When I made this mix five years ago, I was still in the habit of occasionally grasping for a "theme" for the mix. The theme for this one seems to be altered states.
Snoop Dogg's "Gin And Juice" is here as well as the spirited cover by The Gourds and another bizarre spoken word cover, done with ironic earnestness by a voice over actor. The much-anticipated collaboration between Madlib and MF Doom called Madvillain came out around this time. From that album I have "Shadows Of Tomorrow" featuring Lord Quas as well as "America's Most Blunted", which samples the bizarre Neil Diamond anti-drug ditty "The Pot Smoker's Song".
One of my favorites of these is the bootleg Liz Phair song "I'll Get You High", where she namechecks my small hometown in the chorus. I'd like t0 point out here that she was a couple years ahead of, not behind, me in high school.
Other stuff: the sweet "Stoned Out Of My Mind" by The Chi-Lites, Paul Westerberg's wry "33rd of July", Jackie DeShannon's hopeful "Needles And Pins", The Notorious B.I.G.'s helpful "Ten Crack Commandments", The Pixies' apocalyptic "Monkey Gone To Heaven", Larry Youngs Fuel with a remix of "Turn Out The Lights", Roy Ayers' blissful "Everybody Loves The Sunshine", Dr. Dre's bouncy "The Next Episode", Diana Ross' epic "Love Hangover", Professor Longhair and His Shuffling Hungarians with the chaotic "Mardi Gras In New Orleans", and Ween's goofy "Booze Me Up And Get Me High".
The last few songs to mention are really great. It is hard to believe that "I Hung My Head" was written by Sting, given how perfectly Johnny Cash inhabits this haunting song. I had to dig deep into The Police catalog to find an appropriately spooky song to follow Johnny Cash, with the non-album track "Once Upon A Daydream".
Last, Otis Redding's "Cigarettes And Coffee" is one of the most beautiful songs in the whole wide world. I can remember distinctly when I first heard it, in the middle of the night over the radio in Chicago, many years ago. When I drank plenty of coffee and smoked a lot of cigarettes.
