Back in elementary, middle and high school while other girls were at dance class, I was in my bedroom making mix-tapes for myself and other people. From grades 5 until about 10, while doing my homework, I'd keep my stereo by my side and as I heard that first note of a song I liked, I'd push "record." It was the thrill of the hunt, the rush from the surge of song recognition and that I now could have this song and listen to it anytime I wanted. Elaborate tape covers were made a lot of the time, sometimes not. The mixes were usually named, sometimes not. Then CDs came out but it wasn't the same, wasn't as organic as radio. But now many years later, these things are obselete because of iTunes, which is one of my most favorite inventions ever. I can make playlists within minutes. Playlists for our iTunes at home, for our iPods and CDs for my spin classes. iTunes has taken the place of radio for me, opened me up to new music, a lot with small and independent labels, something that you will never find played on the radio or TV, which I'm happy about; I'm not being fed by "The Machine" and I like that. I'm lucky to have brothers and brothers-in-law that are like-minded that we can glean and exchange. I'm still true to my classic rock roots but there's a lot of good music out right now but you won't find it on MTV or the radio, which is fine by me.
Anyway, I made some playlists tonight, each for several of my different moods. I wish I could make mix tapes for all of you, with elaborate tape covers and catchy titles--the works.
MOODZY MIX
- Gamble Everything For Love – Ben Lee
- Hang Me Up to Dry – Cold War Kids
- Winter – Joshua Radin
- New Slang – The Shins
- Sea of Love – Cat Power
- Knocked Up – Kings of Leon
- You Are What You Love – Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins
- Overkill – Colin Hay
- Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right – Bob Dylan
- True Affection - The Blow
- Judy And the Dream of Horses – Belle & Sebastian
- Teeth in the Grass – Iron & Wine
- The Luckiest – Ben Folds
- Blue Skies For Everyone – Bob Schneider
- Creep – Radiohead
- First Day of My Life – Bright Eyes
- Petals – The Honorary Title
- Your Time is Gonna Come – Led Zeppelin
- By Heart – Sylvie Lewis
HAPPY GO LUCKY MIX
- Sailing Away (Bonus Track) – Travis
- I’d Rather Dance With You – Kings of Convenience
- All the Money or the Simple Life Honey – Dandy Warhols
- 1234 – Feist
- Feeling Alright – Joe Cocker
- LDN – Lily Allen
- Grace Kelly – MIKA
- Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games – Of Montreal
- You Only Live Once – The Strokes
- Lucky Moments – Bobby Baby
- After Hours – Bluetones
- At the Bottom of Everything – Bright Eyes
- If You Want to Sing Out Sing Out – Cat Stevens
- Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Part 1 – The Flaming Lips
- Be Gentle With Me – The Boy Least Likely To
- Scenic World - Beirut
NOSTALGIA AIN'T OVER RATED MIX
- Cry Baby Cry – The Beatles
- Holiday in Spain – Counting Crows
- Out of My Head – Fastball
- Operator – Jim Croce
- Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl) – Looking Glass
- Rooftop – The Envy Corps
- Sister Golden Hair - America
- The Great Divide – Neil Young
- Romeo & Juliet – Dire Straits
- Blackbird – The Beatles
- Mr. Tambourine – Bob Dylan
- California Stars – Billy Bragg & Wilco
- For What It’s Worth – Buffalo Springfield
- Shiny – Decemberists
- Career Day – The Format
- Soul to Squeeze – Red Hot Chili Peppers
- Stupid Memory – Sondre Lerche
HYPER SNIPER MIX
- I Bet You Look Good On the Dancefloor – Arctic Monkeys
- The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
- I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’ – Scissor Sisters
- Banquet – Bloc Party
- Do the Whirlwind – Architecture in Helsinki
- Poor Tom – Led Zeppelin
- Sukie in the Graveyard – Belle & Sebastian
- Sabotage – Beastie Boys
- Matthew & Son – Cat Stevens
- The Fallen – Franz Ferdinand
- OPP – Naughty by Nature
- Speak Slow – Tegan & Sara
- Friend of the Devil – The Grateful Dead
- Hotel Yorba – The White Stripes
- Struggle – Ringside
- 12:51 – The Strokes
- Que Onda Guero – Beck
- For the Actor - Mates of State
- Hey Now Now - The Cloud Room
4 comments:
Sadly, I did this too. I can remember the radio station announcing that a new Janet Jackson album was going to be played in its entirety on the radio. I recorded the whole thing (and I think I made up dances to about 1/2 of the songs-scary thought, I know-me, dancing.)
I love your nostalgia mix. Right up my alley. I'm going to have to try some of these out. ipods are the GREATEST. But, I totally know what you mean about the thrill of hearing that song you've been waiting for all day and madly pushing that record button. When your 12 it just doesn't get much better than that--especially if you have a purple "boom box" to record with.
I was IN LOVE with the song Electric Youth by Debbie Gibson. I taped it off the radio and then retaped it over and over on one side of a cassette, so I could just hit play and listen to it over and over. Woah. It was on TV the other day and I'm pleased to inform you I still know all the words, even the "ahs and Ohs".
I wish we lived closer so you could put a great workout mix on my mp3 player. Currently it's sleepy/relax songs for airplane rides. I dont' have time to figure it out and just do it. I'm kinda old like that.
I, too, have an illustrious history of mix tapes.
Right now I'm pretty proud of myself because I have actually heard of Feist (haven't heard of pretty much anyone else on your lists because I am a dork). But I'm totally obsessed with Feist, and so is Grace. We've been sitting here watching all the videos on her Myspace page! Have you seen the video of her on Conan? Awesome!
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