C60 - Unironic Hipster Ennui

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In the liner notes to this Cannonball Adderly album I have, we have the following sentence:

"His sax is the loneliness of unlighted roads at night, the skittering configurations of big city traffic, the extra warmth a fire provides when its pouring outside and just the two of you are inside, the heartbreak and joy of being modern."

A compilation that unironically suggests the heartbreak and joy of "being modern" would totally make my autumn. Thinking melancholy urbanism. Given that it's 2:30 am I won't put my mix up now, but in a day or so I'll drop mine into place.

― Hoosteen (Hoosteen), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 06:35 (nineteen years ago)

Very nice idea. Looking forward to it.

― Baaderonixx: the lost ILX years (baaderonixx), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 06:58 (nineteen years ago)

Is Pavement - "Range Life" too ironic?

― wogan lenin (dog latin), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 08:54 (nineteen years ago)

I can't find it so I can listen before suggesting, but

Roy Montgomery & Kirk Lake - London Is Swinging By His Neck

came to mind immediately on reading "melancholy urbanism".

― kaygee (kaygee), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 12:02 (nineteen years ago)

"melancholy urbanism"= "last exit" (the track)

― jed_ (jed), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 12:10 (nineteen years ago)

yes - good one.

A lot of Fennesz too. 'Transit' for example

― Baaderonixx: the lost ILX years (baaderonixx), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 12:18 (nineteen years ago)

"the heartbreak and joy of being modern"

Alain Finkielkraut to thread.

― Marco Damiani (Marco D.), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 12:20 (nineteen years ago)

Does 'Computer Love' fit in this category?

― NickB (NickB), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 12:24 (nineteen years ago)

Roxy Music: Mother of Pearl

― kornrulez6969 (TCBeing), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 12:25 (nineteen years ago)

my first thought was "neon lights", but "computer love" works as well

― zappi (joni), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 12:30 (nineteen years ago)

London Is Swinging By His Neck seconded.

The Jam - That's Entertainment
Lou Reed - Walk on the Wild Side
Nick Cave - Brompton Oratory
Prolapse - Killing the Bland
Girls Against Boys - (I) Don't Got A Place

Well, maybe.

I keep thinking that there should be an Auteurs/Black box Recorder track in here somewhere, but Luke Haines seems to almost exclusively deal with small towns and suburbs.

― Ben Dot (1977), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 12:48 (nineteen years ago)

Pulp esp circa This Is Hardcore is begging to be described as being about "the heartbreak and joy of being modern".

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 13:01 (nineteen years ago)

Lou Reed - Ennui

... I would have thought

― Am I Re-elected Yet? (Dada), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 13:10 (nineteen years ago)

Yeeah, I woulnd't exactly call "walk on the wild side" unironic.

― Eppy (Eppy), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 13:44 (nineteen years ago)

Anyway: Richard Hawley.

― Eppy (Eppy), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 13:45 (nineteen years ago)

First thing I thought of was Yo La Tengo's "Autumn Sweater."

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 13:52 (nineteen years ago)

Lots of Jonathan Richman maybe?

― wogan lenin (dog latin), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 14:09 (nineteen years ago)

I'll be honest, I was expecting this to turn into a CORNY INDIE FUXX0R mock-thread. Glad it didn't. Thanks for the ideas everybody. I'll put up the resulting comp as soon as I throw it together.

― Hoosteen (Hoosteen), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 16:32 (nineteen years ago)

Most of Luomo's Present Lover would really work

― Baaderonixx: the lost ILX years (baaderonixx), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 19:48 (nineteen years ago)

loads of shit from the the's 'dusk' album, esp. 'helpline operator' and 'bluer than midnight'

― gear (gear), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 20:26 (nineteen years ago)

'jumbo' by underworld
'side streets' by saint etienne

― gear (gear), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 20:27 (nineteen years ago)

Not sure if it's quite hipster enough, but you'll find little irony and a lot of ennui spiced around Pet Sounds, eg "I Guess I Just Wasn't Made For These Times," "That's Not Me," and, off of that record, "Surf's Up."

― Doctor Casino (Doctor Casino), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 20:45 (nineteen years ago)

"Surf's Up" definitely crossed my mind, but goddam if seeing that video of Brian doing it solo didn't ruin EVERY other version of it I've ever heard, even the one on the finished "SMiLE."

― Hoosteen (Hoosteen), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 20:54 (nineteen years ago)

OK guys, I think I've got it.

SIDE A
"Some Kinda Love"--Velvet Underground
"We Looked Like Giants"--Death Cab for Cutie
"Sometimes"--My Bloody Valentine
"Just Like Honey"--Jesus & Mary Chain
"Drinking at the Dam"--Smog
"Things Behind the Sun"--Nick Drake
"Ce Mortel Ennui"--Anthony Coleman

SIDE B
"Singing Softly to Me"--Kings of Convenience
"Surf's Up"--The Beach Boys
"Bird Stealing Bread"--Iron & Wine
"Autumn Sweater"--Yo La Tengo
"Brompton Oratory"--Nick Cave
"I Kill Everything I Fuck [acoustic]"--Joseph Cotton
"All Apologies [Home Demo]"--Kurt Cobain
"Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts"--Wolf Parade

Joe Cotton's fantastic cover of IKEIF puts me at 60 min 25 secs, but fuck it I had to have it. Credit where credit is due:

just in case there was a demand for an acoustic cover of "I Kill Everything I Fuck"

Thoughts? I listened to everything suggested here, and a good bit of it was totally perfect (I'm a newly converted fan of Hawley & Johnathan Richman), but for length constraints this is what I ended up with.

― Hoosteen (Hoosteen), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 21:24 (nineteen years ago)

this is the exact opposite of what i would have come up with.

― jed_ (jed), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 21:27 (nineteen years ago)

Different tunes for different loons, right?

x-post

Rewind me on that Anthony Coleman track, I don't know what I was thinking. The dissonance sounded good on its own, but in the context of the tape it's just annoying. I'm replacing it w/Underworld's "Jumbo," as per Gear's suggestion.

― Hoosteen (Hoosteen), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 21:58 (nineteen years ago)

Blur - "Caramel"

― You've Got Scourage On Your Breath (Haberdager), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 21:59 (nineteen years ago)

What's the matter with Roxy Music Mother of Pearl? It's practically dripping with unironic hipster ennui. World-weariness, too. Geez Louise!

― kornrulez6969 (TCBeing), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 22:39 (nineteen years ago)

"lush life"

― xave (xave), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 00:01 (nineteen years ago)

How disappointing. So much potential... and you put Wolf Parade and Death Cab for Cutie?

― The Brainwasher (Twilight), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 00:19 (nineteen years ago)

I was feeling particularly emo today.

There are always more casette tapes, anyhow.

― Hoosteen (Hoosteen), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 01:37 (nineteen years ago)

I may just get to downloading a few of these.

One solution to getting more would be to just look for bands known for being unironic and having some degree of hip cred in their day - e.g., REM, U2 in the 80s, the Postal Service - and then skim through their catalogs and find the ennui.

― Doctor Casino (Doctor Casino), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 01:52 (nineteen years ago)

I've got Joe Pass's version of Lush Life on my "Happy to Be Alive" comp, it's way great.

― Hoosteen (Hoosteen), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 04:07 (nineteen years ago)

Not too thrilled by your selection either but it's true that MBV's Sometimes fits perfectly on this. Though I know very well that stems from that Lost in Translation scene...

― Baaderonixx in the year of the locusts (baaderonixx), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 09:31 (nineteen years ago)

"Ice of Boston" by Dismemberment Plan would be on mine, were I tempted to make one.
Perhaps a Notwist song too, as that seems to be what they're good at.

― js (honestengine), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 11:58 (nineteen years ago)

How To Make Any Credibility You Have Disappear in One Thread:

1. Death Cab for Cutie

― Hoosteen (Hoosteen), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 13:52 (nineteen years ago)

2. ????
3. PROFIT!

― Hoosteen (Hoosteen), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 13:52 (nineteen years ago)

where's the modernity here? Nick Cave? All Apologies? come on.

― jed_ (jed), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 13:57 (nineteen years ago)

Thinking melancholy urbanism

then why include smog's "drinking at the dam" or iron & wine?

― jed_ (jed), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 14:02 (nineteen years ago)

i'm not criticizing i'm just baffled.

― jed_ (jed), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 14:03 (nineteen years ago)

No, I completely understand your bafflement. I ended up going in a slightly different direction here than I had originally intended. Undoubtedly I'll take another crack at this idea a ways down the road. I'll revive this thread when I've got V 2.0 that sticks to the original concept a little more.

If anybody else has a comp though, I'd love to see it.

― Hoosteen (Hoosteen), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 23:20 (nineteen years ago)

Devo 'Beautiful World' owns this.

― tylero (tylero), Thursday, 28 September 2006 00:34 (nineteen years ago)

Beautiful World - how much more ironic does it get?

melancholy urbanism = Love Theme, Vangelis

― Bobby Peru (Bobby Peru), Thursday, 28 September 2006 01:34 (nineteen years ago)

farmer in the city

― jed_ (jed), Thursday, 28 September 2006 01:36 (nineteen years ago)

Tom Waits - the trilogy of "Rain Dogs," "Midtown," and "9th and Hennepin" is perfect, and only wastes about 6 minutes of cassette tape.

― King-a-Ling (King-a-Ling), Thursday, 28 September 2006 01:51 (nineteen years ago)

otm

― Hoosteen (Hoosteen), Wednesday, 11 October 2006 23:36 (nineteen years ago)

talking heads - the big country!

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Thursday, 12 October 2006 13:35 (nineteen years ago)

four years pass...

4 years later....................

elvis decanter - the vandals
pretty good year - the loved ones
uncle sam goddamn -brother ali
politicians in my eyes - death
natural's not in it - gang of four
spying glass - horace andy
what are you willing to lose? - lucero

SIDE B
brown sugar - d'angelo
i got drunk - uncle tupelo
we takin over (drought 3 version) - lil wayne
daylight - atmosphere
the southern thing - drive by truckers
mosh for jesus - dillinger four
the '59 sound - gaslight anthem
nighttime ramblin man - hank williams iii

not positive it fits my own requirements

but i like it a bunch

― HOOS the master?? STEEN NUFF (BIG HOOS aka the steendriver), Friday, 4 February 2011 05:52 (fifteen years ago)

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