My Autumn 2007 Mix!

First, an apology: I trimmed the second song by 30-40 seconds but the burning program refused to acknowledge this and thus replaced it with silence. I have made four copies at this point. I may or may not be able to fix it for future ones. Stupid VBR. Anyway...

My Autumn 2007 mix! Tada! Some information:

As I started this mix, I envisioned a relaxing, soothing mix. One night I was working on it til late and it tried to become all spooky (which would be fine for a Halloween mix but I was aiming for fall!!!) and almost derailed with an opera song. Ah, but I saved it. Here it goes:

01. Rocky Balboa intro
I'd actually read this on a forum thread about great movie speeches. And it is. I later saw it on DVD and it was still great. I found it on youtube, ripped it and here it is. Not only is it a great message, but I particularly liked the part where he says "The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows" as it is a direct counterpoint to Leslie Gore's Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows song on my Spring 2007 mix. I thought it was a good connection :) Rocky rules!

02. Gonna Fly Now (Rocky Theme) composed by Bill Conti
Here is my problem song. It goes great with the previous quote. It's a bit bombastic and overwhelming and gets you pumped. It's jogging. It's fantastic. Except that I trimmed the last 30-40 seconds. But I already went over this. The second problem was that on my track listing I wrote it down as "Gotta" instead of "Gonna." Eesh. But it's smooth sailing from here, folks!

03. The Shape by Inspecter 7
I toyed with having this be the beginning song for a while. It starts off unsettling. The Halloween movie theme. It slowly builds. The horns. It becomes menacing. Skoochie on sax summons demons. Guiseppe does a great creepy laugh. It's also great to dance to! How'd they do that?!

04. Zombie by the Cranberries
My last pick for spookiness. Not only in title, but the way Dolores O'Riordan sings, about violence and her war-torn country. The wail of her voice, the wall of guitars behind her. It's chilling.

05. The Songs That We Sing by Charlotte Gainsbourg
Ah, another Gainsbourg! Daughter of Serge, she is also an actress, who I saw in The Science of Sleep were she was the most charming thing ever. Her voice is dreamy. I almost put another song of hers on, but it was half spoken word. The line that sticks out for me is: "And these songs that I sing / Do they mean anything? / To the people I'm singing them to / People like you"

06. 1, 2, 3, 4 by Feist
This is a song that may be everywhere, but only if you pay attention to music blogs, sites and watch iPod commercials and assorted other TV spots. But I know a lot of people don't do all that. So I included it. It carries the same feeling as the first song, but more hopeful, more optimistic. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend the music video.

07. Volver by Estrella Morente
[Spanish] Another connection to my previous mix. The intro movie quote was taken from Pedro Almodóvar's Volver. Here is the song that is the heart of the story. When this woman sings "tengo miedo de la noche" I feel that fear of the dark as well. I feel the truth she says when she calls twenty years nothing. Volver means to return.

08. Mas Que Nada by Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66
[Portuguese] Ahh the sweet sounds of samba/bossa nova. "Mas Que Nada" translates literally as "More Than Nothing" by which they mean "More Than Anything".

09. No One Does It Like You by Dept. of Eagles
My sis alerted me to this sweet, floating song. I thought it fit quite nicely into the mood.

10. Hoppípolla by Sigur Rós
[Icelandic] I don't know what the words to most Sigur Rós songs, but that is almost an asset, an invitation for the mind to imagine and create the landscapes of the movie of life. I love it.

11. Montaña by the Gipsy Kings
[Spanish] Another song about mountains (re: the last song on my spring mix). The beginning lyrics say "Yo voy caminando / a la montaña donde naci" = "I go walking / To the mountain where I was born." The singing style of cante jondo, that flamenco passionate style, always gets me!

12. Go To Sleep by the Avett Brothers
I was tipped off to the this group by a message board whose members not only have great music taste but the descriptions and stories that make them music lovers. The Avett Brothers are great musicians and this is one sweet nugget of a song.

13. Seul by Jacques Brel
[French] I scoured my Jacques Brel song collection, but none seemed quite right til I ran across this video (with handy translation!) which is just Jacques (hee) on his guitar, singing about loneliness and the world. Isn't he faboo?!

14. Waiting For the Night by Depeche Mode
Once, driving from far away Long Island, down the highway which had lightpoles far, far apart, the only light I could see was the few stars shining in the darkness. This song was playing. They complemented each other so perfectly, that the song could--should! have gone on for the full hour of the trip. If a twinkling lone star was made into a song, this would be it. If a single drop of rain was made into a song, this is it. That's how it felt. It's quiet and pensive, it's aprehensive and hesitant and it could turn ominous or it could lead to sunrise. I superheart Depeche Mode!

I've been dreaming of a time when

Morrissey does not cancel! :)

I'm sure Kill will come up with a well-written Morrissey review at some point, but as for me, I will only say that his voice sounded great and the Hammerstein crowd should really have danced and sang along more. I leave off with the rite that is the stage invaders:


Which brings me to the detour that Kill, Jen and I took after the show on Saturday. We walked from Penn Station to Times Square, stopped by to get drinks and animal crackers and then wasted time at the brightly-lit McDonald's so we could finally get into the free Sons & Heirs' Smiths tribute show at B.B. King's, which started not long after midnight.

Oh, we stood around for the first couple of songs, warming us up with Smiths' songs. But everyone's drinking and fervor eventually got the better of everyone and by the end we were all dancing and singing lyrics as if it was the last concert we'd ever go to. Seriously. Flowers were flying, people jumped up on stage and were lovingly taken back in to the audience, manic flailing, singing along at a level and ferocity that later makes your voice scratchy. Much fun was had by all. We managed to get two encores from them. Great show! Much better than when we caught them at Williamsburg where everyone acted so detached. Midnight BB King crowd had zero shame. It was wonderful! I said afterward that we probably had a better time at the free show than the $$$ actually Morrissey show! Hee! I still love you though Moz! You and your baby seals!

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Bob Mould this Friday. I'm trying to talk Kill into Gogol Bordello on Saturday. EDIT: Hahahaha, Gogol Bordello sold out! That takes care of my indecision. Gogol are great, but I've heard the venue is crap. Irving Plaza was bad enough with sound problems and obnoxious frat boys!