The Gun Club – Sex Beat

Jorge Ben Jor – Errare Humanun Est

The John Shakespear Orchestra – Number One Theme

Neu! – Isi

Jean Louis – Misaotra Mama

Roy Ayers – The Memory

Roy Ayers – Feel Like Making Love

Patrice Rushen – Forget Me Nots

Spacemen 3 – Big City (Everybody I Know Can Be Found There)

Francis Bebey – Le chant d’lbadan

MP3 / STREAM

Follow this link to a site where you can stream the whole album. But for the purpose of this post, just play track #1 “Lay in a Shimmer” and track #9 “Welt am Draht.”

I had never heard of Pantha Du Prince until a few weeks ago. He is apparently a well-regarded German techno producer named Hendrik Weber who made the internet news when it was leaked he was going to be working with Panda Bear (from Animal Collective) on one of Pantha’s new tracks. Like the dutiful pitchfork reader I am, I studied the album review when it appeared and listened to the songs for free in the LaLa-provided music box. I had the good fortune of being at work where my computer’s desktop speakers are boosted with a sizeable subwoofer. This made all the difference.

I realized this music appealed to me. Although the Panda Bear collaboration track wasn’t really that great. Still, I went home and downloaded the album from Amazon and after a few full listens I was only listening to two of the tracks–1 and 9–and doing so a couple times a day for a few weeks or so. I’d play tracks 1 and 9 (obviously my most favorite tracks) trying to understand them, realizing there was something very complicated going on here. It took me several listens to establish basic structures and patterns. And I noticed I would start to feel eager about certain appealing sections of the songs. I started to play the two songs back to back and try to understand how very similar songs accomplish a very different effect. Which one do I like more? (Spoiler: it’s track 1 (but why?)).

Here are the things I love about these songs: the novelty of all those lush woodblocks clip-clopping out a rhythm. The wall of vibrational sound that comes and goes (please listen with a subwoofer). That these songs undergo a lot of shape-shifting. That there’s a melody. That each of these songs eventually settle into a really cool galloping groove for a minute or so. That there are strange outer space sounds that come and go on the edges. And hand claps, of course. The whispery choral sounds. And the difficulty in identifying the mood of these songs. This is part of my job, assigning an affect, but I feel perplexed. Do I hear hopefulness? Worry? Confidence? Exhilaration? Something detached from emotion? All of them I guess. I still don’t quite know.

The book Let’s Talk About Love is part of the 33 1/3 series (that our dear Bryan Waterman will be writing for later this year). Carl Wilson’s book was published over two years ago so I’m a little late to the party. Oh well. This is not really a book about Celine Dion as much as it’s an extraordinary book about judgement, taste, aesthetics and what it means to be “cool.” I was aware of it, and knew that people liked it, but didn’t decide to finally read it till I saw it on the London Times best 100 books of the Aughts list. It’s only 161 pages. Go read it, you’ll thank me.

And speaking of thank me. That’s what Trixie said when she forwarded me this youtube recently. Actually, she said, “you’re welcome.” And in light of Swell’s recent confessional about her fabulous taste in music, this fits right in. God, what I’d give to see this in color. Apparently this clip went viral in 2008 or so, but it never crossed my screen until now. And, thank you Adriano Celentano, I can’t stop playing it.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Time files, doesn’t it? Sure it flies, but it also files. It files the past away for the future. It files down the present until the future emerges.

It seems like I just made last year’s mix, so I felt a little unprepared when other contributors started posting theirs.

Here’s mine.

Many of you know my year-end mix modus operandi. For the newcomers, here it is.

I like making mixes that make for satisfying listening: short-ish songs, nothing too challenging, and an arc that provides a coherent through-line (up-tempo, mid-tempo, down-tempo, etc.). I want something I can put on and be absorbed by, that won’t slip into the background but that doesn’t exhaust the listener. I try to keep it to 20 or 21 songs, so one can reasonably digest the whole thing in a single listening.

While I quite like all the songs that make the cut, I don’t make a “best of the year” mix, rather a mix of songs released in that year. Some of these songs I didn’t hear until I sat down to make the mix; some I might not listen to again outside the context of this mix. Yes, some were and are among my favorites, but many of my favorites didn’t make the mix because the songs just didn’t fit in, for whatever reason.

Akron/Family – Last Year
The Bird and the Bee – Love Letter to Japan
Nino Moschella – Continue to Call
The Decemberists – The Hazards of Love 3 (Revenge!)
Pink Mountaintops – Holiday
Balmorhea – Elegy
Circulatory System – I, You, We
Old Californio – Riparian High
Alasdair Roberts – You Muses Assist
Tom Brosseau – Been True
Trembling Bells – When I Was Young
Maata Haari – Walk Right
The Cave Singers – Leap
Lissie – Little Lovin’
Sonic Youth – Antenna
Eliza Rickman – Girl
Warpaint – Billie Holiday
Doug Paisley – Digging in the Ground
Dave Rawlings Machine – Sweet Tooth
Yo La Tengo – Periodically Double or Triple

Here are some of my favorite records from 2009 that, for whatever reason, didn’t get a song on this mix. Frankly, I’m really puzzled as to how this happens, but everything has an element of the random to it.

Espers – Espers III
Vetiver – Tight Knit
The Entrance Band – S/T
Michael Hurley with Ida – Ida Con Snock
Alela Diane – To Be Still
Lightning Dust – Infinite Light

While I’m at it and have the soap box, I’ve been comparing my go-to records of 2009 with all the year-end lists I’ve read, and have concluded that there are 3 records that came out last year that everyone, everyone, but me — loves. The first two I actually don’t even like. The third I like okay, but don’t swoon with enthusiasm about whenever it’s mentioned. You may already know what’s coming, but here they are.

Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion
Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca

I’ve tried. Really, I’ve tried. Bitte Orca is palatable for me.

That AC record, though, man . . . I can’t even listen to any of it. It’s the aural equivalent of chewing on one of Milo Minderbinder’s chocolate-covered cotton balls: sweet on the outside, flavorless on the inside, and ultimately indigestible. I really do like some of their stuff, but this one just doesn’t move me at all (except to change to another station or song).

I loved the previous GB record and was so looking forward to this one, but wow it doesn’t even stay with me for about 15 minutes. I’ve put it on repeatedly and forgotten that I was even listening to music. I keep forgetting if I’ve listened to it all the way through to really give it a chance and put it on again, only to remember that I have.

I don’t wear this like a badge of honor or anything; I really *want* to like these records but have yet to find a way into them. It makes me feel a little freakish.

Anyhoozle, I hope you enjoy the mix! It was fun to make.

1.) Bachelorette – Intergalactic Solitude

2.) Au Revoir Simone – Sad Song

3.) Wave Machine – Keep the lights on

4.) Discovery – Orange Shirt

5.) Here we go magic – Tunnelvision

6.) Madrid – Reply (to everyone)

7.) The National – So far around the bend

8.) Tenagers – Feeling better

9.) Wheat – Half of the time

10.) Yo la tengo – Gentle Hour

11.) Waylon Jennings – Are you sure Hank done it this way?

12.) Animal Collective – Summer Clothes

13.) Think About Life – Havin’ my baby

14.) Lady Gaga – Bad Romance

15.) The Antlers – Two

16.) Television – Venus

17.) AA – Suicide Fever

18.) XX – VCR

19.) Gold Panda – Quitters Raga

20.) Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Hysteric

21.) Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Skeletons

22.) Riceboy Sleeps – Happiness

23.) Grizzly Bear – Two weeks

24.) John Talabot – Sunshine

25.) Washed Out – You’ll see it

26.) Shine Blockas – Big Boi (feat. Gucci Mane)

Our favorite albums:

(It’s becoming harder and harder to have favorite “albums” with the music world so flooded with great songs. But these were albums that for us had the best ratio of great songs/total songs.)
1.) Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavillion

2.) Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz

3.) Various – Dark was the night

4.) Grizzly Bear – Veckatimist

5.) XX – xx

6.) The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

I’d love to say more about each of the individual songs–and I do have many things to say about them. But it can get so long and tedious. Besides, other sites–including the much maligned pitchfork–have many useful comments for those who care. Not to mention, Sasha Frere Jones article in the New Yorker back in April about the shift in pop music that came this year with Gaga. Also, it’s worth embedding this awesome video. Enjoy! And happy holidays y’all.

Click here to view the embedded video.

P.S. Are we at fault as parents for allowing our 5 year old to worship at the temple of Gaga? Discuss.

We all know those moments in the summer, it’s after midnight, warm out, probably the weekend, you are sick of the music you’ve been playing all evening, but you aren’t ready for bed, and you need something to play. Maybe you have a guest over. You’re having a delightful conversation and you don’t want to interrupt the flow just to search your harddrive for old tracks to queue in a playlist. And you can’t trust shuffle to set the right mood. Perhaps there’s a half empty bottle of scotch and you don’t even trust yourself to set the right mood. Perhaps you’re just feeling lazy. Perhaps you’re ready to impress your guest.

Dear friends, just push play.

Of the 21 tracks, almost all are from last year–or discovered last year, but fear not, they don’t sound “last summer.” There are also three from 2009, three songs we’ve played a lot recently. Of those we knowingly included The Books’ Cello Song (appearing on a TGW mix for the third time in three months?!) which is just a beautiful song and fits this mood so well. The soul of this mix, however, is the Hatchback song which last summer was probably played more than any other song. It still sounds great. Trix agrees, but says the soul of the mix may reside closer to Beach House. Regardless, these are special songs for lounging around late at night.

If possible, this compilation plays best outdoors, preferably with friends, preferably surrounded by the city. These are not songs to accompany the great outdoors (sorry, Jeremy). And at the risk of sounding like someone I’m not, I heartily recommend the additional pleasure of intoxicants.

Oh, and thanks to Jason Wilson for a few of these songs. What? You don’t know Jason? Well, you should fix that.

The Playlist:

1.) Taken by Trees – “The Sweetness of Air France”

(If you happen to be tired of this song already–yes, it does age with less grace than the others–well, please take the initiative of removing it from the mix. I suppose that goes for any of these songs. Please prune this to your taste, and it will give richer fruit–and endure deep into the summer.)

2.) Pacifica – “Sol”

3.) Max Punktezahl – “Dashes”

4.) The Books with Jose Gonzalez – “Cello Song”

5.) Fredrik – “Alina’s Place”

6.) Hatchback – “White Diamond”

7.) Flying Lotus – “Robo Tussin”

8.) Quiet Village – “Too high to move”

9.) Beach House – “Gila”

10.) HiM – “Slow Slow Slow”

11.) He whose name cannot be spoken – “Shoot me down”

12.) Indian Jewelry – “Come Closer”

13.) Quiet Village – “Free Rider”

14.) J.J. – “My life, My swag”

15.) The Oscilation “Head Hang Low (Instrumental)”

16.) Gui Boratto – “Take my breath away”

17.) DJ/Rupture – “Plays John Cassavettes pt. 2″

18.) The Real Tuesday Weld – “Last Words”

19.) 120 Days – “I’ve lost my vision”

20.) Burger/Voigt – “Wand Aus Klang”

21.) Mark Mothersbaugh – “N’s Theme”