Guest Mix Volume 10 - Danny Polak

Yeah, we've got Danny Polak, a man of impeccable taste, serving up a nice heavy, full course guest mix for you today. He is in culinary school, so he really knows how to put it in the pot, and let it steam, let it brew. But for real, Dan has obsessive tendencies with anything that he likes. I admire his weirdo connoisseur of knowledge of cologne, porno, heavy music, and food....makes perfect sense for this dude to be a musician and a chef. Anyway, the above photo is from LEFT HAND PATH's last show with the Cro-Mags. Dan also plays drums for LIKE RATS and we pretty much rock. This write-up is really funny and insightful, and these songs are really heavy, so please enjoy.

I have a love/hate relationship with music. There are times where I look into songs trying to find this hidden code woven into space and time that may unlock all the answers to mysteries surrounding this very world and our lives. For a moment, these random notes and rhythms make the bad good, the mundane exciting, and the dead lively. It is one of the only constants in life that is always there for you. You can talk through it but not to it. It makes you a better listener. I love music for these reasons.

Then there are times where I feel like it owes me something. When I cannot find the answers I sometimes feel betrayed. I hate music for these reasons.

And god forbid I listen to the continuous bowel movement that is popular music. Not to say that all 'pop' music is a stinky turd, but most of it is. I just cannot identify with a bunch of alpha (or beta) losers moaning over cheating on someone or whatever subject matter that is not really important that you can put over a digital drum beat that makes your peepee tingle when grinding and possibly vomiting on some random stranger in the club or where ever the hell these made up creatures in my head go. Even though the last statement sounds glorious, it also makes me hate music (granted that I just made an unfair generalization, but so what?). I am territorial about the things I like. I see it as more than just a beat with auto tuned singing over it and I want people to comprehend that.

I guess I have spent so much time engulfed in this musical fantasy land that I have almost severed all my ties with reality. I cannot really say that I care because we all need an escape sometimes. Mine so happens to sing to me, how about you?

Some years ago I had received my last mix tape. A real life mix too. You know, recorded on to a blank tape via compact disc and record player? It was so full of life, living and breathing. Although I did not like 100% of the songs, I can say that I still listen to it and will never forget that time in my life.

This is my creation for you. I hope you like it and can appreciate these songs for what they are. Some speak to me and some can put me into a trance that blocks out anything that had been riding on my mind for a short while. They make me happy and full. I love music for that.

Oh, and now that I am thinking about it, maybe I take back those rude comments earlier. When you think about it, having a tingly peepee is a damn good thing, right?

Cheers.

- Your Friendly Neighborhood Dan

1. Trouble 'R.I.P'
2. Acrimony 'Million Year Summer'
3. Candlemass 'Under the Oak' (Tales of Creation version)
4. Failure 'Stuck On You'
5. Kiss 'Goin Blind'
6. Leaf Hound 'Freelance Fiend'
7. Plastic Bertrand 'Ca Plane Pour Moi'
8. Anathema 'Are You There?'
9. Uriah Heep 'Traveller in Time'
10. Norman Greenbaum 'Spirit in the Sky'
11. Ride 'Chelsea Girl'
12. Only Living Witness 'Voice of Disrepair'
13. Captain Beyond 'Raging River of Fear'
14. Herman's Hermits 'End of the World'
15. Mindrot 'Despair'

Download