In this digital age of whole music libraries made portable by MP3 players and the ever-changing electronic medium, the art of the mix tape has fallen by the wayside. That's why it's important every once in a while to promote the idea of putting certain songs back-to-back to establish a mood or convey a particular idea, even if they come from completely different genres or time periods. This is Mixed Tracks, where we put together a small set list of songs for just that purpose.
Today I'd like to delve into the lost art of the slow dance song. The style had its heyday in the 80's and 90's when it unfortunately got ruined by too many cheesy ballads and some of the worst music videos ever committed to film. That doesn't mean that there haven't been some really awesome intimate, down-tempo songs from the same era, just that none of the best from the period were ever considered proper slow dance songs. Maybe it's because they were more emotionally complicated than the saccharine fare of high school dances or simply because they catered to folks who never frequented traditional clubs. Whatever the reason, the following songs ought to be considered great slow dance songs for people who prefer, ya know, good music when they're swaying with their special someone.
Bristol's own pioneers of trip hop may seem a bit rough or outright sad to be considered a consummate lovers' band, but their 1997 single "Only You" from their self-titled sophomore album is really the quintessential love song for people older than 16. It's a slow, emotional track about finding unique personal sensations in one person while navigating the often troubling aspects of life in a complicated world. It's a spiritual successor to the Platters song of the same title from decades earlier. The sentiment may have gotten harsher, but the idea is the same. When you're holding someone close, sometimes there's nothing more romantic than letting them know they're the only person on Earth who can do sufficient damage to compete with the crushing realities of everyday existence.
Admittedly, this one spent a fair bit of time in clubs in 2003 thanks to the more upbeat hits Goldfrapp churned out in their kinetic middle period, but "Black Cherry" is still obscure enough that it'll never share much space with anything ever recorded by Celine Dion. The title track off the group's second album, "Black Cherry" is dangerously sexy and thoroughly modern, employing a few non-gimmicky aspects of electronic music but still relying on Alison Goldfrapp's wispy voice to carry the majority of the feeling. If you make it to the floor while this track is playing and you don't go home with your partner, it's you're own damn fault.
Julee Cruise- Mysteries of Love
As the story goes, David Lynch actually wanted This Mortal Coil's haunting cover of Tim Buckley's "Song to the Siren" for the pivotal dance scene in Blue Velvet, but the rights to the track were so prohibitively expensive that he just hired Angelo Badalamenti to rip it off with the help of a budding young singer named Julee Cruise. The result was "Mysteries of Love", a surreal composition that, just like the scene from the movie, can make two lovers feel like the only people on the dance floor. After all, isn't that what slow dance songs are supposed to do?
First appearing on a special extra-content edition of Forever, "Slide" is a brief, beautiful, deceptively rocking track by goth/shoegaze luminaries Cranes (no "the", neophytes). It has the same kind of heavy love behind it as "Eye" by The Smashing Pumpkins, which I only didn't officially include in this track list because I didn't want to give too much weight to the soundtracks of David Lynch films. Aside from being a rarity that only dedicated fans have ever heard, "Slide" is a stunning song about one person having a profound, unusual effect on another as only a lover could. It's perfect for the shared rhythm of a dance floor in between more fast-paced tracks.
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