Nemo | Fresh Beats for Family and Friends

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The Curious Collection of Cole Gribbins

December 18, 2022

Certain songs emit a bit of magic. One teleports you to the past. Others might manipulate emotions. Many, as my five-year-old boy will attest, are pure energy boost. We’ve recently been rediscovering the magical properties of music via our son, who over the last year has created a 52-song mix in our Plex that we listen to almost every day. Unspoiled by everyone’s opinion, the categories of music he enjoys are a bit mystifying — German techno via Gummibär, classic rap a la A Tribe Called Quest, um, Bryan Adams. These tracks are more than music to him. They are portals to new worlds, puzzles to be solved, powers to be harnessed and catalysts for own his creativity. Each tune is like a talisman, and all he needs is a phone and maybe a Bluetooth connection to show you each of their powers.

This same idea of kid magic and music was also recently crystalized in one of our favorite shows this summer — Stranger Things — where the right song had the power to save your life. In the photo above, that scary fellow behind Cole is called Vecna. He steals children to another dimension for nefarious reasons we won’t get into, but the best way to stop him is to listen to your favorite song — a protective talisman that can accomplish this.

It’s been a while since we’ve pulled together one of these mixes, and the inspiration for creating the first one in five years (the first since Cole’s birth) came as accompaniment to Michelle Hill’s annual holiday card. Yes, this year’s card’s theme is an homage to the fourth season of the science fiction horror drama Stranger Things, which is set in 1986, a time when Michelle and I were kids, but it’s also a nod to the magic children can create with something as simple as a song. Special thanks to The Overnight Farmer for transforming us to the Upside Down with their Mind Flayer set.

This curated set of 22 tunes comes directly from Cole’s collection. It’s a showcase of sound and sorcery that could only be created with a little kid voodoo — a dash of cosmic guitar fuzz via Ty Segall, a little silky ‘70s R&B from Raydio, a pinch of French synth-pop courtesy of Christine and the Queens. Mixed and applied properly, these spellbinders will definitely work magic for some, although results may vary. They only way to find out is to give them a try.

The Curious Collection of Cole Gribbins (MP3 Format)

Pro Tips for downloading: The link above will take you to a public Google drive. To make it easy, just download the zip file (it contains the entire album and artwork), or download each individual track (but you have to do one at a time). To download the zip file, double click on it or right click and hit download.

1. Every 1’s a Winner – Ty Segall

2. Ocean Man – Ween

3. Sunsets – Powderfinger

4. I Can’t Wait – Nu Shooz

5. Tilted – Christine and the Queens

6. Consideration – Rihanna (Featuring SZA)

7. Burning – Yeah Yeah Yeahs

8. I’d Run Away – The Jayhawks

9. No Love Like Yours – Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros

10. You Can’t Change That – Raydio

11. Big Red – Frank Black

12. Fire Walk with Me – The Black Keys

13. Odds Are – Barenaked Ladies

14. Walking on a Dream – Empire of the Sun

15. Sparks Are Gonna Fly – Catherine Wheel

16. Waiting for Wild Horses – Arlo McKinley and the Lonesome Sound

17. Looking for a New Love – Jody Watley

18. Clint Eastwood – Gorillaz

19. Don’t Walk Away Eileen – Sam Roberts

20. The Remedy (I Won’t Worry) – Jason Mraz

21. Certainty – Big Thief

22. Can’t Stop the Feeling! – Justin Timberlake

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Why We Run

January 24, 2017

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What do water zombies listen to? On those rare occasions when they arise from their aqueous graves to take revenge on simple land folk like us? The answer might surprise you (if the question hasn’t already). It’s not necessarily ominous, horror-film overtures full of icy keyboards and violins. I mean, it’s some of that for sure, but it’s also mosh-worthy metal acts. It’s tongue-in-check Canadian punks inciting murder. It’s also a surprising amount of hip hop (a lot of underground Midwestern battle rappers, actually). Who knew?

Apparently, D.D Dumbo knew.

Well, he didn’t exactly know either, but we found out together. Oliver Perry, the man behind the Australian 2016 Album of the Year, got me thinking about the musical preferences of water zombies. D.D Dumbo’s Utopia Defeated is as good as the accolade mentioned, but it’s also an equally odd creation — a glitchy rock record full of wild and strange arrangements — which Perry sings over sounding like Sting (or some Ziggy Stardust Sting variant). One especially stormy November evening, whilst huddled close to my warm computer tower, I navigated my MAGIX audio software mixer via the red glow of my Corsair mechanical keyboard. I threw the album’s second track “Satan” into the blender, and I quickly noted how the middle of the song had an odd 20-second space where the music drops out. It seemed a perfect little place to nerdily allude some other favorite piece of pop art.

The first thing I fished off the shelf was John Carpenter’s 1980 cult classic, The Fog. Holding the DVD in my hand, I remembered the cheesy ghost story at the beginning of the film where an old, barnacled sea codger (John Houseman) recounts a creepy sailing tale to children by a campfire. This dialogue would pair so perfectly with the tone and theme of D.D Dumbo’s “Satan” (zombies, murder, suicide and the supernatural) that it only seemed proper to push those types of wholesome themes into an entire album (you know, for the kids), spliced with ever more random excerpts from a not-very-scary ’80s film about leprous mariners coming back to life to take revenge on the ancestors of their murders.

So, I naturally needed to ask myself: What would leper pirates from the 19th century listen to if given the opportunity to enact righteous revenge from their watery graves? Probably some edge heavy hitters like Mannequin Pussy. Definitely a spiteful ‘90s-era hate artiste like Paris, and maybe even a little Leonard Cohen (for when they get all reflective). I gathered a mighty list of 27 tracks, stitched those together with some rusty, old voice captures and soaked it all in saltwater and seaweed. Why We Run is the final result.

I will caution listeners. Some of these songs are probably not for the Manilow lovers out there, what with their melting guitars, death howls and generous use of the F word (that’s fuck, mutherfucker, die fucker and other F iterations). Yet, it’s also artfully diverse, and it’s definitely the only time you’ll get the opportunity to hear metal evangelists like Pro-Pain paired right next to a country-tinged folk singer like Patty Griffin. If you don’t like a song, skip it. The next one is usually fairly different.

Just don’t miss out on the bonus track (one of the creepiest Main Title Themes in all of horror). The download link is below — only in MP3 format (can’t snag the FLAC like I used to) — properly tagged and included with high resolution artwork (in case you’d like to print out the album art).

Why We Run (MP3 Format)

Track Listing

1. Satan — D.D Dumbo
2. The World Ender — Lord Huron
3. Outer Space — Yelawolf
4. Voice of Rebellion — Pro-Pain
5. Cold as It Gets — Patty Griffin
6. Franks Kaktus — Dungen
7. The Talented Tenth — Blueprint
8. Mt. Crushmore — Lettuce
9. If This Tour Doesn’t Kill You, I will — PUP
10. Emotional High — Mannequin Pussy
11. We Got Defeat — Descendents
12. Bridges — Illogic & Blockhead
13. Take a Walk [Feat. Soom T] — Tom Fire
14. Black Grease — The Black Angels
15. Ketamine for Breakfast — Kate Tempest
16. Waiting Room — Fugazi
17. New Order [Feat. Luke Steel & Josh Klinghoffer] — Boom Bip
18. Long Snake Moan — PJ Harvey
19. Make Way for a Panther — Paris
20. Lily Liver — Oil Boom
21. Burundi [Feat. Emily Kokai] — Saul Williams
22. Fatal Flaw —Titus Andronicus
23. Untitled [Feat. Scar] — Killer Mike
24. Last Land — John Talabot
25. How Long? (Reprise) — Peoples Temple
26. Back of Your Neck — Howler
27. The Partisan — Leonard Cohen

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Steve

March 16, 2016

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Northern soul. ’60s fuzz. Italian occult psychedelia.

I’m into collecting rare rock and roll records that fit into ridiculous genres. In fact, I’ve had pile of obscure rock gems sitting on my Foobar patiently waiting for a little appreciation. I just needed some glue. Luckily, a good friend (Sean Wright) passed along a nice adhesive last year called Mother Nature’s Son, a little-known orchestrated rock album by jazz master Ramsey Lewis. It’s a 10-song set of Beatles covers from 1968, paying homage to what is known as the White Album, but it doesn’t sound anything like the Beatles or an improv live record, but it is both. Instead, these are beautiful, loungey, studio age exotica full of guitar, piano, vibraphone, violin and an early use of the Moog synthesizer (a year later the Beatles would use it extensively on Abbey Road). Also, the album cover is easily one of the awesomest ever, depicting Lewis sitting at a grand piano in a tropical garden feeding rabbits. The record’s version of “Dear Prudence” became the inspiration of Steve.

I thought, if I could find a set of five similarly under-appreciated, rock-inspired sinfoniettas, specifically from the ’60s, I could piece together a retro-themed compilation of seldom-heard songs that should have been classics six decades ago. To give it a modern feel, I started mining for instrumentals that were sampled by famous artists — The Andrew Oldham Orchestra vs. The Verve, Just Brothers vs. Fatboy Slim, the Ray Brown Orchestra vs. Björk. In between, I pasted some of the most neglected hit songs of the last 60 years — gems by The Monitors, Tim Maia, The Status Quo and Rita and the Tiaras. I also wanted to include Gil Bernal’s “The Dogs,” but it’s so rare I couldn’t even find a digital version (and I searched torrents, pay sites and audiophile friends). If you have a digital copy, send it to me (quickly!).

The entire mix actually came together rather quickly, which worried me. Was it obtuse? More importantly, would anyone care about old, obscure bullshit that hadn’t passed the popularity test for the last six decades? I needed a backup plan (a gimmick to sucker listeners in), and Steve was born (which sounds an awful lot like Keith, right?). I would create a ridiculous, cheese-filled mascot (whose karate expertise were only matched by his knowledge of long-lost vinyl) who could bring these rarefied classics to life, and thus, transfer all responsibility away from myself (a continual goal in life). Long live Steve for all projects I’m hesitant about.

The download links are below — in both MP3 and FLAC formats — properly tagged and included with high resolution artwork (in case you’d like to print out the album art).

Steve (MP3 Format)

Steve (FLAC Format)
What is FLAC?

Pro Tips for downloading: The links above take you to a public Google drive. To make it easy, just download the zip file (it contains the entire album and artwork), or download each individual track (but you have to do one at a time).

Track Listing

1. What Does It Take (To Win Your Love) — Jr. Walker & the All Stars
2. Pieces of a Man — David Ruffin
3. Good Times — The Easybeats
4. (Tell Me) Have Your Ever Seen Me — Small Faces
5. The Last Time — The Andrew Oldham Orchestra
6. Time Is Passin’ By — The Monitors
7. You Don’t Have to Be a Tower of Strength — Gloria Lynne
8. Our Day Will Come — Ruby and the Romantics
9. The Real Thing — Russell Morris
10. Go Down Dying — Ray Brown Orchestra
11. Nobody Can Live Forever — Tim Maia
12. If I Could Only Be Sure — Nolan Porter
13. If It’s All the Same to You Babe — Luther Ingram
14. Gone with the Wind Is My Love — Rita and the Tiaras
15. Sliced Tomatoes — Just Brothers
16. Pictures of Matchstick Men — The Status Quo
17. She’s a Soldier Boy — The New Generation
18. Mystic Brew — Ronnie Foster
19. For Once in My Life — Stevie Wonder
20. Could You Would You — Them
21. The First Cut Is the Deepest — P.P. Arnold
22. No Body Like You — Lee Hazlewood and Suzi Jane Hokom
23. High Life — The Blue Things
24. Dear Prudence — Ramsey Lewis

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What the Darkness Does

February 10, 2016

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Supposedly, siren songs are irresistibly sweet. Well, no less sad than sweet. Because I spend my free time poorly, I’ve always wondered what sort of song that would be, sung by beautiful bird women, living the Greek island life, luring the adventurous onto the rocky coasts of foreign lands with the gift of great music. I imagined something euphoric and heartsick — lilting pedal steel, lonely acoustic guitar, bewitching violins (hence the opening track, “Cautionary Tale,” by Muscle Shoals, Ala., alum Dylan LeBlanc). Employing my talent for directionless curiosity, I began to search further for modern versions of these winged enchanters, daughters of the dearth, and sea deities, playing songs so dark and sweet that they might cause an unhealthy lethargy (a personal goal). My vision was to gather a set of spell-casters that seemed both cerebral and sadly reflective.

I was a complete failure.

But, what I did end up finding was a collection of arty up-and-comers whose medium is chiseling ominous overtures that are magnificently strange, foreboding, and complex — misfit sculptors like Car Seat Headrest, Carter Tanton, and (yes) even Noel Gallagher (weird, right?). At their best, these siren songs provide rare moments of clarity in a world that’s increasingly drowning in uncertainty. At their worst, they can still give you a sad smile. The best part: You can listen to your heart’s content and still sail on a wiser man.

The download links are below — in both MP3 and FLAC formats — properly tagged and included with high resolution artwork (in case you’d like to print out the album art).

What the Darkness Does (MP3 Format)

What the Darkness Does (FLAC Format)
What is FLAC?

Track Listing

1. Cautionary Tale — Dylan LeBlanc
2. Meet Me in the Woods — Lord Huron
3. Tearing Me Up — Bob Moses
4. Feels like the World — Easy Mo Bee
5. Beg for the Night — Twin Shadow
6. Skin of Our Teeth — Great Northern
7. Stone Me — Wire Train
8. Making Breakfast — Twin Peaks
9. Chains — Abigail Washburn
10. On the Hood — Matt Mays & El Torpedo
11. Murderous Joy — Carter Tanton
12. Ain’t Got a Place — James McMurtry
13. Death with Dignity — Sufjan Stevens
14. Nightclub Amnesia — Ratatat
15. Rare Form — Saintseneca
16. Something Soon — Car Seat Headrest
17. True — Nora En Pure
18. The Less I Know the Better — Tame Impala
19. The Right Stuff — Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds

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The Afterparty

January 6, 2015

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Nocturnal pop is a personal favorite. In my head, it’s that soundtrack to the post-party, where you and your favorite friends are still in the kitchen at 2 a.m. You’re navigating a counter top full of bottles and pizza boxes, spinning old vinyl records, and discussing something as ridiculous as Maya codices while half-watching a muted Mario Bava classic. As the night ascends, sometimes you get too busy or too damn tired to pick the next clever album, and that’s when you cue The Afterparty. This mix is tailor made to take over the late-night responsibility of sounding cool.

These 22 songs dream up a whole new planetoid of celestial downtempo music, circling suns with names like Kruder & Dorfmeister, Fleetwood Mac, Air, and Bill Withers. The record flows as naturally and unobtrusively as musical lava — molten rock full of symphonious guitar work, melancholy synth, supine lyrical poetry, and vaporous background effects. You might hear something as diverse as a Japanese 13-string Koto or a Moog Voyager synthesizer, but don’t worry. It’s never obtuse. These songs are here to please — always dressed to impress, adorably sexy, and clouded in a haze of fun and inebriants that will continue to sound like ear candy with repeat listens. In fact, the Alessi Brother’s 1975 classic “Seabird” is the most underplayed song ever.

Of course, the rest of these songs were mostly released in 2014, and my inspiration came from an early 2000s favorite (who released his greatest hits this past year) — the English electronic engineer named AiM (track No. 5). Singles like “Corliss Avenue North” and “Walking through the Park” are always go-to, after party-type tracks. Just like the best producers of the post-trip hop brigade, this album sticks to a celebratory credo: Get the party laid-back, but never get it horizontal, making it ideal for raging till dawn. But judge for yourself: The download links are below — in both MP3 and FLAC formats — properly tagged and included with high resolution artwork (in case you’d like to print out the album art).

The Afterparty (MP3 Format)

The Afterparty (FLAC Format)
What is FLAC?

High Resolution Artwork

Track Listing

1. Gold — Chet Faker
2. The Epilogue — + + +
3. Good Mistake — Mr Little Jeans
4. Artifice — Sohn
5. Corliss Avenue North — AiM
6. The Horses Are Stuck — Jordan Klassen
7. Mahogany Dread — Hiss Golden Messenger
8. Seasons [Badbadnotgood Remix] — Future Islands
9. Eli Eli — Misun
10. Needle and a Knife — Tennis
11. Gold [Thomas Jack Remix] — Gabriel Rios
12. Black Lemon — Generationals
13. Nightbird — The Brian Jonestown Massacre
14. Hurricane Waters — Richie Havens
15. Emily — Cocos Lovers
16. Pools — Glass Animals
17. As I Am — Childhood
18. Too Many Mornings — Mojave 3
19. Seabird — Alessi Brothers
20. The End — Alejandro Escovedo
21. Elastic Heart — Sia
22. Mirror Maru — Cashmere Cat

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Legion of Horribles

January 1, 2015

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Give it tentacles for a beard, Pterodactyl wings, one big eye, and an English accent, and we’ll call it Steve.

In the past, I’d probably have a problem admitting that wonderfully awful idea was mine. But if you’re going to make a monster, you might as well own it. I read a book about that once. Luckily, the one good thing about getting older is you really care less and less what people think, so now I have little qualms about my embarrassing inclinations. Yes, every good movie should have at least one robot. Yes, I really do believe Marky Mark is more creative than Mark Rothko. And well, sometime I build monsters (just for fun — nothing too serious).

Legion of Horribles is my latest monster. It’s poorly made, it’s not pretty, it’s loud and slimy, but it’s also a bunch of stuff I love dissected into pieces and parts and then restitched into a Frankenstein of fun. We start off with 24 songs by artists that are outcasts. They are too aggressive, too experimental, and too creative for life in the mainstream. They swim against all currents. Take track 24 for example. It’s an autobiographical balled sung by Laura Jane Grace (born Nov. 8, 1980, as Thomas James Gabel), who recently became the most famous transgender punk rocker on the planet. She’s also a ferocious explorer of the creative unknown, and this album is also an ode to that.

These songs (almost all of them released in and around 2014) are matched with sound captures from five of my favorite influences — nerdy sci-fi classics like X Minus One, The Black Hole, The Children of Men, The Road Warrior, Sunshine and The Thing. Perhaps you’ll enjoy the motifs of procreation, domesticity, and the definition of one’s self by one’s opposite — all coated with ghoulish Enlightenment aesthetics. Or maybe you’ll just enjoy the rad music mix. Like many monsters, this album is also a case of trying too hard. That’s not difficult to see, and that doesn’t embarrass me either.

I just hope it goes a little way in getting your personal monsters out of the closet. The download links are below — in both MP3 and FLAC formats — properly tagged and included with high resolution artwork (in case you’d like to print out the album art).

Legion of Horribles (MP3 Format)

Legion of Horribles (FLAC Format)
What is FLAC?

High Resolution Artwork

Pro Tips for downloading: The links above take you to a public Google drive.
To make it easy, just download the zip file (it contains the entire album and artwork), or download each individual track (but you have to do one at a time).

Track Listing

1. Trouble in Paradise – Unkle
2. Holdin’ On – Flume
3. Interpret Sabotage – Black Milk (Feat. Mel)
4. Harvest Home – Mark Lanegan
5. The River – Son Little
6. Moaning Lisa Smile – Wolf Alice
7. You with Air – Young Magic
8. Ink Blot Test – Seth Sentry
9. Tongues – Joywave (Feat. Kopps)
10. Let It Burn – The Orwells
11. True to Hip-Hop [Remix] – AiM (Feat. AG)
12. Zombie – Jamie T
13. White Is Red – Death From Above 1979
14. Half-Lit – Single Mothers
15. Get Up – Young Fathers
16. Red Eyes – The War on Drugs
17. What You Isn’t – The Brian Jonestown Massacre
18. God Neon – The Silent Comedy
19. Queen – Perfume Genius
20. Flying Golem – Wand
21. Tall Man, Skinny Lady – Ty Segall
22. Digsaw – The Wytches
23. Time 4 Sum Aksion – Redman
24. Transgender Dysphoria Blues – Against Me!

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The Hill Heart Foundation

July 31, 2014

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Save the world for only $7.31.

Then download our exclusive music mix for free.

Both will make you instantly cool.

July 31 is Michelle Hill’s birthday, and before she left for Denver this week (completely unaware of this campaign), I asked her what she wanted for her special b-day. Two wishes, she said. First off, have a fabulous Thursday. Do something special with the day — go hang gliding, finish that novel, hug a puppy. You know, typical Michelle Hill things. Then, go do something special for someone else.

That’s totally Michelle. This is a woman who volunteers for the Cleveland Hunger Network, Cleveland Sight Center, Ohio Pug Rescue, Make-a-Wish Foundation, holy smokes, I’m running out of room here. That philanthropy got me thinking, and four beers later, that thinking created the Hill Heart Foundation. What’s the concept? Well, on this particular day, I’m asking all of humanity (including you!) to donate $7.31 (get it?) to one of two great charity organizations that are close to Michelle Hill’s abnormally large heart. And I just want to say, up front, big ole buckets of thanks for anyone who decides to donate.

We know everyone is strapped for cash,
but we’re not asking you to do this for free.

When you donate to either of the great causes below, you can download the exclusive Michelle Hill birthday album for free (see the post below for details), mixed by reclusive musical turbo-nerd NEMO. He’s been awoken early from his Christmas cryo-chamber this year to pull together this exclusive Hill Heart Foundation mix. All it takes is $7.31 to one of these great causes. — Keith Gribbins

The Hunger Network of Greater Cleveland
Pro Tips: Add $7.31 in Donation Amount, then check “give your gift In Honor or Memory of.” Put Michelle Hill in the “how you would like your dedication to be printed” box. Then put this address — 20691 Forestwood Dr., Strongsville, OH, 44149 — into the “please provide the name and mailing address below” box (which is really to the side). Then fill in your contact and payment info below.

Make-a-Wish Foundation (Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana)
Pro Tips: Hit “Single Donation,” and then hit the “Send an Honor or Memorial Gift Card” button to send an e-card to Michelle (michelle.hill09@hotmail.com). Type in 7.31 in Other Amount. Click Local Chapter (then pick a local chapter if you want), and then hit the “Save and Continue” button at the bottom to check out.

Thanks so much for donating! Your reward is below.

Then feel free to pass along the e-mail I sent to a few other friends!

And maybe together, we’ll make a difference.

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Fool for You

July 31, 2014

1 comment

The Hill Heart Foundation Exclusive Album
Donaters Can Download Below

Notes from the Producer

Music is the grease on the wheels of life. That’s how I’ve always thought of it. It’s always there playing in the background of all of our important moments — your first kiss, your first love, your first marriage. Life has a soundtrack, and each song is a story. When the Hill Heart Foundation came to me looking for a unique soundtrack, they specifically wanted all of their stories to be about love. That’s what Michelle Hill would want.

Love, I cringed.

I’ve never told a love story before. What will the guys think? So I turned to the folks who know love best — Leonard Nimoy and 1980’s radio theater. “Love Conquers All” is an awesomely cheesy radio program that aired on Thursday, March 6, 1980, on the Mutual Radio Theater show, hosted by none other than Spock himself. What better way to celebrate the power of love than to: A) not use that Huey Lewis song; B) use ridiculous dialogue from a long lost radio show; C) pair it with old, obscure love ballads; and D) mix it with the coolest new singles coming out right now. Fool for You is the result, titled after the Curtis Mayfield classic of the same name.

The entire album is an amalgamation of old and new. It’s probably your only real opportunity to hear the futuristic Canuck rock of Serena Ryder (“Baby Come Back”) mixed with Four Seasons-era Frankie Valli (“You’re a Song (That I Can’t Sing)”). The album is filled with Michelle Hill favorites too, including Bryan Adams, Coldplay and (not one, but actually two) Olivia Newton-John tracks. But fear not! These are singles you’ve likely never heard before, and those faves mingle with just-released hits from the likes of Tank, Generationals and Phox, which came out a mere month ago. You are so suddenly hip.

Donate to the Hill Heart Foundation above and you can enjoy this exclusive album for free. I know I did, and along the way I helped save humanity like a boss! — NEMO

Before the track listings, there are download links for the album — in both MP3 and FLAC formats — properly tagged and included with high resolution artwork (in case you’d like to print out and make an actual CD).

REMEMBER: To download, you must donate!

Fool for You (FLAC Download)
What is FLAC?

Fool for You (MP3 Download)

High Resolution Album Artwork

Pro Tips for downloading: The links above take you to a public Google drive.
To make it easy, just download the zip file (it contains the entire album),
or download each individual track (but you have to do one at a time).

Track Listing

1. Fool for You — The Impressions (1967)*
2. Always — Panama (2013)
3. Riptide — Vance Joy (2014)
4. If Not for You — Olivia Newton-John (1971)
5. Hidin’ from Love — Bryan Adams (1980)*
6. Heart’s on Fire — Passenger (2014)
7. Cedar Lane — First Aid Kit (2014)
8. A Little More Love — Olivia Newton-John (1979)
9. Next Plane to London — The Rose Garden (1967)
10. Magic — Coldplay (2014)
11. The Look — Metronomy (2010)*
12. Baby Come Back — Serena Ryder (2012)
13. You’re a Song (That I Can’t Sing) — The Four Seasons (1972)
14. If I Fell — The Beatles (1964)
15. 1936 — Phox (2014)
16. Up on the Roof — The Drifters (1963)
17. Gold Silver Diamond — Generationals (2014)
18. Mama Didn’t Lie — Jan Bradley (1963)
19. Stronger — Tank (2014)*
21. California (Cast Iron Soul) — Jamestown Revival (2013)
21. You and Your Sister — Chris Bell (1978)
22. Two Tone Melody — The Preatures (2014)
23. Call It Off — Tegan and Sara (2009)
24. Every Time You Go — Release the Sunbird (2011)
25. Exit Music with Leonard Nimoy*

*Contains experts from “Love Conquers All” radio theater show.

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The Wilderness Within

December 30, 2013

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Pop divas were the punks of 2013. Forget Miley Cyrus. Sky Ferreira’s topless album cover is easily music’s most cringe-worthy moment this year, but the sound it represented, well, I think even my mom would like pop sparklers like “24 Hours.” That’s been the trend for a while now. Quiet has become the new loud, and because I’m old and disagreeable, I find quiet, pretty things appealing.

Besides being gooey radio gold, I also feel indie music sounds pretty nostalgic right now. The cool bands of 2013 sounded a lot like the Best of 1986 — synthesized, feminine, glitzy and weirdly German. I wanted to recapture that old, but new sound on this compilation. Take the album’s opening act, Haerts, which might as well be ‘80s icon Berlin, noting that Berlin is a Los Angeles-based pop group, while Haerts is actually a pop duo from Germany. The rest of the album is similarly synthy and retro. The Shout Out Louds could be the Swedish Flock of Seagulls. Swiss/German duo Boy might just be a Suzanne Vega cover band. Christ, did I put any god-fearin’ Americans on this record?

You’ll have to find out below. Before the track listings, there are download links for the album — in both MP3 and FLAC formats — properly tagged and included with high resolution artwork (in case you’d like to print out and make an actual CD). Just be warned: Side effects include bouts of big hair, leg warmers, fish-net gloves, faux-gold earrings, side ponytails, parachute pants, ripped sweatshirts and a tendency to be overly bright and vivid in appearance and personality.

The Wilderness Within (MP3 download)

The Wilderness Within (FLAC download)

High Resolution Album Artwork

1. Wings – Haerts
2. Nuclear Seasons – Charli XCX
3. You’re Not the One – Sky Ferreira
4. Walking in Your Footsteps – Shout Out Louds
5. Go Back – LAKE
6. Tell Tale Signs – Frank Turner
7. Honest Wall – Ane Trolle
8. Waltz – The Naked and Famous
9. I’m Looking for a Hand – Sebastien Grainger
10. Skin – Boy
11. Change – Churchill
12. Dirty Laundry – Bitter:Sweet
13. Irene – Brazos
14. Different Days – Jason Isbell
15. Fade Away – Intergalactic Lovers
16. Her Beautiful Ideas – The Guggenheim Grotto
17. Baby I’m Crying – Best Coast
18. Memory Room – Crystal Stilts
19. Petition – Tennis
20. Paris – Magic Man
21. Set Me Free – Perquisite [Feat. Sanguita & Urita]
22. It All Feels Right – Washed Out
23. Eccojam A3 – Chuck Person

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The Riddle of Steel

December 23, 2013

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When I saw my first orgy, it was scored by Basil Poledouris. It had a profound effect on my 10-year-old brain. It was this simple waltz, stitched together with violins and French horns, and over it I watched an opera of sex, violence, and giant snakes (while some hooded creep calmly cooked green skull soup). The rest of 1982’s Conan the Barbarian is an equally awesome opus of swords, sex, and giant snakes — and the movie has little to no dialog — so Poledouris’s big Carmina Burana-style soundtrack speaks when Arnold Schwarzenegger (Conan) cannot.

The movie and its score are a childhood favorite, and they both still hold up surprisingly well (honest, I just watched it). It has been a while since I’ve tried to mix voice captures with music, but the film’s Wagnerian score and ridiculous one-liners made it pretty approachable. Case and point: The movie’s opener “Anvil of Crom” matched with the hardcore post-punk outfit METZ’s “Headache.” Basil’s twenty-four French horns and tribal base drums bleed right out of the brutal guitar bends of the Canadian three-piece. The film’s most memorable lines also feel like they were meant for electro anthems from the likes of Morcheeba, Washed Out and Emancipator. I’m a little surprised it all works in weird unison, which makes the old, awesomely goofy fantasy flick still feel relevant, but please judge for yourself.

The download links are below — both MP3 and FLAC formats — properly tagged and included with high resolution artwork (in case you’d like to print out the album art). Before and after, I suggest enjoying the short video below on Basil Poledouris. He’ll explain how that orgy scene was actually written with the help of his young daughter, so looking back, I guess it all makes sense. Poledouris died on Nov. 8, 2006, so this year (way too late) we celebrate his finest work, which sits besides masters such as Ennio Morricone and John Williams as one of the best soundtracks of all time.

The Riddle of Steel (MP3 download)

The Riddle of Steel (FLAC download)

High Resolution Album Artwork

Track Listing

1. Kemosabe – Everything Everything
2. Stone Letter – Tomahawk
3. Gimme Your Love – Morcheeba
4. Alright [Ratatat Remix] – Memphis Bleek
5. Alarm – Wise Blood
6. Old Devil – Emancipator
7. Hermila – Shout Out Louds
8. Under My Nose – Fucked Up
9. On and On – Autre Ne Veut
10. Thanks for Your Hospitality – Seth Sentry
11. Yon Ferrets Return – Neko Case
12. See It My Way – Mikal Cronin
13. Purple, Yellow, Red and Blue – Portugal, The Man
14. One Hand – Leagues
15. Spinoza – Generationals
16. Talent Supercedes – Deltron 3030
17. Headache – METZ
18. Anvil of Crom – Basil Poledouris
19. Bite My Tongue – King Khan & The Shrines
20. California Dreaming – The Flashbulb
21. Yeah – Washed Out
22. Defeat – Afu-Ra
23. Tribulations – LCD Soundsystem
24. Agua Verde – Strawberry Girls