Mixtape Monday: Dirty Bars and the Occasional All Ages Show

The other day I had the 'ol iTunes on random, and out of nowhere came an Unwound song that I hadn't heard in ages, so long in fact that I did not recognize the song one bit. But the song ("Hexenzsene" from New Plastic Ideas in case you're wondering) rocked my ass in a way that my ass hadn't been rocked in quite some time, and it felt good. The distortion and dissonance hit the spot, and suddenly, as is usually the case when I hear a song for the first time in years, memories started flooding back. First came recollections of listening to Repetition in the car, which moved on to memories of road trips to see ...Trail of Dead in St. Louis, finishing my Algebra homework while listening to Hum through my headphones, drinking mochas as the coffee shop blared Sunny Day Real Estate, and so on. These bands formed a skeletal version of the mixtape you're (hopefully) about to listen to, the others came through after a series of mental connections. Some editing to the mix was done to keep it concise and to help it flow (sorry Polvo, Pavement), but overall it's every bit what I imagined: loud and abrasive, but not completely lacking in melody. Enjoy.