Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Fear Itself

Here is a mix to commemorate the upcoming Rally to Restore Sanity on October 30, 2010.

Standard 8track disclaimer: Due to weird copyrighty things, you can only listen to the mix in its intended order once. So basically, if you're going to listen to it, you better sit down and listen to it all the way through or you won't get the full experience

Running Time: Aprox. 50 minutes
01. Ani Difranco - Literal
02. Tim Fite - I'm Not Scared of You
03. The Long Winters - Scared Straight
04. Death Cab for Cutie - Pity and Fear
05. Suuns - Fear
06. Bon Iver - Creature Fear
07. Maritime - I'm Not Afraid
08. Alexi Murdoch - It's Only Fear
09. Stars - Don't Be Afraid to Sing
10. Otis Redding - Don't Be Afraid of Love
11. Andrew Bird - Don't Be Scared
12. The National - Afraid of Anyone*
13. Rogue Wave - Fear Itself
14. French Quarter - For Andy
15. Bob Marley - Three Little Birds

*Indicates track pick

The National song is what inspired this mix. I get shivers when I hear it, turn it up and listen to it over and over..."I defend my family / with my arms umbrella'd"...at times I get so scared that I want to just huddle up with the people I love and hang on for dear life. There is so much hatred and so much fear in this world that I find it hard to bear. And yet I'm a devoted liberal news junkie; I'm addicted and I can't get enough. I wish I had something eloquent or even original to say on this subject, but at the end of the day I feel frighteningly average and ridiculously indebted to the great minds that came before me. By the end of his life, not even Kurt Vonnegut thought this country could be saved. I'm still young enough to believe that he was wrong, but I expect I'll come around in the next 40 years or so.

Regardless of your views, please remember to vote this Tuesday. I know it's not the most important thing in the world, but it is the thing that connects us to those around us. This is our country and it belongs to all of its citizens, sane and insane. Mankind has struggled for thousands of years to obtain this right, so I know I'm going to use it.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Extraordinary Machines

Here is a mix I cooked up around the theme of ROBOTS!

Standard 8track disclaimer: Due to weird copyrighty things, you can only listen to the mix in its intended order once. So basically, if you're going to listen to it, you better sit down and listen to it all the way through or you won't get the full (sexy) experience.


Running Time: aprox. 1 hour
Track List:
01. Daft Punk - Technologic
02. Tullycraft - Building the Robot
03. Modest Mouse - Perpetual Motion Machine
04. Pixies - Bone Machine
05. The Thermals - My Little Machine
06. Nada Surf - Robot
07. Robyn - Robotboy
08. The Dresden Dolls - Coin Operated Boy
09. Fionna Apple - Extraordinary Machine
10. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Machine
11. Stars - Sad Robot
12. Robyn - Fembot*
13. Daft Punk - Robot Rock
14. Caribou - Subotnick
15. The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
16. The Flight of the Conchords - Robots
17. Justin Versnon + Aaron Dessner - Big Red Machine
18. Andrew Bird - Not a Robot, But a Ghost

*Indicates Track Pick

Truth be told I build this mix around the Robyn song (three words: automatic booty applications). I was actually a huge Robyn fan back in ...'97ish when she came out with her first CD. Her newest albums Bodyrock parts 1 and 2 are completely stellar pieces of pop. My new fantasy is a collaboration between Robyn and Lady Gaga.
There was also a time, back in my educational years, when the term "post-human" was thrown quite liberally around my post-modern English class. Annoying, yes, but certainly thought provoking...it's a future I don't think we're too far from.
Don't watch the movie A.I. unless you want to be deeply disturbed.
I suppose that's all I have to say about robots...




...the distant future.

Friday, October 8, 2010

songs that make me cry (vintage 1-27-09)

everyone's gotta learn sometime

10.

ok, i know what you’re thinking, but logisically speaking, songs over 9 minutes in length tend to have a strong impact on me, and this one has history working for it, so there you go. find me one sixteen year old who doesn’t agree with me
9.

flaming lips cover. such a sweet song, and i heard it before the original so it has always stuck with me.
8.

a story of lost friendships…
7.

oy, i first heard this song live and i swear i froze right in my shoes on the floor of the arogan ballroom…of course i froze shortly after in the chicago winter with no jacket, but i digress. it is my opinion that this song should have been used in the series finale of six feet under rather than sia - breathe me. though they are rather similar…
6.

a song about giving up…
5.

lost love poetry pure and simple.
4.

same as above really, only better because it’s about janis joplin
3.

we're going deep into breakup territory with this one. perhaps it's another case of the long song blues, but this one goes by in a flash for me.
2.

the first time i heard this song live, the entire theater was shivering, silent. ani has a beautiful way of merging the political and the personal into a melodic synthesis of emotion...
1.

this was the first thing to make sense to me after 9/11. i highly recommend taking a look at the lyrics

well there you have it...top ten tear-jerkers. you may have noticed a disproportionate amount of ani, but i did spend a disproportionate part of my formative crying years emoting to her music, so there you go.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

albums under the influence (vintage 2-23-09)

i don't need drugs to enjoy this...only to enhance it

10)
brian jonestown massacre - their satanic majesties' second request

the opening track says it all...

09)
animal collective - strawberry jam

you haven't listened to animal collective until you've listened to animal collective stoned...visualizer encouraged.

08)
iron & wine - the shepherd's dog

i completely dig the eastern elements in this album...i have a sitar fetish.

07)
the beatles -  sgt. pepper's lonely hearts club band

duh.

06)
kevin drew - spirit if...

a very sexy album, incidentally.

05)
wilco - yankee hotel foxtrot

it might change your life.

04)
broken social scene - you forgot it in people

a true indie-classic.

03)
modest mouse - the moon and antarctica

starts out uplifting, but it goesto  some freaky places...

02)
the velvet underground - the velvet underground & nico

taking it back...

01)
the beatles - revolver

you haven't smoked until you've listened to tomorrow never knows.  interpretive dances welcome.


don't do drugs.

Track One


I got bit by the mix bug, which in turn gave me the blog virus, and now here I am. I don’t know that much about music, but I know that I like it…compulsively. I’ll be posting lists, mixes, stuff, whatever! Read, listen, comment, share!
I’ll start off with some posts from my old failed blog: Em's List