August 20, 2011

MIXTAPE: Van In Halen. Ex Halen Out The Best.


Once again people, fucking forget the record label “best of” releases. You get just the singles and other bullshit they want you to hear. If you are younger and missed out on the heyday of a band, do yourself a favor and check out a band’s entire catalog. Then make your own best of. Everybody has their own style and preference. I’ve been doing this with classic bands. I showed you my take on Black Sabbath. And even newer stuff like Faith No More.


I’ve got one Hagar song in here. Ehh. He’s just not it for me. I chose this song because of Alex Van Halen. Killer drums. Plus Eddie of course. The Red Rocker is just there. Might as well sub in Gary Cherone. Whatever.

So welcome to the Sunset Strip. The kings before Motley Crue (who will be coming your way soon). 



01 - Atomic Punk (1978)
02 – D.O.A. (1979)
03 - Dirty Movies (1981)
04 – Eruption (1978)
05 - Hang 'Em High (1982)
06 - House Of Pain (1984)
07 – Intruder (1982)
08 - Jamie's Cryin' (1978)
09 - Little Dreamer (1978)
10 - Outta Love Again (1979)
11 – Poundcake (1991)
12 - Romeo Delight (1980)
13 - Runnin With The Dave [16 sec of Dave] (1978)
14 – Unchained (1981)
15 - Where Have All The Good Times Gone (1982)
16 - You Really Got Me Now (1978)

Liner Notes:

  • Atomic Punk – doesn’t get much better than this. Top 3 VH for me. Bass heavy as hell.
  • D.O.A. – my favorite VH song. The total package.
  • Eruption – you have to have it. This is the original intro to Eddie Van Halen. This was in every party mix of mine for about 5 years.
  • House Of Pain – Christ, there were so many singles off the album ‘1984’ – but not this song. Why not? Killer song.
  • Intruder – this song sums up what I like about VH. Yes, they have Eddie who gets all the ink. But they have a fantastic drums/bass rhythm section with Alex and Michael. This song showcases the sound I love out of this band.
  • Romeo Delight – you wanted to know what was also in that top 3 VH? Here it is.
  • Running With The Dave – this is my edit. A few years ago on the Internet a vocals only take of Running went around. What a madman Diamond Dave is. You can practically hear him snorting the coke off some some stripper.  Anyway – I took that and give you the best 16 sec.
  • Unchained – “you’ll get some leg tonight for sure”
  • You Really Got Me Now – again, you NEED this song.

August 11, 2011

MIXTAPE: the best of LIVE Faith No More 90-98


Here’s a treat for you. I culled through about 30 recordings of full Faith No More concerts about 5 years ago to arrive at this 61 song, 4 hour “concert”. The live recordings were from the first coming of FNM during the Mike Patton era – 1990 up to their final concert in Lisbon April 7, 1998. Most are from decent sounding soundboard recordings.

I’m generally not a big fan of live recordings, especially if a band performs songs EXACTLY like studio tracks. Why listen to live songs when you can hear it clearer and better on the original disc? But in FNM – and particularly with Mike Patton - you get spontaneity.  You get extra personality – like the sound a microphone makes when shoved up the singer’s ass (true story – but not on this mixtape)

What I did here was go through all the concerts and listen to each time they played a certain song. Then I listened over and over to find the best take of that song. Epic, We Care A lot and Easy were played at every concert of course so there was a lot to choose from. But some songs were probably only played for very short windows of time right after an album came out. So there are some real gems in here. My criteria for picking which version of a song made this live mixtape was not always sound quality. I considered the following:

·         When Patton “tries hard”. The guy’s voice is incredible. When he really sings it – not just going wild or being silly – it can be chillingly awesome.
·         When the crowd is really into it. Listen to some of these European audiences and you’ll know why this American-based band played their comeback shows over there.
·         When there is interesting stage banter or something extra that sets it apart from studio versions.  

Liner Notes:
·         In a couple of the songs a fan gets past security and up onto the stage. They usually fuck with Roddy’s keyboard.
·         In RV (track 33) – the main mic goes out at the beginning of the song. But it sounds so cool to hear the clean guitar without the vocals over the top – then the crowd singing, then Patten’s vocal feed fades in.

Track Listing - with city and date:

[[01] Intro (The Final Countdown) [Italy 12-17-92]
[[02] As The Worm Turns [Phoenix Festival 7-17-93]
[[03] From Out Of Nowhere [Zurich 3-28-95]
[[04] Everything's Ruined [3-7-95]
[[05] Evidence [Melbourne 8-14-95]
[[06] Paths Of Glory [Amsterdam 4-30-97]
[[07] Chinese Arithmetic [Lyon 12-9-92]
[[08] Falling To Pieces [Phoenix Festival 7-17-93]
[[09] A Small Victory [Phoenix Festival 7-17-93]
[[10] Digging The Grave [Israel 6-29-95]
[[11] Home Sick Home [San Fran 10-6-97]
[[12] Introduce Yourself [Phoenix Festival 7-15-95]
[[13] The Morning After [Phoenix Festival 7-17-93]
[[14] Jizzlobber [Lyon 12-9-92]
[[15] Ice Ice Baby [Lisbon 4-7-98 FINAL SHOW]
[[16] Caralho Voador [Melbourne 8-14-95]
[[17] Got That Feeling [Rotterdam 8-27-97]
[[18] This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us [Spain 4-4-98]
[[19] Death March [Phoenix Festival 7-17-93]
[[20] Epic [Phoenix Festival 7-15-95]
[[21] Caffeine [Phoenix Festival 7-17-93]
[[22] 16 Tons & Let's Lynch The Landlord [Phoenix Festival 7-17-93]
[[23] Get Out [Melbourne 8-14-95]
[[24] Pristina [San Fran 10-6-97]
[[25] R n R [Phoenix Festival 7-17-93]
[[26] Surprise! You're Dead! [Melbourne 8-14-95]
[[27] Glory Box [Phoenix Festival 7-15-95]
[[28] Be Aggressive [Phoenix Festival 7-15-95]
[[29] Just A Man [Phoenix Festival 7-15-95]
[[30] Collision [Wolverhampton 12-1-97]

[[31] Mark Bowen [Phoenix Festival 7-17-93]
[[32] Underwater Love [Amsterdam 6-22-92]
[[33] RV [3-7-95]
[[34] I Started A Joke [Phoenix Festival 7-15-95]
[[35] Ricochet [Phoenix Festival 7-15-95]
[[36] Ashes To Ashes [Lisbon 4-7-98 FINAL SHOW]
[[37] Why Do You Bother [Phoenix Festival 7-17-93]
[[38] Highway Star [San Fran 10-6-97]
[[39] Woodpecker From Mars [Lyon 12-9-92]
[[40] Kindergarten [11-9-92]
[[41] King For A Day [Zurich 3-28-95]
[[42] Last Cup Of Sorrow [Sydney 10-21-97]
[[43] Easy [3-7-95]
[[44] The Real Thing [Sydney 7-30-90]
[[45] Land Of Sunshine [Phoenix Festival 7-17-93]
[[46] The Gentle Art Of Making Enemies [Rotterdam 8-27-97]
[[47] Stripsearch [Wolverhampton 12-1-97]
[[48] Sweet Dreams [Quinta Vergara 2-6-91]
[[49] The Crab Song [Phoenix Festival 7-17-93]
[[50] Zombie Eaters [Phoenix Festival 7-17-93]
[[51] Midlife Crisis [Hannover 8-11-92]
[[52] Ugly In The Morning [Wolverhampton 12-1-97]
[[53] War Pigs [Phoenix Festival 7-17-93]
[[54] Midnight Cowboy [Lisbon 4-7-98 FINAL SHOW]
[[55] What A Day [Phoenix Festival 7-15-95]
[[56] Take This Bottle [Zurich 3-28-95]
[[57] Naked In Front Of The Computer [Wolverhampton 12-1-97]
[[58] Crack Hitler [Hannover 8-11-92]
[[59] Edge Of The World [Phoenix Festival 7-17-93]
[[60] We Care A Lot [Hannover 8-11-92]
[[61] This Guy's In Love With You [San Fran 10-6-97]

August 3, 2011

MIXTAPE: Bitchin’ Mixtape Vol.3


Here’s the 3rd installment. Check out the first if you haven’t already.

Track listing:

01 - Last Days Of Humanity - Ulcerated Offal
02 - Leng Tch'e - Totalitarian [With Barney Greenway]
03 - Tiger Army - In The Orchard
04 - Fugazi - Public Witness Program
05 - Mordred - Falling Away
06 - Nasum - No Sign Of Improvement
07 - The Damned Things - Friday Night (Going Down In Flames)
08 - Terror - T.T.I.H.
09 - Killswitch Engage - A Light In A Darkened World
10 - Shandi's Addiction - Dr. Love
11 - Korn - Let The Guilt Go
12 - S.O.B. - Give Me Advice
13 - Unbroken - Final Expression
14 - The Mad Caps - Baby Man
15 - Mariachi El Bronx – Sleepwalking
16 - Down - Underneath Everything [Edit]
17 - One Day As A Lion - If You Fear Dying
18 - Nirvana - Pen Cap Chew
19 - Toxic Holocaust - In The Name Of Science
20 - Fitz & The Tantrums - Breakin The Chains Of Love
21 - Los Straitjackets - Our Favorite Martian
22 - Testament - Nightmare (Coming Back To You)
23 - Hank Williams III - Rebel Within
24 - Lifebleed - Differences Of Fade And Dissolve
25 - Blood For Blood - Wasted Youth Crew
26 - Rip Carson - Green In My Pocket
27 - Sick Of It All - Who Sets The Rules
28 - 36 Crazyfists - The Heart And The Shape
29 - Godflesh - Like Rats
30 - A Perfect Murder - Body And Blood

Liner Notes:

  • Last Days Of Humanity - Ulcerated Offal: I play this short burst of brutality in every single one of my party mixes. Awesome song. And even awesomer reaction from pop diva fans and older folks that are present.
  • Tiger Army - In The Orchard: Again, as noted in my recent Cuntry mixtape, this is my favorite song of all time.
  • Mordred - Falling Away: Kinda Faith No More – like, kinda not.
  • The Damned Things - Friday Night (Going Down In Flames): Super group with Every Time I Die Keith on vocals and Scott Ian on guitar. Super song.
  • Killswitch Engage - A Light In A Darkened World: Killer chorus. This song inspires me to be the light in a darkened world. Seriously. Choose this day.
  • Shandi's Addiction - Dr. Love: From a 1994 Kiss tribute album. A one-off super group featuring dudes in Tool, Rage Against The Machine and Faith No More.
  • Korn - Let The Guilt Go: Ok, you’re thinking, really? Korn? New Korn? But Jonathon Davis shows you why he’s the singer and you’re not when he hits one of those “give me chills” moments at the 1:30 and 2:11 mark.
  • S.O.B. - Give Me Advice: Japanese grind.
  • Unbroken - Final Expression: Raw, raw hardcore from one of my favorite bands. Love the recording sound on this album. Check out the final line of the song – “you helped – it – end!”  So powerful.
  • Mariachi El Bronx – Sleepwalking: Love this album (first album). LOVE his voice. New 2nd album coming out this month from the band that is getting way more play as their side band, instead of their original heavy band, The Bronx.
  • One Day As A Lion - If You Fear Dying: Zach de la Rocha and Jon Theodore. Two guys, two instruments: drums and keyboard. Heavy as fuck. From the 5 song EP (2008). God I hope there is more where this came from.
  • Nirvana - Pen Cap Chew: From early band recordings (1988); First of all, why did they not record this with some better production down the road – and more importantly why hasn’t anybody covered this killer song?????
  • Lifebleed - Differences Of Fade And Dissolve: Jon “Heavi” Nemi on guitar, Jim Jacka on vocals and the boys from Lockport, NY. More please.
  • Sick Of It All - Who Sets The Rules: Perhaps my favorite SOIA song.
  • Godflesh - Like Rats: Early GF that is soooooo heavy.

Edits are my edits – used to improve the song, keep listener interest high and/or shorten in an attempt to get more songs played at a party. Don’t like it? Buy the original.

If you like the bands – support them and buy their music.