muxtape updates: #4

MUXTAPE

So, if you haven't gotten the news yet, all current muxtapes are currently available on chrisyamashiro.com, so check it out.

I previously posted that this was muxtape #4, however in reality, it was #3 and this is muxtape #9, but let's not get into that just yet. Eventually, I'd like to have a section on my website devoted to muxtape naming conventions, but I don't think anyone would read that (even you, Jennifer).

Anyhow, this muxtape is a longstanding favorite around these parts and it is called "College Town, 1997." This is not because it is filled with hits from 1997's CMJ top singles list or anything, but it is how I imagine college dorms sounded in 1997, somewhere on the east coast.

1. Jets to Brazil - "Sea Anemone (Orange Rhyming Dictionary)"
I'm totally excited for Schwarzenbach's new band and his master's degree in English, as well as the Jawbreaker doc that's coming out. Apparently, it's crazy professional because it's being made by the guys that did the Minutemen documentary. I was expecting something super punk, but I also forget that Jawbreaker was supposed to be the East Bay's next superstars or something back in 1995. Like much of Blake's music, this song seemed so sad, but it seemed to also be a little bit about Jawbreaker not making it big.

2. Heatmiser - "Plainclothes Man (Mic City Sons)"
Is that some Elliott Smith b-side? Well, apparently he did play this song live quite a bit, but it was from Heatmiser's final album, which many regard as their best. I think people like it just because Elliott's songs sound like his solo stuff, rather than the "alternative rock" of the first few albums, but that's just a stab in the dark.

3. Pavement - "Shady Lane (Brighten the Corners)"
For a long time, I never thought of Pavement as a band outside of Crooked Rain or Slanted and Enchanted, but once I heard this song, I fell in love with the rest of their discog and became a Malkmus believer. The bit about Geddy Lee and the false endings are plain genius. The only thing better than Pavement singles were their videos, for example, the Spike Jonze video for this song.

4. Grandaddy - "El Caminos in the West (Sumday)"
Yeah, this came out way after 1997 and doesn't even sound that much like 1997, Jeff, but I still dig it and sort of wish it had been out around then. I think that if Jason Lytle hadn't been a pro skateboarder in 1997 and was writing these songs, Grandaddy would have been as big as The Flaming Lips were at this point. Yeah. I said it. Seriously.

5. Yo La Tengo - "Sugarcube (I Can Feel The Heart Beating As One)"
What a wonderful song. Also has a wonderful 90s video. Also, this video is great because it really doesn't focus on the song at all, cutting in and out of the audio, finding that the narrative structure was more important. This was supposed to be their "big, coming out" single that broke them into some sort of mainstream consciousness, but I think the video was their attempt to be a non-MTV MTV band. They had the amusing parody video, but the song was chopped and fit for the video, which changed everything. Too bad this came about as 120 Minutes was either dying or dead (and before MTV2).

6. Steve Burns - "Mighty Little Man (Songs for Dustmites)"
Yeah, it's Steve from Blue's Clues and the talented heroin addict from The Flaming Lips! This song also takes liberty with the time period, but I felt like The Flaming Lips in 1997 didn't quite fit this tape. It was after Transmissions from the Satellite Heart and before The Soft Bulletin, so it really doesn't matter to me.

7. Weezer - "You Gave Your Love To Me Softly (Angus OST)"
Yeah, I included the non-demo version, Jeff. I prefer audio files that aren't decayed to hell by Limewire and Karl's hard drive bursting into flames. This b-side from Pinkerton was on the Angus soundtrack. What a wonderful little song to put into a movie. I just wish that I would have seen them play this song as Goat Punishment or something.

8. The Rentals - "Barcelona (Seven More Minutes)"
I never bothered to listen to Seven More Minutes, thinking that Matt Sharp couldn't have written more than a few good songs without Rivers as his foil, but once I learned of Maya Rudolph's involvement in this album, I knew I had to listen. I can't even tell which songs she sings on, and it doesn't matter. The demos for this song are called "California" and are totally different. Some Weezer scholars argue that "California" is the better version, because it reflects more of Rivers' songwriting that Matt lifted once he left Weezer, but I love this version because it really sounds like what the Rentals should sound like (and provided a blueprint for Korg/Moog-emo bands in the future).

9. The Dismemberment Plan - "Gyroscope (Emergency & I)"
I remember downloading this song when I was 14 or 15, reading about The D Plan on the Weezer message board or something. I just knew that they were one of those bands that most Weezer fans respected, so I wanted to get to know something about them. I was just getting into Sunny Day Real Estate and Mineral and thought the Dismemberment Plan must sound something like one of those bands, just because of all the Weezer fans being way into it. What I didn't know is that The Dismemberment Plan was way more influenced by that which surrounded them (Washington DC and Dischord Records) than any other "emo" band at the time. They were somewhat cut off from the Midwest, being from DC, so they sounded a little different (like SDRE, who sounded sort of like Seattle). After I downloaded this, I downloaded all the Dismemberment Plan I could find. Travis Morrisson has a wonderful sense of humor that you don't find every day in "indie rock."