Musicologist Mix Volume 3

The final volume, covering picks 35-50. Complete list is here. Maybe one day I'll make another 50 picks...

  1. Belles Will Ring - Come to the Village (5:12)
  2. Far East Family Band - Entering / Times (edit) (8:44)
  3. Bill Nelson - False Alarms (2:51)
  4. Demon Fuzz - Disillusioned Man (4:57)
  5. The Sound - Skeletons (3:26)
  6. Prins Thomas - Attiatte (6:14)
  7. Tall Dwarfs - Thought Disorder (4:08)
  8. Fifty Foot Hose - Red the Sign Post (2:55)
  9. Marc and the Mambas - Torment (4:20)
10. Angels of Light - Song for My Father (3:39)
11. Dog Faced Hermans - H Tribe (4:54)
12. Link Wray - Fire and Brimstone (4:18)
13. Sonic Youth - Renegade Princess (5:47)
14. Eddie and the Hot Rods - Ignore Them (Still Life) (4:42)
15. The Fall - Iceland (6:41)
16. Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - Pachuco Cadaver (4:38)

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Musicologist Mix Volume 2

 

 Continuing on from the previous volume, here's picks 18-34. Complete list is here.

  1. Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band - Big Eyed Beans From Venus (4:22)

  2. Rita Lee - De Novo Aqui Meu Bom José (3:10)
  3. Matt Elliott - Whats Wrong (4:07)
  4. Minutemen - Storm in My House (1:58)
  5. Pussy Galore - (Do) The Snake (3:02)
  6. Plasticland - Transparencies, Friends (3:27)
  7. Charles Earland - Warp Factor 8 (6:17)
  8. Faust - J'ai Mal aux Dents (7:15)
  9. Martin Newell - A Street Called Prospect (3:30)
10. Thomas Leer & Robert Rental - Day Breaks, Night Heals (3:59)
11. Pepe Deluxé - Black Cadillac (3:42)
12. Jean-Claude Vannier - Danse des Mouches Noires Gardes du Roi (3:05)
13. Modular - Festín Surreal  (3:11)
14. Black Cab - Angels Arrive (3:46)
15. Blo - Time to Face the Sun (4:03)
16. Kevin Coyne - Lunatic (4:51)
17. New Kingdom - Unicorns Were Horses (3:43) 

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Musicologist Mix Volume 1

 

Several years ago a music site I am a member of asked me to be a "musicologist", which required me to recommend/upload 1 album every 4 or 5 weeks to share with other members. My criteria for this would be: albums by artists who never got the recognition they deserved; albums which were unlike anything an artist/band ever recorded before or after (hello The Four Seasons!); albums that sparked my interest in genres of music I'd never really explored before; and finally, albums that just happen to be amongst my all time favourites!

The tracks on these mixes are in the order of the albums I picked. I decided to end my time as a musicologist after my 50th pick. The full list can be seen here. Volumes 2 and 3 will appear in the next couple of days.

On a personal note, in these perilous times, I hope all of you out there are keeping safe and well. It all seems rather surreal, we can only hope things get back to as near as normal as soon as possible. Take care everyone.

  1. The Dream Syndicate - Definitely Clean (3:30)

  2. This Heat - Independence (3:39)
  3. Shack - Time Machine (4:49)
  4. Euphoria - Docker's Son (2:48)
  5. Leila - Don't Fall Asleep (3:25)
  6. The Moles - Tendrils and Paracetamol (6:40)
  7. Mary Lorson & Saint Low - Anything Can Happen (5:08)
  8. Jimmy Campbell - Closing Down the Shop (2:39)
  9. Bongwater - Obscene & Pornographic Art (3:19)
10. King Creosote - Home in a Sentence (2:58)
11. Nick Nicely - Hilly Fields (1892) (3:30)
12. Billy Nicholls - Girl From New York (3:18)
13. Cymande - Getting It Back (4:16)
14. The Chills - Doledrums (3:08)
15. The Four Seasons - Genuine Imitation Life (6:16)
16. Rufus Harley - Gods and Goddesses (5:44)
17. Josef K - Heart of Song (2:53)

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Mojave 3 - Resend to Turner

 

Mojave 3 formed from the ashes of celebrated shoegaze band Slowdive in 1995. Consisting of vocalist/guitarist Neil Halstead, bassist/vocalist Rachel Goswell, guitarist Simon Rowe, keyboard player Alan Forrester and drummer Ian McCutcheon, their first album "Ask Me Tomorrow" was released in 1996. In all they released 5 studio albums, their final album "Puzzles Like You" in 2006. This collection features 3 tracks from all 5 albums, plus 3 tracks from EP releases. 

According to wikipedia their musical style is described as: dream pop, indie rock, alternative country, folk. Well, there's certainly elements of all those genres on their albums, their first probably more alternative country than anything else, sounding quite similar to Mazzy Star. For me their greatest album was their 2nd, "Out of Tune", released in 1998. A huge leap forward from their first release in both quality of songs and sound. 

As much as I was a fan of Slowdive, especially the album Souvlaki, over the years I've found listening to the back catalogue of Mojave 3 a much more satisfying experience. Compiling these tracks was again a difficult task, I could have picked 3 completely different tracks from each album and it would still be a fine collection of their work. After the demise of Mojave 3, Halstead went on to form the short-lived band Black Hearted Brothers, releasing one album in 2013. The following year Slowdive reformed and released a new album in 2017, which I found a somewhat disappointing experience to listen to, though it did include (for me) a couple of outstanding tracks. 

I doubt if Mojave 3 will ever reform, but they've left a fine legacy and perhaps it's better if they left it that way. Personally I'd like to see more solo albums by Halstead, he released three between 2001 and 2012, his debut "Sleeping on Roads" for me one of the outstanding albums of that year. Maybe one day I'll post a Halstead anthology.

Huge thanks to Manerg for this project. It was he who suggested in the first place doing a Mojave 3 collection, also providing the title of this anthology as well as finding the excellent cover art. As ever, info containing track origin & year of release is tagged in the music files and in the download file. Enjoy!

  1. Give What You Take (4:25)
  2. Starlite #1 (4:54)
  3. Love Songs on the Radio (5:45)
  4. Any Day Will Be Fine (3:22)
  5. Big Star Baby (4:19)
  6. Yer Feet (4:13)
  7. Between Us (6:58)
  8. Star in the Sky (3:58)
  9. After All (3:30)
10. Bringin' Me Home (3:49)
11. Ghostship Waiting (3:05)
12. Battle of the Broken Hearts (6:38)
13. This Road I'm Travelling (5:31)
14. Return to Sender (4:42)
15. All Your Tears (4:36)
16. Running With Your Eyes Closed (2:10)
17. Hard to Miss You (2:50)
18. Mercy (4:56)

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