For Folk's Sake » Mixtapes

Brian’s Mixtape #43: California

Brian — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 15:55:20 +0000

After a break for Coffee and Cake, Brian’s back on his musical tour of the U.S.A., this time touring around the great state of California. Home to surfer bums, angels and oranges, California has more than its fair share of lovely spots, and this playlist demonstrates this in vintage style, with tracks by the legendary Burt Bacharach, goddess on earth Kristin Hersh and lovethrob from the old times Tony Bennett. There’s also trendy new folks like Best Coast, so something for everyone, really.

Here you are then. Pretend it’s still sunny:

1. The Thrills – Big Sur
2. The Beach Boys – California Girls
3. Tony Bennett – (I Left My Heart) In San Francisco
4. Casiotone for the Painfully Alone – Ney Year’s Kiss
5. Scott McKenzie – San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)
6. Dionne Warwick – Do You Know the Way to San Jose
7. The Magnetic Fields – Come Back From San Francisco
8. Joni Mitchell – California
9. Folk Implosion – Easy L.A.
10. Kristin Hersh – San Francisco
11. Best Coast – Honey
The Mamas & the Papas – California Dreamin’

Here’s the linkypoos for your delectation: Brian’s Mixtape #43: California

Brian’s Mixtape #42: Cake and Coffee

Brian — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:42:50 +0000

After his Schmercury playlist triumph, Brian is taking another mixtape-making breather, but that’s not to say you’re missing out on a playlist of treats, oh no.

Even though his usual meal of choice would be acorn wine and some barbecued mouse, Brian’s partial to a bit of what we humans enjoy now and again, so he’s roped in his friend Siobhan from The Gallery Cafe in East London to make a coffee and cake themed playlist.

Siobhan’s no amateur when it comes to putting together a good set of tunes. The Gallery Cafe’s regular Spotify playlists are a thing of legend round Brian’s way, his ‘hood is regularly soothed by the folky loveliness emerging from the Cafe’s speakers.

And the venue will be hosting yet more marvellous music this Saturday evening, when the Allotment — run by Anika from Anika in London and Lynn from FFS — will be putting on a show featuring legendary Team Love songwriter David Dondero, Joe Innes and recent New Band Panel artist Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golems. Tickets are available here.

Here’s Siobhan’s playlist in full:
The Wave Pictures – Instant Coffee Baby
Blur – Coffee And TV
Otis Redding – Cigarettes And Coffee
John Sebastian – Coffee Blues
Bing Crosby – If I Knew You Were Comin’ I’d Have Baked A Cake
Ramblin’ Jack Elliott – Cup Of Coffee
John McCusker – The Cake’s Maker’s Wife
Nat King Cole – You’re The Cream In My Coffee
Bill Haley & His Comets – Pat-A-Cake
Bing Crosby – Sunshine Cake
Guy Clark – Instant Coffee Blues
Peggy Lee – Black Coffee
Muddy Waters – Iodine In My Coffee
Roger McGuinn & Calexico – One More Cup Of Coffee

Click here for a listen: Brian’s Mixtape #42: Cake and Coffee

Brian’s Mixtape #41: Pick of the Schmercuries 2010

Lynn Roberts — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 12:22:58 +0000

This weekend we launched our Schmercury Poll – FFS’s best album award, in which we’re asking you to vote for your favourite of 12 albums released in the past year. While the FFS editors were tearing our hair out, trying to whittle down the huge pile of wonderful albums released this year to our favourite 12 being forced to discard dearly-loved works of art to get down to the requisite dozen, Brian was sitting back, tapping the armrests with the tips of his wings, and biding his time.

Then when we announced the list, he took a quick glance over it, scribbled down 12 tracks with an air of nonchalance that was frankly a little irritating to the frazzled of nerve, and handed over this list with a wryly arched eyebrow.

As much as we hate to admit it, Brian is right to be smug. We think this might be his best playlist ever. The swine.

Listen on Spotify: Brian’s Mixtape #41: Pick of the Schmercuries 2010

Caitlin Rose – For The Rabbits
Field Music – Them That Do Nothing
Laura Marling – Goodbye England (Covered In Snow)
Noah And The Whale – Love Of An Orchestra
Broadcast 2000 – Your Own Worst Enemy
Peggy Sue – Watchman
Midlake – Acts Of Man
Anais Mitchell – Way Down Hadestown
Cocos Lovers – Time To Stand
Mountain Man – Dog Song
Sea Of Bees – Wizbot
Local Natives – World News

Spotify is now freeeee. You can download it here for access to tons and tons of music. As the name suggests Brian has put together rather more playlists than just this, with themes to suit your every mood. Pop over to our mixtapes section to discover them all.

Brian’s Mixtape #40: New York, New York

Brian — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 10:39:42 +0000

Brian’s recently gotten to thinking about how much of the music he loves is about the cities, suburbs and plains of the U S of A. He was going to do you a playlist about the whole darn country, but realised that that was biting off more than he could chew (which isn’t much – look at that beak). He’s decided to tackle the task city by city, instead. Wise owl.

Even after narrowing it down to the Big Apple, Brian struggled to keep the playlist to its proper length, so this week he brings you a feature-length compilation, complete with interval (during which he orders you to pop out for ice cream – if your boss won’t let you, RESIGN).

Here’s the tracklisting:

1. Leonard Cohen – Chelsea Hotel #2
2. Rufus Wainwright – 11:11
3. Suzanne Vega – New York is a Woman
4. The Mountain Goats – Lovecraft in Brooklyn
5. Jeffrey Lewis – The East River
6. Ella Fitzgerald – Manhattan
7. Bright Eyes – Train Under Water
8. New York Dolls – Subway Train
9. Vampire Weekend – A-Punk
10. Regina Spektor – Summer in the CityTom Waits – Coney Island Baby
11. Sufjan Stevens – The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts
12. Kings of Convenience – Little Kids
13. Magnetic Fields – The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side
14. Le Tigre – My My Metrocard

Intermission – The Carpenters

16. Stephen Fretwell – New York
17. Bishop Allen – The Chinatown Bus
18. The Wallflowers – 6th Avenue Heartache
19. Rufus Wainwright – Poses
20. Simon & Garfunkel – The Only Living Boy in New York
21. Interpol – NYC
22. The New Pornographers – Myriad Harbour
23. Stephen Malkmus – Vanessa from Queens
24. Sufjan Stevens – Chicago
25. Neva Dinova – Brooklyn
26. Belle and Sebastian – Piazza, New York Catcher
27. PJ Harvey – The Whores Hustle and the Hustlers Whore
28. Thea Gilmore – Dance in New York
29. Nicole Atkins – Brooklyn’s on Fire
30. Jeffrey Lewis – The Chelsea Hotel Oral Sex Song

And here’s the link to the whole dealio on Spotify: Brian’s Mixtape #40: New York, New York

Spotify is now freeeee. You can download it here for access to tons and tons of music. FFS has just splashed out for Spotify Premium and sadly admits that you really do notice the difference in sound quality. Vandross and Jackson are a pair of filthy liars.

Brian’s Mixtape #39: The Middleclass Myth of Love and Marriage

Brian — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 15:23:50 +0000

Brian’s an enlightened sort of owl, and this week he’s taken it upon himself to learn about Feminism. He’s realised it’s a rather complicated subject – probably because it tries to cater for the needs of over half of the population – and its advocates range from the properly batshit mental, to the totally unarguably correct. Tricky.

On the whole, though Brian’s decided he’s a proudly feminist owl (and if anyone says he can’t be just because he’s a boy, he’s quite willing to hoot them down) so he’s taking the title of this mixtape from probably the most famous writer in the genre, Ms Greer herself, and given a nod to some rather excellent women from the world of music in its contents.

Hear it on Spotify: Brian’s Mixtape #39: The Middleclass Myth of Love and Marriage

Josephine Foster – Charles In The Park
Forest City Lovers – Pirates (Can’t All Sail The Indian Ocean)
Sharon Jones – The Game Gets Old
Anais Mitchell [feat. The Haden Triplets] – When The Chips Are Down
Laura Veirs – Carol Kaye
Carly Simon – The Right Thing To Do
The Dharohar Project – Devil’s Spoke / Sneh Ko Marg
This Is The Kit – Our Socks Forever More
Peggy Sue – Watchman
Mountain Man – Dog Song

And for our non-Spotifying users we’ve put together the mixtape on Playlistify. Enjoy!

Brian’s Mixtape#38: School’s Out for Summer

Brian — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 09:00:24 +0000

This is a time of year that Brian always anticipates with dread. At the end of the week, all the schools will spew out their charges onto British summertime and there will be no peace in the daytime for self-respecting owls to get a bit of snooze time. On the plus-side, there’ll be a lot of happy kinder and a lot of very happy teachers having a few well-deserved weeks off.

Brian also says he’s noticed that most full-grown adults start behaving like they’re also on their summer holidays: lazing off a bit at work, taking themselves off abroad, and craving new stationery supplies towards the end of August. He’s put together a collection of songlets that he feels encapsulate this time of year, in the hope that you’ll all get at least a taste of what these 6 weeks of freedom used to mean when you were little.

He also says that he knows that he’s made a Belle & Sebastian sandwich, but that that was his intention and if anyone’s got a problem with it, they can darn well press ’shuffle’. Here it is, for your enjoyment: Brian’s Mixtape #38: School’s Out for Summer

1. Belle & Sebastian – A Summer Wasting
2. Herman Düne – In the Summer Camp
3. Rufus Wainwright – The Art Teacher
4. Emiliana Torrini – Unemployed in Summertime
5. The White Stripes – We’re Going to be Friends
6. Dodgy – Staying Out for the Summer
7. The Kinks – Sunny Afternoon
8. Weezer – Island in the Sun
9. The Lovin’ Spoonful – Summer in the City
10. The Duckworth Lewis Method – Flatten the Hay
11. Ash – Oh Yeah
12. Belle & Sebastian – Here Comes the Sun

Spotify is now freeeee. You can download it here for access to tons and tons of free music. FFS has just splashed out for Spotify Premium and sadly admits that you really do notice the difference in sound quality. Vandross and Jackson are a pair of filthy liars.

PS For those who can’t get Spotify, we’re trying out this new website, let us know if it is of any use to you: Listen on Playlistify.

Brian’s Mixtape #37: Let The Sun Shine

Lynn Roberts — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 10:23:52 +0000

Brian’s been having a lovely time at festivals over the past few weeks, and basking in the baking hot sun. Now the weather’s turned and he’s staying in to nurse his burnt feathers (not one for the factor 50, our Brian. Silly owl) he’s put together a nostalgic playlist for summers past. So kick back, crank up your Spotify speakers and remember those lazy, hazy days.

Listen on Spotify

Eels – Mr. E’s Beautiful Blues – Butch ‘n’ Joey Remix
Elbow – One Day Like This
Au Revoir Simone – The Lucky One
Noah And The Whale – 5 Years Time
Beach House – Used To Be
Daryl Hall & John Oates – You Make My Dreams
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Home
She & Him – In The Sun
Wintersleep – Weighty Ghost
The Smiths – Cemetry Gates
The Kinks – Sunny Afternoon
Wildbirds & Peacedrums – My Heart

PS For those who can’t get Spotify, we’re trying out this new website, let us know if it is of any use to you: Listen on Playlistify.

Brian’s Mixtape #36: Brian’s been to Glasto

Brian — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 16:45:12 +0000

Brian’s been a bit quiet of late, largely because when he gets really excited his wings start quivering and he can’t type. What happened was, he realised it was June and that it was about to be Glastonbury, and his feathers were no longer under his control. The lucky fellow doesn’t even have to buy a ticket – he just stows away in HelenFFS’s backpack and no one ever notices.

This year was spectacular, especially for Brian, who could fly to the highest bough of the nearest tree whenever he needed shade, and flutter over the fences that divide the dirty from the clean in order to spy on Jarvis Cocker (who was wearing a lovely suit).

Here’s a swift round-up of his favourite parts of the weekend in the form of a Spotify playlist so that you can close your eyes and pretend all the flags, bunting, stages and sleeping hippies are all still firmly in place and you’re not going to have to sleep in a boring old bed tonight.*

Seasick Steve – Walkin’ Man
tUnE-yArDs – Sunlight
Laura Marling – I Speak Because I Can
Mountain Man – Arabella
Fanfarlo – The Walls are Coming Down
The Leisure Society – Love’s Enormous Wings
Ellen and the Escapades – Without You
Midlake – Small Mountain
Mumford & Sons – Roll Away Your Stone
Devendra Banhart – Meet Me at Lookout Point
Stornoway – Boats and Trains
Alessi’s Ark – Dancing Feet
Candi Staton – Young Hearts Run Free
Beach House – Walk in the Park
Frightened Rabbit – Old Old Fashioned
Stevie Wonder – Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours)

Get the playlist here: Brian’s Mixtape #36: Brian’s Been to Glasto and Spotify here if you’re late to the party.

*Disclaimer: before you accuse Brian of appearing to have been in two places at the same time on occasion, please take a moment to remember that he has WINGS and can FLY. Thank you.

Brian’s Mixtape #35: Leave the Animals Out of It

Brian — Tue, 25 May 2010 10:35:10 +0000

Following a delectable week of Joni Mitchell, Brian’s allowed his hippy side out of the oak tree for a pad around the forest floor. Now, don’t get Brian wrong: he’s not about to give up his beloved dormouse suppers. He has been thinking a lot about lentil-munching, Haribo-avoiding vegetarians a lot over the weekend, and for that reason he began to notice some interesting messages in many of his favourite songs.

Some are rather subtle, others (Morrissey, we’re looking at you) not so subtle, but all the songs in his playlist this week are in some way related to taking care of the animals, and not eating them. No need to follow the moral imperative though – Brian certainly isn’t – just enjoy the fact that, on top of sharing a theme, they’re all pucker songs.

1. Herman Dune – Pet Rabbit
2. God Help the Girl – Musician, Please Take Heed
3. The Smiths – Meat is Murder
4. Jeffrey Lewis – Life
5. The Beach Boys – Vegetables
6. Anton Barbeau – Quorn Fingers
7. Belle and Sebastian – Meat & Potatoes
8. Of Montreal – Vegan in Furs
9. The Pernice Brothers – Cruelty to Animals
10. Butcher Boy – React or Die
11. Willy Mason – Where the Humans Eat
12. Efterklang – Prey and Predator

Click the link for the Spotify playlist: Brian’s Mixtape #35: Leave the Animals Out of it

Spotify has finally heard Brian’s pleas for a free service and launched Spotify Open, which is rather lucky as the kind folk who’ve been donating their Spotify invites to you readers seem to be running out a bit now. Download Spotify Open.

Brian’s been making these playlists for as long as he can remember. If you’d like to catch up on his previous efforts, take a look at our mixtape section.

Brian’s mixtape #34: We Love You Joni

Brian — Mon, 17 May 2010 08:16:37 +0000

Brian noticed Joni Mitchell’s recent comments about Bob Dylan and he thinks he’s worked it out. Poor Joni is sad because she’s not getting enough attention. And she really isn’t Bob, Neil Young and Johnny Cash get plaudits aplenty but Brian had a harder time whittling down his favourite Joni songs to playlist length than any other he’s done before.

With Brian’s playlist FFS kicks of Joni Week. Keep your eyes on our homepage over the next few days as we’ll have guest contributions from musicians and fans alike. So here it is: 15 tracks that show why Joni Mitchell is a musical force to be reckoned with.

A Case Of You
Conversation
I Don’t Know Where I Stand
California
Woodstock
Cactus Tree
Night In The City
In France They Kiss On Main Street
The Last Time I Saw Richard
Dreamland
You Turn Me On I’m A Radio
The Circle Game
Both Sides Now
Car On A Hill
Help Me

Listen on Spotify: Brian’s mixtape #34: We Love You Joni

The kind folk who give up their Spotify invites to you readers seem to be running out a bit now, but if you need one let Brian know and we’ll do our best to oblige. Or if you have a spare invite you’d be kind enough to share, please let us know below.

Brian’s been making these playlists for as long as he can remember. If you’d like to catch up on his previous efforts, take a look at our mixtape section.

For Folk's Sake » Mixtapes

Brian’s Mixtape #43: California

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