Pretty much as soon as it posted, I fell in love with the Pale Young Gentlemen cover of M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes,” from Cokemachineglow‘s annual Fantasy Covers Podcast. Only imagining the effort that it takes CMG to organize these collections, I was hesitant to appropriate the song for a mix until chromewaves pointed out that the band had sent it out themselves as well. I’m not all that familiar with the work of the Gentlemen, but I was shocked to find out that, despite every lyrical hint they could give me short of big-upping their high school in an ad-libbed verse, they weren’t a Scottish band, but rather one from Wisconsin with an accent that I still refuse to accept as American. The instrumentation of the Clash sample, gun and cash register sound effects, as well as the toned down mood of the track make it irresistible.
I’m also finally posting a Lattimore Brown track, and fellow vintage soul fans might also enjoy the Nas/Marley Marl-sampled Soul Children track. Throw Me The Statue is a band from Seattle that used to sound awfully Andrew Bird to me, but this track from their new EP has a very different sound and appeals to me on a much more Pedro The Lion meets Havergal way. Lykke Li has been getting a good deal of radio play, at least out here in L.A., but mostly for her song, “Little Bit” rather than “Tonight,” which substance(s) had recommended, and is a great, if not greater, track. Isaac Brock’s pre-Ugly Casanova LP track, “Diggin’ Holes” rounds out the mix, which I only just realized is a funny last minute replacement for Mercury Rev’s “Holes” which very nearly made the cut. That era of Modest Mouse tracks all have such an adorably simple witticism to the lyrics, and I love the way that this relatively harsh condemnation builds in such an innocent but straight forward way. That and the line about building permits.
March 2009 Mix
01 Soul Children – Move Over
02 Pale Young Gentlemen – Paper Planes (M.I.A. cover)
03 The Dodos – Trades & Tariffs
04 Q-Tip feat. Busta Rhymes, Raekwon & Lil Wayne – Renaissance Rap (Remix)
05 Throw Me The Statue – Ship
06 Bedhead – The Unpredictable Landlord
07 Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career
08 Lattimore Brown – I Wish I Felt This Way At Home
09 Lykke Li – Tonight
10 Ugly Casanova – Diggin’ Holes
