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That's The Punch Line - a 'Jaxvill's got the blues' mix CDOct 03 '04 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line The Bottom Line don't need a weatherman to see which way the wind blows.
I've had a recent craze for putting together mix CDs for friends. It's a science, for sure, you've got to give them songs they'll like, songs they don't know. It's hard but it's fun. But this time I wanted to make a CD that I could give to many people at once. Seeing therefore it's not a personal thing, I wanted to share the tracklist and my thoughts on the songs with Epinions. 1 That's The Punchline - The Walkmen I need to start with a good intro, and I always like it when the name of the compilation is the name of the first song, so this one is a good fit. On their first album, The Walkmen went for a very definite laid-back feel. This song tries to convey resignation to a friendship or relationship ending, and also the horror of the bad side of a wonderful person. Needless to say, I love it to bits. 2 Knives Out - Radiohead Call me a pretend Radiohead fan if you must but I only just understood the appeal of this one while trying to learn the arpeggios. Well, the guitar line has a Smiths-type beauty (which, if you read as many Radiohead fansites as I do, you should know is completely intentional) and the vocal has the perfect sting of sadness like only Thom Yorke can deliver. Before, my only song for heartbreak was 'Lost Cause' by Beck. But I think now this one might get played during the dark times too. 3 Lemon Sunrise - Powderfinger Powderfinger are an Australian band who I've always maintained have a greater flair for the heavy than the light. Lemon Sunrise is a case of Powderfinger perfectly capturing summer sadness. Although the song seems slow and light, listening to it in isolation reveals the power behind it. 4 Falling Away - Preston School of Industry This song was introduced to me by an old friend who appeared on this site for while under the name sparkless. It's a fast punky run-through type song but the chorus. falling awaaaay/fallin away again, and it shows falling awaaaay/fallin away again, and it shows is delivered just right. Again, it's that resignation thing that I like so much. 5 For The Turnstiles - Neil Young This is a short fingerpicking masterpiece from the Father of all things Alternative Rock, Neil Young. From the recently released (on CD that is) masterpiece On The Beach, For The Turnstiles bumbles along with a blues-country twang with Young's characteristically beauty-in-nothing lyrics. 6 India Rubber - Radiohead Have been right into the whole Radiohead B-Side thing of late, and this is one of their greatest that I've found so far. Mixes the groove of all Radiohead grooves (and don't you dare tell me they haven't had a few good ones) with a chorus that contains the word 'supplicate' (genius!). Also there is crazy Greenwood laughing at the end, which also verges on genius. NB: I realise I've broken the greatest rule of all Mix CD making by containing two songs from the same band on the one CD, but i figure it's reasonable since Radiohead are my fave band ever. 7 The Queen Is Dead - The Smiths Like many Smiths songs, The Queen Is Dead is a crazy free fall into intricate verse and perfect pop structure and melody. The Queen Is Dead is a standout of their intimidating back catalogue. Just including the lines, the rain that flattens my hair or life is very long when you're lonely should have been enough to get Morrissey a job as poet laureate of somewhere in the Empire. But I guess you're not going to drum up very much favour in the Empire with this song are you? I didn't really think that through. 8 Clampdown - The Clash This song is like three great pop-rock songs in one. Like The Smiths, the success of The Clash was based upon the tension between poet Joe Strummer and tunesmith Mick Jones, as exemplified in this classic. Also, I think Clampdown is a good soundtrack for the end of the left-wing. May it Rest In Peace. 9 I Think I Smell A Rat - The White Stripes Brutal, brutal guitar line on this song. Jack White's strained vocals are as always a complement to his powerful guitar work. I think this song continues on from the last one, in that it is good for the king of depression that comes from watching Fox News or a political soundbite. Also, it's good for standing on you couch and pumping your fist in the air. 10 The Lengths - The Black Keys From some coffee-shop blues to some real blues, The Black Keys go right to the heartbreak on this one. Their latest album is all about the pain that comes directly from girls, and they do it so well. In remaining true to the blues aesthetic that the Stripes use for marketing purposes, they've certainly created one of the albums of 2004. The Lengths is its moody centrepiece, so I have no trouble in making it mine too. 11 Changeling - DJ Shadow *note: I don't think I've got the right song name. If anyone knows what it is, please tell me and I'll change it.* In a fit of pique, I finally listened to the DJ Shadow album that had been lying around the bottom of my CD collection for many moons, and this song was a definite standout. From an undeniably pretty keyboard melody that eventually gets matched to a brutal tom and snare beat, to typically devastating effect. This is really the song that made me want to put together the CD. The second half of the song is another lesson in hip-hop. Sadly I'm a complete novice when it comes to hip-hop so I still can't quite work it out. 12 The Astronaut - Something For Kate Something For Kate are another Aussie band everyone should be encouraged to check out. This particular song sees them at their most ethereal and laid-back. There's a definite sadness in this one but also a beautiful distance. Singer Paul Dempsey is in the position of an observer, maybe a flight engineer, seeing a friend on a course for destruction. 13 Whipping Boy - Ben Harper By this song the listener is still supposed to be in a state of shock from the DJ Shadow track, so I thought maybe some Ben would be good to bring them back to health. I'm a longtime fan of Harper's guitar heroics, but only last year got into the first two, more rootsy, albums. On this song, Harper strains the steel strings of his guitar in defiance against the bad elements of the outside world. I don't want to be your whipping boy Well, actually, he's more likely singing to a girl who's messing a little too much with his head. But it's a good song for when the oppressive weight of the world gets a little too much. 14 Lose It - Supergrass I recently had a bit of a renaissance of loving Supergrass, a band which I was a big fan of a few years ago. Lose It comes off their wilfully slap-dash debut, I Should Coco. The appeal of the song comes from the AC/DC-esque guitar riff and the insistence of the main lyric. More than that, the song reveals that certain something that marks a quality songwriter. The fact that Gaz Coombes has lasted ten years instead of drifting off the radar like some of his less gifted contemporaries is not just down to luck. 15 Werewolf - Cat Power Another song introduced to me by the famous sparkless, Werewolf jars a little with Lose It, but that's the intention. I'm reliably informed that it's a cover. Whatever the origin, Cat Power makes it a strange and spare trip into loneliness and longing. And it begs the essential question, why is the werewolf so afraid of the rest of us? 16 Golden Brown - The Stranglers Supposedly a fairly evil semi-punk band of misogynists from London, The Stranglers produced one titanic indie classic in Golden Brown. Clearly a cocaine song, The Stranglers refer to the lady with a monotone reverence, the lyric sung over a circular harpsichord riff. Said riff says all that needs to be said about the resignation and the times when your heart needs hiding away from everyone. Or maybe that's just me. 17 Subterranean Homesick Blues - Bob Dylan I've heard that the secret to this new-age treatment involving playing music to relieve depression basically relies on the music starting off sad and then getting gradually happier and happier. Well, finishing with Bob Dylan is kind of my attempt at re-assuring anyone who listens to the sadness that when poetry like this is going around, humanity can still surprise you. I don't think I really need to say too much about how great this song is. Its reputation precedes it. In any case, it is a killer ending. So, so far only I have listened to this mix CD. I am thinking I'll share it around with my friends, maybe come Christmas time or slightly before. Hopefully they'll feel as good listening to my sad songs as I do.  |
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