Mix-Tape Review Series: Compilation

Photo courtesy of CyclesWithinLayers
COMPILATION (1990)
Memorex dBS 90 minute tape

Side A:
Pink Floyd - "Wish You Were Here"
The Jimi Hendrix Experience - "1983...(A Merman I Should Turn To Be)"
Led Zeppelin - "In My Time of Dying"
The Beatles - "Getting Better"
The Beatles - "Something"
Donovan - "Hurdy Gurdy Man"
Grateful Dead - Rosemary"
Simon and Garfunkel - "Sound of Silence"

Side B:
The Beatles - "I'm Looking Through You"
XTC - "Making Plans For Nigel"
Blondie - "Accidents Will Happen"
Echo and The Bunnymen - "Rescue"
Modern English - "I Melt With You"
The Cure - "Close To Me"
Game Theory - "Erica's Word"
Jane's Addiction - "Summertime"
The Replacements - "Answering Machine"
Husker Du - "Whatever"
R.E.M. - "We Walk"
Bad Brains - "I Against I"

This post kicks off a series of mix-tape reviews. I will subject a series of long-lost cultural artifacts to some long-overdue critical scrutiny and reassessment, rightfully restoring their place in the pantheon of cutting-edge artistry and, in the process, providing a template for aspiring selectors and DJs worldwide.

In 1990, the Pacific Northwest, specifically Bellingham, WA, was at the crossroads of several musical trends, though these forces were not mutually exclusive. A Sixties revival was underway, propelled by nostalgic baby boomers at Rolling Stone and other still-influential rags who were itching to revive vintage Dylan and Stones. The fertile Eighties American underground had assumed its position as a cultural vanguard via college radio, DIY touring circuits and indie labels such as Touch and Go, SST, and Sub Pop. In addition, the compiler of the first mix-tape in this series, appropriately entitled Compilation, was in the midst of his own wave of nostalgia. In addition to dreaming of Woodstock and Haight-Ashbury, he longed for the British synth-pop, mopey post-punk and other New Wave period pieces of his childhood.

These three cultural threads converge in the kitchen-sink, eclectic flow on Compilation. Side A opens with Pink Floyd's slowly building, lengthy tribute to former band mate Syd Barrett, "Wish You Were Here", not exactly a standard opener to grab the listener's attention. If there was any doubt that this would be no ordinary mix, the next track ups the ante with Jimi Hendrix's sprawling acid-trip re-creation, "1983...". The compiler clearly decided that his tape would be a deeply personal one, refusing to pander to listeners' preconceived notions of reasonable song length or structure. Instead, he would cater to that segment of the population who feel groovy and deep while sitting their dorm-rooms at institutions such as The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA at 11pm, digging on Jimi by candlelight and feeling vaguely radical. Continuing the increasing-song-length motif, track # 3 is Led Zeppelin's 11-minute electric blues slide-guitar workout "In My Time of Dying" from that most epic of epic '70s rock double-albums, Physical Graffiti. Clearly the compiler was a trailblazer in jettisoning bourgeoisie notions of the pop song, much like Dylan when he shattered the 3-minute-ceiling for songs on the radio when "Like a Rolling Stone" clocked in at over 5 minutes.

Next up are two songs from late-period Beatles, "Getting Better" and "Somewhere". The two tracks were obviously chosen to follow an 11-minute blast of Led Zeppelin because The Beatles, like Zeppelin, were a) from England and b) got their start the 1960s. After the heavy subject matter and intensity of the opening three opuses, what a relief it is to hear a ditty about always looking on the bright side of life from Paul and a gorgeous, languid love song from George - just what the doctor ordered.

In keeping with the Sixties British artist theme, "Something" is followed by Donovan's "Hurdy Gurdy Man". Perhaps the compiler chose this hippy-dippy anthem in an attempt to point out the classic rock/American underground link, since the Butthole Surfers (sadly not represented on this particular collection) did a mocking cover version of the song the same year Compilation was released. After peaking with Hendrix earlier, Donovan's psychedelic-lite is a soothing balm. Speaking of psychedelia, the Grateful Dead captured the compiler's heart during the summer of '90, via his Deadhead girlfriend. "Rosemary" is a trippy little ditty with appropriately groovy distorted vocals from Jerry, presaging Gibby Haynes' "Gibbytronix" vocal treatments with Butthole Surfers 15 years later. To close out Side 1, we have a cut that is something of a '60's anthem, by an iconic '60's duo: Simon and Garfunkel's "Sound of Silence". Even without yet having seen The Graduate , the creator instinctively knew the song spoke to that generation of which he, at the time, dearly wished he were a part.

Side 2 opens with yet another Beatles tune, "I'm Looking Through You." Though this Rubber Soul track is undoubtedly a gem, it feels like an afterthought with regards to the rest of the second side. The remainder of the compilation is comprised of the other two aforementioned threads: '80s New Wave and the American undergound. XTC's "Making Plans For Nigel" sounds as fresh today as it did to Compilation's creator in 1990 and undoubtedly did upon the song's initial release in 1979. To someone who associated Blondie with their crossover smash hits during his childhood ("Heart of Glass", "Rapture"), the compiler was thrilled to discover the band's more straight-ahead New Wave pop on the Parallel Lines and Eat To The Beat LPs, as exemplified by "Accidents Never Happen". Next up is the anthemic "Rescue" by Echo and The Bunnymen, who the compiler considered one of the coolest British bands of the '80s (their Songs To Learn and Sing collection, a tape of which was purchased at the Bellevue Square Cellophane Square branch, was seminal in the development of his music taste). Next up is THE '80s anthem for all time, Modern English's "I Melt With You", which made the creator swoon before he'd even seen Valley Girl and before the evil Burger King ad campaign desecrated the song for a period of time. The Cure's breakthrough hit, the bouncy, hand-clapping "Close to Me", closes out a potent triple-shot of classic post-punk singalongs

At this point the mix shifts to American college radio staples. Game Theory were an obscure and literate power-pop band from Northern California that were critical darlings and commercial zeroes. "Erica's Word" is a timeless and insanely catchy, slightly melancholy track that somehow fits after The Cure. Jane's Addiction's "Summertime Rolls", on the other hand, is a dubious follow-up track. The compiler must have fallen under the widespread notion during the late '80/early '90s that Jane's Addiction were deeper, more important, and more classic than, in retrospect, we now know (the undeniable staying power of "Jane Says" notwithstanding). It's possible that he wanted to get back to the heavy atmospherics and druggy vibe from Side 1 provided by Hendrix, the Dead, et al. Next up is another triple-shot, this time from three of the most important American guitar bands of the 1980s. The Replacement's gut-wrenching "Answering Machine" and Husker Du's even more harrowing "Whatever" were blasts of Minneapolis angst that translated well to awkward, lonely, thinking teenage music fans everywhere. R.E.M.'s "We Walk" is a welcome relief, with its soothing Byrdsian 12-string jangle, though not without that hint of sadness that pervades the majority of this compilation. Closing the album in jarring fashion is Washington D.C. hardcore punks Bad Brains' "I Against I", which, while no doubt an exciting and impossibly hip proposition to the compiler at age 18, is now a somewhat generic punk song that doesn't hold up too well at age 36 (If it's too loud, you're too old?).

Overall, Compilation, while betraying a touching measure of naivety and earnestness on the part of the compiler, is nevertheless an eclectic collection of songs from the dawn of the grunge era.