Mixtape CD Liner Notes...Side A

What's the knave's way to jump-start some writing?  Liner notes, of course!  Seeing as SJ was my only documented reader for William Gibson post, and seeing as I owe him liner notes for the mixtape I finally sent out this past week, that's what we're going to do...The videos are all different versions than on the disc--and the Devo video is off the rails altogether...but you'll figure that out soon enough...
          ~bpi


1. "Answered Prayers," David Sylvian--How's this for an atmospheric opener?  My Sylvian fandom can be traced back to Gustavus days, with a dub of Gentlemen Take Polariods on a D-90 cassette.  My first copy of this song was from the Minneapolis Public Library vinyl stacks in the early '90s--truth told, this tune has been kicking around on my end for two decades or so!  Still, the Eno-esque waves of sheen never gets old.  Not an official video, and a little happy on the fx, but it works...



2. "Laisvė tavyje," Andrius Mamontovas--At least song is from this century (I think).  AM is the Lithuanian singer-songwriter--he's the whole package.  He fronted Foje, the biggest band Lithuania has ever seen--and probably will ever see--until they hung it up in 1997.  I should have gone to their farewell concert, but I blew it--and that's another story altogether.  This was a "We Are The World"-type LT fundraiser--the video has no visuals, but a vocal mix of a number of big names in LithPop.



3. "Rudy With a Flashlight," Rainer Ptaček--super Tucson blues guitarist who died in 1997.  Is it becoming clear that I'm not getting as much new music as I used to?  Hmmm.  I have a lot more to say about Rainer this summer--hence the blogging warm-ups!  The clip has Evan Dando singing--this is from the tribute / fund-rasing CD The Inner Flame...



4. "If You Ever Go to Houston," Bob Dylan--The newest track of the lot, by the oldest singer of the lot!  Go figure.  I think this song could go on for an hour, and I'd be more than content to keep riding that hypnotic, accordion-fuelled chord progression.  What does Bobby Z have left in the tank?  We wrote him off too soon years ago... Here's a cellphone bootleg from from two years back:



5. "What We Do," Devo--The best part of their "comeback" release a few years back was their online marketing campaign.  I still like to show my media research class their focus group research video...



6. "So What," Miles Davis--I'm pretty sure I've played this record more than any other I have since coming to Massachusetts.  Lots and lots of grading...lots of grading.  Miles makes it all go down just that little bit smoother, you know?  I always play this for the first day of classes--a little playful antagonism never hurt anybody...



Thanks for stopping by!  Next time: Side B...