And I See

This mix was a long time in the making. (And I wrote this entry once before and it got deleted so it's been an extra long time.)

It all started in the asscrack of winter, when you wake up in the cold/dark and spend a total of 15 minutes out side all day, thanks to the miracle that is the Chicago Pedway system. Days and commutes seem to blend into one another, stepping over the same puddles, running down into the same underground station, crowding onto the same train car, emerging at Washington to the smell of freshly fried donuts (never indulge), trek through the basement of a fancy shopping mall, back into the cold underground, then sucked into the belly of Marshal Fields (refuse to call it Macy's) where you see the same three homeless people every day (wonder if they are friends), more hustle and bustle and endless escalators until you reach the elevator that whooshes you up to the 24th floor most unsettlingly where it's time for a day of work. The ride home brings the same, in reverse, plus hunger, plus the shadow you cast on the apartment buildings when you're so close to home--there's three, so you're always one step behind, in front of, and beside yourself. 

And then one day there's this.

And it's spring. And you can cut one stop out of your commute to breathe the not-so-fresh Chicago air as you saunter through the main skyscraper-lined arteries of the city, past Yankee Hotel Foxtrot towers, compare the clock on the Tribune Tower to the clock above the 7-11 (they're both wrong), curiously fantasize about exploring the abandoned Motor Club Building up for foreclosure auction, then back into concrete playground...

I guess my point is, we all do a lot of hustling around the world with our ipods/phones/pads, and not a lot of pure, unadulterated Looking and Seeing. These are all songs about those two concepts.

(Not that I don't do my fair share of ipodding, but I do think it's important to stop and take a look 'round every once in a while. I should do more of this.)

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: Aprox. 42 min.
Track List:
01. Buffalo Springfield - For What It's Worth
02. Iron & Wine - Walking Far From Home*
03. Bright Eyes - A Song to Pass the Time
04. Simon & Garfunkel - The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy) (Live)
05. Animal Collective - Summertime Clothes
06. Atlas Sound - Walkabout (feat. Noah Lennox)
07. High Places - A Field Guide
08. Ani Difranco- Cradle and All (Live)
09. Bob Dylan - A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall (Live at the Gaslight in 1962)*
10. The Books - Free Translator*

*Indicates Track Picks

It's a bit unusual to have three track picks on such a short mix, but I swear those are all crucial songs.  Had to start with some Buffalo Springfield, the ultimate look + see song, before I got into the Iron & Wine track that inspired the entire mix. Sorry to include the Bright Eyes, but before Conor Oberst starts whining about his girl problems, he actually gives a pretty stirring narration. 

My mom used to sing me "The 59th Street Bridge Song" way before I knew what "feeling groovy" meant. Had to have some feel good walkabout songs before I moved into Ani's gritty retelling of NYC. This naturally leads us to Dylan's post-apocalyptic hellscape that is "A Hard Rain" (my favorite version), and finally to the Books tune, with its hauntingly ear-teasing hook that inspired the name of this mix. The lyrics sound pretty random, but apparently it's a much translated folk song.

MLE walking far from home...

The inside of my eyelids look the same...

...no matter where my feet are.

Stomp/Clap

Here's a mix that has been simmering in the back of my mind for a while. The theme is stomp/clap, meaning songs that contain that irresistible beat that causes humans to stomp their feet and clap their hands in close succession, possibly to a fast paced rhythm. I suppose there is a technical name for this beat, but I'll just call it the bluegrass polka. But without furthur ado, the mix:

Of course there is one further ado. I made this mix on 8tracks, a new platform that its ups and downs. It's easy to use, but 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. Or something.

Running Time: Aprox. 41 Min
Track List:
01. Simon and Garfunkel - Cecilia
02. Phosphorescent - I Am a Full Grown Man (I Will Lay in the Grass All Day)
03. The Dandy Warhols - The New Country
04. Cache Valley Drifters - Cumberland Blues [Grateful Dead]
05. Keller Williams - Porta Potty
06. Bitch and Animal - Drag King Bar
07. Fruition String Band - You Got This and I Got That
08. The People's Republic of Gefiltestan - Tree
09. The Can Kickers - Dingus Day Polka
10. Andrew Bird - Vidalia
11. Henri Fabergé and the Adorables - The Goddamn Light
12. Grateful Dead - Cold Jordan

There's the track list for future reference. I won't give a track pick for this mix because really these all shine in their own way. "Cecilia" is probably the stand-out song, the quintessential stomp-clapper. The Phosphorescent track is also awesome, though in my head I think it is a lot more stomp-clappy. I included the Keller Williams and Bitch and Animal songs for their sheer hilarity, because who said stomp-clapping had to be a serious matter? You might remember The People's Republic of etc. from my Dylan cover post, and The Fruition String Band also played a hand in my college career, via my friend Liz."The Goddamn Light" is also a rip-roarin' revival tune that always makes my atheist ass wanna testify or sumpthin'. I'm not exactly a Deadhead, but I think that "Cold Jordan" is my favorite Dead song, mainly because of this scene from the mind-blowing film Festival Express (watch it!). 


Anyway, as you can see I took a lot of time to figure out which few songs in my vast iTunes library deserved to be labeled as stomp/clap. If I missed any you can think of, be sure to let me know. And for your information, despite my boyfriend's claims, Queen's "We Will Rock You" is a stomp-stomp-clap, not stomp/clap. Know the difference.


I'm not sure how I feel about 8Track yet. I think it's good for fun mixes like this, but I think I would revert back to Grooveshark for mixes where order is especially important.

G'on and stomp/clap your hearts out, chillins. It's a hoe down where?

50 Ways to Leave Your Lover (vintage-ish 7/6/06)

I made this mix when I was 18. Yes, think back to those emotional days when everything had so much...meaning. It was made for a specific person as part of a bimonthly exchange of music/frustrated desires (in retrospect perhaps this was all a bit one-sided). But, as far as teenage mixes go, I'd say that this one is at least laudable in its concept and execution. So, without further ado, slip into your emo pants and step right into this blast from the past...

Running Time: Aprox 1 hr. 14 min.
Track Pick: Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Bang!
Original Text Accompaniment:

 and would you please explain about the 50 ways...?
01. slip out the back, jack.
02. make a new plan, stan.
03. hop on the bus, gus.
04. drop off the key, lee.
05. son, you must go back to the life.
06. go pack your bags; take up your scythe.
07. this world wasn’t meant for us both.
08. you're embarrassing me.
09. you're embarrassing you.
10. this isn't goodnight, this is goodbye.
11. as a fuck, son, you sucked.
12. my skin tonight is a’blazing, but i don't think you're my type.
13. what i need tonight’s the real thing; i need the real thing tonight.
14. i'm leaving while you turn away.
15. remember when i said ‘i love you’? well, forget it; i take it back.
16. found eighteen reasons i can't pick up on the phone.
17. i've been wonderin' what i'm about.
18. i've been thinkin' about the road.
19. but all this dirty talkin' and all these whores a-drinkin' , all this worried walkin' and all this worried talk and i'm movin' out.
20. when your rooster crows at the break of dawn, look out your window and i'll be gone.
21. we never did too much talkin', anyway.
22. goodbye's too good a word, babe, so i’ll just say fare thee well. 
23. you could have done better, but i don't mind.
24. she told me she worked in the morning and started to laugh. i told her i didn’t, and crawled off to sleep in the bath.
25. this bird has flown.
26. i'm not the one you want, babe. i will only let you down.
27. it ain't me you're lookin' for, babe.
28. you'll be happier when i'm gone.
29. things got weird, and i started growing bob dylan's beard.
30. you'll never touch him again, so get what you can.
31. one more night, the end should be a good one.
32. and as the summer's ending, the cool air will rush your hard heart away.
33. and this is all that's left: the empty bottles, spent cigarettes.
34. so pack a change of clothes, 'cuz it's time to move on.
35. you tell me what you want, and i'll tell you what you get: you get away from me.
36. collected my belongings and i left the jail. well thanks for the time, i needed to think a spell; i had to think awhile.
37. let's just forget everything said, and everything we did.
38. not to be overly dramatic, i just think it's best.
39. you can't miss what you forget.
40. so let's just pretend everything and anything between you and me was never meant.
41. fools leave too soon.
42. well i'm not dead yet, but the regrets are killing me.
43. we might not be fooling around today.
44. at the end of a song so long, say goodbye good.
45. you are a china shop, and i am a bull.
46. you are really good food, and i am full.
47. i don’t want to risk our paths crossing some day, so you walk that way, i’ll walk this way.
48. the world’s got me dizzy again; you’d think after 22 years i’d be used to the spin. and it only feels worse when i stay in one place, so i’m always pacing around or walking away.
49. so i’m up at dawn, putting on my shoes. i just want to make a clean escape. i’m leaving but i don’t know where to.
50. so tell me girl, do i have to say please? or do i have to involve the police?

NOTE ONE: Ok, so the track pick is purely arbitrary. All of these songs are clearly fucking golden.
NOTE TWO: The reason this post is labeled "vintage-ish" is that I have changed one of the tracks from its original form/placement, upgrading to a far superior Dylan cover (Metric FTW). "Don't Think Twice" also happens to be my favorite Dylan song in all its original finger-picked glory. But yeah, enjoy this cover, and dig the original on your own time. Also-- please mentally replace that stupid Alanis cover with the real Fab Four track. Thank you.
NOTE THREE: Grooveshark is stupid. Do the refresh/rescroll thing if you have problems. Also, let me know if one of the tracks is cut off or something and I'll try to replace it. Also holler if you want any of these em-pee-threezies.
NOTE FOUR: I once saw a stripper dance to a techno remix of "50 Ways." Asked her who did it, and she did not know. :-/
NOTE FIVE: Alkaline Trio will always hold a special place in my <3.

Thank you, Paul.