[This is one post in a series about my music mixes. The series list has links to all posts in the series and also definitions of many of the terms I use. You may wish to read the introduction for more background. You may also want to check out the first volume in this multi-volume mix for more info on its theme.
Like all my series, it is not necessarily contiguous—
Fun fact: when my eldest was a toddler, they thought that the refrain of Fatboy Slim’s second biggest hit1 was “funk so rubber.” Besides that being a cute-kid story, it might also occur to you to wonder why my toddler had such excellent taste in music. Well, I’d like to think I could take credit for a lot of it, but I definitely can’t take credit for that one: his mother is the big Fatboy Slim fan in the house.2 Now, “The Rockafeller Skank,” as it is officially known, is perfectly fine, but I’m not a huge fan like others in my family are. However, the first time The Mother played “Wonderful Night,” I was entranced. I’m not a huge fan of rap, but there are a few songs I like—
We live the masterful life that’s mythical.
Feel its chords and its vibes atypical.
Do what you want; it’s all right, this mystical
Time you’ve got that’s alotted is plentiful.
If you stay in this moment so critical,
Let the music change your brainstem’s chemicals,
Make you feel like your spirit’s invincible
Force centrifugal
Reaching up to your pinnacle
Now.
And, of course, the most exquisite line ever, which was always going to be the volume title: “fuckin’ posh like Dave Beckham.”3 Cook’s mixing is excellent too, but Lateef is the star of this show for sure.4
In many cases volume II of one of my mixes is all the leftover bits that didn’t make it on volume I. For Moonside by Riverlight, I didn’t have very many tracks left over. “Wonderful Night” was one, and it only “didn’t make the cut” because, while I think it’s perfect for this mix in general, it just didn’t work anywhere in the first volume: it was too upbeat. There were a few more upbeat tunes on volume I, but nothing like this. In fact, you could make a good argument that this shouldn’t be considered lounge at all, but it just has a smooth feel to it that makes it perfect for this mix in my view. And I’ve placed it squarely as the opener so that it can set the tone for what’s to follow.
Overall, these are still the smooth, jazzy, lounge-inspired tunes this mix promises, but several of them are a little more happy-making. Following immediately after Fatboy Slim, we have “Skokiaan,” which was not originally done by Louis Armstrong, but he did one of the first versions in the US, and this is almost certainly the most famous one. I’m pretty sure I know this song because my kid plays Fallout 3. Nearly all the music in that is eary big-band fare, and my eldest really got into it. They curated a Pandora channel seeded with Frank Sinatra and that sort of thing, and we were listening to it one day and I heard this. Again, I’m not a huge Armstrong fan, but I can appreciate him sometimes, and I really dug this tune. As often happens when I hear an old standard, I go looking for other versions to see which one I like best. Sometimes, as with “Jump Jive and Wail” or “Ghost Riders in the Sky,” I end up finding a more modern version I prefer. But sometimes, just as with “Sing Sing Sing” (from Salsatic Vibrato III) or last volume’s “Whatever Lola Wants,” you can’t beat the original.5
On the other hand, when it comes to “One for My Baby,” neither the original (by Fred Astaire, from 1943’s The Sky’s the Limit) nor the definitive (by none other than the godfather of lounge himself, Frank Sinatra) can compare to Hugh Laurie’s version, as far as I’m concerned. Now, if you’ve watched A Bit of Fry and Laurie,6 you already know how musically talented Hugh Laurie is. So when I found out he had put out a couple of albums of old jazz, blues, and lounge standards, I had to check them out. I have to say, as much as I love Laurie, these albums are a mixed bag: while the man can play like nobody’s business, his voice isn’t perfect for every track, and some of them are too faithful to the originals for my taste. But, as just about every artist does, when he hits it, he hits it hard, and “One for My Baby” is, to my mind, the best of the best. When it comes to doing a slow, whiskey-soaked drawl, Laurie’s voice is perfect, and even the great Sinatra can’t beat him here, in my opinion. It’s the slowest (and most melancholy) track here, and especially given the lyrics—
Most of our returning artists hew to the slightly-more-upbeat throughline of this volume. Cherry Poppin’ Daddies are back with “Pink Elephant,” Meaghan Smith brings us the slightly bouncy “I Know,” and there’s yet another excellent Yukimi Nagano vocal from Koop, “I See a Different You.” Pink Martini’s contribution this time around (the title track from their album Hang On Little Tomato) is a bit slower, granted, but, considering some of the tracks we’ve heard from them,7 I think it’s fair to say it’s fairly upbeat for them. As for our final returning artist, many times when Lee Press-On and the Nails do lounge, they come off as almost unbearably goofy. But “Well Did You Evah?” is somehow sophisticated and just the right amount of silly at the same time.
There are a few other obvious choices too. It’s pretty amazing that we didn’t hear from Squirrel Nut Zippers last time, especially considering most of the time when we get to hear Katharine Whalen sing, we get exactly the smooth, loungy sound this mix is all about. “It All Depends” is from Bedlam Ballroom, which is certainly not as good an album as Hot, but still quite good, and this is one of the highlights for sure. The Blue Nile, who so far have only appeared on Numeric Driftwood III, are another natural choice; “Tinseltown in the Rain” is somehow both happy and relaxed, and I think I have an increased appreciation for its imagery now that I live in the environs of Tinseltown and know how rarely it actually rains. Similarly, the Dream Academy’s amazing and poignant “Life in a Northern Town,” which I’ve loved since I first heard way back in 1985, is a natural here. I can’t say it’s exactly upbeat, but it’s bold, and its “hey"s have a tendency to explode into otherwise quiet spots in the song in very exciting ways. And, once again proving that anywhere the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies can go, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy is sure to follow, we finally see a contribution from them here. “The Maddest Kind of Love” is pretty, and smooth, and fits in nicely on this volume.
Among my newer discoveries, I came to Feist not that long ago, and, while her ouvre is typically more suited to other mixes,8 one can’t deny that she can croon when she puts her mind to it. “Gatekeeper” is an excellent example of just such a moment. Shivaree you may recall me first discussing back on Smokelit Flashback III, and I even pointed out that their selection there (“Little Black Mess”) had some Moonside by Riverlight leanings. So it should be no surprise to see them make their debut here with “New Casablanca,” which is one of their slower tunes, but it works very well here heading out to the closing of “One for My Baby.” Finally, Carmen Rizzo is someone we’ve seen several times before in this series; I first (and most extensively) talked about him on Smokelit Flashback IV. He’s amazingly talented and verstile,9 and even beyond his initial appearance we’ve seen him on Rose-Coloured Brainpan II and Shadowfall Equinox IV. Here, the lounge aspect is mostly provided by the smooth vocals of Grant-Lee Phillips.10 “As the Day Breaks” (apparently sometimes listed as “Snowflakes”) still retains the worldmusic vibe that Rizzo is so good at, but it also works very well here.
I also want to want to call attention to something I’ve done here that I don’t believe I’ve talked about before. When I’m working on ordering tracks, I start by pairing up two tracks that seem like they ought to flow into each other, or perhaps three or four tracks that all seem to have something in common. Slowly the small groups get shuffled around and joined together into larger and larger groups, and, in an ideal world, I end up with one continuous group comprising the entire volume. But, then again, sometimes I end up with two gropus that seem like they could go together, or maybe they could each be separate, but also neither is long enough to make its own volume. When this happens, I have two choices. I could divvy them up into separate volumes and try to fill them out with more songs that go into each group. Or I could just “glue” the two groups together with a little bridge. Notable places we’ve seen this before are Rose-Coloured Brainpan I, where “Please Please Let Me Get What I Want” bridges the firmly downbeat first half to the ever-so-slightly more energetic second half that kicks off with “Groovy Tuesday,” and on Salsatic Vibrato III, where “The Dirge” leads into the powerful back-half opening of “A Tap Dancer’s Dilemma.” In the former case, that particular Smithereens track just wasn’t a strong enough opener to anchor an entire volume; in the latter, Diablo Swing Orchestra certainly could have carried a separate volume, but I had metamix reasons for wanting to keep those two groups together. This time out, the first group comprises the first two-thirds of the volume, and the inimitiatble Caro Emerald kicks off a strong second group with “A Night Like This.” Much like CPD and BBVD, we first heard from Ms. Emerald on Salsatic Vibrato,11 but her slower tunes work very well here. But I needed a bridge to join up the two groups, so I went with “Intro” from Bonobo’s Animal Magic. It’s slightly reminiscent of Jane’s Addiction’s “Thank You Boys” (which we saw last volume), and I think it makes a nice opener for the back-end of the volume. But, just in case you were wondering why I had a song called “Intro” in the middle of the tracklist, hopefully that makes it make more sense.
Moonside by Riverlight II
[ Fuckin' Posh Like Dave Beckham ]
[ Fuckin' Posh Like Dave Beckham ]
“Wonderful Night” by Fatboy Slim [Single]
“Skokiaan” by Louis Armstrong, off Greatest Hits [Compilation]
“Hang on Little Tomato” by Pink Martini, off Hang on Little Tomato
“It All Depends” by Squirrel Nut Zippers, off Bedlam Ballroom
“Exquisite” by Shriekback, off Big Night Music
“Life in a Northern Town” by The Dream Academy, off The Dream Academy
“Tinseltown in the Rain” by The Blue Nile, off A Walk Across the Rooftops
“I Know” by Meaghan Smith, off The Cricket's Orchestra
“Blue Moon” by Models [Single]
“Pink Elephant” by Cherry Poppin' Daddies, off Zoot Suit Riot [Compilation]
“Well Did You Evah?” by Lee Press-On and the Nails, off El Bando en Fuego!
“Feeling Good” by Michael Bublé [Single]
“As the Day Breaks” by Carmen Rizzo, off The Lost Art of the Idle Moment
“Intro” by Bonobo, off Animal Magic
“A Night Like This” by Caro Emerald, off Deleted Scenes from the Cutting Room Floor
“Baby I'm a Fool” by Melody Gardot, off My One and Only Thrill
“I See a Different You” by Koop, off Koop Islands
“Maddest Kind of Love” by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, off Americana Deluxe
“Gatekeeper” by Feist, off Let It Die
“New Casablanca” by Shivaree, off Who's Got Trouble?
“One for My Baby” by Hugh Laurie, off Didn't It Rain
Total: 21 tracks, 78:32
First up in the unlikely category: “Blue Moon,” by Models. Nowadays, we have a tendency to think “Blue Moon” is supposed to sound like the doo-wop version the Marcels put out in 1961. But few remember that “Blue Moon” is a Rodgers and Hart composition first recorded in 1934 or ‘35. When the Australian band Models (criminally almost unknown in the US except as a one-hit wonder for “Out of Mind, Out of Sight”) decided to do a version for the 12” of their first big Australian hit “Barbados,” they remembered. This version hearkens back to many of the earlier versions, such as the Connee Boswell, the Billy Eckstine, and especially the Mel Tormé (from 1949). Of course, I’d never heard any of those when I stumbled on this track at the end of the cassette version (only!) of Out of Mind, Out of Sight in 1985. It was exotic and strange, and somehow evocative, and I’ve always had a soft spot for it.
There’s also a tune here from Shriekback, who I’ve noted previously is probably best suited for Slithy Toves, where they’ve contributed three tracks across two volumes, but they’ve also showed up in such diverse places as Rose-Coloured Brainpan, Shadowfall Equinox, and even Numeric Driftwood. Their track here, “Exquisite,” is also a little bit slinky, and a little bit relaxing, but mostly it’s just smooth; it’s drawn from perhaps their mellowest outing, Big Night Music.
And, not so much unlikely for this mix as unlikely for me in general, two final tracks. First up, Melody Gardot. Now, if you don’t know who that is, that’s understandable, but hie thee hence forthwith to Wikipedia and read about how she nearly died in a car accident, learned music to help her regain her memory and sense of time, and eventually became an amazing singer. In my opinion, her album My One and Only Thrill, is pretty fucking amazing, but I can’t really tell you why. It’s full of jazzy torchsongs, which is not something I’m normally attracted to. So, I can’t explain it, but I think she’s amazing, and “Baby I’m a Fool” is possibly her best, and I knew I had to include it here.
Finally, with nearly every artist that I dislike, there’s one song that is the exception. Take Whitney Houston for instance—
Next time, we’ll have a crossover of sorts as my love of music and my love of D&D collide.
__________
1 In the US, where I live. In the UK, it was his 5th biggest; interestingly, “Praise” was the biggest on both sides of the pond, but the intervening three I’d never heard of before looking up his discography on Wikipedia just now.
2 Although I am quite fond of the band where I originally heard Norman Cook—
3 In order to fully appreciate this line, you need to know who Dave Beckham’s wife is.
4 It also has quite an awesome video.
5 Although, as I say, the Armstrong technically isn’t the original here. But then the Goodman “Sing Sing Sing” and the Vaughan “Whatever Lola Wants” aren’t the originals either, as it happens.
6 And, if you haven’t, go do that right away. Easily one of the top 5 British comedy shows of all time.
7 Such as “Veronique” on Rose-Coloured Brainpan II or “U Plavu Zoru” on Phantasma Chorale I.
8 For instance, we’ve seen her thus far on Porchwell Firetime and Sirenexiv Cola.
9 For instance, he’s one-third of Niyaz, another third of which is Azam Ali, another person whose versatility I’m somewhat in awe of. You can listen to me blather on about her over on Apparently World I.
10 Who you may know from Gilmore Girls, if that’s your sort of thing.
11 In her case, on III and VI.
12 By which I mean either the Cy Grant version or the Gilbert Price version: take your pick, as they’re not significantly different from each other.
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