Aubergines, Monkeys & Nico

So...

The mix arrived a few weeks ago, a two disc wonder!

The main disc is called "Aubergines:Purple AND Good for you (Who'd have thunk it?)". The cover is reminiscent of the famous velvet underground album cover with the banana, but obviously with an aubergine. "The Joinee Mixchange & Nico" :)



Track 1 - Starting off a with a lovely piano driven ditty by someone i don't know. The drummer is a bit frantic, seems as if they have somewhere to be. Kind of reminds me of Ben Folds but i don't think it is him. Nice way to start off.

Lyric "They never taught us how to sing, we learned to follow the drum inside, Go!"

Track 2 - Another one that is unknown to me. Follows on well from the last track and is really growing on me after all this time listening to it. Has a nice upbeat feel and an almost 60's vibe going on.

Lyric "If you don't want to be with me, how do you expect me to be?"

Track 3 - Ok so i know this one, but only heard it just before the mixtape. This is Lacrosse with "You can't say no forever". In keeping with the tone of the other tracks, but adds a cute male/female singing duo. The trumpet solo is fantastic and makes me smile every time. Great track.

Lyric "I know i'm not so clever, no no no no, but you're not the picky kind"

Track 4 - Continuing on with the knowing tracks, this is a superb track from Why?, off of an album recommended to me by Steve, Elephant Eyelash. The song is Gemini(Birthday Song) and is one of my favourites. This guy is a lyrical genius and only rivalled recently by dan le sac.

Lyric "When I ask you to kiss my pulse you offer to start the shower. I want a verb and you give me a noun. What do you dream up while I tongue you down?"

Track 5 - Soft acoustic guitar, cute xylophone and a beautiful female vocals. It might be called "you're no god" but not sure who it's by. Really liked this one, it's cheery despite the lyrical content.

Lyric "Until your old and broken bones are laid into their resting place, just like the rest of human race"

Track 6 - Not sure who this one is by, though i think i should because i have definately heard them before somewhere. Uptempo but with a complete stop half way through, then slows down for a bit. If this song doesn't make you smile then you are a robot. Lovely female voice backed up by a gang of backup singers/shouters. Reminds me of Frank Zappa in some ways, which is never a bad thing!

Lyric "Save our second wind for sentimental warm weather"

Track 7 - The best of Ed Harcourt! She Fell Into My Arms is great. Not got much else to say except that the tone of the mix is extremly consistent up to this point. Another good track choice.

Lyric "And if you need to kiss me then you'll most definitely miss me when I'm gone"

Track 8 - Louder, distortion aplenty, off-key vocals and just altogether more noisy. Though there is a trumpet solo in there for good measure. It can only be Neutral Milk Hotel with Holland 1945. Great song(and album for that matter), but perhaps not a band for everyones taste. There is quite a lot going on in this song and the relentlessness of it makes it a bit of a relief once it is over. Excellent way to spend 3 minutes 14 seconds! The lyrics are rather intense, which could be a bit of a shock as they seem to bounce along merrily with the myriad of instrumentation.

Lyric "But then they buried her alive one evening 1945 with just her sister at her side and only weeks before the guns all came and rained on everyone"

Track 9 - Back into the unknown, another male singer i don't recognise. Initially i though it might be jimmy eat world, but after a few listens it probably isn't. It's a good song but doesn't really stand out. Mixes in well with the others. The singer is obviously very conscious of there being a lack of sunlight as he spends the best part of 3 minutes pointing it out. The lyrics are nice enough, but nothing that really jumps out at you.

Lyric "no sunlight, no sunlight, no sunlight..."

Track 10 - This acts almost as an interlude of sorts. Think Treefingers by radiohead and you get the idea. It is very Sigur Ros but i couldn't say for sure who it was. The song is awash with sustain and the childhood playground chatter in the background creates a strong chillout soundscape. Nice track, a couple of minutes to chill out. The musical equivalent of the sorbet course...

Lyric "*inaudible children*"

Track 11 - Is that bongos and xylophone i hear?! Super voice, in keeping with the overall style of mix. Really like this one, will be glad to find out who it is and go find some more stuff by them. Not got much else to say about it other than it's awesome!!

Lyric "if it's ever gonna get any better, it's gotta get worse for a day"

Track 12 - Not sure who this is. A very mellow track, with sombre whispered vocals over what appears to be final fantasy VII 'wandering aimlessly' music. Calming, soothing, does what it says on the tin as it were...

Lyric "I no longer need your lawyers to be free"

Track 13 - Another track that reminds me of Frank Zappa, glad to see his influence is still strong as ever. The similarities come from the jittery stop start rythym and backing vocals. A good tune, can't think who it could possibly be but will definately check out the rest of their work.

Lyric "Working to work, ooh ooh ooh oh ooh ooh"

Track 14 - Squeeze! Though for the first few seconds i didn't recognise it and was wondering who gave Abba a les paul. The song is Up The Junction, survey says yes. Haven't heard it for ages, quality tune.

Lyric "I put away a tenner each week to make her better"

Track 15 - A hint of background banjo, a dose of bluesy guitar, a light sprinkling of xylophone and male and female vocals. Might be my favourite track on the mix. Pity i don't know who it is, enlighten me please? Starts off sounding like it was hot off the press in the late 60's, but the singing says Bright Eyes more than "Hypnotised by your Gypsy Eyes"...

Lyric "rich man bought our wandering world"

Track 16 - LCD Soundsystem. All My Friends. Fantastic. The name Death From Above seems to be a mark of guaranteed quality. Really great song, everyone should listen to it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDRLW748j68

Lyric "It comes apart the way it does in bad films, except the part where the moral kicks in"

Track 17 - Sigur Ros. Staralfur. Without doubt one of the most beautiful songs i've heard. Worth a place on any mix and it's placing on this one is just about perfect. Second to last track it provides a chillout after LCD. Frees your mind, relaxes the soul.

Lyric *error 404 - cannot compute*

Track 18 - A little countryesque number to close us out. The singer once again has a voice reminiscent of Bright Eyes but i've not heard this track before so i doubt it is Mr Oberst. It only took 18 tracks to get to a harmonica solo, but hey that's not such a bad thing. The song is nice enough, but doesn't really do anything for me much like Track 9.

Lyric "every fight presents a new way to lose and i'll never walk around in your expensive shoes"

Overall - The song choice really created a solid tone for the whole album. No track seemed out of place and there are several bands i'll have to investigate further. 27 tracks and not a bad one. Can't imagine mixer and mixee taste in music matching up so well very often.

Thanks to whoever made them, they've provided several hours of music to get lost in!


The Bonus Disc comes with a story in rainbows written on the cover and a warning not to digest it because "this is an insert"!

Track 1- It kicks off with a lovely live version of my favourite jens lekman track "the opposite of hallelujah". It is a great version and is also the first time i've heard mr lekman live. I like the way he makes comments during the song.

Track 2 - A beautiful cover of REM's "This one goes out to the one i love" by unknown (though it sounds like it may be sufjan stevens). The fingerpicked guitar sounds great, will have to try and learn it.

Track 3 - Wow! An instrumental piano cover of Britney's "Hit me baby one more time". As nice as this version is, it is the reason i realised that i know every single word to that song...

Track 4 - My favourite artist of all time. Possibly his greatest song. The greatest show he ever played. The greatest track from that show.

Jeff Buckley, Live at L'Olympia - "Lover you should've come over". Beautiful, heartbreaking, perfect.

Track 5 - Thom Yorke covering Bjork's "Unravel". The original is fantastic and Thom Yorke seems to impart an extra beauty upon it. Hadn't heard this before, thank you so much!

Track 6 - A Live version of "Sao Paulo" by the Guillemots. Hadn't heard a live version of this before either, it's unbelievable. At this stage of listening i sent a message to someone professing my love for whoever made the cd, but i suspect the person who made it is male so they will have to make do with my complete respect instead haha

Track 7 - So how can you follow up that sequence of tracks?! A hilarious song about monkeys breaking out of the zoo, awesome!!

Tracks 8 & 9 - The album cover had mentioned that the bonus disc was to contain 7 tracks, so it was an additional bonus to get two extra. Especially when the two extra are the best Guillemots and Idlewild songs, "We're here" and "American English".