June 20
Miracler
Charlie Rock
Location
Chicago
Welcome to the future, Miraclers.
Today's Mixmaker comes to us from another generation—The Next. That's right, I remember when Charlie Rock, nephew of Jeanne-Marie Greiner, was BORN. And not because I had a great memory as a child. I was, uh, out of college and working at the, er, personal finance software company when today's Miracler entered this world. As all of those words sink in for me, let me assure you we've already sailed past any possible awkward period our young sir might have engaged in at 12 or whatever, and he joins us smack in the middle of his "How did you learn about THESE GUYS?" period. And yet, a lot of the stuff here sounds like "our" generation, not his. And so begins me talking about "young people" in quotes. Guess it's time to hand the mike over to C.Rock to wisen up the oldenheimers.
Liner notes from CR: FUZZ
Well, I’ve chosen this title with these songs not as a placard for unifying songs that for the most part have a decidedly fuzzy lo-fi quality, but instead as a testament to a feeling, a personal emotional response. Now I don’t mean fuzzy as a cutesy reaction to music. No, this is not teddy bear cute. This is the assuredness of absolute content, but in a way evading a pinpoint. Sure, some of the songs may bask in their lower recording quality, but I feel the underlying fuzz that collects is not necessarily a product of this. So enjoy and maybe you can encode exactly what defines the sometimes gently abrasive, sometimes disarming, sweet nectar that drips from each of these tracks.
1. Come Around - The Action: This hopeful song by this soulful 60's group comes off a recent compilation of their songs, Rolled Gold. Note the Jackson 5ish bassline.
2. Long Boat Pass - Tennis: Breezy tune off their 2011 album Cape Dory, chock-full of seafaring themed songs.
3. Devil’s A Go-Go - Blitzen Trapper: From Wild Mountain Nation. I’m no BT expert but this song encapsulates what I see as their experimental country honk nature.
4. Play You Out - Mind Spiders: Explosive number from this garage-y glam-punk outfit’s latest, Meltdown.
5. Mr. Your on Fire Mr. - Liars: Dance post-punk at its finest? This is from their 2002 debut, They Threw Us all in a Trench and Stuck and Monument on Top.
6. Hamilton Road - Ducktails: This is the solo moniker of Matt Mondanile, Real Estate guitarist. And if there’s a Ducktails song that best exemplifies his talent as a guitarist, I feel it’s this song.
7. Golden Town - Super Wild Horses: This is a highlight from this Australian female duo’s 2010 debut, Fifteen.
8. Mystery - Wipers: One of my favorites from Wipers’ classic debut (which I recently discovered!).
9. I am Not a Game - Ty Segall and White Fence: Shining guitar number from their recent collaborative album, Hair. Oh man, the guitar at the end.
10. What’s that Scene? - Male Bonding: Off this British pop-punk group’s 2011 album Endless Now. All their endeavors seem to have a playful nature and in the context of the song, what is more playful than using the chorus to pose a question to the listener?
11. Psycho - The Sonics: Amidst the heaping of covers, here’s a Sonics original, and I may add a particularly surging song from this 60s garage band’s debut, Here are the Sonics.
12. Get Back - Woods: I am truly a sucker for Woods and all Woodsist affiliates. Here’s the main man, Jeremy Earl, at the forefront of a very Woods-y folk number using that voice that I cannot liken to any other. Off the 2010 albumReturn to Echo Lake.
13. I Can Smell the Leaves - The Olivia Tremor Control: I see this as a sugary nugget amongst every one of the beautiful tracks on Dusk at Cubist Castle. Hell, I can smell the leaves after the song too.
14. Candy - The Men: The Men’s latest Open Your Heart very well may be my favorite album released thus far in 2012. I find this to be without a doubt the most endearing song on the album. Also, anyone else hear a bit of “Dead Flowers”?
15. Frida - The Minders: Why not two Elephant 6 bands on one mix? Maybe I’m crazy hearing some “Dead Prudence” in these persuasive lyrics; regardless, it’s a gem from their 1998 debut Hooray for Tuesday.
16. Killer Statements - Family Portrait: This band was formed to open an early Real Estate show, and they adopted some of that lazing-on-a-Sunday-afternoon in the summer sound from Real Estate. Nevertheless, they have a certain sound all to themselves, and this is the big finish from their eponymous debut from last year.
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XOK
20 comments:
Loving your mix, Charlie, and I'm only halfway through. Tennis and Ducktails were the immediate standouts to me, but I'm sure there will be many more. Thanks!!
Dude's name is Charlie ROCK. How rad is that?! How could this *not* be a terrific mix?
Starting off strong with The Action (any favorite band of Phil Collins is cool with me. Okay, well maybe not necessarily, but in this case, Yes.) But I'm definitely down with 'the kids' digging the old mod scene, just like we did when we were wee. Which sounds sarcastic, I know, but it's true. My baby cousin is in a band that's heavily influenced by 70's Jamaican and later 80's Brit/Ska. Go figure. I'm into it.
A lot of this is new to me (Tennis, Wipers, Male Bonding) and a bunch is happily familiar (Liars, Woods, Olivia Tremor Control, The Men). Already making my list of things I will be purchasing as a result of this week's mix.
In particular I'm partial to the way this bridges decades, but still manages to have a consistent 'sound' (or vibe or "feeling"). Like the current bands are ones that have a retro sound and the older bands were ahead of their time. Tennis, in particular, pushing it in a few different directions to make it even more three-dimensional. Anyone else get a Bettie Serveert-ish/Sundays-esque vibe off that track?
Thanks for this mix, Charlie Rock!
Loving the album art, btw.
Awesome! So many artists that I've never heard of. The Liars cut is great as is the Ducktails cut and of course Mr. Ty Segall. He's a freak and bless him for that. And that Sonics cut is just dirty. I like that. Thank you. I have to go pull out my Sonics vinyl right this minute.
The young whipper snapper's got some good tunes! Liars. Ty Segall. Action. Woods. Good stuff. Welcome to the group. You didn't steal all this music, did you? Just kidding...just being topical.
Great mix with lots of personal favs..
I seem to only hear the mixes with Ty Segall!
Sweltering hot day today, smog hanging over the city. It finally thundered just before sunset and when the rain cleared the sky was neon brilliant startling purplefuschiapinkred. And this was the perfect soundtrack for that kind of day. Thanks Charles.
Like the twists and turns of this mix. Feeling the Fuzz. And several Bands new to me. Really like the Woods cut, and the Men sounds like something from a band of Keith Richards love children. And nice to hear something from the Sonics. It all works real well!!
Thanks so much, Charlie. This entire mix is right up my alley, and I had never heard of the majority of these artists. What a treat.
That wipers track really hits it. Some tracks have more fuzz, tho, it's true. Thanks!
Tas-tee! Love that Ducktails number. Plus, huge ups for 'Psycho' which took me right back to my insanely dosed summer of '85 for a few unguarded moments.
Awesome! Great mix of old and new. Fuzz is my friend.
I love how this mix really flows so very well! I have been purposely holding off on commenting, the way I usually do not, cause I really wanted to let it soak in a bit. But I couldn't wait any longer. I love Tennis, Wipers, Male Bonding, and Woods. I think I only knew 4 of these bands Charlie, and I did not know you were into the Sonics. I love how well Psycho is right in the middle!
What an exceptional mix Char! Love it!
xo
Thanks for the dose, Mr Rock. Standout track is Ty Segall. News to me. Thanks for not bogarting those tunes, my friend.
Thanks for the dose, Mr Rock. Standout track is Ty Segall. News to me. Thanks for not bogarting those tunes, my friend.
Tennis — yes. Mind Spiders — yes. Liars — yes. Ducktails —yes, a great tune even though they have the goofiest band name. Male Bonding — yes. I like Fuzz.
I have to admit that my jazzedness on looking over the track listing was tempered somewhat by my being jealous that someone else was smart enough to put Mind Spiders on a mix before I did. All that aside, I really loved The Action, The Wipers (love that band, but hadn't heard this one before), and Tennis (add to the list of bands that my wife will enjoy listening to as well). Always nice to get a little Segall as well, and I was also very pleased to check out The Men after having read a lot about their new album lately - good stuff!
First track and what would have been the second side of the LP release are all going in the favorites bin.
Thanks, Rock.
Lots to say about this mix.
Never heard of The Action. Why wasn't Dave Tibbs already all over this one? Im a big Tennis fan—flirted many times with adding a track to a 3MPM mix. This one is fuzzier (as opposed to just lo-fi) than most of their oeuvre. Blitzen Trapper—I like these guys. They don’t take themselves too seriously. As opposed to, say…Fleet Foxes? Mind Spiders—Love 'em, never heard of ‘em. Liars—Great. Saw them open for The Flaming Lips a few years ago. Didn’t appreciate them at the time. My loss. Super Wild Horses—I must see this band live. Wipers—Almost sounds a little like Jonathan Richmond singing. Anyone? Ty Segall and White Fence—Maybe a gig where Super Wild Horses opens for them? That would be good. Male Bonding—New to me. Really good. The Men—Absolutely, totally cribbed from "Dead Flowers." The Sonics—was just blasting "Strychnine" in the car this afternoon. Fantastic. Family Portrait—Love the idea of a band forming to open for another band. And love this mix. Thanks, Charlie.
Blimey. People, we are saved: here's proof that there's hope in the next generation. What a refreshing blast! Man, that was a total earwash of yummy distortion and raw drums, just the kind of fuzziness the doctor ordered.
Welcome Charlie, we're very happy to have you with us. The fact that you started off with The Action speaks very highly of you in my book, and The Sonics sealed it. You're not a junior, no siree, you're a full-throttle member of our lot.
I know I have a annoying tendency to do this, but Tennis reminded me of 'Vacation' by the GoGos, and The Men recalled the Stones' 'Dead Flowers'. Just throwing it out there. I say that as a positive thing! And in general the mix of cool classics with cooler unknowns made for my total listening pleasure.
On a funny note, halfway through the mix my dyslexia kicked in and I thought for a minute you'd included a track by my friends Frida (from Spain) and a song by Candy. Glad to be wrong, cuz I didn't know The Minders and I loved them. The Men not bad either!
To cut a long story short (well, too late for that now, but hey): Rock Rocks. Thanks!
Doug heard a bit of J. Richman in the Wipers track and I hear a little of his guitar stylings in the Tennis intro. The Men: Stonesy, yeah, and also a bit Westerbergian. The Woods. Ducktails. A lot of great melodies here, crafted in the perfect sequence. Thanks, Charlie!
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