I haven't made a mixtape in ages, since our last cd player died, and the remaining ones are gimpy at best. Finally a new cd player and a huge stack of blank tapes to use up. Part of this came in a bolt of inspiration and repeated listenings to Fad Gadget's "Under the Flag." All the songs had to include the use of electronics in some substantial way plus they had to be songs I really like. Of course I'm always attentive to the overall shape of the mix, too.

Electronic

A:
Talking Heads–I Zimbra
David Bowie–Breaking Glass…

I haven't had enough time to relisten and review, but this is what I got a couple weeks ago via Amazon:
Room of Lights
Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus
New Mother

I've also been downloading and getting into avant-garde/minimalist composers, specifically John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen. I'm really pleased/surprised how much I like all of it, as I feared I might find it a little boring. I knew of Cage's methods in college, but never listened to anything that perked my ears.

I've also tried downloading some more Harry Partch, but it's been rather difficult to…

Skimming through the Arcade Fire fan site, I see this review from The Guardian:

While every third British band mines 1979-80 post-punk, Arcade Fire, from Canada, have stolen a march by investigating the US “no wave” of the same period.

Their masterstroke has been to invest this ironic, cool music with raw emotion. Marriages collapsed and friends died around them while they made Funeral, but grief has produced the giddy energy of a wake. The stunning Laika hits a higher gear every 20 seconds.

Everything is delivered in Flaming Lips cinemascope, which would mean nothing without lyrics to melt the…

Does anyone know of a band called Blade Fetish?
I really like their tracks on the nearly 10 year old Tess Records compilation, "Aria," but digging them up has been a chore. If I'd been aware of them at the time, I probably would have gotten it, but I was a poor college student during the period when lots of this stuff was coming out.

I have been able to track down Autumn, even a fairly current website. Their most recent release came out in 2000 and is available from Projekt. The album on Tess, however, seems to…

The last installment.

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The Replacements–Pleased to Meet Me
This is another tape purchase to augment The Replacements albums we inexplicably don't have. Rob used to have "Tim," but sold it off years ago, whch was a very, very bad idea. I like this band. They're not one of my absolute favorites, but they wrote some kick-ass rock songs in their time. Of course, I was too young to really know about them at the time. It was more in high school when I discovered alternative music that I heard this band Regarding this album, I more or less…

This is taking longer than I thought. Could I get any more long-winded? ;)

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Gorillaz–Demon Days
This is probably my favorite release of 2005 (of the tiny portion of 05 releases I've heard). I suppose the quality of this album is debatable in comparison to the first. The debut strikes me as more of a playful, experimental party album in the spirit of Tom Tom Club. That's not to say it isn't dark or atmospheric. It's just more focused on beat and fucking around. Trust me, I like that album A LOT, and I can't tell you…

The Cure–s/t
I am a big Cure fan going back to the "Wish" period. "Pornography" and "Disintegration are among my most favorite album ever released. While The Cure IMO has never entirely been able to top the period leading up to their breakup, they did release a consistent chunk of albums for a number of years, offering up a more heavily layered, dreamy alternative pop sound. While "Wish" is hardly a perfect album, time makes it sweeter, especially in light of the haphazard "Wild Mood Swings" and the dreary, over-long "Bloodflowers." I wasn't particularly looking forward to a new…

I hate year-end best lists. Why? Because I don't have the luxury of buying lots of brand new albums whenever they come out, nor do I have the sort of cushy entertainment job that allows me the opportunity to do so for free. I like living in my current musical hole. I am vaguely aware what's going on, but not deeply influenced by trends. I buy what I like, get new stuff whenever. No rush. No big deal.

Basically, I'm not doing a top 10 best list. I only listened to maybe 4 albums actually released this year, compared to…

I've seen this floating around a few places, so I thought I'd take a stab. I waste too much time.

Total number of tracks: 1867

Sort by song title:
First Song: The Prids–……
Last Song: Ec8or–Zero Heros

Sort by time:
Shortest Song: TV on the Radio–Untitled (0:06)
Longest Song: Traveling Wilburys–Tweeter and the Monkey Man (32:43)

Sort by album:
First Song: Arcana–…The Last Embrace
Last Song: R.E.M.–First We Take Manhattan

Top 10 Most Played Songs:
1) Gotham Troubadours-Chloe (Song of the South)
2) Tangiers–Keep the Living Bodies Warm
3) Via Tania–The Rising…