The Terribly Late Mixtape from Nichole

01 Rock El Casbah - Rachid Taha

Wow, what a great way to open the mix. A full on, arabic cover version of The Clash classic 'Rock the Casbah'. Lots of twiddly pipes and appropriate sounding instrumentation. It only loses one bonus point for missing the 'Thinks it's not kosher' bit from the chorus at the end, but otherwise pretty damn near perfect. Yum.

02 A Gathering Storm - Terry Hall and Mushtaq

More middle eastern sounds, this time with Terry Hall out of Special AKA and Funboy Three. Less rocky and more traditional sounding than Rachid Taha, and Terry Hall's voice fits in with this style quite nicely. This is another one I like a lot and a quick google suggests that I might like the album ' The Hour of Two Lights' as well.

03 Salvador - Jamie T

I wasn't terribly impressed with this at first listening, but I find that it has grown on me somewhat. His voice reminds me of Alex Turner out of the Arctic Monkeys, oddly enough, although without the Sheffield accent and sung in a rather higher register. I think I'd need to hear a bit more of his stuff before making my mind up about him, but I do like this track.

04 Comfort Eagle - Cake

Oooh, mean and moody stuff now, with a strong driving bassline and fuzzed out, almost spoken, vocals over the top. I'm not sure about the bits with 'he is calling you - DUDE!' but on balance this is another winner.

05 - Palmcorder Yajna - The Mountain Goats

This is the winner for the oddest track name, and to be honest I still haven't worked out quite why it's called Palmcorder Yajna. It's very odd when you listen to the lyrics in detail actually, with the bits about his tv watching him. He sounds like Brian Wotsisname out of Placebo, but that's a good thing I think.

06 - Deja Vu (All Over Again) - John Fogerty

Hmmm, not really sure about this one, and I don't know why. I think he has too much of a nasal, sub Bob Dylan style, without having the lyrical oomph to back it up. Thumbs down, I'm afraid.

07 - Red Dirt Girl - Emmylou Harris

Ooooh, this one is nice. Restrained steel guitars humming and pulsing in the background underneath a very atmospheric song. It's a bit tragic, but that's sort of par for the course for the country genre.

08 - Portland Oregon - Loretta Lynn

In a similar vein to the last track, but taking it up to a whole different level. Where the backing on Red Dirt Girl was restrained, this one really lets rip almost veering into Led Zep style blues rock in some places. Not what I was expecting in the least, and after repeated listening this is far and away my favourite track on the whole cd. Utterly fantastic, not least because I happen to be married to a coal miner's daughter ... :-)

09 - The Lucky One - Alison Krauss

Hmmm, I thought I hadn't heard of Alison Krauss but I suddenly realised that her music was on the Buffy soundtrack at some point. Oddly enough, this is not country enough for my tastes after the last two tracks. Ok, I guess, but nothing to write home about.

10 - Don't Think Twice, It's All Right - Susan Tedeschi

Now, I definitely haven't heard of Susan Tedeschi before. Again, this is similar to the previous track, but vastly better. I love the hammond organ style backing that almost sounds like something from a Bob Marley track, and the song builds to a proper power finish rather than the maudlin meanderings of Alison Krauss. Excellent.

11 - Dancing with Joey Ramone - Amy Rigby

Ah, a change of pace now. This is really a rather wonderful tribute to Joey Ramone, sung in a smoky register with a proper handclap chorus and Ronnettes style doo-wops. The final guitar break is quite superb, and I really want to fire up Guitar Hero on the PS2 now. One-Two-Three-Four indeed.

12 - If I Was President - Wyclef Jean

Wow, this was a real eye opener. I have to confess that I hadn't realised quite how prolific an artist he is, in such a variety of genres. This is a very powerful live song, almost reggae but not quite, and spine tingling in lyrical content.

13 - Teenage Spaceship - Smog

I was expecting something a bit more quirky from the opening of this, but it meanders and falls flat, and doesn't really work for me. It suffers badly in contrast with the previous track, and highlights the curse of a mix tape - namely where an average song sits next to something great. Perhaps I would like it better in a different context?

14 - Anybody Seen My Mind - Michael Franti

Ah, this is better. Again, a very simple song, but so much better than the previous track. I could almost imagine Prince singing something like this - definite thumbs up.

15 - Talking Seattle Grunge - Todd Snider

Eh? I was expecting some grunge here, but it's almost a Bob Dylan parody, complete with harmonica chorus and all. If you are going to make a point about a particular musical genre, then you really need to sound like that genre. Thumbs down, I'm afraid. This is neither big nor clever.

16 - Breath Me - Sia

Yet another change of pace, although this is something that sounds like it could be off of the Buffy soundtrack. Very atmospheric, but the croaky, breathy vocal style just grates on me somewhat. A little too arch, I think.

17 - Chet Baker's Unsung Swan Song - David Wilcox

Mmmm, smooth. Laid back jazz style, and a beautifully sung song. The bit where the trumpet fades out at the end is heart breakingly good. Very moving.

18 - Place to Be - Nick Drake

Aha, another nice compare and contrast with the previous track. I don't usually go for this sort of singer songwriter stuff, but I do like this, mostly for the lovely guitar work.

19 - Furnace Room Lullaby - Neko Case

I can sort of see what Neko Case is trying to do here, but it doesn't quite work for me, for various reasons. I think the simplicity of some of the previous tracks has spoilt me, because it sounds like she is trying to cram too many different elements in this (the backing vocals especially) that simply don't need to be there.

20 - Lecon No 5 - Zap Mama

Ah, a nice quirky end to the mix. Thumbs up for fake vinyl crackle noises, samples from a Linguaphone style record, and some fantastic human beat box vocals. Probably my second favourite track on the mix, and I wanted it to go on for far longer than it actually did. Is the rest of her work in a similar vein to this? If so, then I think I will like it. Two thumbs up!

So, in summary, a really well composed mix. I loved the transitions from similar genres for the compare and contrast moments, and the quirky top and tail tracks that opened and closed it. It's given me some new (to me) artists that I really want to hear more of.

Thanks Nichole!