Well, since it has been a few weeks without one, I'll share the one I sent to Woob as a backup. This one kind of follows a similar style to my previous Mixtape Madness entry. Song notes are below as well.
Digital Wax: N&G Mixtape Madness 2, a playlist by Aron Polasek on Spotify
1) ‘You Left The Water Running’ – Otis Redding
This song has an interesting backstory. It really was never intended for release. I believe it was recorded as sort of a tracking version for Wilson Pickett to record his version. I think it pretty much remained in the vaults until it was added to an Otis comp in the 80’s. This is also one of those 60’s tunes that was recorded by a lot of artists. I don’t know if this is the best version of the bunch or not, but I’ve loved it since the first time I heard it.
2) ‘I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight’ – Richard & Linda Thompson
I know more than a few Richard Thompson tunes, but I’m not a hardcore fan by any stretch. I was turned on to this song via a playlist that Moving Panoramas put together earlier this year. Super catchy tune with a really swampy vibe.
3) ‘Touch The Sky’ – Black Pumas
These guys have really caught fire in Austin and beyond. Great to see it too. I think their album is really great, and they are a terrific live act too. Could have gone with several of their tunes here, but the horn lines in ‘Touch The Sky’ pushed it ahead of the others.
4) ‘Darker Shade Of Black’ – Jackie Mittoo
The Soul Jazz comp that this appears on is titled “The Keyboard King at Studio One”, and that pretty much says it all. This cool instrumental has some “Norwegian Wood’ in there.
5) ‘Beat Silent Need’ – Júníus Meyvant
I was introduced to this song via KUTX one evening, and thought it was really catchy. Icelandic singer songwriter. I have no idea what the song is about, and the video is rather confusing as well. Still, it sounds really good, and that’s all that really matters.
6) ‘Strange Relationship’ – Prince
I wanted a song with a strong beat to follow ‘Beat Silent Need’, so I went and found myself a Prince tune.
7) ‘These Important Years’ – Hüsker Dü
Staying in Minnesota for one of my favorite Bob Mould tunes.
8) ’52 Girls’ – The B-52’s
I saw online that this is the 40th anniversary of the release of the first B-52’s album. Always thought this was a fun tune with some killer surf guitar licks.
9) ‘Gudbuy T’Jane’ – Slade
Slade are a really underrated band here in the U.S. At least in my opinion. They aren’t a band that has a ton of thought provoking lyrics…they’re just a straight ahead rock band whose lead singer had electricity in his vocal cords. This is just a terrific glam rock song.
10) ‘Boy’ – Lola Tried
Another newish Austin band that I’ve really been enjoying as of late. Another one where I could have picked several tunes, but I love the lyrics on this one.
11) ‘Tony Adams’ – Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros
I would never claim that The Mescaleros were a better band for Joe than The Clash. That would be stupid. However, I do think they were an underrated band to back him up in the latter part of his career. And I think they really grew from their first record with Joe to the last recordings. This is the lead-off track for that first record, and from the first listen, I thought this was the perfect direction for Joe to head.
12) ‘Soldier’ – Neneh Cherry
This is the final song on Neneh Cherry’s most recent album, last year’s “Broken Politics”. I’m a big fan of hers, and I’m glad she’s back to recording somewhat regularly. “Broken Politics” was one of my favorite albums released last year. If you haven’t given it a listen, you should.
13) ‘Angels With Dirty Faces’ – Los Lobos
The “Kiko” album was released in 1992, and it still sounds really fresh and otherworldly to me. This is my personal favorite from that record. So much atmosphere on this one.
14) ‘It’s Okay’ – Land Of Talk
I caught Land Of Talk at SXSW when they were kind of just getting going, and I thought they were really impressive. They took an extended break, and I kind of lost track of them. This is a real heartbreaker of a tune. Lead singer Elizabeth Powell sounds so weary and downright exhausted, but then the song just keeps building to a nice crescendo.
15) ‘Plainclothes Man’ – Heatmiser
I’ve been listening to a lot of Elliott Smith in recent weeks for various reasons. I went to a 50th birthday tribute show recently, and I heard so many songs that I had liked in the past but sort of forgotten about over time. And I heard a few that didn’t really ever hit me back in the 90’s, but they are leaving a mark in 2019. That last Heatmiser album has some really cool Elliott songs on it. This one is probably the most well known, and it is that way for good reason.
so I guess I'll post mine.
