October 17, 2012
Miracler
Vanesa Belli
Location
Brooklyn
Who's that girl?
Why, it's one of The Prodge's original chick Miraclers, making us fine, fine compilations since 2003. And since VB's vision's been pretty consistent throughout, classical conditioning has now trained Your Hostess to press Play while opening up a bottle of brown liquor. In a good way! Witness June '11's Deep Home.
Stuff you said about that:
It's always a great day when a new Vanessa mix lands ... her previous ones are all in heavy rotation.' 'This mix makes me feel like I'm at a party in a friend's living room, a wee bit toasty with a group of folks, instruments, and songs. (Maybe the party is at my house, since my landlord's in granfaloon bus?) I love it, firelit and friendly. and, yes, feels like home.' 'Much here in a plaintive register. Perfect for this rainy ass day. And, once again, I know very little of it. Which is good.' 'Right Daniel, not bad at all for a rainy day --it sure worked today! Although I can also totally see myself lying under a tree in the middle of a golden field, on a hot summer afternoon, wisp of grass hanging from my mouth, listening to this mix in my cans. Damn it, I might just do that.' 'Luna Sea—very pretty. And I find that J.P. Shilo song to be quite haunting. It sounds like everything on this mix was recorded at 3 AM. I'm gonna have to try listening to it at that hour, too. Thanks!' 'Like Doug's comment, all the lights are off and it's so unusually still here right now, save for your mix and it all goes so well in the quiet hours. I especially like Vetiver and Two Gallants, but that's just tonight. Tomorrow might be different. Thanks Vanessa!' 'About the mix, I haven't felt this American since, um, since Fritz's last mix I guess.' 'I love the mellow, bittersweet feel throughout the whole set. Stand outs for me are songs from Two Gallants and Superwolf (especially when 'My Home Is The Sea' kicks up a notch and gets electrified). Also, 'Wagon Wheel' scratches an itch for some banjo pickin'. Thank you.' 'A great mix for a twilight drive through Barstow.' 'I love the way this one opens. No wonder that Superwolf song reminded me of Bonnie Prince Billy! Good, sad stuff here. Thanks Vanessa!' And from VB: I guess I got the weather right. Rain is definitely a good back drop for these soggy tunes. It's funny how I was thinking about 'home' while putting this together since I've been unsettled for awhile now. I thought my new home, Brooklyn would have played a part but no, this is all SF and through loving albeit melancholy eyes.
Other cherished mixes by VB
have included the polipop hit We're All In This Together during Voting Season '08, Treasury of Best-Loved Wedding Songs for Now and Always in October '08, and in July '10, Heaven Right Here. A VB mix is always an anticipated one around 3MPM HQ, so without keeping you from it any longer, let's have her introduce it.
Liner Notes by VB
These songs are all taken from my file set aside to accompany the random film project. Since I can't provide moving pictures here, the next best way to experience this mix quite frankly is on an early morning bike ride with headphones. You could try it played at a low volume from your computer speakers while fielding calls, composing emails and the like, who knows, it might fly.
However you decide to use it, be warned, this mix will not vie for your attention. It's up to you not to let it lie limp like an indifferent lover or languish at your feet like a bored dog on an overcast day, unless you like that sort of thing. It wont make you dance or tell you a story, it will only color and blur what you've got going on in your head already. Meet it half way, offer a space/time detour or a conundrum to ponder and it might help you tap into that vaguely epiphanic nectar you exact from time to time, maybe even enough to wallow in.Specifics
Opening credits: slow and gentle with master COODERLife's hard for antihero: To Ohio, THE LOW ANTHEMDeepen and humanize character, fall for him hard: I canforgive THURSTON MOORE the harps and the breathy vocalsand I'm hoping you can too.The inevitable, and fatal, mistake: Lost in Time, WHITLEYBuild up to climax: Thanks to Lauren for puttingSeeds of Night in front of me. duh!!and Pete for CAVE SINGERS in general.Sh*t begins to hit the fan, Shivers!: I don't know muchabout SHARK QUEST but I do know that they were likelyresponsible for the sound accompanying some of the desperatemoments in my clueless twenties. (Or clueless moments in myawkward twenties?) Curiously before they were even born, so...All lost?!: A bunch of DIRTY THREE songs appeared mysteriouslyand unmarked in my itunes like an audio vision from heaven. Thisparticular song from somewhere further South where bagpipes areallowed. Btw, Doris must have been one messed up but righteous gal.Glimpse of light at the smoking horizon: HORSE FEATHERS could seriouslystand to lighten up but Father Reprise is perfect.God or something better intervenes: ENO of course.Shall we gather at Tiger Mountain?General tortured beauty element: CALEB KLAUDERBig Fat Satisfying Resolve: JONATHA BROOKE knows God Only Knows.Credits roll: LP takes us In to the Wild pied piper like.
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XOK
14 comments:
What a great mix. I really like the mood of it. The cut by The Low Anthem is fantastic as is the one by Dirty Three. And that's a Tom Wait's song I've never heard. Thank you Vanessa.
I'm not good at sports-style betting. I know that there's some thing called the 'spread'—which I think means you give some sort of "more than" and "less than" scenario. I don't like this kind of betting because I'm not so good at it. (I much prefer *my* kind of betting, where I know something for a certainty, chuckle at the wrongness of my companion's assertion, and ask if they want to "make it interesting". And then I win.) However I will do a general wager that there will be a significant number of comments that include either the word "mood" or variations thereof when describing this mix. Like my first official comment: This is one moody mofo of a mix. I will also go out on a limb and up the ante by adding in the descriptor "drama" or any of it's relatives. I've listened to this mix once so far today (at work) and am on to it again now, as the sun sets (naturally). My life feels really fucking interesting while this is playing. Like an intelligent motherfuckin montage. I also feel introspective and ponderous. My thoughts are worthy of a soundtrack: this soundtrack. Even if my thoughts are my measly To-Do list. That's how moodily dramatic this mix is: it elevates the To-Do to ... Ta-Da!
Thanks Vanessa! (said with gravitas followed by a crooked smile and a wink)
As a N00b Miracler, I was really excited to see a Low Anthem track in my first few weeks, especially the genuinely cinematic "To Ohio". (And now I have to dredge up another Ohio song for my own upcoming mix!)
So many of the mixes have made me want to get in my car and drive -- to the mountains, to the desert, to a party or to just feel my body move through space and time.
It's a rare cloudy (should be raining, but it never rains here) day in Los Angeles and this mix was the perfect soundtrack. I was so content to stay inside and draw and make apple crisp and read and even loading the dishwasher was delightful. I love xtina's comment that life feels really interesting while this mix is playing.
It ebbed into my consciousness, a melody catching my ear or a fragment of a vocal causing me to look up from what I was doing and then it would recede into the background until the next moment.
So far faves include The Low Anthem, Thurston Moore, The Cave Singers, Caleb Klauder and Tom Waits. So much beauty.
Thanks.
So aptly named. Soundtracking its way through my week of highways, bear-sightings, sunrises, meteor showers, flights, fall rains.
Also: "General tortured beauty element" <- thumbs up
Great ebb and flow on this, Vanessa. Ry's Dark End is really emotional, even without the lyrics. The Thurston Moore track is a bit Byrdsy and Churchy, a combo I'll listen to any time at all. And I really like the echoey piano on "Father Reprise". Haunting.
Chiming in late to echo a lot of previous comments: a really lovely feel to this whole mix, well-paced, and very interesting juxtapositions throughout.
I absolutely love the version of 'Dark End of the Street' and the Shark Quest piece is wonderful as well.
This mix just gets so complicated. Thanks. Again.
Maybe it's because you soft sold it. Said it wouldn't vie for my attention. Maybe because I'm wired a particular way or have an ear for this flavor of melody. Whatever its secret sauce, I have yet to feel compelled to move on to more recent mixes. I'm quite content to listen to Thurston Moore or LP or Shark Quest or Tom Waits or, or, or...
You get the idea.
Anyway, I noticed the paucity of comments and wanted to let you know that your mix has made me very happy.
Well, I'm always late to comment, but I enjoyed the overall low-key tone of this mix. Thanks for the excellent instrumentals: Cooder, Shark Quest, and the bag pipes on the Dirty Three track. I'm torn, Shark Quest is either the best or worst band name ever. Maybe the best.
These ears enjoyed watching your movie, Vanesa. Took a few weeks for them to get around to it. Sorry for the lag -- the noggin between the ears has been in a bit of a slag. It's a lovely meandering mix.
Sure do like Dirty Three. Weirdly, I haven't listened to them in maybe seven years. Great choice, this one. Pipes be baggin'! Worth remembering that bagpipes were used in battle. Mood rousers and sonic weaponry. Penny whistles also make the little neck hairs stand up. Why?
Also dig the quieter tracks. Love that wilting, almost Chinese sound of "Fawn" by Tom Waits. It pairs well with "To Ohio." And thanks for including "Taking Tiger Mountain." Brian Eno is the master at marrying gentle with weird. That piano melody is so peaceful -- who would think that overlaying cheesy-synth wind effects on top of something so un-gimmacky could work so well? Right pleasant number also from Thurston Moore.
"The Dark End of The Street" has been covered by so many great artists. Springsteen, Costello, Parsons, Chilton, Aretha. Crazy how so many different, singular artists can make the song their own. Love Roy Cooder's version much.
I've been listening to this one over and over and just realized that I hadn't yet commented. So great. I think it would accompany a long train journey perfectly. How did I miss this wonderful Tom Waits song? I agree with Tim, a lovely wilting Chinesey sound.
Vanessa, I'm only getting around to your mix today, appropriately a rainy San Francisco day. Love the concept and the pacing. Thurston Moore has a gentle melancholy that I can really relate to. Lost in Time is a great segue tune. Love the Cave Singers vocals, Eno, Caleb Klauder. the stripped down Beach Boys cover, Into the Wild and of course Tom Waits.
Why have I never heard of any of these people??
Just rediscovered this one. A really great mix to work to— great flow. I especially like Blood Never Lies.
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