Tricknology is heavy!
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Archive for the ‘Mix Tape’ Category
The first Friday of each month Dirty Impound will celebrate one of our favorite albums with a mix bookended by cuts from the inspirational record and a selection of tunes that tap into the feel of the original work – lyrically, musically, attitudinally, however-ly. The goal is not to present bands that sound like the spotlight artist but to surround them with music pulsing on a kindred wavelength.
Lynyrd Skynyrd (1973)
Well, have you ever lived down in the ghetto?
Have you ever felt the cold wind blow?
Well, if you don’t know what I mean
Won’t you stand up and scream
‘Cause there’s things goin’ on that you don’t know
The hard, unsmiling faces that stare out from the cover of 1973’s (Pronounced ‘lĕh-’nérd ‘skin-’nérd) are that of a gang. The needle doesn’t need to hit the groove for one to know not to mess with these guys, who in the first tune declare their reasonableness to a lover by pointing out, “I never hurt you, sweetheart, never pulled my gun.” Yikes. Yet, Lynyrd Skynyrd had a sensitive side, a romantic bent they did nothing to disguise any part of the truth of these simple men with some great music to throw into the world. Streetwise, scarred (scared, too) and scrappy as fuck, Skynyrd emerged ready to tussle and possessed of abundant heart and muscle with a sharp musical edge that instantly set them apart even in a period with a lot of standouts. There is a rugged honesty to every aspect of this album, which is also flecked with tenderness and some of the most eloquent guitar work rock has ever witnessed.
Lynyrd Skynyrd (1973)
The arrangements and execution have a precise vision and exactness that has rarely been duplicated by the group’s many imitators. Producer Al Kooper has remarked that lead singer-lyricst “Ronnie [Van Zandt] ran that band with an iron hand.” Tales of bandmates being slapped for inferior takes are part of the mythology of these sessions, but it’s hard to question the results. Few bands have ever arrived so completely together, so much themselves that everything that followed retained the intrinsic character of this first step – all to the good of the music. Guitarist Allen Collins once said, “We are just simple, common people who are not trying to be big actors. We’re trying to get people off, just trying to be good.” Their commitment to simple truths delivered with earthy nuance and undeniable power makes this album one of THE great debut outings.
And yes, it contains “Free Bird,” a song that nearly any band would give their eye teeth to have written regardless of all the pop culture baggage it now carries. Like much about the band as it exists in the 21st century, it’s sometimes hard to see the pulverizing originality they once possessed in light of the Southern flag waving nostalgia machine that currently sports their name. Set that aside and revisit (Pronounced ‘lĕh-’nérd ‘skin-’nérd) with fresh ears. While birthed during the time of Nixon and Watergate, there is something eerily timely about this album in 2012. (Dennis Cook)
If you experience playback problems, pop over to the 8tracks mix page and it should play fine.
Hey, modern rock, the late 70s and 1980s called to school ya about your grandparents.
If you experience playback problems, pop over to the 8tracks mix page and it should play fine.
We read the news today. Oh boy. A certain amount of ambivalence about sunrise and the start of another day are understandable if one ruminates too long or too hard on all the pitfalls in humanity’s path. And there is always the sobering reminder that those who were once with us are no longer here. This week many of us are feeling the sting of Levon Helm’s passing. He is here in this little grey-tinged assortment, from the first cut (a dedication to him for all he gave to music and the world) to a rare guest turn with John Martyn to a closing rarity from The Band. The rhythm ain’t ever gonna be the same without you, man, but for the rest of us the beat goes on, even if sometimes we want to cry just because the sky is blue…
If you experience playback problems, pop over to the 8tracks mix page and it should play fine.
At times it seems like life is pelting us with more than we can bear and we just want to fold up and fade away. But then the road opens up to a stretch of beauty and strangeness we didn’t see coming at all, and we can breathe again, the world suddenly and inexplicably humming with no static at all.
If you experience playback problems, pop over to the 8tracks mix page and it should play fine.
Trouble tamers, power pop, and a double shot of The Who – just the ticket to flush out the woes of the working week.
If you experience playback problems, pop over to the 8tracks mix page and it should play fine.
The first Friday of each month Dirty Impound will celebrate one of our favorite albums with a mix bookended by cuts from the inspirational record and a selection of tunes that tap into the feel of the original work – lyrically, musically, attitudinally, however-ly. The goal is not to present bands that sound like the spotlight artist but to surround them with music pulsing on a kindred wavelength.
Bernie Taupin & Elton John (1970)
“This lazy life is short/ Something for nothing/ Always ending with a bad report.”
On paper, 1970’s Tumbleweed Connection makes no sense. An Old West obsessed song cycle from two 20-something Brits just experiencing their first major chart success, Elton John’s second album found lyrical foil Bernie Taupin consorting with gunslingers and country folk, wandering under prairie skies, and more wistful and nostalgic than seems appropriate for someone so young, his every aching, backward glance met with sweeping empathy by his piano playing pal. A few years before it fully kicked in Stateside, Bernie and Elton tapped into the 70s obsession with marrying Wild West outlaw culture with rock, with guitars replacing Pig Iron and limos the new stagecoach. It’s a conceit but an effective one that still lingers today, and it’s rarely been pulled off better than Tumbleweed Connection, which explores the relationship of fathers and sons (and kinship in general) and delves into prickly subject matter like the Confederate mindset, torching religious institutions, and the costs and aftermath of war. It’s an oddly mature work and simply one of the greatest second acts in rock history, with dense, fascinating storytelling, gorgeous love songs, robust playing and timeless production (courtesy of Gus Dudgeon, who also contributed his touch to The Zombies’ “She’s Not There,” Bowie’s “Space Oddity” and much, much more).
This installment offers up some prime early 70s California country-rock (and some modern artists dipping a toe into the same pool), a swell cover of one of Tumbleweed’s tracks by Rod Stewart, the original version of “Love Song” (the album’s sole cover), and a fair amount of flying lead. Keep your powder dry and saddle up. It’s time to hit the dusty trail.
If you experience playback problems, pop over to the 8tracks mix page and it should play fine.
While our weekly mix series usually likes to dip heartily into the past and mingle it with the new, this installment is exclusively focused on fresh sounds that are making us kick up our heels. If DI hasn’t already, we’ll be spilling ink on all these artists soon. For now, here are some choice bits from the sonic onslaught out there.
If you experience playback problems, pop over to the 8tracks mix page and it should play fine.
