Wednesday, January 8, 2025

Mittwoch Mix - building somebody else’s sanctuary

Listening back to my last Mittwoch Mix - There's Nothing to Read, Nothing to See, which doubled as a kind of best of 2024, in a mostly adjacent way, I realized that aside from Pig and BIG|BRAVE I hadn't really put any of the heavier music I listened to last year on it, or at least heavier, electric guitar first music.

Hence this mix, very loosely themed, featuring mostly metal tracks from a bunch of the heavier albums that were released in 2024 that I listened to.

# Artist Track
1 Heavy Temple Psychomanteum
2 Castle Rat Red Sands
3 Acid Mammoth Garden of Bones
4 UFOMAMMUT Mausoleum
5 Black Mare Iseult
6 Thou House of Ideas
7 Poison Ruïn Sanctuary
8 Wolven Daughter Beset by Devils
9 Agriculture In the House of Angel Flesh
10 Lowen Waging War Against God
11 Zeal and Ardor Clawing Out
12 Botanist Strychnos Electri
13 The Body & Dis Fig Back to the Water

Monday, January 6, 2025

Alien Pop Monday 00.1 - Alles schon gesungen

A young man with a thin goatee and long hair dyed black stands in a black t-shirt with a silver Einstürzende Neubauten printed on it. He stands awkwardly next to the statue of Mithras found in the British Museum.
A photo of the author as a young Neubauten fan, May 2005

I have been a fan of Einstürzende Neubauten since discovering them on the AP Presents: Industrial Strength Machine Music compilation shortly after it was released in 1999. It didn’t take long before I tracked down a used copy of the 1998 Mute CD release of Ende Neu and by the time Silence Is Sexy was released in May 2000 I was devoted enough that I made sure to pre-order the special edition with the bonus disc from my local Best Buy. 

E.N. have remained for all that time, more than half of my life now, my absolutely favorite band. They consistently top my most listened to artists each year on Last.fm and currently remain at the top of my all time artist scrobbles at 14,617 scrobbles, barely edging out the Legendary Pink Dots, the other immensely prolific band I have been obsessed with since discovering them.

Following along as a supporter while Neubauten put together 2024’s Rampen (apm: alien pop music) album, I knew I’d love the music—I definitely enjoyed the previews and the live rampen or improvisations they were sharing from the last tour that would form the basis of the new tracks, but when the final title was announced I was a little underwhelmed… The subtitle “ (apm: alien pop music),” it rang to my American ears as a little shticky and didn’t settle well for me until I read the interview in the Quietus after I’d listened to the album a few times.

“At first I wasn’t sure if calling the new album RAMPEN was such a good idea,” says Bargeld, “Which is why I gave it that subtitle, "Alien Pop Music", inventing a new genre, APM. Don’t let pop music be given popularism by the majority – there is a minority pop music. Pop music for the different girls, pop music for the different boys, pop music for the aliens.” 

Wesley Doyle. “Loving The Alien: Einstürzende Neubauten Interviewed.” The Quietus, https://thequietus.com/interviews/einsturzende-neubauten-blixa-bargeld-interview-2/

Sometime over the summer of 2024 those words were still rattling around in my skull and I started to note down when a song reminded me of a track off Rampen (apm: alien pop music). Sometimes it would be some sonic quality, some quirk in the instrumentation or tone—sometimes it was a lyrical connection, or a connection in subject matter, but other times, most times perhaps, it was simply a gut feeling that there was some connection, a spider-web thread tying the tracks together in some ineffable manner.

In that spirit I am in the process of putting together 15 mixes, one for each track from Rampen (apm: alien pop music) to create a personal oeuvre of Alien Pop Music. Each mix will start with the track off Rampen and end with another track from Einstürzende Neubauten, drawn from the entire range of their career, that fits to me as of a piece with the song from Rampen. In between will be eleven songs by other artists, sometimes featuring members of E.N., that fill out the volume of Alien Pop Music.

Hopefully there will be surprises, even for other fans of Einstürzende Neubauten, and I can draw enough from the wide breadth of my musical collection to avoid anything too obvious. I am aware that there is a distinct possibility that I am the only person on the planet who will find this endeavor at all interesting, but still, I will see it through, posting a new mix every other Monday until I have exhausted the tracks. Much like my series on Nurse With Wound's Shipwreck Radio, this is something I do for myself first.

Then, without further ado, here is the first mix, Alles schon gesungen.

# Artist Track
1 Einstürzende Neubauten Wie lange noch
2 Gloria Night Biting
3 The Legendary Pink Dots Is It Something I Said?
4 Pigface I Can Do No Wrong
5 dälek Prayers for Rain
6 The Young Gods Everythere (acoustic)
7 Moon Duo No Fun
8 Marissa Nadler & Steven Brodsky In The Air Tonight
9 Rogér Fakhr Everything You Want
10 Wire Forever & a Day
11 Grumbling Fur The Ballad of Roy Batty
12 Deradoorian The Illuminator
13 Einstürzende Neubauten Von wegen

Because the connections between the songs in this mix seem so obvious to me, I hesitate to spell them out, and I might only for further mixes if they feel interesting or obvious or so exceedingly opaque that some clarity is needed. But, especially for this first mix, I want to leave the ties unspoken, so that if anyone else listens they’ll draw their own conclusions, which might, and hopefully could be, entirely unrelated to the threads that I think tie these tracks together.

Wednesday, January 1, 2025

Mittwoch Mix - There's nothing to read, nothing to see

This mix started as an attempt to return to my annual Vision Board/Yearly Send Off mixes and meandered into a mix that is a bit melancholy at turns and unexpectedly a bit nautically themed.

Though it's not a best of 2024, it features tracks from some of my favorite albums from 2024, the exception being "The Feast" off of ØXN's CYRM which was released in late 2023 and new to me in 2024 and Crime & the City Solution's acoustic version of "The Bride Ship," which is incredible alternate take on one of my absolutely favorite songs.

# Artist Track
1 Shellac Girl From Outside
2 The Cure Warsong
3 Teho Teardo & Blixa Bargeld Libelle & Gigant
4 Elysian Fields Before the Crashing Waves
5 Fat White Family Religion for One
6 Shovel Dance Collective The Merry Golden Tree
7 Crime & the City Solution The Bride Ship (Acoustic)
8 Lankum The Pride of Petravore (Live in Dublin)
9 Pig Red Room
10 ØXN The Feast
11 Chris Connelly Port of St. Catharine
12 Einstürzende Neubauten Trilobiten
13 BIG|BRAVE i felt a funeral

Saturday, December 21, 2024

Yule Tunes MMXXIV - Part Three

It's that time of year again, when I compulsively compile mixes of holiday music... 

Adding to the over two dozen mixes from previous years, here are the six final Yuletunes mixes for 2024... 

I get nearly all of my music thru Bandcamp these days, so if you're looking to pick up more songs from an album you like from one of these mixes, check out my collection there (and comment/message if you need help, since I have 3300+ items in my collection...)

hwæt! Xmas XXIV WIZARD-MAS VOLUME II

A second volume of Dungeon Synth, ambient and other synth heavy Yule Tunes for a wizardly holiday flavor. A little melancholy, a little nerdy, a little cozy.

(Wizard-Mas Volume 1)

# Artist Track
1 DARKEST DUNGEONS Greensleeves
2 Elyvilon A Gloucester Wassail
3 RævJäger Щелкунчик (The Nutcracker)
4 The Devil & the Universe The Ghost of Christmas Future
5 Krampusnacht Goblin Holiday
6 Grandma’s Cottage holly, ivy, yew and laurel
7 The Gentleman Terrapin Patiently, He Endures the Cold Yet Again
8 Said Fantasy Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence
9 Woodland Crypt Yule Festival
10 Corvus Corone Deus Requiem
11 Midnight Syndicate Carol of the Bells
12 Рабор Рождественский Гимн (Being a Ghost Story of Christmas)
13 The Golden Bough Frost

hwæt! Xmas XXIV Ambient Volume II

A more mellow mix of ambient and instrumental electronic Yule Tunes for a relaxing but still festive mood.


# Artist Track
1 Snowprints Under Twinkling Lights
2 Binaural Space Good King Wenceslas 1992
3 karu machay imaginary gift from santa claus
4 Elyvilon Full Moon Over Yuletide Eve
5 Ultra Blanc Noir (Carol of the Bells Version)
6 TERBESCHIKKINGSTELLING La Mix-Tape perdue du Père Noël
7 Kramer feat. Eerie Wanda For The Blessed
8 WHΛLTHISИEY Thiscember
9 Pye Corner Audio A Winter Drone For Christmas
10 Aidan Baker Icicle Bells
11 Shire Oak The Holly Tree
12 Future Museums Elves’ Harp
13 Forrest Fang God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (Ambient Remix)

hwæt! Xmas XXIV Merry Gothmas Volume III

A third volume of Gothmas for all the former teenage goths out there who need dark, wry and bleak songs to counter all the holiday cheer.


# Artist Track
1 Sam Haynes Merry Creepmas
2 Grohs Winter, A Dirge
3 chAton Suicide Les Flocons
4 MUWN Xmas Sunset
5 Moaan Exis White Christmas
6 STAHLSCHLAG Carol of the Bells
7 Piqsiq Ave Maria
8 Blaine L. Reininger Jingle Hell
9 18 Slashes Twinkly Funeral Lights
10 The Devil & the Universe Little Drummer Boy
11 Paulina Fae Toyland
12 Gold Chains & Jillian Iva Winter Kills
13 Attrition Silent Night

hwæt! Xmas XXIV Eclectic Holidays Volume II

A second volume of eclectic holiday tunes suitable for all audiences, a mix of old standards and new songs for a playful yuletide mix.
# Artist Track
1 Sean Thomson Lil Drum Machine
2 Crawlspace Christmas Time Is Here Again
3 The Bye Bye uncles/Falcons of Haunt/Skellington and friends Joy on their Faces
4 Danger!! Death Ray Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
5 Nicholas Burgess Santa Planet
6 Tee Lopes Deck the Bros
7 Kyle Martin & Wayne Strange The Twelve Days of Christmas
8 Green Wasagas Shakedown Kitty Klaus
9 Gymshorts The Chipmunk Song
10 Rich Stim Jingle bells
11 Miss Tammy Darling I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas
12 Peter Aldrich Christmas Dub Against Master
13 Krampusnacht Krampus Conquers the Martians

hwæt! Xmas XXIV Jazz-Mas Volume II

The inevitable second mix of Xmas Jazz... Though distant enough from the usual mix of adult contemporary jazz that is pumped through retail stores from September 30th through New Year's to avoid causing service job flashbacks...


# Artist Track
1 John Zorn Christmas Time is Here
2 Ill Considered Ding Dong Merrily On High
3 John Coltrane Greensleeves
4 Eric Van Thyne Winter Wonderland
5 Houston Person God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
6 Papa Don Vappie's New Orleans Jazz Band Silver Bells
7 Charlie and the Tropicales Latitude 29
8 Michel Warlop, Django Reinhardt, Louis Vola Christmas Swing
9 Lapompe Carol of Indifference
10 Mars Williams O Tannenbaum - Spirits - 12 Days Of Xmas
11 Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings Funky Little Drummer Boy
12 Jason Frederick Cinematic Trio Wonderful Christmastime
13 Adam Neely Silent 15/16

hwæt! Xmas XXIV Favorites 4 Xmas Volume III

Another family friendly mix of some of my favorite Yule Tunes that didn't make it onto other mixes this year.


# Artist Track
1 Make Like Monkeys 4,3,2,1, Christmas!
2 Ill Considered Come All Ye Faithful
3 The Nervous Gregorians Do You Hear Merry Gentlemen
4 Wayne Strange Carol of the Goddess
5 Black Market & Friends ft. Dub Robot Here Comes Santa Claus
6 Khruangbin Christmas Time Is Here (Version Mary)
7 Misha Grossu All I Want For Christmas Is You
8 Hawkestral Little Drummer Boy
9 Jamie Barnes Snow Angel
10 The Grip Weeds Christmas, Bring Us
11 DARKEST DUNGEONS Coventry Carol
12 Popular Müzak Do You Hear What I Hear?
13 Will Vinton Waffle, Waddle, Wallow, Wassle
14 J.R. Bohannon Skating
15 Underwater Bosses Gremlins Surf Rag
16 mojera Neon Lights
17 Hazy Sour Cherry 17
18 The Bye Bye uncles/Falcons of Haunt/Skellington and friends Life inside a snowglobe
19 Golau Glau O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
20 Elyvilon The Lady of Greene Sleeves
21 Motorspsycho X-mastime Is Here
22 Uncle Fido Carol of the Bells
23 Jherek Bischoff Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
24 Ill Considered Auld Lang Syne

Sunday, December 15, 2024

Yule Tunes MMXXIV - Part Two

It's that time of year again, when I compulsively compile mixes of holiday music... 

Adding to the over two dozen mixes from previous years, here are the five more Yuletunes mixes for 2024... With more to come next week...

I get nearly all of my music thru Bandcamp these days, so if you're looking to pick up more songs from an album you like from one of these mixes, check out my collection there (and comment/message if you need help, since I have 3300+ items in my collection...)

hwæt! Xmas XXIV Folk Xmas Vol. 3

The third volume of my folk mix. A more traditional mix of songs both old and new featuring folk, acoustic goth and neo-folk Yule Tunes—suitable for all holiday family gatherings. 

(Folk Xmas Volume 1, Folk Xmas Volume 2)

# Artist Track
1 Angeline Morrison and the Rowan Amber Mill Cold Winter Morning
2 Cath and Phil Tyler Hither Ye Faithful
3 Nativity Songs Good King Wenceslas
4 Janice Burns & Jon Doran Down in yon Forest
5 Séamus Begley & Oisín Mac Diarmada Jigs: Upon St. Nicholas' Boat / Statia Donnelly
6 Rowan:Morrison Home
7 The Young Tradition with Shirley and Dolly Collins The Boar’s Head Carol
8 Conspiratio Gloucestershire Wassail
9 Unto Ashes For I am Winter Born
10 Butch Ross In The Bleak Midwinter
11 Joseph Allred What Child Is This?
12 Paddy Finnegan’s Green Machine The First noel
13 The Rowan Amber Mill The Cutty Wren

hwæt! Xmas XXIV Quiet Xmas Vol. 2

Another volume of Quiet Xmas... A mellow, quiet and slightly melancholy mix of Yule Tunes for a relaxing mood. For a long time I had this mix down as my gentle and beautiful mix for the year, so I'm not 100% certain that it's as quiet as the last mix, but the songs are lovely. 

(Quiet Xmas Volume 1)

# Artist Track
1 a bowl of rice & Moon-uh A Night Full of Wonders
2 John Zorn Snowfall
3 Naomi & goro winter song
4 Lunar Vacation Skating
5 Janice Burns & Jon Doran Carol of the Beasts
6 Lapompe Honeysuckle Snow
7 Robes of Snow Comfort of the Fire
8 Jethro Tull Pavane
9 J.R. Bohannon Christmas Time is Here
10 Sound of Ceres The Holly And The Ivy
11 Shiny Around the Edges In the Snow
12 Aadm Our Hatley Glamping on Ice
13 Eban Schletter Another Winter Night

hwæt! Xmas XXIV Unexpected Xmas Vol 3

A third volume of unusual instrumentation and arrangements to add some spice to your holiday festivities—featuring bagpipes, melodica, hurdy-gurdy, sitar, accordion, throat singing and more... 

(Unexpected Xmas Vol 1, Unexpected Xmas Vol 2)

# Artist Track
1 GreenMatthews The Bagpige Carol
2 Sean Thomson Jolly Old Saint Nicholas
3 Little Mazarn Sawlent Night
4 GurdyBird Horatio’s Carol
5 Misha Grossu Carol of the Bells
6 Cafe Accordion Orchestra Volse des Flocons
7 The Snake Charmer Feliz Navidad Bagpipes
8 Jad Fair Hurray For Santa Claus
9 Earl the Bard God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
10 PIQSIQ Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
11 Paddy Finnegan’s Green Machine We Wish You A Merry Christmas
12 Dylan Blackthorn the Hobo’s Wassail Waltz
13 Ukexotic Silent Night

hwæt! Xmas XXIV Heavy & Dark Xmas Vol. 3

A third volume of heavy and dark Yule Tunes for your enjoyment whether its a solitary sojourn from the bright lights and forced mirth of mandatory celebrations or a celebration of the long dark nights and doomed souls of Xmas time. Probably not safe for children... unless those kids like bad ass metal.

(Heavy & Dark Xmas Vol 1, Heavy & Dark Xmas Vol 2)

# Artist Track
1 Buried in Coal Christmas Time is Here
2 Bong Coffin All I Want For Christmas
3 jesu Christmas
4 Daughters Of Saint Crispin Last XMAS
5 Santa Sabbath Santanaut
6 Titanosaur Deck The Halls
7 Angry Snowmans Elves Of the North Pole
8 Starer Carol of the Hells (Instrumental)
9 Undergang Hjerternes Tid
10 The Annihilators How Do You Gift Wrap A Throat Punch?
11 Grotesque Misalignment I saw mummy killing santa clause (a primitive christmas)
12 A Hill to Die On Stille Nacht
13 CIA Hippie Mind Control God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

hwæt! Xmas XXIV Irreverent Xmas Vol. 3

A third volume of irreverent and eclectic yule tunes that treats Xmas with a healthy dose of comedic contempt and fun. Another mix that is probably better suited for the adult parties.

(Irreverent Xmas Vol 1, Irreverent Xmas Vol 2)

# Artist Track
1 The Dollyrots Christmas Time With You
2 Null Device Baby, It’s No Longer Cold Outside (Because of Climate Change)
3 Nicholas Burgess Sugar Plum
4 MX-80 (I Spent) Christmas With The Devil
5 goneMUNE No Fun On Christmas (Or Any Day)
6 Make Like Monkeys Santa Claus is Dead
7 Kay Martin & Her Body Guards Hang Your Balls On The Christmas Tree
8 Parenthetical Girls Thank God It’s Not Christmas
9 KatzKab My Sad Wishlist
10 Thanatos All The Gifts We Got Wrong (A Christmas Song)
11 Vaein Santa Baby
12 Kibble Head Like a Holy Night
13 Buried in Coal Pretty Big Man

Friday, December 6, 2024

Yule Tunes MMXXIV - Part One

It's that time of year again, when I compulsively compile mixes of holiday music... 

Adding to the over two dozen mixes from previous years, here are the first two Yuletunes mixes for 2024...

I get nearly all of my music thru Bandcamp these days, so if you're looking to pick up more songs from an album you like from one of these mixes, check out my collection there (and comment/message if you need help, since I have 3300+ items in my collection...)

First is a mix of Synth heavy tunes, almost could have been a second Gothmas Mix but a few lighter tunes snuck on and it focused more on the electronic end. Nothing on the mix that's truly not kid friendly, but probably more fun for adults.

# Artist Track
1 Ladytron All Over By Xmas
2 Xander Harris The Plot to End December
3 Das Mörtal Last Christmas
4 Biomechanimal God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
6 Flying Bohemian Toy to the World
7 Kibble Warm Fireplace
8 Silent Runners Baby I’m Cold Inside
8 Miranda Dali Merry Xmas (War Is Over)
9 Doors In The Labyrinth To Drive The Cold Winter Away
10 Fomorian Solstice
11 Hot Dad A Christmas Shortcut
12 Isolation Ward Lamina Christus
13 Freezepop Maybe Next Year on the Mistletoe (Computerizer Version)

Second, a second volume of Swinging Xmas, with a heavy focus on Surf Rock, but along the same lines as the first volume, a party friendly mix of rocking yule tunes. I found the excellent source image I used as the cover in the depths of Wikimedia Commons... 

# Artist Track
1 The Swingin’ Pussycats Rudolph Don’t Surf
2 X-Ray Tango We Three Kings Of Orient Are
3 The Surfrajettes All I Want For Christmas Is You
4 Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet White Diamonds
5 Urban Surf Kings The Elves Ride Again
6 The Soul Santas Winter Wonderland
7 Kerry Pastine and the Crime Scene Holly Jolly Rock & Roll Party
8 Los Bitchos Tipp Tapp
9 Surf Zombies Sleigh Ride
10 Mariachi Death Squad Carol of the Bells
11 Elephant Stone Christmas Time (Is Here Again)
12 The Wave Chargers Surfin’ Jingle Bells
13 Underwater Bosses God Rest Ye Gnarly Gentlemen

Wednesday, November 20, 2024

hwæt! And when you least think of you…

I had originally thought that I'd put out a mix of songs with exquisite mouth sounds, inspired by Teho Teardo & Blixa Bargeld's incredible "Menschenentsafter" but I need to spend a little more time sifting through my collection to make sure I've truly assembled the best of what I have.

So instead, I built a mix around another of the tracks off of the incredible album Christian & Mauro, "Bisogna Morire" or 'you must die', which is a more cheerful memento mori than the name might suggest. The resulting mix is by turns playful and melancholy, autumnal and heartening, and hopefully a balm for the listener's soul.

# Artist Track
1 Teho Teardo & Blixa Bargeld Bisogna Morire
2 Elysian Fields This World Is Just a World
3 Unwoman Falling Leaves
4 Lankum Cold Old Fire
5 Rogér Fakhr Rainhill
6 Mick Harvey Alone with the Stars
7 Philip Glass Mishima (Bob’s Burgers Arrangement)
8 Allie Goertz We’re in This Together
9 Chris Connelly Fini Chagall
10 Anita Lane Bella Ciao
11 Einstürzende Neubauten All of No Man’s Land is Ours
12 The Young Gods & The Lausanne Sinfonietta She Rains (Live)
13 The Legendary Pink Dots Space Captain (Extended)

I also made the mix as a youtube music playlist, though since all the songs are at the mercy of google making them available, you're really better off listening on Mixcloud where they won't disappear unless the whole mix is taken down...