M*A*P*S (Multiple Album Playlist Sculpture) - An idea whose time has come (??)

[Darth Pazuzu]

I've just recently come up with a new idea for making music mixes. I call it M*A*P*S - or, Multiple Album Playlist Sculpture. Basically, I take several different albums which may be somewhat different from one another stylistically, but more or less occupy my own personal mental space, and which I thought would be an interesting idea to weave them all into one big gigantic playlist! In the case of my first effort, I've got a couple of soundtrack records thrown into the pot.

I'm calling my first mix...
Come, Fly the Teeth of the Wind, Share My Wings

The albums it weaves together are as follows (in chronological order)...


1) Peter Hammill - Nadir's Big Chance (1975)


2)Ennio Morricone - Exorcist II: The Heretic [soundtrack] (1977)


3) The Walker Brothers - Nite Flights (1978)


4) Willy DeVille - his three songs from Cruising [soundtrack] (1980)


5) Jimmy Page - Death Wish II [soundtrack] (1982)


6) Public Image Ltd. - Album (1986)


7) Green River - Dry as a Bone/Rehab Doll [compilation] (1987-88)


8) Tin Machine - Tin Machine (1989)

So what we've got here is...1) a punky album from a prog frontman; 6) a heavy metal album from a punk frontman; 5) a soundtrack for a Hollywood thriller sequel from a British guitar god; 2) a soundtrack for a horror sequel from a legendary Italian film composer; 4) a trio of punky tracks from a late New York singer/songwriter for a dark cop thriller (from the same director who made the original film from whence the aforementioned horror sequel scored by the legendary Italian film composer was spawned! - follow all that? :lol; 3) a cold, dark New Wave-inspired album from a trio of expatriate Americans who made it big in the UK a decade earlier; 8) a raw, aggressive, avant heavy rock record from a former British glam god fronting a noisy power trio of Americans (with a sibling rhythm section); and 7) a compilation by a quintet of heavy metal-loving punks from Seattle, who were the first band to record for Sub Pop and as much as anyone else deserve the credit for accidentally inventing "grunge" (and whose members went on to form other, rather more well-known outfits!)

Overall, it's this rather weird, dark and heavy melange of blues/punk/prog/metal with a very horror/noir/thriller bent to it - all of which relates in a very visceral way to what I like to call the noir part of my brain, or my noir hemisphere, if you like. All in all, a rather idiosyncratic mix of items overall, but hey, there you go!

There is one rule that I'm setting for myself. And that is: I never use two tracks in a row from the same album. The only exception would be if there are two or more tracks segued together as part of a sequence. Then, I would be faithful to the original sequence. And personally, as you can see for yourself below, I prefer to keep at least three tracks distance between songs from the same album. Anyway, here's how I'm weaving everything together...

Ennio Morricone - Seduction and Magic
Jimmy Page - Who's to Blame
Peter Hammill - Nadir's Big Chance
Green River - This Town
Public Image Ltd. - FFF
Peter Hammill - The Institute of Mental Health, Burning
Jimmy Page - City Sirens
The Walker Brothers - Death of Romance
Green River - Rehab Doll
Tin Machine - Prisoner of Love
Peter Hammill - Been Alone So Long
Ennio Morricone - Regan's Theme (Finale)
Willy DeVille - Heat of the Moment
Peter Hammill - Nobody's Business
Green River - Together We'll Never
Jimmy Page - The Chase
Tin Machine - Crack City
The Walker Brothers - Disciples of Death
Public Image Ltd. - Round
Ennio Morricone - Pazuzu (Theme from Exorcist II)
The Walker Brothers - Fat Mama Kick
Tin Machine - Tin Machine
Peter Hammill - Open Your Eyes
The Walker Brothers - Rhythms of Vision
Ennio Morricone - Interrupted Melody (Suspend Sound)
Jimmy Page - Carole's Theme
Green River - Ozzie
Tin Machine - Amazing
Jimmy Page - Jam Sandwich
Green River - Unwind
Public Image Ltd. - Rise
The Walker Brothers - The Electrician
Tin Machine - I Can't Read
Willy DeVille - It's So Easy
Green River - Ain't Nothin' to Do
Jimmy Page - Hotel Rats and Photostats
The Walker Brothers - Den Haague
Tin Machine - Video Crime
Green River - P.C.C.
Jimmy Page - A Shadow in the City
Peter Hammill - Pompeii
Tin Machine - Heaven's in Here
Public Image Ltd. - Bags
The Walker Brothers - Nite Flights
Ennio Morricone - Night Flight
Green River - Smilin' and Dyin'
Tin Machine - Pretty Thing
Ennio Morricone - Dark Revelation
Green River - Take a Dive
Public Image Ltd. - Fishing
The Walker Brothers - Fury and the Fire
Green River - Searchin'
Tin Machine - Sacrifice Yourself
Ennio Morricone - Little Afro-Flemish Mass
The Walker Brothers - Shutout
Green River - Forever Means
Peter Hammill - Shingle Song
Ennio Morricone - Great Bird of the Sky
Green River - Baby Takes
Peter Hammill - Airport
Jimmy Page - Jill's Theme
Ennio Morricone - Interrupted Melody
Tin Machine - Bus Stop
Peter Hammill - Birthday Special
Green River - Porkfist
Ennio Morricone - Rite of Magic
Jimmy Page - Prelude
Tin Machine - Under the God
Green River - Swallow My Pride
Public Image Ltd. - Home
Jimmy Page - Big Band, Sax, and Violence
Tin Machine - Working Class Hero
Green River - Queen Bitch
Ennio Morricone - Regan's Theme (Floating Sound)
Willy DeVille - Pullin' My String
Tin Machine - Run
Peter Hammill - People You Were Going To
Jimmy Page - Hypnotizing Ways (Oh Mamma)
Ennio Morricone - Magic and Ecstasy
Tin Machine - Baby Can Dance
Green River - One More Stitch
The Walker Brothers - Child of Flames
Peter Hammill - Two or Three Spectres
Jimmy Page - The Release
Public Image Ltd. - Ease
Ennio Morricone - Exorcism

 

[Darth Pazuzu]

And as you can see, my second M*A*P*S (or Multiple Album Playlist Sculpture) was even more ambitious than the first! I decided my second opus the title:
You Have Carte Blanche, But Not a Blank Check

The albums which were thrown into this particular stew are as follows (again in chronological order)...


1) Neil Young - Tonight's the Night (1975)


2) Chris Squire - Fish Out of Water (1975)


3) Van der Graaf - The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome (1977)


4) David Bowie - Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) (1980)


5) Fabio Frizzi - The Beyond [soundtrack] (1991)


6) Scott Walker - Climate of Hunter (1984)


7) Voivod - Angel Rat (1991)


8) At the Drive-In - Vaya [EP] (1999)


9) Clint Mansell - Requiem for a Dream [soundtrack] (2000)

I would personally like to dedicate this particular mix to the memory of the late, great Yes bassist Chris Squire, whose 1975 solo album Fish Out of Water is one of the ingredients of this particular stew.

And here's how I wove all of that together...!

Clint Mansell - Summer Overture
David Bowie - It's No Game (Part 1)
Neil Young - Tonight's the Night
Fabio Frizzi - Verso Lignoto (I)
Voivod - Clouds in My House
Scott Walker - Rawhide
Van der Graaf - Lizard Play
Chris Squire - Lucky Seven
Clint Mansell - Party/Coney Island Dreaming/Party
Fabio Frizzi - Voci Dal Nulla (I)
Voivod - The Prow
Van der Graaf - Ship of Fools [bonus track]
David Bowie - Up the Hill Backwards
Neil Young - Speakin' Out
Clint Mansell - Chocolate Charms/Ghosts of Things to Come
Voivod - Shortwave Intro/Panorama
At the Drive-In - Rascuache
Fabio Frizzi - Suono Aperto (I)
Van der Graaf - The Habit of the Broken Heart
Neil Young - World on a String
Voivod - Best Regards
Van der Graaf - The Wave (demo version) [bonus track]
Fabio Frizzi - Giro Di Blues
Chris Squire - Hold Out Your Hand/You By My Side
Van der Graaf - The Siren Song
David Bowie - Ashes to Ashes
Neil Young - Mellow My Mind
Clint Mansell - Dreams/Tense/Dr. Pill
At the Drive-In - Proxima Centauri
Voivod - Twin Dummy
David Bowie - Teenage Wildlife
Van der Graaf - The Wave
Clint Mansell - High on Life/Ghosts
Scott Walker - Dealer
David Bowie - Alabama Song [bonus track]
Neil Young - Come on Baby Let's Go Downtown
Fabio Frizzi - Voci Dal Nulla (II)
Clint Mansell - Crimin' & Dealin'
David Bowie - Fashion
Voivod - Golem
Clint Mansell - Hope Overture
Neil Young - Roll Another Number (For the Road)
Van der Graaf - Cat's Eye/Yellow Fever (Running)
Fabio Frizzi - Oltre la Soglia
David Bowie - Panic in Detroit (remake) [bonus track]
Scott Walker - (Track 3)
At the Drive-In - Ursa Minor
Clint Mansell - Tense/Bialy & Lox Conga
David Bowie - Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)
Fabio Frizzi - Sequenza Coro E Orchestra
Van der Graaf - Last Frame
Chris Squire - Silently Falling
Clint Mansell - Cleaning Apartment
Scott Walker - (Track 6)
Van der Graaf - Door [bonus track]
David Bowie - Scream Like a Baby
Neil Young - Albuquerque
Clint Mansell - Ghosts-Falling/Dreams/Arnold/Marion Barfs
Scott Walker - Sleepwalkers Woman
Neil Young - Borrowed Tune
Clint Mansell - Supermarket Sweep/Dreams/Sara Goldfarb Has Left the Building
Fabio Frizzi - Suono Aperto (II)
Scott Walker - (Track 5)
Voivod - The Outcast
At the Drive-In - Heliotrope
Fabio Frizzi - Sequenza Ritmica E Tema
Clint Mansell - Bugs Got a Devilish Grin Conga
Voivod - Angel Rat
At the Drive-In - Metronome Arthritis
David Bowie - Space Oddity (remake) [bonus track]
Neil Young - New Mama
Van der Graaf - The Sphinx in the Face
David Bowie - Kingdom Come
Scott Walker - (Track 7)
Voivod - Nuage Fractal
Clint Mansell - Winter Overture/Southern Hospitality
Neil Young - Lookout Joe
At the Drive-In - 300 MHz
Fabio Frizzi - Verso Lignoto (II)
Voivod - Freedoom
Van der Graaf - Chemical World
Clint Mansell - Fear/Full Tense/The Beginning of the End/Ghosts of a Future Lost
David Bowie - Crystal Japan [bonus track]
Neil Young - Tired Eyes
At the Drive-In - 198d
Clint Mansell - Meltdown
Fabio Frizzi - Voci Dal Nulla (III)
David Bowie - Because You're Young
Voivod - None of the Above
Clint Mansell - Lux Aeterna
Neil Young - Tonight's the Night, Pt. 2
David Bowie - It's No Game (Part 2)
Scott Walker - Blanket Roll Blues
Van der Graaf - The Sphinx Returns
Chris Squire - Safe (Canon Song)
Clint Mansell - Coney Island Low