i’m currently going track by track through a mix i recently did for a website called research and development - find out more here.

19. wings - letting go

its no secret that i’ve been on something of a mccartney bender for the past month or two. it all started with, heres that name again, robots in heat posting an old wings throwaway that set off memories deep in my skull. standing on milk crates trying to reach up to the pool table, getting my little hands around the cue, dad and steven drinking beers and laughing, “venus and mars” was always the soundtrack.

“letting go” is, of course, by paul mccartney’s 70s post-beatles project wings, and is from their album “venus and mars”. about two months ago, sitting in a little edit suite next to glenn ridge’s garage, i listened to this song on repeat for about 2 hours and it probably has to be one of the most emotionally visceral experiences of my entire life. now this means a number of things. it means i am prone to hyperbole. it also means that i need to get out more, and i probably need take more drugs, in particular, or less. but honestly. the first time paul mccartney eeks out an “oh” in letting go is likely to make you wince with heart ache and longing - the fiftieth time you hear it, you’ll be in tears. what do you hear? i hear regret, longing. dreams slipping away. loneliness, desperation. the loneliness of pragmatism. i seem to inhabit these modes too often, never more so when this track is on. so i guess in that way “letting go” is very very good for me and also very bad.

and as the “oh” is the sound of longing, those giant new orleans horns are the sound of release. i’m not sure there’s been a more important horn blast in the history of recorded sound. ending my r&d mix with this track was easy - what was hard was resisting the temptation to submit a mix for r&d that was simply this track on repeat for 2 hours.

when my wings urge really kicked in i went on an urgent hunt for venus and mars via p2p networks and accidentally found some bootleg versions and demos, things like that, another version of “letting go” which is pretty damn interesting to hear alongside the original. anyway, thats all for this series of posts. enormous thanks to declan and r&d for letting me put this mix together for them. if you enjoyed these mix notes, please let me know. i don’t often ask for your feedback but if you’ve been into anything you’ve heard here and want to chat, feel free to email me at tim@iamfauxpas.com, i’d love to hear from you.

MP3: Wings - Letting Go

MP3: Wings - Letting Go (demo version)

MP3: Wings - Lunch Box/Odd Sox

holidays are things that you earn after long periods of working really hard doing unfulfilling tasks, which is why the idea of me going on holiday right now seems somewhat farcical. but thats exactly what i’m doing.

when i return in a couple of weeks, i’ll be starting an 18-part series of posts (for real!) where i’m gonna go track-by-track through a sixty minute set i’ve recently assembled for the good folks at funky web periodical research and development - my mix is going to be featured as part of their next issue, and for numerous reasons i’ve decided to get jiggy with a full-on track-by-track rundown. there’s gonna be a bucketload of mp3s and a lot of me talking shit, because if you ask me, there hasn’t been enough of that around here in the last couple of months. a lot of youtube greatness, but not enough of me talking shit.

in the meantime head over to r&d and check out their last issue before they update it with the new one - and while you are there have a dig around the mixes section to find hidden gems from mountains in the sky, hey convict! and will holland aka quantic among many many others. these guys is good guys.

while i’m gone, you have homework. get your hands on mccartney ii:

apply liberally to effected areas twice daily. if problem persists, please see a doctor in the seventh dimension.

MP3: Paul McCartney - Secret Friend

oh, one more thing. does anyone want a faux pas t-shirt? cos i might be getting on to that soon.