the link i received via orgnote didn't work for me. i'll click the one on the thread.

magnificentsynthesizer said:

That's weird. Maybe it was expired or sump...

However, every now and then, when I listen to this mix on 8trax it only shows three tracks. Anyway, this mix is getting my attention first! Review is due!

magnificentsynthesizer said:

maybe I'll send you another a little later.

The issue Sander has had has happened to me, where it only lists 3 songs, and they play randomly. If you click one of the buttons on the right that shows 10 songs (recently added I think?) it will play them all, but still randomly. It's not the best system. Too bad because muxtape worked fine.

NDRU said:

hmm. 8 tracks seems to work just fine for me. try deleting your cookies and cache.

Sander said:

magnificentsynthesizer said:

I have to review this mix first before listening to yours too.

Gotta play catchup.
Should be able to listen tonight.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

All Possibilities Great song, with the horns blasting. This surprised me since it's an actual song. You could play this song to friends to explain who BDB is, or perhaps put it on a mixtape! Great opener for this one, because of that!

Another Devil Dies I like the piano and the background mumble. Also, I would love to have Prince use a trumpet that sounded like on this track! The song however doesn't seem to evolve right for me. Intro is great, but somewhere he loses me. Dunno why.

Welcome to the Overground The big arrangement is a bit weird and I wouldn't have guessed it was BDB. Not my cup of tea.

Once Around the Block Great guitar, wahwah as well as the melody! Fantastic, love it. Of course, this is the album I have and love.

Nothing’s Gonna Change Your Mind It does try a bit hard, but it grabs me as well.

Promises Beautiful! Nuff said.

The Further I Slide I understand why you choose this one for your mix, but it is a little easy for BDB. And what is the Bob Marley track that this reminds me of?

How A lot of changes in this song. And all parts are equally instantly BDB-recognizable. I can't get in this track, however.

Pissing in the Wind Is this why people noticed his debut? The voice put me off, big time.

Holy Grail Your liner notes! Agreed. Love the choir!

About getting no attention in the US, he didn't get much of it here in Holland as well. His first album was everywhere in the shops (and I bought it), but the flop of 'About the boy' made him an outcast. I didn't buy the second, because I thought it was a bit too flat, shallow. I haven't seen any of his other albums in the shops. Thanks for making me remember him again and giving me an update!

.
[Edited 9/18/08 12:19pm]

Sander said:

Good points, all! Funny a few people have commented on How. I chose that song for it's place in the mix, and because I have always appreciated the sound of it. But given your responses, I agree that the song doesn't actually add up to much other than the pleasant noise it creates. That quality would be fine for another artist, but BDB is all about music from the heart, so superficiality just doesn't quite fly. I still like the song, but appreciate why some were not moved.

Same goes for The Further I Slide, except that this song really crept into my mind. It may be superficial, but the melodies & groove are quite infectious. And I wanted people to like at least one song the first time through! Whatever reviewer said it was a ripoff of Sexual Healing is a moron. Not just because they are wrong, but because now I will think of that when I hear the song. It's like a dream where your lover hurts you and you can't get it out of your mind the next day and hold it against them.

NDRU said:

I know that feeling!

Funny how a certain back-catalogue makes you expect a lot from a certain artist. BDB isn't allowed an easy-listening track. He then gets accused of doing it in his sleep. That reminds me of another artist I'm quite fond of...

Oh, and my faves are:

(3) Holy Grail
(2) Promises
(1) Once Around the Block

Sander said:

For the record, I know it wasn't the orger that said it originally, they were reporting what they'd read in a review!

I'm listening for the first time right now. I'll say immediately that I love the first song. Strings! I love strings.

After listening to the entire mix once, I was very impressed! I admit I wasn't looking forward to this one, but halfway through, I began getting that warm fuzzy feeling you get when you know you're hearing something great. I'll post individual song comments later.

I won't have time for individual song comments tonight, but I will say that my faves are "All Possibilities" and "Promises".

sextonseven said:

that's awesome. Based on your initial reaction I figured you knew BDB and didn't like him, so I didn't have high expectations for your listen

NDRU said:

I think I had seen one or two videos on MTV. One was definitely from the About A Boy soundtrack. For some reason neither made an impression on me at the time so I was expecting some boring folky stuff.

sextonseven said:

yeah I could probably have made a boring folkie mix of his, too!

It's way too late for me to be attempting this review, but I'm gonna do it quickly since I know I won't have time to do it next week.

All Possibilities - I love this song. Great melody, nice horns, but like I said before I'm a sucker for strings and that puts it over the top.

Another Devil Dies - Awesome piano playing here. Again very strong melody which I value very much.

Welcome to the Overground - Fuller like the first track and the vocals are little otherworldly. It's like something from a rock musical. And I mean that in a positive way!

Once Around the Block - Definitely jazzy! The song selection certainly shows me the guy is versatile. I like the loopy arrangement.

Nothing’s Gonna Change Your Mind - Back to the piano here and yes, it does head toward overwrought ballad territory, but never crosses the line which is good.

Promises - The centerpiece. I think this one edges out "Possibilities" as my favorite for it's simplicity. The words "dying embers" sound hot when he sings them. And I think I hear strings in this one too!

The Further I Slide - Now this one sounds funky! BDB can do it all! Every song is a winner so far.

How - This song shifts gears so many times, it won't bore you, that's for sure. While it doesn't hit me like the other tracks, I do find the complexity fascinating.

Pissing in the Wind - This is sorta what I expected the whole mix to sound like. It's not bad, but not my thing really.

Holy Grail - As I said before in someone else's comp thread, I'm not a fan of kids choirs in songs so points off there, but the way the pace picks up halfway through and the drawn-out epic ending are cool.

So it falls off a little towards the end there, but I liked this mix a LOT more than I thought I would.

sextonseven said:

I don't usually go for children's choirs either. He uses them on the song Year of the Rat, too. Somehow he gets a pass for the fact that they're singing stuff like: "Suffered in silence so long, don't you know it's easy to see where you went wrong? You forgot you've got oxygen running through your veins." The notion of confusing a group of children like that amuses me no end!

A few people have not dug Pissing in the Wind. I can see that. Maybe it's like Episode IV of Star Wars; it doesn't mean as much in retrospect. But when I was listening to the album, it comes near the end of a listen that is not that easy, and I was very ready for a normal song. It was damn near revelation.

But on a related note, one of the reasons I love BDB so much is that he grew & changed so much from album to album, like so many of my favorites. I would have never expected All Possibilities & Welcome to the Overground from listening to the Pissing... and Once Around the Block. It was interesting and varied, but he still hadn't shown his full range, as you get to hear on this mix.

NDRU said:

If "Pissing In The Wind" and "Once Around The Block" both came from the first BDB album then that shows a lot of variety from the start. It must be a very impressive debut if you were thankful for a "normal" song near the end.

One last comment to push this one over the top.

This was a great introduction to Badly Drawn Boy. If his label ever decides to release some kind of best-of comp, NDRU should be consulted.

sextonseven said:

I'd have to be consulted, I'm the only person in the world with all of his albums!

i still have to get back to this one. the site you link doesn't play all the songs on your mix. it only plays 3 or 4 then stops.

Listening again(second time). wow. This is really good!! Cant go into detailed comments right now, but they are defnately coming.

Very nice.