Goddamnit I fucking love this song, and not only because the album cover looks like someone doing lurid things to a windmill (but that helps).
This is the full audio gamut. Bass, treble, all of the things; wall-to-wall noise until it isn’t.
It hits you every fucking where and I am always here for it.
Part seventeen of an array of CD mixes I made for my wife over a long number of years! Read more about it here!
Yet again a I cover I don’t love.
This cover is a repetitive collage of images snapped while drunk at a posh club, one that I can no longer remember and probably do not want to remember.
That tracks.
I like it as an image though, but I love me my symmetry and striking lighting. It also reminds me of the hallway-facing glass bathroom wall of the first place I lived in when I moved to Chicago, although that was more colorful. (Fun fact? I did shoot an entire short film that only featured that bathroom. Not so fun fact? There was a hell of a lot of shouting and screaming in said short.)
Yet again, the text formatting here — while very intentional — yet again feels like slop to me and I regret it, but nothing to be done about it now.
As usual! Tracklist! (Artist / Album / Song):
Part sixteen of an array of CD mixes I made for my wife over a long number of years! Read more about it here!
…and yet again I went a bit too hard with the cover. It looks far better in print than on-screen, but …yeah. Very difficult to read here. Obviously I assume too much from those who will see these designs.
I will note that I took the photo while having a bit of a stress-reliever respite outside one of my best friend’s porch, and as you may see? The light was covered with webs and spiders and their prey and was oddly consoling.
Sigh. A lot of weird melancholia and anger here. I love all of the tracks, otherwise I wouldn’t have pressed them. CIRCULATORY SYSTEM’s Overjoyed is exuberant, as you would expect from the title. CHICKS ON SPEED’s Art Rules is angry and joyous at the same time. SCREAMING TEA PARTY is tasty punk goodness that makes ya wanna throw arms in the air. I love the organ in THE LOVE ME NOTS’ Give Em What They Want. The pure hedonism of MAD JUANA’s Valhalla!
There’s also ZOLA JESUS’ Rester. I saw her perform at Lincoln Hall and accidentally ran into her after the show. As in actually accidentally ran into her. I’m taller than average and she is quite short so I legit didn’t see her. (I’ll note? Her voice makes her feel like she’s a giant). So… that was awkward. At least I didn’t disrupt her drink.
Setting that aside? Tracklist! (Artist / Album / Song — links go to a video of the song, if available):
Part fifteen of an array of CD mixes I made for my wife over a long number of years! Read more about it here!
Despite the fact that photos from an airplane window are rather cliché, I do rather like this cover artwork, especially since I believe I took it upon a trip to London. (The tracklist text could be tightened up, though, especially since some of it is practically unreadable on the screen.)
This is an embarrassment of riches and also another mix where I’ve seen so many of the bands. FEVER RAY! ART BRUT! THE KILLS!
Arguably the greatest — or at least most exuberant — AMANDA PALMER song! Fun fact? Saw her live at Chicago’s Metro back in the DRESDEN DOLLS days. She pulled water balloons out from her under her tits and threw them at the audience. An audience that was almost solely comprised of young teen girls. It was a show where I thought to myself: “I’m the oldest person here. Also, I think I’m the only dude? Am I gonna be put on some sort of watchlist for this?”
Anyway! Amanda is one fucking audacious performer.
PARENTHETICAL GIRLS! POLLY fucking SCATTERGOOD! Goddamn DIFFERNET!! Fuck, I live for this.
Also? GOD HELP THE GIRL’s ‘Musicians, Please Take Heed’ which features one of my favorite lyrics:
I made a daisy-chain from phrase, verse and punctuation.
I’ve said it before and I will not apologize for saying it again: make the effort to see bands live. Even if it’s a shit performance, you will remember it and will be able to hold that memory close to your heart.
I constantly think about when my wife and myself and others were wrangling acts and when I was DJ’ing and it takes so much time and effort to finesse these matters, much less actually show up and do the fucking work.
I do not think many folks realize just how hard it is to be an indie musician, to try to give misfits a good night out, and how driven a musician or band must be to endeavor out for what amounts to free booze tickets and maybe $60 if you’re lucky.
Okay, I’ll step down from my soapbox now.
As always, tracklist! (Artist / Album / Song — links go to a video of the song, if available):
The following video is not technically NSFW, but it’s as close as you can come so …viewer beware.
Calligraphy. This music video is all about fluid, dynamic, gorgeous and ornate text and I am absolutely here for it.
I cannot relay how many times I’ve watched and rewatched this.
My mind is blown by the amount of effort it must have taken to will this into the world. Words and stop-motion animation and so much skin and ink spatters? Fuck yeah. Reminds me of when as a youth I’d suck India ink in a straw and spit it out all over a page and revel in the black stains.
The fact that the song turns me into a whirlwind? Icing on the cake.
Also? If you were a svelte goth in the late 90s? You’ll certainly recognize the liquid latex utilized at the end. That sort of skin-tight nudity needs to be brought back in-fashion because I miss rocking that.
(Fun fact: Another song of hers will show up in the next Electroclature!)
Lastly? Note the use of BLOCKLETTERING for the chorus. Really, goddamn, the attention to detail here is astounding. Fucking amazing.
“It doesn’t matter if you want it back!
You’ve given it away!
You’ve given it away! Away! Away! Away! Away! Away! Away!”
Part fourteen of an array of CD mixes I made for my wife over a long number of years! Read more about it here!
This is not a well-designed cover. The font feels awkward and I leaned way too much into drop-shadows.
However? I vividly remember taking the photo. I was visiting a friend and noticed the burn stains and reflected on what may have caused it, knowing I’d never get an answer.
Not every great moment lends itself to a great image, but I hold it precious.
Highlights? Motherfucking FIGHT LIKE APES’ ‘I’m Beginning To Think You Prefer Beverly Hills 90210 To Me’! NICO VEGA’s ‘Beast‘! THE LONG BLONDES’ ‘Five Ways to End It’! So good! I cannot keep myself from rocking out to those tracks! I’m doing so while penning this post!
(Album / Artist / Song):
Part thirteen of an array of CD mixes I made for my wife over a long number of years! Read more about it here!
I know this is a CGA-ish eyesore. (CGA? An old-school limited computer display spectrum.) I got way too carried away but I think it has a certain charm, even if it gives me a bit of a migraine.
Included is the back and front and an alternate cover — which is even more of a visual headache! — because that’s a thing I used to do for some reason. Also, the initial template, which is far friendlier to one’s senses.
…or not.
There’s a lot of repetition here. A lot of the same tracks from a few prior volumes. I’m gonna chalk that up to a bipolar manic episode because that tracks.
(And yes, I still have a few ‘tape suitcases’ exactly like this, full of second or third or fifth-generation ripped audio works.)
Highlights! EXOCET’s South End [Colombian Connection] is powernoise perfection, all gristle and meaty beats. THE BPA and Toe Jam is so exuberant and ebullient, although 80% of that is instilled solely by David Byrne’s lilt. THE LONG BLONDES’ I’m Going to Hell from their under-heard album ‘Couples’ which features the following:
I didn’t want to risk the chance of someone finding out /
Now I’m going to hell, so I may as well make it worth my while
Yeah, that’s my lifelong anthem.
Yes, I spent a stupid amount of time on all of these works, and that time is not reflected in the end-product!
(Artist / Album / Song):
Part eleven of an array of CD mixes I made for my wife over a long number of years! Read more about it here!
This cover is a staged photo from an old home office. The chair was an old-as-fuck Herman Miller chair that I got from my job. Even though I did clean it for the photo, I’m surprised that it looks as pristine as it does in that photo because the chair was over a decade old and absolutely falling apart. (Note the missing armrest. Also, the backrest was absolutely deteriorating. Yeah, I worked endless hours and days and weeks and months and years sitting in that chair.)
Similarly, the space my wife and myself were renting was held together by spit and baling wire, but did have a very quaint rustic veneer.
If I had to do it over again, I’d tweak the 11 alignment and figure out something better for the longer song titles. Maybe give it a bit more breathing room. Otherwise? I am fucking pleased as punch with it.
And yeah, this is when I glommed onto serif-centric lettering, as evidenced by this site’s current visual theme.
Highlights? VON MAGNET’s ‘Mann Hinter Dem Vorgang’ is an interlaced masterpiece. DIFFERNET’s ‘Survival Kit’ is a gorgeously languid and melancholy five-and-a-half minutes that intentionally stumbles along until it pretends that it finds its confidence. The missed SHRAG’s ‘Forty-Five 45s’ is indie pop perfection, all heartfelt inflection with a steadfast guitarline, and then there’s the vastly underlooked BE YOUR OWN PET ‘Becky’ which is an exceptionally lurid and vibrant reflection of punk 80s verve.
It makes me happy. (Artist / Album / Song):
Part ten of an array of CD mixes I made for my wife over a long number of years! Read more about it here!
I know I took this photo while traveling from Chicago to Ohio, as it’s exactly what I’ve seen so many times, but I do not recall doing so.
This cover is fine in print. Just fine. I like the amber tinge. I like the E & T merger, although I probably could have done more there. The digitally resized version? It is practically unreadable.
Godfuckingdamnit I never do myself any favors.
All of that aside, it features one of my motherfucking anthems: BLOOD RED SHOES’ ‘I Wish I was Someone Better’. Saw ’em at Chicago’s Subterranean years ago, a club that is two-tiered but still feels oddly intimate. They performed back-to-back. I don’t mean that in a lineup way — they literally didn’t look each other in the face and one performed facing the left and the other on the right, but it wasn’t hateful or antagonistic. I’ve never seen a performance like that, and the energy was off of the fucking charts.
THE LONG BLONDES’ ‘Big Infatuation’ is absolute pop perfection, all GREASE-influenced but far filthier:
“My back turned to him, showing the ladders of my thighs!
I watched girls within; soaked up the envy in their eyes!”
SLEATER-KINNEY’s The Woods is my absolute favorite album of theirs, all indulgent and resonant hard-rock, and ‘Entertain’ endlessly delights me.
There’s a quote from SNOG/BLACK LUNG’s David Thrussel where he stated (and I can’t find the exact quote so I will paraphrase):
“With BLACK LUNG, I stack the tracks until the computer crashes and then I know I’m done.”
The results speak for themselves.
(Artist / Album / Song):
Part nine of an array of CD mixes I made for my wife over a long number of years! Read more about it here!
Fuck. I know what I was going for with this cover: I wanted to recreate old-school medicinal notations and receipts, mostly because I loved this set that we — again — found garagesaling and — again — probably should have purchased. (This will be revisited soon, sadly.)
I absolutely fucked this one up. This is all wrong. It is mostly illegible, even with the drop shadow. It is a misfire; a mess on every level, and I apologize for putting it in front of your eyes.
That said? I’ll remind you? This was only intended for my wife, and I meant it with the best wishes.
It does looks better in-print than on-screen, though.
That aside. This has to be the most exuberant mix I sent along. FIREWATER? THE POLYPHONIC SPREE? ESSER?! PATRICK WOLF and “the major key!!”
This also has one my absolute favorites: THE TING TINGS ‘That’s Not My Name’. I thought everyone except myself forgot about this song until I heard it pop up in the NIMONA trailer which is amazingly appropriate to the point where one might say it’s too on-the-nose because it’s a perfect marriage. I. Fucking. Love. This. Song.
Fuck. Transcribing this playlist is going to ruin my eyes even more than they’re already fucked. (Artist / Album / Song):
![WINTERKÄLTE – Global Deforestation [Amazon Rainforest]](https://mediaclature.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/winterkalte-drum-n-noise.jpg)
