2:34 p.m. - 2006-02-26
Chain Chain Chaaaaaaaaaaaaain....
This is a chain letter...where you actually get something besides 100 years of bad luck. Of course, you don't have to forward it to 86 people in the next 30 seconds, either.
So, I was the proud winner of the Mystery CD contest (my Mystery CD Maker is the lovely and talented ClipChick, and holy crap she sent me a veritable assload of fun and cool office supplies with the CD...the purple pen is my new favorite!), and it's now my turn to keep this chain going. Anyone can play, but there are just a couple of rules.
The rules are this:
1. You must have a blog or diary.
2. You must have readers. (I know, and I still was allowed to play!)
3. I will send a CD without any song listing.
4. You must write a track-by-track review of the CD and post it or send it to me.
5. I will then release the song listings.
6. Then, and only, then, after the review is up may you post that you are the next link in the chain. The first person to post in your comments that has not been part of the chain gets the next link.
It's easy!
So, what I'm looking for here is the first person to post in my comments (down at the bottom of this entry) that wants to play.
Now, on to the reviewing part....
Track #1: Poe - "Hello"
I have recently rediscovered Poe after a long absence. I had forgotten how quirky and cool she was. This isn't my favorite song of hers, but I still like it.
Track #2: Smashing Pumpkins - "Mayonnaise"
Ahhh, college. The days of smoking ridiculous amounts of dope, playing video games, and waxing philosophical on all sorts of topics. This album came out my sophomore year (I think) and was heavily in the rotation for a while. Strangely, my clearest memory of this song involves my friend AK. She had been fucked over by a guy, and a couple of the girls went over to her house to console her and give her the "men suck" pep talk. She had this song on repeat for like an hour.
Track #3: "Cantaloop" - Name of Artist Escapes Me.
I remember every word of this song, but I cannot for the fucking life of me remember the name of the artist. It's killing me not to Google it. I do remember this song being touted as "a totally different genre" when it was released. It's a little hip-hop, a little jazz, a little old time groove. Very catchy and fun.
Track #4: I Have No Flippin' Idea.
Drumbeat groove with a little spoken word sampling..."This is the drum..." - Makes you feel like you should be dancing on the sand in a sarong in a tropical night near a big-ass bonfire while holding some sort of frothy frozen alcohol in one hand and perhaps a tambourine in the other. Love it.
Track #5: From Pulp Fiction Soundtrack.
Seriously. It's the instrumental with the dialogue: "I love you pumpkin." "I love you honey bunny." "Everybody be cool, this is a robbery." "Come out with your hands up or I'm going to execute every motherfuckin' last one of you." I have listened to this soundtrack a zillion times...but I haven't looked at the track list in years, so I don't remember the name of this one.
Track #6: I Remain Clueless as to Title and Artist.
This song definitely continues the theme of the previous track. I could see this in a Tarantino film, accompanied by onscreen action involving some new and interesting way of busting a cap in someone's ass. For all I know, it WAS in a Tarantino film. I kind of got bored with Mr. Quentin after a while. While I'm sure this sounds sacrilegious to some of you film aficionados in the house, he never did that much for me.
Track #7: Violent Femmes - "Gone Daddy Gone"
Ahh, this takes me all the way back to high school. I was a complete theater dork. We listened to this album on many, many occasions while we were building sets. I can smell the paint fumes and feel the splinters in the cheap-ass platforms we had to use because we had no budget.
Track #8: Back to the Cluelessness.
...this sounds like a cover of a Smiths/Morrissey song. I can't remember the title, but I'm sure it's one of those long ass Morrissey specials. I recognize the band's sound...but I can't quite place the name. I like it, though. Short and sweet.
Track #9: I Do Not Speak the Language in Which This Song is Recorded.
This would be some Rock En Espa�ol. I just can't get into this, but the musicians who recorded it certainly seem to. They even break it down a little. I feel like kind of an asshole for saying this, but a lot of Musica Latina sounds the same to me...it's like it doesn't have enough acoustical depth. It's all treble. The musicians usually sound like they can sing, and sing passionately, but the background instrumentation makes me want to rip the speakers out and stamp on them.
Track #10: "Praise" - Fatboy Slim
This song is okay, I guess, for dance-y type music. This song came out (heh) right after GEB did. And he was in his "gay dance music" phase. And so he made me listen to a lot of these kind of songs, over and over, and well, I got a little burned out. However, after a hiatus, the song has regained some of its original catchiness.
Track #11: "3 is the Magic Number" - Blind Melon
Schoolhouse Rock Rocks!! I love this album. This is one of my favorites on it. (The other would have to be "Unpack Your Adjectives.") This was another album that was released during the college years, and I remember listening to this (high, of course) and watching a friend get crazy wild on the Tetris action. That boy was not human.
Track #12: "Linger" - The Cranberries
Such a sweet song. I do like the Cranberries.
Track #13: Dammit. This is FAMILIAR.
I feel like I should recognize this one. The bass line almost sounds like Jane's Addiction, but that's not who it is...perhaps Dinosaur Jr.? It definitely has that early grunge feel to it.
Track #14: This Has to Be Shatner.
Gotta love the William Shatner. His version of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" is just classic. The man is hilarious.
Track #15: "Come Undone" - Duran Duran
Oh, Simon LeBon, my fifth grade crush. You were so cute. I always like some 80's music..."hey, child. Stay wild." What more do you need from lyrics?
Track #16: Please Make This Song Stop.
This is making my brain bleed. The discordant piano background noise coupled with the epic orchestral sweeps...{covers ears}. I have waited and waited for it to DO something, and it never did. This must be from a movie soundtrack.
Track #17: [Blank Look].
The voice sounds really familiar, and I have a feeling that once I hear who this is, I will be kicking myself in the head. It almost sounds like Portishead or Bjork at first. But it's too perky to be Portishead, and not quite rough/discordant enough to be Bjork. The song sounds like a cross between modern trance/trip-hop and 70's disco. Strange, but it works.
Track #18: Another Mystery.
Another song that sounds vaguely familiar. Very much a party song. I could see this on a mix CD that you play when you and the posse are driving out to go party like it's 1999.
So, if you want to be next...comment! Make sure to include your e-mail address, so we can correspond in re: details of how I mail the little mix I've concocted to you.
Good night, and good luck.
