#9 Marks Mix Tape Mix

[Mark]

MARKS MIX TAPE MIX DOWNLOAD HERE

Here you go, 14 songs and an hours music for your listening pleasure, playlist included (just double click it)!

Each side contains 7 songs around a half hour long, enjoy!

[Daggers]

I liked Ride, I listened to them again the other week.

The rest I can pass on.

[Fez of Mahrez]

I haven't heard any of the songs in this CD before which is brilliant. Let's go...

Frightened Rabbit - The Modern Leper

These supported We Are Scientists recently but I didn't go in the end. They're also playing at Summer Sundae in Leicester this year. I enjoyed it. 8/10

Moving Mountains - Cover The Roots, Lower The Stems

I'm a bit concerned this is all going to be quiet-loud-quiet-quiet-loud epic post-rock. I enjoy stuff like this but a whole CD of it and you end up not knowing whether you enjoy it all or which is the best track etc. I enjoyed this too though. My only reference point for stuff like this is Godspeed! and Explosions In The Sky really and this reminded me of both of those in a way. 9/10

Algernon Cadwallader - Serial Killer Status

Hmm, this isn't for me. 5/10

The Mountain Goats - Color In Your Cheeks

Nor this. The last couple of tracks have just heightened my enjoyment of the Moving Mountains track in retrospect though which is a good thing. 4/10

Logh - The Smoke Will Lead You Home

Really enjoyed it. The combination of guitar and organ (?) is excellent. Can see Flynny loving this. Thought it was going to explode into life at some point but I'm glad it didn't as it would have been too predictable. 9/10

The Notwist - Consequence

Got a bit bored during this. One man's shimmering beauty (ooh I say) is another man's boring dullfest though. I can see why someone might enjoy it. 3/10

Alcest - Souvenirs d'un Autre Monde

Quite liked it but probably wouldn't listen to it again. I can only take this sort of thing in small doses, as amazing as it can sound, and I have a couple of bands for that already (and now possibly Moving Mountains too) 7/10

Sunset Rubdown - Mending of the Gown

Fantastic name for a band. Good intro too. Enjoyed it. 8/10

Ride - Vapour Trail

As a fan of The Brian Jonestown Massacre, BRMC and The Dandy Warhols, this lot and the JAMC were mentioned all the time to me as a kid. This could easily be a Brian Jonestown Massacre record. Not one of their more engaging ones though. 6/10

Maybeshewill - Not For Want of Trying

Loud, loud, quiet, loud instead? 5/10

Amusement Parks on Fire - Blackout

7/10

Lifetime - Young, Loud and Scotty

2/10

Carissa's Weird - The Piano Song

4/10

Envy - A Warm Room

Yikes. This started out as something I would enjoy and then morphed very quickly into something hellish. Nice! I'm going to listen to Brakes now. 1/10

[Mark]

Moving Mountains - Cover The Roots, Lower The Stems

I'm a bit concerned this is all going to be quiet-loud-quiet-quiet-loud epic post-rock. I enjoy stuff like this but a whole CD of it and you end up not knowing whether you enjoy it all or which is the best track etc. I enjoyed this too though. My only reference point for stuff like this is Godspeed! and Explosions In The Sky really and this reminded me of both of those in a way. 9/10

Agreed & I did try to avoid that Cheers for the review though, not too bad

[Chromophobia]

Vapour Trail is one of the best shoegaze songs ever! Much kudos your way.

[The People's Hero]

I don't think I've heard ANY of those tracks before.

Looking forwards to this one. A journey in to the unknown!

[hairy]

Cheers Mark. Got halfway through it and generally like it so far but have to question if the tracks are better in the context of their full album rather than a compilation.

Cant say I am big on Ride so I might skip that one.

[Flynny]

Logh - The Smoke Will Lead You Home

Really enjoyed it. The combination of guitar and organ (?) is excellent. Can see Flynny loving this. Thought it was going to explode into life at some point but I'm glad it didn't as it would have been too predictable. 9/10

I've got an album by these that I've never gotten around to listening to, but the word "organ" got my ears pricking up.

I might have to LFF's (which i said I'd do days ago) and then this before the others.

[Fez of Mahrez]

I've got an album by these that I've never gotten around to listening to, but the word "organ" got my ears pricking up.

I might have to LFF's (which i said I'd do days ago) and then this before the others.

Three dicks in one post, impressive.

[Flynny]

Three dicks in one post, impressive.

Sick disses.

[General Smuts]

Three dicks in one post, impressive.

I used to like you.

Im bullied so much i;ve had to change my name. I HOPE YOUR HAPPY!

[Mark]

[Joe.]

I shall hopefully get round to reviewing this tomorrow night Mark, I haven't forgotten about it don't worry.

[AoWW]

I think all these tracks are new to me, so I'm looking forward to hearing them. Not at all convinced this mix is gonna be my kind of thing but I'm hoping there will be the odd gem!

Frightened Rabbit – Quite enjoyed this. I liked the depth and multiple layers. Not a huge fan of his voice though. 6.5/10

Moving Mountains – Soaring rock epic qualities. I loved the more chilled out bits – will listen to this more, I'm sure, as it strikes me as the kind of track I would warm to. 8/10

Algernon Cadwall – what's with the shouting obsession? This brings out the teacher in me – I just wanna tell him to pipe down and sit nicely in the corner! Perhaps I shouldn't admit that! Erm, no, I'll pass thanks. 3/10

The Mountain Goats – Lyrics about travelling/lack of sleep/drinking will always catch my attention! I actually really liked this. Understated and stripped bare. Yeah, good. 8/10

Logh – intro of clangy guitars – I was predicting it to erupt but it never really went anywhere – not that that's necessarily a bad thing, I quite liked that in it. This reminds me of Porcupine Tree... dunno why, particularly, but there's something familiar about it. One to investigate further. 8/10

The Notwist – wow, a lovely track. I enjoyed his voice and the lyrics drew me in – I was happily floating along to this track. Fez dunno what he's on about! A blissed out 9/10

Alcest – Another track that built to too much overlapping noise for my taste. Perhaps I'm just not in the right mood for this at the moment. I loved the chilled out bits in between – they cringed when it got loud! 6/10

Sunset Rubdown – erm, dunno what to make of this, to be honest. I think it's just irritating me but I'm really not sure. Yep, the more I listen to is confirming 'irritating' for me. Unconvinced. 3/10

Ride – certainly nothing offensive about this but it somehow didn't draw me in – I found myself losing attention part way through. Will listen again though and give it another chance. 7/10

Maybeshewill – erm, no, not really my thing. 4/10

Amusement Parks On Fire – a genre I'm more comfortable with, I guess, but this didn't particularly inspire me. Nothing wrong with it at all. Just reminds me of what lots of other bands are doing. 6.5/10

Lifetime – noise and lots of it. No thanks... next.... 2/10

Carissa's Weird – wow, that's some change of pace! I almost missed this on first listen as I'd kinda tuned out but this is actually quite pretty. Subtle, understated. Not the sort of thing I'd usually listen to and I don't quite see where it'd fit but pleasant. 6.5/10

Envy – I was, indeed, quite happily dozing away – starting to get quite into it – right up until the 3 minute mark where I was like, wtf? Gutted! Didn't work for me at all then. 2/10

Overall – in many ways this mix has thrown me. Yes, there was lots that wasn't my thing but there were also a few tracks that really worked for me. Highs: The Notwist, Logh, Moving Mountains and possibly The Mountain Goats (though I sense it might have just been that track that appealed). Lows: Envy and Lifetime, in particular. It's opened my eyes to some different styles that I should probably explore more. As is often the case, though, it's putting in the time/effort to break away from a comfort zone that's the tricky thing.

Mark, if you've any other suggestions based on/around the stuff I did like do let me know! Thanks.

[Mark]

I think all these tracks are new to me, so I'm looking forward to hearing them. Not at all convinced this mix is gonna be my kind of thing but I'm hoping there will be the odd gem!

Frightened Rabbit – Quite enjoyed this. I liked the depth and multiple layers. Not a huge fan of his voice though. 6.5/10

Moving Mountains – Soaring rock epic qualities. I loved the more chilled out bits – will listen to this more, I'm sure, as it strikes me as the kind of track I would warm to. 8/10

Algernon Cadwall – what's with the shouting obsession? This brings out the teacher in me – I just wanna tell him to pipe down and sit nicely in the corner! Perhaps I shouldn't admit that! Erm, no, I'll pass thanks. 3/10

The Mountain Goats – Lyrics about travelling/lack of sleep/drinking will always catch my attention! I actually really liked this. Understated and stripped bare. Yeah, good. 8/10

Logh – intro of clangy guitars – I was predicting it to erupt but it never really went anywhere – not that that's necessarily a bad thing, I quite liked that in it. This reminds me of Porcupine Tree... dunno why, particularly, but there's something familiar about it. One to investigate further. 8/10

The Notwist – wow, a lovely track. I enjoyed his voice and the lyrics drew me in – I was happily floating along to this track. Fez dunno what he's on about! A blissed out 9/10

Alcest – Another track that built to too much overlapping noise for my taste. Perhaps I'm just not in the right mood for this at the moment. I loved the chilled out bits in between – they cringed when it got loud! 6/10

Sunset Rubdown – erm, dunno what to make of this, to be honest. I think it's just irritating me but I'm really not sure. Yep, the more I listen to is confirming 'irritating' for me. Unconvinced. 3/10

Ride – certainly nothing offensive about this but it somehow didn't draw me in – I found myself losing attention part way through. Will listen again though and give it another chance. 7/10

Maybeshewill – erm, no, not really my thing. 4/10

Amusement Parks On Fire – a genre I'm more comfortable with, I guess, but this didn't particularly inspire me. Nothing wrong with it at all. Just reminds me of what lots of other bands are doing. 6.5/10

Lifetime – noise and lots of it. No thanks... next.... 2/10

Carissa's Weird – wow, that's some change of pace! I almost missed this on first listen as I'd kinda tuned out but this is actually quite pretty. Subtle, understated. Not the sort of thing I'd usually listen to and I don't quite see where it'd fit but pleasant. 6.5/10

Envy – I was, indeed, quite happily dozing away – starting to get quite into it – right up until the 3 minute mark where I was like, wtf? Gutted! Didn't work for me at all then. 2/10

Overall – in many ways this mix has thrown me. Yes, there was lots that wasn't my thing but there were also a few tracks that really worked for me. Highs: The Notwist, Logh, Moving Mountains and possibly The Mountain Goats (though I sense it might have just been that track that appealed). Lows: Envy and Lifetime, in particular. It's opened my eyes to some different styles that I should probably explore more. As is often the case, though, it's putting in the time/effort to break away from a comfort zone that's the tricky thing.

Mark, if you've any other suggestions based on/around the stuff I did like do let me know! Thanks.

Thanks for the review, I didn't think anymore were coming!

I tried to make it a mix of most genres of music I'm into right now (which aren't exactly love on first listen either) instead of it all flowing along the same kinda thing, although I still think it does in a way

The Mountain Goats have no end of albums you should definitely check them out, I'd recommend that album that song was off All Hail West Texas as it has that lofi tape recorded effect that sounds so raw and brilliant to me.

Moving Mountains album Pneuma is highly recommended if you liked that track, it's amazing and unlike anything else

Ah well if you liked Logh, you can't really go wrong with their album North.

I didn't expect anyone to like the Envy track due to the screaming in the middle of the song but the spoken lyrics and music afterwards seemed good to end with.

[AoWW]

Thanks for the review, I didn't think anymore were coming!

I tried to make it a mix of most genres of music I'm into right now (which aren't exactly love on first listen either) instead of it all flowing along the same kinda thing, although I still think it does in a way

The Mountain Goats have no end of albums you should definitely check them out, I'd recommend that album that song was off All Hail West Texas as it has that lofi tape recorded effect that sounds so raw and brilliant to me.

Moving Mountains album Pneuma is highly recommended if you liked that track, it's amazing and unlike anything else

Ah well if you liked Logh, you can't really go wrong with their album North.

I didn't expect anyone to like the Envy track due to the screaming in the middle of the song but the spoken lyrics and music afterwards seemed good to end with.

Thanks for the suggestions - I'll check them out.

[shen]

Thanks for the review, I didn't think anymore were coming!

I will definitely review this and the others I haven't managed to do yet. It takes a bit of time what with listening to 70-80 minutes of music and writing a couple of pages to boot, so they'll trickle in once I find the time.

Oh and thanks for recommending Coheed & Cambria way back. Eventually went to a concert a few days ago, was a great night out

[Benji]

Not got the most amount of time on my hands at the minute but i'll listen to this anyway after past recommendations you've given.

The Modern Leaper:

Loved it, Started out like Nizlopi with that JCB song but thankfully moved away a bit, just the type of music i'm into at the minute 9/10

Cover the Roots:

Didn't like this at all 3/10

Serial Killer Status:

Is this someone's side band? Swear i recognise his voice... Dashboard? Shame about the squeeky screams, pretty good overall 5/10

Colour in Your Cheeks:

Strange but fun, kind of sounds as though he doesn't want to sing/tireless. Not quite sure if I like it or not to be honest, good pace and nice guitar work... yes, yes i like it 7/10

The Smoke Will lead you Home:

Slow, again type of song i'm into at the moment. Southing voice, simple and effective bit like British Sea Power and definately listenable 8/10

Consequence:

Had the Notwist album recommended to me a couple of years ago and this song stuck out far and beyond the rest. Fantastic! The amount of times I'd come home from College and bang this song on to relax, great memories 9/10

Souvenirs:

Took a long time to start, but once it did it was like a mini-explosion which was strange for his voice. Quite eery but something I could sit and have on in the background while i work etc 7/10

Mending of the Gown:

Completely different to anything else on the mix so far, uplifting and pretty cool, can't understand what the hell he is saying though... oh wait Barrel go up and down hehe. Quite like it, makes me smile 8/10

Vapour Trail:

Not a fan of the gormless voice, bit like Stone Roses where they can't open their mouths or have lock jaw, ok song tune though 5/10

Not For Want of Trying:

hahaha this is more like what i expected from you mark, well the start anyway, NOISE. Not my type of thing though, 3/10

Blackout:

Pretty good but a bit like a lot that's out there at the minute, enjoy the chorus good rhythm to it and the pace of the song is great throught. 6/10

Young Loud and Scotty:

1/10

Piano Song:

Like the Album art Brilliant tune although wasn't expecting the singing to come in when it did, pleasantly surprising 8/10

A Warm Room:

Oh my, what a change from the start to the finish, one minute i feel like i'm in a French Commercial, the next an underground garage rave. I'll give it a 7/10 for that alone!

Enjoyed the mix, LOVED the first song will definitely be playing that again!

[Trav Le Bleu]

My first review!

Review of Mark’s Mix Tape

The Modern Leper – Frightened Rabbit

There’s a little bit of Arcade Fire in there isn’t there? Liked this a lot – will be added to my collection!

Cover The Roots, Lower the Stems – Moving Mountains

Almost post-rock, almost emo – sort of Biffy Emperor if you like. Not sure about this, could be a grower. Overtones of Bloc Party too.

Serial Killer Status – Algernon Cadwaller

Great name! But then Racecar Is Racecar Backwards is also a great name and like Racecar Is Racecar Backwards, they sound like any of dozens of bands I’ve heard playing support at The Charlotte.

Colour In Your Cheeks – The Mountain Goats

Very raw, very street – yeah, I could listen to that a few times through.

The Smoke Will Lead You Home - Logh

Isn’t Logh a Celtic deity? Enjoyed immensely, as I was very much a shoe-gazer back in the late 80s to early 90s. More power to the effects pedal! I would like to hear more of their stuff!

Consequence – The Notwist

Nice, clean, but complex melodies and a good voice. Reminds me of Aqualung (look out for some of that on my music). Refreshingly mellow, like a lager and lime on a hot day!

Souvenirs D’un Autre Monde – Alcest

Is Alcest French for Ride? Cos it is a remarkably similar sound! As I said before – huge shoe-gazer here and the French language suits this kind of music amazingly well. I shall look further into this one.

The Mending of the Gown – Sunset Rubdown

There’s that large band Arcade Fire sound again, but I don’t know about these. Could be a grower. Trouble is with bands that “sound like”, although you like the orignal band, the reason you like them is cos they are different and when someone the same comes along…

Vapour Trail – Ride

Did I mention I was a shoe-gazer? Saw Ride at DM Hall many moons ago… they are fantastic and this is one of their best songs. Love it! Ethereal. :thumbsup:

Not For Want Of Trying – Maybeshewill

Wow! Where did you dig this up from? That was grrrrrrrrrrrrrreat! I can imagine that being used in a Danny Boyle film during the final “all-hell-breaks-lose” scene. Powerful, emotive and driven.

Blackout – Amusement Parks On Fire

A few months back I heard this band on Radio 1 late one night and thought, “need to look into this band”, but then I went to bed and forgot all about them. Thanks Mark – I love you and I want to have your babies!!! In case anyone missed it, I used to be… well it turns out I still am. Who’d have thunk!?!

Loud, Young and Scotty - Lifetime

No, don’t like. Hate the drumming in this. Thumbs down. Not keen on neo-punk at the best of times anyway. Mark… I’m aborting our baby!

The Piano Song – Carissa’s Weird

Nice, but short and substanceless (apparently Word spellcheck is telling me there is no such word, but language evolves right?) Bit of a filler track. Can’t really tell if I like or not from that.

A Warm Room – Envy

He’s very angry about something isn’t he? Not sure what though, cos I can’t understand a word he’s saying. Calm down chap, you’ll burst a blood vessel! Shoe-gazing gets angry when it was never designed to. Not for me please… TAXI!!!

On the whole some nice stuff and I really enjoyed listening through. Some I'll be adding to the ridiculously large "Trav's List" on WMP, some not. Thanks Mark!

[Mark]

Benji and Trav.

You can't understand Envy cause it's in Japanese

And yeah I gather now that the Lifetime song was a bit out of place!

Maybeshewill are a local band by the way 'I WANT YOU TO GET MAD!'

[Joe.]

Sorry for the lateness Mark.

1. Frightened Rabbit- The Modern Leper

Well when I first heard the singers voice I thought I was going to be in for a painful song. But when it got into it it became much better and turned into a decent song. 7/10

2. Moving Mountains- Cover the Roots, Lower the Stems

Well I didn't really take to this one too much, was a bit too samey throughout and also a bit long. However it wasn't that bad, just a little dull at times. 6/10

3. Algernon Cadwallader- Serial Killer Status

It just didn't keep my attention again like the previous one. But from what I did listen to it was Ok, nothing too great. 5/10

4. The Mountain Goats- Colour In Your Cheeks

Not bad this, short and sweet. Not a great deal to the song itself but it's lack of length made it quite listenable! 6/10

5. Logh- The Smoke Will Lead You Home

Didn't like this one, sorry. Just not enough to keep me listening. 4/10

6. The Notwist- Consequence

I think this would be a good song to listen to at night, it's definitely relaxing. 6/10

7. Alcest- Souvenirs D'un Autre Monde

Just didn't like this one either, far too long for what it is. 4/10

8. Sunset Rubdown- Mending Of the Gown

One of the better tracks on the album I think, I thought it was pretty decent. 6.5/10

9. Ride- Vapour Trail

Not bad really, not generally what I'd listen to normally but none of this is really. 5.5/10

10. Maybeshewill- Not For Want Of Trying

Can't be accused of not keeping the attention over here, decent track. 5.5/10

11. Amusement Parks On Fire- Blackout

Going back to this I didn't even realise it was playing. That can't be good.... 4/10

12. Lifetime- Young, Loud and Scotty

Sounds too punky and well....shit for me. Glad it was over quickly. 2/10

13. Carissa's Weird- The Piano Song

Well it's certainly exactly what it says on the tin! Personally I'm not a big fan of piano instrumentals so I didn't particularly enjoy this one. 3/10

14. Envy- A Warm Room

Ergh no. Just hated this one if I'm honest, sorry Mark! The screaming just isn't me unfortunately. 0/10

[IloveSOHOFOX]

I cant tell as I have no working speakers, but do like to listen to something by random - one day.

However scrolling through, was a bit concerned with Gen Smits hairdo.

Another one for the music pending files.

(I loVe you Georgie x).

[AoWW]

I cant tell as I have no working speakers, but do like to listen to something by random - one day.

However scrolling through, was a bit concerned with Gen Smits hairdo.

Another one for the music pending files.

(I loVe you Georgie x).

Awww, Mark - you've got a fan.

[shen]

I will definitely review this and the others I haven't managed to do yet. It takes a bit of time what with listening to 70-80 minutes of music and writing a couple of pages to boot, so they'll trickle in once I find the time.

Oh and thanks for recommending Coheed & Cambria way back. Eventually went to a concert a few days ago, was a great night out

I said I’d review this! So here we go:

1. Frightened Rabbit - The Modern Leper

Decent start. The off-beat rhythm makes it a bit more interesting. I’m not convinced though, and the vocals didn’t do it for me

2. Moving Mountains - Cover the Roots, Lower the Stems

Doesn’t warrant 5 minutes. Found it a bit boring, but it wasn’t bad as such. There are elements in there that resemble the stuff I like, but the vocals are a great let down.

3. Algernon Cadwallader - Serial Killer Status

What the…? eurgh, no. Those vocals ruin everything. Not that the music itself was anything out of the ordinary anyway. Lord almighty though..

4. The Mountain Goats - Colour In Your Cheeks

I don’t get this “let’s be smart and make it sound like we’re amateurs by giving it a poor-production sound” (unless they actually are amateurs that didn’t have the means, in which case it wasn’t meant to sound like that). That aside, a quite upbeat song that keeps it very simple.

5. Logh - The Smoke Will Lead You Home

Hmm, like the melancholic atmospheric sound, but it really is dull and too minimalist… Unlike AoWW, it didn't remind of Porcupine Tree whatsoever!

6. The Notwist - Consequence

Accessible, mellow, soothing. It’s somewhat interesting, but still fails to ignite anything. The last 1½ repetitive minutes could easily have been cut off without the song losing anything…

7. Alcest - Souvenirs D'un Autre Monde

I think this is a bit better than the previous track. It’s a potential grower. And refreshing to listen to a French song as well. I’ve heard a fair bit of French mainstream music during my time in Belgium, and you never ever heard anything like this. Having said that, it sounds quite a bit like Air with guitars, so…

8. Sunset Rubdown - Mending Of the Gown

Nuts! This is a bit too much off-the-wall for me. It’s strangely intriguing though, and discomforting at the same time. It’s not bad at all though, and by far the most original of all the tracks so far.

9. Ride - Vapour Trail

Uninteresting. Again though, the music has a certain standard, but then I wouldn’t expect any less from you. Not for me though.

10. Maybeshewill - Not For Want Of Trying

This comes well out of the blue!! Ain’t bad at all, but maybe I’m just taken aback by a song with metal elements. I’ll have a few more listens of this after listening to the rest. Interesting without being spectacular…

11. Amusement Parks On Fire - Blackout

Apart from the time signature ( 7/4 ?), this sounds a bit ordinary in it’s sound. But it’s still of higher quality than you’d usually get in this genre. Decent effort.

12. Lifetime - Young, Loud and Scotty

Ecco the other sentiments on this: Shit.

13. Carissa's Weird - The Piano Song

Beautiful. I like this! So serene and well-paced.

14. Envy - A Warm Room

The song reminds me A LOT of Oceansizes “Only Twin” actually... apart from the ridiculous screaming starting halfway. Why oh why? I don’t get the screaming, I really don’t…

Verdict: My hopes for this one were quite high, but unfortunately it didn’t live up to my expectations. There are only 2-3 tracks I’ll want to listen to again (7, 10 and 13). A few of the others had some promise but just failed to deliver. It shows you know good music though, even though I’m baffled at some of the choices It wasn’t time wasted in any way though, thanks for the effort!

[SOCCERROO FOX]

The Notwist- Consequence

What a chilled out track, i'm currently seeking out more of there tunes