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The 17 Series: Yello
The 17 Series: Yello (Nick) What can I say about my all time favorite musical act? You could say that my entire journey as a music fan was launched and has been guided by musicians Boris Blank and Dieter Meier. When I discovered "different" music on a few nearby college radio stations, Yello's 1983 song "I Love You" instantly grabbed my attention. I thought, "there's an entire world of music out there..."
The 17 Series: Cornershop
The 17 Series: Cornershop (Nick) Shlep had a simple, yet great idea to make 17 song mixes of our favorite bands/artists. Here is my 2nd one, featuring Cornershop. I'm not sure who in this group might enjoy them so I'm including all of you. I hope you do. Cornershop is mainly a guy named Tjinder Singh and his band mate Ben Ayres. They have about a dozen albums out since 1991. Enjoy!
The 17 Series: Warpaint
The 17 Series: Warpaint (Craig) This is the second in the series from Craig. Warpaint are from L.A. Their Wikipedia page describes their style as " Warpaint's style has been characterized as art rock , dream pop and psychedelic rock . NME has described their style as "intermittently emerging from plaintive moods into harder rocking, they play expansive, lushly-harmonic psych-rock songs with enough time-changes to satisfy even the most beardy prog-rock bong-tokers". They have been compared to Cocteau Twins , Joni Mitchell , and Siouxsie and the Banshees . Other influences include Kraftwerk , Depeche Mode and Public Image Ltd . The band has also cited hip-hop as an influence of their work. Two songs have been named after their favorite rappers: Biggy and Dre ."
The 17 Series: The Cure
The 17 Series: The Cure (Glen) This is Glen's first contribution to the 17 project and I love it. Glen and I were huge Cure fans in high school and even got to meet the band when we were 17. Robert Smith was supercool and hung out with us for nearly two hours just talking music. He loved the Cocteau Twins. He thought Peter Murphy was a bastard. He played us the then-unreleased new New Order album. And when we walked in, Prince's 1999 album was playing. Anyway, listening to Glen's mix totally resurrected my love of The Cure. As someone who is very familiar with their catalog, I can say Glen aced this one. There are a few songs I had simply forgotten ("The Exploding Boy") and the opener, "Push", is a song that I had forgotten how much I loved.
The 17 Series: The Aluminum Group
The 17 Series: The Aluminum Group (Nick) The Aluminum Group are Chicago brothers John and Frank Navin, along with a regular group of studio musician friends. They have been described as "Chamber Pop", or "lounge tunes with a new wave bent", which is accurate, but really they are just a fantastic pop band, and mostly synthpop. They love horns. The songs on this mix cover their 7 albums, chronologically, from the mid-90s to the late aughts. I like a lot of the artists I like, such as Cornershop, because those guys are about our age, and they seem to be nostalgic for the late 60s and 70s, just like me. It is reflected in their music. Tjinder Singh of Cornershop really likes old funk and soul, and the Navins have a soft spot for 70s soft rock and pop. Burt Bacharach and the "Brill Building Sound" are cited as influences. They are probably a bit too mellow for most of you, but I hope you enjoy them. Track #15, "Mister Butterfly", is my favorite of ...
The 17 Series: Coconut Records
The 17 Series: Coconut Records (Shlep) Coconut Records is the recording project of actor Jason Schwartzman. He's probably best known for starring in many Wes Anderson movies, including his breakout role in Rushmore (1998). He was also in this past season of Fargo. He's part of the Hollywood Coppola clan. His mother is Talia Shire (ADRIAN!!), his uncle is Francis Ford Coppola, and he's cousins with Sofia Coppola and Nicolas Cage. In his teens, he was the drummer in Phantom Planet. He's only recorded two proper albums as Coconut Records, one film score, and a couple of singles. And though that isn't a lot, it was no problem compiling 17 tracks. I hope you dig it.
The 17 Series: Creeper Lagoon
The 17 Series: Creeper Lagoon (Craig) Craig's latest in the series is of the San Francisco indie band Creeper Lagoon! He turned me on to their debut album back in the late 1990s and while I was a big fan of I Become Small and Go (1998), I didn't keep up with them after that, and so this entry is a welcome one! Enjoy.
The 17 Series: Japan
The 17 Series: Japan (Craig) Craig's latest in the series is of the 70s/80s new wave/art rock band from South London. Like the Cocteau Twins, their cover art was often a draw for me. When Glen and I lived together in East St. Paul in the spring and summer of 1989, we quoted "The Art of Parties" more than a few times. Man, that was a fun summer. I am listening to this 17 as I type this, and I swear I feel better than I have all day. I also feel like my room is too messy to be listening to Japan. I am lacking class at the moment. Have a glass of wine or a cup of tea with this one. I will be revisiting.
The 17 Series: Black Moth Super Rainbow & Tobacco
The 17 Series: Black Moth Super Rainbow & Tobacco (Nick) Most of my favorite musical artists are people I got to know in the 1980s and have that long time familiarity. Black Moth Super Rainbow came into my life in 2010. They, (which is mainly an electronic musician from Pittsburgh named Tom Fec) had a lot of catching up to do, but he is solidly in my Top 5 now. Along with his band, BMSR, Fec also releases more "solo" albums as his pseudonym, Tobacco. I had fully intended to put together a 17 song mix comprising both of his "brands", but I failed. He is a prolific son of a bitch. Since 2003 he has released about 10 albums as Black Moth Super Rainbow and 7 as Tobacco. So I present 17 of each. I swear, it's not cheating! I maintain that there is a difference. BMSR are generally more melodic and trippy and Tobacco is harsher sounding and very beat driven. Chris will concur that there is a distinction. He tolerates and sometimes enjoys Black Moth Super Rainbow...
The 17 Series: Elvis - The Funky 70s
The 17 Series: Elvis - The Funky 70s (Troy) Here is the first 17 series entry from Troy! He subtitled it "The Funky 70s!".
The 17 Series: Bauhaus
The 17 Series: Bauhaus (Glen) Bauhaus were an obsession for Glen and I when we were in high school. Of course, three-fourths of them would become Love & Rockets and lead singer Peter Murphy had a good solo career as well. Listening to Glen's mix was so great because like his Cure 17, the song selections are pretty esoteric. Not many of them made it to any Bauhaus best-ofs.
The 17 Series: Foxygen
The 17 Series: Foxygen (Shlep) This L.A. duo have been recording together since they became friends at age 14. I doubt these guys will be anyone's favorite band, but I sure hope you give it a spin. I, of course, love them.
The 17 Series: Scorpions
The 17 Series: Scorpions (Craig) Craig switching directions with his latest. From Japan to Scorpions is a pretty solid A to Z type of thing.
The 17 Series: Thomas Dolby
The 17 Series: Thomas Dolby (Nick) If Thomas Dolby isn't THE cornerstone of my musical journey, he is certainly part of the foundation. Dolby's signature monocle icon is one of the things I scribbled onto the dyed-pink jean jacket I wore in high school, the image you see of me in my Mixlr profile pic. Dolby's first three albums are probably my favorite 1, 2, 3 punch of any artist. Stylistically they are all over the map and to this day I still can't tell you which is my favorite. There are a few songs here from his 4th and 5th records, but at that point Dolby had mostly moved on to starting businesses, teaching at universities and giving TED talks. I also included "New Toy" by Lena Lovich, written by Dolby when he was a member of her band, just before he went solo with "Wireless" - NN
The 17 Series: The Psychedelic Furs
The 17 Series: The Psychedelic Furs (Glen) I have no words to describe the pure musical and lyrical euphoria the Furs provided and still do - let them speak for me. They changed me - I only knew radio rock and just got into heavy metal. Then Nick turned my on to "Forever Now" and blew my fucking mind forever. It was like I was Algernon getting suddenly smart. Coincidentally, I included the song 'Flowers' in this set. I couldn't believe what I was missing: there was a band this intensely intelligent, this dream-laden, weaving melodies like an instant poppy field, but leaving the mind stimulated and excited for more.. life could be a merry-go-round swirl of simultaneous bliss and sociological blase criticism, wrapped in playful phrases like "I'm so in love with your T.V., they're so in love with you and me." The Furs in my opinion, deliver the closest thing to a mind-altering substance - like the best of the 60's offerings but with snide...
