Electroclature Volume Twelve: 12

April 10, 2024

Part twelve of an array of CD mixes I made for my wife over a long number of years! Read more about it here!

I grabbed this photo while walking around Chicago’s Lincoln Square which …isn’t my favorite neighborhood. I know the term ‘yuppie’ doesn’t carry the same cultural weight it used to, but uh, yeah. It’s a straight-laced yuppie neighborhood with a lot of strollers, smug and self-righteous and self-entitled folks, and littered with antiseptic and bland local businesses.

It used to be predominantly a German neighborhood, as Chicago’s stupidly segregated and that’s where a lot of German immigrants moved to and set up shop. Sadly, almost all of the German restaurants and shops are no longer. The cultural flavor of Lincoln Square simply doesn’t exist any more.

There is the Davis Theater, which used to be a charming and cheap shithole, but they remodeled and cleaned it up. However, it remains one of my go-tos for more mainstream films because it is indie and the employees and clientele are awesome. One helped me out with a very difficult situation when someone got way too handsy with me.

Anyway! I couldn’t resist two clouds sucking face and merging with each other.

That rather sums up the entire cover. I am not proud of it. The numerical styling is weak and indistinct and — apart from the building in the corner — it looks pretty fucking boring. However, it is a thing that exists and something I willed into the world, for better or for worse.

Highlights? CALL ME POUPÉE’s svelte Montreal pop of Rumba Maniak! 90s throwback ELASTICA’s radio session of Hold Me Now! The social anxiety of LOVE IS ALL’s 19 Floors! However, my personal favorite? SHRAG’s Talk to the Left [DJ Downfall Entente Cordiale] which is 100% about handjobs and so catchy.

As usual, here’s the format. (Artist / Album / Song):

  • LENNI JABOUR & THE THIRD FLOOR / Les Dangereuses / Les Fleurs Mécontentes
  • PARENTHETICAL GIRLS / Entanglements / Windmills of Your Mind
  • KATZENJAMMER / Le Pop / Mother Superior
  • CALL ME POUPÉE / Western Shanghai / Rumba Maniak
  • FLOGGING MOLLY / Float / Float
  • TITUS ANDRONICUS / The Airing of Grievances / Fear and Loathing in MahWah, NJ
  • LOS CAMPESINOS! / We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed / Ways to Make It Through the Wall
  • ELASTICA / The Radio One Sessions / Hold Me Now [Peel]
  • LOVE IS ALL / A Hundred Things Keep Me Up At / 19 Floors
  • THE VIOLETS / The Lost Pages / Forget Me Not
  • BLOOD RED SHOES / Box of Secrets / It’s Getting Boring by the Sea
  • EVIL NINE / They Live! / They Live! [Felix Cartal]
  • SHRAG / Online / Talk To The Left [DJ Downfall Entente Cordiale]
  • JUSTICE / † (Cross) / Stress
  • ESSER / I Love You / I Love You
  • MUNLY / Munly & The Lee Lewis Harlots / River Fortine Tippecanoe
  • SPRENGJUHÖLLIN / SPRENGJUHÖLLIN / Sumar í Múla

Electroclature Volume Eleven: 11

April 8, 2024

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):

  • CAMILLE / Le Fil / Assise
  • VON MAGNET / Ni prédateur ni proie / Mann Hinter dem Vorhang
  • LARKIN GRIMM / Parplar / Ride that Cyclone
  • PALE YOUNG GENTLEMEN / Black Forest (Tra La La) / The Crook of My Good Arm
  • CROOKED FINGERS / Forfeit/Fortune / Let’s Not Pretend (To Be New Men)
  • ELBOW / The Seldom Seen Kid / Grounds for Divorce
  • GOGOL BORDELLO / Super Taranta! / Ultimate
  • MAMMUT / SXSW 2007 Showcasing Artists / Midnaeturmetall
  • KATZENJAMMER / Le Pop / Tea With Cinnamon
  • TILLY AND THE WALL / That Remix Sucks / The Freest Man [CSS]
  • DIFFERNET / Collapsing Universe / Survival Kit
  • THE RAVEONETTES / Lust Lust Lust / The Beat Dies
  • INKLEIN QUARTET / Brave New World / Lonely Whale Song
  • SLEATER-KINNEY / Dig Me Out / Jenny
  • SHRAG / Shrag / Forty Five 45s
  • THE LONG BLONDES / Giddy Stratospheres / Polly
  • BE YOUR OWN PET / Get Awkward / Becky
  • FINAL FANTASY / Spectrum, 14th Century / The Butcher

Electroclature Volume Ten: ETCHED SKIES

April 5, 2024

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):

  • GAMEPLAY / Beirut Disco / Beirut Disco
  • LADYTRON / Velocifero / The Lovers
  • RA RA RIOT / The Rhumb Line / Dying is Fine
  • THE LONG BLONDES / Separated By Motorways [Single] / Big Infatuation
  • BLOOD RED SHOES / I Wish I Was Someone Better / I Wish I Was Someone Better
  • TILLY AND THE WALL / o / Pot Kettle Black
  • SLEATER-KINNEY / The Woods / Entertain
  • THE KNIFE / Marble House / Marble House [Rex The Dog]
  • BOOKA SHADE / n/a / Outskirts [Trentemøller]
  • XENIA BELIAYEVA / DTP27 / Music [Kiko]
  • BLACK LUNG / Concrete Octopus / Concrete Octopus
  • DIRTY THREE / Cinder / Doris
  • B. FLEISCHMANN / The Humbucking Coil / Aldebaran Waltz
  • VON MAGNET / Ni Prédateur Ni Proie / Growing Vs Fading
  • HOLY FUCK / LP / Safari

Electroclature Volume Nine: TAKING CHANCES

April 3, 2024

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):

  • RATATAT / LP3 / Shiller
  • AU / Verbs / RR vs. D
  • FIREWATER / The Golden Hour / Hey Clown
  • THE POLYPHONIC SPREE / Adidas / HOOPS Yes! (FC Dallas)
  • ESSER / I Love You / I Love You
  • Patrick Wolf / The Magic Position / The Magic Position
  • T.Raumschmiere / E / E
  • PORTISHEAD / Third / Machine Gun
  • DAS KABINETTE / Spy Thriller / The Cabinet
  • DETEKTIVBYRÅN / E18 / Laka-koffa
  • CLOUD CULT / The Meaning of 8 / Pretty Voice
  • THE MOUNTAIN GOATS / Heretic Pride / In The Craters On The Moon
  • ROSTAM BATMANGLI / Campus / Campus
  • THE SECTION QUARTET / Fuxxbox / Phenomena
  • LADYTRON / Velocifero / Ghosts
  • SERVICES / SXSW 2018 / Presenter
  • GLUKOZA / GTA4 OST / Schweine
  • THE TING TINGS / We Started Nothing / That’s Not My Name

Electroclature Volume Eight: x8

April 1, 2024

Part eight of an array of CD mixes I made for my wife over a long number of years! Read more about it here!

We used to live near this intersection and, while I love the angles and blue, the cover feels lackluster to me despite the ND filter effect (look it up!) and nothing about the typography works.

While I may not love the cover, I do love the mix.

MY ROBOT FRIEND’s ‘Robot High School’ is so fucking catchy.

If you’ve ever heard CLOUD CULT? Their songs? 100% trauma and devastation. Their songs will. Make. You. Weep. Saw them at Chicago’s Metro with a live painter interpreting their sound on-stage which? Yeah, that sounds pretentious, but it was so fucking messy and vulnerable, like we shouldn’t have been able to watch it unfurl.

SHOUT OUT OUT OUT’s ‘Forever Indebted’ is so hooky while also so absolutely crushing and escalates wildly while being brutal about finances, which … resonates even harder now.

I vividly remember playing SONS & DAUGHTERS’ ‘Guilt Complex’ to my wife shortly after a New Years countdown clicked down. For some drunken reason I couldn’t help but flail my arms about and sing along with it. Will she know why? Will you? Nope!

Revisiting these mixes, I am gobsmacked at how many of these bands I saw live, and how many memories I have from them. Hell, I remember leaning over the railing at Metro and singing along to THE KILLS. Make your own experiences, y’all.

Keep clapping. (Artist / Album / Song):

  • FAKE / You Are Not Dead: A Guide To Modern Living / Past Performance Does Not Guarantee Future Results
  • THE KILLS / Midnight Bloom / Cheap and Cheerful
  • MY ROBOT FRIEND / Robot High School / Robot High School
  • aonami / SXSW 2008 Showcasing Artists / MISODISKO
  • JONATHAN COULTON / Portal OST / Still Alive
  • ASA-CHANG & JUNRAY / Jun Ray Song Chang / Hana
  • VAMPIRE WEEKEND / Stereogum Presents… OKX: A Tribute To OK Computer / Exit Music (For a Film)
  • CLOUD CULT / Feel Good Ghosts / When Water Comes to Life
  • MAN MAN / Live at 9:30 Club 6/30/06 / Spooky Jookie
  • SONS & DAUGHTERS / This Gift / Gift Complex
  • THE VIOLETS / The Lost Pages / In Your Statue
  • BODIES OF WATER / Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink / Doves Circled the Sky
  • MIDNIGHT MOVIES / Nights EP / Nights In White Satin
  • FEIST / Vanshe Technologic Remix / 1234
  • SHOUT OUT OUT OUT / Not Saying Just Saying / Forever Indebted
  • GOGOL BORDELLO / Super Taranta! / Wonderlust King
  • HOLY FUCK / Holy Fuck / Lovely Allen
  • THE HYLOZOISTS / La Fin Du Monde / The Man Who Almost Was

Electroclature Volume Seven: INTERRUPT PT. 2

March 29, 2024

A companion piece to INTERRUPT PT. 1, if you will. (Read more about the reasoning behind these mixes here!)

Pretty sure the photo came from a garagesaling expedition of ours and this wringer probably cost $5 and I regret not buying it. I’ll note? I do love the texture.

I also really love this mix. I will always go to bat for THE LONG BLONDES and ‘Big Infatuation’ is absolutely one of my favorites. BALKAN BEAT BOX? So energetic. (Not sure if they’re still around, but I loved seeing ’em live as goddamn did they pop and bop.) THE VIOLETS was a criminally underrated post-punk band that released one album and that was it and it was not enough, at least not for me.

Also, as someone who has seen SLIM CESSNA’S AUTO CLUB live? They really fucking know how to roll with flubs:

She’s a dancer!

She dances fine!

I don’t remember my next line!

So … uh, enjoy!

Track listing (Artist / Album / Song):

  • HENGAR-UNION SACRED HARP CONVENTION / Anthology of American Folk Music / Antioch 277
  • BALKAN BEAT BOX / Balkan Beat Box / Bulgarian Chicks
  • BEIRUT / Gulag Orkestar / Prenzlauerberg
  • SLIM CESSNA’S AUTO CLUB / Jesus Let Me Down / Unto the Day [LIVE]
  • SONS & DAUGHTERS / This Gift / Goodbye Service
  • THE LONG BLONDES / someone to drive you home / Lust in the Movies
  • TWO TON BOA / Parasiticide / Cash Machine
  • PEPINPO / 8bp050 / Faster Than Time
  • 65daysofstatic / Unreleased_Unreleasable Vol. 2 / aren’t we all running [feedle] (Yes, I know I typo’ed that in the art but too late now.)
  • YUKSEK / The Wax – EP / crosswords
  • BIT SHIFTER / Half-Life / Antenna
  • BEAK / amoral mayor earwig ep / i saw two of me
  • DETEKTIVBYRÅN / Hemvägen EP / E18
  • DIVISION DAY / Covers/Remixes / Enjoy the Silence
  • TALL DWARFS / That’s the Short and Long of It / Nothing’s Going to Happen
  • THE VIOLETS / The Lost Pages / Parting Glances
  • THE MAGNETIC FIELDS / Live on Fair Game with Faith Salie / The Nun’s Litany [acoustic radio]

Electroclature Volume Six: INTERRUPT PT. 1

As I’ve said before, while I really enjoy all of these mixes, I made all of these mix CDs to pass along to my Greek wife. (You can read more about it here!)

If you can see the mix CD cover? You’ll understand why I went this route. I am not a subtle designer! I believe it coincided with a summertime when there were a lot of Greek street festivals as — in Chicago — there are times where you can’t walk a few blocks without running into Greek dancers, but I could be misremembering.

Anyway. That alleyway? I believe I took that photo when we used to live in the Chicago neighborhood of Ravenswood. It was an alleyway along one of my least favorite rentals.

My wife and I lived in Ravenswood intermittently for a few years which, if you are familiar with Chicago? It’s one of the Chicago neighborhoods where a couple moves to from the Loop or a more single-centric district like Wrigleyville or — at the time — Wicker Park or Bucktown, then they adopt a dog to test their relationship and then live there with the dog until they come to an understanding that they can care for the dog so they can also care for kids.

They then have a kid and walk the kid around the neighborhood with a gigantic carriage that takes up most of Chicago’s narrow sidewalks, their forlorn dog by the side taking up the rest of the space, all while taking advantage of an adjacent culturally vibrant queer community — such as our long-lived neighborhood of Andersonville, a neighborhood I’d be happy dying in — without giving anything back.

When the kid is around three or four? They move to the north Chicago suburb of Evanston and slowly slide into a vastly different, oft-existentially depressing life.

It’s a tale as old as time. I have seen this occur to an absurd extent. I’m witnessing it in real-time with a nearby couple. I may sound bitter, but I have reason to be. These neighborhoods I’ve lived in aren’t meant to be transient launching pads for your 30s and to later say you were part of these communities when you actively were not. I’ve seen neighborhoods bled dry by these actions.

I did not expect to pen that much of a tirade. Apologies for too much information, and to anyone reading this who loves Ravenswood and/or moved to Evanston! You are awesome!

I’ll note that this is probably the one mix where I’ve seen almost all of the bands in-person: GOGOL BORDELLO? BEIRUT? DEVOTCHKA? THE PIPETTES? BISHOP ALLEN? EMILIE SIMON? IMOGEN HEAP? CONVERTER — we brought him to Chicago via a short-lived production group! — and there are more!

We were firing on all cylinders then. Props to fellow members Zoe and DJ KY and my wife, who put up with my hard head.

I like the above card I designed that we left at any place in Chicago that would allow it, but we did have issues because I didn’t allow for enough bleed. (We made it work.) Also? That’s the back, hence the lack of venue address. I don’t love the front enough to bother posting it. (Good, vibrant colors. Bad vector conversion regarding the primary photo though.)

And no, that URL no longer works.

I’ve veered wildly off-topic! I don’t love this CD mix cover. The leading sucks. The alleyway isn’t as striking as I’d hoped. It’s not terrible, but it doesn’t quite capture one’s attention.

Highlights? Most of those are about poignancy and melancholy, because maybe I was going through some shit at the time? CAMERA OBSCURA’s late 60s-early 70s throwback bop ‘Lloyd, I’m Ready To Be Heartbroken’. IMOGEN HEAP’s heartbreaking ‘Glittering Heap’. SHRAG’s ‘Hopelessly Wasted’ which feels like one of the most dispirited prom songs ever. Also, the extraordinary sad tale of living life over time via THE DIVINE COMEDY’s ‘Lady of a Certain Age’.

Anyway. Enjoy, despite the fact that I misspelled CONVERTER on the album cover. Sorry about that, CONVERTER! (Your live version of ‘Denogginizer’ is a banger!)

Track listing: (Artist / album / song)

  • JUF / Gogol Bordello Vs. Tamir Muskat / Super Rifle [BALKAN EXPRESS TRAIN ROBBERY]
  • BEIRUT / Gulag Orkestar / Mount Wroclai (Idle Days)
  • Devotchka / Supermelodrama / Curse Your Little
  • THE LONG BLONDES / Someone to Drive You Home / Separated By Motorways
  • LOVE IS ALL / Nine Times the Same Song / Used Goods
  • THE PIPETTES / We Are The Pipettes / Dirty Mind
  • CAMERA OBSCURA / Let’s Get Out Of This Country / Lloyd, I’m Ready To Be Heartbroken
  • THE BLOOD BROTHERS / Young Machetes / Spit Shine Your Black Clouds
  • VALENTINOS / Kitsune Maison 3 / Kafka [Bag Raiders What Y’all Kno ‘Bout Seven] (Erroneously labeled above)
  • JON SHEFFIELD / One Winter Is Notenuf / Air Supplies, Toothbrush, Etc.
  • LULLABYE ARKESTRA / Ampgrave / Unite!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • IMOGEN HEAP / Plague Songs / Glittering Cloud
  • SHRAG / Shrag / Hopelessly Wasted
  • BISHOP ALLEN / September EP / Like Castanets
  • THE DIVINE COMEDY / Victory for the Comic Muse / A Lady of a Certain Age
  • EMILIE SIMON / The Flower Book / Flowers
  • GLOMAG / Pocket Calculator – Single / Pocket Calculator [Glomag Mega-Mix]
  • CONVERTER / Broken Meat / Denogginizer [Live]
  • SINNER DC / Mount Age / They Never Stay

Electroclature Volume Five: ATTENTION SP

March 27, 2024

Part five of an array of CD mixes I made for my wife over a long number of years! Read more about it here!

For some reason, my archived playlist kicks off with JÓHANN JÓHANNSON’s ‘The sun’s gone dim and the sky’s turned black’ from his album IBM 1401, a user’s manual. I do not know why I didn’t include it, as my father worked for IBM and I find it to be a very personal song.

So, despite the fact that it’s not actually part of the CD I handed off, I’m including it here.

(It’s worth noting Jóhann is no longer with us, but his music will always remain.)

The cover? A close-up of a porch railing from one of our prior apartments. We were always shocked that it didn’t completely fall apart upon stepping out on it, as it was absolutely carved away by termites.

Highlights? RATATAT’s ‘Lex’ is perfectly constructed to sway to in the middle of the night. SUPERSYSTEM’s ‘White Light White Light’ is a raucous good time. BONDE DO ROLE heavily sample ‘The Final Countdown’ which is nostalgic, well-infused fun. THE LONG BLONDES always entertain and ‘You Could Have Both’ is a very breathless song about lust and desire and allure no matter who it affects, as is par for the course for them.

Lastly? I have no fucking clue how I settled on the title. I’m guessing I may have been suggesting that attention is needed while watching VHS tapes recorded in SP as they’re far shorter than recording in EP format, but I doubt it.

Tracklust, I mean tracklist: Artist / Album / Song!

  • JÓHANN JÓHANNSON / IBM 1401, a user’s manual / The sun’s gone dim and the sky’s turned black
  • REGINA SPEKTOR / Begin to Hope / Edit
  • naomi sample / microballads vol 1 / living auf a satellite
  • BONDE DO ROLE / Bonde Do Role / Ma´quina de Ricota
  • null / Okami OST (Vol. 2) / Crimson Helm, Begone!
  • RATATAT / Classics / Lex
  • SUPERSYSTEM / A Million Microphones / White Light White Light
  • Coin-op / null / White Picket
  • THE LONG BLONDES / Someone To Drive You Home / You Could Have Both
  • DAVID & THE CITIZENS / S/T / Now She Sleeps In A Box In The Good Soil Of Denmark
  • MICAH P HINSON / The Baby & The Satellite / The Dreams You Left Behind (Reprise)
  • DeVotchKa / How It Ends / Such a Lovely Thing
  • Gál Attila scratch and jew’s harping by Kwikka / Nomada remix album / Aven le Roma! [reCord]
  • XIU XIU / The Air Force / boy record
  • MY DAD VS. YOURS / Crossed Soundtrack / Law of Unintended Consequences

Electroclature Volume Four: MADISON

March 25, 2024

Part four of an array of CD mixes I made for my wife over a long number of years! Read more about it here!

If you’re wondering about the title? It’s because we were driving through Madison, WI and I took a pic when we pulled aside and bought some gasoline.

That’s it.

That’s the entire story.

Also? Not my favorite cover. Feels a bit too forced and anti-septic, but it is what it is. Could be worse. At least I like the font.

Also? I fucking enumerated it this time.

Highlights? D.A.T. POLITICS’s ‘Viper Eyes’ is one hell of a bop. SABREPULSE’s ‘Famicom Connection’ is a whimsical 8-bit delight, and COIN-OP’s ‘Hey Uri!’ is a thrill ride that tears Uri Geller a new one.

Unfortunately, a fair number of tracks are unavailable to stream. My apologies.

Track listing (artist / album / song):

  • 山口裕史 / 8-bit okami / 画龍成功 レトロバージョン
  • STACS OF STAMINA / Tivoli / Mourning Morning
  • PARA ONE / Epiphanie / Dundun-dun
  • WALTER MEEGO / Hollywood/Keyhole 12″ / Keyhole
  • D.A.T. POLITICS / Wow Twist / Viper Eyes
  • SABREPULSE / Famicom Connection / Famicom Connection [Tajfel Nipple Correction Facility]
  • PLANNINGTOROCK / Have it All / I Wanna Bite Ya
  • FOETUS / Love / Miracle
  • COIN-OP / Hey Uri! / Hey Uri!
  • ART BRUT / Bang Bang Rock & Roll / Modern Art
  • TAPES ‘N TAPES / The Loon / Insistor
  • SLEATER-KINNEY / One Beat / Prisstina
  • MICAH P. HINSON / Micah P. Hinson And The Gospel Of Progress / Don’t You Forget (Part 1 & 2)
  • MY DAD VS. YOURS / After Winter Must Come Spring / No Form, No Food, No Future
  • BISHOP ALLEN / March EP / Flight 180
  • PONY HOAX / Poni Hoax / Budapest
  • 777minus111 / akademiks / cortney rlizabeth rafter

Electroclature Volume Three: THE JOY OF REPETITION

March 22, 2024

Part three of an array of CD mixes I made for my wife over a long number of years! Read more about it here!

Gotta admit, this is one of my favorites mix CD cover designs, both back and forth. I love me my structural neon pink + minimalism, to the point where it has made some folks very angry at me.

(When I redesigned one of my sites to feature a similar hot pink — this was over a decade ago — and wow, readers were pissed to the point where I gave in and added an aqua blue theme toggle. Fuck ’em! No regrets! Love the pink!)

I do wish I had thought of the phrase ‘The Joy of Repetition’ as I’ve harped on the virtues of repetition in prior posts while discussing videogames many moons ago, but no: I 100% stole it from the featured HOT CHIP track ‘Over and Over’.

Not to back-pat myself too much, but I love this mix. I could listen to this for days, even weeks on end. JAMES FIGURINE’s 55566688833 is the stand-out here; an absolutely emotionally brutal slice of electronics that is very, very much of its texting-time in ways that is incredibly exacting.

When we disagree? We fight in capital letters.

I have to type a lot of numbers into my cellphone, just to make it spell LOVE so I usually don’t.

Track list (Artist / Album / Song):

  • JM / [plpl000] Various – Hello World / The Circle Machine
  • ZIGGY KINDER / Akrobatik / Paarartistik
  • ELLEN ALLIEN & APPARAT / Orchestra of Bubbles / Do Not Break
  • WAX TAILOR / Tales of the Forgotten Melodies / Que Sera
  • HOT CHIP / Over and Over EP / Over and Over
  • I AM THE WORLD TRADE CENTER / The Cover Up / Future Sightings
  • RODRIGO Y GABRIELA / Rodrigo Y Gabriela / Tamacun
  • DATA / Trop Laster EP / Master Level
  • JAMES FIGURINE / Mistake, Mistake, Mistake, Mistake / 55566688833
  • INKLEIN QUARTET / Brave New World / Lonely Whale Song
  • (Somehow the Sigur Ros track went missing.)
  • GODSPEED! YOU BLACK EMPEROR / Yanqui U.X.O. / Motherfucker=Redeemer (Part Two)
  • AKIRA YAMAOKA / SILENT HILL 4 OST / Room of Angel
  • ALIAS & TARSIER / Brookland/Oaklyn / Dr. C