Mixology: Otto's Hot Rock Pile

Mixology is a recurring feature in which I take a look at one of the many mix tapes I made over the years. Some are better than others, but all of them are fun to revisit.

Otto's Hot Rock Pile (or songs to crash a bus by) (8/14/02)

Well, it was bound to happen. After nearly a year of documenting the mix tapes I compiled, I've finally run out. I'm pretty sure there are a few more that I just haven't found yet, but for the time being, that's all of 'em. But a few years after my tape deck died in early 2000, I got my first CD burner. Which meant I was able to create mixes again, albeit ones without an A and B side. For about three years, I made mixes using a couple of different burners, ripping tracks from CDs. Then I downloaded iTunes for the first time and discovered the joy of playlists. I was making a monthly playlist of MP3s I had just downloaded and burned a lot of them to CD for a while, until the last two years or so, when I got lazy and just listened to them on iTunes. Alas, when our old PC was starting to croak a little (aka ye olde Blue Screen of Death), we had it wiped clean. Which unfortunately wiped out all my iTunes playlists. But I still have plenty of CD mixes to talk about here.

This particular mix was one of the first ones I burned, back in the summer of 2002. I wanted a mix of songs that just totally kick ass, regardless of whether I'd put them on mixes in the past. The name of the mix was a nod to metal-lovin' stoner Otto ("I like to get blotto") the bus driver from The Simpsons, although there was probably a lot of stuff on here that he probably would never listen to, like Fugazi, Mission of Burma, Big Black, Pavement, etc.

The song that probably best typifies the Otto mindset is one of the most rockin' songs of all time, Fu Manchu's "Evil Eye." Mainstream rock fans won't know the Fu, and I hadn't heard of them until late 1999 when I picked up a free cassette single previewing a couple of songs from the band's upcoming album King of the Road. I snagged it at the Webnoize 1999 conference in LA and immediately dug it and bought the previous album The Action is Go! "Evil Eye" is the opening song and just melts your brain from the get-go. Pure awesomeness.

Most of this mix came in handy when I was running the 2003 New York City Marathon. I put a good chunk of the songs on my old Rio 600 MP3 player; ended up listening the mix four times as I ran the race. It was a hot day for November and I needed that mix to keep my legs moving as I struggle through the last few miles. I think the song that got me the most fired up was Motorhead's "Killed by Death." It was as if Lemmy hisself was yelling at me to keep going.

You Didn't Need - Rollins Band
Unsung - Helmet
Bed for the Scraping - Fugazi
Jesus Christ Pose - Soundgarden
Negative Creep - Nirvana
In 'n Out of Grace - Mudhoney
Leash - Pearl Jam
I'll Stick Around - Foo Fighters
The Wagon - Dinosaur Jr.
Youth Against Fascism - Sonic Youth
That's How I Escaped My Certain Fate - Mission of Burma
What's Going On - Husker Du
Hit the Plane Down - Pavement
Kerosene - Big Black
Evil Eye - Fu Manchu
Killed by Death - Motorhead
Peace Dog - The Cult
Let There Be Rock - AC/DC
Paranoid - Black Sabbath


Evil Eye!


Killed by Death: