M.T. VII: Mystery Ships.

Sorry as ever for the recent posting lapse. What can I say? Life, y’know – what a pain in the ass. If only I could skulk in a crypt and review 7”s all day long. But how would I get them, when the sunlight hurts my ossified limbs? Have you ever tried to get decent broadband connected in a cemetery? So you see my dilemma.

Anyway, to keep things hoppin’ whilst I try in vain to coax some words on this year’s Hot New Acts from their mental hiding place, here’s another hogshead of quasi-psychedelia to liven up a drab and greasy February.

I dunno much what anyone thinks of these comps, but I certainly enjoy making them, and their gradual formation as I plough through hours of random play, selectively dragging & dropping, has become a big part of my listening routine.

I fear that by this stage, the mixes that emerge are tending to get a tad predictable – some 60s/70s fuzz guitar obscurities, a token African track, one or two Japanese tracks, a bit of Italian film soundtrack stuff, post-New Thing hippie jazz interlude, some weird noise collage and something a bit post-punky just to mix it up a bit, a bit of basement genius from one of those lost mid-west rustbelt savant type characters (three for the price of one this time round, with Tommy Jay, Mike Rep AND Michael Yonkers), something a bit Witch House-y to show I’m hip to the exciting new rhythm-type musics of today, and bob’s yr uncle.

Never mind. I still like it all. It still makes for a pretty representative sample of the kind of stuff I like listening to beyond the realms of new-ish punk/pop/rock, and I'd like to think that the open-minded listener should be able to find at least one or two flat out killers to suit their particular tastes on each of these. I mean, don’t even get me started on that Marsha Hunt track – oh MAN, it’s like all the good stuff on that biker-rock comp I made a while back compressed into three minutes of pure carnage – maybe even beats Betty Harris’s ‘Break in the Road’ for the coveted ‘best feedback soul song ever’ title. And if you’re unfamiliar with D.R. Hooker’s ‘Forge Your Own Chains’, well… better get on that! Approach the reissue of his album in your local record shop in a slow yet forceful manner, and put your money on the counter. Oh, and yeah, there’s a near-ten year old Dead Meadow track on there too, of course. Say what you like, I’m still digging it.

Hopefully on the next instalment we’ll shake things up a bit. I mean, it’ll probably still have Ennio Morricone and Serge Gainsbourg and Don Cherry on it – let’s not go nuts, right? – but in-between hopefully I’ll come up with some stuff to plunder new realms, frighten the horses etc too.

In the meantime, enjoy this one. Here’s the link:

http://www.mediafire.com/?4wh4825gya7jcss


1. John Fahey - We Would Be Building
2. Fallen Angels - Something New You Can Hide In
3. Marsha Hunt - Red Hot Poppa
4. Stark Reality - Rocket Ship
5. Houghas Sorowonko - Enuanom Adofo
6. Papa Celestin's New Orleans Band - Marie Le Veau
7. D.R. Hooker - Forge Your Own Chains
8. Golau Glau - Soft Silver Young
9. Swell Maps - Big Empty Field
10. Serge Gainsbourg -
Je N'avais pas Qu-un Seul Mot a Lul Dire
11. Ennio Morricone - Svolta Definitiva
12. Kangaroo Paw - Osusowake
13. Tommy Jay & Mike Rep - Learn to Ride
14. Don Cherry & The Jazz Composers Orchestra - The Queen of Tung Ting Lake
15. Dead Meadow - Babbling Forever
16. OKOK Research Bureau - The Sinister Pearl (remix)
17. White Ring - Suffocation (Haunted by Unison remix)
18. Michael Yonkers - Will It Be
19. Cheater Slicks - Mystery Ship

PS – I’m changing the name from this # onwards too. That ‘Mystery Train-ing’ tag seemed like a good idea at the time, what with the train pun, the whole ‘underground journey cross the world’ notion etc., but detached from that it sounds pretty pompous and it’s been bugging me, so – Mystery Ships. I like that phrase. I like that concept. (Try googling it for some fun stuff.) Let’s go with it. Bon voyage!


Prior instalments:

Volume # 1 (originally written up here)
Volume # 2 (originally written up here)
Volume # 3 (originally written up here)
Volume # 4 (originally written up here)
Volume # 5 (originally written up here)
Volume # 6 (originally written up here)

Labels: mixtapes, Psychedelia