The 10 Track Mixtape Thread (Song Lists Without Links Will Be Deleted)

[zubitrionique]

10songs MIXXXXXXX

So, here's 10 songs that aren't just off albums that I adore, but also that I've played countless times just by themselves.

Great thread, I'm new here and hope somebody enjoys this mix.

1) The Knife - Silent Shout

Far before this album became one of my top 3 of the year, when I didn't really "get it" yet, I totally got into this track. Very delicate, and precise in a way 1960s Miles Davis was, except with software synthesizers, strangely vocoded vox, and tube reverb units splash in the distance.

2) Smashing Pumpkins - Wound

"For every chemical, you trade a piece of your soul (with no return)"
That line, among others in this song, used to always give me chills up my spine. Not just because of the subtle truth of it, but due to the thread of a truly spiritual perspective that runs throughout this album. It is at it's most naked on on this song.

3) Tori Amos - Northern Lad

Great song, almost sounds too personal. But Tori can pull this sort of thing off with grace. The progression of melodies from verse, to pre-chorus, to chorus is on par with the greatest Beatles songs.

4) The National - Ada

Boxer's my favourite album of last year, and this is definitely one if it's standout tracks. The haunting beauty of when he says "Ada, I can hear the sound of your laugh through the wall..." and then the break down to piano and strings is...(fill in the blank).

5) Tortoise - Ten-Day Interval

I love Philip Glass and I'm cool with Steve Reich, but what Tortoise does with their work here is just great. The minimal melodies dance instead of drone, and the less minimalism type stuff is one of the only glimpses I've seen of an artist allowing a portal to open up and actually take Glassian arpeggios into the world of pop/rock. And to say they do this with success (in under 5 min, nonetheless) would be a huge understatement.

6) Thom Yorke - Black Swan

Who knew "This is ****ed up" sung in a lackadaisical tone, could have such an impact on me. MAX/MSP, post-IDM beats merged with oddly slinking guitar lines, set the stage for Mr. Yorke's centerpiece of ennui, with a pinch of romance.

7) Autechre - Rae

Before I ever heard the term "IDM", I heard LP5, and this is the track that kept me coming back for not just more of that album, but this band's entire catalog. "Rae" can best be described as the song these two guys had been trying to make for 10 years, in it's penultimate form. Even with their following 2 albums they had a couple tracks (also track #3s) that tried to take the same formula to even greater heights, but mostly just took it into the realm of harsher, more "difficult" (though more enjoyable for some) directions.

The Formula: Complex treated beats, battling through a soundscape of melodies on par with the greatest classical compositions of the 20th Century.

8) Tom Waits - Fannin Street

I spent many nights in Houston, lost on Fannin and other nearby streets of the downtown maze.

Fortunately, in spite of Mr. Wait's warning, I was eventually found.

9) Joanna Newsom - Peach, Plum, Pear (live)

The bittersweet glory of this song, matched by it's wonderfully realized poetry frolics as much as it soars.

10) The Books - The Lemon of Pink

From my favourite album of 2003, this opening title track sets the pace for a record that defies all rules, even of the obscure genres it's self reverencing throughout (found sound, music concrete, etc.).

Somewhere between Field Recordings and the melodic alchemy of DJ Shadow, The Books discover a new continent and quickly plant a flag, proclaiming themselves the rulers. And for 5 years, not even a single coup d'etat has even come close (sorry Panda Bear).