Download “Sketch for Summer 2003”
When we were packing up to move to Abu Dhabi I put most of my hard media music — records, CDs, cassettes — into storage. I did grab one tall spindle of burn CDs, though, and threw it into the pile of stuff we shipped overseas. It turns out that this spindle of 50 discs or so is an archive of random things I downloaded and some mixes I made from around 2000-2004: the late Napster/early Audiogalaxy era, if you will. There are several albums I never listened to more than once or twice, but apparently was still compelled to burn to CD, since this was also the pre-iPod era. The mixes include several discs I made for friends, often at the end of the year, but some seasonal ones as well. A couple weeks ago I grabbed this CD on my way down to the garage and I’ve listened to it in the car on and off since then.
It’s fully ten years old, which should give us all some pause, I think. I know I gave copies of this to some of you back then, but to others it may be new. I was particularly pleased with it at the time, and I think that with a couple exceptions the songs hold up pretty well. I played it that summer until I was pretty damn sick of it, so some of these songs I really haven’t listened to since then. I offer it up for your reevaluation, though, wondering what selections here you think are, in retrospect, the most embarrassing? the best preserved?
The original liner notes follow, even though some of the sentiments and sentences are kind of embarrassing a decade on as well. What were you listening to in 2003? Would you have predicted that Neil Young and Bob Dylan would still be kicking but Jason Molina would be dead? Or that in 2013 we wouldn’t be constrained at all in the length of our mixes, which we now call playlists instead?
Sketch for Summer 2003 — Original liner notes [salvaged from an old hard drive]:
It’s supposed to be the kind of mix you play at the end of a summer night, when your guests have gone home or fallen asleep on the floor in the other room, & you’re ready to crawl in bed & sleep. It has a couple up-tempo songs at the beginning in case anyone needs to nod along to the beat or tap her toes for a few more songs & after that it should lull you into pleasant dreams. Either that or you can use it to transition your party to the point where people go from lightly dancing to drowsing off blissfully in lawn chairs & hammocks on your terrace & then to realizing they’re so tired they need to go home. It started as an attempt to bridge the gap between the Postal Service’s synth-revival single, “Such Great Heights,” & Iron & Wine’s acoustic cover of that same song—the gap between traditional rock instruments & Moog synths, & also between the first (new) wave of electronic music in the late 70s & early 80s, so influential on the development of my musical taste (& revived by bands like the Postal Service) & the kind of shit I really love listening to now—sad, sparse, acoustic indie made by people who, like me, came of age w/ new wave on the cassette deck. If it were a 90-minute tape instead of an 80-minute CD it probably would still have those songs, but they didn’t really fit in the end. Here’s what stayed & why: 1. “Sketch for Summer,” The Durutti Column (1979). An underappreciated member of the Factory Records family & a forerunner of the kind of indie synth being produced now—technical guitar virtuosity meets Martin Hannett’s Manchester minimalism. I never really listened to DC back then but was turned on to them after watching 24 Hour Party People, which also looms large behind part of this mix. 2. “Mr. Soul,” Neil Young (1983), from the much-maligned album Trans. I love listening to Neil through a vocoder. Another forerunner of today’s indie-meets-synth bands. 3. “Sit Down. Stand Up,” Radiohead (2003), from the new album, due out this summer. Who knows if this is the final version, but the song kicks ass. It’s a little peppy for a come-down mix, as is 4. “Wire,” U2 (1984), but maybe they’ll get your last wiggles out before bedtime. Can you believe Unforgettable Fire is almost 20 years old? Without the meeting of Eno & U2, there would be no Radiohead—or Coldplay, for that matter. It’s been a long time since I could really listen to U2 straight, but damn this song reminds me why I built a little bedroom shrine to them in high school. 5. “Your Silent Face,” New Order (1983). There is no better band in the summertime. It’s almost a shame to put new synth bands in the same mix with this song, but 6. “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight,” The Postal Service (2003) rises to the occasion—tho just barely. Old sounds, new beats, vocals that brush a little too close to emo, but in the end I still like it. This song goes out to Barber. The one before it is to prove to Lane that New Order is more than a singles band. 7. “The Little Acorn,” Fruit Bats (2003), is from what will likely be my Album of the Summer. The perfect blend of folksy, new century indie & summery Wilson-esque pop. Serves the same function Beulah did a couple summers ago. My favorite moment comes at 5.13 when the arpeggios enter. A nice grandaddy move. I wanted to include something from the new grandaddy album, by the way, but didn’t have room. 8. “The Perfect Crime,” The Lucksmiths (2003). Don’t know a lot about this band. Australian, apparently. Compared to Belle & Sebastian in some things I’ve read but I don’t think it’s a very useful comparison. I love the lulling rhythm on this song. You should start to feel sleepy soon. 9. “The Long Dark Blues,” Songs:Ohia (2003). This is a demo of the song “Farewell Transmission” from the new album, Magnolia Electric Co., which is one of my favorite releases so far this year. Plays like mid-70s Neil Young without being as derivative as that sounds. 10. “Buckets of Rain,” Bob Dylan (1975). The detour from little-bit-synth to little-bit-country-rock continues. Coming up next is 11. “Let’s Dance,” M Ward (2003), who somehow continues this Americana vibe, even though he’s covering Bowie. I saw him open for Lambchop last fall & Vic Chesnutt again this spring & he’s The Real McCoy. The kid’s got heart. Sounds like what Tom Waits must have sounded like as a baby, plays guitar & harmonica (and even looks) like a Blood on the Tracks-era Dylan (to underscore the point made by the transition between 10 & 11). His new album is almost flawless, & good as his own songs are, it’s the cover that stands out. Who knew what a beautiful song this was? 12. “Cucurrucucu Paloma,” Caetano Veloso (1995). If you saw Almodovar’s Habla Con Ella (2002) you know how this song stole the show, a pretty amazing show to steal. 13. “Three Questions,” Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy (2003), from the first great album of this year. Shades of Neil’s vocoder in places. 14. “Love Theme from Spartacus (Zero 7 mix),” by Terry Callier (2001). Nobody puts the down in downtempo like our friends in the Zero 7. Talk about nice summer music—can’t wait to drag their old album back out. 15. “(This Is the) Dream of Evan & Chan,” Dntel (2001). One half of The Postal Service collaborating with the other half, before they decided to record together under that name. Right here I would have included the song “Etoh” from the Avalanches’ Since I Left You (2000) if I could have squeezed it in, & I would have used “Don’t Have to Be So Sad,” from the new Yo La Tengo album, to follow 16. “Chinese Apple,” Loose Fur (2003), but forced to choose I sided in favor of Mssrs. O’Rourke, Tweedy, & Kotche. Don’t move, just lay there & imagine u r unlocking your body & moving yourself to dance. Besos, bw
Hey Bryan,
I remember this mix so well. It was played a lot that summer, down here and up there. It feels quite nostalgic to hear it again. And really satisfying. I’m looking forward to playing it, or my favorite parts of it, over the coming summer months of 2013. So, thanks!
It wasn’t hard at all to pick out the songs that haven’t aged so well. Basically all the singer-songwriter/slow-mo ballady songs still sound great on a hot summer night. Fortunately that’s about 80% of this mix. It’s weird how Radiohead (or at least that song) is not sounding so good. Remember when they sounded like musical geniuses, so daringly messing with song structures? Now it’s weird, don’t they sound a little embarrassing? For that matter the U2 is also hard to listen to (esp. in the context of all these other quiet songs).
It’s interesting that the Dntel song is not aging well either. What’s really interesting though is that New Order’s song–two decades older, but similar in so many ways to what Dntel and The Postal Service wanted to do–sounds just as gorgeous as ever. And even tho maybe the Postal Service isn’t aging so well, I still absolutely love The District Sleeps alone Tonight. Although, a quibble, I’m not sure you want that song and it’s very energetic toe-tapping rhythm showing up like an unexpected coked-up guest this deep into a mix that’s supposed to help people sort of fall asleep.
I guess those are my quick thoughts. What are yours, Bryan, as the curator? Also, I’d love to know if anyone else remembers this mix. It was pre-TGW, but still. Rachel? Dave? Jeremy? Nate?
Yeah, I thought the Radiohead didn’t fare so well. The Postal Service is a little embarrassing, but to be fair to 32-year-old me, it was still pretty new and everyone played it to death that year, and you’re right that it sounds better than I expected it would. I still stand by the U2 track — I was trying to transition from something more uptempo in the first half of the mix to something slower later on — but it may be the only U2 track I’ve been able to abide this century, and then in small doses. Obviously in 2003 I was still holding to my old rule that every good mix had to have Neil Young on it — almost every mix of mine I’ve found from the early 00s has something from Trans on it, but I esp like this remake of his old Buffalo Springfield tune. I think the most embarrassing thing on here may be the Zero 7 thing. And there’s no doubt in my mind, though, that the New Order has aged the best. As much as I’ve been in and out of love with other bands, those albums never fail to feel fresh. Required listening every summer.
Others?