Mix #2: 6/3/2011

1. B-Movie - Gil Scott-Heron
2. Hey Man Nice Shot (1/4lb remix) - Filter
3. Loser - Beck
4. Disposable Parts - Enon
5. Voodoo Lady - Ween
6. Caribou - Pixies
7. Pwnd - The Mae Shi *
8. Billie Jean - Michael Jackson
9. Psycho Killer - Talking Heads
10. Street Walkin' - Dan Auerbach
11. One Step closer to You - The Miracle Workers
12. Sons of Temperance - The Fall
13. In the Garage - Weezer
14. Two Against One - Danger Mouse and Daniele Lupi (w/Jack White)
15. Dead Souls - Joy Division
16. El Lado Oscuro De Mi Compadre - Terrestre
17. Railings (2008 re-edit) - Roni Size/Reprazent *
18. Get Gone - Cop Shoot Cop *
19. Fisticuffs - Primus
20. Bang Bang - Dr. Dre
21. Just a Friend - Biz Markie
22. I Like Birds - Eels
23. Run Run Run - Velvet Underground
24. Meet Your Master - Nine Inch Nails
25. Year Zero - The Gris Gris

* = video not found

Gil Scott-Heron: B-Movie

Well, the first thing I want to say is, mandate my ass. Hopefully future mixes won't all have their first tracks predicated by singers who have died in the preceding week. Peace man, easy.

Filter: Hey Man Nice Shot (1/4lb remix)

Filter's first album, Short Bus, was an example of everything I believed in as a young man. Everything else they put out was an example of everything I stand against. Richard Patrick, you're an embarrassment.

Enon: Disposable Parts

I was thinking this morning that one of these days I’ll have to do a theme mix with songs by original bands that broke up, and then other bands that their members went on to be in. An easy example: Nirvana, followed by Foo Fighters. A less easy example: Brainiac, followed by Enon.

Beck: Loser

I always thought it was funny that Eddie Vedder was in this video, like the whole world knew that he was going to become that guy who puts out a ukulele album once he burns out all the righteous political rage.

Ween: Voodoo Lady

For the longest time, I had a crappy rip of this song on my computer because the original CD was scratched. So the song would always cut out halfway. Now we can relive that experience with a crappy video that looks like it was copied from VHS.

Pixies: Caribou

I don’t know what the big deal is with this Frank Black guy, my back is much hairier.

Michael Jackson: Billie Jean

Someday Michael Jackson is going to die and we’re all going to wonder about the lyrics to this song. But not before then.

Talking Heads: Psycho Killer

Like that little man in that big jacket could ever be scary in a psycho killer sort of way. Or like he could ever be able to stop a psycho killer. About the only thing he could be is the target of a psycho killer.

Dan Auerbach: Street Walkin'

This is from a solo album by that guy who’s in that popular-ish band that never got as big as that REALLY popular band favored by emotionally flat people.

The Miracle Workers: One Step Closer to You

If I had come of age in the 70s, I can't believe that I wouldn't have gone bananas for psychedelic garage music. So what if this song is from the 80s?

The Fall: Sons of Temperance

If you want to feel bad about yourself, accept a CD of music by The Fall, given to you by a guy you work. Promise him you’ll give him a flash drive with tons of great music on it and then never give him that flash drive and then quit your job and don’t say goodbye to him, not even an email.

Weezer: In the Garage

Pretty much every song from THE BLUE ALBUM has been my favorite song from that album at one point or another. This was the first one I remember putting onto tapes.

Danger Mouse & Daniele Lupi: Two Against One

A new album co-masterminded by Danger Mouse which plays as an homage to the musics of spaghetti Westerns? And the best you can do is choose a track that doesn’t even sound all that much like Western music?

Joy Division: Dead Souls

Stop thinking about the scene in 24 Hour Party People where the Ian Curtis character hangs himself, stop thinking about the scene in 24 Hour Party People where the Ian Curtis character hangs himself, stop thinking about the scene in 24 Hour Party People where the Ian Curtis character hangs himself…

Terrestre: El Lado Oscuro De Mi Compadre

If you’re going to spend your late-20s and early-30s going on lots and lots of first dates, your mixtapes will be well-served by paying attention to the musical selections of said dates.

Primus: Fisticuffs

I broke up with my girlfriend the same week I was supposed to see Primus for the first time. This was the only song I needed to hear them play. My friend who had seen Prmus dozens of times shook his head dismissively and said there was no way I was going to hear this song. Primus didn’t play Fisticuffs, they only played hits. The show itself wasn’t that memorable.

Dr. Dre: Bang Bang

Why does all the hip-hop get ghettoized to the ass end of a mixtape? Does it need to represent the majority of the music played before it’s allowed to move closer to the front?

Biz Markie: Just a Friend

This song taught me about what college would be like when I was just a little boy. I’m really happy to see it making a resurgence due to that taxi cab commercial.

Eels: I Like Birds

I think I’m actually way more interested in rocket launches and astronaut trophy wives (see Tom Wolfe’s great book THE RIGHT STUFF) than I am in birds, but when I was a good employee, they’d let me play this song sometimes at Newbury Comics.