falls from grace -- october 22 / 2008

So, goddamn it, Mixwit and I are going to have some words. I would dearly love to make some joke about how it ain't turning tricks like it used to, but that would be inappropriate and would probably lose readership. But, really - apparently it really hates this mix. I found practically none of my songs. And, in my opinion, this is my best mix yet, so fucking seriously, ask me for it.

In short, the idea of the mix came from listening to the song "Jacob's Ladder" by Patrick Wolf (not provided here; fuck you very much, Mixwit), and thinking in an offhand manner that it sounded like Satan falling from heaven in Milton's Paradise Lost. All these songs try to reflect that sort of dark, twisted atmosphere: a fallen angel with burnt wings, a sense of nobility remnant amidst the horrors of hell, and various other misshapen figures scattered in the wreckage. So it's really very creepy but in a cerebral, brooding way. This isn't the shock value horror film, it's the psychological one that seeps through under your skin, like Rosemary's Baby.

Next mix, look for an auditory approximation of Faulkner. No, really, don't. That's a joke. Don't even think of holding me to that.

original track list

01. "Elephant Woman" - Blonde Redhead (Misery Is a Butterfly);
02. "Jacob's Ladder" - Patrick Wolf (Wind in the Wires); *
03. "Airships" - Metallic Falcons (Desert Doughnuts);
04. "New Dawn Fades" - Joy Division (Unknown Pleasures);
05. "I Would Hurt a Fly" - Built to Spill (Perfect from Now On);
06. "Twill" - Elliott Brood (Ambassador); *
07. "Our Hell" - Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton (Knives Don't Have Your Back);
08. "Turn Smile Shift Repeat" - Phantom Planet (The Guest); *
09. "Picky Bugger" - Elbow (Leaders of the Free World);
10. "Tiny Cities Made of Ashes" - Modest Mouse (The Moon and Antarctica);
11. "Black Mirror" - The Arcade Fire (Neon Bible);
12. "I Saw a Light" - Bat for Lashes (Fur and Gold);
13. "Deportation/Iguazu" - Gustavo Santaolalia (Babel OST);
14. "Liquid Diamonds" - Tori Amos (From the Choirgirl Hotel);
15. "Stella Was a Diver and She Was Always Down" - Interpol (Turn on the Bright Lights);
16. "Our Dance" - Wax Tailor (Tales of Forgotten Memories);
17. "Charlie Big Potato" - Skunk Anansie (Post Orgasmic Chill);
18. "Death to Death" - Stars (Heart);
19. "Paranoid Android" - Radiohead (OK Computer);
20. "Broken Up a Ding Dong" - The Beta Band (Igby Goes Down OST); *
21. "The Wrong Way" - TV on the Radio (Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes); *
22. "Soap Opera" - 54 Seconds (Coma); *
23. "The Beginning is the End is the Beginning" - The Smashing Pumpkins (Watchmen Trailer);
24. "The Great Western Road" - David Byrne (Lead Us Not into Temptation). *

Songs for Your Troubled Dreams

So I haven't really been sleeping that great lately. I'm not really sure what it is, but it might have something to do with all of the X-Files I've been watching and the fact that I recently read "World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War". Suffice it to say, I've had some weird dreams. For example, on two occasions I have dreamed of the Zombie Apocalypse, and on the second occasion, I was saved by Batman's personal secretary, dressed in a snappy looking pantsuit. Weird stuff, right? Also, I recently dreamed that I was trying to hang out with Kevin Smith but he was totally a dick about it, which kind of messed me up cause I always got the impression he was a pretty cool dude.

Anyways, this mix attempts to capture the feeling and mood of a dream. 1 part strangely romantic yet ominous, 1 part floating/falling, 1 part unnerving/jarring. Yet, with all of this said, dreams always seem to have a strange coherence and consistency that only make sense to you while you are sleeping. This mix is a sharp contrast to Kath's last mix and is intended to be a musical assault. Definitely don't listen to this while falling asleep.

p.s. My apologies for not posting anything last week as promised. I was very busy, and dropped the ball. My bad, sorry dawgs.

original track list
01. "(intro)" - Broken Social Scene (Bee Hives)*
02. "Pennantless on Homecoming " - Hills Like White Elephants (Himalaya)
03. "Soft Revolution" - The Stills (Do You Trust Your Friends?)*
04. "What's a Girl to Do?" - Bat for Lashes (Fur and Gold)
05. "Cliquot" - Beirut (Flying Club Cup)
06. "Tarantulove" - Hawksley Workman (For Him and the Girls)
07. "Bad Education" - Tilly and the Wall (Bottoms of Barrels)
08. "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)" - Arcade Fire (Funeral)
09. "Devil's Eyes (Piano Version)" - Buck 65 (Secret House Against the World)
10. "The Devil's Workday" - Modest Mouse (Good News for People Who Love Bad News)*
11. "Satan Said Dance" - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (Some Loud Thunder)
12. "Trouble With Dreams" - Eels (Blinking Lights and Other Revelations)
13. "Cells" - The Servant (The Servant)
14. "Fire Coming Out of The Monkey's Head" - Gorillaz (Demon Days)
15. "Helter Skelter" - The Beatles (The Beatles [The White Album])
16. "Modern World (Original)" - Wolf Parade (Apologies to the Queen Mary)
17. "One for the Cutters" - The Hold Steady (Stay Positive)
18. "Les Lumieres Pt. 2" - Bell Orchestre (Recording a Tunnel)
19. "Pioneer to the Falls" - Interpol (Our Love to Admire)
20. "Zombie" - The Cranberries (Stars)
21. "Nimrod's Son" - Pixies (Wave of Mutilation)
22. "Lolita" - Elefant (The Black Magic Show)
23. "Wolf Like Me" - TV on the Radio (Return to Cookie Mountain)
24. "The Less I Know" - Raine Maida (The Hunter's Lullaby)*
25. "Paranoid Android" - Radiohead (OK Computer)
26. "Feathers" - Man Man (Six Demon Bag)
27. "Mad World" - Michael Andrews and Gary Jules (Donnie Darko OST)
28. "God Make Up Your Mind" - Cold War Kids (Robbers & Cowards)
29. "Pan's Labyrinth Lullaby (Nana Del Laberinto del Fauno)" - Javier Navarette (Pan's Labyrinth OST)

*Yes, I know there are repeats from my last mix. Get over it, they fit really well.