"even Britney can't get it for free": a crypticcradle mix. Mar 19 '06    Write an essay on this topic. Tweet Popular Products in Music The Dirtchamber Sessions, Vol. 1 by The Prodigy From $11 Jersey Boys [Original Broadway Cast Recording] by Original Broadway Cast From $8 The Bottom Line I recommend The Best Rock & Pop Mixes, yes I do. Do it with a friend. Having facilitated mix cd exchanges with two people in a relatively short period of time, I had the luxury of comparing and contrasting the mix choices - and, by logical extension, the personalities and inner workings of the psyche - of Eric (crypticcradle) and Liz (brendan2), two of our most illustrious and diverse music writers (no hyperbole, folks; these guys rock). My last mix review, of course, was of Liz's Folie a deux; this one is of Eric's mix, Even Britney can't get it for free, similarly fantastic and similarly representative of Eric's eclectic tastes. My first impression of Eric was as a hip-hop cat, of course; somewhere along the line, Eric got into this weird, newfangled indie music, and a mix was born. Even Britney can't get it for free reflects these tastes, and, if possible, is even more schizophrenic than Liz's mix (which followed the happiest and most carefree song on the disc with the angriest and most caustic), because Eric switches genres without warning. A guy could get whiplash from that sort of thing, dammit, but in the end, it's a beautiful case of whiplash, and you come out feeling like you're better off for it. * 1. Danger Mouse and Jemini, "Take Care of Business" This is a beat the likes of which I wouldn't be surprised to hear on the radio; or, more importantly, I'd be surprised, but really pleased. I suppose that's what D.M. and Jemini meant when they titled their album Ghetto Pop Life, an album that, on the strength of this mix's kickoff song, I now own. First of all, the sampled voices scratched in by way of a hook would have intrigued me - that is, if I could have been bothered to pay attention to anything but the minor-key beat and Jemini's high-pitched flow. And then when background "oh-oh-oh"s come in - and I have to pay attention to all this _and_ dance to it? - it becomes clear that listening to this in the context of a mix isn't gonna do this, and I need to own Ghetto Pop Life immediately. Now I do - good job, Eric, good job! 5/5 2. Masta Ace, "Good Ol' Love" Ace's rhymes are classy; laid-back, but smart, and underscored by gorgeous, summery strings. More importantly, it all adds up to the most irresistable, soulful, beautiful track on the whole mix. Yeah, this made me buy Ace's A Long Hot Summer, and Eric is officially on a roll. 5/5 3. Broken Social Scene, "Stars and Sons" Intriguing. When the chords come in, it threatens to turn into Blink-182 in my mind - really, I hum a few bars of "Adam's Song" before the vocals start in - but this is an interesting introduction to a band that I'd really had no intention of seeking out. There's a lot I like and dislike about it: for starters, the riff is really pretty, and its notes vary enough to keep it interesting throughout - a good thing, since that riff repeats through the entire song. The vocals are flat - flat-monotone, not poorly-pitched - and the song starts to become a snoozer. And then canned handclaps come in, and all is forgiven. The song gets a 3/5, but bigger props to Eric for being perfectly willing to drop a track like this between a pair of soulful hip-hop tracks. 4. The Foreign Exchange, "Be Alright" Soulful, beguiling, and smoothed-out hip-hop that actually works as soul music, as opposed to moonlighting as it. The concept of the Foreign Exchange's album Connected had intrigued me, but without being familiar with Little Brother, I couldn't be bothered to care what extracurriculars that group's star pupil Phonte was up to until I got hipped to the Foreign Exchange. Now I own Connected and a couple of Little Brother albums; that's purchase number three, for those of you keeping track. 5/5 5. Blueprint, "Big Girls Need Love Too" What's immediate about this song is this: it's really, really funny. Like holy-shit funny. Blueprint, in two short verses, details the pros and cons of loving severely over- and underweight women. He comes with a grab-bag of memorable quotables, and a wonderful piano sample to spit them over. And, just as importantly, Blueprint delivers them all in this fantastic voice, varied in pitch and intensely animated. Fantastic. If you're taking notes at this point, Purchase Number Four? Blueprint's 1988. 4.5/5 6. The Wrens, "Hopeless" Unlike the hip-hop tracks, I'm not gripped enough by the lyricism of most of Eric's non-rap choices to be interested by what they're saying; however, a track like "Hopeless" is impossible to ignore, if only because it's just SO. DAMN. PRETTY. The melody reminds me of Smashing Pumpkins; the harmonies are something different entirely; the guitars are chimey before they turn into stomp n' roll at the end. Which is to say, it's wonderful, and while this hasn't turned into a purchase yet, no-one's saying it won't. 4/5 7. Brother Ali, "Self Taught" "Any way you look at it, this shit is amazing." How can I argue with that kind of confidence? Brother Ali is the kind of underground hip-hop that really has no reason for remaining underground - or, at least, this particular Brother Ali song is. With lyrics about spilling blood on ticket stubs and having the world by the nuts, there's a lot of hunger (and balls) in this song, and I like it. 4/5 8. LCD Soundsystem, "Tribulations" I still don't own LCD Soundsystem's album, but hearing this from Eric and "Daft Punk Is Playing at My House" from God knows who, propelled at least two of his songs to the second half of my year's-end singles list, pimped right here. There's a lot to admire about it - the beat, of course, accomplished while maintaining a curious and intriguing minimalism, Soundsystem's regular-guy vox, the fact that it sounds exactly like its own personal house party, and, finally, the fact that listening to it causes chronic bouncing of the ass-cheeks. It's true. It's science. 4.5/5 9. MF Doom, "Hoe Cakes" It's called "Hoe Cakes". If that's not enough for you, let me highlight Doom's eccentric rhymes, his pain, laid-back flow, and his production, oh, the production! I love the sound of this track. And Doom has officially piqued my interest beyond The Mouse and the Mask, which is the default album that non-MF Doom fans own. Now if only I could find Mm... Food anywhere. 4/5 10. Junior Boys, "Birthday" This is interesting, but sleepy; the melody's kinda draggy, and the beat's too stop-start for my tastes. It's interesting, but I think this is one of the only tracks on this mix that just doesn't really grab me. A 2.5/5 for effort, though. 11. RJD2, "Ghostwriter" Intensely interesting, entirely instrumental hip-hop; I'd love to hear someone rap over RJD2's sound collages, and apparently there's at least one album out there that recognizes this, but something like this works just as well for me. I'm at least marginally appreciative of music without lyrics, as evidenced by my affinity for jazz (I don't write about it because, well, I'm not good enough of a writer to describe music without vocals), and "Ghostwriter" works for me as such a track. The sampled vocals that float in and out are wonderful, and the plucked reoccurring acoustic guitar motif is fantastic; and then the horns come in, and oh! It's just glee from that point on. 4.5/5 12. Atmosphere, "Trying to Find a Balance" Liz made a mix for me recently that featured an Atmosphere track, "The Woman With the Tattooed Hands". As fate would have it, the album that song came from, Lucy Ford, was introduced to her by Eric. All that to say: I think Atmosphere comes highly recommended by Eric, and for good reason. What sticks out first are the vocals of rapper Slug: there's nothing remotely cool or faux-ghetto about his phrasing, which I like. It's truth in advertising, since Slug is blatantly and irrefutably Caucasian. It's truthful hip-hop, without posturing or mimicry. I like it, and I like it when Slug says "yeah, i got some last words, fuuck all y'all!/ stop writin' raps and go play volleyball". What? I'm young at heart. 4/5 13. Sleater-Kinney, "Wilderness" This is, I believe, from S-K's heavily acclaimed latest album, the Woods, which I considered buying once upon a time. Careful scrutinization of the track that Eric has chosen as representative of it has revealed that, yeah, after a while, the lead singer's wail would definitely get to me, and so I decided against it, but for what it is, S-K are charmingly minimalist, and the drums simply do _not_ let up. Not a washout, by any means, but not something I think I'd choose to listen to terribly often. 3/5 14. Murs, "18 w/a Bullet Remix" There's something sunny and immediately addicting about the beat to this song, which kinda has an island vibe, or at least the kind of island vibe water-amusement parks try to manufacture. But whether or not the palm trees conjured by this soundscape are plastic or the real deal, Murs makes me really want to check him out. I'd heard the name lots, mind you, but just hadn't given the man a try. And now I shall. 4/5 15. Caribou, "A Final Warning" I'm sorry, Eric. The rest of your mix is fantastic, but... well... well, to be honest with you, I couldn't even begin to tell you what the hell this is. These are seven minutes that I imagine I'd appreciate much more while under the influence of... of something. 1.5/5 16. Death From Above 1979, "Sexy Results" My first impression of this track was that, ironically enough, it really wasn't all that sexy; but, on multiple listens, it actually kinda is, in that crunchy, mini-Sabbath-meets-growly-Scissor-Sisters way. What is this? Dance-punk? Some other subgenre I've seen bandied about on all the indie websites? I don't know, but it's kinda cool. I'm not sure how well I'd do with a whole album of it, but I like this for what it is. It gets a 3.5/5 , and that's the official end of Eric's mix cd. What this reveals about Eric, I think, is that he's an eclectic and fearless mixmaker - experiments like the Caribou track might not exactly pan out, but I like that he goes for it anyway; about me, I think this mix helps to reveal that I'm a better recipient of indie hip-hop than indie anything else, and that's okay, because Even Britney can't get it for free has helped me understand where I stand as an audience. Many thanks to Eric for this, and for the awesome mix.

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