I worked in a fine dining restaurant in a suburb of Houston, Texas last year. The owner's cassette muzak system finally bit the dust after three years of listening to the same two goddamned tapes. Seals and Croft, Phil Collins, Taylor fucking Dane; Dire Straits' "So Far Away" was the highlight of my day....I had the tracklists memorized to the point I could tell co-workers the next four songs at any point!
The owner, a naturalized Iranian, actually let me burn new compilations for the restaurant. I was pretty excited. Imagine the opportunity to expose a captive restaurant audience to new and old songs that have moved you for so long but have never gotten the exposure they so deserved, particularly in a cultural black hole like Houston.
It was actually a chore, going through my collection night after night searching out tracks that were amazing but completely inoffensive, both lyrically and musically. Harder guitar had to be avoided, and even some jangly bits could potentially spark a complaint that could quash the musical renaissance I was about to incite in this suburban mall culture. I'm quite the optimist.
My proudest achievements:
(Please keep in mind I live in Houston and nothing like this EVER was or is played on the radio or at any mass public venue)
Primal Scream - Come Together (had to fade out the end, I'm afraid)
Air - all of Moon Safari except Sexy Boy; Radian
Four Tet - most of Pause
Doves - Satellite/The Sulfur Man
New Order - All Day Long/Run Wild (would have done Your Silent Face were it not for that "Why don't you piss off" bit")
Wilco - Jesus, Etc./Kamera/Pieholden Suite/War On War/Pot Kettle Black
Echo And The Bunnymen - The Killing Moon/Bring On The Dancing Horses; all of What Are You Going To Do With Your Life
The Notwist - Trashing Days/Consequence
Cocteau Twins - Iceblink Luck/Ella Megalast Burls Forever
Massive Attack - all the Liz Fraser tracks/Protection/Sly
Baby Mammoth - all of Swimming/Seven Up
Underworld - Eight Ball (edited out that long intro)
Pulp - Something Changed/A Little Soul/Trees/Bad Cover Version
Pavement - Spit On A Stranger/Father To A Sister Of Thought
Brian Eno - An Ending (Ascent) (this drew some irritated glances at the ceiling)
Blork - Isobel/It's Oh So Quiet/New World/Unison/Come To Me
The Clash - Train In Vain
The Beatles - lottsa Beatles, but snuck in A Day In The Life
Talk Talk - I Believe In You (I was so buzzed every time this played)
Flaming Lips - Waiting For A Superman/What Is The Light/Ego Tripping.../Do Ya Realize
Daft Punk - Something About Us
The Stone Roses - Sugar Spun Sister
The The - Uncertain Smile
Mogwai - Christmas Song/Tracy
Super Furry Animals - Juxtapose With U/Presidential Suite/Shoot Doris Day/It's Not The End Of The World/The Turning Tide/The Roman Road
Sigur Ros - Olsen Olsen/Agaetis Byrjun/Untitled tracks 3 and 4
Talking Heads - This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)
There was more, but you get the idea. I mixed these with the likes of Sarah McLachlan, Beth Orton, Peter Gabriel, Aimee Mann, Coldplay, Travis, Thievery Corporation, Badly Drawn Boy, etc. to sweeten the pill.
I no longer work there, but the owner and manager of the restaurant want more. What edgy/ignored songs would you recommend? Just remember, you have children and the elderly listening, too. One complaint, and it's back to Phil Collins.
(If you're ever in the north Houston area, check out Amerigo's Grille in The Woodlands. Best seafood and wild game on the north side.)
Oh, and the Iranian owner actually loved all my compilations more than anyone else. He actually started taking the mixes home with him. That's not me bragging; I'm more amazed at how naturally he accepted it all, while the locals tend to dismiss/ignore it all too easily.
What a wonderful experience.
― turkey (turkey), Saturday, 9 August 2003 09:21 (twenty-two years ago)
Young Marble Giants in general
Susumu Yokota, "Future Tiger"
Robert Wyatt, "Memories of You," "Shipbuilding," etc.
Varttina, "Oi Dai"
Fairport Convention, most of _Unhalfbricking_
The Beach Boys, "Cool Cool Water"
Brian Eno, "Julie With..."
― Douglas (Douglas), Sunday, 10 August 2003 00:56 (twenty-two years ago)
Low "Sunflower"
The One AM Radio "Don't Panic"
Belle & Sebastian "Lazy Line Painter Jane"
Rainy Day Regatta "California" or "Spinning"
Elf Power "The Sun Is Forever"
Stereolab "Cybele's Reverie"
John Fahey "Charlie Bradley's Ten Sixty-Six Blues"
― Ian Johnson (elmo oxygen), Sunday, 10 August 2003 06:05 (twenty-two years ago)
I figured I had that coming, Trife. I didn't mean to come across as an indie hero. And that "musical renaissance" shit was meant to be a lot more self deprecating than it sounded.
The reason so much of that list was indie was simply because you cannot hear it anywhere in Houston, the fourth largest city in the US. I mixed those songs with quite a bit of pop so guests don't completely tune it out.
I guess my taste differs from others in that I consider all those tracks to be pop. It's all just inspired songwriting to me, indie or not.
But I do confess that my guilty thrill is seeing a sixty-year old businessmen sitting on the patio bouncing his leg to the beat of "Train In Vain" while he eats his creme brulee.
― turkey (turkey), Sunday, 10 August 2003 07:50 (twenty-two years ago)