Max Rambles Mix Tape Vol. 3

So it's been a while since I've posted a mixtape, and since I moved to Halifax I've been listening to a lot of great new music. With that in mind I threw together a quick mix of mostly new things, though Josh Ritter and Futurebirds have shown up at least once before. This one's a shorter playlist than usual, not quite EP brevity but certainly not the length of an LP.

Anyway, enjoy! Click Here and scroll to the bottom of the page to download the mix. Here's the tracklist:

Day One - Sarah Slean
I See A Fox Drinking Wine Outside A Bar In France - Pat LePoidevin
Snow is Gone - Josh Ritter
Never Satisfied (Revisited) - Jackie Greene
Teen for God - Dar Williams
My Skateboard Will Go On - Anamanaguchi
Years (By One Thousand Fingertips) - Attack in Black
The Late King Henry - The Wooden Sky
APO - Futurebirds
The Gardner - The Tallest Man On Earth

The Max Rambles Mixtape Vol. 1

I love playlists. They're great for road trips and bike rides, and a ton of fun to make. As High Fidelity taught us, there's a subtle artistry to creating the perfect melange of tunes and it requires that you listen to a lot good music. What's not to like? A friend and blogosphere compatriot recently posted an excellent mixtape and it made me think, "Why not do the same on my blog?"

So with that in mind I present to you the Max Rambles Mixtape Vol. 1, a collection of things I've been listening to lately and that seemed to fit together nicely. The track list is as follows:

Analogue - Tim Gilbertson

Devils & Dust - Bruce Springsteen

Wicked and Weird - Buck 65

Change of Time - Josh Ritter

The Dress Song - Jack Marks

Chasing Heather Crazy - Guided By Voices

Random Rules - Silver Jews

New Drink For The Old Drunk - Crooked Fingers

Far Away - José González

What Are You Willing To Lose? - Lucero

Small Definition - Superchunk

Shadow People - Dr. Dog

Toronto - Matty Powell

Road Regrets - Dan Mangan

Visit RapidShare to download the mix (click on the "free user" button under the speedometer on the right and wait about a minute then click on the download link). I don't promise that there will be more of this kind of thing, though it does seem probable. For more awesome tunes check out the aforementioned murder tapes or visit Beyond The Wall of Sleep (I particularly liked their Alt Country Revisited mix). 

Enjoy and lemme know what you think or if you have any recommendations!

Josh Ritter

I mentioned a while back that I really like Josh Ritter. His new album came out last week, and I thought I'd take the opportunity to mention again how awesome he is.

Ritter's latest album, So Runs The World Away, was released internationally on May 4, 2010. It's available at any Starbucks location (apparently they sell some pretty solid CDs), and it's not half bad. Honestly I've only listened to it a few times so I haven't made up my mind about it yet. Ritter's albums usually take a few listens to really catch on, and so far I can only say I like this one. It seems to be getting generally positive reviews from credible sources so I'm sure I'll come around. Standout tracks include Change of Time, The Curse, and the cheesy but catchy Lantern.

I can, however, give a ringing endorsement of a few of his earlier records, Golden Age of Radio, The Animal Years, and The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter. On each of these albums Ritter's expert songwriting shines through on every song, with lyrics that are both instantly likable and profound upon deeper reflection. He particularly excels with ballads like The Last Temptation of Adam, the lyrics of which were the subject of an earlier post. Ritter covers a broad range of styles in his songs, ranging from the melodramatic to the densely literary to the barroom nostalgic. His sound is like a more pop, less surreal version of Bob Dyaln, both in terms of his vocals and country-folk roots. Golden Age in particular features a stripped down acoustic sound that's sure to please fans of singer-songwriters. On Animal Years and Historical Conquests Ritter expands upon this foundation with a full band in tow, giving him the room to really stretch out with his songs.

If you're a fan of good music then you owe it to yourself to at least check Ritter out. Some of my favourite tracks include Harrisburg, Song For The Fireflies, To The Dogs or Whoever, Wolves, and Lillian, Egypt. Below I'm embedding the video for Me & Jiggs, which is song that introduced me to Ritter. It clearly shows his singer-songwriter talent and pop sensibility, and is just a fantastic track. Give it a listen, and give him a shot.

Josh Ritter's "The Temptation of Adam"

I haven't done a post about a song (or poetry) in a good long while, but Josh Ritter's track, "The Temptation of Adam," has been on my mind a lot recently. I've discussed it with a few people and come up with some interesting and divergent close readings, so I want to explore the track here. I'll start by posting the song and lyrics before I get into the meat of my rant.