Beck - Beside Variety Pack

With the recent discussion about Midnite Vultures 2, I figured it was time to post the non-album cuts from that album and some additional jams most people might not have heard. Everything here is newly encoded from lossless files or original CDs except for Pay No Mind (Alternate Take), Nausea (XXXChange Remix) and Feel Good Time which are the original MP3 versions I received. Below you'll find the rundown with some track data, but before we get to that, here is what Beck had to say about the unreleased songs from the Midnite Vultures era, taken from Dan Leroy's The Greatest Music Never Sold.

I think one of the problems with [Vultures] was that it didn't have all those extra songs to explain the whole picture. We had songs with Johnny Marr [of The Smiths] playing guitar on them. There's all this electronic stuff. There's two songs with [rapper] Kool Keith. There's just a whole world of stuff on there.

I was gonna get it out, but I ended up after that just taking a year or two off and traveling. I'd been on tour for about seven years straight, so the idea of jumping back in and releasing the album at that point was just kind of... And after that...I was just more in the mood to do Sea Change, you know?

I'd LOVE to hear that stuff. I still dream that someone could start a record label where stuff like this could get released and the artist could get the lion's share of the profits. I'm not saying that the label shouldn't make some money, but after the costs are recouped, I can't see why the artist can't get 80% and the label 20%, or 70/30. Maybe someday.


Beck - Beside Variety Pack


01 The Little Drum Machine Boy
I've always wanted to put this on a Christmas mixtape. This track appears on the Geffen Xmas comp, Just Say Noel.

02 Diskobox
This is an Odelay leftover that gets a Jon Spencer co-production credit alongside Beck and the Dust Brothers. Don't know why they didn't include it on the deluxe edition, although they didn't include the original version of Debra either.

03 Pay No Mind (Alternate Take)
This apparently was accidentally used on a vinyl pressing of Mellow Gold and should never have seen release. It contains an extra verse.

04 In A Cold Ass Fashion
Mellow Gold was initially going to be named In A Cold Ass Fashion, but that changed somewhere down the line. This is a great track and the lyrics are absolutely absurd, though this wouldn't have fit on the album so I have to assume it wasn't made for it, or at least it was never a serious contender. From the Jabberjaw: Good To The Last Drop compilation.

05 Dirty, Dirty
A Midnite Vultures b-side, this doesn't sound 100% finished. Nice idea, but not the most memorable.

06 Nausea (XXXChange Remix)
XXXChange posted this a while ago. He was officially contracted to create a remix but Beck's label turned this one down. Too bad, cause it's a great remix.

07 Arabian Nights
A Midnite Vultures b-side, this also appeared as a bonus track on the Japanese release of the album. The gun shots should wake you up if you're sleeping, though the whole track sounds like a confusing mish-mash of moods. Still, very cool track with Beck rapping in the same style as on Hollywood Freaks.

08 Mexico
This is a studio recording that appeared only on a 1993 Australian tour sampler. Great, sarcastic take on Dylan's Ballad Of Mexico.

09 Bogusflow
This appeared on the DGC Rarities, Vol. 1 compilation and was already too good to be there alone, despite it's tossed off sounding performance. Beck rhapsodizes on the problems with the modern world of music in his generally indirect manner.

10 Funky Lil' Song
A cover of a Bruce Haack tune, this is pretty damn strange stuff.

11 Boyz
From the At Home With The Groovebox compilation which featured artists and groups like Cibo Matto, Sonic Youth, Pavement and many more creating new songs on the Groovebox.

12 Feel Good Time
If this song sounds half-way familiar, that's because you've probably heard a version of it, albeit without Beck's vocals. This was originally created with William Orbit for a solo album he was producing. Orbit and Beck were very happy with the results but it was going to be a while before the album was to be released. Somehow, someone involved with the second Charlie's Angels movie heard the song and wanted to license it for the soundtrack, but since Beck was promoting his Sea Change album he thought it would be a bad idea for such a different sounding single to be released with his name on it, so Pink was brought on board to perform the new vocals and her version was released as a single to promote the movie.

13 Salt In The Wound
Another Midnite Vultures b-side, replete with bar-room piano and skuzz-rock guitars.

14 Girl Of My Dreams (Alternate Version)
An alternate recording of the cover of sorts that ended up on One Foot In The Grave, this version appeared on the Poop Alley Tapes compilation with help from members of that dog. It's definitely more of a band performance and sounds like the cousin of Totally Confused.

15 This Is My Crew
This Midnite Vultures b-side is filled with b-boy-isms and sound effects, as well as lots of chopped-up editing, all while occupying a space somewhere between Mantronik and Kraftwerk. Easily one of the best Midnite Vultures throwaways.

16 MTV Makes Me Want To Smoke Crack (Lounge Version)
This appeared on the UK single for Loser. It starts with an acoustic performance of the original MTV, only to have Beck stop the entire show to start a jazzy, lounge version of this classic. Oddly enough, rumors long persisted that the piano backing track was the theme from Mr. Rogers Neighborhood played in reverse, which is simply ludicrous.

17 Midnite Vultures
A long, laid back, mostly instrumental groove that captures the vibe of decadence surrounding the Midnite Vultures album's concept and imagery. Great b-side.

18 Zatyricon
Another MV b-side, this time with what sounds like prank calls to a plastic surgeon's office.

March 2011 Mixtape: Summer Night Dreams

Ever find yourself longing for a long lost time, only to wonder if it ever really existed?

Around 1996 I was driving a silver-primer painted 1977 Buick Le Sabre, a car older than myself, and blowing almost all of my summer paychecks on gasoline. I complain about gas now, but when you had an hour drive one way to your job and an hour the other and it required almost an entire tank of gas each way, that was a hard job and a giant waste of my paycheck. My mother would ask me to contribute to the family's bills but I had a hard time giving up my paycheck when at least 75% of it went to driving expenses. I could be stupid though, finding several hours between my morning and evening shifts to drive home, sleep for a few hours and then drive back, whereas it was summer and there was an empty school parking lot in a good neighborhood not far away that I could read, listen to music or nap in. Nevertheless, it did afford me a lot of time to perform one my most consistent activities, record shopping, and there was a great indie store named Quonset Hut nearby where I could still buy current releases on cassette and also get CDs and vinyl at great prices. All of the Quonset Huts are now gone, bar one that is pretty much a head shop and sells nothing musically related, but between there, the Record Exchanges throughout the Cleveland area and other indie stores, I bought a lot of great music that summer. I found myself listening to Tricky's Maxinquaye a lot and grabbed Nearly God as soon as it became available, but that year I found a record that really changed my perspective on music, Throbbing Pouch by Wagon Christ aka Luke Vibert. What a trippy record, conjuring visions of darkness and the unknown, all the while remaining wonderfully mellow. I'm not a pot smoker but, if I was, that album would have been my soundtrack. I also found a promo cassette of Everything But The Girl's Walking Wounded which is an immensely beautiful album that, while essentially completely different from the Wagon Christ album, had a similarly dark vibe running throughout. I would drive home around 11pm on the dark Cleveland highways listening to Tracey Thorn singing Walking Wounded or Single, having my heart ripped out every time, or vibing to Throbbing Pouch from start to finish because I didn't want to miss a moment of it. For me, this was the beginning of a regular hunt for midnight music, as I sometimes called it, and I later made a mixtape named 3am Eternal (I'm sure you get the reference) that stayed in my car forever.

Lately, I've been thinking about those warm summer nights, though it's funny how time blurs things. I feel like I lived through those records, but I'm not sure how accurate that statement is. When I look back I remember a lot of other music that had nothing to do with that world, a lot of experiences that were simply awful, and I have to wonder if I'm wearing rose-tinted glasses or not. The love of the music hasn't changed though, and I still find myself attracted to those summer grooves, and they were the inspiration for the mix this month. There are some tracks I thought about including that I've had here before so I passed on them, but I'm going to at least mention them. I hope you find this as enjoyable as I do.


The Unheard Music - March 2011 Mixtape: Summer Night Dreams

01 Still Going - Still Going Theme
Piano house returns! What a wonderful summer record, perfect for driving during a sunset.

02 Beck - Where It's At (Make Out City)
The Dust Brothers do a simple, more party oriented remix of Beck's re-breakthrough single.

03 Common Factor - Horizons
I first heard this on the Planet E Geology compilation. What a great track! Planet E, in general, is an amazing label and the first Geology compilation is essential house music.

04 DJ Shadow - Changeling
Endtroducing... is essential ephemera, though I always remember this track as sticking out. It's just so dreamy. Mutual Slump, on the other hand, doesn't get a lot of mention but is funky like nobody's business!

05 Q-Tip - That's Sexy (feat. Andre 3000)
This is an unreleased cut from an early version of Q-Tip's The Renaissance, back when it was named Live At The Renaissance and scheduled for release on Dreamworks. I'd much rather had an instrumental version of this one as Tip's flow takes away from the romanticism, but it's still a great track.

06 Massive Attack - Exchange
I don't fully understand why everyone was so "on" about Massive Attack's Mezzanine. It's a really depressing record. This is a beautiful track though and I always found myself skipping to it or the reprisal at the end of the album. Don't get me wrong though, I do love some Massive Attack, though I've always been more into Blue Lines or Protection, and the No Protection dub remix album is incredible!

07 Luke Vibert - Get Your Head Down
Wagon Christ's true identity, Luke brings hip-hop funk mixed with easy listening chill. An ex-girlfriend bought me a Ninja Tune comp with this track on it. This might sound cruel but that's the only good thing I want to remember about dating her.

08 3rd Bass - Gladiator (Easy Mo Bee Remix Instrumental)
I remember finding a lot of Easy Mo Bee productions that had a wonderful groove about them, but all I can seem to recall now is Craig Mack's Flava In Ya Ear and this. Maybe he didn't have that many incredible tracks. Anyone wanna refresh my memory?

09 Quasimoto - MHBs (Instrumental)
I played this to my girlfriend recently and initially she was loving it, until the lyrics kicked in! Beautiful groove.

10 The Pointer Sisters - How Long (Betcha' Got A Chick On The Side)
Never heard it on the radio and didn't hear it until listening to a Pointer Sisters compilation, though this would be in regular rotation if I had my own radio station. What a funky groove!

11 De La Soul - Breakadawn
This is an incredible track, though I'm glad De La never tried to make a career out of tracks like this or Ring, Ring, Ring. They're great on their own and don't need to be replicated, although I'm not sure how many people would want them to be. Still, you can't help but think of some after dark fun when you hear this.

12 Tigercity - Let Her Go
How did these guys perfectly capture the eighties in a record from only a few years ago? Their full-length, Ancient Lover, was a minor let down, but the EP before it, 2007's Pretend Not To Love, from which this is taken, is utterly perfect. It is available for purchase on iTunes and is worth the entire $5.94 they're asking.

13 The Pharcyde - Passin' Me By (Instrumental Edit)
I chopped a small portion from this so the mix would be under eighty minutes and burnable to a CD. Please forgive me!

14 Everything But The Girl - Good Cop Bad Cop
Shiv, the manager of the music department at WFAL, didn't see eye to eye with me, though that was really all my fault as I was young, cocky and thought I knew everything. He was much more informed than I was and I'm glad I eventually got smart enough to apologize and he was cool enough to accept it. This was one of the first tracks we agreed on, as he loved it just as much as I did. Tracey Thorn has such a sexy voice, though it's not the type of voice most people probably swoon over when they first hear it. This was one of those tracks I listened to on those summer nights while driving home, hoping to meet a girl who would make out with me while listening to Wagon Christ or Nine Inch Nails. That girl was a year or two off, but it was worth the wait. It's funny in retrospect, everyone always says they want to meet someone to make out with, but how long do you actually spend making out with them before you're trying to get their clothes off and put more than just your tongues together?

15 Amon Tobin - Nova
Oooh! Wouldn't have expected such a make-out classic on an album full of breaks and beats like Amon Tobin's Permutation, but I guess that's the secret. Amon knows just as much about rocking a party or wrecking your speakers as he does about sensuality and smooth grooves that set the mood! Bebel Gilberto later added vocals to this track and released it as Samba da Benção on her Tanto Tempo album. That's some make-out music, for certain, though the original instrumental is just as essential. Put this on at home around that certain someone and see what they say. Or do!



BONUS: Summer Night Dream Outtakes
These are tracks I considered for the mixtape but decided to leave off. They're in the main archive so you don't have to download this seperately. Enjoy!

01 Janet Jackson - When I Think Of You (David Morales House Mix '95 UK 7" Edit)
02 The Pharcyde - 4 Better Or 4 Worse (Instrumental)
03 Lucky Pierre - Cool Summer Night
04 The Herbaliser - The Blend (feat. What What aka Jean Grae) (Peanut Butter Blend by Peanut Butter Wolf)
05 Everything But The Girl - Walking Wounded

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

I don't get to movie theaters as often as I used to, so when I do go it's usually for a film that I'm really psyched for. Two years ago a bunch of my friends and I went to see The Dark Knight at a midnight showing, and we all left the theater with our expectations fulfilled and then some. This year, I've seen two summer movies in actual theaters and I was blown away by both. The first was Inception, which I enjoyed so much I've seen it twice, and the second is Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.

Everyone has been talking about Inception since it was released, so apart from saying that I love it and that Hans Zimmer's score is brilliant I'll save the rest of my thoughts on that piece of celluloid. Scott Pilgrim though, that's another story. I just came back from the theater about an hour ago and was knocked for a loop by how incredible it was. Not only was it visually enticing as hell, with the whole film and comic being an homage to classic video games, the characters were wonderful and the story engrossing. I was amazed how many times I thought about my ex-girlfriends and my current relationship. It made me think about what I've done wrong, what I've done right, what I've wished I could have changed and what I learned from those relationships that made me stronger. It wasn't preachy or heavy handed either, rather it conjured those feelings in a way that made me happy to think about my rights and wrongs. I left the theater feeling recharged, and that usually doesn't happen.

The music in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is just as important as the story. The soundtrack is like an incredible mixtape filled with songs you recognize and songs you don't but sound like you should. There are classics from T-Rex and the Rolling Stones as well as indie classics from Plumtree, Frank Black, Black Lips and my personal favorite on the soundtrack, Beachwood Sparks' cover of Sade's By Your Side. But the score is incredible too! Primarily created by Nigel Godrich with help from Beck, Dan The Automator and many others, the score captures the video game theme while also focusing in on that woozy feeling you get when you're falling hard for someone. Beck contributed five songs, mostly given to Scott Pilgrim's band in the film, Sex Bob-Omb, while Broken Social Scene gave two songs for Crash and The Boys, one of Sex Bob-Omb's competitors for a record contract as well as letting their classic, Anthems For A Seventeen Year Old Girl, be used in the soundtrack.

I hope to go see Scott Pilgrim again in theaters, but this, along with Inception, is a film I will be purchasing on DVD the day of it's release (as I'm sure many know, I'm anti Blu Ray, but we won't go there). You should definitely get there and check it out, and if you love the music like I do, grab the soundtrack for that mixtape feel with the songs written by Beck and Broken Social Scene, and you can get the score for Nigel Godrich's awesome contributions to the film. Both soundtracks are available digitally, but you can get the standard edition CD in stores with the "songs". And if you haven't read the comics yet, you'll want to dig in after seeing the film, so visit your favorite comic shop or bookstore and they'll hook you up. Hope you enjoy it all just as much I did!


PS - Yes, I wanna see The Expendables too, but I might just wait for the R5. Yeah, that's kind of evil, but you know a lot of you do it too. If I love it though, I'll totally buy it on DVD (cuz Blu Ray SUCKS!).

Beck - 1992 Demo

Sorry I've been gone most of this week. Lots has been happening and I've done a little digging in my archives to which I've found some interesting stuff you'll be seeing here soon enough, but before that, this has been sitting on my server for a few days waiting to be posted. An extremely detailed and informative text file is included with these files so I'm just gonna give you the quick and dirty of it.

If you've downloaded a Beck boot named Buck Fuck Iowa you have side one of this tape, which consists mostly of wonderful acoustic demos, including a cover of GG Allin's Tough Fuckin' Shit! How weird is that? On top of that, an early version of Loser closes the first side of the tape. That early version is still very similar to the released version, although it seems to be missing some of the polish and a final mix.

The second side features demos from a metal band Beck was in with members of Sexy Death Soda named, wait for it, Loser! Pretty snappy name, eh? These demos are VERY loud and mean, similar to the noisier tracks on some of his early albums. They're a little hard to listen to but still worth checking out.

All thanks to the Beck fans who have been collecting and sharing these rare releases for the rest of us. Hope you find this one as enjoyable and interesting as I do.


Beck - 1992 Demo
Side One
Side Two

Beck - Beck and Dava 1990

I wish I could tell you all kinds of fascinating details about the tape these recordings are sourced from, but everything I know, and seemingly everything everyone else knows, is contained in a text file included with these tracks. Thankfully, it's an interesting story, but even if we knew absolutely nothing about the origins behind these recordings, the music would be interesting enough on it's own. This is Beck with a band that may be Ten Ton Lid, a country outfit formed with Martha Atwell, but no one is really sure. Rather than continue telling the story behind this find, I'll leave it to the contents of the original text file which you'll find below.



I got this recording from a Beck fan named Paco. When I asked him where he got it he told me: Well about 5 years ago, a friend of mine knew I was a big Beck fan and handed me a tape where I was working. He got it from his roommate who got it from another person, who supposedly knew Beck. All the tape said as well as the cover was: "Beck and Dava 1990" There was no artwork. [...] It seems like it was just a small group of friends that were there. [...] It seems someone left the tape recorder on. Unlike the other early Beck tapes we've heard, this tape is not really in an album or demo format. As Paco said, the mics were left on throughout the evening, meaning we can hear them talking, goofing around, and messing up. It's personal, a little creepy, and fairly interesting.

At around the time of this recording, Beck formed a Carter Family cover band with Martha Atwell and Mike Thoman (and possibly others) called 10 Ten Lid. This time is also spent bonding with those in the L.A. music scene: Carla Bozulich of the Geraldine Fibbers and Ethyl Meatplow, and Martha Atwell (with whom he has a short-lived Carter Family/Louvin Brothers cover band called Ten Ton Lid).

[REF 1]: Beck and his friend Martha Atwell were really into old country music. They formed Ten Ton Lid, and started playing Louvin Brothers and Carter Family songs. At one point they managed to get some shows at a bar up in the mountains of Saugus: the Big Oaks Lodge. It was a weird scene because they were playing traditional folk songs and there were old folks square dancing and college kids partying. One night Mike Tyson was there training for his fight against Buster Douglas, (they had a boxing camp out back) and he got shit faced and pissed all over the drum kit. It was Xmas and he was wearing a Santa hat. Leaving a Ten Ton Lid show wasn't easy, due to the dark, winding forest road and all the drunks heading home.

[REF 2]: Pretty soon I made a few friends who were also doing the acoustic thing. Maybe you've heard of a guy named Beck? We put together a couple of bands. One sort of funny rock band called Loser (yeah that's part of how the song happened, though its idea and composition had nothing to do with me - that was all Beck), and a funny country band called Ten Ton Lid. We played alot of shows and even toured a little with Possum Dixon. Eventually, I had a falling out with Beck, because I wanted to do something different with the music, among other things. Now he's rich and famous, and I'm still trying to finish my PhD.

[REF 3]: So could this be an early Ten Ton Lid tape? Possibly, but the lack of Carter Family songs and the non-funny nature of the tape definitely weakens this theory. It is, though, the best suggestion I've heard so far. I and others have contacted a number of people who we thought might be able to give us some answers, but so far we've had very little luck. If anybody out there knows more about this tape, please e-mail me at dnewton@whiskeyclone.net.

Huge thanks go to Paco for the tape, and almostaghost, McP, comat0se and Paco (again) for helping with song identification.
-- Dave Newton, 2006-07-17

References:
1 Orr, Emily. 2002-10-03. "Beck In The Saddle Again". http://www.exclaim.ca/index.asp?layid=22&csid=1&csid1=1057
2 Hanft, Steve. "Kill The Moonlight" soundtrack liner notes.
3 Thoman, Mike. http://groups.google.com/group/rec.music.makers.guitar/browse_thread/thread/c81efd3c9efd961c/4c10c622f806a761?lnk=st&rnum=3#4c10c622f806a761

TRANSFER INFORMATION
--------------------
- Paco (unknown setup): - transferred tape to two CD tracks (side 1 / side 2) - Dave (2 GHz Intel Core Duo iMac, Mac OS X 10.4.7): iTunes 6.0.5: - converted CD to 44.1/16/stereo AIFF Sound Studio 3.0.4 (Demo): - replaced right channel with a duplicate left channel because the right was clipped and noisy - normalized to -0.18 dB (98.01%) over entire tape (both sides / AIFF files combined) - split AIFF into 56 separate files / tracks xACT 1.58 - encoded AIFF tracks to FLAC (6/8) - tagged FLACs - generated fingerprint (ffp) and shntool md5 (st5) checksums

http://www.becktabs.com/
http://www.whiskeyclone.net/



There you have it. Much thanks to Paco and the folks from Becktabs and Whiskeyclone for their efforts. They're responsible for much of the demo content that is circulating online in the Beck community, so massive credit is due to them. Pay them a visit and I'm sure you'll be pleased! And yes, there is a lot more Beck coming. I'd like to post two more tapes this month and everything else will appear in December.

Beck and Dava, Side One
Beck and Dava, Side Two


PS - If you'd like to see the original image that I created the one for this post from, follow this link. Pretty freaky :)

Beck - Fresh Meat and Old Slabs

Sorry this post was delayed. I had a service outage yesterday and could not get online. Nonetheless, as promised, here is some more Beck. This one is a cassette of various demos that he compiled for his mother around 1993. She had opened a cafe and he gave this to her to play there. Personally, I hope she didn't play it, I'm not sure customers would have stuck around. As for fans of Beck, this pseudo greatest hits collections of early tracks should please with ease. Here you'll find early versions of later re-recordings like Cut 1/2 Blues, Tasergun and Steve Threw Up in significantly different states. The version of Tasergun is pretty awesome compared to the released recording in my humble opinion. There are also quite a few awesome but otherwise unreleased tracks like Beck's spin on the folk standard Ballad Of Mexico, the bizarre Big Stompin' Mama and the hilarious (at least in my opinion) Heartland Feeling, a parody of all things Springsteen or Mellencamp.

There will be a few more Beck posts in November, as there is quite a bit left to share, so keep your eyes open. Enjoy!


Beck - Fresh Meat and Old Slabs
NOTE: This post is separated into two sides like the original cassette, although side two is hella short compared to side one so I can't vouch for it's timing accuracy. That said, you can always run the sides together and just play it like a full album. That works better for me anyway.

Side One:

01 Let's Go Moon Some Cars
02 Goin' Nowhere Fast
03 Cut In Half Blues
04 Sucker Without A Brain
05 Tasergun
06 Grease
07 Ballad Of Mexico
08 Fume
09 Leave Me On The Moon
10 I Feel Low Down
11 Satan Gave Me A Taco
12 Heartland Feeling
13 Big Stompin' Mama
14 Steve Threw Up

Side Two:

01 Say Can You See
02 Piece Of Shit
03 Death Is Coming To Get Me (aka the Hip-Hop version of Death Is Coming To Get You)
04 Captain Brain
05 Go Where U Want (aka Hollow Log)
06 Totally Confused
07 Trouble All My Days


PS - Before anyone says it, I know some of the titles aren't 100% correct. I left them as I received them. There is an info sheet included with the files that gives some details about the origin of the cassette and the people who ripped it. The version posted here was created from a FLAC version of the album.

Beck - Feel The Bunny

If I'm gonna feel a bunny, that's the kind I wanna feel! Okay, I feel dirty now...

Consider this a preamble to tuesday's post which will feature a full length, unreleased tape that Beck created from his demos. I've been really busy working on something for some very KIND individuals, so I'm running a bit behind, but I said there would be a Beck post this month, and with tuesday's there will be two. So, in the meantime, enjoy this rather short, very weird, certifiably "BECKian" tape called Feel The Bunny. The title is taken from what sounds like an impromptu folk song named after an odd bit of dialogue sampled from Sigmund and The Sea Monsters. If you know what I'm talking about, you know the kind of weirdness to expect. For those unaware, a hunt for cheetoes, Blondie's Rapture, some disco pomp, more weird samples and additional impromptu folk freakiness. All in all, good early Beck!


Beck - Feel The Bunny


PS - Visit Whiskeyclone for a little more info on this weird-ass tape, which may have been used as the soundtrack to a video Steve Hanft made.

October 2009 Mixtape: The Kitchen Sink

I put this together at one in the morning and thought it would be a good mix for the site despite being kinda discombobulated and suffering from the weirdness. As usual, it's mostly rare, unreleased or bizarre stuff that most people have never heard. The rule for my mixtapes has always been that they have to fit on an 80 minute CD, and this one barely makes the cut, coming in at 79:51 when I burnt a copy off this morning. Enjoy!


The Unheard Music - October 2009 Mixtape: The Kitchen Sink

01 Anal Cunt - Theme From Three's Company
Anal Cunt, yes you read that right, is the brainchild of Seth Putnam. I'm sure if you listen to their tracks that you'll find the word brain is used loosely in describing their music, but damn it if I don't find these guys entertaining as hell! Full of openly nasty and disgusting jokes, their tongues have been surgically implanted in their cheeks. Don't take much seriously about them, they're pretty fucked up. Check here for more info. That said, I'm not racist, prejudiced, homophobic or whatever nasty things these guys have been incorrectly labeled in the past, and I don't think they are either, so don't start looking at me sideways.

02 Jega - Fireball
If you didn't download the Variance: Roughs, this should give you an idea what you missed out on. Awesome shit! Also, anyone know what program I can use to create the Soundwave effect as sampled in this track? That's Soundwave from Transformers. Anybody? I wanna write a song with that vocal sound all over it!

03 Avenue D - My Dirty South
Avenue D are some kinky girls who write all about being sexy and doing sexy things. These girls are filthy and I love 'em for it! This is pretty good stuff, funky and funny at the same time. Don't play this at work or around the easily offended though, you'll be in deep shit. Actually, this whole mixtape is kinda like that. WARNING: PLAY IN THE PRIVACY OF YOUR CAR, HOME, OR WITH HEADPHONES ON. ONLY PLAY IN PUBLIC WITH LIKE-MINDED INDIVIDUALS WHO FIND SONGS LIKE THESE ENTERTAINING! Unfortunately Avenue D have split up, but you can still hit their website and buy some stuff! All of their releases are now available on iTunes.

04 Dink - Green Mind (Pure Organic Edit)
Kent, Ohio's very own! God bless Bob Serpentini!

05 Anal Cunt - Escape (The Pina Colada Song)
There is going to be a post about these idiots at some point in their future. Their Howard Is Bald tape, which is less than ten minutes long, is hilarious. It's also almost completely devoid of noise, which is rather exceptional for them.

06 The Notorious B.I.G. - Juicy (Pete Rock Remix)
Apparently this was the version of Juicy originally slated for Ready To Die, but it instead was released as a remix. Puffy supposedly had the album version created after hearing this so he wouldn't have to pay Pete as much cash. Would anyone be surprised if that's true? As good as the album version is though, Pete's version is the winner!

07 The Pharcyde - Soul Flower (2 Tha 3 Mix)
I'll have to dig out the interview about this remix. Fatlip was directly involved with it's production and the group, as much as they loved it, figured there was no way this mix could ever get a proper release. It was issued on a promo-only 12" and later appeared on the Sold My Soul compilation, an import-only collection of rarities, b-sides and unreleased tracks. Great sample-heavy remix!

08 Boris The Sprinkler - Kill The Ramones
These guys were great and totally weird. Rev. Nørb was their frontman if that means anything. Actually, if you know who he is you probably already know who Boris The Sprinkler are, but if you don't, enjoy their pop-punk craziness. Also, despite this song's title, they really do love the Ramones. More on Boris here.

09 Tigerboy - With Attitude?
Tigerboy is really kid606. He put this thrashing of the Misfits' Attitude out as the b-side of his remix of NWA's Straight Outta Compton. The single actually credits kid606 on the a-side and Tigerboy on the b-side, and your guess is as good as mine as to why the kid had to complicate matters so deeply.

10 69 - Desire
I was saddened to pull down the 69 stuff. It really is some of Carl Craig's best work and I wish it was easier for people to get a hold of. Carl's PR people hinted that a track or two shouldn't be an issue, so I figured I could post the amazing Desire in this month's mixtape. Remember, if you like this, you can still order the 69 boxset at the Planet E website. This track is also available on a few compilations and, if you can find it, The Sound Of Music CD which compiles the 69 EPs Lite Music and Sound On Sound.

11 Jega - The Girl Who Fell To Earth
This is from the finished Variance album and is a stunner! Go to Bleep and get a download of this NOW!!! Awesome album!

12 Violent Femmes - Breakin' Up (Demo)
Recorded in the early eighties, the 1994 version is almost identical. Just shows that you shouldn't mess with perfection!

13 Anal Cunt - Stayin' Alive (Oi Version)
Yep, more stupidity.

14 Mi Ami - Echononecho
SHIT! These guys are awesome! Prepare for spastic dub/rock noisiness! I don't know too much about Mi Ami but they have a sweet album named Watersports and are formed from the now-defunct Black Eyes. Check 'em out over at Quarterstick Records' website. You can also get Watersports on iTunes or Amazon.

15 Apotheosis - O Fortuna (Apocalypse Chorus Mix)
I knew a guy in college who went nuts for this track. He made a music video out of stuff he taped off the Discovery Channel that documented the evolution of the human race, all set to this track. It's kinda cheesy in the way that a lot of early nineties rave stuff is, but it's still a cool track.

16 Ol' Dirty Bastard - Give It To Ya Raw (SD50 Remix)
SD50 are/were Dante Ross, John Gamble and Geeby Dajani. They did a lot of hip-hop production and remixes in the nineties and pretty much everything they touched was blessed. This remix appeared on the O.D.B.E.P. which is, as far as I can tell, an import and promo-only collection of Return To The 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version remixes and b-sides. As is the standard with ODB, prepare for the weirdness! Oh, how wonderful the weirdness that ODB and Wu-Tang is!

17 Anal Cunt - Theme From The A-Team
Seriously! The A-Team Theme! That doesn't make it good, but it certainly is notable!

18 Pete Rock & Large Professor - The Rap World
Awesome collaboration between Pete and Extra P! This appeared on the High School High soundtrack with a number of rather good tracks from members of the Wu, ATCQ, D'Angelo & Eryakh Badu (!!!AWESOME!!!), The Roots and a bunch of other great artists. Great soundtrack for a shitty movie, and I'm a fan of Jon Lovitz! Check the Discogs reference to see the track list for yourself.

19 Wilco - The Good Part
Wonderful leftover from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Jeff Tweedy cut most of the overly poppy tracks, like this one, from the album as they didn't fit with his vision, which is understandable, but when the tracks are this good they really should be released in some manner eventually.

20 Beck - In A Cold Ass Fashion
Beck wanted to name Mellow Gold after this track, but the label didn't want the word Ass on the packaging. Their loss. Essential track! I will eventually do a few Beck posts as I have so much of his stuff lying around.

21 Jahmbi Joe and The Pimps - This Song Is Called Uh-Huh
Explanation pending.

22 Anal Cunt - American Woman
Probably their cover that's truest to the original. That's not saying much though.

August 2009 Mixtape

LOVE IS A DONUT...uh, it's time for another Unheard Music mixtape! The last one was a bit era-specific but this episode is more in the vein of how these posts will usually be. Enjoy!


The Unheard Music - August 2009 Mixtape

01 Liz Phair - Chopsticks
I love Liz Phair. She gets shit for having a more commercial sound these days but she doesn't seem to care. She's said several times that she has to pay the bills and it's hard to be an indie star like she used to be when you're raising a family in the suburbs. This is from her second full-length, Whip-Smart, and is kind-of the last stand for her more indie specific styles. I'll be doing a post about her beautiful, early demos in the near future. If you're not familiar with her, you should get Exile In Guyville. It's a very honest record and you don't have to be a woman for it to change you.

02 Hrvatski - Vatstep DSP
More Hrvatski for those who enjoyed his album. This was created as a remix for kid606 although it only features a few very small samples making this more an original track than anything else. You couldn't generally call Hrvatski's music happy, but this track is as close to happy as he gets. Lotta fun!

03 Greg Phillinganes - Behind The Mask
This is kind-of the missing link when it comes to Michael Jackson's Thriller. As the story goes, Quincy Jones was obsessed with the Yellow Magic Orchestra's song, Behind The Mask, and decided he wanted to make a version with proper lyrics. He asked Michael to write the new lyrics, and together they created an incredible pop song. For reasons unclear though, Michael's version has never seen the light of day, although Greg, Michael's keyboardist through most of the eighties, recorded the MJ version and released it as a single. For all we know this might sound exactly like the MJ version, but no one has said anything so who knows. All I can say is this song is a slept-on eighties classic!

04 DJ Mink - Hey! Hey! Can U Relate? (feat. The K.I.D. & Carruthers)
This sounds more like an old-school hip-hop track than something from the early nineties. Initially released on the British FON label, it was licensed by Warp and became a popular underground hit. Hip-Hop heads know this track well but this was never a commercial hit, so check this shoulda-been number one jam.

05 Venice Shoreline Chris - All-Nite Dinah
Also known as Chris Murray, Venice Shoreline Chris recorded his album, The 4-Track Adventures Of Venice Shoreline Chris, all by his lonesome, but you'd never guess it by how fun the album sounds. Check out his site for more info and samples from some of his other records.

06 Beck - Satan Was Way Cool
From a demo tape recorded during his early, weird years, this is Beck recording new vocals over King Missle's Jesus Was Way Cool. Funny as hell! I'm gonna do a post on Beck earlier, folkier and way-weirder days sometime in the near future. I probably would have done it already but he's got so much stuff to choose from!

07 Mochipet - They Might Be Giants vs. Lyrical Giants (Get Crunked!)
Oh yeah! Mochipet is well-known for his dancey releases, but this is from Combat which he released on kid606's Violent Turd Records. Great record that clocks in around a half hour, it entertains for a long time afterward. This is an easy highlight from that record.

08 Miles Davis - Willie Nelson (Insert 1)
This is from the Complete Jack Johnson Sessions box-set that Sony released a few years ago. A small portion of several takes of Willie Nelson was included in the completed Jack Johnson album, but the additional takes are awesome. This one includes Sonny Sharrock doing some seriously fucked-up echoplex soloing. Awesome record!

09 John Oswald - Anon
This is from the 69/96 compilation which sorta came out. You can buy it digitally via iTunes or Amazon and physical copies are, or were, available, although there was never an Oswald sanctioned release, or at least that's the official story. The truth is that Negativland is responsible for the US release of this compilation which features remastered and cleaned-up versions of most of the Plunderphonic album and other gems from throughout Oswald's career. They were able to release it after Oswald sent them digital copies of the masters, artwork and liner notes, but Oswald did try to get this released on his own. Unfortunately, the CRIA would not allow him to do so even if he were to get permission for all samples, so he took matters into his own hands and let Negativland help out. This track is a reworking of a Tim Buckley song and was originally part of the Elektrax/Rubaiyat EP which was a promotional release on Elektra Records. You can get the whole EP here at the excellent Music Hertz, among many other great things! Check them out!

10 Foetus - Clothes Hoist
JG Thirlwell is THE MAN! This is from the Hole album which he released as Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel. As most of his releases are under a variation of the name Foetus, I'm just gonna stick with foetus for simplicity's sake. Get creeped out and rock out to this, and if you're feeling it grab the Hole album!

11 The Stick Men - Caged Sex
The Stick Men were incredible. Coming out of Pennsylvania, they bare a resemblance to James Chance and The Contortions, although they're quite a lot more fun in my humble opinion. If you like this you need to get their album, Insatiable. It's such a shame when stuff as unique and crazy as this falls victim to the perils of history and location.

12 Miles Davis - Willie Nelson (Insert 2)
Another take with Sonny Sharrock, but this one also features John McLaughlin. Wild stuff!

13 Bob Dylan - Get Your Rocks Off
From the infamous Basement Tapes, this unreleased track is a gem. There are so many awesome recordings from this era in Dylan's career. I might post some Basement Tapes goodness eventually, it's just that there is so much stuff to choose from. I feel like I should post everything I've got, but that's nearly a gigabyte of stuff, so I'm just gonna give it some time.

14 Vernon Reid - What's My Name
No question mark in the title, so does that make it a statement or a typographical error? either way, Vernon and his band, Masque, along with producers Prince Paul and Teo Macero, bring the action. This is from Vernon's Mistaken Identity album. Most of the album isn't this intense but, if you like electric Miles, you'll enjoy the whole album. Really good stuff!

15 Randy Newman - Political Science
I remember Mr. Newman complaining that this is one of his most timeless recordings. I understand why, but I love it all the same. Sarcasm, a sick sense of humor and maybe even a little honesty, just don't take it too seriously.

16 Jimi Hendrix - Stars That Play With Laughing Sam's Dice
I only heard this for the first time very recently. This is up there with Hendrix's best in my humble opinion. It starts off innocently enough before it literally leaves the planet.

17 Whale - I'll Do Ya
Whale are one of the great unknown bands of the mid-nineties, at least in the US. They started with a joke single and video featuring a sexy little thing with braces and a lollipop teasing a number of shirtless men only to release a funky, druggy, in-joke of an album that sounds like the soundtrack to a really insane weekend. This song should have been huge! If they ever played it live I hope to god that it was incredible. PLAY IT LOUD!!!!!

18 John Oswald - Case Of Death (Part One, Chapters 1-16)
More Oswaldian goodness, this is also from the 69/96 compilation. If you like his stuff you should really support him by purchasing the comp. Mind melting stuff.

The Unheard Music's June 2009 Mixtape

From the moment I started this blog I thought it would be cool to do a mixtape every month or two with interesting stuff that I wouldn't be doing full posts about. This is the first one and I feel pretty good about it. Please let me know what you think about it and, if you like it, I'll try to make sure I post one every month or two. Enjoy!


The Unheard Music - June 2009 Mixtape

01 Liz Phair - White Babies (Answering Machine Version)
Liz's twisted take on "My Bonny" was initially recorded for her Girly-Sound demo tapes. Those recordings are essential but this answering machine recording of the track is a fun alternative. As for the circumstances behind the recording, I've never heard an explanation, so if you know one please let me know.

02 Vanity 6 - Vibrator
We all know that Prince and Vanity were freaks, and this is the kind of track that would have furthered that reputation if it had seen release. Recorded during the early stages of the "Purple Rain"-era sessions that encompassed albums by Sheila E., The Time and Prince himself, Vanity was suppossed to be in the film and another Vanity 6 album was planned for release but Vanity made it clear she wanted more money from Warner Brothers or else she would leave. They didn't give her the money so she left and Prince got Apollonia to take her place in the film and the band, rechristening them Apollonia 6.

03 Beastie Boys - I'm Down
The Beasties and Rick Rubin recorded this tongue-in-cheek cover of the Fab 4's b-side of the "Help" single, but Michael Jackson, who owned a massive chunk of the Beatles' catalogue at the time, declined their request on the premise that he felt their version was a devaluation of the original. Eventually, a slightly different version ended up being leaked to a California radio station, but this was the version intended for "Licensed To Ill".

04 Ween - Where'd The Cheese Go? (Pizza Hut Demo 1)
Believe it or not, Pizza Hut came to Ween asking them to write a jingle for their cheese filled crust pizza. Despite making a rather catchy jingle, Pizza Hut turned it down flat. For a while this was available via the official Ween site.

05 Beck - Death Is Coming To Get You (Folk Version)
This is a funny Beck song in the vein of "Satan Gave Me A Taco". Two recordings of this exist, this being the folkier of the two. This appeared on the "Golden Leftovers" tape.

06 Pizzy Yelliot - Could You Be Loved (Mungolian Jet Set 303 Acid Mix)
It's rather unclear who Pizzy Yelliot is, although I've heard it may be another pseduonym for the Mungolian Jet Set. Regardless, this is a seriously freaky cover of the Bob Marley song. For those unfamiliar with the Mungolian Jet Set, their album is far jazzier than their remixes which are often rather long and trippy, but both sides of their styles are irresistible. If this is your first taste of MJS, you've got to get their remix of the Kreeps "I Just Wanna Break Some Hearts" and their debut album, "Beauty Came To Us In Stone".

07 Autolux - Future Perfect
Title cut for Autolux's first album that doesn't actually appear on the album. This song appeared on their "Demonstration" cd in slightly rougher form, but this version was included as the b-side of their "Here Comes Everybody" single. Great song!

08 J*Davey - Let It Bleed
It's pretty unclear what is up with J*Davey these days. Their two EPs, the first of which was described as a very rough demo despite being lush, dreamy and as sonically deep as anyone could hope for, are the only documents of their studio work as of right now. They signed to Warner Brothers records but nothing has come of that deal yet, so I guess we'll just have to keep waiting, but there are a few great songs they've recorded which don't appear on either of their releases and this is one of them. Let this groove hit you and get next to someone special.

09 Blackalicious - Cheezit Terrorist
This was featured on the original pressings of Blackalicious' "Melodica" EP but was dropped from later pressings due to sample clearance issues. The fidelity of the track is due to it having been taped from a live radio freestyle just as it sounds like it was, not from the track being copied from a bad source.

10 Ween - Where'd The Cheese Go? (Pizza Hut Demo 2)
After being turned down by Pizza Hut with their initial version of this jingle, Ween turned in this significantly more sarcastic version. I don't think I need to tell you what didn't happen next.

11 Steely Dan - The Second Arrangement
Recorded during the "Gaucho" sessions, the majority of the masters of the original version of this song were accidentally erased by an engineer. Becker and Fagen were devestated and initially decided to forget the song, but they were pressed to try to re-record it. They buckled and recorded this fabulous version, but they didn't feel it lived up to the quality of the original and decided not to release it. A sad decision, as this is a heluva song!

12 Cibo Matto - Know Your Chicken (El Diablo Version)
This version of "Know Your Chicken" was most likely a great part of the impetus for the creation of Butter 08, a Cibo side project with Russell Simins, drummer for the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and their friends. Simins plays drums on this great version recorded for El Diablo Records. It was initially released on a 7" and eventually reissued as part of a cd featuring both of Cibo Matto's El Diablo singles and their then-unreleased improv "Crumbs".

13 Wordsound I Powa - Bury Dem
I'm a fan of my pal Skiz's label, Wordsound Records. This is from a Wordsound super-group, Wordsound I Powa. This did receive an official release and is still available at least digitally as part of their "Transmitting Live From Planet Crooklyn" album. This track is a little crazier than some of the other stuff on the album, but if you like spacey electro-dub stuff, you should definitely check Wordsound I Powa out. I can't seem to find this on iTunes but it is available via Amazon's excellent MP3 site.

14 DJ Brokenwindow - Shit On My Side
DJ Brokenwindow does manual mash-ups, rarely using computers to assist him in assembling his tracks. This is from his "Parallel Universe #1" compilation, of which a sequel is also available via kid606's Violent Turn label. I don't know if this is still in print, but the first volume is tons of crazy fun. This track is a meeting of the Thompson Twins and Eminem's crew, D-12.

15 The Pharcyde - Ya Mama (Matt Dike Remix)
I don't know for certain that this ever received an official release, but if it did I don't know how they got away with it! This is a Matt Dike remix very much in the spirit of "Paul's Boutique" and it tons of fun.

16 Nirvana - Onward Into Countless Battles (aka Dave's Meat Song)
This is basically a Dave Grohl solo track that he recorded during a Nirvana session in Januaryof 1993 while in Rio. Everyone always paints Kurt Cobain to have been rather gloomy, which is confusing since there was a lot of evidence to the contrary, but it's clear that Dave and Krist were always pretty up-beat guys. This is a funny and goody track that I wish had been released on the "With The Lights Out" box-set, but as it's pretty much just Dave, I can see why it would have been ignored.

17 Beck - Death Is Coming To Get You (Hip-Hop Version)
This is the second version of "Death..." and appeared on Beck's "Fresh Meat and Old Slabs" tape which he made for his mother. I don't know that anyone would call this proper hip-hop, what with walls of guitar feedback and pounding percussion, but there is a funky drum loop running under the track and Beck's flow is far more rhythmic than it normally is.

18 Ween - Where'd The Cheese Go? (All Request Live Version)
Ween recorded this nutty version of "Cheese..." during an online performance that was comprised completely of requests. This is easily the funniest and goofiest version of the song and should be enjoyed by all. The "All Request Live" show received an official release and is available via iTunes.

19 Marilyn Chambers - Benihana
This is the late Marilyn Chambers' attempt to enter the disco market alongside Andrea True and her classic "More, More, More". This track didn't really go anywhere and is kind of rare, but it's been mentioned quite a bit since her death earlier this year. I like this one and it should get more props for being what it is, a fun and catchy dance song with a good dose of sexuality. In fact, it might be too sexual, but it's still a great tune.

20 The Clovers - The Rotten Cocksuckers Ball
I learned of this song through a compilation of R&B singles that influenced the young Frank Zappa. It's just as dirty as it's name should make you think it is, which is still pretty dirty these days and had to be insanely dirty when it was originally released. So, if you're easily offended, skip this track. If you can laugh at obscenities, please check this out!