Death to False Monger mix

The Un-Herd Music has been inactive for a little while, thanks to the thief or thieves who broke into my house and stole my computer, along with a half dozen mixes I had ready to upload. Not sure when I'll get around to compiling them again, but I hope the scumbag thief is enjoying the samplers of Jon Spencer and Mott the Hoople, a family tree of Greg Cartwright, another two volumes of covers, and a few random sets. Fortunately, I'd already burned this particular mix to a CDR to test it out in the car. It passed with flying colors - and UHM is back up and running.

This latest addition to the ever-growing family of monger mixes is pretty similar in approach to all the others. This one's maybe a tad more Keef than Thunders - there's definitely a thread of classic rock that runs through a lot of it (and just so we're clear, that's classic rock in the sense of the Stones and the Faces, not the Moody Blues and Jethro Tull) - but as a mix it's still the sort of thing that you only throw on the player once all the married couples have left the party. Not that married couples aren't equally welcome (and likely) to get their serious drink on as anybody - it's just that when they do it usually leads to hamster fights and fisticuffs. Actually, now that I think of it, maybe cue this puppy up when they're still around. This is that scenario's perfect soundtrack.

Death To False Monger

1. Scott McCarl Go Down Swinging
2. Moneybrother My Li'l Girl's Straight From Heaven
3. Zachary James & the All Seeing Eyes Three Outta Five
4. Poison Arrows Hittin' It Hard
5. Kasey Anderson All Lit Up
6. Stacie Collins Don't Doubt Me Now
7. Skybombers Black Carousel
8. The Booze Down On Your Luck
9. Harlan T. Bobo Last Step
10. Watts Chaperone
11. The Adjusters Drinkin' Red Wine
12. The Dictators What's Up With That?
13. Ponderosa Old Gin Road
14. Jim Jones Revue Stop The People
15. The New York Vaults Get Back
16. The Blessings She Thinks She Loves Me
17. Hazy Malaze Satisfy The Jones
18. Young Fresh Fellows Sittin' On A Pitchfork
19. Bubblegum Screw Better Man
20. Two Cow Garage Burn In Hell
21. The Compulsions My Favorite Wine
22. Dax Riggs Living Is Suicide

Faves of '11 (Vol. I)

And it's already that time of the new year, wherein I offer up a mix of sparkling new tunes that have made my daily toil just a little bit more bearable.

Now, these mixes aren't necessarily meant as ringing endorsements of the albums the songs come from - they're really just a collection of single tracks that I like - but I can already promise that the records by Oh Mercy, Watts, Yep, Apex Manor, and Skybombers will be showing up in my quantum Best-of-the-Year list. As for the others, all I can say is that they all guarantee at least one outstanding track, as is evidenced here.

And, as always, this blog remains a Radiohead-free zone.

Faves of 2011 A

1. Oh Mercy Keith St.
2. Apex Manor The Party Line
3. Skybombers Love Me Like You Used To Do
4. Only Son The Same Two Places
5. Miles Kane Come Closer
6. Beady Eye The Roller
7. Nicole Atkins Cry, Cry, Cry
8. The Dozen Dimes Mean Little Girl
9. New York Dolls Talk To Me Baby
10. Watts The Times
11. The Insomniacs Yeah Yeah Yeah
12. Five O'Clock Heroes I Need You Around
13. Smith Westerns End of the Night
14. Ponderosa Pistolier
15. Ringside Should've Known
16. Lucinda Williams Buttercup
17. Yep Crestfallen
18. The World/Inferno Friendship Society The Politics of Passing Out
19. Frankie & the Heartstrings Hunger
20. David Lowery All Those Girls Meant Nothing To Me
21. The Baseball Project (w/ Craig Finn) Don't Call Them Twinkies
22. Telekinesis Gotta Get It Right Now

Review - Watts "On the Dial" (2011)

Whenever I start to lament the demise of modern music, a band like this will show up and kick my ass. Watts somehow wedge their tough rock 'n' roll in the same space between punk and power pop that once made the Replacements seem so necessary. Each song on On The Dial comes armed with at least a couple barbed hooks, and the band backs them up with the cool swagger of a 50s street gang. Singer Dan Kopko's rasp holds a similarity to Social Distortion's Mike Ness (but with a more advanced sense of both melody and humor), while guitarist John Blout's muscular, dramatic leads are concise and tuneful, and underneath it all the rhythm section of Craig Lapointe and John Lynch pushes every bar forward with a lurching, inevitable momentum. The band may be named after Rolling Stones drummer Charlie, but I'm going out on a limb and claiming they're paying similar homage to Mott the Hoople bassist Overend, because as much as these songs chug along with the Chuck Berryisms of a punked-up Stones they also revel in the hard-bitten romantic fatalism of the best moments of Mott (and now that I think of it, I may have to start a campaign to get these guys to cover either "Jerkin' Crocus" or "One of the Boys" - it might be a perfect fit). Smart enough to title a song "Sweetheart of the Radio", cool enough to cover Angel City (aka the Angels), and, godbless'em, brave enough to even try at all - Watts is a band after my own heart.

Watts on Facebook

Watts on Amazon

Hidden Track mix

I've compiled the following mix from a bunch of albums that took that extra step for the fans. Bonus tracks. More to the point: hidden bonus tracks. As always, the only rule I followed was the song must be something I like. Potential downloaders will just have to trust me on this one.

I'm of two minds when it comes to the hidden track. On one hand, it's pretty cool to find that buried gem as a sweet extra bonus to an album. On the other hand, sometimes bands tend to out-smart themselves in an effort to hide it. For example, I get annoyed when the final track has a few minutes of silence after it followed by the "secret" song. Those few minutes of silence ensure I will never play the album in its entirety or as part of a shuffle selection. Or if, like Dramarama once did, the band cuts up the bonus song into 5 second chunks of separate tracks, which plays perfectly fine until you press "random" and suddenly it resembles what I imagine the inside of Jessica Simpson's head must sound like.

Perhaps the best thing about the hidden track is the fact it isn't titled, which means the band is giving permission to the listeners to title it themselves. Personally, I jump all over that shit. For example, this mix really should look like this:

1. Eels [hidden track] (from Daisies of the Galaxy)
2. Marah [hidden track] (from If You Didn't Laugh You'd Cry)
3. Bleu [hidden track] (from Redhead)
4. The Foxymorons [hidden track] (from Rodeo City)
5. Kings of Leon [hidden track] (from Youth and Young Manhood)
6. You Am I [hidden track] (from Hourly, Daily)
7. Liquor Giants [hidden track] (from Liquor Giants)
8. Supersuckers [hidden track] (from Must've Been High)
9. Rich Hope [hidden track] (from Rich Hope & His Evil-Doers)
10. Tommy Womack [hidden track] (from Circus Town)
11. John Oszajca [hidden track] (from From There to Here)
12. The Right Ons [hidden track] (from Look Inside Now)
13. Cracker [hidden track] (from Gentleman's Blues)
14. Dramarama [hidden track] (from Sci Fi Hi Fi)
15. The Pietasters [hidden track] (from Awesome Mix Tape #6)
16. Thelonious Monster [hidden track] (from California Clam Chowder)
17. Heatmiser [hidden track] (from Mic City Sons)
18. The Auteurs [hidden track] (from New Wave)
19. The Libertines [hidden track] (from The Libertines)
20. The Honeydogs [hidden track] (from Here's Luck)
21. Sparklehorse [hidden track] (from It's A Wonderful Life)
22. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club [hidden track] (from Howl)

But why miss an opportunity? Here's my own titles for the tunes:

Peek-a-boo!

1. Eels Cheese Wheel Radio
2. Marah Monkey Cuffs
3. Bleu Excuse Me, Ma'am, You're Kneeling On My Neck Ruffle
4. The Foxymorons Tastes Like Children
5. Kings of Leon A Fieldmouse, A Tractor, and a Butane Torch
6. You Am I Two Pounds of Meat in a One Pound Robot
7. Liquor Giants The Scientologist's Arithmetic (Tom's Square Root)
8. Supersuckers (I'm) Trapped (in Parentheses)
9. Rich Hope & His Evil-Doers Shakespeare's Dong
10. Tommy Womack I'm Selling Mom's Urine On E-Bay*
11. John Oszajca Yeah, I Dunno, It's Like, You know?
12. The Right Ons Poultry Lamp
13. Cracker The Rise and Fall of Granny Bumthrust
14. Dramarama Let Go Of My Ears (I Know What I'm Doing)
15. The Pietasters O Spelunker, My Spelunker
16. Thelonious Monster Whore D'Oeuvres
17. Heatmiser The Gunt of Limbaugh
18. The Auteurs Life is Like a Box of Chocolates, Provided the Last Chocolate Means Certain, Inevitable Death
19. The Libertines The Boy Who Cried Wolf Blitzer
20. The Honeydogs Urinal Cake
21. Sparklehorse I Likes Dem Tiggies
22. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club All Work And No Play Makes Jack A Sociopathic Type A Over-Achiever With a Bright Future in the Financial Industry

*actual title - it was too good to change

Full Disclosure: wherever possible, I've tagged each song with its real title.
Full Disclosure pt. 2: there just might be a hidden bonus track on this mix

Hello My Name Is Mix (vol. 3)

The third volume in a series I never thought could get this far. This time there's a couple of slight cheats involved, as I've included two fictional characters. For those of you out there playing the home game, Gladys Kravitz was the nosy neighbor in the old Bewitched series, and Erica Kane was (possibly still is) Susan Lucci's character on whatever daytime soap she's on. And yes, I take a small bit of pride in the fact that I don't know which soap.

Musically, it hews closely to the previous volumes, meaning lots of pop punk amid quirky indie and even a few noo wave oldies.


Hello My Name Is... Vol. 3

1. intro (courtesy of Andy Clockwise)
2. Urge Overkill Erica Kane
3. The Riffbrokers Roy Orbison
4. Binge Anna Kournikova
5. The Gay Blades Mick Jagger
6. Arkells John Lennon
7. Chixdiggit! Koo Stark
8. The Dollyrots Jackie Chan
9. The Adorkables Christina Ricci
10. Betty & the Werewolves David Cassidy
11. The Badamps Scarlett Johansson
12. The Successful Failures Niki Zerenberg
13. Discipulos de Dionisos Traci Lords
14. The Tories Gladys Kravitz
15. Wreckless Eric Joe Meek
16. The Young Jacques Jacques Cousteau
17. Human Sexual Response Jackie Onassis
18. The Jazz Butcher Shirley MacLaine
19. The So So Glos Fred Astaire
20. The Major Labels Richard Randolph
21. Casey Spooner Faye Dunaway
22. Roadside Graves Liv Tyler
23. Thee Jenerators Georgie Best
24. Half Hour To Go John Glenn
25. Corduoroy Jan Michael Vincent

Replacements - A Family Tree

The Replacements - the little band that couldn't - may have been the last of the rock 'n' roll true believers. They didn't hide behind layers of smug irony, nor did they limit their bleary-eyed ambition to the safe havens of indie cool that have sprung up in the internet age. They overtly aimed for greatness even while self-handicapped by a crippling distrust of success - a dichotomy that ensured they exist in a frustrating no-win bubble that could never be broken. But, man, did they ever try to break it.

If you were lucky enough to witness them live, good night or bad night (because either held its own kind of glory), then you know their greatness was realized beyond debate. If you're a latecomer, then you'll just have to take us old folks' word for it as you ponder the recorded evidence. The Replacements albums have all been reissued and remastered with bonus tracks, and they're all worth checking out (particularly Let It Be, Tim, and Pleased To Meet Me). Today's exercise, however, is to compile some of the post-Mats projects.

Once the Replacements crashed and burned, it wasn't surprising that leader/main songwriter Paul Westerberg continued his path of iconoclastic brilliance, whether under his own name or the Grandpaboy moniker. More unexpected was how Bassist Tommy Stinson went on to prove himself an incredibly strong songwriter, first in the excellent Bash & Pop, then in the short-lived Perfect, and more recently under his own name. Drummer Chris Mars managed to put out four albums of decreasing charm before ditching music altogether. And Bob Stinson was predictably rudderless without the controlling hand of Westerberg, but his energetic work in Static Taxi only proved the tragedy in his passing. Bob's replacement Replacement, Slim Dunlap, released two fine records that almost sound like lost Keith Richards solo joints. As a bonus, this mix ends with the '06 reunion of the band that was recorded for the Don't You Know Who I Think I Was? best-of.

It's arguable that no other band has sired so many worthwhile splinter groups. The Beatles, of course, turned into three and a half awesome solo careers - but after that, I'd be interested to hear any other suggestions that rival the Replacements. I know they have to be out there, I just can't think of them.

Let's Not Belong

1. Paul Westerberg Knockin' On Mine
2. Paul Westerberg Ain't Got Me
3. Bash & Pop Never Aim To Please
4. Bash & Pop Loose Ends
5. Chris Mars Reverse Status
6. Chris Mars Popular Creeps
7. Grandpaboy Hot Un
8. Grandpaboy Psychopharmacology
9. Slim Dunlap Partners In Crime
10. Slim Dunlap Cozy
11. Slim Dunlap Cooler Then
12. Perfect Making Of An Asshole
13. Perfect Don't Look Down
14. Static Taxi Max Factor
15. Grandpaboy Let's Not Belong Together
16. Paul Westerberg Gun Shy
17. Paul Westerberg Looking Up In Heaven
18. Tommy Stinson Hey You
19. Slim Dunlap Nowheres Near
20. The Replacements Message To The Boys

Track 1 from 14 Songs (1993)
Track 2 from Eventually (1996)
Tracks 3, 4 from Friday Night Is Killing Me (1993)
Tracks 5, 6 from Horseshoes and Hand Grenades (1992)
Tracks 7, 8 from Grandpaboy (1997)
Track 9 from The Old New Me (1993)
Tracks 10, 11, 19 from Times Like This (1996)
Tracks 12 from Once, Twice, Three Times A Maybe (2004)
Track 13 from Seven Days A Week (1997)
Track 14 from Closer 2 Normal (1989)
Track 15 from Mono/Stereo (2002)
Track 16, 17 from Folker (2004)
Track 18 from Village Gorilla Head (2004)
Track 20 from Don't You Know Who I Think I Was? (2006)

Best of the Best of 2010

Get ready for another UHM quantum top 20, compiled grudgingly from the comps I've posted throughout the year (as well as a few last minute additions).

This was another year of great music, and this mix is subsequently filled with one outstanding tune after another. All of this blog's obsessions are represented: a little punk energy from the Cute Lepers, some dirty rock 'n' roll from Jim Jones Revue and J. Roddy Walston, some rootsy Americana from Mynabirds and Kasey Anderson, some modern R&B updating from Asa, a touch of glam from Free Energy, and a whole lot of power pop/pop punk/whatever-you-wanna-call-it from most of the rest.

The Best of 2010

1. Spoon Trouble Comes Running (from Transference)
2. Silver Seas Somebody Said Your Name (from Chateau Revenge!)
3. Asa Why Can't We (from Beautiful Imperfection)
4. J. Roddy Walston & The Business Don't Break The Needle (from J. Roddy Walston & The Business)
5. Jim Jones Revue Dishonest John (from Burning Your House Down)
6. The Biters Dreamer (from The Biters ep)
7. Smash Palace How Can You Say? (from 7)
8. Free Energy Bang Pop (from Stuck On Nothing)
9. Title Tracks Every Little Bit Hurts (from It Was Easy)
10. The Cute Lepers What Happens Next (from Smart Accessories)
11. Yukon Blonde Babies Don't Like Blue Anymore (from Yukon Blonde)
12. Elvyn Those Were The Days (from The Decline)
13. Sunrise Highway Magic (from Sunrise Highway)
14. Locksley There's A Love (from Be In Love)
15. Telepathic Butterflies Aloha! (from Wow & Flutter)
16. Willie Nile Can't Stay Home (from The Innocent Ones)
17. The Gay Blades Mick Jagger (from Savages)
18. Kasey Anderson All Lit Up (from Nowhere Nights)
19. Little Fish You, Me, and the TV (from Baffled and Beat)
20. Jason Falkner Emotion Machine (from All Quiet On The Noize Floor)
21. Mynabirds What We Gained In The Fire (from What We Lose In The Fire We Gain In The Flood)
22. The Shivers American Girls (from Sunset Psalms)
23. Dan Kelly Grown Up Solutions (from Dan Kelly's Dream)


So that makes 23 artists on the UHM quantum top 20, and damn, there's still no room for great songs from great albums by Bobby Bare Jr., the Postelles, Nick Curran & the Lowlifes, Luke Doucet, Ted Leo, Macy Gray, My Jerusalem, and Caroline & the Treats, and a whole host of others.