I Just Wanna Set the World on Fire

Made this mix for my roomie/homie cuz she just moved out. It was one of those things I was thinking about for a while but didn't get around to doing until now. I think it turned out quite well!

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 should try to sit down and listen to it all the way through or you won't get the full experience.

Running Time: 1 hour, 19 minutes
Track List:
01. Born Ruffians – Retard Canard
02. Rogue Wave – Lake Michigan
03. Frankmusik – In Step
04. Bibio – Jealous Of Roses
05. Suuns – Up Past The Nursery
06. Au Revoir Simone – Anywhere You Looked (Daytrotter Session)
07. Apostle Of Hustle – Kings And Queens
08. Rogue Wave – 10:1
09. The National – Blood Buzz Ohio
10. Ida Maria – Oh My God (Daytrotter Session)
11. The Dandy Warhols – Smoke It
12. Cold War Kids – I Don’t Wanna Grow Up [Tom Waits]
13. High Places – Jump In (For Gilkey Elementary School)
14. The Rural Alberta Advantage – The Ballad Of The RAA
15. Emma Mcgill – Heartbeats [The Knife]
16. Jonna Lee – The District Sleeps Alone Tonight [The Postal Service]
17. Wisdom Tooth – Low Tide
18. The Weakerthans – Virtue The Cat Explains Her Departure
19. Mark Kozelek – Wop-A-Din Din (Live)
20. Born Ruffians – Nova Leigh*
21. Ani Difranco – Names + Dates + Times (Live)

*Indicates Track Pick

Basically these are songs about Chicago, friendship, relationships, and cat ownership. It was hard for me to pick just one favorite track (of course), but I'm completely digging on Born Ruffians lately so I had to go with "Nova Leigh," the song that reassured me that spring was indeed on its way.

There's not a lot I can say about these tracks without just fawning over every single one, so y'all should really just give them a listen and tell me what you think.

I hope to be posting more mixes soon after I move into a flat with more reliable internet.

Special thanks to Google image search and this deviantart account for the kick-ass image, which looks like this in full:

I don't want to start a flame in your <3.

Heart it Races in Love

Here it is, only two months late, my long-awaited "happy/love mix." This playlist draws much of its inspiration from my long, illustrious, seven-year career of making mixes for crushes/smooshes/lovers/guys who barely knew I existed,  but I also must give a shout out to my friend Rachel's own love song compilation. Yes, its inevitable that these songs get recycled over the years, but I think I've finally whittled it down to my favs, and I don't believe I've included any of tracks that were featured on the three-disk clusterfuck that launched my mix career back in the day (I feel like that one was heavy on the Dashboard Confessional). Anyway, here go!

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 (I did work somewhat diligently on the order for this one, so please give it a shot!).

Running Time: Aprox. 1 hour, 14 minutes
Track List:
01. Adam Fitz - Fool Says [M. Ward]
02. Born Ruffians - Little Garcon
03. The Blow - Parentheses
04. Josh Ritter - Come & Find Me (AM/FM Mix)
05. Broken Social Scene Presents Kevin Drew - F--Ked UpKid
06. The Rural Alberta Advantage - Barnes Yard
07. Dr. Dog - Heart it Races [Architecture in Helsinki]
08. Ani Difranco - Bliss Like This
09. Wisdom Tooth - Faith
10. Rogue Wave - You Read My Mind (demo)
11. Dean & Britta - Friday I'm in Love [The Cure]
12. Pomplamoose - Don't Want to Miss a Thing [Aerosmith]
13. Taj Mahal - Queen Bee (Live)
14. The Beatles - In My Life
15. Jeff Tweedy - I Got You (Live)
16. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Hysteric (acoustic)
17. Iron & Wine - Judgement
18. Paleo - December 7th, 2006 ("Ash in My Eyes")
19. The Free Design - I Found Love (Styrofoam & Sarah Shannon Mix)
20. Bloc Party - Tulips (Remix)


Again, I find it hard to pick a favorite track (these are all pretty much my favorites), but I'd like to share my random thoughts on some/most of these love-struck tunes.

There are some definite cases of "the cover is better than the original" syndrome on this mix, specifically with the adorable Aerosmith cover and to a lesser degree with Adam Fitz covering M. Ward (the original is good, this one is just 75% funkier).

We also have a few cases of "the remix kicks ass on the original"disease running through here. The Josh Ritter remix adds a subtle yet all-important beat throughout the song (more dramatically seen in "Tulips"), while The Free Design track (better known as the band who recorded "Can You Tell Me How to Get to Sesame Street?" in 1971)--which got an indie makeover in 2005--rises about 10,000 miles above the cheesy 70's pop version.

I'd be a horrible creeper/fan if I forgot to note the salty-sweet lyrics of Ani's "Bliss Like This" as well as the sweet-sweet croonings of Meagan Day as Wisdom Tooth (whose links seemed to have disappeared from the internets, sadly).

If you ever get the chance to see Taj Mahal live, please do it. He was 66-ish when I saw him at Oberlin, and still rockin' like nobody's business. I still have yet to see a full live set of Jeff Tweedy and/or Wilco, much to my eternal shame. :-(

I'm still diligently working my way through Paleo's 2006-2007 Song Diary project, though I have fallen a bit behind at times. While most of it is, well, pretty meh, there are still plenty of stand-out tracks. Definitely stay tuned for more on this character.

I'd like to offer my most humble apologies, as the Born Ruffians' "Little Garcon" should definitely have gone on my Stomp/Clap mix. Some nice stompy, clappy moments at the end there.

Ain't love grand?

I only used 8track so I could include The Beatles.

(Picture via random tumblr).

So Cold in This Bed

Brrrrr! This is a mix that applies not so much to today (a balmy 38 degrees Fahrenheit), but to these last two snow-laden, ass-bitingly, balls-to-the-walls cold weeks. The kind where you wake up under a flannel comforter and extra blanket on top of flannel sheets to feel the cold wind blowing in through your cold window. This mix is about waiting in expectant prayer for the sweet hiss clank of the radiator as you sit alone in a cold bed and contemplate getting up in the morning to bundle up and head out into the bone-freezing, soul-crushing cold.

Granted, this is only the case for me five nights out of the week, the other two spent in co-snuggly comfort. And my time outdoors is severely cut by the glorious invention of the Chicago Pedway system. Here's to the chronically cold and unbearably lonely. Here's hoping this thaw is here to stay...

Running Time: Aprox. 57 minutes
Track Pick: Laughing Owls - Through the Ceiling

NOTE: Kind of a coincidence to post this on Valentine's Day--meant to post it yesterday. Oh well, I owe you a happy mix.
OTHER NOTES:
The Laughing Owls song is one of my favorites by Meagan Day. The lyrics are so simple, but the ache in the song comes across so beautifully. Sorry to include Bright Eyes, but I figured as long as we were going whiny we might as well go all the way. The last song is a little more in the spirit of Valentine's Day, I think. :-D
I hope that everyone finds someone to snuggle with until spring...

 I lived here not too long ago, but I don't remember this much snow.

Bird Songs

Here's a little ditty I threw together just 'cuz...
(note: if mix stops, refresh, then use top buttons to scroll to desired track...stupid grooveshark...)

Running Time: Aprox. 1 hr 4 min.
Track Pick: Josh Ritter - Snow is Gone

Hard to pick a favorite track for this one. I was leaning towards "Bird on a Wire" by Rogue Wave, 'cuz that song is so fucking cool, but I had to hand it to Mr. Ritter for some committing to some pretty awesome bird imagery throughout that song. "Canary" by Laughing Owls (aka Wisdom Tooth aka Meagan Day) is also a track I find so touchingly catchy in a beautiful simplicity. I hope y'all dig it.

Like I said, I compiled this mix on a whim this evening. Birds are some of those take-for-granted critters; they're everywhere and we hardly pay them any mind...except when you see a bunch of birds on a wire and remember how creepy that scene from The Birds is (I may or may not have the urge to kick every mildly overweight pigeon I encounter on the street). But anyway, the coolest thing about birds by far is that you can totally tell how they used to be dinosaurs. Pretty fucking bad-ass if you ask me.

What do you think of when you think of birds? Are there any cool bird songs that I missed? Let me know!

Big Bird: Great bird, or the greatest bird?