Mixtape 261 • The Famous Polka I
Welcome to a near-biographical experience as we focus on songs named after (and occasionally about) real people you may have heard of.
Welcome to a near-biographical experience as we focus on songs named after (and occasionally about) real people you may have heard of.
It was a day of jet-setting, starting in the dark hours of morning, and it wasn’t going to be over until the studio light went off. To keep up the energy levels, we presented a double-header of a special, first an hour of The Famous Polka, featuring songs titled after real (mostly) people, and following that two hours of Balkan Fever, with music that was far from exclusively Balkan but all fed into that manic two-step non-stop feeling.
Sure, we’ve all heard of the Eiffel Tower, but what do we know about the architect whose name it bears? April March breaks it all down on this version of the Pixies’ song. Also in this show, a special-delivery track from Planets in the Ocean, a new project from one of my favorite vocalists, Robb Benson.
The person behind Vampire Weekend’s production and half of Islands’ distinctive sound shows more of his unique sonic signature on a full album of gentle songs awash in analog and digital abstractions and heavenly choruses
Lush pop with strange turns of melody and complicated hooks.
It’s simple mathematics. Given an “N-th Anniversary of Spinal Tap”, there is no known value for N that will not make you state “crap, Spinal tap was N years ago?”