I am here to grovel for a Smed CD. I do not, at all deserve it. For one thing, I have already been the lucky recipient of a large collection of Smed mixes. And although they totally rock and have introduced me to a number of things (most notably Television and Frank Zappa and my beloved bluegrass Madonna medley by the Meat Purveyors) I have not done them justice in my reviews in this space. He was also kind enough to make me a copy of some CDs by a now defunct band that I used to love called Arson Garden. Not only that, but I have several half finished reciprocal mixes sitting in iTunes that I can�t seem to finish because, as everyone knows, Smed is the master. If truth be told, I�ve got some serious performance anxiety. That is no excuse for my demonstrated ingratitude, but there it is.

The one pitch I can make for my deservedness is that I am unlikely to be at the end of the mix chain. Many of the songs he�s sent me have found their way into other mixes that have been sent to others. Should I be the lucky winner of a Smed holiday disk, I vow to once again share the joy. I also promise to write about it here, although I will warn you that it may take me a week or two to sit down and listen carefully enough to write about it.

In an attempt to demonstrate my reform, I will take up a stellar mix sent to me by fairlywell shortly before Christmas. This had all the hallmarks of a good mix. I knew few of the songs � indeed, few of the artists. I owned only two of the songs previously, one of which I�d totally forgotten about (Stars, �One More Night,�) the other of which sounds completely different out of the context of its album (Wilco�s �Hummingbird�). Several of the songs reminded me of things (both musical and non) with which I had pleasant associations. And finally, one of the songs has resulted in AJ shouting at odd moments, �I saw her naked TWICE!� Sure to boost my status at the PTO.

1. The Gray Kid: Ole. I am woefully ignorant of hip-hop in general, a musical oversight I really need to remedy one of these days. I love the vaguely Middle Eastern melody here. But what I like best about this, perhaps, is how strangely well it goes with the next track.

2. France Galle: Ella, Elle L�a. I had to look up the title of this one, because at one point I was convinced she was singing �Helas� (French for �alas�). But in any case, This sends me on a trip back to Paris � the kind of stuff I used to listen to when I was living in France. This song came out in the late 1980s, exactly between my two stints in that country. As a result, it is evocative of a wide swath of my youth (or as AJ has been pronouncing it lately, �yowth�). Also, Julia, remind me I need to send you some Mecano (a Spanish Eurovision band of a similar vintage).

3. Bedroom Walls: Your Idea of a Holiday. Opens with a great sixties-esque guitar riff that serves as a sort of ground bass for the opening tune. The opening is just reminiscent enough of �Under the Boardwalk� as to perfectly set up the move of the song. The little repetition at the end of each verse quotes the Pet Shop Boys� �West End Girls.�

4. Great Lakes Swimmers: Moving Pictures, Silent Films. A lovely evocative tune, with an incredibly distracting back-up hiss that made me think I�d fried my speakers (which are currently 18 years old and have a tendency to switch in and out of hiss mode). It sounds better on iTunes then on the stereo because there I know it�s intentional. The hiss on iTunes serves as the aural equivalent of a home movie. Artless and na�ve and honest.

5. Public Four: Birthday. This one opens with sleigh bells, which made AJ think it was a Christmas carol. I think AJ was disappointed by the follow up. I wasn�t. It�s dark of night music. There�s an odd twist of distortion to the background guitars that add a surreal quality to the sound. At the point where the vocals start sticking out through the texture, it reminds me of a section of one of This Mortal Coil�s recordings (the 4AD group project that I keep meaning to write about but haven�t gotten around to yet). I can�t remember which album it�s from but I think the track I�m thinking of is called �The Jeweller.�

6. Nicholas Tremulis Orchestra: �You�re Famous, Baby.� One of the funniest songs ever because of its wry dig at celebrity. Also includes the line, �You are in abundance baby. Your bag is never dime.� This song is what happens when Smoove B. takes Western Civ.

7. All Night Chemists: Down Here. This reminds me a little of the Canasta song fairlywell recommended to me on a previous occasion (�Chicago Slow Down�) in its elaborate instrumentation (chimes! Glockenspiel! Jazz-like rhythm section! Strings! Moog!) and the vocal quality (inspired by Beach Boys and 60s balladeers). Great chord changes in a couple of spots. Great chaotic instrumentals toward the end fading out to simple piano chords.

8. Neko Case: �Hold On, Hold On.� This is one of only a couple of songs on this disc that I�d heard before. I heard this one on the radio once and never tracked it down, so I�m glad to have it. Nice tune with just enough edge. A pretty song with a spacious acoustic. Reminds me a little of Julie Miller, but not quite as folkie. I�ve been avoiding Neko Case because of the hype. I�m sorry I did.

9. Hawksley Workman: �Safe and Sound.� The na�ve simplicity of this song with its campfire guitar reminds me most of the song Adam Sandler sings at the urging of Billy Idol in The Wedding Singer (�I want to grow old with you,� or something like that). Sweet.

10. Jim Noir: Key of C. I love this. It appeals both to my love of 80s New Wave and to musical humor. And we don�t have to guess what key it�s in! How good is that? And how can you not love a man in a bowler hat?

11. Sea and Cake: All the Photographs. I love the way this starts with the megavibe guitar. It�s anxious without being aggressive. Good dissonance. The instrumentals are really interesting and unexpected. It�s mellow without being slow. I found myself enigmatically thinking of mid-80s Suzanne Vega. It sounds absolutely nothing like that. I can only think it has something to do with the chord changes. I�ll have to investigate. I�ve been meaning to check out Sea and Cake for ages. This is a reminder that I still need to do so.

12. Stars: One More Night. I think fairly mentioned this in one of her blog posts and I went and tracked it down. This was one of two songs I owned (the other is the upcoming Wilco track, which technically belongs to Mr. Spy). It has a good driving at night beat � a very sexy bass � and spaced out guitar/keyboard licks that remind me a bit of Francine. Kind of loungy. I have to skip this one when AJ�s in the car, though. Some of the lyrics are things I don�t wish to explain.

13. The Long Winters: Blue Diamonds. I love this one � a great groove and a nice sound. The brass sounds give it an interesting tone. It has that nice snappish guitar line. The vocal line is strangely separate from the instrumentals in the mix. It has the effect of the vocal soloist seeming more conversational, as if he�s talking directly to you and the music is happenstance. A catchy tune and a new wave aesthetic without being vintage. Of all the songs on the mix, this is the one most likely to be stuck in my head at any given moment.

14. Songs: Ohia: �North Star Blues.� A beautiful song. Naked voice and guitar. Fits perfectly with my current obsession with Chris Smither, Tim Buckley, The Seeger Sessions and pretty much anyone on American Routes.

15. Stars: Elevator Love Letter. This reminds me incredibly of something. What? The Beautiful South, maybe? I can�t figure it out. This has an odd tempo trick � a super-slow accelerando from the beginning that adds a subtle tension. I have a feeling I wouldn�t like an entire Stars album � there isn�t enough differentiation in sound between this and the previous tune. But I like them both and would be hard pressed to pick one over the other.

16. Susan Tedeschi: Alone. I used to listen to Tedeschi a lot in college. She�s fallen off my playlist. It�s nice to be reminded of her. She has a terrific voice in a polished bluesy kind of way and terrific R&B instrumentals (organ, brass) backing her up

17. Wilco: Hummingbird. Mr. Spy has this CD, and I associate this primarily with borrowing his car, where it is perpetually in the CD player. The CD, I mean. Not the song in particular. It�s nice to hear it excerpted, though. Because I tend to listen to Wilco by the albumful and you lose some kinds of details when you do that.

18. The National: Wasp Nest. More sleighbells. Maybe this is a holiday mix in disguise. I�m a sucker for bass voices that sound like they�ve been around the block a few times. Here such a voice contrasts with a delicate and pretty, almost classical-sounding acoustic guitar. Kind of Johnny Cash meets Alex De Grassis.

19. Art Brut: Good Weekend. This is probably AJ�s favorite song. He likes that it says �Naked twice.� He also thinks that�s the name of the song. A great rock beginning � drum with guitar. Reminds me of a punkier English Beat.

20. Basement Jaxx: Good Luck. Begins with a digital explosion and a little musique concrete that fades into a pentatonic digitized string tune. I can see why fairlywell says she likes to run to this one. It�s energizing. An interesting mix of styles � a little R& B, a little hip-hop, a little gospel, a little experimental.

[Second entry today. Click back for a regular blog entry in which AJ and his friend discuss astronomy.]

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