I used to live in Brooklyn and run free among hipsters. Now I live in a factory city in Korea. I still dig me some fresh tunes.

Saturday, September 7, 2013

I Tried to Make it 16...but I Gave up at 17 -- A Selection of Smiths Songs

Yeah, a Smiths comp. I know. But sometimes you just have state the obvious, even when everyone expects you to say it. Much like the other "best of" compilations I've done by Felt and Epic Soundtracks, these are my favorite Smiths songs as of now. Actually, as of June, but I wanted to let it marinate a bit to make sure I had it right. As the title suggests, I set out to choose 16 of my favorite songs, but in the end I couldn't choose another to eliminate. You'll probably choose one when you look at the titles, as I would if you made me a Smiths mix.

 The difficulty in creating a Smiths comp is that it was such a seminal group to me growing up different albums and periods sit like signposts in my life, but I didn't really want to make a compilation based on my life or history listening to the band. In truth, I probably go back to the band more than any other, even though I don't think I'd normally say it's my favorite group of all time.

 "Strangeways" was the first Smiths album I ever heard. It was so radically different from anything I was listening to at the time. In retrospect I can see it not only changed the way I listened to music, but probably changed the way I viewed art and even myself. It's difficult to not over-represent the album on this sort of mix.

 One thing that will likely jump out to aficionados is that "Hateful of Hollow" dominates my selections. I kind of struggled with this and really wanted to eliminate at least one of those versions, but as much as I like the production on all Smiths albums, there's something about the raw, electric, and often punk sounds of the band that I've loved more as I've gotten older. Likewise, one might notice that Meat is Murder is barely represented at all. That album is my least favorite by the band, and the title track is one of my least favorite Smiths songs. With that I hope you enjoy this, even just to listen to once so you can bitch to the Smiths fans in your life about what's missing and what should never be on a comp like this.