Tuesday, 31 October 2017

Mix From Nancy

My mix arrived from Nancy. Looking at the songs it seems that there's a bit a theme running through the choice of tracks, a kind of outdoors, nature, landscape mix.

There are a few tracks here that are familiar, but many that aren't, including a couple that are completely new to me. Here's the track listing and some thoughts on each one:

1. Mama Nature Said - Thin Lizzy
I know Thin Lizzy and although this track is probably nearly as old as I am, it's a good one. Good choice of an opener to the mix.

2. The Dog Song - Rachael Ray
There are some interesting effects in this track, with a good piano tune running throughout.

3. Muswell Hillbilly - Southern Culture on the Skids
I've heard this before, but I had no idea who wrote / sang here. I like the electric organ track, and the lyrics are pretty good too, great build up for the next track.

4. This Year - The Mountain Goats
I'd never heard of The Mountain Goats before, but I really liked this track. Some good lyrics as well as a catchy tune.

5. Walk Through The Bottomland - Lyle Lovett
A bit more of a relaxed tune after The Mountain Goats, bringing the tempo back down. Good choice to place this in the mix here. Some good duets, and I like Country Music too.

6. Down To The River To Pray - Alison Krauss
Alison Krauss has a great voice but sadly I don't really like the song.

7. River Deep - Mountain High - Ike & Tina Turner
Probably the most well know track on the mix, and one that's been covered by many other artists.

8. Sunshine - Maysa
This was another new one to me, and I do like a bit of soft jazz.

9. Poison Ivy
For some reason the artist details dropped off of this one, and although I feel like I should recognise who the artist(s) are I have no idea. Good track though.

10. Eagle In The Sky - Sean Arington
When I first played this I actually thought this was someone else, but this is another artist that I'm not familiar with. Really liked this one though. Possibly my favourite on the mix.

11. Blue Ridge Mountains - Fleet Foxes
Blue Ridge Mountains always makes me think of Laurel & Hardy, and although at one time the Fleet Foxes were quite popular in the UK, I never really got into them. I think it's the singing. Instrumentally I like their music, but the voice track is a little odd (to me at least).

12. Aloha - Walter Hyatt
Another one that is unfamiliar and reminds me of 1950's movies.

13. Bird Song - M.I.A
Upbeat and catchy, and probably my second favourite in the mix. Can you count all the different bird species that are mentioned?

14. Walk Between Raindrops - Donald Fagen
This is a great choice for a closing track to the mix, it winds you down after nearly an hour of listening and finishes things off nicely.

Thanks to Nancy for my mix, I've been listening to it quite a bit, and my thoughts above may well change, so the above are really just my initial thoughts, as I listen again in the car or with headphones I think my brain picks up on different things. I'm looking forward to a lot more plays over the coming days. Kudos Nancy - great choice of tracks.

1 comment:

Anonymous Me said...

Hi, Alan! Thanks so much for posting the review - I'm really happy to know you heard some things you liked. Some of the songs were new to me as well because once I committed myself to the nature theme, I needed some help from the internet to fill it out. :-) One of the songs I discovered was M.I.A.'s Bird Song, and I have to say it is one of my favorites as well! One of the other ones new to me is the one by The Mountain Goats, and I knew the band because the singer/songwriter John Darnielle wrote a novel that I absolutely love: Wolf in White Van.

Sean Arrington, who sings (and wrote) Eagle in the Sky is from Athens, GA and I've met him a bunch of times. He's my favorite local musician.

The Dog Song was written and sung by Nellie McKay, and this version of Poison Ivy is by The Nylons.