It’s Monday again, so you know what that means, time for a Mixtape Monday!
This week features some great songs from the likes of Harry Nilsson (and covers of), Fitz and the Tantrums, Ganglians, April Smith and the Great Picture Show, and many many more. Just a little taste before the rest of the post after the jump
Ron Sexsmith by himself is a great songwriter and an artist’s artist, having been praised by the likes of Elvis Costello, Paul McCartney and Feist among others. To hear him cover an artist speaks volumes towards his respect of their work and Harry Nilsson is wistful and tuneful like McCartney and cynical like Lennon, and is a great choice; Sexsmith’s arrangement style and vocal play perfectly into this song.
The name might suggest otherwise, but Sad Brad Smith comes off like a happy Elliot Smith, a creative arranger, a sweet voice and a multi-instrumentalist, and its just a damn good song.
Ethereal out of this world harmonies meets a pastoral spirit, if I believed in heaven, the angels themselves would be crying from the beauty of this song. Blasphemy? Yes, worth being sent to hell for for saying it? Also Yes.
More grounded than Blue Ridge, Ragged Wood features a great lead vocal and supporting harmonies and a chugging rhythm, the most rocking this band gets.
The Reverend himself covering a song from his earlier output, a great reworking with a funky backing rhythm and great harmonies between Al and Lyle, bright and organic and a joy to put on.
A soulful reminiscing song, originally recorded for the Alfie remake, Jagger’s performance here is perfect, you can hear the longing in his voice and its a catchy melody to boot.
Yes he didn’t have the musical talent of his famous counterparts, but the man’s almost 70, and his voice has aged miraculously and his songwriting better than anything previous, Paul McCartney provides the bass line and the melody has that Beatle catchyness written all over it, and its a good message.
Another great song off the new album, with a melancholy backing harmony provided by Paul McCartney, its almost a little sad how much McCartney’s voice has aged in comparison to Ringo’s but its sweet and sentimental.
Off of Cleary’s debut, Pick Up the Pieces starts off slowly, reminiscent of a song Lionel Ritchie wished he was good enough to write, before progressing into an Elton John and Little Feat like groove; funky, powerful, and absolutely golden.
A wonderful artist lost in the annals of time, a Louisiana native who achieved and perfected the sound The Band became known for after their debut The Big Pink, in fact, The Band plays the second fiddle here, backing Charles up.
A song off their new album Transference featuring a bubbly bassline and their always creative arrangements, I could see Phoenix covering this song its right up their alley, so if you like Phoenix or Spoon (and who doesn’t) grab this song.
The original is already a stone cold funky classic, this version has a reworked bright 70’s styled piano and a live background, Natalie Cole ((This Will Be) An Everlasting Love) would be proud. Oh did I tell you he’s a white british guy, because he sure doesn’t sound like it.
As marvelous as his originals were, Al Green was a fantastic interpreter of well, anything thrown at him. For The Good Times is originally a country song written by Kris Kristofferson and Al Green puts forth a powerful version, inhabiting, not just singing the lyrics.
Voxtrot sounds like its a band that didn’t forget the eighties. But this isn’t a bad thing, rather they come off as the Smith’s heir apparent, with dashes of The Strokes thrown in. Ear candy for the music fan who wishes more bands were like The Smiths, and ear candy for the music fan that loves a good early Motown meets classic pop melody.
the warm somewhat unclearly recorded vocals only makes this song more endearing, and it does give you that warm feeling of starting to fall in love, euphoric.
Excellent transition from a reverbed opening into clanging chords, great guitar and drum work on here and just goes to show the bands ability to stretch their style.
This song stands up to some of Spoons best, great build, great arrangment, simple and beautiful
The xx
The xx is a very intriguing band in the way they develop their songs, arrangements play a huge role in what makes them good, and the dual female and male lead singers only help their cause
theres a lot of space in the arrangement as the title might suggest, and the harmony betweeen Oliver Sim and Romy Madley Croft is sublime. Croft has a beautiful achy voice that just cuts right into you
It’s amazing they manage to take drum loops and make them sound like they fit nowhere else but in their songs, and this is a great duet
Coconut Records
Coconut Records is the brainchild of actor Jason Schwartzman, yes that actor who played that annoying kid in Rushmore and is also known for playing drums for ‘that band that played the theme song to The O.C.‘ (Phantom Planet). Don’t let that dissuade you though, Schwartzman has a knack for crafting pop melodies, and he plays all the instruments on the record as well. Think of Elliot Smith except more upbeat. Schwartzman fully deserves to be recognized as a musician and an actor, not an actor/musician, because there is a difference.
Somehow Schwartzman came upon the perfect meld of sound between his voice, guitar and piano, sure the arrangement is nothing groundbreaking but it sounds fresh in his hands
Off of his first album Nighttiming, everything about this song is perfect from the synthesizer to the organic backing instruments to his beautiful background harmonies.
The Art of the Mixtape 