Archive for May, 2008

Mix tape sprint

Posted May 15, 2008
Filed under: music | Tags: , ,
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I was forced to endure an absurd presentation skills training earlier this week as part of my required duties. I could go on and on about how idiotic this class is, but one good thing did come of it. For the first morning, we were supposed to have done some pre-work notes on a topic of our choosing. I came to the class unprepared, and was given 20 minutes to put together a 4 minute presentation to be given to the class. I spent the first 5 minutes deciding on a topic and the last 15 minutes trashing the curriculum rubric and instead writing the piece word for word. I told the instructor that I haven’t held a pen since grade school and I’m not about to start again now, fired up my laptop, and hammered this out:

Introduction

Today we’re going to talk about the crowning ritual of modern man: the romantic mix tape. By the end of this presentation, you will have learned how to produce a mix tape that is both a work of art in and of itself, and an effective tool for attracting your targetted love interest.

Point 1: Diversity

The first essential element of a good mix tape is diversity. Do not use more than one song from the same band. Do not use songs that are all from the same style of music. And do NOT use nothing but slow, sappy songs. As Darwin would say, diversity is the lynchpin of success. And so it is with mix tape. By focusing on diversity, you are indicating to your recipient that you possess both taste and breadth. And having good and far-reaching taste is a signal of your own evolutionary fitness!

Point 2: Connection

The second point is that you must make a connection with your mix tape. Music is ultimately communication, and the mix tape is the vessel. The songs you choose aren’t all about you. You’ll want to have one or two selections specifically chosen because you already know she’ll be delighted by it. And the best way to research the music she already likes is internet stalking.

Point 3: Composition

The third and final point to consider is composition. This is where the art comes in. Your mix tape should have a theme and a narrative arc that connects the sound and the words in a way that says a message. And the message is I’m gaga for you. Make sure your mix isn’t too top heavy — long songs should be saved for the end, so as not to interrupt attention and flow. And the segues from song to song should make sense, both lyrically and sonically. Put some effort into the presentation. You worked hard your mix tape, and the art and typography should reflect that level of care.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I hope I have pointed out some mix tape best practices. Make no mistake, the mix tape is a tricky game. But if you build it with an eye on diversity, connection, and composition, you will not fail in your task.

All those UIL extemporaneous speaking exercises came back to me in a flash, and I was able to churn this out in 15 minutes. I’m mighty proud of this! This is blog-ready copy right here, and I didn’t even cheat and clean it up!

I pretty much said “fuck this, I’m leaving” to the presentation class after that.

That old timey sound

Posted May 4, 2008
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Megafaun

Allow me to announce my first surefire top ten album of 2008, before ever announcing my favorites of 2007, and before even finishing my SXSW blog about discovering this band in the first place.

The band is Megafaun and the album is Bury the Square.

First let me just say, the degree to which the phrase 'old timey' is dissected on urban dictionary is adorable. And familiar. I especially like the exposition on the relative old-timeyness of facial hair configurations, and the compare and contrast between the distantly related concept of retro chic. One wonders how long you could explore the usage and shades of meaning of the phrase 'old timey' as the sole thesis of a serious grad school paper. But I digress.

Megafaun are an Akron/Family sister band, and themselves an offshoot of another interrelated project. I didn't know they existed until their performance on the tremendous Table of the Elements showcase at SXSW 2008. They moved me to tears with their plaintive set, full of wistful harmonizing. Now whenever I listen to their album, the memory of that emotion is pricked. And I've been listening to it frequently ever since.

I use the phrase old timey here loosely, and with apologies to the wordanistas over at the urban dictionary. It may not be a proper description of Megafaun in the specific musical genre sense, especially since the free-form, electrified bliss outs at the end of a couple of their songs have nothing old timey about them. But it does capture the mood of this and the Calexico/Iron & Wine song I blogged about just the other day. It is a direct descendant of vintage rural folk, and it evokes all the predictable imagery of and nostalgia for sepia-toned times predating my own.

I have an intense love for banjo and pedal steel, and will go to such great lengths to hear it as listening to country and bluegrass, when bands of those styles accidentally end up on stages I happen to be sitting near at the time. Megafaun has a song called Drains that features both, the tune of which has been on my tongue for some several weeks now. The blend of voices on this track so rich and resonant that it sinks into the throat and settles there, until the fullness of sound forces you to crack lips and sing along.

I do love Drains, but after debating it with myself for the amount of time I've been writing this post, I have decided to share the obvious standout track instead: Where We Belong. It is epic in every sense of the word: length, range, and majesty. It catapults out of the acoustic into a stormy, clipped electric climax, and back down to a fiddle led denouement sweeter than the best moments from the Dirty Three.

These Akron-cetera boys can do no wrong by me. It makes me want to buy up every volume of every related project out to six degrees of separation, in a mad fit of completionist abandon.

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