SubVerse

I’ve always intended for Subverse to be an MP3 blog (among other things). But I have been woefully lazy in the year and three months now that this site has existed. It’s time to start following through on my original idea.

My hope (or rather, as my shrink insists I say, my plan) is to put up two mixes a month – every other Sunday.

SUNDAY MIXES: Consisting of curated music on a theme, ideally meant to be listened to in order, as a DJ-ed set.

A mix-tape from me to you.

Today’s theme is simply the weather of this weekend I’ve spent at the farmhouse (in upstate New York). It’s gone from breathtakingly beautiful summer sun across the flower gardens and lush green hillsides – to moody grey hours of drizzling rain and thunder rumbling in the heavy clouds. Only to, once again, be surprised by a peek of golden light breaking through the grey over the Hudson River just before sunset.

And so today’s Sunday Mix No. 1 offers a similar journey. From the joy of a sunny morning upstate, to the quiet of an afternoon indoors, and back again.

See you next Sunday.

- Woodstock - Alice Russell

- Devil Do - Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs

- Shake It Off - Wilco

- History Song (Live, with instrumental intro) - The Good, The Bad & The Queen

- Roll On (Ft. Jenny Lewis) - Dntel

- Assoul - Tinariwen

- Reckoner - Thom Yorke (Acoustic @ Free Trade Show 4/16/07

- Ray-O-Graph - Jackie-O Motherfucker

- Cajuina - Forro in the Dark

- First Desert Ride - Jeff Simmons/Randy Sterling (Naked Angels OST)

- Whole Lotta Love - Ike & Tina Turner

- Jardin d’Hiver - Keren Ann

- All I Want Is You - Sugarplum Fairies

- Paisley Park (Prince cover) - Richard Swift

- Lay and Love - Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy

- The Ride - Joan as Policewoman

- Contusion (Live) - Stevie Wonder

- The Light - White Magic

- Mr. Whippy (ft. Eslam Jawaad) - The Good, The Bad & The Queen

- Boom-Biddy-Boom - Peter Sellers and Sophia Loren

A tune to help you through the afternoon:
The Brightness of These Days - Electric Sheep (feat. Ua)

Electric Sheep is a nu-jazz group associated with Kyoto Jazz Massive. More important is the vocal contributions of Ua, Tokyo’s answer to Bjork. Beautiful and mysterious, Ua is much too little known in America, and she should be very famous. Her voice is transfixing and uplifiting, whether she’s scatting or jazzing or deep soul-ing, i want to crawl inside the sensuous sounds she makes and rest there a while.