Voice On Tape’s Silent Night Mixtape

Holiday time is supposed to be the most joyful time of year, but it’s often not.

Our emotions are analogs of the season: withdrawn, fragile, dark, blustery, wet, lonely.

Voice On Tape’s Lou Anda often sings from this twilight place.

His voice rises and falls like a radio wave sweeping over life’s frozen surface, scanning for survivors.

Voice On Tape performs at Pehrspace tonight so I asked Anda to share with us the cherished embers that keep him warm during these barren days.

Al Green – This is a beautiful song. It stops me in my tracks when it comes on and I cant help but sing along. Al is a channel of light, this song is confirmation of that.

Prince – Apollonia is not going home with Morris Day, she’s going home with Prince. Listen to it and you’ll see why. I love the way it builds up at the end, it makes me raise my arms with clenched fists… EVERY TIME.

Leonard Cohen – I just saw him in Las Vegas last weekend. It was a religious experience to say the least. This is the song every woman wants her man to write for her.

Flamingos – You can’t mess with this piece of heavenly bliss. It’s recorded the way I’d like all my recordings to sound. It’s haunting and beautiful. I absolutely adore this song.

Cocteau Twins – Liz can do no wrong. I feel like I’m traveling somewhere majestic when I hear this. She’s been a big deal to me for a long time. I’d love to see them live before I die. Reunion? PLEASE.

Neil Young – Such a gem. This one stops me in my tracks as well. “When we were strangers, I watched you from afar. When we were lovers, I loved you with all my heart”, I love that line.

PJ Harvey – I really like this performance and this album. Its so intimate and full of longing and loss. She taught herself how to play piano and recorded some diamonds.

Siouxsie – The queen of darkness. This was my driving song for quite some time. I love the how she’s able to maintain the spook and epic throughout the entire body of the song.

Swans – A song to meditate or make love to AKA a ceremony on cue. I hear he’s put together some sort of configuration of Swans back together. I hope that’s true.

Talking Heads – I thought I’d leave you with an upbeat/happy song. This puts a smile and a “yeah” in my mouth when it plays. This performance and stage set up are a “10” in my book.

Merry Xmas, see you all tonight!

Love,
Voice On Tape