Mix for J's Mexico Vacation. March, 2010

I made this mix the other day for Jess for her Mexican Vacation. She's going to Puerto Vallarta and I thought this would be a nice chill mix to have while sitting on the beach. Hopefully she thinks so too. I guess I'll find out in a week, she left this morning!

1. Calexico - Alone Again, Or
2. Deerhunter Cover Me (Slowly)/Agoraphobia
3. Alice Cooper - Under My Wheels
4. Rancid - The Harder They Come
5. The Coasters - Down In Mexico
6. Modest Mouse - Float On
7. Surfer Blood - Swim
8. The-Dream - Walkin On The Moon (feat. Kanye West)
9. The Killers - Bones
10. Mos Def - No Hay Nada Mas
11. Lynyrd Skynyrd - I Need You
12. Climax - Mesa Que Mas Aplauda (Za Za Za)
13. Atlas Sound - Walkabout (feat. Noah Lennox)
14. Lupe Fiasco - Kick, Push
15. Led Zeppelin - Going To California
16. Animal Collective - Summertime Clothes
17. Wyclef Jean - Guantanamera
18. The Olivia Tremor Control - Jumping Fences
19. Sleigh Bells - Beach Girls
20. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps
21. Blue October - Into The Ocean
22. Girls - Hellhole Ratrace
23. The Lonely Island - I'm On A Boat
24. Calexico - Corona
25. Beck - Mexico

Black Flag - The Last Four Years

It was definitely a line in the sand. It was sort of an intelligence test - if you could handle the changes of Black Flag, you weren't an idiot. And if you thought they were just selling out, then you were an idiot - Mark Arm, Mudhoney

This is one of those mixes that I always tell people I'm going to make them. I usually make this promise in the midst of a heated argument over Black Flag and whether or not they are worth listening to post Damaged (I know some people don't think they're worth listening to after Henry joined the band).

Black Flag was always Greg Ginn's band and he always took it upon himself to write songs that challenged the band and challenged the audience. There was a huge backlash when the band came back from their legal issue forced 3 year hiatus with long hair and Dio era Black Sabbath influenced punk/metal/rock/whatever. It's great stuff in my opinion. I'm pretty sure my words won't change your mind but hopefully if you give the tunes a listen with an open mind you'll see just how influential the post Damaged era Flag was on some of your favorite bands.

Black Flag - The Last Four Years

1. Can't Decide
2. Black Coffee
3. Loose Nut
4. Drinking And Driving
5. Wound Up
6. Modern Man
7. My War
8. Annihilate This Week
9. In My Head
10. Best One Yet
11. I Love You
12. Slip It In

Download Black Flag - The Last Four Years

Andrea's Soundtrack for Spring, April 2002

Special Guest Post!

Let's mix it up a little bit. Andrea is an awesome crafty lady and a dear friend of mine. She's a mixtape aficionado and recently found one she made a while back. I asked if she'd like to share it here and she agreed. She picked some awesome tunes on this tape and I'm honored to have her here. Take it away Andrea!

Spring is always the most inspiring season for me. It smells right and sounds right and feels right. There is nothing like those first real days of springtime.

The spring of 2002 was a good one. It was a couple of years before my sweet children were even a possibility in my mind and while I still had a car with a cassette tape player. Life was pretty laidback in Madison, Wisconsin. I was planning a road trip to Memphis with my husband that April and this mixtape was made for the trip. I'm not sure why I repeated artists as that's not something I typically did on mix tapes. I guess I just thought it flowed well.

This may have been one of the last years I actually made a mix TAPE. Can you believe I held out that long?

Although this mix may be a little more mellow than something Mario would make, I know he secretly loves the wuss rock (secretly? - Mario.) and would at least approve of the Beach Boys.

I think this soundtrack for spring is as relevant now as it was eight years ago. I hope it sparks a little inspiration and captures springtime for you!

_________________

soundtrack for spring. april 2002.

blake babies: baby gets high
the promise ring: scenes from parisian life
teenage fanclub: happiness
pete yorn: ez
the beach boys: feel flows
matthew sweet: come to love
mike felumlee: sleepwalking
the jesus & mary chain: she
duvall: the game is up
teenage fanclub: dumb dumb dumb
simon & garfunkel: america
superchunk: driveway to driveway
smoking popes: paul
moods for moderns: you're the one
blake babies: nothing ever happens
reggie & the full effect: what's wrong
mega super ultra: silly waste of time
matthew sweet: i've been waiting
the figgs: favorite shirt
elvis costello: alison
smoking popes: off my mind
white stripes: hotel yorba
badfinger: no matter what
the velvet crush: hold me up
moods for moderns: only on a saturday night
dashboard confessional: age six racer
superchunk: detroit has a skyline
Download Andrea's Soundtrack For Spring, April 2002

While you're at it:
Andrea's Blog: Craft Therapy
Andrea's Etsy Store: Space Oddities

Have a great weekend!

Skyway Songs

This is the first in a series of mixtapes where I highlight my favorite bands. Please please please if you enjoy the songs on this mixtape make it a point to buy some vinyl or a cd or MP3s or whatever your poison is. These songs are just the tip of the iceberg and there's way more amazing music where they came from. Thanks for listening.

I love the Replacements. I was a little bit late to the party but once I got there it was impossible to leave.

When I listen to the Replacements they're undoubtedly the greatest Rock and Roll band in the history of music. No one ever wrote better lyrics, rocked harder, had sweeter ballads, drank more beer or played cooler leads (at least when Bob was in the band). I'm not joking when I say their songs changed my life and the way I think about music and what it means to be in a band. It was never enough to just rock out. These songs are goddamn art.

When it comes to the 'Mats the lyrics are my favorite part so I'm gonna highlight some of my favorite lines of theirs when applicable.

Skyway Songs

1. Kids Don't Follow (Stink)
2. I Will Dare "How young are you? How old am I? Let's count the rings around my eyes" (Let It Be)
3. Bastards Of Young "Dreams unfulfilled, graduate unskilled. It beats pickin' cotton and waitin' to be forgotten" (Tim)
4. Can't Hardly Wait "I'll be home when I'm sleepin" (Pleased To Meet Me)
5. Nobody "Yeah you're still in love with nobody, and I used to be nobody" (All Shook Down )
6. Unsatisfied "How can you look me in the eye and tell me that you're satisfied?" (Let It Be)
7. Kiss Me On The Bus "If you knew how I felt now, you wouldn't act so adult now" (Tim)
8. Achin' To Be (Don't Tell A Soul)
9. Within Your Reach "I can live without your touch. Die within your reach" (Hootenanny)
10. Skyway (Pleased To Meet Me)
11. Left Of The Dial (Tim)
12. Alex Chilton (Pleased To Meet Me)
13. Color Me Impressed (Hootenanny)
14. Favorite Thing (Let It Be)
15. Swingin Party "If being afraid is a crime then we'll hang side by side" (Tim)
16. I'll Be You "Lonely, I guess that's where I'm from" (Don't Tell A Soul)
17. Answering Machine "How do you say good night to an answering machine?" (Let It Be)
18. Here Comes A Regular "You're like a picture on the fridge that's never stocked with food" (Tim)
19. Beer For Breakfast (All For Nothing/Nothing For All)
20. If Only You Were Lonely "Forgot my one good line so I just said what I felt" (B-Side from Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash!)

Also you know they're a good band if other great bands are writing tributes to them.

Download Songs From The Vacuum - Skyway Songs

Songs From The Holiday Vacuum

Image from http://www.sketchysantas.com

Hey I made a quick mixtape with some of my favorite holiday songs! Hope you like it.

1. The Kinks - Father Christmas
2. Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
3. Julian Casablancas - I Wish It Was Christmas Today
4. Run-DMC - Christmas In Hollis
5. Jackson 5 - I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
6. Stevie Wonder - What Christmas Means To Me
7. The Ramones - Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight)
8. Weezer - The Christmas Song
9. Fucked Up - Do They Know It's Christmas
10. Vince Guaraldi - Christmas Time Is Here
11. The Pogues - Fairytale of New York
12. Willie Nelson - Frosty The Snowman
13. Low - Just Like Christmas
14. The Beach Boys - Little Saint Nick
15. Descendents - Christmas Vacation
16. No Doubt - Oi To The World
17. The Sonics - I Don't Believe In Christmas
18. Twisted Sister - O Come All Ye Faithful
19. The Lonely Island - Dick In A Box (feat. Justin Timberlake)
20. Fear - Fuck Christmas
21. Bob & Doug McKenzie - 12 Days Of Christmas
22. Cheech & Chong - Santa Claus and His Old Lady

Download Songs From The Holiday Vacuum

Edit: I forgot the Low & McKenzie Brothers songs. Get em here

A mixtape I probably would have made: 2002

Moving right along in our series of mixtapes I would have made in a certain year, here's 2002.

This was the first year I spent completely living in Minnesota which was quite a bit different from New Mexico. The difference I found in new avenues to discover new music in my newly adopted home state was astonishing. I had never found myself surrounded by so many different musically knowledgeable people, going to so many excellent concerts and listening to so much great music, present and past.

Looking back, this was a great year for music. If i had to make a top 20 songs of all time list the included songs from Johnny Cash, The Roots, Drag The River, Wilco, The Flaming Lips, Against Me!, and Paul Westerberg would be strong contenders for inclusion.

Here's 2002. Hope you dig it.

1. Queens Of The Stone-Age - You Think I Ain't Worth A Dollar But I Feel Like A Millionaire
2. Dillinger Four - Folk Song
3. Drag The River - Get Drunk
4. The Roots - The Seed 2.0
5. Sweet JAP - Oh My Pretty Face
6. Against Me! - Baby, I'm An Anarchist!
7. Foo Fighters - All My Life
8. The Flaming Lips - Do You Realize??
9. Johnny Cash - The Man Comes Around
10. Elvis Costello - 45
11. Blackalicious - Chemical Calisthenics
12. Wilco - I'm The Man Who Loves You
13. Rocket From The Crypt - Bring Us Bullets
14. Paul Westerberg - We May Be The Ones
15. Ultimate Fakebook - Inside Me, Inside You
16. Sonic Youth - Disconnection Notice

Download A Mixtape I probably would have made: 2002

DIY Punk From The ZEROS

It's Ben Crew!

(photo by Matt Average)

I take a small detour from the recent year themed posts to post a (slightly modified) mix I made for Luis and Beata of DIY Punk and hardcore punk from earlier this decade. When I started getting into punk in the mid 90s I found myself drawn more to the punk from the 80s, especially the stuff from SoCal and the DC hardcore scenes than a lot of the more current stuff. When a lot of bands started taking on that music as influence in the late 90s and early 00s I was extremely excited. There were a lot of awesome bands that came out of that 80s revival. Here's some of my favorite stuff. A lot of really good stuff I don't have in digital format, just on vinyl, so this is definitely not a complete primer on what transpired in all those basements and VFW halls, just a cheat sheet DIY HC 101 sorta thing. Hope you like it.

DIY PUNK FROM THE ZEROS

1. Limp Wrist - I Love Hardcore Boys/I Love Boys Hardcore
2. Limp Wrist - What's Up With The Kids?
3. Limp Wrist - The Ode
4. Direct Control - Wicked Sick To The Gills
5. Direct Control - Hardcore For Heroin
6. Caustic Christ - Burned
7. Caustic Christ - Bloodsucking Fiends
8. Caustic Christ - I Infect
9. Career Suicide - Fall-Out
10. Career Suicide - Jonzo's Leaking Radiation
11. Career Suicide - Quarantined
12. Tear It Up - Don't Call Me Tonight
13. Tear It Up - Close My Eyes and Hope For The Worst
14. Surf Nazis Must Die - Emo Kids Blown To Shit
15. Surf Nazis Must Die - I Am Angry
16. Regulations - Destroy
17. Regulations - Police Siren
18. 9 Shocks Terror - Not A Fucking Anthem
19. 9 Shocks Terror - Adjust Me
20. Cold Sweat - Fuck The Flock/My Rights
21. Cold Sweat - Burn Everything
22. Tragedy - The Ending Fight
23. The Observers - Symbols, Slogans, Lies
24. The Observers - Lead Pill
25. Fucked Up - Circling The Drain
26. Fucked Up - Police
27. Total Fury - I Win, You Lose
28. Total Fury - Showdown
29. Annihilation Time - Feel It
30. Annihilation Time - Annihilate
31. D.S.-13 - Lie
32. D.S.-13 - Umea Hardcore
33. Municipal Waste - Mutants Of War
34. Municipal Waste - Substitute Creature
35. No Hope For The Kids - Secret Police
36. No Hope For The Kids - Rainy Day
37. Punch In The Face - Not Here To Make Friends
38. Punch In The Face - Dumb Hardcore
39. Street Trash - Street Trash
40. Street Trash - What The Shit
41. Victims - Moments
42. Victims - We Are Dead
43. RunnAmucks - Detonation
44. RunnAmucks - I Gotta Move
45. Suicide File - I Hate You

Download DIY Punk From the ZEROS