Side A
1. One in the World – Tapes ‘n Tapes
2. Gangsta – Tune-Yards
3. It’s Plain to See – Sloan
4. I’m Not Ready – Surfer Blood
5. Dots On Maps – Say Hi
6. The Grey Ship – EMA
7. Pots And Pans – The Kills

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Side B
1. Otis – Kanye West & Jay-Z
2. Good For Nothing – Hard-Fi
3. Lee Majors Come Again – Beastie Boys
4. Roof Of Your Car – The Streets
5. Let England Shake – PJ Harvey
6. Doors Unlocked and Open – Death Cab for Cutie
7. Rich Kid Blues – Lykke Li
8. No Future Shock – TV On the Radio

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Liner Notes
It’s been weird watching friends and strangers make these tapes over the last year, some obsessively (looking at you, Kelci) and others totally phoning it in (you know who you are). When I started this thing, I thought it would be a cool for music discovery. Actually, I think I discovered more about the people who contributed. It turns out that the kind of mix tape you make says a lot about you. Which is fair — they are supposed to be personal things.

Anyway, I still have no idea what’s happening with this project in 2012, but this mix tape — number fifty-two — was obligatory. So here it is. Fifteen songs I loved from the last year. Enjoy.

Tyler Hellard is a bit relieved.

Side A
1. Merry Christmas, Baby (Please Don’t Die) – Crocodiles & Dum Dum Girls
2. White Winter Hymnal – Fleet Foxes
3. It’s Christmas Time – Yo La Tengo
4. Merry Christmas, Baby – The Beach Boys
5. Drinking Up Christmas – The Dwarves
6. Christmas All Summer Long – Deer Tick
7. Christmas In Harlem – Kanye West
8. A Winters Sky – The Pipettes
9. In the Bleak Midwinter – Ed Harcourt
10. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) – Death Cab for Cutie

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Side B
1. Santa Claus is Coming to Town – Bruce Springsteen
2. Pretty Paper – Willie Nelson
3. Christmas Wish – She & Him
4. Baby, It’s Cold Outside – She & Him
5. Kissin’ By the Mistletoe – Aretha Franklin
6. I Want a Boy For Christmas – The Del Vetts
7. Santa Claus – The Sonics
8. Christmas Means Love – Sam Cooke
9. Auld Lang Syne [Live] – Dean Martin & Frank Sinatra

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Liner Notes
This is sort of a not-a-Christmas Christmas mix. By that I mean your ears won’t detect the army of piccolos and angels singing on high that tend to command most Christmas albums.

I included one band twice (She & Him) and that’s just because in the second song it’s more Him than She, so it seemed okay.

These are just songs that make me feel Christmasy and Hanukkahy and Festivusy all at once. I hope they do the same for you. Have an fucking awesome holiday! I mean that.

Jodi Styner previously had gas.

Side A
1. Polyesterday – Gus Gus
2. My Arms – Bloodgroup
3. The Jubilee Choruses – Sin Fang Bous
4. Murr Murr – Mugison
5. Little Talks – Of Monsters And Men
6. Mondays – FM Belfast
7. Konami – Apparat Organ Quartet

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Side B
1. untitled #1 (a.k.a. Vaka) – Sigur Rós
2. I’ll Build You a Fire – Seabear
3. Hit – The Sugarcubes
4. In Between – Lára
5. The Ballad of the Broken Birdie Records – Múm
6. Joga – Björk

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Liner Notes
Admittedly I really don’t know much about Reykjavík, Iceland. I only really thought about that nation as a leading exporter of swan dresses and volcanic ash. But of late I’ve heard a few new music gems from that island nation’s capital that’s made me want to investigate.

My former expose to music from the Narnia-esque nation were limited to the first couple Gus Gus and Sigur Rós albums as well as early 90’s Björk. Wow, I loved me some Björk – I’d go so far to say I loved her as much as I can’t stand her now.

So based on the above I’m ready to dive in to the icy waters of crazy Icelandic music.

Bring on the Crazy! Bring on the somber Viking funeral odes played on homemade organs fashioned from bits of flotsam found in the Reykjavík harbour. Bring on the creeping slow-build tear-jerker that is undoubted about saving the planet or the deliciousness of herring. Bring on the – in short – bring on the emotional landscapes, isn’t that right Björk?

Oh, and in English, please.

Although the noodley-ness is well represented in this mix, what I found is that Reykjavík has plenty of non-epic sounding music. Just lovely music of all (sub)genres. I even read of a one artist described as “The Icelandic Bruce Springsteen” (Björn in the USA? – I’m sorry I really did try to come up with a better joke for that but it’s late)

But even the less epic songs on this mix still have a sort of exoticness to them. I guess it’s like getting rocks from the moon when there are plenty of just-fine-rocks down here on earth. Moon rocks must be all fancy because you went so far to get them. I guess music from Reykjavík is sort of the same way.

DJ Salinger.

Brian Close really gets around.

Side A
1. The Wild Hunt – The Tallest Man On Earth
2. Boy – Ra Ra Riot
3. Quarry Hymns – Land of Talk
4. Charlie Chaplin – Katie Herzig
5. Bermuda Highway [Live] – My Morning Jacket
6. This Old Dark Machine – James Vincent McMorrow
7. Record Collector – Lissie
8. Radiohead/Chopin Cover – Jack Conte

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Side B
1. When I’m Small – Phantogram
2. I’m Good, I’m Gone – Lykke Li
3. Giving Up the Gun – Vampire Weekend
4. Tighten Up – The Black Keys
5. Clementine – Sarah Jaffe
6. Islands On the Coast – Band of Horses
7. Last Clock On the Wall – Joe Purdy

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Liner Notes
I moved to Winnipeg in 2004 – I’m still not completely certain as to why I ever agreed to do it. Winnipeg is different. It’s a city of extremes. Freezing Winters and scorching summers. It’s full of life but lonely at the same time. Beautifully ugly. It’s perhaps like a lot of cities, but Winnipeg is the city that people love to hate, even as they defend it tooth and nail as the best place on earth.  My Winnipeg consists of me sitting in my attic working remotely most of the day, with nothing but my social networks to keep me company … that and some music.  This is all music that has been passed to me in some shape or form through my network of friends/recommendations of various music sorting engines/strangers. It is the soundtrack of my social – and as such I think it’s fitting that it is as eclectic as the medium that inspired it.  Yes, there is a little bit of a folky theme through most of it – that’s what I’m pulled to – it feels more real to me. But I was not trying to guide my mix along any musical genre or style so any similarity to either was completely a coincidence.  Either way, many of these songs are Winnipeg to me now thanks to all of you – enjoy them.

Chris Lacey really does live in Winnipeg.

Side A
1. 6’1 – Liz Phair
2. The Closer I Get – Hayden
3. Hoover Dam – Sugar
4. Inside Out – Crash Vegas
5. Spoon – Cibo Matto
6. Ali – Jale
7. Whatever – Oasis

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Side B
1. Dream All Day – The Posies
2. Come Together – Spiritualized
3. Fire On Babylon – Sinead O’Connor
4. Dusted – Belly
5. You May Be Right – The Grapes of Wrath
6. Fleur De Lys – Juliana Hatfield
7. Fade Into You – Mazzy Star

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Liner Notes
This mixtape is sort of the inverse of my previous mixtape, which contained only one song released in the 90s. This mix has only one song released outside of the 90s (and it was 1989). But that’s really only a coincidence. The criteria for this group, and the theme it loosely adheres to, is that they have to be songs I once loved and are by bands that I essentially never listen to any more. Somehow, most of these songs are from the same five-year span, but any bands that I still have in my daily rotation are automatically disqualified. Lots of stuff from the same era is therefore out: no Pixies, no Beastie Boys, no Cure, etc. A good gauge is whether or not they are in my iTunes. If so, they don’t make the mix. All of these songs were literally dug out of a box in the basement and ripped. CDs strewn everywhere, just like the old days.

What we’re left with is a like a tour of the psyche of my 20-year-old self. A lot of memories in these songs. Melancholic nights with candles lit. Driving to the Warehouse with a car-full of drunk friends.

In going through the old CDs, it’s become obvious that some of it really just hasn’t stood the test of time. The long list was full of big-time misses – shit that once apparently sounded great. I’ve tried to leave those ones out, despite what they might have once meant to me, and kept it to the ones that do have some staying power. For one reason or another, these songs are still interesting to me. In some cases, they still just sound good. In some cases, their just such a great example of their era that they can’t possibly be left out. Anyway, it’s helped me rediscover some stuff that deserves to be promoted back into the rotation. Full circle, I guess.

There’s a decent amount of Canadian content here too, which is not something that would happen on a mixtape of the stuff I listen to now. Maybe I was more supportive of the locals when I was younger. And tons more women, too; they make up more than half of the total. I don’t know what that means. Is it something about the era, or something about me?

Q: Is this just a 90s nostalgia mix?
A: I guess so, but it’s mine.

6’1 – Liz Phair
What happened to her? She’s endured a lot of piling-on for “selling out” with her fourth album (created with “The Matrix”– Avril Lavigne’s writing team). But really, she sort of deserves it. Her first stuff was so unique and provocative.

The Closer I Get – Hayden
A warm and melancholy little song by a young Canadian songwriter. His single-name-ness seems a bit grandiose, but I saw him at the Republik once and he was really very charming. I used to like this album for late nights.

Hoover Dam – Sugar
Hard to pick one Sugar song, as I used to really like them, but this one encapsulates their sound so perfectly. Crunchy guitar and really poppy melodies. Bob Mould influenced everybody and this song is one of the gems of the alt-rock decade.

Inside Out – Crash Vegas
This song makes me laugh a little now. Michelle McAdorey really wasn’t much of a singer at the time. But man, did I love these guys in university. They’re so sweetly earnest and Canadian. And this album was really well-written (with the help of Blue Rodeo’s Greg Keelor). To be fair, it came out before the grunge revolution. Earnestness was in.

Spoon – Cibo Matto
This is the most recent song in the mix. When I dug this CD out, I collapsed to the floor and had flashbacks of 1999. That’s how much I used to listen to this. This was probably my favourite album of that year. Weird and wacky and irresistible. But time marches on. For a real mind-bender, check out their Gondry-directed video for Sugar Water.

Ali – Jale
This one’s not a masterpiece. But I can’t think of a more perfect example of the kind of girl-group-alt-pop that emerged all over the place after the success of bands like The Breeders and Luscious Jackson. Jale (from Halifax) were mentored and helped along by Sloan in their early days.

Whatever – Oasis
This very slickly produced number could kick off a mixtape called “Songs That Sound Like Beatles Covers But Aren’t.” And I’ve thought of making that tape. I was never a huge Oasis fan, but I certainly did love a few of their songs, including this one. One of my favourite brit-pop song of the 90s, anyway.

Dream All Day – The Posies
Considering how much I liked this album, it’s a little weird that I didn’t get more thoroughly into The Posies. But this song is exactly the type of slightly-generic but respectable “alternative” rock I loved discovering at age 19. Off the beaten track, but still melodic and radio-friendly.

Come Together – Spiritualized
This is another one of those songs that provided the soundtrack to late nights in my early 20s. Wailing guitar walls, horns, trance-y vocals, a gospel influence. Good stuff. It doesn’t even sound that dated.

Fire On Babylon – Sinéad O’Connor
She’s a wacky lady, no doubt about it, but I had a real thing for Sinéad in the 90s. And I personally don’t think there’s any denying her talent. She has better songs, but I always loved the groovy bass riff and dramatic singing on this one.

Dusted – Belly
This whole album was big for me. I was a bit of a sucker for cute-girl alt-rock bands, and Belly was one of my favourites. Very poppy, very breathy. A little too cutesy now, but this shit was manna from heaven in 1993.

You May Be Right – The Grapes of Wrath
I contemplated including a different (and perhaps cooler) Grapes of Wrath song from an earlier album, but this one was probably my favourite. The Hammond organ solo is the deciding factor. Canadian folk-rockers doing what they do: making tight, layered pop songs with a tragic-sweet sensibility.

Fleur de Lys – Juliana Hatfield
Juliana Hatfield was my alt-rock girl crush. Saw her once and she was even cuter in person. And legit – she rocked the guitar like very few of her contemporaries. On the whole, I listened to her previous album more (the one with the big hits), but in retrospect I think this later album (Only Everything) is better.

Fade Into You – Mazzy Star
This song was Mazzy Star’s only sort-of hit, but that doesn’t make it not their best song. To put it another way: it’s their best song. Still love it, and this album is one that’s definitely going on my iPod. This song partly inspired a poem I once wrote about a girl. True.

Colin Leach has been to this dance before.

Side A
1. Bizarre Love Triangle – Frente!
2. Stay – Shakespear’s Sister
3. Moola Moola – Jordy Birch
4. Bang Bang Boom – The Moffats
5. Turn Back Time – Aqua
6. Take a Picture – Filter
7. The Freshmen – The Verve Pipe

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Side B
1. Black Balloon – The Goo Goo Dolls
2. Leaving Las Vegas – Sheryl Crow
3. Legend of a Cowgirl – Imani Coppola
4. The Rockafeller Skank – Fatboy Slim
5. Lovefool – The Cardigans
6. Kiss the Rain – Billie Myers
7. Best I Ever Had (Grey Sky Morning) – Vertical Horizon

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Liner Notes
My family has never really been into music. Growing up, we drove to Montreal from New Brunswick for, what felt like, every month. The only music we had to listen to was the soundtracks Les Miserables and The Phantom Opera. So when I started growing up and discovering music on my own, the most accessible was pop music. Which, if you ask me, has a bad… rap. Now that I’m older and have discovered so many different kind of genres, I’d like to think I have better taste in music. But every now and then, a random song will pop back into my head and I’ll be flooded with memories of making mix tapes, pining after my crushes or cleaning my parents’ house while listening to Rick Dees, who was like a god, providing new songs for me to obsess about until the next Top 40 chart came out.

These are some of those songs. Are they all good? No. Correction, hell no. But if I was ever put in a situation where I had to defend each and every single one of these songs, I would do it. And I think you would too.

Mike Morrison is the only person I know who I’d call a “blogger” without irony.

Side A
1. Sunday – k.d. lang
2. Rainy Days and Mondays – The Carpenters
3. Ruby Tuesday – The Rolling Stones
4. Sunday Morning Coming Down – Johnny Cash
5. Monday, Monday – The Mamas & the Papas
6. Sunday – Frank Sinatra
7. Sunday Girl – Blondie
8. Sunday Morning – No Doubt

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Side B
1. Rainy Monday – Shiny Toy Guns
2. Manic Monday – The Bangles
3. Friday I’m In Love – The Cure
4. I Don’t Like Mondays – The Boomtown Rats
5. Sunday Bloody Sunday – U2
6. Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting) – Elton John
7. Sudbury Saturday Night – Stompin’ Tom Connors
8. Eight Days A Week – The Beatles

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Liner Notes
Originally I wanted to do a tape that was all day of the week songs from Monday to Sunday and then ending with the Beatles “Eight Days a Week”, and of course I would cleverly call the tape “Eight Days a Week.” But it turns out song writers really only write about Sunday and Monday, occasionally Saturday and almost never about the rest of the days — I actually could not find a song with Thursday in the title. Considering it took me a whole extra week to put it together anyway, and I could actually use some extra days of the week right now I decided to call it a day (so to speak) on the original concept. So, instead, this is a bunch of songs I like with days of the week in the title in an order I find pleasing to listen to. Happy Day!

Käthe Lemon likes it when I remember to use the umlaut.

Side A
1. I Don’t Want Love – The Antlers
2. Cannons – Youth Lagoon
3. Helplessness Blues – Fleet Foxes
4. Helicopter – Deerhunter
5. Airplanes – Local Natives
6. In Medias Res – Los Campesinos!
7. Bloodbuzz Ohio – The National

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Side B
1. Eleven – Mirah & Thao
2. Oh My God – Cults
3. I’d Do It All Again – Corinne Bailey Rae
4. Sentimental X’s – Broken Social Scene
5. What’s Wrong With Me? – Skye
6. Stillness Is the Move – Dirty Projectors
7. Collapsing At Your Doorstep – Air France

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Liner Notes
I’m not content. That’s not to say I’m unappreciative. I make a great deal of effort to appreciate everything there is to appreciate everyday. But that doesn’t mean I’m content. To be content is to settle for the status-quo. I don’t like songs where people are content. That’s boring. Perhaps content songs have a place on the dance floor, but outside of that, who wants to listen to content people?

The following songs are by people who aren’t content. At odds with their world, their relationships and themselves. Interchangeably so. These songs at their heart are all pop songs, but make no mistake, they’re not likely to be songs you’ll find on the Top 40. All the songs are recent releases over the past couple of years. I love music across generations, but was looking for a smaller, modern cross-section of boys and girls against the world.

Side A – The Boys

I Don’t Want To Love – The Antlers
For a song about not wanting love, all I hear is someone who can’t stop searching for it. An amazing song off an amazing album.

Cannons – Youth Lagoon
Lo-fi indie pop has a way of muffling the lyrics into incomprehension, that the song becomes your own personal tapestry. This song punches with guitars and is a message about breaking out of your shell.

Helplessness Blues – Fleet Foxes
Everyone always refers to the “mid-life crisis”, but it’s the less talked about “quarter-life crisis” that’s more pivotal. You have maximum freedom, minimum commitment, and there is so many paths to take that the freedom of choice is paralyzing. Fleet Foxes completely captures that feeling in this song.

Helicopter – Deerhunter
This song has some dark origins, and is consequently the most depressing song on the mix, but I feel that this is a song in denial. Despite describing such ugliness, the song is beautiful. There’s a sense of empowerment and defiance that can only be seen from the very bottom.

Airplanes – Local Natives
A really great look at how family shapes our world through the loss of a grandfather. After a few listens you may have a hard time not trying to sing along at the end.

In Medias Res – Los Campesinos!
The lyrics to this song read like a blog written by a 20-something hopeless romantic. If you stumbled upon this blog surfing the web, you might have a chuckle and go off on your way. But put to music – big sweeping music – the triviality of a blog post gives way to the realization that even the little things can have profound affect on your life.

Bloodbuzz Ohio – The National
Pain and longing seem to be the at the heart of almost every song by The National. This one’s just a little better than their others.

Side B – The Girls

Eleven – Thao & Mirah
Likely a reference to Spinal Tap, I wanted to start the ladies’ side with a bang. This is an absolute mess of a song, with an almost african influence in the instrumentation and I love it.

Oh My God – Cults
This group came out of nowhere with a retro-infused pop album. This is a ‘grass is greener’ run-away song.

I’d Do It All Again – Corinne Bailey Rae
We have a culture of convenience and instant-gratification, but sometimes it’s worth it to not walk away from something the moment things can difficult. This was written in regards to Corinne’s husband’s fatal drug overdose.

Sentimental X’s – Broken Social Scene
Though I can’t stand Emily Haines in Metric, all her appearances in Broken Social Scene have been fantastic. It’s a more adult sequel to one of her previous appearances in Broken Social Scene: ‘Anthems For A Seventeen Year Old Girl’.

What’s Wrong With Me – Skye
This song grapples with life’s strains, and asks is the world the problem, or herself which can be a hard line to draw.

Stillness Is The Move – Dirty Projectors
This song is impossible to categorize into a genre. It’s a mashup of so many ideas that it sounds like nothing else. And it’s awesome.

Collapsing At Your Doorstep – Air France
Yes, there are few vocals in this song, but what it lacks in vocals it makes up in the emotions it evokes. The song condenses the drama of the hopes and dreams of an entire relationship into 4 minutes and 35 seconds.

Derek McBurney came recommended by she and him.

Side A
1. Oh Papa Blue – Ma Rainey
2. Cool Drink of Water Blues – Tommy Johnson
3. Mother’s Children Have a Hard Time – Blind Willie Johnson
4. Cross Road Blues – Robert Johnson
5. Just Make Love to Me – Muddy Waters
6. Back Door Man – Howlin’ Wolf
7. Drinking in the Blues – Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee
8. Good Morning Little Schoolgirl – Junior Wells’ Chicago Blues Band

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Side B
1. Boom Boom – The Animals
2. Death Letter – Son House
3. On the Road Again – Canned Heat
4. The Lemon Song – Led Zeppelin
5. After Hours – Roy Buchanan
6. If You See Me – The Black Keys
7. Ball and Biscuit – The White Stripes

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Liner Notes
Most people I know don’t listen to blues music. I think this should change.

I’ve always been drawn to the blues for some reason, but it’s not like that for everyone. If you find the blues boring or dated then loving them might take a bit of work. It will definitely take listening to the right songs. Like every other musical genre, the blues might not grab you if you have no experience listening to them and no idea where to start. And like every other genre, there are a lot of people out there making a lot of shitty blues records.

And so I present a primer for the novice blues listener. If you are already into the blues, well, I hope you don’t balk too much at my selections (and omissions). The songs run chronologically, and the liner notes provide some context. Side A samples very early country blues from the 1920s through to Chicago blues in the 50s and 60s. I’ve tried to include a bit of everything so that different styles are represented. Side B is dedicated to the blues revivals of the 1960s-70s, and 2000s. But of course this tape could have hundreds of so-called essential blues songs on it and it still wouldn’t be totally comprehensive. So in the end, I’ve just picked what I like. I hope you like it too.

SIDE A – Blues Originals

Oh Papa Blues – Ma Rainey
Released in 1927

One of the earliest forms of blues music was known as “classic female blues.” These female singers were among the first blues artists to be recorded and were very important in spreading the popularity of the blues.

Ma Rainey was one of the very best female blues singers; apparently her recordings do not do justice to her powerful voice and skill as a performer. Rainey started out in the first few years of the twentieth century performing with minstrel shows. By the late 1910s a demand for recordings by black musicians was growing, and Rainey was signed, going on to make over 100 recordings for Paramount’s successful “race music” series.

Cool Drink of Water Blues – Tommy Johnson
Released in 1928

Tommy Johnson was one of the great Mississippi Delta blues musicians. Johnson claimed to have sold his soul to the devil in exchange for the ability to write and play anything he wanted on guitar, a story that was popular enough that other bluesmen later claimed to have done the same thing. Johnson’s spooky falsetto in this song almost makes me believe it.

Mother’s Children Have a Hard Time– Blind Willie Johnson
Released in 1928

Slide or “bottleneck” guitar originated in the Delta and Blind Willie Johnson was a slide master. His legacy is immense, and he’s been covered by everyone from Bob Dylan to Bruce Springsteen to Beck.

Cross Road Blues – Robert Johnson
Released in 1936

I’m a little heavy on the Delta blues here, but it would be a disservice not to include a track by Robert Johnson, who is considered by many to be the greatest blues player of all time. Johnson’s guitar playing is amazingly complex; he keeps several rhythms going at once and can play riffs and chords at the same time. Keith Richards said that when he was first introduced to Johnson’s solo recordings by his band mate Brian Jones, he asked about the “other guy playing with him”, not realizing it was Johnson playing on one guitar.

Robert Johnson died young, the most common story being that he drank whiskey which had been poisoned by a jealous husband.

I Just Want to Make Love to You – Muddy Waters
Released in 1954

Muddy Waters is generally considered to be the father of Chicago Blues. He was born in Mississippi and grew up emulating local Delta blues guitarists of the time like Robert Johnson and Son House. In the early 1940s, Waters moved to Chicago to try to make it as a musician. The black population in Chicago had been growing exponentially over the past few decades as hundreds of thousands of black workers moved from the south to get jobs. This had a huge cultural impact, and Chicago became a Mecca for blues and jazz.

In Chicago, blues musicians plugged in and the electrified sound defined a new style of blues. Waters signed with the label that was to become Chess Records (probably the most important blues label ever) and soon had a string of smash hits. “I Just Want to Make Love to You” was one of them.

Back Door Man – Howlin’ Wolf
Released in 1961

Chester Arthur Burnett, known as Howlin’ Wolf, had a story much the same as Muddy Waters: both grew up in the South and learned from great Delta bluesmen, both moved to Chicago and signed with Chess, and both had a huge following (in fact, at times there was a bit of a rivalry between them). But while Waters had the ability to be subtle, Wolf did not. He was 6 foot 6, nearly 300 pounds, and had a giant booming voice and stage presence that reportedly scared many audience members at his shows. In this track (which incidentally was covered by The Doors on their first album) he sings with pride about sleeping with women behind their husbands’ backs and getting away with it, something which probably didn’t ease the fears of the men in the crowd.

Drinking in the Blues – Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee
Released in 1961

Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee were a blues duo who became very popular in the 1960s playing what they called “real folk blues”. They are a great example of Piedmont blues, a style that dropped off in the 40s but was revived twenty years later when it started gaining a following through the folk festival circuit primarily with a white, college-age audience. Piedmont blues uses a distinct finger-picking guitar style, which you can hear McGhee playing here. Terry was a talented harmonica player, and his rustic playing is filled with the hollers and whistles that are typical of country blues.

Good Morning Schoolgirl – Junior Wells’ Chicago Blues Band
Released in 1965

This song is a blues standard, and it’s been covered by everyone (including, apparently, Huey Lewis & the News). This has always been my favourite version, though. This track, with its great bass line and Wells’ growly pleading, is a prime example of Chicago blues from one of the best albums of the era, Hoodoo Man Blues. Seriously, you should get this album.

SIDE B – Blues Revival

Boom Boom – The Animals
Released in 1964

The Animals recorded “Boom Boom” for their 1964 UK debut album. It’s a fairly close cover of the original John Lee Hooker version, and ended up being a pop hit for the Animals. Blues covers like this were common among the British Invasion bands, and most of them had one or two on their first albums. The Yardbirds, The Rolling Stones, Manfred Mann and many others were all heavily inspired by American blues, and they all considered themselves blues-based bands that only later broadened their range into pop and rock.

Death Letter – Son House
Released in 1965

Son House was a Delta blues musician who played with some of the early greats like Charlie Patton and Robert Johnson. He made a few recordings with Patton in the early 30s, but they didn’t get much attention so he retired from the music business and worked as a plantation truck driver. In 1964, when the American folk blues revival was well underway, two young blues recorders and promoters searched the Mississippi Delta for House, who had no idea that there was new interest in his music. After his “rediscovery”, House toured and recorded extensively.

“Death Letter” is House’s signature song, and it is hard not to be caught up in the emotion of the lyrics. There are videos on YouTube of him playing this song and I am telling you, watching one of them will be the best four-and-a-half minutes you spend all day. The White Stripes covered the song on their album De Stijl and it was a regular inclusion in their live shows.

On the Road Again – Canned Heat
Released in 1968

Canned Heat were one of the most popular bands of the hippie era, and this song was one of their biggest hits. They are best known for “Going Up the Country”, which became the unofficial theme song for Woodstock after it was used prominently in the concert documentary. That song is basically a straight-ahead cover of an early blues song (Bulldoze Blues by Henry Thomas), so I chose this instead. It’s an adaptation of an older song as well, but Canned Heat re-worked it significantly and made it their own, adding a psychedelic edge to make the hippies happy.

The Lemon Song – Led Zeppelin
Released in 1969

Led Zeppelin is a contentious band in the eyes of many blues aficionados. While they were clearly heavily influenced by the blues (as many of their rock contemporaries were) they were a bit lax in giving credit to original artists, even when riffs, melodies, or entire phrases of lyrics were blatantly copied from prominent bluesmen. Defenders argue that Zeppelin was picked on because of their massive fame, and that all blues songs are influenced by the songs that came before them so authorship is hard to determine. Those at the other end of the spectrum think Zeppelin are a bunch of unoriginal rip-off artists. “The Lemon Song” borrows very heavily from a Howlin’ Wolf song called “The Killing Floor”, so much so that they were successfully sued and Wolf is now listed as a songwriter on the track.

So what to do? Personally, I love Zeppelin. They’re virtuoso players and performers and I think they made some of these bluesy songs into pretty kick ass rock songs. That said, I don’t love the idea that lots of the bluesmen they were “influenced by” spent the 60s and 70s toiling in poverty and obscurity, while Zeppelin was rolling in money.

After Hours – Roy Buchanan
Released 1973

Roy Buchanan is one of the greatest blues guitarists ever, one of those guys who should have been famous but hardly anyone has heard of outside of guitar nerds. I think the problem was that he wasn’t a singer, and the singers his label hired for his albums were usually terrible. Thankfully this is an instrumental track, and trust me, Buchanan’s amazing guitar skills and unique tone are all you need. He was know to make his guitar “cry” by bending notes and doing stuff I don’t understand with the volume and tone knobs on his Telecaster to make his own wah-wah sound without the pedal. Pretty awesome, and you can really hear it on this track.

If You See Me – The Black Keys
Released 2003

The Black Keys were fairly successful with their first two indie albums which were recorded in the drummer’s basement. But with the release of their 2010 album Brothers, they hit on massive mainstream success, winning a bunch of Grammys and world-wide attention, proving that there is still a big market for blues-rock. This track from their second album is pretty straight-ahead blues, and a good example of how blues has been undergoing another revival with a new, gritty, garage-rock sound.

Ball and Biscuit – The White Stripes
Released 2003

The White Stripes have probably done more than any other recent band to revive the blues in popular music. Jack White’s love for the blues is well-known—he has dedicated albums to Son House and Blind Willie McTell, and the blues show up everywhere in his guitar playing and lyrics.

This track was on the Stripes’ major label debut album, the album that was also their biggest critical and commercial success. Putting a seven-minute-long blues track with huge, screechy solos on this album is a pretty bold move, but I’m sure glad they did it. The lyrics are a clear throwback to the Willie Dixon song “The Seventh Son”.

Kelci Hind saved my ass with this tape, which is why she got away with blatant cheating on side b.

Side A
1. Fresh Blood – Eels
2. Zombie Delight – Buck 65
3. Psycho Killer – Talking Heads
4. Walk Like a Zombie – HorrorPops
5. Bela Lugosi’s Dead – Nouvelle Vague
6. Sympathy For the Devil – Styrofoam Bible

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Side B
1. Bad Moon Rising – Rosa Chance Well
2. Zombie Me – No More Kings
3. Pet Sematary – The Ramones
4. After Dark – Tito & Tarantula
5. Devil Town – Bright Eyes
6. She Just Happens to Date the Prince of Darkness – Say Hi
7. Season of the Witch – Donovan

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Liner Notes
For all you know, a witch might be living next door to you right now. Or she might be the woman with the bright eyes who sat opposite you on the bus this morning. She might be the lady with the dazzling smile who offered you a sweet from a white paper bag in the street before lunch. She might even — and this will make you jump — she might even be your lovely school-teacher who is reading these words to you at this very moment. Look at that teacher. Perhaps she is smiling at the absurdity of such a suggestion. Don’t let that put you off. It could be part of her cleverness. I am not, of course, telling you for one second that your teacher actually is a witch. All I am saying is that she might be one. It is most unlikely. But — and here comes the big “but” — it is not impossible.

Tyler Hellard loves scary movies and sad music.