time's arrow

Like so many of these posts, this week's mix began as something rather different. I've had the idea in my head of following the evolution of musicians' sound over the years. Rather than play the role of the didact, I decided to pull together a selection of artists demonstrating a common thematic sound — Le Fil, Camille called it in her album of the same title. The opening selection exemplifies this idea. Bauhaus could have single-handedly founded goth with “Bela Lugosi's Dead.” The surreal lyrics, and the erratic, distorted percussion backs a stripped, tight arrangement. Peter Murphy's deadpan delivery evolves into a delightfully melodramatic wailing, with gated guitars swooping in and out of the soundscape. Former Bauhaus guitarist Daniel Ash gleefully picks up the bombast and runs wild with more layered guitars and a train to hell. I was much more into Love and Rockets than their progenitors when I was younger, and a lot of their music is much more dreamy (some might say plodding), but I think this track shows a lot of Bauhaus. There's no connection that I know of between Love and Rockets and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. A friend suggested I check them out, since I so dug L & R. The sound is unmistakable, and “Rise or Fall” fucking rocks. I really missed the Radiohead boat when they first hit the States. Their dreadfully overexposed single “Creep” sounded as if it were riding the downer shoegazer wave of the early 90s. I found their sophomore album in a tiny secondhand shop in Sydney, and was blown away. The opening lick of “My Iron Lung" always makes me think of listening to The Beatles for the first time. I would visit my friend, who was much younger than his sisters, and we used to nick their records and their incense. We were only seven or eight, and had no fucking idea. We'd light the cone of cheap incense, and I'd sit hypnotised by the genie of smoke rising from the ember while the unique Apple Records label rotated 33 times a minute on the plastic turntable. Of course, when it comes to guitar hooks, Johnny Marr's opening to "How Soon is Now?" must rank amongst the most recognisable. It's hard to believe that it wasn't even an album track, but a B-side. Original editions of Meat is Murder didn't feature what eventually become the band's most enduring song. Morrissey and Marr have gone on to numerous subsequent projects, and I could have stuffed this mix with songs from The The and Morrissey's solo work, but I think the Modest Mouse track "Dashboard" showcases Marr's guitar work nicely. Less distortion and panning, to be sure, but it's not drawing too long a bow to hear "William, It was Really Nothing" behind Isaac Brock's raspy vocals. We shift gears at this point, listening to some of the crossover sounds between blues, rock & roll, Motown and soul. Buddy Guy, born in Louisiana, is still playing Chicago blues. The blues caught him, and did him no good. The Animals, from Britain, sing a classic folk song about sinking in New Orleans, while Jimmy Page's rolling guitar backs Robert Plant's squealing harmonica frame yet another American song about going home to Chicago when the dam finally does give way. Smokey Robinson plays an Italian clown, and Lee Fields takes Sharon Jones as a fool for love, while Vosotros venture that mayhaps we shouldn't break up at all. TRACK 01 "Bela Lugosi's Dead," Bauhaus INDEX: 00:00:00 TRACK 02 "Bound for Hell," Love and Rockets INDEX: 09:32:23 TRACK 03 "Rise or Fall," Black Rebel Motorcycle Club INDEX: 15:30:69 TRACK 04 "Dear Prudence," The Beatles INDEX: 19:26:27 TRACK 05 "My Iron Lung," Radiohead INDEX: 23:17:69 TRACK 06 "How Soon is Now?," The Smiths INDEX: 27:54:12 TRACK 07 "Dashboard," Modest Mouse INDEX: 34:40:26 TRACK 08 "First Time I Met the Blues," Buddy Guy INDEX: 38:45:06 TRACK 09 "The House Of The Rising Sun," The Animals INDEX: 45:05:31 TRACK 10 "When the Levee Breaks," Led Zeppelin INDEX: 49:33:00 TRACK 11 "The Tears of a Clown," Smokey Robinson & The Miracles INDEX: 56:40:71 TRACK 12 "Stranded in Your Love," Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings feat. Lee Fields INDEX: 59:34:50 TRACK 13 "Let's Stay in Love," Vosotros (feat. Sy Bar-Sheshet) INDEX: 65:20:04