Mad World Mix Tape

Photo: Kainet, Flickr (CC by-SA 2.0) As I referenced in our earlier "The Truth About Heaven" post , I’ve always had this thing for death. Musically, that is. (I’m not perving on the Grim Reaper or anything freaky like that). And it goes way back.  My favorite childhood song was that one about that clock that “stopped short, never to run again, when the old man died.” I mean how cool is that? Talk about loyalty. I can only hope that when I go someday, my Vitamix will say “Screw this, I’m done too.” By the way, back in 1878, Henry Work caved to the commercial pressures and penned a sequel to "My Grandfather’s Clock" (thus foreshadowing Queensryche’s Operation Mindcrime II).  In the sequel, G-pa’s clock gets sacked for “that vain stuck-up thing on the wall” and then unceremoniously cremated by the junk dealer’s wife. That sound you just heard was my V-Mix hightailing it the hell out of my kitchen. So much for loyalty. One of my earliest favorite “adult” so...

In a previous post , we argued for the music identification service, Shazam , being the second most important invention (behind the washing machine) of the modern era.  In retrospect, we may have been a bit dismissive of other inventions (invoking the ire of penicillin backers in particular) and a bit rash in our pronouncements.  For certainly there are strong arguments to be made for Pandora . For the uninitiated, here’s the scoop on Pandora. You enter a song or artist that you like.  Then, leveraging something called the Music Genome Project, Pandora classifies your selection on the basis of up to 400 different characteristic or “genes” and starts serving up tunes.  By “upthumbing” (or downthumbing) the songs you hear, your station becomes increasingly personalized over time.  It’s like an infinitely more musically enlightened version of yourself, DJing your own station. Photo:  Harry_Nl, Flickr  (CC by-NC-SA 2.0) We at MWMT ...

It’s been argued that the single most important invention of the industrial era was the washing machine, as the time savings it yielded helped revolutionize the role of women in the western world. If so, the song-identifying service Shazam (not to be confused with the significantly less revolutionary Shaq genie movie -- Kazaam ) would have to be a close second. Anyone who came of age before the new millennium has a white whale music story. That amazing, life-altering song they heard in the mall dressing room or caught the last 45 seconds of in the car but couldn’t identify. Cut to car interior, Chicago suburbs, late summer, 1986.  Our protagonists – your two future MWMT collaborators – are engaged in a highly delusional discussion about how they could’ve been high school cross-country gods if only they had hit puberty sooner. Or their parents had the foresight to hold them back in kindergarten like Texas football kids. The conversation suddenly slackens as they si...

It’s that classic relationship story:  boy meets girl; boy loses girl; boy drives car into body of water; boy finds out heaven is a downer; boy comes back as ghost stalker; boy realizes his death (& life) was inconsequential; boy beats it back to heaven, bummed Yeah, you’ve heard it all before, but Armor for Sleep breathes new life into the classic Disney formula on the under-appreciated classic  What to Do When You’re Dead . Image:   Sherrie Thai, Flickr  (CC by 2.0) Now, I must admit that I kind of have a thing for concept albums about death.  I played My Chemical Romance’s Welcome to the Black Parade into the ground (dig deeper and check out “Disenchanted” or “How I Disappear” ). But setting aside admittedly disconcerting middle age emo leanings, What to Do When You’re Dead is tremendous. Pretty sure Pandora turned me on to the album via the lead track “Car Underwater”. On first listen, I remember thinking...

Almost anyone who’s ever had a band has played “If only”. And we’re not talking power ballad here.   We’re talking rumination. If only they had played our stuff.   If only we had landed that singer. Guitarist.   Drummer. If only we had come along a few years earlier. If only we had landed that big gig. But few bands have lived out their “if only” moment more publicly than Northmont. The Next Great American band was a one not so hit wonder (I think it finished last in its time slot) that aired in the fall of 2007.   Think American Idol for bands.   The concept was inherently flawed.   Bands – much more so than vocalists – have a distinct sound.   And that sound isn’t necessarily going to translate to strong performances of other people’s stuff.   Nirvana probably would’ve made a crap Billy Joel cover band. Image: Vectorfunk, Flickr (CC by 2.0) For the live audition round, it appeared that you got one song in front of ...

At Christmas time, all our hearts seem to open a little bit wider. Unfortunately, our musical minds close proportionally. We want to hear all those holiday songs that remind us of the yesteryears of our youth. Tell me Santa Claus is coming to town. Ask me if they know it’s Christmas at all. Plead for me to come home. Take me to Sarajevo on Christmas eve. Photo: Chris Palmer, Flickr (CC by 2.0) It doesn’t even matter so much who’s singing it.   This year’s America’s got Voice winner? Sure. Forgotten 80’s metal band covering Bing Crosby?  A ll over it. Country dudes you wouldn’t be caught dead listening to the rest of the year? Why not. We’re all a bunch of cover band fans this time of year. However, spare me your originals. I got shopping to do. And Christmas Story marathons to watch. I don’t have the mental energy or heart hard disk space for anything new. And for God’s sake, don’t be a downer. Nostalgic...

With all due respect to love, heartbreak kicks its ass when it comes to penning tunes. And while inner peace and contentedness is all fine and good, its musical oeuvre pales in comparison to that of disappointment and self-loathing.   Alas, not everyone has the chromosomal make-up to be a successful self-loather. Fiona Apple has got it. So does Roger Waters. Jared Leto (30TM) too. Up with People ? Not so much. Which may you leave you wondering: "do I have what it takes to be a self-loather?" Well, as a public service, we at MWMT have developed a simple, less than ten minute, self-diagnostic tool to assess your level of self-loathing.  It consists solely of listening to Cloud Nothing's "Wasted Days". Image:  Benjamin Chun, Flickr  (CC-by NA 2.0) If within two minutes you're ready to move on from what you perceive to be self-indulgent overwrought dreck... Sorry, but you are undoubtedly destined to while away your likely many remaining days in...