Music is important to me. I don't play an instrument, but I like to listen.
At varsity in Dunedin the gigs kept me warm.
Over the years I built up my record collection, boxes and boxes of LP's, EP's and 7 inch singles, only to lose everything in a burglary.
Travel and family commitments intervened. Time passed. CD's replaced records, and records gave way to MP3's.
I miss records.
A disk crash deleted the MP3 collection, and I started again from scratch.
Starting again was difficult. I found myself buying the same music. Boring. I read music magazines to find out what I might like, but I didn't learn much. The radio wasn't much better. I visited record stores but just got lost, rows of bands I had never heard of.
I resolved to spend 12 months listening to as much music as I could; where possible avoiding bands that I knew, trying to find out what was out there, and what I liked.
By 2007 there was no shortage of music to listen to. Music blogs share the tastes of 1000's of music lovers. I joined Emusic.
To keep track I burn MixCd's, 21st Century mixtapes. The CD's catalogue my exploring. I give them to friends. Sometimes they email me back with comments and suggest other bands to listen to.
Nine years on (good grief) here is a website to share my love of music.
Joy, joy, joy. I counted up and there are some numbers not taken for mixes. Mixes get abandoned, the tunes ruthlessly recycled, other times I leave room for a mix that never happens. Anywayz, here is mix that came together very sweetly.
The Jonathon Richman track took me back. I recall listening to his albums in 7th Form in deepest, darkest Invercargill; that and Talking Heads. The Felt track from the Cherry Red Pillows & Prayers compilation dates from back then. Tracey Thorn also appeared on that compilation. Music soon here.
Loving Brother Pacific. Very tight playing in the big guitar alt country style. Visit Bandcamp to pick up their latest EP for free.
One of Charles Louvin’s last albums was called Charlie Louvin Sings Murder Ballads & Disaster Songs. This song wasn’t on the disk, but it ought to have been, a bloody tale of gynaecide. Its a song he used to sing with his brother, here Will Oldham aka Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy fills in. Nick Cave covered this song.
Jim Sullivan was abducted by aliens, but before he went, he made this album. His songs remind me of old film noir, run down motels and deserts. Hence the Glen Campbell track. See the video below.
Brown Rice do Neil Young with girly voices and tom tom drums. My guilty pleasure.
Lucinda Williams has a very distinctive voice, salty and sexy. I like the way her voice has changed over the years, getting sexier by the album. Here are 2 tracks from her second album, Happy Woman Blues (the first with her own songs) then 1 track from Essence, an album released 21 years later.
Gene Parsons is a mean banjo player. It reminds me of my year in Ohio in the 1980’s and banjo picking at Indian Summer festivals. Bill Murray is another banjo lover.
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