Cat Power on a mix tape

[olives]

I'm making a mix tape for a new beau but am unsure which Cat Power track to put on, any ideas? Nude as the News is one of my favourite tracks but 'Jackson, Jesse, Iv'e got a son in me And he's related to you' might be a little to heavy for someone i hardly know.

Also what is the best initiation track for someone who has never heard her? Are there any mix tape do's and dont's? i feel like whole relationships have been destroyed over the wrong choices being made on that first mix tape! any advice would be greatly appreciated.

With my last boyfriend i gave him the Covers Record as his first CP record, he hated it and wouldn't listen to anything else by her! needless to say he didn't last very long...

[Moon Pix]

"Sea of Love.":)

[olives]

ha ha you old romantic moonpix

[thomarse]

Shaking Paper or maybe Crossbones Style.

Or Living Proof.

You decide!

[Moon Pix]

Crossbones Style.

That was actually the song that got me into her. I know what you mean about "Nude As the New" though, its a very dark song (as is the album it comes from).

[Moon Pix]

ha ha you old romantic moonpix

Thats not the first time Ive been called that.:)

[stu]

What music does he like?

If he likes it alt\grungy\punky\garage-y & heavy –

Itchyhead or We All Die or Rockets (I’d go for We All Die)

If he likes it languid & laid back –

Metal Heart or Islands or, Willie. (I’d go for Willie)

Upbeat from the off? : Free, Could We. (I’d go for Free)

Upbeat after a slow start: Speak For Me

And I concur with thomarse – Cross Bones Style would be a good one too – that is the first one I heard that got me into Cat Power

It is a tough choice. If someone put a gun to me head, and i was aiming "for the general mainstream" and to "play it safe" BUT want them to have an idea of one of her songs that i also love - it would either be Willie, OR Speak for Me, OR Cross Bones Style. There... i got it down to three. :p

Funny you should mention this as i've just compiled a Cat Power compidiliation CD for friends. Everyone i know who saw her on Later were saying, yea, they loved her voice (and that she is very attractive - can't say i noticed :rolleyes: ), but they weren't into the style of music. So i figured a retrospective was in order as i know they do like all the "styles" of music covered in her earlier releases. They are just unaware of any of the earlier stuff. Hope the peeps here at Matador don't mind!!... it's free advertising, kinda.... to encourage them to go out and buy the full CDs :D Then once they got a handle on where she is coming from, The Greatest might just grow on them!

[thomarse]

yeah, Willie'd be a good choice too.

[stu]

yeah, Willie'd be a good choice too.

yea, it's a gorgeous tune... one of her best (and i'm someone who loves her realy early stuff too), and, IMHO, the best track on The Greatest.

I was hoping she'd play it on Later, as i reckon those who told me they didn't like the "style" of music she did play woulda fallen hook line and sinker had she played that one.

It isn't too "country" or "soul-y" or "folky" or "bluesy" which can have people unfamiliar with the best of these genres go into automatic switch off mode.

As far as i am concerned she is one of the few artists, with her latest CD, to have blended so many genres so successfully, and to such effect, that her songs transcend such boundaries since the late great Gram Parsons.

[olives]

I know what you mean about needing to make a Cat Power compilation for people who don't 'get' The Greatest, all my indie rock friends bought it then when i ask them what they think they say there 'never really in the mood for listening to soul' or 'its not upbeat enough'... losers.

I think im gonna go with 'good woman' even though its a break up song its simple, elegant, heart wrenching. I also think it will compliment the sonic youth and other rocking tunes on the tape/ i might throw some Ice Cube in their as well just to jazz it up a bit.

Ill let you know how it goes down,

[Moon Pix]

I think im gonna go with 'good woman'

That one knocks me about emotionally. Crying and everything. I don't like to hear Chan too much cause it really gets to my emotions intensely and I don't like to ruin it my hearing her all the time.:)

[olives]

it has that effect on me aswell moonpix, is it wrong to want to make somebody cry?

[Moon Pix]

it has that effect on me aswell moonpix, is it wrong to want to make somebody cry?

No, if it affects him that much and he's anything like I am he'll get nothing but positive things out of it.:)

[olives]

i feel like there is alot of pressure riding on this mix tape. on every mix tape really. Maybe if isreal and palestine had sat down and exchanged there favourite tunes on cassette and given each others musical tastes a chance then the ensuing conflict could have been avoided?!

Similarly if the protestants and catholics in ireland could have bonded over a love of cliff richard (!?) then maybe so many lives would have been spared. so lets not play down the importance of this moment, lets remeber that whatever the out come we can all learn something from each other

[Moon Pix]

Well... music is a very powerful force. Ive long felt that if people were allowed to sing at work there would be far less misery in the world. Think about all of those African American people 100 years ago singing "Spike Driver Blues" or "John the Revelator.":)

[stu]

I think im gonna go with 'good woman'


Yea, thinking about it – it’s got that grungy guitar, and that country folky fiddle. So you get two fer the price of one. Brilliant. In fact, despite it being on You Are Free… (which I think is her best CD) it is possibly the closest she gets to the mercurial “Cosmic American Music” that is the aforementioned Gram Parsons’ legacy. For those that are unaware “Cosmic American Music” was Gram’s term for the music he made… I think when people tried to pigeon hole him, and pin him down to one genre, that’s what he would respond with.

Why’d she have to go and write so many excellent and varied tunes… makes life for us mix tape fans hell! :D

olives, have you (and anyone else here for that matter) ever come across this really annoying phenomena of the mixed tape…

… which is, you lay down some of your fave life affirming shivers down the spine inspirational tunes of all time ever ever ever… or it could be a tape of all the heaviest most hardcore thundering industrial noise ever made…

.. only to find that, when played alongside each other, some tunes make others seem… not as good as they should be, almost crap in fact…

.. I’ve usually put this down to either the genre \ style \ tempo mix being all wrong, and/or, or due to radically differing production & mastering styles \ values

umm.. I could give examples, but I’d be here all night, and i've rambled on long enough... :p

Is it actually a tape you are making, or a CD?

[olives]

Yeh i know what you mean stu, i have put the song 'mushroom' on their by Can and which ever track i put it next to it just doesn't sound right, although on the album Tago Mago it really stands out as great.

It's a cd im making, if i had all the time in the world i would be a purest and make a tape with a carefully fashioned cassette holder to go with it. I get the impression your a Gram Parsons fan? which song of his would you recommend to the uninitiated?

[stu]

Yeh i know what you mean stu, i have put the song 'mushroom' on their by Can and which ever track i put it next to it just doesn't sound right, although on the album Tago Mago it really stands out as great.

Can, Ice Cube, Cat Power… that IS a mix tape. I tend to try and keep me genres – and even tempo’s similar, or at least slowly build up or down throughout the songs towards any changes, to prevent any “jarring” upsets for the intended listener.

Although i adore the music by both, i wouldn't (although come to think of it i might actually try this next time…) place a Cat Power track right before or after the raw jackhammer incendiary sound of Big Black :eek:

I find stuff like Can (or fellow "kraut" rockers, Faust), although superb, needs to be listened to within its own context to be enjoyed at its best. Food analogy time... i love HP Brown Sauce, in the right context - with a meat pie for example, but it'd taste disgusting on... err.. ice cream. i imagine.

It's a cd im making, if i had all the time in the world i would be a purest and make a tape with a carefully fashioned cassette holder to go with it.

aye.. i was going to say in me previous post about that; i remember the olde dayes, making mixed tapes - unbelievable how long it would take, firstly trying to get the choice right, either from memory OR the, at first enjoyable, but eventually increasingly painful task of playing through each individual track, loading each CD in and out (and then, even earlier back, queuing up LPs - showing me age here i think!); then sorting the running order of your final list; then recording, and having to listen to each song again all the way through while doing so; an then the dreaded playback... only to find one or more songs follow a previous one far too loudly or quietly, and that some just do not go together at all. What do you do then.. pass on the tape you sweated blood and tears over knowing it aint as good as it should be, or try and selectively erase and redo the parts that don’t work, but having to compromise on the tracks you do either swap around, or change to make sure there are no large gaps in-between songs, or start the whole thing over again. :mad:

Oh… and I haven’t even mentioned the endless fun I had with setting recording levels for each *&!£$%ing track too.

Now with PCs, and CD burners, and tunes on your hard drive, the only physical process you need to engage in is a few clicks of the mouse to make your selections, a bit of dragging and dropping to arrange, then test how it all hangs together before burning. Some tracks not playing nice with each other? No problem, more dragging and dropping to re-arrange, maybe swap a track or few with ones that on second thoughts will actually be more compatible with others; test again... happy..? good.. now burn... and what's this...? A normalisation option.. cool... now no more reaching for the volume knob on playback cos some songs are too quiet or loud. :cool:

I tell you, this generation of kids who never knew LPs, tape recorders etc don’t know they’re born. Aggh… I’m turning into me parents!

But even the convenience of burning CDs can bring about MTPS… what is MTPS...? See below…

Stu’s Mix Tape Tip™

If you are not happy with the results of your mix tape (or CD) on first listen, don’t worry, you may have become too close and attached to the process. You may have lost all perspective, and have possibly developed the condition know as Mix Tape Perfectionist Syndrome (MTPS)

You need to give it a day or two, and do something totally removed from music. Go for a long walk, get drunk, meditate, play a sport, play a video game, have sex, all six (at the same time even), anything. Just don’t listen to music. Build up a good yearning to get back to doing so.

And once you cannot contain yourself no more, return to your tape (or CD), and give it a spin, and then decide whether or not to redo it. This will help you attain the more detached perspective that your intended listener will have when he\she plays it back.

I get the impression your a Gram Parsons fan? which song of his would you recommend to the uninitiated?

Welll… I’m not a “fan” of the word “fan”… But I do like his music a lot. As for which song would I recommend to the uninitiated, well, that is a tough one. So here is a shortlist

Streets of Baltimore
The New Soft Shoe
Return of the Grievous Angel
Brass Buttons
In My Hour Of Darkness

Gun to me head? I’m off to a desert island and I can only choose one? … aarg.. noooo… ok… In My Hour Of Darkness. But that is a purely arbitrary choice not based on it being any better than the others – they are all equally excellent tunes. :)

… my god I can ramble… think I’ll sign off here…

[olives]

Wowsers Stu, I think i've really hit on your 'niche' subject! I phoned up my friend tonight and low and behold she has a book on the art of the mix tape put together by none other than Thurston Moore! and this is after i've been sweating for three days got the music and art work right and handed it over...if only i'd had more time!

Ach well i'm sure therel be many more mixtape moments to come (they are after all the best parts of any relationship/friendship) when your still excited about the other persons tastes and dont just want to put your ear phones in when there talking, turning up 'the greatest' to stop them harping on about radiohead (a personal gripe)

So any way I handed over the tape today with Regina Spektor, Wilco, Love as Laughter, Big Star along side the Cat Power, Ice Cube and Can. phew! What i got in return; a cd with a sewn paper case, wood etching on the cover and binded with black masking tape (far superior art work to mine) and a tracklisting which was very experimental and noisy with wire, sonic youth, pavement, yo la tengo, battles, beat happening. and wait for it ... Cat Power - good clean fun.

So im very pleased, i think i can breath a sigh of releif and wait to see what happens next.

Don't worry about showing your age Stu, and your right the kids have never had it so good! and now i'm must dash, The OC is on (oops i hope i didnt just show MY age )

[kingofcats]

i love HP Brown Sauce, in the right context - with a meat pie for example, but it'd taste disgusting on... err.. ice cream. I imagine.

Don't knock it till you've tried it...

[stu]

Wowsers Stu, I think i've really hit on your 'niche' subject!

Yea, I think making mix tapes "appeals" (if that's the right word) to me obsessive tendencies. :rolleyes:

I phoned up my friend tonight and low and behold she has a book on the art of the mix tape put together by none other than Thurston Moore!

No way!? Being into Sonic Youth since... ohhh.. I think when they released Sister, i am surprised i aint heard of it. Will deffo look it up and purchase it!

…edit..... stop them harping on about radiohead (a personal gripe)

Radiohead... awesome music. But it's the vocals that spoil it for me. Sounds like a moany whiny kid. :mad:

What i got in return; (....edit...) a tracklisting which was very experimental and noisy with wire, sonic youth, pavement, yo la tengo, battles, beat happening. and wait for it ... Cat Power - good clean fun.

Well, looks like you both have fantastic taste. I love Wire and, as said earlier, Sonic Youth... and Yo La Tengo. Go on, you got me curious now, which tracks by these has he recorded? Wanna see if they’re the same as I’d chose… :cool:

Don't knock it till you've tried it...

Oh.. I have tried it. In me imagination. And that was scary enough. :eek:

[olives]

Go on, you got me curious now, which tracks by these has he recorded? Wanna see if they’re the same as I’d chose… :cool:

sugar cube by Yo La Tengo to name one but the rest i fear i will keep to myself to maintain the mystery and privacy of said cd (which granted i didn't do with my own) but hey i will tell you that last i heard they were selling the Thurston Moore Mix Tape book at Magma in Manchester. It's even the shape of a mixtape i think!!

http://www.rizzoliusa.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780789311993

yep theres the link to the page on the publishing house but it's on amazon too. What a good present this would be for somebodys birthday!?

[stu]

sugar cube by Yo La Tengo to name one but the rest i fear i will keep to myself to maintain the mystery and privacy of said cd (which granted i didn't do with my own) but hey i will tell you that last i heard they were selling the Thurston Moore Mix Tape book at Magma in Manchester. It's even the shape of a mixtape i think!!

http://www.rizzoliusa.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780789311993

yep theres the link to the page on the publishing house but it's on amazon too. What a good present this would be for somebodys birthday!?


You seen the vid to Sugarcube? Quite funny... it's on Youtube somewhere.

and next time i am in town... am gonna take a trip to Magma, and buy it. Gone past the shop many times, but never been in! I’m usually rooting through vinyl in... Vinyl Exchange instead :D

[brittle]

I'm sure that by now the mix tape has been made, but I was thinking that "I Found A Reason" would be a good one. I know it's not hers, but it's short, it's solo, and it captures everything about her that is so beautiful without scaring away an unseasoned listener.

Community is dark but GOD it's so intensely beautiful. I just wanted to give up music after that because it's pretty much perfection.