This, That and the Other

Three random tunes from the vaults. 'This Moment' by Matthew Sweet, Jah Woosh singing 'Don't Do That' and Big Audio Dynamite with 'Other 99'.

A State of Emergency

A State of Emergency from swede on 8tracks Radio.

A Small Good Thing - Saloon Dreams 

Famy - Dogg Dogg 

Elvis Costello & the Roots - Can You Hear Me? 

Derrick Morgan - Under Heavy Manners 

Paul Duncan - Red Eagle 

Houndstooth - Thunder Runner 

Ernest Rogers - Mythological Blues 

H.Hawkline - Telegram

I'm a Heavier Dude Than I Used To Be

I've been making compilations for my own amusement on one format or another for over 40 years and have long regarded them as aide-mémoires or audio diaries - a reminder of what I was listening to at a certain point in time and, by extension, what was going on during that period of my life.

It started when I was ten or eleven, on my Dad's old reel to reel tape recorder, then on my own cassette player which I received for my 12th birthday. The cassette compilations continued on various upgraded bits of kit for 25 years, which is why to this day, after several big clear-outs, I still have a large number of them to sort through.

There then followed the short, glorious reign of the mini-disc. I loved the format. The editing facilities were worth the price of admission alone. You could play around with the running order and insert or remove tracks from the middle of the disc, all this and there was no tape to twist, stretch or snap. They were brilliant - and tailor made for the pedantic compilation maker like myself! The mini-disc, however, was quickly superseded by the CDR and, in the blink of an eye, by anonymous files on a computer.

I liked the idea of a snapshot of time - be it a 60 minute cassette or 70 minute mini-disc/CDR - and when I physically stopped 'creating' compilations in favour of dropping MP3's into a monthly file on my computer I found that, a) I would sometimes end up with 50, 60 or 70+ tunes and b)...I'd never listen to them! So a couple of years ago I started making little 8Track playlists online. Around 30 minutes of music that I'm currently grooving to - perfect. Back to my original premise, a simple audio diary. (And to Mrs S's delight, they take up no physical room in the house!)

I've been a bit lax lately, but I'm going to get back in the habit of putting together and posting the occasional 8Track playlist. There are around 35 earlier compilations here if you ever find yourself in need of half an hour's worth of aural distraction. Maybe one day, if I'm able to figure out the technology involved, I'll digitize and post a few of the really old tapes.

(While we're on the subject, you should also check out Singing Bear's regularly updated and always fascinating Grooveshark playlist over at Grown Up Backwards.)

I'm a Heavier Dude Than I Used To Be from swede on 8tracks Radio.

Moon Duo - I Can See 

Rasha - Azara Alhai 

Stealing Sheep - Rearrange 

Billy Bragg - Old Clash Fan Fight Song 

Gregory Isaacs - Ba Da 

Cheek Mountain Thief - Showdown 

This is the Kit - Sleeping Bag (The Resident Cards) 

Pete Seeger & Lorre Wyatt - Fields of Harmony

Everything's Getting Older

Everything's Getting Older from swede on 8tracks Radio.

Animal Collective - Honeycomb

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Because of Your Eyes
Here We Go Magic - How Do I Know?
Xodus - English Black Boys
Jagwar Ma - Come Save Me
Lower Dens - Alphabet Song
Graham Coxon - Ooh, Yeh Yeh
Bill Wells & Aiden Moffat - The Copper Top

Stay Hip (Or Die Trying)

The Soul Saints Orchestra - Bag of Soul
The Whitefield Brothers - The Bastard
The Budos Band - Adeniji
Calypso King & the Soul Investigators - Struggling My Way
The Fantastics - Stay Hip (Or Die Trying)
JD & the Evil's Dynamite Band - My Beach, My Waves, Fuck Off!
The Four Instants - Discotheque
The Mighty Show-Stoppers - Hippy Skippy Moon Strut

Satisfied Minds, Clean Hearts and Clean Tongues

Sweet Baboo - Bounce

Bonnie Prince Billy - Quail and Dumplings

Wooden Shjips - Flight

Four Tet - Locked

Clock Opera - Lesson No.7

JD & the Evil's Dynamite Band - Beer (So Nice) Right On

Tom Waits - Get Lost

Real Estate - All the Same

Lost In the Crowd

Woods - Find Them Empty
Bonnie Prince Billy - Mother Nature Kneels
Little Dragon - Ritual Union
Fusioon - No Hay Habitacion
Randy & the Radiants - My Way of Thinking
Juana Molina Vs Kasai Allstars - Hoy Supe Que Viajas
Lieutenant Pigeon - Opus 300
Part Chimp - You Decide

Splitting Words Like Hairs

Nonloc - My Song Before the Gates

Clock Opera - Belongings

William D. Drake - Wholly Holy

The Sea and Cake - Lyric

The Nightingales - Little Lambs

Phoenix - Long Distance Call (Sebastian Tellier Mix)

The Lovely Sparrows - Chemicals Change

Clark Hutchinson - Improvisation On a Modal Scale