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.

Shout That You're All Fake (FAKE)

So here it is y'all. All of my favorite Modest Mouse covers and pseudo-covers, straight to your hungry ear canals. Special thanks to Cover Lay Down for many of these songs.

Running Time: Aprox. 40 Min
Track Pick: Kevin Devine featuring Jessie Lacy - Trailer Trash (live)

Now that track is not a particularly good recording at all, but the reason I picked it is because of it's added verse, which is rumored to originate from live MM performances, but I've never been able to confirm this audibly.

"And you spend your whole life / lookin' for the adult that you are / and you spend the rest of your life / lookin' for lookin' for the child that you were."

It's so frustratingly beautiful that I just have to believe Issac Brock wrote it (that asshole). Yes, despite my eternal love for Modest Mouse (of which I was reminded of last week when I spent the whole work day grooving off old tunes), I harbor resentment towards the front man for his on-stage dickishness the two times I've seen the band live (mostly the 2005 show). But he pretty much gets a Bob Dylan pass in my book (definitely a genius, definitely an asshole).

Some other notable songs on here, if you're in a hurry, are the Joshua James cover of "Custom Concern" and the Lenka cover of "Gravity Rides Everything." Both are so beautifully done, but if I may geek out for a moment here, I'd like to point out that in "Custom Concern," the correct lyrics as understood by the interwebs, appear to be "Message read on the bathroom wall / said 'I don't feel at all like I fall'." HOWEVER, Mr. James sings it "I don't feel at all like I thought," which is how I always heard it, and the sentiment of which I actually prefer. But as some douche on the SongMeanings message board pointed out, "are you isaac? do you KNOW what this is about? fuck you. it's about nothing."

And on that note...

 Genius/Asshole

God I love the banjo.
(Pictures circa 2005. Hey, at least I had a good view.)