Wishing You Were Weird
For over ten years now we've been doing a mix tape or compilation CD for inclusion with our Christmas cards, and the 2002 edition is out. A few of the recipients are appreciative, but mostly we do it because it's so fun to have a time capsule of how our tastes have changed over the years.
This year's title is in reference to a famous Austin bumper sticker.
If you're a friend, family member or regular discussion participant in this blog (hint, hint) who we've somehow neglected to foist this thing off on, drop me your snail-mail address and I'll send you a copy. And if you've already got it and are wondering "What the hell?!", here are the extended liner notes.
| Wishing You Were Weird | | Stuff we've been listening to in 2002 |
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| The Meat Purveyors | 1 | Hey Little Sister
Consider this a reply to the "Cowboy's Sweetheart" below |
| Patsy Montana | 2 | Cowboy's Sweetheart* |
| The Gourds | 3 | My Name is Jorge
"I sold me an apple to Wm. S. Burroughs/He shot up his dope, his winesap, his girl" |
| The Sunshine Boys | 4 | What's the Matter With Deep Ellum*
Dallas's toughest strip is too slow for this hombre |
| The Horsies | 5 | Noam Chomsky
An Austin nerdbeat tribute to the patron saint of pinko conspiracy theory |
| Grupo Fantasma | 6 | Tejanita
The Austin-Monterrey cumbia axis at work |
| Moreno Veloso + 2 | 7 | Assim
Caetano Veloso's son has his daddy's voice |
| Mychael Danna | 8 | Baraat**
Studio re-creation of an Indian brass band, sounding a bit klezmer if you ask me |
| They Might Be Giants | 9 | Older
"Entropy/Is crawling all over me" |
| The Meat Purveyors | 10 | Thinking About Drinking |
| The Tune Wranglers | 11 | El Rancho Grande*
Texas swing in ranch-hand Spanglish, with a bit of racist Orientalism at the end |
| Trio Mocotó | 12 | Águas de Março
I had no idea that anyone could play the cuica as a melody instrument!
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| Erik Hokkanen | 13 | Mosquito's Blues
The bumblebee has nothing on this mosquito |
| Abhijeet & Anuradha Shriram | 14 | Chunari Chunari**
All Indians secretly wish they were Punjabi, at least on their wedding day |
| The Skatalites | 15 | Confucius
Another classic ska tune from the inventors of the genre |
| They Might Be Giants | 16 | Robot Parade
From their children's CD No! -- but how does it differ from their grown-up albums? |
| Oranj Symphonette | 17 | Baby Elephant Gunn
Dave Brubeck's son and friends do a transgenic treatment of two Mancini tunes |
| The Ramones | 18 | Blitzkrieg Bop
Chosen not as a nod to Joey Ramone but to the Jimmy Neutron soundtrack |
| David Nadien | 19 | Gavotte (F.J. Gossec, composer)
One of the more memorable songs from the Suzuki violin book |
| Bob Wills | 20 | Roly Poly
What would they have said about a daughter who ate like that? |
| Hot Club of Cowtown | 21 | You Can't Break My Heart
Western Swing musicians now grow up in conservatories, not on ranches |
| Norah Jones | 22 | Cold Cold Heart
Ravi Shankar's love child strikes again |
| Moreno Veloso + 2 | 23 | I'm Wishing
Brazilian soul revives an old Disney tune |
| Fink | 24 | Autobahn
Punkgrass meets Kraftwerk |
| Señor Coconut | 25 | Homecomputer (Merengue)
Kraftwerk again, this time a la Sudamérica |
| Le Tigre | 26 | Get Off the Internet
Something tells me these riot grrls wouldn't approve of my blog |
* From the Proper Records box set "Doughboys, Playboys and Cowboys"
**From the "Monsoon Wedding" soundtrack
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