Mixtape 7: Early April 2005

1. Gorillaz – Feel Good Inc.
2. A.C. Newman – The Town Halo
3. Yo La Tengo – Stockholm Syndrome
4. Spoon – Waiting for the Kid to Come Out
5. Radiohead – Big Ideas (Live)
6. TV on the Radio – Dreams
7. The White Stripes – Hypnotise
8. The Residents – Constantinople
9. Mogwai – Punk Rock
10. The Olivia Tremor Control – NYC-25

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Call me what you will, but I enjoyed the first Gorillaz album. I still do. When the first single "Feel Good Inc." burst on the scene like some kind of delicious hors-doeuvre, I couldn't help but get pretty hyped about the full-length. Let's just say this excitement was unfounded and move on, because this track is still really good. But it's just an opener. The real knockout comes three tracks in. "Stockholm Syndrome" is extraordinary. It's timeless. And including "Constantinople" on the same list is some kind of statement about the universe and dichotomous manifestations of good and evil or something, I'm sure, because in the same way that "Stockholm Syndrome" is gorgeous in a really pretty, melodic kind of way, the Residents track is all that and more, just in an atonal ho-down at midnight in the woods kind of way. But the fact is that it would be simply too cruel to end this mix without a touch of hope. "NYC-25" is The Olivia Tremor Control at their most glorious high 60s psychedelia-aping. It contains echoes of "Strawberry Fields Forever", not just in its melody but in the sense of something sinister lurking under the surface. At 1:59 seconds, a piece of background falls away and the whole thing kind of melts outward for a few seconds before it boomerangs back in by 2:08. I'd never before listened to a song that so made me long for better headphones.