Gift Nine – Dustin
March 18, 2008
Forgotten Mix
In my search for new music, I often collect free mp3s from random bands I’m interested in and burn them en masse onto CDs with enigmatic names. On discovering them later, they may yield hidden aural gems, as is the case with this set of beauties from a disc cryptically inscribed as Car Side/Fire Side.
The first two are from a band called The Delgados. The Delgados were an indie rock band who formed in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, in 1994, and disbanded in 2005. The band was formed after friends Alun Woodward (vocals/guitar), Stewart Henderson (bass) and Paul Savage (drums) were forcibly ejected from the band Bubblegum. Joined by Savage’s then-girlfriend Emma Pollock (vocals/guitar), the band named themselves after Tour de France winning cyclist Pedro Delgado
The next two are from The Helio Sequence. With Brandon Summers on guitar and vocals and Benjamin Weikel, who has also played for Modest Mouse, on keyboards and drums. The band produces an eccentric brand of electronica-tinged indie rock.
Then a little ditty from Scandinavian freaks Nanook of the North. Named after a silent documentary film about the lives of Eskimos, this band naturally became college radio darlings.
And last, perhaps least, is a song from National Skyline. National Skyline is a conceptual band formed in late 1996 by Jeff Dimpsey of Hum. Dimpsey originally formed the band in order to perform a 45-minute long song that he had written. They were initially an indie rock supergroup of sorts, with a rotating cast of prominent Champaign/Chicago area musicians. They did record the 45-minute song/album with Rick Valentin (of The Poster Children) in spring 1997, but it has never been released. The band’s name is apparently a reference to Bob Dylan’s album Nashville Skyline, though their music betrays no stylistic debt to Dylan, nor to country and western music.
Enjoy this fun, and educational romp through uncharted musical waters! Full steam ahead!
The Delgados: Coming In From The Cold
The Helio Sequence: Give, Give, Give
Nanook of the North: Karen Boye’s Grave
National Skyline: Pack Up
I must first comment to apologize for my slacking in getting these songs up.
This music is pretty darn good! I did the same thing with free CD samplers as a kid. Just put the best tracks all on one tape, listen to them for a while, then lose them (unintentionally) to be discovered later.
Actually, I recently came across a tape I had recorded of songs off the radio when I was young. There weren’t any good stations in my tiny little town, but every winter there were a couple stations out of Colorado Springs that would come in good for a month or so. I would spend all day just recording the radio. Ended up with some pretty good stuff!