Mixtape Monday — The Inaugural

When you go into work on Monday and you’re not feeling too good, does anyone ever say to you ‘sounds like a case of the Monday’s?’ Well, if they do, we here at “Soundcheck” reckon they should get their ass kicked for saying something like that. To remedy the pain from hearing that dreaded line, each Monday in an effort to battle the ever-growing case of the Monday’s we’ll be posting a compilation of songs that carry the power to lift your spirits (or something cheesy like that). Because, in the end, we all know we’re not lazy. We just don’t care. It’s a problem of motivation.

Playlist Title: The Inaugural

1. “The Man in Me” by Bob Dylan — from the album “New Morning”

Every opening number to a mixtape has to have that one indelible quality that characterizes what you’re playlist is all about. Maybe it’s constructed to place you in a better mood or could it be that it’s setup to aid in taking out your aggression. Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but his song isn’t one of those (I kid, I kid).

We here at “Soundcheck” will just say it right now so that it’s out in the open. We don’t care for Bob Dylan. Go ahead. Condemn us to hell right now, for we have sinned.

However, of the numerous songs in Dylan’s catalog, this is one we can tolerate. Could it be, though, the only reason we stomach the tune is because it opens the scene to one of our favorite flicks? You know, where the sky-blue bowling ball makes it descent up the return and into the hands of our good friend Donnie. Regardless, the dude abides on this one.

2. “Up Around the Bend” by CCR — from the album “Cosmo’s Factory”

Sticking with “The Big Lebowski” theme (I promise, it stops here), here’s one the best cuts from CCR. It doesn’t get any better than that opening guitar riff — classic rock at it’s finest. And, yes, they left the tape deck and the Creedence tapes.

3. “Ragged Wood” by Fleet Foxes — from the album “Fleet Foxes”

What do you get when you combine the smooth melodies of The Beach Boys and the vocal harmonies of Crosby, Stills & Nash? The easy answer — the Fleet Foxes.

Like most of you, we discovered the band after their stellar SNL performance months back and it’s refreshing to know the masses still appreciate good music. Their self-titled debut album is as close to flawless as one band can get and the third track “Ragged Wood” is a five-minute masterpiece. The song reaches it’s climax halfway through when the acoustics stall, leading to a fantastic buildup.

4. “Paper Thin Walls” by Modest Mouse — from the album “The Moon & Antarctica” (Check the live video performance from “Austin City Limits” below)

“The Moon & Antarctica” was possibly the last sighting of Modest Mouse. It was before the “Float on’s” and “The Dashboard’s” — a time when the band was at it’s purest form. Sure, the new stuff is decent, but the older stuff brought such thought-provoking lyrics like “Everyone is a voyuerist, their watching me, watching them, watching me, right now” and infectious, yet poppy guitar licks.

5. “Show Me” by John Legend — from the album “Once Again”

One of the most underrated R&B crooners gets his Jeff Buckley on in this guitar driven relationship-analyzer.

6. “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” by The Beatles — from the “White Album”

No need to really explain this one. It’s The Beatles. It’s George Harrison. There’s both an electric and acoustic version. Choose one.

7. “Just a Phase” by Incubus — from the album “Morning View”

One of the five greatest songs from the band. The first minute and a half really make this track, where Mike Edinger’s guitar and DJ Kilmore’s turntables compliment Brandon Boyd’s falsetto of “oh’s” perfectly.

8. “Respiration” by Black Star feat. Common — from the album “Black Star”

Quite possibly the greatest hip-hop album in my collection, Mos Def and Talib Kweli join forces with Chicago emcee Common for this standard cut. It’s refreshing to know there once was a time in this genre when lyricists produced creative lines such as “We played against each other like puppets, swearing you got pull/When the only pull you got is the wool over your eyes/Getting knowledge in jail like a blessing in disguise/Look in the skies for god, what you see besides the smog/Is broken dreams flying away on the wings of the obscene.” The so-called conscious rappers are still around, they’re just overshadowed by the mound of garbage that is clear channel radio.

9. “Song to Sing When I’m Lonely” by John Frusciante — from the album “Shadows Collide with People”

We’ll cut to the chase with this one. The Red Hot Chili Pepper’s guitarist doesn’t need the band to garner respect as a musician — he’s that good.

10. “Cassandra Gemini” by The Mars Volta — from the album “Frances the Mute”

Alright, we confess –The Mars Volta easily is one of our favorite bands in the current music scene. They continue, album after album, to push the limits on how a song can be constructed with crazy time signatures, verbose lyrics and full-fledged insanity.

This 30-plus minute gem comes from their second LP “Frances the Mute” — a prog-rock masterpiece. To get the full effect though, we suggest giving the album a full listen.