Captain Swing - The Click

Welcome to Captain Swing's Compilations. Genre-busting, rib-tickling, eclectic sonic cathedrals. They were designed as cd mixes then cut into individual tracks and labelled. Covers and sometimes sleevenotes accompany the music. They are ready to burn as cds, and hopefully contain some tracks you know, but plenty that you do not.

Captain Swing - The Click

Grooves from around the world on this one, and perhaps more recent tunes than usual. Modestly mixed - letting the tunes do the talking

Tracklist

1 Huun-Huur-Tu Anatoly On Horseback (The Cap'n's 20th Century Fox mix)
2 Penguin Cafe Orchestra Perpetuum Mobile
3 Seu Jorge Rebel Rebel
4 Jane Birkin Je M'appelle Jane
5 Jonathan Richman And The Modern Lovers Egyptian Reggae
6 Charlie Rouse Merci Bon Dieu
7 Jazz Jamaica The sidewinder
8 Jurassic 5 High Fidelity
9 Balkan Beat Box Sunday Arak (feat. Dana Leong)
10 Jazz Stuff Combo Skrunch
11 Marlena Shaw Let's Wade In The Water
12 jackie mittoo hot milk featuring neville hinds
13 Kitty, Daisy & Lewis Swinging Hawaii
14 Amadou & Mariam Baroni
15 Nortec Collective Presents: Bostich + Fussible Tijuana Sound Machine
16 Ska Cubano Big Bamboo
17 Billy Hawks Oooh Baby (I Believe I'm Losing You)
18 The Dirtbombs Ode To A Black Man
19 The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion Sweet N Sour
20 DJ SOLO My Medicine (DJ SOLO RMX)
21 James Last Feeling Alright
22 Flying Fish Mr Matawe
23 Micatone Sit Beside Me
24 Xhosa people Click demo

Inspiration

I have been doing this sort of thing for years – first on mixtapes, then as a dj, and more recently on cds. This series has been compiled from a deluge of torrents in an attempt to make sense of it all. Feedback from my friends was good, so now I offer them to you to see what the world at large makes of them.

My inspiration comes from the likes of John Peel, whose healthy disrespect of genre is a lesson to us all; and Bob Dylan's radio shows, which combine humour and “other audio” with a respect and knowledge of the music.

The process

Source material is varied. The process starts with hours of listening and playlisting with MediaMonkey to find the most likely tracks. These are then listed roughly in tempo order. Sometimes a theme may be apparent, and other samples put in the mix. The standouts are mixed in Audacity, where volumes can be levelled, simple effects added, and finally, the track can be split back into individual tracks ready for burning onto cd. I use MediaMonkey to rename the tracks. Knock up a cover, and Bob's your Uncle. They are encoded in mp3 at about 200 whassnames per thingy.

The Result

What you get is a cd-length mix that generally starts downtempo/acoustic and builds up to a disco/rock/house climax before ending up with something funny/lame/unexpected. The journey will lead you through a variety of genres and decades that may only be linked in my fevered imagination. What is important for you to know is that this is a labour of Love, that the cds were made for myself and my friends, and that I am hoping to inform and entertain. Please assume that the cds are not entirely child-friendly. I hope that you enjoy them, and if you dislike a track, another entirely different one will be along in a couple of minutes. Mixing is of the minimal variety, and effects are used sparingly. Let the Tunes speak for themselves.

Let the Lamers and Flamers die of boredom in their sad little mid-western towns. These are compilations for the musically aware and curious. Enjoy, share and seed.