This week’s Mixtape Monday mixes some great up and coming bands (Cotton Jones, Field Music, The Dutchess and the Duke, and Robert Francis to name a few) established new acts (The Morning Benders, Josh Rouse, Fleet Foxes) with some old (Elliot Smith) and even older classics (The Beatles, E.L.O., The Four Tops, The Impressions). As always downloads are encouraged to promote the artists and raise awareness of all the great music out there.
The great thing about these two remixes is that they don’t do too much, rather they add to the song ever so subtly, tinkering with the rhythm here, adding bits to the song there, it does what a remix should, which is highlight the original work, and avoids taking anything away from it. These two should be listened to in succession.
This band out of the Berkeley California area showed alot of promise on their debut with strong hooks and a dynamic singer, however, their latest LP Big Echopromises to be even better, and I promise you’ll be hooked from the start. Wouldn’t be out of place on a Vampire Weekend or Grizzly Bear album, lovely changes and fantastic dynamic energy.
Raw and uncompromising in its hooks, in a way the lyrics don’t make sense, like Jim Morrison on a drunken poem binge, but in a way thats the point. Love the 50’s styled sax solo at the end.
Not as cheeky as the previous but delivered in a cutesy tongue in cheek way, and catchy all the way through. Like a Paul McCartney demo sung by The Monkees.
With a lively hammer-tack piano backing and strong roots in the gospel soul that was Motown’s trademark this song is perfectly done and in their book, old is the new new.
Great piano hook and melody, as well as a nice voice, the track in terms of arrangement is daring, going from piano romp to Queen-ish bridges, just a song that wants to be repeated over and over.
Catchy from the start and featuring a piano hook that takes a page out of Miles Davis, This soul-styled band might have the energy of a young band, but they are refined beyond their years.
Starting with a simple guitar hook before building into a catchy song supported by a sublime boy-girl harmony. This is a band out of England I haven’t heard much of, and one I definitely want to hear of more.
I had never intended to find Robert Francis, but thats the beauty of music, there is so much to find out there, his voice comes across like a Johnny Cash/ Neil Young/ Bruce Springsteen love child with strong songwriting to match, and though it be a live recording, it sure don’t sound like one. Don’t miss out on this one.
More than just sharing the first word of their band name with the Beach Boys, Beach House has taken a page out of their book of melodic songcraft and the organ work on here is pure Brian Wilson, and while they don’t have the full five person harmonies, its hard not to think of the Beach Boys when the singer here reaches up into the higher register. Just a great song.
When those drums start, you almost can hear Billie Jean begin, but not to knock Fyfe, a drum beat is a drum beat and he makes it his own with an equally talented voice. And in any other hands the strings would seem a little 70’s/bombastic but the fact that he arranged the whole thing gives it a more heartfelt presence and the song is so gosh darn catchy and warm its hard not to listen to. A great use of melody.
An eccentric title for sure, but this band is firmly rooted in good old fashioned power pop and this comes off like a wiser cousin of Bruce Springsteen’s Dancing in the Dark.
The fact that a song this good was left off Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On just goes to show how strong the album was; the band is on full swing on this one and Marvin is holding it together with a strong vocal performance at the top.
One of the bands strongest suits is the atmosphere they create and the pitter patter guitar at the beginning sure sounds like rain if it were only more musical, with a cloudy organ backdrop and when the singer comes in, its a blissful moment, transported back to the 60’s you can swear you see San Francisco,and you swear you’re hearing Sonny (from Sonny and Cher) or Bob Dylan, and you’re happy.
Classic old style funk at a breakneck pace, with Curtis Mayfield influenced singing and harmonies, but the highlight here is just the great energy put forth by the band and its a real fun song.
Sporting simplistic arrangements and beautiful two-part harmonies, The Dutchess and the Duke ironically (and thankfully) don’t boast arrangements that live up to their name in terms of grandeur, but I’d be hard pressed to find a band that does the simple better.
This song isn’t what it seems when it starts with its electronic beat, it soon fades into a much more organic arrangement, and the vocal delivery and intensity matches the lyrics, he just can’t be tied down, he has to rise up and beat the odds, to say unbridled enthusiasm is one thing, though this is inspiring in a whole new way.
The original was a disco meets new wave stylized single, this cover breathes new life into the melody and arrangement with mandolins banjos upright bass and a sublime guitar solo. I’d never thought I’d hear a man cover Blondie so well.
I found this band by way of covers its lead singer (Eef Barzelay) had done. Yet this original shows they are capable of more than just cover band fare, like a less grating R.E.M. with some vintage Rolling Stones guitar thrown in, this song builds and builds, your enjoyment growing along with it.
Most of you might recognize this song as being in the Fender myTouch commercial, and its a sweet song. Clapton made a career of sunny eyed blues numbers like this, the hook is undeniable and the lyrics are heartfelt.
This song starts like a behemoth, the harmonies and organ and guitar providing an airy landscape, one of those songs meant for headphones, where you can be in your own world.
It’s a cover of a Ritchie Valens song, but this reading is so beautiful that it goes far beyond the label, the arrangement conveys heartbreak and the lyrics break your heart.
Both are masters of the laid back acoustic vibe, so its no surprise how the arrangement plays out, whats special is their harmony, tight and organic, you can tell these guys really respect each other and they play off each other really well.
I’m not one to give DMB credit where they’re not due but this song is great. The melody is classic, its sung beautifully, soft and understated with lyrics to match.
Phoenix covering one of the greatest songs Bob Dylan ever laid to tape, a late night brood of a song, they stay faithful to the original but its nice to hear someone else take it on.
Swagger, this band has it, from the arrangement to the singing down to the lyrics. Think of an updated version of Some Girls era Rolling Stones, except straight from the heart of NYC.
The Kooks had so much energy on their debut that it was no surprise success caught on quickly, but the Kooks aren’t a flash in the pan, their melodies are tight their dynamics are perfect and they single-handedly carry guitar rock on their backs with the riffs in this song.
Culled from the Curtis/Live album, MM S &W is a lesson in band dynamics with the drummer so deep in the pocket of the groove he makes Mitch Mitchell seem like an amateur, the harmonies are wonderfully placed with the guitar and this whole track just moves. The beauty of Mayfield isn’t that his melodys go to crazy places, its the movement and inspiration within them, and on those terms theres no one better.
Why this one in particular? In terms of its dreamy psychedelics and melodic fluidity, this song was the Holy Grail Pink Floyd chased their entire careers.
Why this song? Well Martin Luther King Jr. using it as inspiration for his civil rights goals is a sure good reason, and Curtis Mayfield greatly inspired Jimi Hendrix’s playing style on guitar, if you even needed another one.
Before Kanye West released Touch The Sky, there was the original song, the horns bright, the rhythm breakneck and the melody unstoppable. Pure inspiration at its finest.
Maxwell dominates the song with a Marvin Gaye like croon and the backing is excellent, soft but not too soft (a problem that most neo soul suffers from) and well crafted and placed vocal harmonies. Some nice Curtis Mayfield styled horn work on this one too.
In prior days, I wouldn’t have listened to the song on the assumption from the name alone that it was some average metal band but whether it was out of ironic intention or not this band sells itself short by its name. Take Marc Bolan’s singing (from T-Rex…Bang a Gong) with a little of David Bowie and song structure and back it with absolutely beautiful (Pink Floydesque) instrumentation and you might have an idea what these guys are like. Best use of a pitch bender i’ve ever heard.
In this day and age instrumental, or in this case mostly instrumental songs are few and far between in rock bands, whether its because everyone’s focused on producing a hit single or they don’t have the instrumental ability its hard to say, however this song is nothing short of masterful. Pastoral and vast and never predictable.
A band that should be recognized more than the fan base it has, cohesive arrangements and a good dynamic lead singer, they’re a band you can put on at anytime.
The Dead as much as they have their rabid following, also have their numerous detractors saying they often weren’t cohesive as a live band, noodling on drug fueled jams that didn’t always work, however all parts are in fine form here, taken from the Europe ’72 Double LP and Jerry Garcia contributes a fine succinct guitar solo along with it.
Spoon already has that night atmosphere to them, their arrangements always hiding their surprises in the shadows and Britt Daniel just has enough grit in his voice to make things more interesting.
Once in a great while there comes a cover that breathes a new life into the song, an interpretation that makes you think about the song in ways you hadn’t before, this is one of those.
Country is so often overdone in lyrical themes, drinking and heartbreak, but this organic production brings a new interest to this listener, the lyrics are understated, not overwrought and its one of those melodies that will keep with you for weeks.
The Art of the Mixtape 