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MIX TAPE

Spider Bags Makes MAGNET A Mix Tape

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Spider Bags was formed in 2005 by a group of close friends. After relocating to Chapel Hill, N.C., and going through a few different lineup changes, the band solidified as a three-piece in 2011 during the recording of third album Shake My Head. Now, Spider Bags have made MAGNET a mix tape. Check it out below.

Elvis Presley “Flaming Star”
Hard to do a mix tape without a specific person or occasion in mind, so I figured I’d start with Elvis. “Flaming Star”! Great goddamn song from the movie of the same name. Elvis sings the shit out of this one, and the band is great. This is 1960, and Elvis has not yet totally sold his soul to the Colonel; he was still ambitious and dedicated and new the kind of music he wanted to make. Bunch of Hollywood session guys backing him up; they were all jazz players back then, and you can hear it in the way the guitar and drums swing. I love it. Plus the movie is good, too, directed by Don Siegal, and Elvis’ character is named Pacer Burton. There will only ever be one Elvis Presley. Video

Shin Joong Hyun “Moon Watching”
Whenever I think of the early examples of polished rock ‘n’ roll coming out of Hollywood in the late ’50s and early ’60s, I also think of this song because it’s the exact opposite thing. Mr. Shin himself! Recorded in 1958 at an Army base in South Korea with a bunch of American-soldier musicians, less polished than the Hollywood guys but you can hear the similarities, and holy shit, Shin’s guitar playing. He’s 20 years old and already playing this crazy psychedelic rock ‘n’ roll guitar. In 1958. In a room full of American soldiers. Pretty wild to think about, too: The same Howlin’ Wolf and Elmore James records that inspired Keith Richards also inspired this. Video

The Doors “L.A. Woman”
The same jazz style rhythm but played in 1971 by a bunch of L.A. punks (including Jerry Scheff on electric bass who would later play in Elvis’ TCB band). I know you hate the Doors. I did, too, for a long time, but I happened to accidentally stumble across their Live At The Hollywood Bowl movie a couple years back, and the veil was lifted. The Doors rule. Watch the movie with an open mind and tell me you hate the Doors. I dare ya. Video

Neil Young “L.A.”
I can’t listen to one of these L.A. songs without wanting to listen to the other. From Time Fades Away, recorded live during the 90-day tour following the release of Harvest. Neil Young is drunk on tequila and playing a Flying V. I love it. My buddy Andrew worked at Shangri-La Records in Memphis for a long time, and he said one day this dude came in and asked to see a copy of Time Fades Away. The guy said that a friend had told him he was on the cover. Andrew showed him the record and the dude said, “Yep that’s me,” and then walked out of the store. Andrew said that the he did look a bit like the guy holding up the peace sign on the front. Maybe this sort of things happens in record stores all the time. Who knows? Video

Waylon Jennings “Waymore’s Blues”
Neil Young’s singing sometimes reminds me of Waylon. From Dreaming My Dreams, Waylon’s breakthrough record. He made it with wild man and Memphis native “Cowboy” Jack Clement, who was a producer and engineer for Sun Records during the Million Dollar Quartet heyday. Lots of great songs on this record, but this one blew my mind the first time I heard it. Waylon Jennings is one tough dude, and his voice is amazing. It goes right to the center of my brain. “I got my name painted on my shirt/I ain’t no ordinary dude/I don’t have to work.” Awesome. Video

Sensations Fix “Faux Batard”
Song number six; time to get weird! Someone once put this song on a mix tape for me. The best kind of weird beauty. Franco Falsini lived in Virginia for a time in the late ’60s and brought the Moog back to Italy with him. He sings in English, but you get the impression that he barely understands what he’s saying. File it under garagesynthkrautprogrockAudio

The Walker Brothers “The Electrician”
First time I heard this song was on a mix tape as well, way back in the day. Blew my mind all over my shirt. It’s about as perfect as a song can get. I was listening to this song recently while driving around with my two-year-old daughter, and when the strings kicked in I heard her say in her little voice from the car seat behind me, “It’s beautiful, dadda. Can you make it louder?” Video

Tommy James “Midnight Train”
Tommy James is my hero. From his self-titled solo record. Great singer and songwriter, engineer and producer. The man did it all. The way he used echo and tape delay is a constant source of inspiration for me. The guitar playing on this song and the album in general is so psychedelic and cool. The story is that he had to make this record in Nashville because the mob put a hit out on him in NYC. God bless you, Tommy James. Video

Creedence Clearwater Revival “Midnight Special”
Two songs about L.A. and two about midnight trains; maybe we do have a theme going. This song is just about everything I love about rock ‘n’ roll; a seemingly simple song played well with all the contagious emotion of four people high on the feeling of reckless abandon that you can only get from playing electric rock ‘n’ roll music as loud and as loose as you want. Plus, it’s the song that plays after the opening scene of that weird-ass Twilight Zone movie from the ’80s. Video

Bread “Look What You’ve Done”
I asked my wife how I should end this virtual mix tape, and this is the song she immediately came up with. It’s perfect. When I was a kid, mix tapes were either for the beginning of a relationship when you want to tell somebody what you’re all about, or the end of a relationship when you want to let someone know what they’re missing out on. This song would definitely fit into the latter category. I actually put John Cale’s “You Know More Than I Know” on a mix tape for a girl who broke my heart when I was 18. Yeah, heavy times. We love Bread in my house. Their records are in constant rotation. From Elvis to Bread in 10 songs, not a bad trip. Thanks for coming along. Video