Best Friend

Cameron and I met in college 22 years ago. We were taking the same art history class, and once we finally started talking, it was hard to stop. We have the kind of close friendship that always picks up where it left off... we sometimes don't hear from one another for years, but once we start talking... well, it's hard to stop.

I was thrilled that she was able to fly out to California from Texas to be my bridesmaid recently, and the brief time we spent catching up was not nearly enough. I miss having her around to talk to, and our annual gabfests only make me wish I could see her more often. Today's her birthday, and I wanted to give her something special, so I put together this mix just for her. 

Her taste in music can be hard for me to pin down,  because I never know what she is listening to at the moment. Historically her taste has ranged from T. Rex, David Bowie, Patti Smith, and Velvet Underground to Roy Harper, Memphis Minnie, Tori Amos, and Woody Guthrie. She is usually open to roots music, traditional folk, old country and western, and as I recently discovered, she counts the Dixie Chicks as a guilty pleasure. The Monkees track has special significance... she and I went to my first Monkees concert together back in 1986. I dragged her along, and I think she enjoyed it despite herself.  She later admitted to having liked Mike Nesmith, so i chose a song that is very "Mike". This one's pretty heavy on the twang, but then again, she likes it like that... at least I THINK she does!

Happy Birthday Cameron!

She's My Best Friend

1 The Long Way Around Dixie Chicks

2 She's My Best Friend The Velvet Underground

3 The Euphonius Whale Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks

4 She Had Everything The Flatlanders

5 Louisiana Man Bobbie Gentry

6 Griselda Yo La Tengo

7 See Line Woman Nina Simone

8 Light Fight (Theme from Take Three Girls) Pentangle

9 Why Don't You Write Me Simon & Garfunkel

10 Anchorage Michelle Shocked

11 California Stars Billy Bragg and Wilco

12 Jackson Lee Hazlewood & Nancy Sinatra

13 Muleta Calexico

14 Gotta Lot Of Rythm In My Soul Patsy Cline

15 New San Antonio Rose Bob Wills

16 Never Tell A Woman Yes The Monkees

17 Annie MacNaught Harm Farm

18 Fee Fi Fiddlee Aye O Roberta Lynn with Thurl Ravenscroft and the Mellomen

19 Do Re Mi Nanci Griffith

20 Beedle Um Bum Jim Kweskin and the Jug Band

21 I'm Going Nowhere Yard Sale

22 Deep In The Heart Of Texas Gene Autry

23 I'll Fly Away Alison Krauss & Gillian Welch

24 Lo Dudo Pepe & The Bottle Blondes

25 Surprise!

I Gotta Have More Cowbell!

So here it is, the second installment of cowbell tunes. Without even delving deeply into the plethora of heavy metal cowbell tracks, I still managed to put together over 80 minutes of great songs. Thanks to Dead Man, I now have confirmation (from the band itself) that (Don't Fear) The Reaper does indeed contain cowbell-- a heavily taped up, dampened cowbell. This mix has a few other tracks with that dampened cowbell sound, which led me to suspect they weren't cowbell at all. After much careful listening, I decided to leave them in. Thanks to Dead Man's tip about the  BÖC's seminal track, it is included here as a bonus track.

Thanks to Sean Lally for the Matthew Sweet recommendation... it rocks!

MORE COWBELL!

1 Right Side of a Good Thing The Fleshtones

2 Milk Cow Blues Boogie Billy Swan

3 I Call Your Name The Beatles

4 Doledrum The La's

5 Down On The Corner Creedence Clearwater Revival

6 Love Is Strange Mickey & Sylvia

7 A Mistake Today For Me Jonathan Richman

8 Augusta, Angelica e Consolacao Tom Zé

9 Diamond Dogs David Bowie

10 Clampdown (US Promo 12") The Clash

11 Funk 49 The James Gang

12 Telstar The Champs

13 Of You The Monkees

14 Over And Over The Archies

15 Taki Rari Yma Sumac

16 Dangerous Frente!

17 Into Your Drug Matthew Sweet

18 Rockville Spot 1019

19 I Ain't Superstitious Howlin' Wolf

20 Move Along Johnny & the Baa-Baa's

21 Mi Chiquita Benny More

22 Show Off Bobbie Gentry

23 Funky Town Lipps Inc

24 Ciel de Lit Brigitte Bardot

25 Lion and Donkey The Mighty Sparrow

26 (Don't Fear) The Reaper Blue Öyster Cult

AOTM link

I got a fever... and the only prescription is: more cowbell!

This is an instrument I've wanted to feature in a mix for some time, and was finally inspired to finish it when Rob Conroy posted his BöC mix on AOTM recently. His original title mentioned cowbell, which led me to think he'd tackled the cowbell mix himself. PopKulcher later commented that he'd also thought it would be (and was a bit dissapointed that it wasn't) a cowbell mix. So here it is, sans BöC (as there is apparently some debate as to whether the instrument played is actually a cowbell, some contend it is a wooden block).

Once I started actively listening for cowbell, I found it far more pervasive than I'd realized, and in a variety of musical genres. I tried to limit my choices to songs where the cowbell is prominent, and where it is easy to discern that it is actually a cowbell (listen for that metallic clang). I unearthed so many cowbell tracks while compiling this mix that a sequel will be available soon.

COWBELL FEVER

1 Honky Tonk Women The Rolling Stones

2 Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me and My Monkey The Beatles

3 In The Street Big Star

4 Late In the Evening Paul Simon

5 Hello Mary Lou Ricky Nelson

6 Harmonica Man Stevie Wonder

7 Mere Imposters Solex

8 Hey Ladies The Beastie Boys

9 Hooked On A Feeling Blue Swede

10 All Strung Out Over You The Chambers Brothers

11 Rock And Roll The Runaways

12 Little Willy Sweet

13 Play That Funky Music Wild Cherry

14 Dolly Dagger Jimi Hendrix

15 Vicious Lou Reed

16 Burning Love Elvis Presley

17 Crazy Arms Patsy Cline

18 She'd Rather Be With Me The Turtles

19 Allright/Not Quite Apples In Stereo

20 Love Rollercoaster Ohio Players

21 Susie-Q Dale Hawkins

22 Concrete & Clay Unit 4 + 2

23 She's A Lady Tom Jones

24 Lay Lady Lay Bob Dylan

25 Here Comes My Baby The Tremeloes

26 'A' Bomb In Wardour Street The Jam

27 Low Rider War

AOTM Link

"New" Mix for Shannan

This mix is dedicated to my dear friend Shannan. She requested some "new" music, so I put together a little something from the tunes I've been listening to lately. Obviously, some of these tracks are hardly new, but I mostly tried to put together songs that would be new to Shannan's ears. Since she first introduced me to CAN, I figured I'd return the favor by turning her on to Kendra Smith's version of "She Brings the Rain", and well, what can I say about Wreckless Eric?!? As you can see, I've peppered the mix with some classics that I hope she will enjoy as much as I do.

Shannan tends to like her music a bit on the sour side (to balance out my sweet tooth), but she's also a sucker for a good harmony (The Beatles, The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, Elliott Smith's XO). She is a fan of West African and Brazilian music, and a former student of Afro-Haitian dance, so I tried to appeal to her tastes by  consciously choosing tracks with interesting rhythms and instrumentation. I have a feeling this will be right up her alley.

UNDERWATER BUBBLE POP

1 Greetings To You Best Fwends

2 Bang On The Breeders

3 Underwater Architecture In Helsinki

4 Corpus Christi Clinic

5 No Big Thing Holly Golightly

6 Whole Wide World Wreckless Eric

7 Les Dix Premiers Jocy

8 Oxford Comma Vampire Weekend

9 Tengo Todo Cafe Tacvba

10 You Know I'm No Good Amy Winehouse

11 I'm One Of Those Girls Born Ruffians

12 Unraveling Alela Diane

13 Vai (Menina, Amanha de Manha) Tom Zé

14 Rain (vocal-bass demo mix) The Beatles

15 A Giver Orion Rigel Dommisse

16 Jet Set Dave Pike

17 Sour Cherry The Kills

18 Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds

19 I'm Good. I'm Gone Lykke Li

20 Imitosis Andrew Bird

21 Duj Duj Fanfare Ciocarlia

22 I Hate Camera The Bird and the Bee

23 Evil Entrepeneur Professor Pez

24 She Brings The Rain Kendra Smith

AOTM Link