Bradezone

The construction of the Ultimate Mix Tape is perhaps the loftiest goal and highest challenge for any music lover. No surprise, then, that I’ve delayed undertaking the endeavor for so many years. As with any creative pursuit, the best results flow freely during times of sudden inspiration, and at long last, that inspiration has come. For the past couple of days, I have gradually assembled a playlist of songs that have impacted my life in ways I can scarcely overstate. During high school and two collegiate tenures, long drives down endless roads, moments of triumph and times of trouble, this music has on numerous occasions saved my day—and maybe even my life.

I gave myself a few ground rules as the exercise commenced. The finished collection had to fit on two CD’s, and no artist or album could be represented more than once. Thematically, I decided not to include some genres for the sake of coherence, as the bulk of my favorites are concentrated in the categories of rock, alternative, and electronic music from the last twenty years. My apologies to Marty Robbins, Busta Rhymes, and Beethoven, but it was for the best. Another difficult choice I made was to limit my selections to those produced during the last two decades. As much as I love Floyd and Zeppelin, I feel a deeper connection with the music made during my lifetime, and I dare say most of us tend to feel the same.

Beyond that, I simply chose the songs that have resonated most powerfully with me over the years, and I worked diligently to order them very specifically. Music speaks to the full range of human experience, and I sought to capture its true voice. Each artist on my list is beloved to me, but I am compelled to mention six in particular who are foremost in my mind.

1. Plaid — Simply put, Plaid is my number one group and have put out some of the most beautiful electronic albums of all time, with Rest Proof Clockwork ranking as my favorite in the genre. But not far behind are Double Figure and Parts in the Post. Plaid manage to convey an astounding depth of emotion balanced with an inherent optimism and a teaspoon of humor. They seem remarkably in tune with this crazy adventure we call life.
2. Alice In Chains — The Layne Staley era was the best thing ever to happen to rock music, in my opinion. This band had it all: heartfelt lyrics, amazing technical skill, and unbridled originality. Their harmonizing in particular is spine-tingling, and they managed to spread their talent fairly evenly over their discography. I am hard pressed indeed to pick a favorite from Jar of Flies, Dirt, and Tripod.
3. Soundgarden — The first time I heard Down on the Upside, I’m pretty sure my life changed forever. I still consider it the best rock album in history, and for that alone this band deserves special mention. Their level of technical skill is off the charts—not much more needs to be said. Just listen and savor.
4. Orbital — The Hartnoll brothers are responsible for my realization many years ago that electronic music is not only legitimate but transcendent. Upon hearing The Brown Album in its entirety, my musical tastes were rebooted. For a long time, Orbital was my favorite artist, and even now are second only to Plaid in their genre. Other standout works from them include Snivilisation and In Sides.
5. Battles — I lovingly refer to Battles as “the ones who saved music.” Either music had lost its power to thrill, or I was just becoming too jaded to appreciate it in recent years. So it seemed until Battles came along and rocked not only my world, but my face, with their now legendary album Mirrored. Fortunately I have been able to experience the power and fury of Battles in person as well. May they continue to lead the way.
6. Guitar Vader — In an alternate universe where things make sense, Miki and Ujuan would be more famous than anyone or anything else from Japan, Pokemon included. With an astonishing stylistic range, Guitar Vader have produced a handful of albums that are quirky, fun-loving, and always enjoyable. Perhaps it’s heresy to compare anyone to the Beatles, but this group seems to be their worthy spiritual successor to the East.

So there you have it. I’ve said my piece, and all that remains is the listening. I sincerely hope you enjoy.

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Brademixx Disc 1

1. “Novacane” — Beck — Odelay
2. “Sweet” — 311 — 311
3. “Forever” — Orbital — Snivilisation
4. “Get Born Again” — Alice In Chains — Music Bank
5. “Get Your Snack On” — Amon Tobin — Supermodified
6. “Captain Bligh” — Filter — Title of Record
7. “Crystalline Green” — Goldfrapp — Black Cherry
8. “The Distance” — Cake — Fashion Nugget
9. “Race: In” — Battles — Mirrored
10. “Let My Fish Loose” — Aphex Twin — 26 Mixes for Cash
11. “Glass of Water” — Bunky — Born to Be a Motorcycle
12. “1969” — Boards of Canada — Geogaddi
13. “Leave Me Alone” — Guitar Vader — Dawn
14. “We Have Explosive” — The Future Sound of London — Dead Cities
15. “People of the Sun” — Rage Against the Machine — Evil Empire
16. “21st Century Poem” — Leftfield — Leftism
17. “Home” — Smashing Pumpkins — Machina II/The Friends and Enemies of Modern Music

Brademixx Disc 2

1. “The Cerobi Steppe” — Hitoshi Sakimoto — Final Fantasy XII: Original Soundtrack
2. “Gel Lab” — Plaid — Rest Proof Clockwork
3. “Maquiladora” — Radiohead — Lost Treasures 1993-1997
4. “Can’t Cry These Tears” — Garbage — Beautiful Garbage
5. “Eutow” — Autechre — Tri Repetae ++
6. “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me” — U2 — Batman Forever: Music from the Motion Picture
7. “Humming the Bassline” — Hideki Naganuma — Jet Set Radio: Original Soundtrack
8. “I Feel Cream” — Peaches — I Feel Cream
9. “Operatique” — CoLD SToRAGE — Wipeout
10. “Broadcast Emotion” — Helmet — Aftertaste
11. “C Note” — Photek — Wipeout Pure: The Official Soundtrack
12. “Who’ll Be the Next in Line” — Queens of the Stone Age — Stone Age Complication
13. “For Love” — Lush — Spooky
14. “Away” — Toadies — Rubberneck
15. “4 Dead Monks (Original Demo)” — Red Snapper — We Are Reasonable People
16. “Xpander (Edit)” — Sasha — Wipeout 3
17. “Never the Machine Forever” — Soundgarden — Down on the Upside
18. “4:14” — Global Communication — 76:14
19. “We’re In This Together” — Nine Inch Nails — The Fragile

There we were, all seven of us, discussing the salient points of G. K. Chesterton’s The Everlasting Man—the distinctions between mythology and philosophy, or the motivation of a soldier during war, or how strange the life of Christ must have appeared to an outside observer. And before the evening was done, we found ourselves debating matters more tenuously connected to the book at hand—the merits (and shortfalls) of Catholicism, or why the American revolution succeeded where others had failed, or the importance of stewardship and ethics in agriculture. It was just the sort of exchange of ideas we were hoping for when the plan for “The Applebiters” was hatched only a couple of months earlier. Some clues to our purpose may be found in the original email I sent out for it:

Greetings to all,

Do you remember the joy of a puffy pan pizza as your ultimate reward for a personal dedication to reading? Then you remember Book It! The edible bonus was of course secondary to the personal enrichment you must have felt after blazing through such classics as “Superfudge” and “Five Children and It.”

Recently it has become apparent to me that we would do well to recapture the spirit of this bygone era by establishing such a stimulating reading programme for the upcoming year. I have run this idea by a few of you already, and I’d be honored for as many people as possible to take part. Essentially I would like to establish an agenda of reading 12 books over a 12 month period, and holding a meeting each month for discussion and general merriment—so yeah, a Book Club. At the end of the 12 months, we could then decide if we want to “renew the contract.”

…

But the big thing is keeping it informal. These are just ideas, and mostly I want it to be dang fun. And I want it to be low-pressure. Don’t feel the need to read every page of every book if you don’t want. Pick out the parts that seem intriguing and be on your way. I want this to be something we will be quite glad we did when we look back on it.

Drawing obvious inspiration from The Inklings of Oxford, the goal for our group was similarly informal and straightforward. And thanks to the recommendations I received from the others, we began with arguably the best possible selection by reading Chesterton’s famous work, which was even regarded by C. S. Lewis as a chief inspiration for his own thoughts on Christianity and history.

Chesterton is the sort of witty and enthusiastic writer that anyone would do well to emulate, even if you don’t agree with his philosophy. For my own part, I can’t say that it was so persuasive that it changed my mind forever about any one thing, but I must agree that its stated mission was accomplished. Written in response to H. G. Wells’ The Outline of History, the book aimed mainly to demonstrate just how unique is this religion called Christianity—how it cannot be subject to simple studies in comparative religion because of the special claims it makes, and how Christ himself must not be merely admired as a capable moral teacher when he balanced those teachings with specific proclamations about his deity and his life’s purpose for all of humanity. It is a convincing case, and the author chooses to make his point by framing man’s entire history around those outrageous events in the Roman Empire two millennia ago, when mythology and philosophy were finally joined, and the course of history truly changed drastically. Jesus spoke aptly indeed when he said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”

It is not my place to convince anyone reading a summary blog post of anything contained in the book, so I would merely encourage each individual to read it for yourself, as you are at least guaranteed to be entertained by such a sweeping look at the world’s past. And from so grand a starting point as this tome, any reader could then springboard to any number of subjects. For The Applebiters, we’ve got our big sticks ready for this month’s entry, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt.