to it loudly this morning. Fact is that I could have picked any song of that record (with the exception of 'No Rain'), that's how much I love this record!
I chose 'I Wonder'.....deal with it!

abierman said:

Like I said; not easy at all.

You make ammends with Hits Of Sunshine, as Sonic Youth is one of those college bands I really, really like.

HamsterHuey said:

In fact, the music of Eels has been the soundtrack of my desastrous lovelife many, many times.....

abierman said:

Hehehe, finally, I understand why we click, even though significantly on different sides of most spectrums....

HamsterHuey said:

Sonic Youth is probably the best of them all.....

You went for long trippy songs...

HamsterHuey said:

.....true.....

Funny thing is that often the lyrics of Eels are autobiographical, and E has been through a lot of heartache if you see what he has been through. The brilliance of his music is that he writes about his own life, but it is so easy to find meaning to it in your own personal experiences.....eventhough it could be totally about something else, his lyrics are often multi-interpretational.

HamsterHuey said:

those are the ones I like!

btw, Joanne Lumley thaught me that 'piddle' means 'pee'. I love Joanne Lumley.

And Meshell's song.

Ooooh! One of Beaties best EP's! I love how they are all over the place! This is so 70's funky, we played this album like crazy at Virgin, blasting it through the speakers SO loud.

abierman said:

Your entire tape is trippy, a lil' bit hippie-like, with them long jams and dreamy guitars. If I would have smoked spliffs, I would have lit one.

I like how your mix goes from rock-trip to soul-trip. Nice. My fave is the Eels track; great song. Wanna hear more of The Eels. Someone else recommended them to me a long time ago, but I never tokk them up on it. Don't the Eels have an album with a blue cover? They told me he liked Prince and that I should check him out.

HamsterHuey said:

I've seen Eels many times live, in many different settings: as a pure rock-band, as a bigband, I once saw them with strings (as in: violin, chello, etc.). All shows had one thing in common: they performed the Eels-songs!
The cd with the blue cover is probably 'Electro Shock Blues', probably their most depressing one, yet brilliant.
'If You See Natalie' is from 'Blinking Lights.....' and contains more songs like that. What I love about them is that he writes about complete misery and when you think it can not anymore depressing, he always lets you know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel!
Yes, E is a big Prince fan.....at one of his tours they would return on stage some 15 minutes after the show ended, the crowd half gone and lights on, and perform 'I Could Never Take The Place.....'
In fact, he most usually throws in a Prince-cover.

HamsterHuey said:

Funny, I didn't realize that when I was compiling it, but I guess you're right! I can be totally carried away by dreamy (or trippy) guitars or beats!

And now I am off, I gotta beat off to my new avvie.

Well, to the unedited version...





Sleep well, tall fella; kewl mix. Hip me to some more Eels soon!

I have been sleeping off a hangover today so I haven't got to hear this mix yet. A song I know already and LOOOOOVE is "Pepper"!

Aksel!

this mix is playing at work this week.

This isn't what I expected from you! I can say right now I won't like the Blind Melon song. They are one of my five most disliked bands ever. Everything else looks cool though.

sextonseven said:

I kinda expected that Blind Melon would be a bitter pill to swallow for some, but that is not the reason I put them in the mix. I had not listened to the album for years until I stumbled on it last week when I was doing the compiling. When I played it, it took me back to that time and brought up sweet memories. And that's what my mix is about, no specific theme, just music that I like hearing for whatever reason.

Looking forward to hear more from y'all!