Summer Is Over: Disc Two

Another week of pro and college football has passed. Both of our teams—PC’s Buckeyes and Browns, and my Nittany Lions and Steelers—came away with wins. Good weekend for sports. And the weather was perfect. Chilly fall days, crisp blue skies, and cool nights. Nothing better. PC criticized the title of my last post—yes, it wasn’t entirely accurate, but then again, since I’m a Penn State fan, I can’t exactly take up Ohio State’s cause. I just hope that anyone who plays Michigan ends up beating them.

As promised, here’s disc two of the annual fall mix. The first mix has expired, but if you have a request, I'm sure we can get a few back up.

Ghost Riders In the Sky – The Ramrods

A mix of surf instrumental and cowboy punk—I don’t know what you’d call it other than original and great.

Dreamer – Jenn Grant
Another original soung—Jenn Grant mixes up traditional folk, found sounds, and some good beats. She’s every bit as good as Feist but isn’t on an iPod commercial.

Monkberry Moon Delight – Paul McCartney
I consider this Sir Paul’s most underrated song off the largely forgotten album Ram. It sounds as if Paul, along with those back-up singers, snorted five pounds of coke before the producer hit the record button. He screams the lyrics and sounds like a maniac. But it’s loaded with energy, absurd lyrics, and a bass line that propels this thing into infinity.

In Your Veins – The Soundtrack of Our Lives
This Swedish band has been around for years and sound like the perfect throwback to the sixties. This melancholy tracks, with the strings, the delicate piano, and the haunting vocals are sublime.

No Moon – Iron & Wine
Nothing like some dusty, old-timey sounding music for the fall.

Place to Be – Nick Drake
Not there is anything to say here that hasn’t already been said.

Milk and Honey – Jackson C. Frank
Check out the history of this guy. Music this pretty only comes from someone this tortured—see above song.

King Harvest (Has Surely Come) – The Band
Scarecrow and a yellow moon,
and pretty soon a carnival on the edge of town,
King Harvest has surely come.

Friday Night at the Drive-In Bingo – Jens Lekman
This song just reminds of driving around with friends in high school, with nowhere to go, except somewhere we didn’t want to be.

Sunny Sunday Mill Valley Groove Day – Frank Black
I love this song, but damned if it isn’t hard to sing along with that chorus.

Forget Marie – Lee Hazelwood
Gonna go as far as fourteen dollars will take a fool like me…

These Dreams – Jim Croce
Another great artist who died way too young—seems there are too many on this mix. Croce had his own guitar playing style and voice. He’ll always remain one of my favorites.

Seasons – Chris Cornell
One of my favorites off the Singles soundtrack. Cornell’s voice, as always, is amazing. And the acoustic guitars. I love it.

House on the Lake – Rosanne Cash
This is my favorite song off her very good Black Cadillac, an elegy to the famous lake house Johnny and June shared.

Round the Bend – Beck
Sea Change makes my desert island list, the closest anyone has gotten to recording a Hank Williams album since Hank stopped doing it in 1953. The straight-forward lyrics, the finger-picking, the misery and heartache, the strings—this is his masterpiece and I don’t think he’ll ever top it.

California Dreamin’ – The Mamas and the Papas
All the leaves are brown. And the sky is gray.

Pretty Ballerina – The Left Banke
That off-key piano reminds me of leaves falling.

Laid a Highway – Tift Merritt
If country music still had any balls left, Tift Merritt would be a fucking star—sorry Faith Hill, but you suck. Tift is a great songwriter, singer, and has a great stage presence. I could listen to her all day.

Route 23 – Chatham County Line
A fine bluegrass band from North Carolina—saw them open for Tift Merritt during my former life. Another song about a road passing a town by. Reminds me of what recently happened in the area where I grew up.

I Saw the Light – Hank Williams
I’ve said this many times—Hank Williams is one of the best songwriters because he never wasted a word. This gospel song is poetic, beautiful, and tragic, considering the vices that eventually killed Williams. His voice is alive and strong in this, as it always will be.

All the Young Dudes – Mott the Hoople
Yes, maybe the only time Hank Sr. and glam rock have been juxtaposed with each other. The soaring chorus, the angst-soaked delivery of the lyrics—it was all written by David Bowie, who claims the song is about the apocalypse, not a trashing of the 60s as most thought.

Long May You Run – Neil Young
An elegy to his first car, but it could just as well be about anything.

Summer Is Over: Disc One

The second week of college football has passed—Penn State climbed to number twelve and their defense has yet to give up a touchdown in a game. PC’s OSU Buckeyes are ranked ten and will hopefully stay undefeated until Oct. 27, when PSU obliterates them at Beaver Stadium. The NFL caps off their first weekend with a Monday night double-header tonight. Yes, fall is in full swing in my mind, no matter the temperatures. It’s time for wood smoke to fog the air, time for leaves to fire over with the colors of autumn, time for baseball playoffs, and time for chilly evening breezes.

Continuing upon PC’s excellent fall-themed post from a few days ago, I’m presenting the first disc of a fall mix series. Two years ago, PC gave me a mix CD called “Longing for the Midwestern Autumn.” It remains one of my favorite mixes to this day and featured that great Kingsbury Manx song he posted. I’ve lifted a few off that mix, reused some from last year’s mix, and stole a few from others. No matter where I got them, let this mix be your soundtrack to fall.

Elysium Number Five – Sir Richard Bishop
If you’re not familiar with Richard Bishop, do yourself a favor and buy everything you can. His solo work is supposedly largely improvisational, all the more impressive considering that he’s one of the very best guitarists alive today.

The Summer Is Over – Gisela and the Spirits
I wish that I knew something about this late-60s track but unfortunately, I can’t find a thing on it. It’s a sublime little song about the loss of summer. The guitar work sounds foreboding to me—maybe because it reminds me of the classic Don Knotts movie The Ghost and Mr. Chicken.

The World Is Cold Without You – Nirvana (U.K.)
No, not that Nirvana, but the late-60s British progressive rock band. Their chamber pop definitely takes a page from The Zombies, but never received the attention they deserved. This song is a small masterpiece that should be a staple on every oldies station.

Honey Dove – Lee Fields and the Expressions
Maybe the best R&B song that wasn’t recorded in the 1960s? That grooving, slow burning guitar mixed with Fields’ passionate delivery sells this song. Throw in an organ and baby, you got yourself a stew!

I’ll Be Around – Bobby Bare Jr.
His dad’s a country legend, but Bobby Bare Jr. is a great artist in his own right. This comes from his 2002 album, but he’s got a new one and I hear that PC loves it—maybe he’ll give us a little sample?

A Little More Time – John Doe
I’ve been digging “A Year in the Wilderness” for about a month now. I’ve always loved John Doe—I’m not an X diehard, but once they went Americana on their later albums, I was hooked. This track features guest vocals but our next artist…

Summerlong – Kathleen Edwards
The voice, the lyrics, the music—Kathleen Edwards is pretty much perfect in my book. This is off “Back to Me,” surely one of my top three favorite albums released this decade. It’s a masterpiece straight through.

Downbound Train – Bruce Springsteen
This was originally going to be on “Nebraska”—I’d love to hear how Bruce stripped it down for that album. Instead, he jacked it up for “Born in the U.S.A.” and it retains its darkness—that desperate run through the front door at the end is one of my favorite Springsteen moments.

The End of the Summer – Dar Williams
My love for this song is unhealthy. I first heard it about a year ago and have listened to it at least once a week since. The imagery is poetic—that’s a cheesy description, but there’s no other way I can say it. There are lines in here that take my breath away: “I passed the farms that made it through the last days of the century.” Williams perfectly captures the loneliness and desperation of youth and America in just over four minutes in what is her finest song.

Flowers in December – Mazzy Star
Dream pop at its very best, Mazzy Star always stops me in my tracks, largely because of Hope Sandoval’s dusty, haunting vocals.

I’m On Nights – Richard Hawley
Here’s a guy who needs more attention. Hawley’s beautiful, acoustic songs are show-stoppers. “I’m On Nights” reminds me of that perfect fall evening, sitting on the porch, wearing a Covington.

I Wish I was the Moon – Neko Case
Oh Neko… Her voice can cure all that ails you.

Crazy as a Loon – John Prine
I was a late bloomer to John Prine—sure, I’d heard of him, but never really listened to him. This one is off his last album and it’s a doozey. He’s a master at the story song. By the time we up in the north woods at the end of the song, you’ll never want to be anywhere else. Relaxed and smooth—exactly how I hope your fall goes.

Committed to Parkview – Porter Wagoner
Another country legend, Wagoner has seen a spike this year with his album “Wagonmaster.” This song, supposedly based on real life experiences, is spare and haunting.

Lately I’ve Let Things Slide – Nick Lowe
Lowe doesn’t get enough respect as an artist. The guy can craft a perfect pop song but damned if no one listens. I love the laid-back shuffle to this song, perfect juxtaposition to a guy who’s watching his life slide away.

Let It Ride – Ryan Adams and the Cardinals
I’m going to see him on Friday and I’m hoping I get this song, among many others. This is a live version, taken from the Loft Sessions, and it’s slowed down from the album. Still, it remains on my favorite songs by him—there’s a restless, aimless draw to this narrative.

Make A Plan to Love Me – Bright Eyes
Yes, lots of people hate him—I’ve been trying to get PC to buy this album since it came out last spring. The strings, the background vocals—it’s like our girl group post all over again.

Hard Sun – Eddie Vedder with Corin Tucker
A cover off the upcoming “Into the Wild” soundtrack which Vedder contributes many songs to. The original, by Indio, is quite good, but a bit too lo-fi for my tastes. I love how big this song sounds—I can imagine it fitting well against shots of traveling America.

Kaleidoscope of Life – John Morgan
Turn it up—the rip’s a bit quiet. But for a seven minute song, it’s well worth it.

Be back later in the week for the second and final disc. Happy fall-ing!