Sibling lockdown mixtapes volume 6

Week 6 of the siblings 10-song mixtape weekly challenge during the lockdown.

My sister Carla has some truly stunning songs, many of which I hadn't heard before. A fantastic playlist.

Meanwhile my brother Ross reminds me how good a songwriter Paul Heaton is before taking on us on a fantastic journey through incredible songwriters in just 10 songs - ending with Prince, Bowie and Stevie Wonder! What a song to end on!

Lastly, I'm pretty pleased with what I pack in - soul, indie, electronic pop and lastly some truly sublime electro  courtesy of Underworld and Orbital.

Enjoy.

w/c 04/05/20

Carla

Mr Lee - The Bobbettes, Slow Fizz - The Sapphires, Ain't Got No Home - Clarence 'Frogman' Henry, Bop-Ting-A-Ling - LaVern Baker, I'd Rather Be An Old Man's Sweetheart - Candi Staton

, Don't Say Nothin' (Bad About My Baby) - The Cookies, Stick Up - Honey Cone, Leave It All Behind - The Fuzz, Sweet Inspiration - The Sweet Inspirations, I Could Have Danced All Night - Petula Clark

 Ross

Good As Gold (Stupid As Mud) - The Beautiful South, Walls Come Tumbling Down - The Style Council, The Seeker - The Who, I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down - Elvis Costello and the Attractions, Hotel Yorba - The White Stripes, Electric Love - He's My Brother She's My Sister, World Where You Live - Crowded House, Money Don't Matter 2 Night - Prince, Young Americans - David Bowie, I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever) - Stevie Wonder

Murray

'T' Plays It Cool - Marvin Gaye, Les Fleurs - Minnie Riperton, Green Onions - Booker T and the MG's, Soul Fly PT. 1 - Amp Fiddler, Big Bird - Eddie Floyd, A Girl Like You - Edwyn Collins, The Village - New Order, Is This Music? - Teenage Fanclub, Rez - Underworld, Belfast - Orbital

Sibling lockdown mixtapes volume 2

 Hi folks

I hope you and your loved ones are all well. I recently introduced you to the Siblings Lockdown Playlist weekly 10 song challenge.

I'm really enjoying making these mixtapes and I am very pleased with mix mix. I think it flows really well, it has some real moments of euphoria and there are some long tunes to get lost in as well as a complete banger from The Charlatans,

My brother Ross has another eclectic mix, starting and ending superbly with stunners from Prince and Whitney, with all kinds of stuff in between. I particularly loved hearing the Traffic song for the first time and the World Party tune is a favourite.

Carla clearly loves Fear Is Such A ... by Whyte Horses so much that she included it for the second week running. She delves into her art school years with cracking tunes from The Drums and The

Raveonettes. I love the Lady Gaga song!

Here is week 2.

W/C 06/04/20

Murray
The Last Time - Andrew Oldham Orchestra, Brother's Gonna Work It Out - Willie Hutch, Move On Up (extended version) - Curtis Mayfield, The Night - Frankie Valli, Since You've Been Gone - The Allergies, Young Hearts Run Free - Candi Staton, Shame Shame
Shame - Shirley and Company, Ain't No Mountain High Enough - Diana Ross, One To Another - The Charlatans, Love's Theme - The Love Unlimited Orchestra

Ross
Raspberry Beret (extended 12-inch version) - Prince, I Melt With You (7 inc mix) - Modern English, Don't Talk To Me About Love - Altered Images, Kyrie - Mr Mister, American Life In The Summertime - Francis Dunnery, Feelin' Alright - Traffic, Put The Message In The Box - World Party, Local Girls - Graham Parker, Sequestered In Memphis - The Hold Steady, Didn't We Almost Have It All - Whitney Houston

Carla
Lets Go Surfing - The Drums, Joanne - Lady Gaga, Fear Is Such A ... - Whyte Horses, Cry To Me - Solomon Burke, A Million Years -

Alex Ebert, That Great Love Sound - The Raveonettes, Summertime Girlfriend - AM60, Something To Bang - Absentee, Divine - Sebastien Tellier,  Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robotos Pt 1. (AOL live session) - The Flaming Lips

Sibling lockdown mixtapes volume 1

I wish I had kept all my old mixtapes

This is one of the few I have remaining

A few weeks ago, my brother Ross suggested to our sister Carla and I that the three of us should make weekly 10-song mixtapes to help give us a musical focus in these unprecedented times. The aim is to send them to each other every Monday morning on our WhatsApp chat.

Mixtapes have a rich history in our family. I used to post mixtapes with written commentary on each song to my brother when he moved to Edinburgh to study at uni. Years later I would do the same when our younger sister went to Art School. Although by then it was cd's!

Both would send me mixtapes or cd's back. As things gradually went digital (although we all still buy vinyl) and as we got a little older, we gradually grew out of making mixtapes.

Reflecting on my younger siblings moving out the family home to study, I guess making mixtapes for them was my way of showing them I was thinking about them. As the older brother, both would regularly raid my CD and record collection to discover new music. Mixtapes were my way of communicating about music I was discovering and owned.

Family catch up a year ago

Now it's WhatsApp video calls

Now we can't see each other, mixtapes/playlists have come back to help us communicate.

There is an art to making a mixtape. I blog regularly about my Never Ending Mixtape, but I just throw songs on there. There is an art to a 10-song mixtape There are different arts.

So I'm going to share our weekly mixtapes. Here is week 1. All are very different!

I start with a short instrumental, lead into some euphoric electro/house, have some pure pop, a cool cover, a superb re-edit, some northern soul, some Charlatans and a nice hopeful message.

Ross mainly goes 80's! I love the Kiki Dee, R. Dean Taylor and INXS songs in particular. And what an epic closer!

Carla mixes it up. I particularly enjoyed the Peals song that I hadn't heard before, the classic Motown by Carolyn Crawford and the Whyte Horses closer. One of my sisters favourite bands.

Dig in - I hope you enjoy.

Volume 1 - Monday 30th

Murray

Her Smile - [bsd.u], White Love - One Dove, If Everybody Looked The Same - Groove Armada, Where Love Lives - Alison Limerick, Two Can Play That Game - Bobby Brown, Jumpin' Jack Flash - Ananda Shankar, Nowhere To Go - Smoove, Turnin' My Heartbeat Up - The M.V.P's, How High - The Charlatans,  We've Got To Find A Way Back To Love - Freda Payne

Ross

I've Got The Music In Me - The Kiki Dee Band, Say Goodbye To Hollywood - Ronnie Spector, Heart and Soul - T'Pau, French Kissin' - Debbie Harry, Church Of The Poison Mind - Culture Club, Indiana Wants Me - R. Dean Taylor, S.O.B - Nathaniel Rateliff and The Night Sweats, The Loved One - INXS, There She Goes, My Beautiful World - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

Carla

Out Of The Black - Neneh Cherry (featuring Robyn), Become Younger - Peals, Awake O Zion - Twinkie Clark, Walkin' Down The Line - Jennifer Castle, Night Shift - Lucy Dacus, Oops Here I Go Again - Edna Wright, Then I Met You - The Proclaimers, Darlin' Be Home Soon - The Lovin' Spoonful, The Abandoned Hospital Ship - The Flaming Lips, My Smile Is Just A Frown (Turned Upside Down) - Carolyn Crawford, Fear Is Such A ... - Whyte Horses