Mix Tape - "Afternoon Delight"

I made a 70s & 80s light rock mix for a friend last week. I had been working on compiling a list of songs for myself that all kind of fit a certain mood for me. Generally 70's light rock songs that had a certain open stillness to them. I think I've discussed before how I'm slightly embarrassed to admit I like some of that old junk. But there is this particular sound of song that I wanted to build a mix around.

At some point, however, I decided to make the mix into something I could share with a friend, and at that point I realized that my original mix would have contained WAY too many ballads and not enough fun. So I changed it and to incorporate a larger selection of more upbeat numbers. I think the mix turned out well and I am planning to create a follow up. Here's the track listing (I interspersed some Anchorman clips here and there throughout the mix, to go along with the "Afternoon Delight" theme).

1. Starland Vocal Band - Afternoon Delight
2. Pure Prarie League - Amie
3. America - Sister Golden Hair
4. Paul Simon - Kodachrome
5. Boz Scaggs - Lido Shuffle
6. Orleans - Still the One
7. Jacksone Browne - Somebody's Baby
8. Ozark Mtn Daredevils - Jackie Blue
9. Climax Blues Band - Couldn't get it Right
10. Steely Dan - Peg
11. Doobie Brothers - What a Fool Believes
12. Fleetwood Mac - Gypsy
13. Bee Gees - How Deep is Your Love?
14. Chicago - If You Leave Me Now
15. Gordon Lightfoot - Sundown
16. Seals and Crofts - Summer Breeze
17. Rupert Holmes - Escape (The Pina Colada Song)
18. Jay Ferguson - Thunder Island
19. Pilot - Magic
20. Sanford Townsend Band - Smoke from a Distant Fire
21. Steve Miller Band - Dance Dance Dance

Thanks to Jason Hare's "Adventures Through the Mines of Mellow Gold" series for some of these songs.

Summer Concert Season

Dudes! Sorry for the lack of postings, but I've been busy! And broke! Too broke to blog! haha.

Back in late May, I took my wife to see Kanye West's "Glow in the Dark" tour, that also starred Rhianna, N.E.R.D., and Lupe Fiasco. It was a pretty fun show! For someone not that into hip hop and R&B, I enjoyed it a lot.

I missed out on BOTH the French Kicks and M83 the following week, and I'm a little bummed about that. Also, Anthrax played a small club gig (at Double Door) which probably would have been pretty cool. But later in the week, my band played our CD-Release show, and rocked enough to make up for missing those shows.

Then last week, things really started to heat up. I spent some dough to see Rush (my favorite band...yeah, so what?!?!) at the United Center. They were really good, as usual, although they played a TON of songs from their latest album. In fact they opened their second set with 5 new songs in a row. That was kind of brutal, not because they are bad songs, but because of the clustering...you gotta mix it up a bit. People get a little bored when they don't hear something they know.

Two days later was the long-awaited Iron Maiden "Somewhere Back in Time" concert. This one was advertised as a throwback show to their glory years of the 80's, including old stage sets and props, and most importantly, no new songs. Iron Maiden has maintained their status as an active metal band all these years, but their newer material just doesn't have the same spark. So the show with all 80's-era tunes was something very exciting for long-time fans. They busted out a lot of classics, including the 13-minute "Rime of the Ancient Mariner", which was definitely the highlight of the night.

The very next day, my band Kemman played again. I was super pumped up to play after just having seen my two favorite bands, however, the venue we played was rather disappointing, and it was difficult to relay my excitement into my performance. In short, we sucked, and split as soon as we were done. I hate to do that, since it's kind of good bandsmanship to stick around for the other bands sets, but we were just not happy campers at that point. Luckily, we're playing again this week to redeem ourselves.

Saturday I got to see the reunion show of one of my favorite 90's bands, Swervedriver. They gave off a very laid back vibe on stage, with almost zero talking between songs, but the music was pretty scorching. Great guitar work, although at times it was difficult to hear. Lots of effects pedals and stuff can sometimes cause the tones to get lost. But it was a great show, without a doubt.

This Thursday is the aforementioned Kemman show. We'll be playing at the new Bottom Lounge venue, which I've heard is bigger and better than the old location. Then on Friday I'm going to see 70's fusion group Return to Forever. I'm pretty psyched about that, since I've just recently gotten into them. Next Monday, Canadian rockers Sloan will be in town promoting their new album. Sloan puts on a great show every time, so I surely can't miss this one.

I'm gonna need an ear transplant if I plan to keep up this pace all summer. This has already been a lot of music. Plus Pitchfork fest in July, Lollapalooza in August, and in September, both My Bloody Valentine AND Helloween are playing on the SAME NIGHT. I've never seen either of them and I'm seriously torn over which one to go to.

I think this is my longest post ever. DUDE!