Awhile back we did a mixtape swap in a community that I belong to. I made a pretty rad mixtape, but I haven't shared it with anyone but the original recipient until now. Here is the mixtape, for your listening pleasure. You really have to listen to this mixtape in the order as I've compiled because I orchestrated it to have a certain flow.
Post Nothing: Songs in the Life of Mateo, Tracklist:
1)
The Wilderness - Marginal Over - Wilderness
This
song is something that I listened to a lot in 2011 and 2012. I found it
to be a really emotionally powerful track that captured my imagination.
It was a favorite for listening while zipping around on my Vespa on Mt
Tantalus or around Honolulu.
2)
Faith No More - The Real Thing - The Real Thing
This
is the song that started it all; this album is what got me into music. I
got into Faith No More while I was in Boy Scout Camp in 1989. On of my
tent mates had a copy of it on cassette and it blew my mind. I played
that album on an endless loop all summer. It reminds me of being a kid
in the wilderness and at Cape Cod, sitting around and waiting for life
to begin.
3)
Creedle - Where the Wind Blows - Where the Wind Blows
I
was lucky to come across this extremely obscure band during my first
second foray into college radio back in 1997. I was interning my second
show at WJUL at UMass Lowell. It was a Jazz show called "A Love Supreme"
after John Coltrane. This is a fusion band that blends jazz and rock
techniques, but also throws in some Jewish influenced jams just for the
hell of it. This song is mindbending and masterful.
4)
The Tragically Hip - Yawning or Snarling - Day for Night
In
the olden days, before the advent of the interwebs, music fans had to
take chances on music. We discovered it through word of mouth, fanzines,
magazines, or by searching the underground. I heard about this band on a
trip to Canada, but I hadn't acutally heard any music by them.
Eventually I went to a Strawberry's record store and bought a copy fo
this CD. I just picked one at random because I liked the alubm cover. At
first I didn't like the CD, but I kept at it and it became one of my
all time favorite albums. This is my favorite song off the release and
it's lyrics really speak to me.
5)
Calexico - Sonic Wind - Hot Rail
When
I was a college DJ at UMass Amherst I used to help out the music
department by sorting and labeling new CDs. We had massive amount of
discard bins containing stuff we didn't want to bother putting into the
stacks for various reasons or stuff that we were getting rid of from the
stacks for various other reasons. I found the Hot Rail album in one of
those discard bins. I don't know what enticed me to listen to it, but I
sure am glad that I did because Calexico became one of my all time
favorite bands. Their music makes me thirsty for road trips across
desolate, dusty western expanses. Their mix of alt country and post rock
with a Mexican flare is ingenious and thought provoking. I've seen
this band live twice, once in Boston and once in Milan, Italy. Never
pass at an opportunity to see these guys live as their shows are some of
the best I've ever seen.
6)
Dirty Three - Red - Horse Stories
This song by this band was recommended to me by a friend
when I was researching Australian music for my Post Nothing show on
KTUH in Honolulu. This band features Warren Ellis! He's a mad man, you
should see these guys perform live. Seriously. Look for videos on
youtube. This is a postrock band, but so much more...
7) ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - It Was There That I Saw You - Source Codes and Tags
8)
Japandroids - No Allegiance to the Queen - No Singles
This
band got me through the hard year in Waialua and was a motivation for
me while I lived on Mt. Tantalus and became a student again at UH Manoa.
Some of the band's lyrics are a bit sophmorish, but some are actually
quite powerful. All together it works nicely. Japandroids music is a
sonic catharsis.
9)
Avail - Simple Song - 4 AM Friday
One
of the best punk albums of all time, in my humble opinion. I think this
album is vastly underrated. Just listen to this song. EPIC! This reminds
me of driving around with Chris A on a myriad of misadventures creating
chaos with Avail on an endless loop. This song exemplafies adrenaline
fuled catastrophy on a controled release.
10)
Cloud Nothings - Wasted Days - Attack on Memory
Yes.
Yes. Yes. This is what indie rock is supposed to be! This was at 2011
or 2012 release, but it's on my all time top 10 list. This album gets me
so damn pumped up! Every song sounds like it was written for me and
about me. If I could be in a band I'd want it to be just like this.
11)
Pixies - U-Mass - Trompe le Monde
This
song is about my alma matter, the Univerisity of Massachusetts,
Amherst. Frank Black/Black Francis went there as well. This song really
catures the ethos of the school, but you'd have to have been a student
there to really understand it. This sond makes me reminice about the
raucous days of my early twenties.
12)
Folk Implosion - Insinuation - Dare to Be Surprised
This is just a really great song by a legendary indie rock band.
13)
The Calm Blue Sea - We Happy Few - The Calm Blue Sea EP
Post
rock at it's zenith, The Calm Blue Sea is a band that I got into while I
was living in Italy. I found out about them on WOXY, a legendary, but
now defunct internet radio station. Damn, I miss WOXY. CBS is from Texas
and they don't tour a lot. I would love to see this band live.
Swap CD Mixtape download:
hxxps://www.mediafire.com/?vylr8ia8de4mo
(change hxxps to https for DL)
DISCLAIMER: The songs included are for sampling purposes. If you enjoy them, support the artist by purchasing something from them!
