About this CD

Massive Attack
Teardrop
Mezzanine

Mezzanine was one of my favorite albums of the last year, even though it came out long before that. A mislabeled MP3 allowed me to believe that this was a Portishead song for about a year before I got the whole album and found out otherwise. Elizabeth Fraser's (ex-Cocteau Twins) vocals are just amazing and probably did more than anything to fuel the nascent trip-hop scene in England. Jenn K and I had a discussion about how great this album was during disc golf, but I only found out later that she discovered hers because she picked it up free through some kind of promotion. Some of you might remember this song from Butt-Nate-a-thon when we watched the silent film "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" and played "Mezzanine" as a kind of Dark Side of the Rainbow experience.

Royksopp
Sparks
Melody A.M..

Royksopp, a Norwiegian duo, is one of those outfits that produce music that is heavily influenced by their surroundings. Much of their music just seems "right" for a snow-capped mountain view or a drifted-in cabin. Several of their better known songs are brighter but "Sparks" is kind of the slower counterpart to those.

The Beta Band
Squares
Hot Shots II

I heard of this band both through "High Fidelity" (as did so many others) and because Ben and his sister exchanged the "Hot Shots II" album. I didn't take this as a hint that I would like the band despite the fact that our tastes often overlap. I finally got around to investigating and it's some really great stuff. I like the dreamy quality of this song as well as the shifting time signatures.

Fila Brazillia
Mother Nature's Spies
Jump Leads

This song was another find from KEXP. Within a few days of starting to listen to KEXP over the internet I had compiled a huge list of new artists to find out more about and this was one of them. Though I like a lot of other music from their album JUMP LEADS, this track still stands out for me. It takes your standard ambient devices but couples them very effectively with world-beat and native rhythms. Plus, that's just a freaking great track title.

Lovage
To Catch a Thief
Music to Make Love to Your Old Lady By

I owe it all to Ziggy for turning me on to Dan the Automator in general and Lovage in particular. This is a fabulous one-off concept album that hits all of its marks. (Dan has a history of great supergroups like Lovage, Gorillaz, and Deltron 3030). Some think the idea is a little overblown and overproduced (like david) but I groove to this album. I can't say enough about Jennifer Charles soft cooing, but I'll try. Wow. If you listen to her work with Elysian Fields you get a small taste of the magic she can work, but this album (and song) is simply aural overdrive. She's even better (and dirtier) on "Strangers on a Train" but Kid Koala and the Automator make this song explode.

Goldfrapp
U.K. Girls (Physical)
Utopia: Genetically Enriched

This song was really my first exposure to Goldfrapp's stunning voice. I tuned in to KVRX on the way home from a Weird Wednesday outing. At 2AM, they pretty much let anybody with any kind of taste play music. The previous week, I had listened to 90.7FM for the first time this late but had heard Bob Log III's "Boob Scotch" and Frankie Yankovic's "Who Stole the Keeshka?" back to back so I was hoping the DJ would impress a second week in a row. UK Girls started playing and it was so familiar but just slow enough that it was untraceable until the chorus began. I remember breaking into a smile and ended up catching the name of the artist before heading inside to sleep. The rest of her work is actually even better but this song has the ultimate sultry vibe.

Kalyanji and Anandji
Satchidananda
Bombay the Hard Way: Guns, Cars, and Sitars

This album, Bombay the Hard Way: Guns, Cars, and Sitars, was a revelation for me. K&A were two guys who wrote most of the movie music for Bollywood movies of the 70's, kind of like Danny Elfman these days. The difference is that music in Bollywood films is often the centerpiece. The Indian music industry is fueled directly by the film industry. This album is a collection of that music remixed by Dan the Automator (there he is again) but their structure is barely altered. I immediately recognized the "Theme from Don" when I later showed that movie at ExMFC. Also, "Fists of Curry" is used in several Alamo Drafthouse in-house previews. A great album which is really evocative of a certain time and place

Jean-Pierre Mirouze
Sexopolis
shake sauvage: french soundtracks 1968-1973

This is one of many soundtrack albums that I bought about the time that I discovered my interest in shitty old movies. Especially early 70's films. From Europe. With naked ladies. Thankfully, this album, as you can tell from the cover, came along and reinforced my feelings about these movies and music. With song titles such as "Hashisch Party", "Petrol Pop", and, well, "LSD Party", I knew this was going to be a winner. In the end, none of these songs disappoint. I picked "Sexopolis" over "Sweet Bacon" because it is just the sleaziest of them all. Nothing beat grading physics labs to this music.

Yo La Tengo
Pablo and Andrea
Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy

This song was first released on their album Electr-O-Pura but I discovered it on the Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy soundtrack. The Kids must have had input into this album because there are very few radio-friendly bands on this disc. (Yes, I'm especially thinking of you, TMBG. Although Liz Phair's "Six Dick Pimp" probably wasn't going to make it on the air either) There are lots of standout songs there but I always found myself looking up the track listing for this one. It's a great smoldering breakup song with a sweetass crescendo.

Cibo Matto
King of Silence
Stereo Type A

Cibo Matto got a lot of notice for their first album "Viva! La Woman", made "Stereo Type A", and then fell off the face of the earth. That's a shame to me because I dug their funky vibe and sweet sounding accents. The second album has several highlights (yes, like "Pass the Volvic!") but I really like the story this song weaves.  I always admired the people that could communicate without jabbering but strangely have been unable to reach that stolid point in my life (some of you might have noticed).  I look forward to the day when "I won't need one word to talk to" someone.

Ken Ishii
Extra
Jelly Tones

My high school friend and college roommate, Matt, took a chance on this album. The two of us didn't often buy music we knew nothing about (money motivated that, I expect) but this one turned out to be a gem in the rough. The tracks are all very ethereal and dreamy which fits certain chilled out moods like nothing else. The cover to the album features an anime character with big sunglasses on with rays of green light shot through. I guess this image provoked my mental image whenever I hear "Extra": I always visualize zipping in an otherwise soundless automobile down a highway through Tokyo, dodging in and out of lanes while neon and fluorescent lights cut in through the moonroof. It feels like a soundtrack to a really sleek anime film, in the part where the hero is mulling over the tasks ahead and wordlessly makes the voyage there.

RJD2
Here's What's Left

I found this track on the internets because it wasn't available except as a super bonus import track. I noticed that there was a lot of discussion on the internets about how this track didn't make it onto all pressings of Dead Ringer, and I think that sentiment is justified. This track exemplifies RJ's style and has a great vocal lifted from some dusty record store basement to boot.

Stereolab
Double Rocker
ABC Music:  BBC Radio Sessions

Just when I thought that I was out, they pull me back in
This is how I feel about Stereolab. I think to myself, "Self, we don't need to buy any new Stereolab albums. You already have so many, and the formula doesn't really change that much with each new release." Then I do anyway, and I never really end up regretting it. This album, the BBC "ABC Music" sessions, is kind of a greatest hits album of sorts. I heard many of their songs on this album before hearing the studio releases and in several cases I like the looser "live" sound better than the polished studio version. "Double Rocker" is one of those songs. The name gives away the central conceit of the song but it's still a bit unexpected when it makes a total about face halfway through and becomes an entirely different song. Like a lullaby, the conclusion lulls you to the end of the CD.