Mixtape #141


Cal Folger Day's strength and talent as a songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalist is utterly impressive. Folding a myriad of references and influences into her style, her music is quirky, beguiling and thoughtful and always tells a story. Day released one of our favourite records this year, the conceptual avant-pop Piece-Dye. So we asked her to put together a mixtape with some of the artists and bands that have inspired her and we're stoked to unveil this gem opening a window onto her musical world.

  1. Julie LaMendola – Nothing [Smockadoll Förlag] 00:00
  2. Ailbhe Nic Oireachtaigh – Purposelessness [KRUT] 01:36
  3. Kindergarteners at McDonogh – Umbrella 04:56
  4. Jane Siberry – Everything Reminds Me Of My Dog [Duke Street Records] 05:59
  5. Peter Ivers- In Heaven [RVNG Intl.] 10:15
  6. The Langley Schools Music Project – Help Me [Basta / Setanta] 12:59
  7. Nadah El Shazly – Palmyra [Nawa Recordings] 15:06
  8. Susan Alcorn arr. Janel Leppin – Mercedes Sosa [Ideologic Organ] 10:04
  9. Jinx Lennon – Pushin The Patients Round [Septic Tiger Records] 24:34
  10. The Roches – The Hallelujah Chorus [Warner Bros. Records] 27:45
  11. The Mamas and the Papas – Dedicated To The One I Love [RCA Victor] 31:08
  12. Jessica Lea Mayfield – Oblivious [ATO Records] 34:02
  13. Toby Goodshank – Baby I Feel Like I Just Got Cut In Half [BB*ISLAND] 37:15
  14. The Supremes – Standing At The Crossroads Of Love [Motown] 39:30
  15. Willie Nelson – Didn’t Sleep A Wink [Prestige Records Ltd.] 41:53
  16. Gian-Carlo Menotti – Good evening! Good evening! [TER Limited / MCA Classics] 44:01
  17. Leroy Jenkins, Mary Griffin – On The Road To Blountstown (A True Story) [Unseen Worlds] 44:26
  18. Myles Manley – I Heard Your Mum Call, Michael [Witter On] 51:19
  19. Christie Hennessy – Messenger Boy [Westwood Recordings] 53:13
  20. Annette Peacock – American Sport [Aura] 55:36
  21. Dublin Youth Theatre – Plastic (from George Carlin) 59:14

Cal Folger Day’s new album Piece-dye out today

Today sees the release of Piece-dye, the new avant-pop album from Dublin based American artist Cal Folger Day. A brilliant chanteuse and talented multi-instrumentalist, Day wrote the album after meeting Irene Nally, a distant aunt and Irish immigrant whose experience of arriving in New York City in the post-war boom inspired her. All the lyrics in Piece-dye are verbatim quotes from the interviews Day conducted with Nally. Day recalls:

“several visits later we sat down at her kitchen table and recorded an hour-long conversation on my phone, in which she reflected on her life and career. The first thing she told me was, ‘You’re trying to do this project… you’ll have to do a whole lot of embellishing… it’s your own creation’ — which turned out to be both true and false. Irene passed away after an aggressive form of ovarian cancer last year. In many ways we had polar opposite characters, but we were clearly on some mutual quest to see ourselves clearer through our friendship.”

Quirky, fascinating and compelling, Piece-dye is an album that deserves your time and attention. For a marvellous taster, here’s ‘Act 2’ and its accompanying video shot by Blob Galahad.

Piece-dye is out now through Dead Lady Records