Graphic by Rachael Novak

Click here for details on how you can be a part of The Monday Morning Mix and win some cool stuff!

We’ve got some great mixes in hand and on the way – where is yours?

About Today’s Mix:

Today’s mix is brought to us by one Edward A. Sotelo, known for his activities locally, internationally, and in parts of Canton, OH with bands including but not necessarily limited to Cobra Verde and the Jack Fords. Ed also lends his writing skills to Metromix, the Beachland Ballroom blog, and we hear that he’s currently ghost writing a book about things to do in Cleveland suburbs when you’re really bored. That last part is just a rumor, but as far as we know, it could happen. Ed wins the award for record turnaround time on a mix – this mix was in my inbox about four hours after he contacted me for details.

Here is the mix with some notes from Ed about each song. Enjoy!

Mix Notes:

Download complete mix (this link will be good for one week)

“Back To Rome,” Frank Black and the Catholics – from Frank Black and the Catholics – I’m a weirdo for never buying another FB solo album. My friend, Carol Schumacher (ex-Detroit Cobras, Reigning Sound) got me into Mr. Black’s first Catholics outing. There’s a lotta loud-ass twang, slop, and Mr. Black writing about matters of the heart as if he was a Classics professor. I can dig that. I’m sorry about the Visigoths too, baby.

“Reptile Style,” The Reigning Sound. Speaking of RS, this Southern (once Memphis, now Asheville, maybe?) garage-soul band hauls ass, runs lights, and occasionally skids to a sentimental–but noisy–stop. At the wheel you have Mr. Greg Cartwright, who I personally think writes the best rock songs around. They sound like old 50s and 60s number, but devoid of drippy reverence. This number drips with the kind of malicious venom that brews inside a broken heart . Makes me want to date someone just to kick them to the curb and play ’em this song. From one of the great rock records of this era, Time Bomb High School.

“Casino Queen,” Wilco. I get kind of sick of hearing about Jeff Tweedy’s genius, so as a result, I just end up listen to old Wilco rock numbers, where the whiskey stink of Uncle Tupelo is still on Tweedy’s breath. Here’s a bacchanalian holler wherein women and gambling are metaphors for one another. Glasses clink at the end of the song. Go figure – from Wilco A.M.

“Sweet Papa Doolittle,” The Revelers. It has been said that The Revelers, a once-popular Cleveland rock combo, were the only band that could make the Stones sound like The Who. On any given night, you could see this four-piece at Pat’s In The Flats, shake the living daylights out of Maximum R&B to the point that yes, I thought they might break their instruments. Admittedly, I’ve never been that crazy about their recorded output, but that’s my nostalgia acting up. The cure for such things is a listen to this funky, almost Velvetsy number from The Revelers’ On Top record.

“Walk Before They Make Me Run,” The Rolling Stones. I love Keith Richards’ voice. You can take it or leave it. He sounds like my favorite kind of drunk: smart, funny, mean, sentimental, and always with a song in his heart. This very same song from Some Girls features Mr. Richards wheezing, cussin’, and groanin’ unapologetically about being high.

“One Hundred Years From Now,” The Byrds. It was the Dreadful Yawns’ self-titled CD that got me into the Byrds; playing with the Jack Fords saw me learning this song, albeit in a much more muscular, hot-rodded version. Then again, I think I’ve always had a Byrds song in my heart, and just didn’t know it. It’s a lazy and wistful rumination on well, just about everything. Made for summertime philosophers who loll weekdays on Whiskey Island, drinking away their unemployment checks. From the album Sweetheart of the Rodeo

“Rita Jeep,” Jorge Ben. NOTE: I musta screwed up the titling on this one; the listing is “Domingas”, which is another song altogether by prolific Brazilian singer/songwriter/guitarist Jorge Ben. I’m not gonna go on and on and on about how great I think some of Ben’s songs are, or how good Brazilians seem to be at combining both light and rawness in their melodies, especially during the 60s and 70s. Anyway, this song is allegedly about the hot third of beloved group Os Mutantes (who are playing at the Beachland very soon). And from the enthusiastic sound of his pleading, Rita musta been a honey. From the album Pura Suingue

“Baby Consuelo/Flores Beles/Funga Funa” (mixed by Andy Votel). About a year ago, UK DJ Andy Votel dug up a bunch of Brazilian psych/prog from the 70s, and gave his favorite tunes a mix treatment. Here we have the excellent Novos Baianos peddling the sci-fi soft-porn “Baby Consuelo”, which then goes into Tim Maia’s “Flores Beles” and then Viva Sesamo’s goofy “Funga Funga”. From the album Andy Votel Presents Brazilika

“Make the Road By Walking,” Menahan Street Band. We’d like to thank Brooklynite Jay-Z and his smash hit, “Roc Boyz” for copping a horn riff from NYC neighbors, the retro-soul, Daptone Records Menahan Street Band. Interestingly enough, the bit Hova ganked is only a small part of this mellowly smoked Afro-soul number. This is the title track from the album of the same name.

“Todo Tiene Su Final,” Hector Lavoe – We then go smashing into this lyrically dark salsa tune from the Fania Records 70s era, rendered by the legendary Hector Lavoe. If you don’t know Spanish, it’s all about the fleeting nature of life and the importance of seizing the day. Heady stuff for a unstoppable dancefloor cut.  Sourced from A Man & His Music

“Limitacion,” Grupo Monumental. Nicked from a sampler of 60s-70s Cuban funk groups, this is some righteous, fist-in-the-air, the-Man-can’t-keep-me-down kinda stuff. Crank it. Get arrested.

“I Want To Take You Higher,” Sly and the Family Stone – from the album Stand –  Now, if you really feel like flipping out, this tune calls you to action fueled by one of the great American bands, period. If you’re listening to this, The Man/The Woman/The Whatsis is going to have a hard time keeping you down, indeed.

“Hit It And Quit It,” Funkadelic – from Maggot Brain –  There’s really no way to prepare for the gutpunch of funk when the band jumps in on this jam. Hold on to your “oh shit” straps, kids. It gets deep and dirty for about four nasty minutes.

“Brown, Wind, and Fire,” Brownout – from the album Homenage –  An offshoot/mutant version of contemporary latin superheroes Grupo Fantasma, Brownout sells you a come-down cut after the rollin’ and tumblin’ of the aforementioned Funkadelic showstopper. It’s all Isley Brothers breeze wrapped around a SoCal lowrider feel–now inhale, deeply.

“Contractors,” Doug Gillard. Though we jump from soul back to rock, former Guided By Voices guitarist Doug Gillard gets funkily spooky, invoking a bit of the Walker Brothers and maybe even a little bit of early solo Peter Gabriel. That’s the paranoia comin’ off that Brownout high, but a listen to Gillard’s excellently genre-defying new release, Call From Restricted, will put you right.

“The Reverend Luther Williams,” Lives of the Saints (live). Okay, I can come clean: I helped start this band with my fellow noisemakers Proletarian Art Threat (where Self Destruct Button’s Ron Kretsch came from) and a guy you might know by the name of Lawrence Daniel Caswell, DJ extraordinaire, scholar, and bassist for This Moment In Black History and National Suicide Day. By the time this Live from RUW recording got done, I ceded my bass post to powerhouse four-stringer Jeff Deasy (now in Mystery of Two). On drums is Matt Fish, formerly of the Chargers Street Gang and currently achieving star status with Melt Bar and Grilled. One of these days I’ll devise a powerpoint presentation detailing all these CLE band lineages. For now, close your eyes and get drowned by this intense tsunami of a song.

“The Days of Wine and Roses,” Tony Bennett. One of the best, most bittersweet closing time songs ever written. From the Tony Bennett/Bill Evans album.