I'm ambivalent about this site, because it's absolutely nothing whatsoever like those tangible mixtapes that I once knew and loved, but it is pretty easy to pull together a clutch of songs for instant sharing (not that I think you can download any of the tracks). The GIANT FONT PLAYLISTS are also irritating, but the size of the font does kind of express how much I like each of the songs I put on the mix.

I'm giving it a go so you can give it a go:

http://radiozilla.muxtape.com/

Here's a question for my music-savvy friends:

Can you name some musical albums that take on a narrative structure? Obviously, soundtracks to musicals are excluded. I'm thinking more along the lines of the entire album itself (liner notes included) as a standalone, self-contained object, with characters that progress and unfold into some coherent story.

I feel like I should be able to list much more than the Labor Exchange Band's Night March of the Chrysanthemums, which I've been playing on repeat in preparation for this week's class. R. mentioned Tom Waits' Alice, and to that I would add Randy Greif's amazing box set based on Alice in Wonderland -- but even the inclusion of that series is shaky, given (at least in the latter's case) the direct connection to pre-existing literature. aum mentioned some of the Residents' work.

What else?

I used to be able to churn out mix tapes every week or so... I also used to do a lot more driving, and needed the audio support system to keep me sane on the roads. Anyway, almost three years after the previous challenge, aum called another Mix Scavenger Hunt. I threw this together in somewhat of a hurry, but I actually like it quite a bit.

As with my other mixes, I'm open to trading.

( The challenge list and notes as follows: ) Less Driving, More Parking Track Artist: Song: 1 Calexico Over Your Shoulder (1998) 2 HU Mei-hong (胡美紅) Young Lover's Bittersweet Tune [version 2] (青春悲喜曲2, 1960s) 3 Lena Machado Na Lei o Hawaii (1927?) 4 YAO Su-rong (姚蘇蓉) Home in Taipei (家在台北, 1970) 5 Nurse With Wound Sheela-na-gig (1984) 6 Opiate Tennis at Wimbledon (1999) 7 I-F Space Invaders are Smoking Grass (1998) 8 OTOMO Yoshihide, ENDO Kenji, etc. Giant Robo (1999, orig. TAKEO Yamashita, 1967) 9 Rahmelzee v. K.Rob Beat Bop (1978-82) 10 The Clippers (夾子) Just Five More Cents Fantasy Tune (再來五塊錢狂想曲, 2003) 11 The Hoosier Hot Shots If It Helps Win the War (WWII) 12 Edison Symphony Orchestra Down Tennessee - Descriptive Barn Dance (1904) 13 Final Fantasy (reverse) (2005) 14 Tattle Tale Glass Vase Cello Case (1995) 15 The Magnetic Fields Acoustic Guitar (1999) 16 Fuzzbox XX Sex (demo, 1985) 17 Labor Exchange Band (交工樂隊) If the Dam Can Be Built, then Shit Can Be Eaten (水庫係築得 屎嘛食得, 2002) 18 A Silver Mt. Zion 13 Angels Standing Guard 'Round the Side of Your Bed (2000)

My splendid houseguest is gone. It's back to eating lunch straight out of the pot, making only eight cups of coffee for two people every 6 hours (as opposed to 12 cupsss every four hourssss), not bothering to close the bathroom door all the way, and the dog's back to attention-whoring and being a brat late at night...

Today, I finished the Happy Chinese New Year mix that I had intended to make since my last concerted mixmaking effort in 2005. This a compilation of Chinese-language songs spanning 1937 to 2005, heavy on the pre-1970s material, mostly upbeat stuff, and ready to rip. I'm forcing this on some of you as a much-belated response to previous gifts (olivepixel, vaulted_eel, mehitabelbigsky, city_of_walls), but the rest of you have to speak up if you want a copy -- especially since I need to doublecheck addresses (i.e. sarabellum, bafooz).

( Year of the Piggy )

On the Bedhead vs. Macha/Macha Loved Bedhead EP, tracks 5 through 85 are brief, 5-second snippets of ambient burble laced through with a faint and faraway looping voice.

After all these years, my ears finally perked up and recognized the source of the sample. They use the pre-recorded announcement from oldschool window screen/glass repair tricycles that pedal through Taiwanese neighborhoods all day. 修理紗窗, 紗門, 還玻璃... over and over, in a rhythmic lull that slips beyond conscious perception as it burrows deeply into your memories of afternoon naps in hot summers...

And I always thought "How Are Your Windows?" was just a randomly generated or cryptic joke title for those 81 tracks... Now it's just a big fat DUH. Lesson learned: listen closer.

Eightban Record Player ... and in the Frivolous Purchases Department, I went and picked up an Eightban Record Player, bringing my home audiophile experience to a NEW LEVEL. I'd seen this toy record player several months before, when only a single set of its customized records was available. Since they've been churning out more singles, I finally caved in -- especially when I saw this series of late 70's/early 80's children's songs. By the time I picked these up, they were down to 6 out of the 18 pieces needed to complete this set. I don't know who else in Taipei is hobbying this gadget, but they better join me in pestering local toystores for MORE. So just how does this thing sound, really? ... Well, considering it's run on four AAA batteries and piped out of analog speakers, it sounds about as cozy as bedroom lullabies. But I suppose that's the point... a private piece of nostalgia, artifacts of a childhood that I didn't grow up with. I liked the dinosaurs-rampaging-through-crayonsville-DON-DONDON-DON single, and the nekkid boys in bathtub single (inspired or played by Yellow Magic Orchestra? they're mentioned in the all-Japanese liner notes, which i can't read.). I'm hoping Bandai digs further back into the realm of obscure Japanese singles. At any rate, I'll be scanning their website -- and the toystores -- for more.

The Rules: find one song that fits each category, and throw it on a mix tape or CD! feel free to fumble with the order, but you need to say which category each song fits in. make copies, and trade. i have mine done, and am ready to send them to you -- just drop a comment.

[Hey, understandish, i ripped a couple of these from your list, and I'm sorry I didn't participate last time, but i'll send you this one]

1. your favorite first track of an album
2. a song featuring animal noises
3. your least favorite song from one of your favorite albums
4. a song with really good lyrics
5. a song by an unknown or anonymous artist (this could be a track by an artist you never knew, but maybe someone else will know)
6. a song that sounds like flying
7. a song that sounds like a really bad car accident
8. your favorite song from a non-soundtrack compilation
9. a song you would teach to kindergarteners
10. ever bought an album just for one song, and that song turned out to be the best track on the album? put that one good song on this mix.
11. a song with lyrics you don't understand
12. a song that reminds you of your favorite season (without mentioning that season in the title)
13. a song that reminds you of your hometown
14. a song you find to be repetitive
15. a song that tells a story
16. your favorite remix track (if you absolutely own no remixes, a cover track will suffice)
17. a song that your parents like, or is from your parents' musical collection
18. a potential lover pops a CD in the stereo, says "Check this out -- you're going to love it." what song should he or she play to make you fall hopelessly in love?
19. a song from your birth decade
20. a song you used to really love but haven't listened to in years

I've been scouring Forced Exposure and Other Music new release e-mails for the past hour. Eight months of backlog means a lot of titles are piling up on my wish list.

BUT NOW is the time to throw down for a massive overseas order.

Care to make a few recommendations?

i don't usually put my playlists on livejournal, but since this entry is backdated, i think i can be forgiven for posting my last radio show.

if i can make just one request to anyone who ever listens to college radio -- call and tell the DJ when they are doing a good job. let them know what you think they do well, and let them know that you follow them around the schedule. since student DJs' semesterly timeslots are so prone to change, sometimes i get used to thinking that i'm just a faceless freeform machine. so when i announced my last show, and people actually started calling with warmfuzzy stories about how they used to listen to me, it was a little overwhelming.

but remember, a creep is still a creep, at 3pm or 3am. don't be a creep.

( WCBN playlist, 8.12.2003, 12:00-17:30 )

white boys who love to play black music
and alt-country indie rock bands are taking over our airwaves.

i miss DJ Mongoose and it thrilled me, initially, to hear mandolins and fiddles and slide guitars on so many new releases .. but by now, doesn't it feel like some mass lemming effect?

edit: 4:55pm. help!! even NPR is playing up "the wild, kitschy .. African feast of funk"!!