02/26/2007
Mix Disc Monday Home / Music Home / Bullz-Eye Home
Like Mondays aren’t bad enough in and of themselves, it’s adding insult to injury when you wake up to find that not only is your weekend over, but it’s frickin’ freezing outside. Living right next door to Virginia Beach as I do, I’m used to an inch of snow being enough to cause mass hysteria amongst the population; my wife, however, is from Iowa, where it takes at least a foot of snow before they’ll even put a one-hour delay on the public schools. The two of us teamed up on this particular mix so that, even if you do have to venture into inclement winter weather, at least you’ll have a good soundtrack to keep you company. P.S. Don’t forget: if you hit a patch of ice, remember that you’re supposed to turn into the skid!
"Cold," Tears for Fears (Elemental)
This album got a really bad rap when it first emerged,
partially because it sounded nothing like its predecessor,
but mostly because everyone wanted to bash Roland Orzabal
for continuing to use the TFF name without Curt Smith
in tow. Personally, though, I think it’s pretty damned
good. Meaningless confession: despite the fact that
they’re absolutely awful, I have always loved the lines,
"Bring to me my big old sweater / Nothing more
will make me better."
"Cold as Ice," Foreigner (Foreigner)
Damn, them keys sound icy! Almost certainly
the definitive use of piano in a classic rock song
that isn’t by Elton John.
"Fifteen Feet of Pure White Snow," Nick Cave
and the Bad Seeds (No More Shall We Part)
What is it about winter-related songs that inspire
the use of piano as their primary instrument? Whatever
the case, while Cave’s piano isn’t constantly at the
forefront on this song, when it is, it sounds like
he’s trying to channel "Tubular Bells." The effect
is, like the best of his songs, downright creepy.
"Driven like the Snow," The Sisters of Mercy
(Floodland)
And as long as we’re getting creepy, we might as well
throw in an inclusion by one of the creepiest voices
in music: Andrew Eldritch, frontman for the Sisters
of Mercy.
"Ice Cold Ice," Husker Du (Warehouse:
Songs and Stories)
I can still remember the episode of "120 Minutes"
where then-host Carolyn Heldman paid tribute to the
disbanding of Husker Du by saying, "In Norwegian, their
name means, ‘Do you remember?’ At ‘120 Minutes,’ we
always will." How melodramatic. And, yet here it is,
almost 20 years later, and I’m including one of their
songs on this mix. Fair enough, then.
"Snow Girl," Haircut 100 (Pelican West)
Nick Heyward’s old band has never gotten its proper
due. Everyone’s always like, "Oh, I thought they just
had the one song (‘Love Plus One’) and that’s it."
No way, man, that whole album is great. Mind you, no
decade has resulted in more sax-slathered music than
the ‘80s, and Pelican West is full of that
particular ‘phone. Still, once you’ve heard this song,
you’ll want to sing along with Nick when he croons,
"Snowy-owie-oh girl!"
"Freeze," Robyn Hitchcock ‘n’ the Egyptians
(Queen Elvis)
All I have to offer on this song are the following
lines: "I know who wrote the book of love / It
was an idiot / It was a fool / A slobbering fool with
a speech defect and a shakin' hand / And he wrote my
name / Next to yours / But it should have been David
Byrne or somebody." Seriously, how are awesome
are those lyrics?
"Running on Ice," Billy Joel (The Bridge)
By virtue of not being An Innocent Man, Pt. 2, The
Bridge never really had much of a chance to
be as big as its predecessor, but I used to have
it on vinyl, and my recollection is that, at the
very least, Side One is a pretty damned solid piece
of work. This is the album opener, and I never understood
why it wasn’t a single; it’s a great little pop song.
By the way, what is it about Billy Joel that he always
seems to end up on these mixes?
"Skating Away on the Thin Ice of a New Day,"
Jethro Tull (War Child)
Yes, certainly, it’s one of the most pretentious titles ever,
but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a good song. My first
exposure to Tull was from a best-of collection called Original
Masters, and this song was one of the primary
reasons that I investigated their back catalog further.
"Baby It’s Cold Outside," Tom Jones with Cerys
Matthews from Catatonia (Reload)
Not that it’s really so surprising to hear, given
his longstanding reputation as a man who inspires the
throwing of panties during his live performances, but,
really, our man Tom sounds like the dirtiest old man
in Wales on this song.
"Snowflakes," Just Jack (The Outer Marker)
Imagine the middle ground between Robbie Williams
and the Streets, and you’ll find yourself staring down
Just Jack. There’s a remix of this that liberally borrows
from the Cure’s "Lullaby," but the regular album version’s
just fine, thanks.
"Fox in the Snow," Belle & Sebastian
(If You’re Feeling Sinister)
Twee
are the world, twee are the children, and absolutely
twee are the early Belle & Sebastian albums. This
song nicks part of the melody to "Yesterday Once More,"
but what’s more distracting is that I can never remember
the name of that particular Carpenters song right off
the bat. I have to start the "every sha-la-la-la /
every whoa-whoa" bit and sing ‘til I get to where they
sing the title.
"Cold World," The Electric Soft Parade (The
Human Body EP)
Again with the piano! These guys made a great debut
in 2002 with Holes in the Wall – which never
scored an American release – and they proceeded to
follow it up with the ironically-titled The American
Adventure, which, to my knowledge, also saw no
Stateside release. This EP, however, did see our shores,
and the band’s third album is due in 2007.
"Angel in the Snow," a-ha (Memorial Beach)
Give me any chance to praise a-ha’s post-"Take On
Me" material, and I’ll take it. This was such a good
album, the first where they explored territory beyond
stuff with instant chart potential, but it flopped
so badly in the States that they haven’t released another
album here since.
"After the Snow," Modern English (After
the Snow)
Only the good lord above and the folks at SoundScan
know how many copies of this album have been sold…and,
yet, I’d bet that over half the people who own it couldn’t
tell you a single other song besides "I Melt with You."
It’s really rather a good record, though, and this
– its title cut – seems an appropriate way to bring
this mix to its conclusion.