• Friday Five

    The Friday Five: November 11, 2011

    Friday Five

    Friday Five : ‘frī-(,)dā,-dē ‘fīv : On the sixth day of every week, I hit the shuffle button on my iTunes, then share the first five tracks and thought for each track. Sometimes there is a playlist involved, occasionally we’ll have a guest, but most of the time it’s just me. The rest is up to you, our friends and readers! Fire up your media player of choice and share the first five random track of your shuffle in the comments.

    The Five:

    God Is Love” by Marvin Gaye (from What’s Going On, 1971)

    A simple prayer, rife with the soul of the record.

    The Wicker Man” by Iron Maiden (from From Fear to Eternity: The Best of 1990-2010, 2011)

    The lead-off single from Maiden’s triumphant return to form in 2000. The triple threat of Murray, Gers and Smith is in full churn here, with Smith burning through a killer solo. I recall the trepidation with which I approached listening to a new Iron Maiden tune at that point, and the surprise when it was as strong as this.

    Cherish the Day” by Sade (from The Ultimate Collection, 2011)

    I’m going to just sit back and enjoy this one.

    Never Land (a Fragment)” by The Sisters of Mercy (from Floodland, 1987)

    They weren’t kidding when they said “a Fragment.” This is, at best, an incomplete thought.

    Blue Flame” by Joe Jackson Band (from Volume 4, 2003)

    It occurred to me while this tune played just how much Ben Folds copped Jackson’s shtick. I’m not sure why it never dawned on me before this. Maybe this is why I hold Folds in such contempt.

    What’s on your shuffle today?

  • Friday Five

    The Friday Five: February 20, 2009

    We are indeed drifting into the arena of the shuffle.

    Short list today, we’ll return to ‘normal’ next week…

    For those who have not joined in the Friday Five here is all you need to know; each Friday I hit the shuffle button on my iTunes and share my five and drop a little knowledge and insight for each track. Sometimes there is a playlist involved, sometimes there isn’t. Sometimes we have guest, but most of the time it’s just me.

    The rest is up to you, our friends and readers! Fire up your media player of choice and share the first five random track of your shuffle in the comments. The more the merrier!

    The Five:

    Ribbons” (mp3) – The Sisters of Mercy (from Vision Thing, 1990)

    “Vocab” – Fugees (from Blunted on Reality, 1994)

    Walk on the Wild Side” (mp3) – Lou Reed (from Transformer, 1972)

    “Lovers Forever” – Brothers Johnson (from Out of Control, 1984)

    “Fields of Coal” – …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead (from The Century of Self, 2009)

    Tag! You’re it!

  • Podcast

    Ickmix Podcast: Alternative Thursday Night, Vol. 1

    Alternative Thursday Night

    The Pre-Game Show

    A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away I spent my evenings working in a tiny little club in a college town somewhere in upstate NY. It was the mid-90’s and while the other establishments in town focused on “Ladies Night” and “All Request Dance Night”, the bar I called ”home” was featuring “Alternative Thursday Night”. Originally helmed by DJ “Mad Man” Ray, I took over a few years later and dubbed myself DJ Flood. (There’s a long story that goes with that name but we’ll save that for another week.)

    Pete’s recent trip down Cripple Creek inspired me to revisit the tunes that I used to spin to the masses and I got to thinking that this could be a great opportunity to regale in some short term nostalgia and put together some killer mixes. At the moment my plan is to make this a bi-weekly feature with the prior week’s mix only being available until the next one is released. I’ll keep the mixes to about 30 minutes at a clip but in the end you’ll be able to play the set back to back and get the full experience. Without further adieu, here’s Volume 1:

    Download: Alternative Thursday Night, Vol. 1 (24.0 MB MP3)

    Playlist (26.03):

    Alternative Thursday Night

    “Something I Can Never Have” by Nine Inch Nails
    (from Pretty Hate Machine)
    “Under the Gun” by The Sisters of Mercy
    (from A Slight Case of Overbombing: Greatest Hits, Volume One)
    “Hell Is Round the Corner” by Tricky
    (from Maxinquaye)
    “Glory Box” by Portishead
    (from Dummy)
    “Paraffin” by Ruby
    (from Salt Peter)
    “Condemnation” by Depeche Mode
    (from Songs of Faith and Devotion)

    Comments on Vol. 1:

    When setting up and getting ready for the night I usually would run through two or three tunes to make sure everything sounded right. I was usually coming in the night after “80’s Night” and the previous night’s DJ inevitably left the EQ a mess and I had to make sure that I wasn’t going to blow the system up. There were usually only a few patrons in the place that early and generally it was just staff so I could get away with leaving longer and mellower tracks on and bellying up to the bar for my first round of shots and “Seinfeld”.

    “Something I Can Never Have” by Nine Inch Nails was always my opening. There is something about that tune that despite all its tortured measure is quite peaceful and beautiful. Following that are the haunting lyrics behind “Under the Gun” which features the vocals of Terri Nunn formerly of Berlin. For a very long time that was one of my favorite songs and to this day holds a spot in that goth part of my heart. The paring of “Hell Is Round the Corner” and “Glory Box” is a no-brainer as they both borrow heavily from “Ike’s Rap II” by Isaac Hayes. “The Bristol Sound” was coming up and I fully embraced it for all its Trip-Hop goodness. “Paraffin” by Ruby keeps with the Trip-Hop and is probably the only song that I can recall that is about an old man’s ass. Closing volume one is “Condemnation” by Depeche Mode which is, for me, one of their defining songs. The emotion in David Gahan’s voice is nothing short of breathtaking.

    So that’s it for Vol. 1, feel free to leave any requests (because a good DJ always takes requests), comments, compliments or complaints below and I’ll meet you all back here in 2 weeks for Vol. 2.