Cut Time: Capital presents 'Fast Car,' a springtime mix
The-Dream is ready for spring, like the rest of us.
9:59 am Apr. 19, 2011
Welcome to Cut Time! It's a monthly music mix carefully beat-matched for Capital readers' listening pleasure. Brooklyn D.J. Chris Hires presents "Fast Car," a mix of springtime songs.
Any day now, this late-winter limbo is going to end. Every day I wake up to another gray, high-in-the-50s seasonal purgatory, and I repeat that mantra to myself. Two weeks ago, I switched to iced coffee, thinking that maybe that small optimistic gesture would help drive the mercury up. I don't need to tell you how that's worked out. But if there's any silver lining to the excruciating wait for spring, it's that we appreciate those first warm days that much more. This mix was designed for those days, filled with nostalgic BBQ jams that go as well with friends and a rooftop as they do in your headphones while you're walking down the street without a jacket for the first time all year.
Listen below or download here (right click and save).
The Jackson 5 - "It's Great To Be Here"
One of the all-time great hip hop breaks edited by one of the all time great New York City D.J.s. Michael's exuberant vocals made this one a go-to hangover cure for me when I was in college.
Biz Markie - "Spring Again"
The Biz extolls the many virtues of early spring on this one (not that any of us needed reminding); the song is a kind of precursor to Will Smith and Jazzy Jeff's "Summertime."
The Avalanches - "Since I Left You"
Sunny sample-based electronica from Australian duo The Avalanches, whose L.P. of the same name made a big splash in electronic music circles about a decade ago.
KC & The Sunshine Band - "I Get Lifted"
Another oft-sampled hip hop break from KC & The Sunshine Band. If "Stayin' Alive" is the ultimate strutting down the street song, "I Get Lifted" could serve as its understudy.
Nena Cherry - "Buffalo Stance"
Classic electro-raps from the UK's Neneh Cherry. Fun facts about this one: Neneh performed the song on Top Of The Pops while she was 8 months pregnant (the video is on YouTube and it's awesome). Additionally, she's the half sister of Eagle Eye Cherry, who had a hit with "Save Tonight" back in 1997.
De La Soul - "Eye Know"
Sunshine hip hop from one of the sunniest hip hop groups there ever was. Gotta love that excellent use of Otis Redding's whistle from "(Sittin' On) Dock Of The Bay," which is another great warm weather song (though a decidedly mellower one).
Stevie Wonder - "Boogie On Reggae Woman"
Great bouncy soul from Stevie's Fullfillingness' First Finale album. Rumor has it that Stevie used to refer to this one as "the fart song," due to the synthesizer bass sounds. Knowing that Stevie Wonder isn't totally averse to toilet humor makes me feel strange.
Kurt Vile - "Freeway"
Lo-fi from Philadelphia's Kurt Vile. Lots of great Americana vibes on this one. It's been a summer favorite for me ever since a friend put me on to it a couple years ago.
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - "Don't Do Me Like That"
Speaking of Americana, here's a classic from one of the masters of that sound. I'm getting the feeling that I'm about to embark on a big nostalgia-driven classic rock phase this summer. You know, the kind of thing where I might find myself renting a zip car and driving around the North Jersey exurbs while listening to Born to Run. Doesn't everyone go through that phase sooner or later?
The Strokes - "You Only Live Once"
Nice little gem from The Strokes' much-maligned third album, First Impressions Of Earth. Even though it didn't live up to the first two L.P.s, that guitar riff still makes this a catchy-as-hell BBQ jam. It's been a perennial favorite with me and my friends for several years.
The Lightning Seeds - "Change"
For a while, I got really excited when I would book a D.J. gig where I thought I would have a chance to play this one. "Surely," I thought, "everyone will hear that opening vocal line and remember this song from the Clueless soundtrack, at which point they'll freak out and dance and laugh and makeout." Of course, it's never worked out that way. It always falls flat, leaving me to wonder if maybe I love the Clueless soundtrack a little too much (definitely a possibility).
Cut Copy - "Take Me Over"
Taken from Cut Copy's excellent L.P. called Zonoscope, which was released a few months ago and will really come into its own as spring transitions into summer. "Take Me Over" is atypical of the band's sound, in that it's a lot more Beach Boys than New Order, but it's those summer vibes that lend it so well to this mix.
The-Dream - "Fast Car"
The-Dream has released an L.P. every summer for the last three years, making him a warm weather staple for pop and R&B fans. On his last one, he prophesied that he would release an album called Love/Affair on 6/7/2011, and while things have been quiet on that front, I'm still holding out hope that he'll deliver. "Fast Car" finds him doing two of the things he does best: emulating Prince and comparing women to motor vehicles.
Smashing Pumpkins - "1979"
Nice sing along to close things out. I was disappointed that I didn't include this on the last Cut Time mix, so I'm glad I managed to shoehorn it onto the end of this one.
