JCC Amph The JCC mixtape, Part II (now complete!) - full playlist link in OP

@soitscometothis your playlist reminds me of all the road trips I took with my wife in the early years of our marriage, before the kids. My wife had the Tori Amos and the Suzanne Vega, the Indigo Girls, the 10,000 Maniacs, but most of all the Fumbling Towards Ecstasy on rotation for hours on end. It's just such good listening at 1 am on an interstate somewhere between St. Louis and Tulsa.

 

It's from Greyhawk.



@soitscometothis, this is such a great list. Like @Rylo Ken, it takes me back to such a specific point in time - I love it. Tricky, Shakespeare's Goddam Sister, Tori, PJ Harvey (who looks like she's about 2 weeks into a hunger strike at all times); Tricky (the golden age of British trip hop, alongside I'd dare say lamb, Portishead, and Massive Attack to name but a few), but also an instrumental NIN track. I'm pretty biased on that one; A Warm Place from Downward Spiral is what pushed me into ambient in the first place.

And of course, Kyuss, aka the band sorta before QOTSA, but who Josh Homme seems to want to stay dead.

 

For this list I tried to stay away from tracks released as singles as much as possible (well, 10 out of 12 isn't bad), in the hope that they would be less familiar.

Doughnut Song - Tori Amos
I first thought this song was boring, but upon listening to it properly the bit in the background (starting at 23 seconds in) just weaves in and out and makes the track fascinating to me for reasons I don't understand. Boys for Pele is still one of my favourite Tori Amos albums, and though I don't listen to it as much as I used to, when I do it always rewards.

Black Steel - Tricky
I had intended not to have any single releases in this mix, but Black Steel was cut from my original list and I needed a fast track to contrast with Doughnut Song. So here we are. Hopefully it doesn't overpower the rest of the list, but it's a great track. Martina Topley-Bird's vocals are always beautiful.

Mammalian Locomotion - Abbe May
Fell in love with this track after hearing it in the credits of an episode of Entourage. Got the album - it's good, with Taurus Chorus being my second favourite track.

Capsized - Kyuss
This is a track that is only just long enough for you to think: "hey, this is really nice," before it stops.

The Trouble with Andre - Shakespears Sister
I was very into this album when it first came out in the 90's. The two women that Shakespeare's Sister comprised of had such a volatile relationship that there was only one album, and that was that. This wasn't a single, but it quickly became my favourite track on the album. I just like the lyrics.

Just Like You Imagined - Nine Inch Nails
Amazing instrumental. Obviously most people here will be familiar with it as NIN is very popular, but I find The Fragile's length puts me off listening to it so much, so I find it easy to forget the really good tracks because of that. Maybe other people here are the same way.

Long Snake Moan - PJ Harvey
A couple of months ago an old friend of mine recommended a bunch of albums for me to listen to, and P J Harvey's To Bring You My Love was the one that really made me sit up and take notice. I quickly picked up Rid of Me and Is This Desire? I could have filled up this mix with P J tracks, but I've left it to just this one, but it's very good. Actually Me-Jane was on here too at one point, but for some reason Spotify insists on playing it very quietly, and that is not a quiet song.

I Never Came - Queens of the Stone Age
Beautiful track from Lullabies to Paralyze, very different from the Queen's usual output.

Jumbo Blimp Jumbo - Kyuss
This instrumental track is just so full-on it makes me smile. Despite both Kyuss tracks on this list being instrumentals they do actually sing most of the time.

Soap and Water - Suzanne Vega
I had Solitude Standing back in the late 80's, but lost track of her after that. A few years ago I came across a bunch of her later tracks, most of which I liked, and Soap and Water stood out because of the lyrics (Daddy's a dark riddle, Mamma's a head full of bees...).

Fear - Sarah McLachlan
I know, I know, everyone is familiar with Sarah McLachlan, but I love this track.

A Different Drum - Peter Gabriel
I've never seen The Last Temptation of Christ, but the soundtrack is excellent.

 

Familiar with the Josh Homme expanded universe and NIN but not much else; should be fun.

It’s good. For some reason the discourse around it has always been about either the controversy surrounding the last temptation (really not much of the film all told) or Judas talking like he’s from the Bronx (god forbid we have a period piece where people aren’t speaking King’s English the whole time I guess), but it’s a solid and intimate portrait of Scorsese’s version of his messiah. Cinematographically it’s not going to blow your socks off or anything, but it’s not trying to, and anything too slick would probably detract from the “relatable Jesus” vibes.

 

Yeah she's very PJ Harvey too. And for all its issues, Entourage did have some phenomenal songs in the end credits. Gang Starr's above the clouds is one such example, but there are so many more.

There were two albums, but they only really took off and had that hit with Stay when the 2nd album came out and there was the two of them. The founder was Siobhan Fahey; I love watching people try to pronounce this name without knowing how Irish names work.

 

I didn't realise Shakespear's Sister had a previous album! Of course back then you walked into a Virgin Megastore and looked in the cd racks, and if you only saw one album by an artist you assumed that was it!

 

The first one was really just a side/vanity project from Fahey after Bananarama fell apart. The second is what had Stay which as we know blew them up internationally.

Also apparently they weren't named after a Smiths song.

 

So they actually have four albums.

 

It's the only Sarah McLachlan album I still listen to, though I had a few (or my sister had, and I taped them). I was a big Due South fan, and several tracks from FTE were used in the show, to good effect, and that helped cement my love for the album. The UK version also had a cover of Joni Mitchell's Blue, which is pretty great.

 

I haven’t been too active lately, unfortunately. Can someone please strike me from the list? Thanks

 

I was sure my vote would go to one of the Homme tracks, but Mammalian Locomotion is a banger. I looked up Abbe May and the rest of her limited catalog seems to pale in comparison, but I dig that song a lot. Also really enjoyed the Tori Amos and Sarah MacLachlan (!?) picks.

 

I think I'd heard The Doughnut Song and Fear and that's all from this list. It's a really strong list. I like the NIN instrumental and Kyuss tracks a lot. That Suzanne Vega track is incredibly well written; really great lyrics.

But there was only ever the one choice from this list. That PJ Harvey track knocked me right on my ass. The only one of her albums I've spent much time with is Stories from the City/Sea and I liked it a lot. But, man, this one is amazing. This has some similarities to Pedestrian at Best actually. She brings the fire, man. Like, she's a very small woman, but listening to this, you feel like she could kill you with one punch.

 

I don't think I've ever listened to PJ Harvey but I had often heard about how she was a big influence on Chino from Deftones.

I now understand!

 

It was a close call between "Black Steel" and "A Different Drum" for me, but the latter just edged it out. I hadn't heard Gabriel's "finished" versions of the tracks before, but you're right, the whole album is pretty solid.

 

I've only started listening to her recently (though I'd heard her on a track or two of Homme's Desert Sessions), and have only got three albums so far. I'd give To Bring You My Love a listen on Spotify, as I think it may be the sweet spot of those three albums; Rid of Me is its predecessor, and as you'd expect of an Steve Albini produced record, it's got a kind of stripped-down, raw and angry energy to it; Is This Desire? is more experimental and moody. All three albums are very good, imo.

@Ender Sai Just started listening to lamb on Spotify since you mentioned them. Passed me by at the time (as so much good music did), but I'm liking them so far.

 

I first got into them off a Jose Padilla mix on a Cafe del Mar album (remember those? We are so, so old) of the song Transfatty Acid. My uni girlfriend introduced me to them more properly, and we saw them live in I think 2002 or 2003 at a festival touring for the "What Sound" album. I have limited memories of that day due to Mike Delta Mike Alpha.

The song Górecki is actually amazing though, and it was kinda cool to see Nicole Kidman sing it in Moulin Rouge! when it wasn't a hugely well known song.

 

I’d say this playlist is really my do over, I want to say I was trying too hard with the last one. Anyways I didn’t toss any pop songs in here in a vain attempt to make the country tracks more tolerable. I’d be overjoyed with any of these tracks winning. Also threw the final boss music from Persona Five in here because I wanted to be the guy that ruins everything. (And also I really like it).

More detailed thoughts to follow.

 

And the circle continues. The particular rendition of Pilgrim 33 on this list is from the same show you got that track from.

 

Ah the Highwaymen... in 1996 or so, James Hetfield and Jason Newsted from Metallica hosted the seminal Australian programme rage. Guest VJs would come on and pick their favourite songs/videos and it was often a good way to get exposed to all their varied influences in a pre-streaming era.

Now Hetfield had been dabbling with country sounds and people might know the song "Mama Said" off Load. One of the tracks he picked on rage was "the Highwayman" by the Highwaymen, and that was probably the first country song that wasn't Australian that I heard. But, it was also the first one I liked.

 

@heels1785

Add me please

 

I'm not sure why you put a Johnny Cash song on there and then pretended that the other songs were actual alternate choices.

 

Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald: This one's for the FODUESS, in case any of my fellow owners had any lingering doubts about the name of my team. I don't live near the big lake, but I've been there plenty of times. the north shore really is beautiful area, and this is a really haunting song that I quite enjoy. Now it has the added bonus of being forever linked with legendary Major League slugger Josh Gibson among members of a particular subsection of a particular Star Wars message board that play in a particular sim baseball league. You're welcome.

Drive: I really like this song, though I have to admit that its not particularly autobiographical. Driving a car wasn't actually something I was every really chomping at the bit to do, it was just something I learned to do in order get places. Also the boat was fourteen feet long and it was aluminum. Side note when I'm listening to the song I sometime change the word of the driver in the last verse to whatever strikes my fancy at the time. Jeff Gordon sadly doesn't fit very well in case you were wondering.

Rivers in the Desert: I played through Persona 5 last year for the first time and really liked it. I also really liked it's soundtrack so this is here.

The Pilgrim: Chapter 33: Full disclosure, this is my favorite song, full stop. This is the highwayman version which I went with because I think it's a more catchy performance but when Kris does it on his own he lists off a whole host of names that inspired the song, and really I think in a lot of ways it's a song about everyone. You want my view on human nature, it's right here: We're all "walking contradictions, partially truth and partially fiction, taking every wrong direction on our lonesome way back home". For some reason I didn't put it in my playlist last time which worked out ok because I didn't have to see it lose to The Sound of Silence.

Up On The Roof: Stylistically probably the biggest outlier here, which is fine by me. I actually had a Drifters CD with this track on it growing up, and I would play it every night before bed to help me relax. Suffice to say I've got a soft spot in my heart for it.

Rock And Roll Dreams Come Through: This one is on here pretty much because there are few lines in here that I really like.

And So It Went: By far the newest song on the list, this one just came out this year. Heard it on the radio (I'm 90% sure I'm the last person on the planet that still does that.) and I really, really liked it. So it's here.

The Legend of John Henry's Hammer: I had two Cash tracks on my last list, but they were both from his later works. We're going with something a bit earlier here, I love the story telling with this one and also the thought that I'd have something even longer than the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Here For A Good Time: I had a lot of sad, wistful songs on my playlist last time, and this one is part of a conscious effort to liven things up a bit. Fun mnjedi fact, I don't drink, I also adore the line "to hell with the red wine, pour me some moonshine". Not particularly relevant, but there you go.

One Night In Bangkok: It's a song about chess. I've bee playing a lot of Chess recently (well recently-ish, less now) so I decided to put this one on here, my entire chess song playlist of one.

Big Iron: Another case where I really enjoy songs that tell a story. One of the classics, but one of my favorites.

How Do You Feel About Foolin' Around: I didn't want to inundate my playlist with Kris this time around and also wanted to show off a bit more of his songwriting than just the slow sad stuff I played last time. This a fun funky tune, and also Willie Nelson is here, who really I've been remiss in not including more of.