Weekly Mixtapes Based Off the Albums I Listened to in the Previous Week!
It’s been a hot second since I posted a new mixtape Monday, my main reason for this was my album listening was pretty low the last two weeks and I also didn’t feel I was providing enough variety in terms of the music found on it, that wouldn’t have been fair for all of you or the most enjoyable listening experience I think. But this week, I was back in action and felt that urge to get back and share the music I listened to with everyone once again! This week we have a nice variety of music I rediscovered, revisited and was just plain new for me, with a variety of genres from electronic, folk, baroque pop, punk, world music, classic rock, electroclash and an entire album of just Theremin music. Enjoy!
- P-Model – In A Model Room
This is probably the third or fourth time a song from this album has appeared on one of these playlist, and can you really blame me? It’s been years of not being able to listen to it in a convenient way and now I finally have that convenience at my fingertips. That’s a lot of years of lost time that could have been spent listening to this album, it’s all happening now. - Meat Loaf – Bat Out of Hell
I realised I hadn’t heard this one in ages. I have it in my record collection just sitting there, untouched for years. I can’t even remember the last time I listened to it. I had recently been talking about it a lot because it came up as a possible choice for my improv show next month (where improvisers do sets based off records in my collection). Next month I’m doing “Popular” albums and Bat Out Of Hell is one of the well-known albums of all time, how could I not choose it. All that talk had me revisit it, which I’m happy I did because it wasn’t as I had remembered and ended up being better than I did. - Frank Zappa – Playground Psychotics
When I have long periods at work where I’m just working in silence, it always makes sense to me to listen to incredibly long albums. I have the time right there to be able to listen to them from start to finish and since I’ve been going through Frank Zappa’s entire discography, that long period of silence at work was the perfect opportunity to listen to the next album on the list. - Sufjan Stevens – Illinois
I had never listened to a Sufjan Stevens album. It wasn’t because I had no interest, or like I was actively avoiding it or anything. I feel like it was one of those that was always in my peripherals in some way but I just wasn’t turning my attention towards it, that is until a friend of mine recently posted about a Sufjan Stevens album he was listening to and I mentioned I never heard one, where should i begin? He suggested this one, so here I am, a person that has now heard it. I have to say I absolutely love how long and ridiculous some of the song titles are, tickled me in the right way. - Bad Brains – I Against I
Should reggae and punk mix? That shouldn’t even be a question. Both are rooted in revolution in some way, it only made sense the two would eventually blend together with a certain band. That band was the Bad Brains, and although I’ve never really been into reggae music as a whole, the Bad Brains incorporate it in such a way that makes me love it, but that could also just be more because I love punk music as a whole. Which one is it? I might never know. - Circle Jerks – Group Sex
Nothing like some group sex and a good old fashioned circle jerk to get the heart pumping. - Devo – Oh No! It’s Devo!
I’ve talked about this album many times, mentioned it’s my favourite of all time and that it would probably appear again… so are you really that’s surprised that it’s here once again? Really? REALLY?! - Skunk Anansie – Post Orgasmic Chill
I had heard this album once a long time ago and had zero memory of it. Absolutely zero. Like you couldn’t ask me to tell you what happened on it because I would have been incapable to tell you. I wouldn’t have even been able to tell you what genre it was or how it even sounded, that’s how much my brain had removed it from my memory. When your memory forgets something that strongly, it’s usually a good sign that maybe, just maybe, you should revisit it, the bonus is it’s like listening to it as if it were the first time again! - Sparks – Propaganda
Hello soldier boy, it’s Propaganda by Sparks! An album that could be listened to At Home, At Work, At Play, no time is a bad time. No Reinforcements required as you can listen to it alone, whether it be 2023 AD or 2023 B.C. it’s always a good time. If someone says to listen to something else, you tell them Thanks, But No Thanks and turn to your other friend and say Don’t Leave Me Alone With Her, because someone who suggests something other than Sparks is not a person to be trusted. Be careful because you should Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth and find SOmething For the Girl With Everything. ACHOO! Bless you, sorry had to sneeze. I sometimes ask myself Who DOn’t Like Kids, but to those who don’t like kids or Sparks I say Bon Voyage, see you later. - The Magnetic Fields – 69 Love Songs
Talking about long albums earlier, holy shit is this album fucking long. The name of the album is no joke because this is indeed 69 Love Songs, you couldn’t get a more straight-forward album title. Can’t complain about it’s length because the album literally tells you exactly what you’re gonna get. 3 hours of 69 love songs… that number must have been chosen deliberately. Reserve an afternoon, heck a whole day, because you’ve got one album to listen to the whole way through. - Beth Orton – Central Reservation
This album has always been on my radar, something about the album cover has always been alluring to me. Maybe it’s the smirk Beth Orton has on the cover, or the simplicity of it as a whole, there was always something that had me interested in checking it out. I didn’t for the longest time for no other reason than it’s on the 1001 Albums list and I figured I’d save my first listen for when I get to it. At the rate I’m going though that might be a few years before I do. I figured, fuck it, that’s too long, I’ll finally give it a listen and check it out and it was worth the wait, I have to say. - Le Tigre – Le Tigre
Heard this album for the first time about two months ago, fell in love with it, wanted to listen to it again and loved it even more the second time around. It’s a true love story in the making, my love affair with this album and I feel that love will just keep on growing. I can see this one quickly becoming a top 20 favourite… all those albums on my top list better watch out… a new album is in town to knock them down. - Les Rythmes Digitales – Darkdancer
This is another case of an album that had a cover that intrigued me. The cartoon drawing just caught my eye and I was always curious as to what this album would be. After reading it was some dance electronic album that tried to capture the spirit of 80s dance music but updated with modern equipment, I knew I had to listen to it immediately. I was not disappointed in the slightest. I found myself dancing and bopping and swishing and swooshing all throughout the album. Any album that makes me dance in that way is an album that will be on rotation for sure. - Electrocute – Troublesome Bubblegum
The short lived genre of Electroclash offered quite an electrifying array of albums and Troublesome Bubblegum was always one of my favourites of the genre. It’s like a sugar coated dance party wrapped in tutti frutti bubblegum. What’s not to love when you’re bombarded with that amount of sweetness. - The Undertones – The Undertones
No band captured what it was like to be a teen in the late 70s as well as The Undertones did. They oozed a youthfulness unlike any other and expressed their woes, angst, pleasures and highs with the energy of a typhoon. We’ve all been 16 at some point (unless you’re younger than 16 than obviously you haven’t) and all their music is at once relatable and just a ton of fun. Being a teen never felt so great with The Undertones. - Joanna Newsom – Ys
Another case of an album being nowhere to be found on Spotify, which is a shame because I’d love to be able to revisit it more often but can’t since it’s not the most convenient one to listen to. Thankfully, it is on youtube and surprisingly, despite being a style of music I usually never listen to, I find myself completely endeared to the vocal charm of Joanna Newsom. Listening to her, it’s hard to believe she’s married to Andy Smaberg, whose music could not be any more different than hers. While his is as immature as it gets, she exudes a maturity that is rarely seen in music with a poetic flare that could equally work in written form as it does musically. I’d buy this if I could. - Clara Rockmore – Art of the Theremin
An album filled with only Theremin music? Is that an album I’d really listen to? You’d better believe your sweet bippy it is. - Talk Talk – The Colour of Spring
All I do is Talk Talk, why can’t I just listen to music and shut up once in a while? - Electronic – Electronic
The title of the band and album give away exactly what you’re in for, electronic music and very dancey electronic music. I feel like this is the 200th time I’m talking about this style in this post. What can I say, I love synthesizers and I love to dance. The combination of the two hit my sweet spot in a way that no other music can (OK maybe some other music can but hey I gotta say something hyperbolic here). - The Strokes – Angles
Weeks ago, someone had suggested I check out this album because it was their favourite. I assured and promised them that I would… weeks later, I still hadn’t checked it out. Well, I finally remembered about it and had promised them I would. So I did. And here it is. Enjoy. - Badly Drawn Boy – The Hour of Bewilderbeast
The main reason I had decided to check out this album was because I had read somewhere that there was a song on it that seemed to be heavily influenced by the Banana Splits Theme Song. Hearing that I felt I had to listen to this album because what would an album inspired by a childrens theme tune sound like? This album was completely different than I expected and it took me more than halfway through the album to hear the one song that sounded like the Banana Splits Theme Song. I was so crushed it was only that one song and not the whole album. I wish I was joking about this… I’m not. - Arcade Fire – Funeral
Let me tell you something about my experience with Arcade Fire. They’re originally from my home town, so there should be some pride there when it comes to them… there isn’t. In my hometown, I saw them perform a free live show for the Jazz festival. I figured why not go see them, it is free after all. Even free felt like I paid too much because holy crap was the show boring as all hell. This band has absolutely zero stage presence. I was so bored I just left and that experience really painted my feelings towards Arcade Fire. Fast forward to modern day and I found myself enjoying one of their songs quite a lot. It was strange because I found myself thinking “this isn’t the same band I remember seeing live all those years ago”. After years of avoiding them, I finally listened to one of their albums and absolutely loved it. I would never see them live but at least I know they sound great in the studio.
-Bosco
Bosco's Modern Life 