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Monitor Mixtape: The Underdogs

Townes Van Zandt 300

May 12, 2008 - From a post on Carrie Brownstein's Monitor Mix blog, available here.

These songs were originally compiled on a rainy day a few weeks ago, with no promise of sun, so they might sound better to your ears under gray skies. The mix could easily be called "The Underdogs."

Many of these artists never gained recognition while they were around (or alive) or still don't get the widespread attention they deserve (Pylon, Van Zandt, Frank, Sill). Some of these tunes are culled from the bands' less popular albums — namely, the songs by Television, Wire, and The Undertones. I love "Days" as much as anything on Marquee Moon and, in my opinion, Wire's 154 is a better and more challenging overall album than its two groundbreaking predecessors. (Though the three albums together form one of the best trifectas in late-'70s music.) Lastly, Small Faces are simply incredible and always make me happy, and I'm still surprised that more people don't seek them out.

Monitor Mixtape: The Underdogs

cover for Townes Van Zandt

Townes Van Zandt

Album: Townes Van Zandt [Bonus Tracks]
Song: Waitin' Around to Die
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    • "Waitin' Around to Die"
    • CD: Townes Van Zandt [Bonus Tracks]
    • Artist: Townes Van Zandt
    • Label: Import
    • Released: 2003
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Cover to The Headphone Masterpiece

Cody Chesnutt

Album: Headphone Masterpiece
Song: Upstarts in a Blowout
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    • "Upstarts in a Blowout"
    • CD: Headphone Masterpiece
    • Artist: Cody ChesnuTT
    • Label: One Little Indian
    • Released: 2002
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cover for Judee Sill

Judee Sill

Album: Judee Sill
Song: Jesus Was a Cross Maker
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    • "Jesus Was a Cross Maker"
    • CD: Judee Sill
    • Artist: Judee Sill
    • Label: Water
    • Released: 1971
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cover for Small Faces

Small Faces

Album: Small Faces [Immediate/Snapper-Bonus Tracks]
Song: Up the Wooden Hills to Bedfordshire
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    • "Up the Wooden Hills to Bedfordshire"
    • CD: Small Faces [Immediate/Snapper-Bonus Tracks]
    • Artist: Small Faces
    • Label: Snapper UK
    • Released: 2003
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Cover to Postive Touch

The Undertones

Album: Positive Touch
Song: I Don't Know
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    • "I Don't Know"
    • CD: Positive Touch
    • Artist: The Undertones
    • Label: Castle
    • Released: 1981
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Cover for Anthology

Freddie McGregor

Album: Anthology
Song: Bobby Babylon
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    • "Bobby Babylon"
    • CD: Anthology
    • Artist: Freddie McGregor
    • Label: VP
    • Released: 1999
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Cover for Up the Bracket

The Libertines

Album: Up the Bracket [US Bonus Tracks]
Song: The Good Old Days
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    • "The Good Old Days"
    • CD: Up the Bracket [US Bonus Tracks]
    • Artist: The Libertines
    • Label: Rough Trade/Sanctuary
    • Released: 0
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Cover to Gyrate

Pylon

Album: Gyrate
Song: Read a Book
 
 
Cover for 154

Wire

Album: 154
Song: 15th
 
 
cover to Adventure

Television

Album: Adventure [Bonus Tracks]
Song: Days
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    • "Days"
    • CD: Adventure [Bonus Tracks]
    • Artist: Television
    • Label: Elektra/Rhino
    • Released: 2003
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cover for Blues Run the Game

Jackson C. Frank

Album: Blues Run the Game [Columbia]
Song: Blues Run the Game
 

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