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Gogitchyertapebox is our second annual compilation tape we've prepared for friends around the country. We attempt to focus primarily on music we've acquired during the last year, although both years' tapes have ended up having music from previous years as well.
The title of this year's tape, Gogitchyertapebox, is a reference to the Gourds' disc Gogitchyershinebox, on which "Gin and Juice" appears. Last year's tape was Fire Up the Tape Deck, a reference to the Lion Rock song "Fire Up the Shoe Saw."
If you're curious about the font used on the tape cover, it's called "Wichita," and it's a font created by Chank and designed by M. Doughty of Soul Coughing.
The songs appearing on this year's tape, along with brief discussion, are as follows:
Old 97's: Timebomb. Old 97's is a Dallas-based band we learned about during our third year in Austin, due primarily to Tom Selby and Mike Pattillo, both law students at the University of Texas. It was tough to choose just one song, as we bought three of the band's CDs during 1998. Additionally, Tom's 1997 end-of-year tape included Timebomb, which made it a little harder to choose it. But in the end, it's just too good a song and too good a way to start the tape off, and so we went with it. It's from Too Far To Care.
They Might Be Giants: Doctor Worm. TMBG becomes the first band to be featured twice on the same tape, with this song and O Tannenbaum at the end of Side B. This song comes from Severe Tire Damage, which is mostly a live album with a couple of new studio tracks. We considered calling the tape Doctor Tapeworm, but decided that might be a touch tasteless.
Liz Phair: Johnny Feelgood. While recording the original of the tape, I remembered that this song had created some controversy because it discusses domestic violence and then states, "I liked it." Just so it's clear: from what I read, Phair is emphatic that she's not praising domestic violence (duh), but simply singing from the point of view of a character. It's a good song, too. From her new CD, whitechocolatespaceegg.
Something Fierce: Joined at the Hip. This song is pretty thoroughly not new; in fact, the disc is nearly ten years old. We did buy a Something Fierce disc this year (A Sound for Sore Ears), but just like this song better than the ones on that disc. Something Fierce was a band formed at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. They put out a few pure pop CDs, each of which were simply wonderful, but their drummer was paralyzed in a car accident in Iowa, while on his honeymoon as I recall. It was a genuine tragedy in every way. If you can find their discs (on Kattywampus Records), I highly recommend them. This song is on Franklin Pierce, my favorite.
Archers of Loaf: Web In Front. This song has the disadvantage of being on both Tom's and Mike's tapes in the past, but has the major advantage of simply kicking ass. Just over two minutes of perfection. From Icky Mettle, which apparently remains their best album.
Buck-O-Nine: Round Kid. No real story behind this; just a nice little ska song. The band's name reportedly came from the amount they were paid for their first gig. This is off Twenty-Eight Teeth.
Skankin' Pickle: I Missed the Bus. First repeated band on the tape from last year's tape. This band was introduced to us by a now-gone radio station, Rev-105. We bought three of their discs in the last year. Hope the beeping at the start of the song doesn't make you jump too much. It's from Skankin' Pickle Fever.
Yo La Tengo: The Cone of Silence. YLT is a band who's put out some phenomenal stuff, which, for some reason, we've never gotten around to purchasing. This year we did. This is from the 1986 release Ride the Tiger, which Matador rereleased in '97.
Lou Reed (with Laurie Anderson): Hang on to Your Emotions, from Set the Twilight Reeling, a very dark blue disc. Literally, not figuratively. In the nicest bit of symmetry between this year's tape and last year's tape, Laurie Anderson provides backup vocals (or vocoder) for Lou Reed, while last year Lou provided the backup vocals for Laurie. Cute, no?
Low: Blue Eyed Devil. This song is, of course, a cover of a Soul Coughing song. It's a good bit slower than the original. This comes from one of the best compilation CDs to come out in a while, Teleconned: We Want the Airwaves. Released by Americans for Radio Diversity, the group formed out of the purchase and destruction of the previously-mentioned Rev-105, the proceeds assist their efforts to diversify the airwaves through decreased concentration of ownership and increased microbroadcasting. Buy it. By the way, Kevin Cole, who was largely responsible for how cool Rev was, is now coordinating Amazon.com's really quite good music sales.
Soul Coughing: I Miss the Girl. Nice transition, eh? This is a song they've been playing live for a while, and we were pleased to hear it on the new disc, El Oso.
Beastie Boys: Intergalactic. Okay, okay, so it's the first single from the CD, but it's such a great song. (Plus, no commercial radio station in the Twin Cities played it, even the one which sponsored their show here.) This does bring up the question of whether or not to put a single on a mix tape. We try to resist, but sometimes there's a reason for a single being the single -- it's the best song. A handful of other songs on the tape were singles as well. Alas. From the new one, Hello Nasty.
B-52's: Dance This Mess Around. A remarkably old song, but we finally got the album on CD this year, so it made it on the tape. From their 1979 (!) self-titled release.
The Lemon Merchants: I'll Be Famous. This is another song from the Teleconned compilation referred to earlier. We don't really know anything about the band. This is, by the way, the Twin Cities The Lemon Merchants, not the Tucson Lemon Merchants. But a nifty little song in any case.
8 1/2 Souvenirs: Off White. A Texas band as well, this one from Austin. Another Texas band we acquired the music of only within a few months of moving away. This is from Souvonica.
Frank Sinatra: They Can't Take That Away From Me. Dena got into a Frank Sinatra thing during '98, and we got a pretty nice compilation of stuff, The Capitol Years. This is a remarkably short song, which helped it make the cut when we had just over two minutes free on the tape we didn't expect.
Squirrel Nut Zippers: Hot Christmas. This is from their new Christmas CD, Christmas Caravan, and marks a change for this year's tape: a holiday song on the holiday tape. (Of course, we've also got They Might Be Giants's O Tannenbaum on the other side.) It's a pretty solid CD and fun song even outside of the holiday season.
Semisonic: F.N.T. This is from Semisonic's first disc, Great Divide. We picked up both of their CDs this year. This is another song that was the single from the disc, but it's a great song. (Plus, it didn't get nearly as much airplay as the singles from the new one are receiving.) We are curious as to whether the title is a reference to Michael Jackson's P.Y.T. from Thriller. Hmm.
Bob Mould: Taking Everything, from The Last Dog and Pony Show. Bob recently finished what he claims will be his final tour; Bill went to the local show, but Dena did not. Her loss. It was one of the best shows of his I've seen -- and I'm up to around a half-dozen now. He really seemed to be having a lot of fun. (In case you're unfamiliar with him, Mould was in both Husker Du and Sugar, in addition to having several excellent solo releases.) This song seems a bit closer to the Husker Du sound than he's done for a while, though it's still definitely Bob.
Walt Mink: Zero Day. This is a few years old now, but we only bought it this year. Dena doesn't like them, and it's more than just the voice. Oh well; we've got a fast-forward button. The band broke up sometime relatively recently. This song is from Bareback Ride.
P J Harvey: A Perfect Day Elise. Another use of a single, but it's one of the best songs on the disc (Is This Desire?) and it works pretty well on its own. The new CD is somewhat more unified than others, and I found it hard to consider taking most of the other songs out of their context.
Garbage: When I Grow Up, off Version 2.0. For some reason, I'd resisted buying anything by Garbage for a while, and now I don't know why. This CD is a lot of fun, chock-full-o-singles, and a solid addition to any collection. I intend to pick up their first one at some point. I'm not sure I actually want to know what this song is about; it's really more fun just to hum along.
Pixies: Wave of Mutilation. This comes off the Pixies at the BBC release, most of which (if not all) was recorded during the Peel sessions. Somewhat surprisingly, given the fact that they've been broken up for some time now, Pixies is one of the bands repeating from last year. This version seems to be somewhere between the original (fast) album version and the later (slow) version on the soundtrack to Pump Up the Volume, that voice-of-a-generation movie with Christian Slater. Or something like that.
Billy Bragg & Wilco: Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key. We don't really have time to tell the whole amazing story of this CD (Mermaid Avenue), but briefly: it's Billy Bragg and Wilco performing songs, the lyrics of which are never-before-performed Woody Guthrie lyrics, and the music to which was composed by Bragg and Wilco. It's such a great idea and, in our humble view, a great outcome. This also makes it so Wilco is sort of on the tape twice, but only sort of. Guthrie's daughter executive produced the CD.
Wide Load Ma'am: Chick You Work With. WLM was a Minneapolis band, two-thirds of which was Joe Kaiser, now our upstairs neighbor, and Wendy Reid, with whom Bill worked and owned a record store. In the band's initial incarnation, they practiced in Bill's basement, much to the consternation of various roommates. This comes from a CD they recorded with Jason Keillor (son of famous Garrison). If you listen carefully, it should be clear, but in case you don't: The chorus comes from wisdom shared with Joe by a random drunk guy on a bus. Or something like that. WLM broke up in '97, but we didn't gain access to the CD until this year. (It wasn't released; there are just a handful of them around.) Joe thankfully failed to take the drunk's advice, and is now married to a former colleague. Yay.
Lyle Lovett: Teach Me About Love. Dena says that this is the single from this CD, but that's only known because she heard some KGSR when she visited Austin recently. It ain't the single on any station here. This comes from Step Inside This House, a two-disc set of all covers.
Cake: Let Me Go. This song comes from their newest, Prolonging the Magic. We saw Cake at the same showcase as Soul Coughing, Carl Perkins, and some frat-boy country-rock guy with three names at South by Southwest a couple years ago. It was great, and it helped us realize that Cake is not a novelty band, notwithstanding the Glora Gaynor cover on their previous album.
The Gourds: Gin and Juice. A cover, of course, of Snoop Doggy Dogg, from the EP Gogitchyershinebox. A tad offensive in parts, but worth it, I think. Also the longest song on the tape. The Gourds are yet another Austin band. At another SXSW showcase (this one in 1998), Bill saw them, Old 97's, a little bit of Reckless Kelly, and a little bit of Kelly Willis. Plus Tom drunk.
Gear Daddies: Dream Vacation. Gear Daddies were a great band out of Austin, Minnesota. A few years ago, a compilation of rare, live, and other random stuff was released, Can't Have Nothin' Nice. We finally bought it this year. Included on there is the A-side to the Crackpot Records limited edition 7" featuring Little Red Corvette (and you've never heard that song until you've heard it with slide guitar), The Rose, and A White Sportcoat and Pink Carnation. This song is all about a dream vacation in the Dells. For non-midwestern-types: The Dells is the Wisconsin Dells, a completely surreal tourist trap in western Wisconsin, purportedly based around some attractive rock formations in the river, but nobody ever goes to look at them. They instead ride go-karts, they go to Tommy Bartlett's Water Show, they go to the Robot Exploratory, and they go to Xanadu: Home of the Future (a foam house which is inexplicably decorated like the Home of the Late Nineteen-Seventies Bachelor Dude). (Dena points out that Xanadu might in fact be simply near the Dells, rather than in them. I'm not sure.) And Bill rides the roller coasters -- three excellent wooden coasters built by Custom Coasters International at Big Chief's Go-Kart and Coaster World.
Wilco: Monday. Off Being There, a two-disc set. There's a guy I know who says Jeff Tweedy is the foremost contemporary songwriter due to internal rhyming or something like that. Maybe. Maybe not. Worth having, in any case.
BeauSoleil: Danse Caribe. This whole CD is just great fun. Dena and I both think this song reminds us of something, but we can't for the life of us (or lives of us, whichever) figure out what. Do you know? Tell us. This song comes from L'Amour Ou La Folie.
Billie Holiday: Them There Eyes. We got a very nice gift from our friend Lamia of a two-disc set of Holiday's this year, and it's just amazing. Not surprising, I suppose, that it would be great, but man, it's great.
They Might Be Giants: O Tannenbaum. This A-side to a seven-inch single was recorded at a soundcheck, which surprises me given how faithful and together it is. I haven't the slightest idea whether he's singing the German right or not. Do you know? Again, tell us.
Comments? Questions? Corrected links? Write us.
And as always: The tape is recorded in Doubly, because the Christmas List is listening.
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