Vol. 2, Episode 4

I have created mix tape folders in my iTunes based on the year. I have started with the year 1970. I started with 70 because I think that everything that I have before that is just The Beatles or a bit of jazz and country. I don’t think that this would make very good mix tapes. Maybe I will revisit this if I come across some really great stuff from before the 70s or maybe I will make a mix tape for the decade of the 60 at a later date. I have started listening to these mix tapes starting with the year 1970. I am going to start listing the tracks in the mix tapes and maybe you folks out there can recommend me some more songs to add to these mix tapes. Maybe I can recommend some songs based on these mix tapes to you all as well. The first couple of mix tapes are pretty light but here is the first one.

1970:
Band, Album, Song,
The Beatles, Let It Be, Get Back
Black Sabbath, Paranoid, Iron Man
CSN & Y, Déjà Vu, Carry On
Derek & The Dominos, Layla & O A L S, Layla
Johnny Cash, Forever Comp, You’re My Baby
Stevie Wonder, Definitive Collection, Signed Sealed Delivered
The Stooges, Fun House, 1970
The Velvet Underground, Loaded, Rock & Roll

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart EP
I recently found out that this band has released a string of EPs and singles to go with their first album. I just about fell over when I found out how much extra music that they had released. Then I was ecstatic to find that I could still purchase most of this music from their record company for a song (45 bucks with shipping 6 items total) . There is a couple of singles that are not available from the group any more. Those couple of singles is the first 2 7” records that they released. The first of those two was released on blue vinyl. I will keep my eye out for the both of them at local record shops and shows of course. It is OK though because I can still download those songs that I can’t get my hands on through either Amazon or iTunes.

The self titled EP was released prior to the release of the full length album and as such features a couple of songs from the full length album. This is a 5 track EP so there are 3 non-LP tracks and this is what I am really after. I like the group so much that I don’t mind hearing the songs from the LP. They are good songs so it doesn’t matter as much. The first song is titled This Love Is F**king Right! and is from the LP. I never really listened to the lyrics on any of their songs. For me it was about the music. It was only when I got a preview of this EP that I listened to the lyrics or at least the chorus. Previous to this EP I never heard a swear word. After hearing the EP I realized that they did in this particular song. The way that it is used is casual and could have been left out completely in my opinion. They are just stating in the song that the person “singing” the song has a sister and that they love said sister. It is sweet but an unnecessary use of a swear word. Obviously, easily over looked though.

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Higher Than The Stars EP
The other EP, Higher Than The Stars, leads off with a great 80s sounding synth. The funny thing about the lead track, Higher Than The Stars, on this one is that they are singing about sex this time. It is about a young couple that had sex in the car but now they have broken up and the fact that they did this needs to remain a secret. The lyrics are very vague but that is what I could get out of them. This EP is all new music from the group. There is nothing from this EP that is on the LP. The EP has four new songs. There is also a remix EP that has 3 remixes of Higher Than The Stars. One of which was added to the end of my preview copy of this EP. I almost like it more than the original song. I think this remix flows a little nicer than THOBPAH version.

Any way, both of these EPs are really good if you are into the NuGazer sound that I have previously mentioned in recent episodes. The group writes pop music but the music that they create is not fast danceable music. It is more of the sit in front of your stereo and enjoy the sound scapes that they have created kind of music. I like it but if you don’t like droning sounds and lots of distortion this may not be for you.

Faith No More – King For A Day, Fool For A Lifetime
This is an album from when I just got out of high school. I remember going to see the group on tour for this album. It was at a festival concert that was then called Edge Fest. This festival always happened on Memorial Day weekend. It also has always rained on that weekend. Why they planned it on a weekend that always rained is beyond me. I was also dumb enough to go to an outdoor concert on a weekend that was always guaranteed to rain. I was also not the only one at the concert either. I don’t think that it ever sold out but the concert promoters were not hearting for money either, Clear Channel. I remember going this particular year because I planned on going not just with my girlfriend at the time but meeting with some friends from school. This was very abnormal for me because I was and still am very antisocial. What I mean is that I may have a lot of acquaintances but I don’t feel the need to have a lot of friends. Acquaintances will come and go in my life but friends I keep very close. Some acquaintances I keep on a trial basis to see if they will be good friends. Most fail and I may never see them again. Any way, I remember waiting for the group to play and when they did it was amazing but the wait was horrible. I think that the only reason that I went to this festival was to see Faith No More play.

I also remember when I bought the CD for this album the CD came with a sticker. I instantly put the sticker on my first bass guitar. The sticker had the graphic of the cover of the CD on it. It was red, black and white. It totally clashed with the color of the bass which was kind of a metallic sky blue. I ended up putting some other stickers on it as well and after time decided to take them all off. Not that great of a loss but it looked cool at the time. I think that I probably went overboard with the stickers and just decided to start with a clean slate. It was years later that I had an acquaintance at church that wanted to learn how to play the bass guitar. I had gotten a few more basses since I had purchased that one in 1994 for 300 bucks. It was a great starting bass so I gave him that bass and an amp to go with it for free. I have since lost touch with that acquaintance but hope that he had gotten what he wanted from it as I had too.

Back to the music. Mike Patten, the lead singer, has an infectious vocal approach. That is if you can handle screaming coupled with crystal clear male tenor vocals. I think that is what drew me to the band. Well, that and the fact that the bass guitar has this awesome pounding sound that doesn’t give me headaches. There is something that draws me in between those two sounds, the lead singer’s vocals and the bass guitar.

Nine Inch Nails – And All That Could Have Been/Still
This is a live CD, released in 2002, that was pulled from the Fragility tour recordings in 2000. As I looked back on this one I think that I went to this concert when it came to my city. It was a great concert and I really liked the double album called The Fragile. I liked the concert so much that not only did I buy the deluxe edition of And All That Could Have Been which had the bonus disc called still included but I also bought the DVD of the concert too. I am actually surprised that I did get both of these since they were released near the time that I was laid off from work. I was probably still living in a house and could still pay the bills on my severance package though. It wasn’t soon after that I had to sell the house at a loss and my first marriage dissolved. So, although this is a great album, some memories associated not all that great. I did listen to the live album recently and found it to be that great album it always has been but I did not have those feelings loss that I use to. Time heals all wounds I guess.

That is all for now.