ARTIST DRIVEN: MIX IT UP

MATTHEW RYAN

This mix is from a couple years ago. I'm a devout believer in the road mix. I name them, and my friend and guitar player, Brian, rates them from a scale of 1 to 10. I don't count on an Ipod to bring cinema or a smile. This mix was given an 8.5 by Brian. He thought it got a little thick towards the end. 8.5? This from a fella that kills a lumberjack special at Denny's like it's a bowl of rice cakes. Thick towards the end? You decide.

I present to you The Terms Of Endearment Mix.

Joy Division - “Love Will Tear Us Apart”
"Love will tear us apart...... again." Monsters. Cold, numb and amnesia. Great Guitar and drums. What a voice. Makes you think - I could do that. Of course you can. You can.

Dean Martin - “You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You”
That fella from The Killers is very good at this sorta thing. He really is. Dean Martin was a singer too.

Twilight Singers - “Railroad Lullaby”
Remorse? Regret? Gutter Lonely? Sounds like San Francisco to me. Don't know why. Clean on the outside, kinda sparkles, cold at night. Dulli is very good. To me, he's the Tony Soprano of RnR.

Schneider TM - “There Is A Light”
Somehow this manages to be more human than anything on here so far. I hate dancing. But I love punctuated traffic late at night. This sounds like someone is trying kiss an ATM machine. The ATM machine is a bit bored but affection is affection.

Ruben Studdard - “I'm Sorry” (2004)
I'm not kidding.

"Wooooooooh!
All them strip clubs,
all them hot tubs.
I'm gonna give them up,
'cause I don't want to lose you now."

It's like someone's been reading my diary. Kinda reminds me of San Francisco.

The Walkmen - “The Rat”
This song made me want to be in a band again. I don't like voices that sound like they've been inhaling helium and never scraped a knee but have probably wet the bed a couple times. This doesn't sound like that.

Paul Westerberg - “What Kind've Fool Am I?”
I love the solo in this song. Sounds pretty drunk. What a voice. Sounds pretty honest. What a singer.

My Morning Jacket - “Golden”
The perfect mix between Gentle On My Mind and Turn The Page. Beautiful.

The Pogues - “Dirty Old Town”
So romantic. Always makes me think of Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye by Leonard Cohen for some reason. I love the video for this song. Shane MacGowan looks like you just want to go throw rocks at trains with him.

Paul Westerberg - “Mr. Rabbit”
Blasphemy: two songs by the same artist on one mix. This song makes me smile though. Good humor in the rhythm track.

The Constantines - “Soon Enough”
"Soon enough, work and love will make a man out of you." Yeah. I wouldn't know what they're talking about. The earth is still flat. Right?

Social Distortion - “I Was Wrong”
I still like this song. It's not hard to identify with.

Bob Dylan - “I Want You”
Amanda Peet sang this song at the end of some movie I rented. She was wearing a white T-shirt and her hair was in her eyes and behind her ears with the window down driving a pretty rough looking pick-up truck. Possibly as memorable as Grace Kelly in a pool looking like a deer. Other than all that, this song makes me think of bacon.

Nick Cave - “People Ain't No Good”
I can't say enough about this song. This isn't cynicism. It's self-defense. Some people see it this way. Sometimes.

"It ain't that in their hearts they're bad, They can comfort you, some even try
They nurse you when you're ill of health, They bury you when you go and die
It ain't that in their hearts they're bad, They'd stick by you if they could
But that's just bullshit, People just ain't no good"

Jimmy Scott - “Slave To Love”
Spare. Beautiful. Painfully androgynous. Hopeful. Slow careful free jazz. Like Jeff Buckley's version of “Hallelujah,” this may be better than the original. The perfect way to start or end any day.

Ok. Maybe a little Timberlake would've brought some levity towards the end. But I still stand by this one.

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