(No idea what's up with the crazy type sizes... Janky Blogger OS.)
Date
Date
February 11, 2018
Miracler
Ray Welter
Location
Richmond, CA
This guy!
As any veteran Miracler will know, RW is kind of a big deal in the mix-making department, in quantity alone. (Quality ain't shabby, either—all of his past mixes remain in frequent rotation at Prodge HQ.)
Back in 2016, Ray made us the highly-acclaimed I Think We Should Break Up...O.K. Three years before that, we were gifted with 13 Songs About Girls. Before that, 2012's Dopeheads on Mopeds and 2011's Get a Little Bit of Hi-Fi and before that, There's More to Scandinavia Than Death Metal and Are You Going to the Show? and The Wedding Present definitive collection and If It Ain't Scottish It's Crap mix and Let's Have a Meaningful Relationship... and all of this came after RW's Season 1 3-mix tour de force, which Your Hostess still listens to regularly.
With street cred that high, is there anything I can add to make you feel safer pressing 'Download'? Nah.
Liner Notes by RW
These are all songs and/or bands/musicians/performers that were included in mixtapes given to me from various friends around 1985 - 1989. Many made it into my record collection, but it was super fun to listen to the ones that didn’t after years of storage in my attic. Hope you enjoy this mixtape of many mixtapes.
Fantastic Something : If She Doesn’t Smile
Included on the 1983 Cherry Records Compilation “The Eyes of Barbara Steele”. Some retro 60s jangle in the early 80s.
Orange Juice : Blue Boy
From the Scottish greats. One of their best.
The Names : Calcutta
Factory Records alumnus, who after years of inactivity released a great new double album in 2016.
The Woodentops : Move Me
I recently bought this record in the dollar bin at Amoeba, reminding me I first heard this, but never bought it in 1986.
Au Pairs : We’re So Cool
Super punky groove from the boy/girl gender trading greats.
Lush : Bitter
Another group that has seen a resurgence in popularity. This is from their first EP on 4AD.
The Dukes of Stratosphere : My Love Explodes
XTC getting their psychedelia on.
The Durutti Column : The Rest of My Life
It’s a difficult task to choose just one Durutti Column tune, but this is one of my faves. From a later LP, Sex And Death.
Shop Assistants : Train From Kansas City
A visit to the Brill Building by way of Scotland.
The Monochrome Set : Cast A Long Shadow
Yet another band that defied the odds and is still making records 40 years after their inception.
That Petrol Emotion : Can’t Stop
A group whose name I’ve seen countless times but know little about. This is a good ‘un, though.
Penetration : Duty Free Technology
Perfect punk groove from these early 80s greats. If you are into this genre, these guys are a necessity.
The Loft : Up The Hill And Down The Slope
The Loft/The Weather Prophets/The Wisdom of Harry/Peter Astor - All projects from one of my favorite musicians ever, Peter Astor, who put out my favorite LP last year, Spilt Milk.
Richard Jobson : The Meeting
Richard loves Duras.
Richard loves Duras.
Mix is now up, in a new place. Check your email for the current password. Thanks for your AWESOME commenting on our last mix here—let's keep up that trend for this one!
See you back here or on our members-only Facebook page soon. XOK
See you back here or on our members-only Facebook page soon. XOK
11 comments:
And how do I download? the old login doesn't let me in. xo
same here, boohoo
Hi Miraclers,
My personal site was hacked last week and down came the FTP with it. So here’s where the new mix lives: Enjoy! XOK
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/qzzyilu38gdf7de/AACmTZ2Z74mleXsIR3-OLyyIa/3MPM_Feb11?dl=0
An absolute delight! Other than the Dukes it's all new to me although I recognize several names. Immediate faves are the Au Pairs, Durutti Column, and Penetration-- and the latter will probably use up my Discogs allowance for the month as I try to track down more. Thanks for such a fun mix!!
I've never heard of Fantastic Something. It is delicious 60's jangle for sure
Orange Juice is new to me too. I'm surprised. This seems like something I would have heard at Rick and Mary O's house in West Lafayette.
I really thought I'd heard every note every released on Factory, but if I've heard The Names, I have no recollection of it. I dig it.
The Woodentops I know. This is a great song. I'm sure we played this record at Tracks. George probably made us take it off. Bastard.
Man, I don't know Au Pairs either. I might have to have a doctor administer one of those memory tests. This totally should have been on my radar at that time, but I sure don't remember it.
Now, I do remember Lush, of course. Maybe I don't need that memory test after all. This is a great song. I always had a soft spot for them.
The Dukes' stuff is great. I always preferred it to the XTC releases. It always sounds like they were having fun playing the Dukes' songs and this is a perfect example.
This Durutti song is really good. The guitar interaction is fantastic. Such an interesting band.
Okay, so the Shop Assistants' cut has brought me back to needing that memory test. This absolutely should have been on my alt-rock, 80s mind, but again, I have no recollection.
This Monochrome Set song is really good. I had no idea they were still around and recording. I need to go to my record store.
I'm exactly the same with That Petrol Emotion. I've seen that record in used bins so many times over the years, but this might be the first time I've actually heard this song. I like it.
This Penetration song certainly is a fun one.
The Loft song is really good too. Again, I need to go to the record store and Spilt Milk will be on my list
Well, Richard Jobson means I now have to go to the record store and the bookstore.
This is a great mix, Ray. Thanks a ton.
This is the "Call me by your name" of mix tapes! Sorry Pepi, was that too trite? Like the movie it provokes awkward teenage emotions, memories of bad hairstyles and even worse fashion choices, but all the same makes for a bittersweet melancholic listen. I liked it, but then again I like Marc Almond so that is not saying much... Alllora!
Ooo I really like this mix, but then, you know...I am of a certain age.
6 bands I've never heard of. Stop showing off, Ray!
I had the pleasure of listening to this before release (in Ray's sweet new ride, no less) but am returning to it without the auteur at my side so I can go in a bit deeper.
Stand outs:
The Names - like Wes, I'm putting this on my record store shopping list. This tune is tops!
The Durutti Column. Swoon City.
Fantastic Something is super pretty and sweet. So obviously I luv it.
Thoughful pauses:
Orange Juice. Not typically a fave band of mine (sorry Ray, I know this is more of my blasphemy). But I'm really digging this track. Very jangly.
Jobson - Ray loves Scotland.
That Petrol Emotion is making me feel like I'm at The Hanging Garden.
Beginning of this Woodentops song is a Pair with The Monkees, FYI. Beginning of Monochrome Set, ditto. (Last Train to Clarksville, if you must know, on that MS one.)
the Loft is very Ray-y. I can totally see you nod-shaking your head along to this one. And I'm finding myself doing it! There's some a-tonal chord action in there that I bet is making guitar people give some thumbs ups.
I'm at work listening, so right now the more melodic are working for me a bit more than the mini headbang-y ones, but I can tell that some of these are going to rise to the top when I'm at home bopping around getting ready to go out (I'm looking at you, Penetration + Au Pairs + Lush). (Hmm, all female singers....) (the Lush track, in particular, really transports me back to high school.)
So fun to enjoyi this mix all over again. Granted, I'm biased. But still!
CRAP
I forgot to sing praise about the Shop Assistants cover of Train from Kansas City. A) I love a cover B) similar, but just enough different from the original C) guitars = mmmm hmmmmm D) not Neko Case, yay!
So many great melodies here and almost everything is new to me. What a goldmine. On the Orange Juice track, Edwyn Collins sounds just like The Jazz Butcher. The Fantastic Something is a perfect pop tune. Seems like it could have been written pre-1970 or post-2010, but definitely not in 1983. Monochrome Set has a great sound - how 'bout that Monkees opening and those Wall of Voodoo vocals. Nice. And I daresay XTC was at their best as TDOS. Thanks, Ray!
I'm falling behind. I'm not a dropboxer so I recreated this list in spotify, they had all but two of the songs. I love the concept: not only did Ray get a bunch of cassette mixes from friends in the '80s but he saved them for decades & is now sharing them with us. And there's a musical theme. What would you call it? UK post-punk guitar pop? I'd heard some of this type of music but then I got hired at a UK record company warehouse in late '80s & this genre was the assumed background of the staff there, & was played -- loudly -- all day long at work. I think this same aesthetic ruled in certain pre-grunge music subcultures on the West Coast at the time, like among the pre-riot grrrl K Records scene. Listening to music from this era now makes feel strange, maybe nostalgic. I heard it when it was full of new directions and approaches, & am now listening to it when it's frozen in music history, and often forgotten history at that.
More concept mixes, Miraclers!
Thanks for sharing, Ray!
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