guest tape: snuff mix - april 2, 2009

Today I'm pleased to introduce our first guest tape. Katie has prepared for you, our dear readers, a charming meander that we call "Snuff Mix for Kath at the Hands of Cagefighter".

To explain: my pheromones have once more betrayed me and a 35-year old cagefighter (who does, actually, have a heart of gold) has become taken with me to the point of telling me about dreams he has had about me and that once I am "put in my place once, just once, I will be that much better." After a bourbon-, gin-, and beer-soaked night, we decided that a really funny idea would be to create a mix for my eventual demise at the hands of this cagefighter (because, logically, what else could putting me in my place mean other than a truly horrifying combination of sex and death). Thus, dear readers, track how the mix progresses from charming seduction to the cagefighter stroking the cheek of my still-warm corpse. On the bright side, Katie has informed me that I will not hear more than the first few tracks.

And I'd just like to interject - really? Two consecutive tracks about being hungry? An oblique reference to American Psycho? Infinite Lost Highway songs? Goddammit.

01. "Uptown Girl" - Billy Joel (An Innocent Man);
02. "Hungry Like the Wolf" - Duran Duran (Arena);
03. "Hungry Eyes" - Eric Carmen (Dirty Dancing OST);
04. "Let's Get It On" - Marvin Gaye (Let's Get It On);
05. "Magic Spells" - Crystal Castles (Crystal Castles);
06. "This Love" - Cocteau Twins (Cruel Intentions OST);
07. "In the Air Tonight" - Phil Collins (American Psycho OST);
08. "I Put A Spell On You" - Marilyn Manson (cover);
09. "Girlfriend in a Coma" - The Smiths (Strangeways, Here We Come);
10. "This Magic Moment" - Lou Reed (Lost Highway OST);
11. "Heirate Mich" - Rammstein (Lost Highway OST).

Songs for Your Space Odyssey

I've really been lacking inspiration these past few months in terms of mixes, but I have returned triumphant, with a brand-spanking new mix for your listening pleasure. My friend "D" had a sci-fi themed party the other night, which I was sadly unable to attend due to other out-of-town engagements, but in commemoration of her birthday, and her apparently kick-ass (and revealing) costume, I have created "Songs for Your Space Odyssey".

Obviously, this mix has Bowie. Duh. It also contains a couple tracks off of "OK Computer". Again, duh. In an attempt to vary the music, and to avoid breaking the first rule of mix-taping, I have managed to find some pretty solid covers. Other than this however, are a nice mix of songs ranging in genre for your flight across the galaxy, and please, don't forget to bring your towel.

track list
01. "Fett's Vette" - MC Chris (Life's a Bitch and I'm Her Pimp)
02. "Every Planet We Reach is Dead" - Gorillaz (Demon Days)
03. "Paranoid Android" - Sia (Exit Music)
04. "Starman" - Mates of State (All Day)
05. "Rocket Man" - Elton John (Rocket Man)
06. "Space Travel is Boring" - Sun Kil Moon (Tiny Cities)
07. "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots pt. 1" - The Flaming Lips (Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots)
08. "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots pt. 2" - The Flaming Lips (Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots)
09. "Astronaut" - Wintersleep (Welcome to the Night Sky)*
10. "Monster (RAC Remix)" - You Say Party! We Say Die! (Remiks Cube)
11. "Robots" - Flight of the Conchords (Flight of the Conchords)
12. "Intergalactic" - Beastie Boys (Sounds of Science)
13. "Gamma Ray" - Beck (Modern Guilt)
14. "Harder, Better, Faster" - Daft Punk (Discovery)
15. "Ziggy Stardust" - David Bowie (Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars)
16. "The Tarleks" - The Rheostatics (2067)*
17. "3rd Planet" - Modest Mouse (The Moon and Antartica)
18. "Ray Gun" - The Bird and The Bee (Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future)
19. "Sad Robot" - Stars (Sad Robot EP)
20. "Moonage Daydream" - Danny Michel (Loving the Alien)*
21. "The Killing Moon" - Echo and The Bunnymen (Donnie Darko OST)
22. "Looking for Astronauts" - The National (Alligator)
23. "Subterranian Homesick Alien" - Radiohead (OK Computer)
24. "Sci-Fi Lullabye" - Silversun Pickups (Pikul EP)*
25. "Space Oddity" - David Bowie (Best of Bowie)

it's all happening - february 22, 2009

Those who regularly monitor Torrey and I's mixes on Cassette Shelf have, most likely, come to be sure of one thing above all others: Torrey's mixes will be a fun, witty mix of indie rock and pop, and mine will be depressing, or at the very least low-key and mellow. Today, dear readers, is the day that this changes. I had one of those weeks where good thing after good thing happens; I got startled by my own genuine happiness, a friend fell in love, intelligent friends received copious amounts of monetary validation. good things, in short.

So this is a genuinely happy, ecstatic, euphoric mix. This is the music that erupts out of your stereo when things seem to be going right in all the most unexpectedly right ways. Don't confuse this with manic happiness, or the happiness that comes from one extremely good thing happening, but only to you. This mix is for pervasive happiness; for when good things seem to come in fives and sixes and to you and everyone you know, when you become convinced that there are high pressure zones of good karma moving into low pressure zones and everyone you love is right in good karma's path. Put more simply, in the immortal words of Penny Lane (yes - immortal, deal with it), it's all happening.

original track list
01. "Mr. Blue Sky" - E.L.O. (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind OST);
02. "Lovers in Japan / Reign of Love" - Coldplay (Viva La Vida, or Death and All His Friends);
03. "The Crane Wife 3" - The Decemberists (The Crane Wife);
04. "My Slumbering Heart" - Rilo KIley (The Execution of All Things);
05. "Fidelity" - Regina Spektor (Begin to Hope);
06. "T-Shirt Weather" - The Lucksmiths (T-Shirt Weather);
07. "Scenic World" - Beirut (The Gulag Orkestar);
08. "Get Lost" - Patrick Wolf (The Magic Position);
09. "Elevator Love Letter" - Stars (Heart);
10. "60B (Etown Theme)" - Nancy Wilson (Elizabethtown);
11. "Quiet Houses" - Fleet Foxes (Fleet Foxes);
12. "Old Old Fashioned" - Frightened Rabbit (The Midnight Organ Fight);
13. "Major Label Debut (Fast)" - Broken Social Scene (Broken Social Scene);
14. "The Year in Review" - Her Space Holiday (Xoxo Panda and the New Kid Revival); *
15. "Chariot" - Page France (Hello, Dear Wind);
16. "Solsbury Hill" - Peter Gabriel (In Good Company OST);
17. "Fresh Feeling" - Eels (Souljacker);
18. "Dry the Rain" - The Beta Band (High Fidelity OST);
19. "Agoraphobia" - Deerhunter (Microcastle);
20. "Sweet Darlin'" - She & Him (Volume One);
21. "Oh Heart" - Jill Barber (Oh Heart);
22. "Mona Lisas & Mad Hatters" - Elton John (Almost Famous OST).

Top 5 (Under the Radar) Albums of The Year

Seeing how we've been doing a music blog for a little over a half-year now and I feel it is suitable to call myself "a blogger" (whatever that means), I feel it is my right, nay, my duty to put out an indulgent, tired cliche of a Top 5 List. I feel I have this right firstly because of my undying love for "High Fidelity" as well as my passionate desire to spread the word about some of the fantastic albums that have flew under the radar this past year. You will not see Coldplay, Kings of Leon, or even TV on the Radio on my list, seeing how both of those acts received so much year end attention. Also, you will not see The Hold Steady on my list, because I feel I have devoted enough mental adoration to them and their previous albums, I already expected greatness from this album, and me putting them on my list would be somewhat masturbatory. Rather, you will see some really fantastic indie gems that snuck up on me this year and managed to hold my attention and buzz around in my head long enough for me to write them down right here.

5. Noah and the Whale - "Peaceful the World Lays Me Down"

I have embarrassingly little to say about this album since I got my hands on it just a few days ago, but any music based on Wes Anderson films, and imbued with their quirk and playful charm are good by me. The very first time I heard Noah and The Whale, I listened to the entire album in one sitting, which has maybe happened to me three times in my life. That is not to say I have never listened to an entire album, just not the first time I play it. If I had heard this album earlier, it would probably be higher on my list, but this is the way the world works.




4. Amylie "Jusqu'aux oreilles"

First of all, I don't speak any french. None. I barely passed intro French in grade 10, and it's been a while. I can now tell you that I have no idea what Amylie is singing about. It could be anything. She could be singing about elephant sex and I would be humming along merrily. This is a testament to Amylie's talent. I've heard some comparisons to Feist, but I'm not sure I hear it. What I can tell you is that Amylie can sing beautifully. She is probably the most talented singer I've heard in a while, and manages to keep me captivated by just her voice and the playful melodies of her songs. Even if you're not into French music, like I certainly am not, check her out, you will most likely be pleasantly surprised.




p.s. the translation video is somewhat terrible, but it's all i could find. I do not think one needs a translation to appreciate the music, in fact, it may hinder one's enjoyment.

3. Bon Iver - "For Emma, Forever Ago"

I can't really say much about this album that hasn't already been said. Perhaps the most critically acclaimed of the albums on my list (at least in the blogs and magazines that I frequent), so I will not devote too much time to this album other than to say that it is beautifully heart-wrenching and honest. Please do yourself a favor and check out Bon Iver, and grow a beard in celebration of this fantastic album.




2. Los Campesinos! - "Hold on Now, Youngster..."/ "We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed"

Ok, technically I suppose this is cheating, but you know what? A self proclaimed blogger has that prerogative, and both albums were released this year. Overflowing with joyful teenage neuroses and ideosyncratic playfulness, (see why i'm a blogger now? thought of that one in psych class) Los Campesinos! provides the soundtrack to your teenage years, complete with glockenspiel, and really damn catchy pop tunes. Also they're from Cardiff, home of my favorite anti-alien task force (if you get that, you get a gold star, but you will never touch a breast again, sorry dude). Admittedly, they are not for everyone due to the fact that the lead singer might rub some people the wrong way (particularily those with a low tolerance for goofy emo haircuts and naisally pseudo-singing), but if you are the least bit interested, please check em out.



1. Frightened Rabbit "The Midnight Organ Fight"

I absolutely love this album. No other album this year has stuck with me as much as this. I can listen to this album at any time, any place. I even listen to this while running, and it keeps me going, which is a big deal for me since running is perhaps the most boring thing for me to do. I've describes Frightened Rabbit as a Scottish version of Glen Hansard's (of Once fame) The Frames, but I don't think that really does them justice. It's hard to put my finger on it, but for some reason, no other album this year really resonated with me like Frightened Rabbit. I'm not sure if its the writing, or the delivery, but this album has since been put into my pantheon of albums with such peers as Interpol's "Turn on the Bright Lights" and The Thermals "The Body, The Blood, The Machine". I have listened to this album in its entirety more times this year than I can count on all of the digits on my body, and in my opinion, it is better in its entirety than in its individual parts. Of course, as usual, Grey's Anatomy beat me to the punch and featured "Good Arms vs. Bad Arms" in an episode, and apparently Chuck also had a couple songs, which is news to me since I watch it, but I just looked it up, so there you go. Also, ladies, a hint: nothing will make me drop my pants faster than a thick scottish accent, just for future reference.





Honorable Mentions: The Streets, Arkells, Fleet Foxes, Girl Talk, Elliot Brood

exercises in self-evisceration -- january 18, 2009

One of my favorite parts of High Fidelity is the idea that our attachment to music is largely autobiographical. I am never quite sure if my attachment to a song at a particular emotional crux in my life is because I had said emotion and then the song fulfilled it, or if I heard the song and felt said emotion in a devastatingly complete way. Put differently, is music my autobiography or am I music's autobiography? If Prufrock measured out his life in coffee spoons, what does it mean that I measure mine out in chords and verses? And if I make decisions based on the intersection of one particular song into my life at one particular moment, do I still have agency?

In other words, enjoy the self-evisceration. Real emotion makes for good production value.

original track list:

01. "Cath..." - Death Cab for Cutie (Narrow Stairs);
02. "Neither of Us, Uncertainly" - Deerhunter (Microcastle); *
03. "Skinny Love" - Bon Iver (For Emma, Forever Ago);
04. "New Romantic" - Laura Marling (My Manic & I);
05. "It's Not" - Aimee Mann (Lost in Space); *
06. "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before" - Coldplay (cover);
07. "I Will Not Sing a Hateful Song" - The Constantines (Kensington Heights);
08. "Crowd Surf Off a Cliff" - Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton (Knives Don't Have Your Back);
09. "Teeth" - Kristin Hersh (Hips and Makers); *
10. "Lost in the Zoo" - Goddamn Electric Bill (Swallowed by the Machines);
11. "Remember Me As a Time of Day" - Explosions in the Sky (How Strange, Innocence);
12. "90-Mile Water Wall" - The National (Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers);
13. "Never Is a Promise" - Fiona Apple (Tidal);
14. "Have to Explode" - The Mountain Goats (Tallahassee);
15. "About Today (Live)" - The National (The Virginia EP);
16. "Little Person" - Jon Brion (Synecdoche, New York OST). *

NOTE: I forget to check that the tracks were all correct. "Cath..." is now actually "Cath...".

Housekeeping

This post is going to take care of some housekeeping for the blog.

Mixwit is unfortunately closing down. We are hoping they may return with some form of paid service, which I would be crazy enough to pay for, but in the meantime we are going to attempt to transition over to Seeqpod. We will see how well this goes, and I may even attempt to convert our old mixtapes into a still-listenable format in Seeqpod as well. (When infinite time presents itself, of course.)

Second, I do not have a mixtape because my computer's hard drive kicked the bucket and my external hard drive is halfway across the country. Hence, I cannot deliver to ye faithful readers the proliferate tapes I had hoped to.

But, here's a video from one of our favorite new bands of 2008 to take you into 2009. God bless Sub Pop.

Songs for Christmas that Don't Suck Santa's Bells

Now I hate Christmas spirit as much as the next self-respecting hipster. However, it seems that we are finally at that point in the season where it is simply inescapable, which drives me up the wall. If possible, I would like to go grocery shopping without hearing Britney or Beyonce's latest rendition of some song that used to be good before it was driven into the ground season after season. Seriously, Elvis did it just fine years ago, thank you very much.

Anyways, in an attempt to make the holidays that much more bearable for you, because I love you all that much, I have somehow managed to pull myself away from studying the evolution of emotion to bring you this: Songs for Christmas That Don't Suck Santa's Bells.

On this list, I hope, is the remedy for all that Christmas spirit. There's some bittersweet, some depressing, some unknowns (maybe), and just the littlest bit of cheer (courtesy of your hipster favorites). Hopefully these are songs that haven't been driven into the floor for you. Also important to note, this is a bit of a personal list, and includes some of the Christmas music that I grew up with. This will explain the Bon Jovi and Tom Petty, so Kathryn stop looking at me like that, I know what you're thinking.

Anyways, have a good holiday season, this will most likely be my last post in 2008 since I am leaving the country for the holidays. See you all in 2009.

track list
01. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - Death Cab for Cutie
02. Merry Christmas Baby - Bonnie Rait and Charles Brown
03. That Was the Worst Christmas Ever! - Sufjan Stevens
04. The Christmas Song - The Raveonettes
05. Please Come Home for Christmas - Jon Bon Jovi
06. Back Door Santa - Clarence Carter
07. Christmas All Over Again - Tom Petty
08. Christmas in Hollis - Run-D.M.C.
09. Oi to the World - No Doubt
1o. Santa Clause is Back in Town - My Morning Jacket
11. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Barenaked Ladies ft. Sarah McLachlan
12. Happy Christmas (War is Over) - The Polyphonic Spree

p.s. Isn't that picture ridiculously awesome? That's what you get when you google image search "hipster christmas"

Top 5 Videos for Melancholy Insomniac Nostalgia

These are videos I would rather watch than attempt to work. I would go so far as to call them my 5 favorite videos right fucking now. Not all of them are official because that doesn't really matter, does it? How many artists have made shite videos of fantastic songs? And for some reason, right now moody songs set to film noir appeals to me on a very visceral level.

Top 5 Videos for Melancholy Insomniac Nostalgia

"Violet Hill" - Coldplay: The way that Chris Martin looks at the camera near the end makes me forgive him for x&y, as does the way he thrusts that hammer towards the camera to his phenomenal drum beat. and that faded out sepia is, somehow, intensely moving for me, as are his clumsy steps in that snow.



"Bohemian Like You" - The Dandy Warhols: my mother has pictures in this washed out 70s film. she is not naked in them. i do not think this video could be better for this song. i do not think i could know every single one of those people more than i feel i already do.



"Slow Show" - The National: This is a Godard film, Masculine Feminine, which I will now see. When the frames slow down, you breathe deeply.



"I Will Possess Your Heart" - Death Cab for Cutie: I believe that this song, and this video, may be briefly perfect. watch how melted snow flies off the drums.



"Lucky You"- The National: I don't know what film noir movie this is, but it's about 12:21 am and I have so far watched this three times. All that movement and the close-ups of that girl's cheek. I love nothing more than any video camera that caresses faces in fragmentary focus: just one cheek, then just the brow.

Songs That Remind You It's OK - - December 1, 2008

Hooray for a triumphant return. Sorry about being absent for so long and neglecting my duties, but I have been neck deep in papers and midterms for a good couple of months.

I'm sure Kath and I aren't well known for our cheery and upbeat musical selections, and seeing as how i have been in a fairly constant state of assignment numbness, it would be easy to create another soul crushingly, moody and somewhat depressing mix for your listening pleasure. However, I am going to break the chain and present a mix to assure you, like i needed to assure myself the past couple of months, that things are going to be ok.

Of course, still being myself, some of the songs on this mix are fairly bittersweet but there is an overall sense that despite how shitty things can get, things usually turn out alright, something that I'm going to try and keep in my mind for my upcoming finals.

track list
01. Returning to The Fold - The Thermals (The Body, The Blood, The Machine)
02. Dig for Fire - Pixies (Wave of Mutilation: Best of Pixies)
03. Don't Panic - Coldplay (Parachutes)
04. Fresh Feeling - Eels (Scrubs OST)
05. Dry the Rain - The Beta Band (Three EPs)
06. Brett Dennen - Darlin Do Not Fear (So Much More)
07. I will survive - Cake (Fashion Nugget)
08. What I Got - Sublime (Sublime)
09. Almost Crimes (Radio Kills Remix) - Broken Social Scene (You Forgot It In People)
10. Dear Prudence - The Beatles (White Album)
11. Sometimes - Michael Franti (Mystery Men OST)*
12. Midnight Train - Danny Michel (Valhalla)*
13. We Will Still Need A Song - Hawksley Workman (Lover/Fighter)
14. Float On - Modest Mouse (Good News for People Who Love Bad News)
15. This Year - The Mountain Goats (The Sunset Tree)
16. When Your Mind's Made Up - Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova (Once OST)
17. We Will Become Silhouettes - The Postal Service (Give Up)
18. You Can Make Him Like You - The Hold Steady (Boys and Girls in America)
19. On The Edge of A Cliff - The Streets (Everything is Borrowed)
20. Calendar Girl - Stars (Set Yourself on Fire)
21. Upward over the Mountain - Iron & Wine (The Creek Drank the Cradle)
22. Three Little Birds - Bob Marley (Legend)
23. Merry Happy - Kate Nash (Made of Bricks)

good morning, midnight -- november 24, 2008

I have a belief that mixtapes exist for three main reasons: the mixtape for a new relationship, the mixtape for a break-up, and the mixtape for a fucking awesome night. This is the third. To be specific: the nights that start off awesome and then somehow just manage to constantly take the most awesome, least plausible route, until you end up somewhere surreal, unbelievable, and ... awesome. And you think, "if I ever forget this, it would have to be because of a head injury."

Note: title is taken from a novel by Jean Rhys named Good Morning, Midnight. There is absolutely no overlap between subject matter. Her novel is about an alcoholic woman in Paris. Mine is about rocking good times. All they have in common is alcohol.

original track list:
01. "Campus" - Vampire Weekend (s/t);
02. "At & T" - Pavement (Wowee Zowee); *
03. "On to You" - The Constantines (Shine a LIght);
04. "Halfway Home" - TV on the Radio (Dear Science...);
05. "Of Moons, Birds & Monsters" - MGMT (Oracular Spectacular);
06. "Tbtf" - Kevin Drew (Spirit If);
07. "The First Big Weekend" - Arab Strap (The Week Never Starts Round Here);
08. "You Only Live Once" - The Strokes (First Impressions of Earth);
09. "Camaro" - Kings of Leon (Because of the Times);
10. "Slow West Vultures" - The Mountain Goats (We Shall All Be Healed);
11. "The Killing Moon" - Echo & the Bunnymen (Donnie Darko OST);
12. "Highway of Endless Dreams" - M83 (Saturdays = Youth);
13. "The Story Of" - Yo La Tengo (I Am Not Afraid Of You and I Will Beat Your Ass);
14. "Civil Twilight" - The Weakerthans (Reunion Tour);
15. "Stay Put!" - The Blood Arm (Lie Lover Lie);
16. "Massive Nights" - The Hold Steady (Boys and Girls in America);
17. "Le Pastie de la Bourgeoisie" - Belle & Sebastian (Lazy Line Painter Jane);
18. "Fighting in a Sack" - The Shins (Chutes Too Narrow);
19. "Don't You Evah" - Spoon (Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga);
20. "All the Wine" - The National (Alligator);
21. "New Country" - The Walkmen (You & Me); *
22. "Tinsel and Sawdust" - Jason Collett (Idols of Exile);
23. "Gold" - Interference (Once OST);
24. "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)" - The Arcade Fire (Funeral);
25. "Ibi Dreams of Pavement (A Better Day)" - Broken Social Scene (s/t).

News.

Okay, so big news here, guys - if you are still listening, because we are the worst bloggers ever.



We've been nominated for an award. And because both Torrey and I have been stupidly, stupidly busy (more on that later), we're just telling you. So (although we don't really entertain the possibility of winning - we are modest/realistic, after all) vote for us if you'd like.

Second order of business:



We are basically doing exactly what William Miller is not. And we hate it. And it's paper season. And - just - we will try to update, but life is kicking our asses right now. We still have deep love and high hopes for Cassette Shelf, but right now academic demands are being our high-maintenance girlfriends.

Please still love us. I'm pretty sure I have professors that are freaking me out more than Frances McDormand. And I'm not Russell Hammond, so I have few consolations in life.

falls from grace -- october 22 / 2008

So, goddamn it, Mixwit and I are going to have some words. I would dearly love to make some joke about how it ain't turning tricks like it used to, but that would be inappropriate and would probably lose readership. But, really - apparently it really hates this mix. I found practically none of my songs. And, in my opinion, this is my best mix yet, so fucking seriously, ask me for it.

In short, the idea of the mix came from listening to the song "Jacob's Ladder" by Patrick Wolf (not provided here; fuck you very much, Mixwit), and thinking in an offhand manner that it sounded like Satan falling from heaven in Milton's Paradise Lost. All these songs try to reflect that sort of dark, twisted atmosphere: a fallen angel with burnt wings, a sense of nobility remnant amidst the horrors of hell, and various other misshapen figures scattered in the wreckage. So it's really very creepy but in a cerebral, brooding way. This isn't the shock value horror film, it's the psychological one that seeps through under your skin, like Rosemary's Baby.

Next mix, look for an auditory approximation of Faulkner. No, really, don't. That's a joke. Don't even think of holding me to that.

original track list

01. "Elephant Woman" - Blonde Redhead (Misery Is a Butterfly);
02. "Jacob's Ladder" - Patrick Wolf (Wind in the Wires); *
03. "Airships" - Metallic Falcons (Desert Doughnuts);
04. "New Dawn Fades" - Joy Division (Unknown Pleasures);
05. "I Would Hurt a Fly" - Built to Spill (Perfect from Now On);
06. "Twill" - Elliott Brood (Ambassador); *
07. "Our Hell" - Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton (Knives Don't Have Your Back);
08. "Turn Smile Shift Repeat" - Phantom Planet (The Guest); *
09. "Picky Bugger" - Elbow (Leaders of the Free World);
10. "Tiny Cities Made of Ashes" - Modest Mouse (The Moon and Antarctica);
11. "Black Mirror" - The Arcade Fire (Neon Bible);
12. "I Saw a Light" - Bat for Lashes (Fur and Gold);
13. "Deportation/Iguazu" - Gustavo Santaolalia (Babel OST);
14. "Liquid Diamonds" - Tori Amos (From the Choirgirl Hotel);
15. "Stella Was a Diver and She Was Always Down" - Interpol (Turn on the Bright Lights);
16. "Our Dance" - Wax Tailor (Tales of Forgotten Memories);
17. "Charlie Big Potato" - Skunk Anansie (Post Orgasmic Chill);
18. "Death to Death" - Stars (Heart);
19. "Paranoid Android" - Radiohead (OK Computer);
20. "Broken Up a Ding Dong" - The Beta Band (Igby Goes Down OST); *
21. "The Wrong Way" - TV on the Radio (Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes); *
22. "Soap Opera" - 54 Seconds (Coma); *
23. "The Beginning is the End is the Beginning" - The Smashing Pumpkins (Watchmen Trailer);
24. "The Great Western Road" - David Byrne (Lead Us Not into Temptation). *

Songs for Your Unfortunate Demise

First off, Dudes and Dudettes, please don't read too much into this. This mix is grim, morbid, and a little twisted. However, do not fear, I have my reasons.

I recently discovered Nick Cave's fantastic album "Murder Ballads", and was, quite simply, inspired. This is also the reason two Nick Cave songs bookend this list. As well as the whole Nick Cave thing, this mix fits in quite nicely with that whole upcoming Halloween/Day of the Dead event that is sure to have you scrambling to your nearest used clothing store for clothing you can bloody and tear up for your frightening "slutty zombie", "slutty corpse" or "slutty crime scene investigator" costume.

Once again, let me ensure you that I am not obsessed with death, nor do i think about it any more than a regular person should. With that being said, enjoy pondering your eventual demise, my friends.

original track list
01. Stagger Lee - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (Murder Ballads)
02. If This Head Has Gone Missing, I Have Gone Hunting - Get Well Soon (Rest Now Weary Head)
03. The Big Three Killed my Baby - The White Stripes (The White Stripes)
04. Die Die Die - Cold War Kids (Acoustic at the District)
05. Faces in the Hall - Gym Class Heroes (The Papercut Chronicles)*
06. One for the Cutters - The Hold Steady (Stay Positive)*
07. Leslie Anne Levine - The Decemberists (Castaways and Cutouts)
08. Psycho Killer - Talking Heads (Talking Heads: 77)
09. Delia's Gone - Johnny Cash (The Legend of Johnny Cash)
10. Carolina Drama - The Raconteurs (Consolers of the Lonely)
11. 38 Years Old - The Tragically Hip (Yer Favorites)*
12. I Will Follow You into the Dark - Amanda Palmer (Book Smart)
13. Suicide Underground - Air (The Virgin Suicides OST)
14. Did You Know Him - Michael Andrews (Donnie Darko OST)
15. Henry Lee - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (Murder Ballads)

music for libraries -- september 27/08

"Music for Libraries" is perhaps the most obviously themed mixtape Cassette Shelf has featured so far. In my defense, I would like to state that, as an English honours student, I am swimming (alright, fine: drowning) in reading assignments, papers, and theory at the moment and the thought of coming up with a mixtape idea independent of everything that is filling my brain right now seemed difficult. You should probably understand that this mixtape is my brain. The songs generally all have some relation to literature or academics, whether through the obvious reference to books or the much more vague literary allusions. Plus "Almost Crimes", because it's a kick-ass song and I should probably mention that all of these books and words make me happy on a deep personal level. And this mix is actually pretty damn cohesive: it starts off on an ominous foot, full of brooding and modernistic angst, proceeds to an energetic little jig akin to how I feel walking through campus in the fall with an armful of textbooks, and finishes quietly and wistfully. So don't judge this mixtape by its gimmick-y tendencies, it's got a lot to offer.

original track list
01. "Bad Education" - Tilly and the Wall (Bottoms of Barrels);
02. "Cordelia" - The Tragically Hip (Yer Favourites);
03. "Sailing to Byzantium" - Liars (s/t);
04. "Bukowski" - Modest Mouse (Good News for People Who Love Bad News);
05. "Neon Bible" - The Arcade Fire (Neon Bible);
06. "Reading in Bed" - Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton (Knives Don't Have Your Back);
07. "Theologians" - Wilco (A Ghost is Born);
08. "Wrapped Up in Books" - Belle & Sebastian (Dear Catastrophe Waitress);
09. "Bookshop Casanova" - The Clientele (God Save the Clientele);
10. "Poetaster" - Miracle Fortress (Five Roses);
11. "My Favourite Book" - Stars (In Our Bedroom After the War);
12. "School Books" - Fields (Everything Last Winter);
13. "Academia" - Sia (Some People Have Real Problems);
14. "Jake's Classroom" - Terence Blanchard (The 25th Hour OST); *
15. "Sovay" - Andrew Bird (The Mysterious Production of Eggs);
16. "Pressed in a Book" - The Shins (Oh, Inverted World!);
17. "Almost Crimes" - Broken Social Scene (You Forgot It in People);
18. "The Book I Write" - Spoon (Stranger than Fiction OST);
19. "The Sun Also Sets" - Ryan Adams (Easy Tiger);
20. "Tragedy" - Brandi Carlile (s/t);
21. "Family Happiness" - The Mountain Goats (The Coroner's Gambit);
22. "Oedipus" - Regina Spektor" (Mary Ann Meets the Gravediggers and Other Short Stories);
23. "Virginia Woolf" - Indigo Girls (Rites of Passage);
24. "A Place Called Home" - Kim Richey (Rise);
25. "The Vivian Girls Are Visited In the Night by Saint Dargarius and his Squadron of Benevolent Butterflies" - Sufjan Stevens (The Avalanche);
26. "Hows About Tellin A Story" - Devendra Banhart (Cripple Crow);
27. "The Professor & La Fille Danse" - Damien Rice (B-sides);
28. "At Last the Secret Is Out" - Carla Bruni (No Promises);
29. "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" - Sufjan Stevens (Seven Swans);
30. "Sylvia Plath" - Ryan Adams (Gold).

Habits of the Indigenous Music Snob: Part I

I'd like to introduce a new feature on this blog, one that will be deliberately and good-naturedly self-deprecating. Because, really, Torrey and I are aware that music snobs have a bad reputation. We are also aware that this bad reputation comes from the fact that we are, at times, Super Pretentious. So Habits of the Indigenous Music Snob will poke fun at various aspects of music snobbery, while also being relatively true observations.

Part 1: Relationships

Music snobs are not at heart solitary creatures, content merely with a surrounding cave of well-aged vinyl records and a 160 GB iPod (now discontinued). No - they too long for the emotions of love, tenderness, and intimacy, just as their favorite artists and bands have taught them to. (Side note: What came first, the music or the misery? Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable, or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?) And music snobs are not doomed to live only with their rare Smiths singles: relationships are attainable for them, but with a few basic rules. And the most cardinal of these rules is the following:

Music snobs cannot date other music snobs. It just doesn't work, people.

I know what you're thinking. "But Kathryn, my boyfriend/girlfriend really loves music!" "But Kathryn, your best friend is Torrey and he's a music snob!" Yes. I know. I'm still right. Here's why:

1. There is a large, vast difference between a music snob and an individual who loves music. Someone who loves music will buy CDs, listen to the radio, find new music online, and in general enjoy the addition of music to their daily life. They also have a ~47% chance of having good taste. But, unlike a music snob, they are not competitive about music. They do not spend time agonizing over whether a certain band has indie cred or not. They do not feel actual shame over not particularly liking a band that they know, as music snobs, they should like. Their response to being complimented on their musical taste is "Thanks! Glad you like it!" The music snob's response is always "I know."

2. Music snobs can absolutely be best friends with other music snobs. They can be casual friends, dog-walkers, collaborators, co-workers, fuckbuddies. They absolutely never ever ever can be romantically involved. This is because music snobs are competitive. They have to have the best music collection ever. And this is okay for casual friends, even best friends, because friendship is not a union. You do not actively become part of a couple in friendship. You are a duo, not a couple. A duo implies equal amounts of impressive talent, brought together in a temporary social situation. A couple is a fixed combination. And a music snob always wants to dominate; the music snob is inherently territorial in nature. Two music snobs dating would be an incessant rigmarole of figurative urination.

I realize this may sound overly harsh. But I really believe it's true. You should also note that the music snob will always SAY that he or she will only date another music snob. The music snob states ridiculously high standards for any potential boyfriend/girlfriend in terms of musical taste, but inevitably does not end up with anyone like this. Even Torrey and I's Bible, High Fidelity, proves this point. Laura is not a music snob. She likes good music and appreciates the art of music, but is not a music snob. This is because Rob would never, ever be able to date a music snob. Can you imagine two individuals prone to giving third-wall-dissolving narratives to the camera in the same relationship? No! It could never work! The music snob needs a counterpoint, a foil to their intense musical pretentiousness, someone who has a healthy or even non-existent attitude towards music.

Case in point: my first relationship began with my then-boyfriend making me mix-tapes that contained Elvis, "Unchained Melody", and other various oldie-but-goodie songs that had clearly come from his parents' influence. Another mixtape was comprised completely of Scrubs soundtrack songs. But shortly after he began listening to Devendra Banhart and telling me that I really underappreciated The Flaming Lips, the relationship ended. Coincidence? Or staggering confirmation of my scientific theory?

I say, staggering confirmation. Feel free to offer your own opinions. But I will argue that you are wrong.

Songs That Remind You of Home

I recently had the privilege of of seeing Guy Madden's film "My Winnipeg", a semi-fictional, pseudo-documentary about his hometown. Madden's film, about the sleep walking capital of the world, inspired me to create this mix.

Within this mix are a collection of songs with a very distinct time or place in mind. All of them are very specific, and yet, in a way where the specificity reminds us of our own hometowns, or childhoods, or families.

Some of the songs which immediately came to mind while I was crafting this list are by Canadian artists, and others were very much a part of my own childhood. I intend for parts of this mix to be specific to me, and hopefully the mix finds a specificity that extends to where you come from. This mix is an ode to the gritty, the dirty, the funny, and the quaint nature of wherever you come from.

original track list
01. One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces - Ben Folds Five (Whatever and ever Amen)
02. The Old Apartment - Barenaked Ladies (Greatest Hits)
03. Parklife - Blur (The Best of...)
04. The Way We Get By - Spoon (Kill the Moonlight)
05. Nights of the Living Dead - Tilly and the Wall (Wild LIke Children)
06. Waiting for the 7.18 - Bloc Party (A Weekend in the City)
07. Two Hearts - Danny Michel (Tales from the Invisible Man)*
08. Hangover Days - Jason Collett (Idols of Exile)
09. LDN - Lily Allen (Alright, Still)
10. The Frug - Rilo Kiley (The Initial Friend)
11. Dance Music - The Mountain Goats (The Sunset Tree)
12. Reunion - Stars (Set Yourself on Fire)
13. 1979 - The Smashing Pumpkins (Rotten Apples)
14. In the Garage - Weezer (Weezer)
15. Yellow Brick Road - Raine Maida (The Hunter's Lullabye)*
16. Are You Lookin' at Me? - Colin Hay (Are You Lookin' at Me?)
17. Blinded by the Lights - The Streets (A Grand Don't Come for Free)
18. One Great City - The Weakerthans (Reconstruction Site)
19. You Remind me of Home - Ben Gibbard and Andrew Kinney (Home vol. 5)
20. The Valley Town - Elliot Brood (Mountain Meadows)
21. Wheat Kings - The Tragically Hip (Yer Favourites)
22. Sullivan Street - Counting Crows (August and Everything After)
23. Orange Sky - Alexi Murdoch (Time Without Consequence)
24. Sodom, South Georgia - Iron and Wine (Our Endless Numbered Days)
25. Wild Pack of Family Dogs - Modest Mouse (The Moon and Antartica)
26. Los Angeles, I'm Yours - The Decembersists (Billy Liar EP)
27. Riot Van - Arctic Monkeys (Whatever People Say I Am, Thats What I'm Not)
28. The City is a Drag - Hawksley Workman (Los Manlicious)
29. Southtown Girls - The Hold Steady (Boys and Girls in America)

Note: On further inspection of this mix, I have become unhappy with it. I feel that it got a little sloppy, and for this, I apologize. My alterations, for anyone playing at home, are to remove the following:

01. One Angry Dwarf and 200 Faces
05. Nights of the Living Dead
08. Hangover Days
10. The Frug
15. Yellow Brick Road

The reasoning behind this removal is that upon further examination, I feel these songs characterize more the act or experience of growing up and of youth, than of actual home or homelife. My intention was for the songs to convey a distinct time or place and the feeling associated with them, and the removed songs do not do that as strongly as i wished. This is not a commentary on the quality of the songs, however. I love them all, they just did not fit... My bad...

Minor Radio Fame... Kind of...

So my local alternative radio station (which is in Edmonton) has a program every week called "Hey Ma! I'm on SONiC". I am lucky enough to be featured on it tonight, so anyone who happens to see this before 10:00 pm Mountain Time can tune into the live feed, and hear me cohosting an hour show, with my selection of music.

The site is www.radiosonic.fm.

Beastie Boys - Sabotage
Broken Social Scene - 7/4 Shoreline
The Clash - Train In Vain
The Cure - Close To Me
The Fratellis - Chelsea Dagger
The Kooks - Always Where I Need To Be
M.I.A. - Paper Planes
Modest Mouse - Float On
The Pixies - Where Is My Mind
The Postal Service - Such Great Heights
Silversun Pickups - Lazy Eye
Hawksley Workman - Smoke Baby (acoustic)

Thanks, friends.

goodbye songs -- september 11/08

Due to inexplicable reasons that have since become even more mysterious to me, I chose to go to university literally at the other end of Canada. I'm being facetious - there were, and are, decent and understandable reasons, not the least of which was that particular and desperate need to escape various phantoms and start over. What one doesn't realize when one makes this decision, however, is the peculiar sort of limbo this permanent transit creates. I am not really ever at home. I am usually always saying goodbye. When I am here at school I miss my home province in the most essential ways: I miss its landscape, its weather, its winds and intangible vagrancies. During the summer, I miss the detachment of school from the scattered jetsam that I have accumulated. This mixtape is a collection of these various goodbyes and longings, I have listened to these songs in airplanes.

Yeah, I got all personal there, how un-snobby. Also, apparently Mixwit hates me today and has decided to have none of my favorite songs on this mix. Fine. I bite my thumb at you, Mixwit. Ask me for the mix if you want it, yada yada.

original track list
01. "Grow Up and Blow Away" - Metric (Grow Up and Blow Away);
02. "405" - Death Cab for Cutie (We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes);
03. "Parachutes (Funeral Song)" - Mates of State (Team Boo);
04. "Coughing Colors" - Tilly and the Wall (Bottoms of Barrels); *
05. "The Wooden Sky" - The Wooden Sky (When Lost at Sea);
06. "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" - Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova (I'm Not There OST);
07. "Pictures of Success" - Rilo Kiley (Takeoffs & Landings);
08. "Kelly Brown" - The Earlies (Skins OST); *
09. "NYC" - Interpol (Turn on the Bright Lights);
10. "Cadillac Dust" - Elliott Brood (Tiny Type);
11. "Leaving Home" - The Mountain Goats (Ghana); *
12. "Look into the Air" - Explosions in the Air (How Strange, Innocence);
13. "You've Gone Away Enough" - Mirah (C'mon Miracle);
14. "Moongirl" - stellastarr* (s/t); *
15. "High Speed" - Coldplay (Parachutes);
16. "Muzzle of Bees" - Wilco (A Ghost Is Born);
17. "The Great Escape" - Patrick Watson (Close to Paradise);
18. "At the Hop" - Devendra Banhart (Nino Rojo);
19. "Oh My Sweet Carolina" - Ryan Adams (Heartbreaker);
20. "A Tender History in Rust" - Do Make Say Think (You, You're a History in Rust);
21. "Devil Town" - Tony Lucca (Friday Night Lights OST).

Top 5 Bands that Changed My Musical Landscape

YES, I am finally updating. In my defence: I flew to the other end of the country, saw my boyfriend for the first time in two months, moved into residence, and started a new year of university. Things, they have been a-happening. But finally, a Top 5:

Let me state first: this is not a "Favorite Artists" Top 5, nor is it meant to attest that these artists are the best of my music collection. Instead, this Top 5 lists artists that were, due to a flurry of converging circumstances, completely revelatory to my taste and experience in music. These are the artists that were each the first to give me something in music I had not expected before, and which I consequently would demand from any music to follow. This is almost like a list describing the evolution of my musical taste, but that sounds really daunting, because how can I really explain my tendency towards depressing, low-key music other than typical teenage angst? So instead: a basic tutorial in the topography of my musical landscape, listed chronologically.

Top 5 Artists that Changed My Musical Landscape

Tori Amos

I heard the Tori Amos song below one day by pure chance on the radio. Before this song, I was the epitome of horrible pre-adolescent musical taste. My exposure to Tori Amos introduced me to the idea that songs like "Winter" could have, nay, should have, literary value. And Amos has that in spades, though some may find her overwrought; she uses symbolism and metaphors as easily as breathing and she swims in that piano of hers. She was the first to illustrate to me what a musical artist was, this crazy violent quaint faerie with clouds and clouds of red hair and white skin. Thus, sentimental value.



The Shins

I realize how cliche it is to be influenced by Zach Braff's iTunes, okay. But - suck it. I refuse to join in the massive hate hard-on people have against Garden State nowadays. I saw that movie three times in four days, and unabashedly thrilled to the sound of "New Slang" through Natalie Portman's headphones. If this makes me uncool, then so be it. But this song came to epitomize in its quiet way the vast and subtle world of music that existed beneath radio and Top 40 and all that. I also realized you had to work to get at it. A music snob was subsequently born.



Interpol

I realize that I don't show a large tendency towards the rockier side of indie music, but what little I do possess comes as a result of this band. Paul Banks is perhaps one of the most strangely, intimately verbose lyricists in music right now, I think; he writes these rambling, eccentric, compelling love songs that speak both unexpectedly and unconventionally to one's heart. Love is not to him a melancholy force but one of constant joy and motion even in pain. This is beside the point. The insistent pounding ache of "Obstacle 1" and the low drone of Banks' voice showed me that a killer bass line didn't mean a song wouldn't knock me out and hang me up to dry. "I wish I could eat the salt off of your lost faded lips" - poetry.



Stars

Just from "Your Ex-Lover is Dead" (below) alone, you can sense that Stars harnesses their natural tendency for melodrama into a dual narrative both fantastical and communal. I have always loved Stars, but they did not truly change my musical landscape until I saw them live; that concert remains the best I have seen to this day. It would be easy for any sense of real emotion to become lost in the soaring violins and the dramatic absolutes of Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan's personas, but instead they communicate crystalline moments as though nostalgic in prescience.



The Mountain Goats

I went through a period of time after hearing the Mountain Goats for the first time during which I did not listen to anything else. No, really. Since the Mountain Goats, I can say honestly that I no longer hunt for music the same way I once did. I call myself a Darniellead; this band is honestly sort of my religion. John Darnielle is a poet, kids. Fuck, he's a novelist. He has characters who span songs and albums and decades of music: the Alphas, the scarred, bitter, alcoholic embodiments of mutually assured destruction of the heart, and they star in this song, "No Children", the very first song I ever heard of theirs through complete and utter fortuitous chance (my penpal wrote the lyrics on the back of an envelope). He can create in a few well-placed words a description of the place and setting that establishes the tone and meaning of the song. Most literature is not this good, okay. And Darnielle's voice can range from a prolonged grating growl of frustration and hopelessness to a wistful, plaintive elegy. I cannot say enough about the Mountain Goats. They have ruined all other music for me.

Songs for Your Troubled Dreams

So I haven't really been sleeping that great lately. I'm not really sure what it is, but it might have something to do with all of the X-Files I've been watching and the fact that I recently read "World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War". Suffice it to say, I've had some weird dreams. For example, on two occasions I have dreamed of the Zombie Apocalypse, and on the second occasion, I was saved by Batman's personal secretary, dressed in a snappy looking pantsuit. Weird stuff, right? Also, I recently dreamed that I was trying to hang out with Kevin Smith but he was totally a dick about it, which kind of messed me up cause I always got the impression he was a pretty cool dude.

Anyways, this mix attempts to capture the feeling and mood of a dream. 1 part strangely romantic yet ominous, 1 part floating/falling, 1 part unnerving/jarring. Yet, with all of this said, dreams always seem to have a strange coherence and consistency that only make sense to you while you are sleeping. This mix is a sharp contrast to Kath's last mix and is intended to be a musical assault. Definitely don't listen to this while falling asleep.

p.s. My apologies for not posting anything last week as promised. I was very busy, and dropped the ball. My bad, sorry dawgs.

original track list
01. "(intro)" - Broken Social Scene (Bee Hives)*
02. "Pennantless on Homecoming " - Hills Like White Elephants (Himalaya)
03. "Soft Revolution" - The Stills (Do You Trust Your Friends?)*
04. "What's a Girl to Do?" - Bat for Lashes (Fur and Gold)
05. "Cliquot" - Beirut (Flying Club Cup)
06. "Tarantulove" - Hawksley Workman (For Him and the Girls)
07. "Bad Education" - Tilly and the Wall (Bottoms of Barrels)
08. "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)" - Arcade Fire (Funeral)
09. "Devil's Eyes (Piano Version)" - Buck 65 (Secret House Against the World)
10. "The Devil's Workday" - Modest Mouse (Good News for People Who Love Bad News)*
11. "Satan Said Dance" - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (Some Loud Thunder)
12. "Trouble With Dreams" - Eels (Blinking Lights and Other Revelations)
13. "Cells" - The Servant (The Servant)
14. "Fire Coming Out of The Monkey's Head" - Gorillaz (Demon Days)
15. "Helter Skelter" - The Beatles (The Beatles [The White Album])
16. "Modern World (Original)" - Wolf Parade (Apologies to the Queen Mary)
17. "One for the Cutters" - The Hold Steady (Stay Positive)
18. "Les Lumieres Pt. 2" - Bell Orchestre (Recording a Tunnel)
19. "Pioneer to the Falls" - Interpol (Our Love to Admire)
20. "Zombie" - The Cranberries (Stars)
21. "Nimrod's Son" - Pixies (Wave of Mutilation)
22. "Lolita" - Elefant (The Black Magic Show)
23. "Wolf Like Me" - TV on the Radio (Return to Cookie Mountain)
24. "The Less I Know" - Raine Maida (The Hunter's Lullaby)*
25. "Paranoid Android" - Radiohead (OK Computer)
26. "Feathers" - Man Man (Six Demon Bag)
27. "Mad World" - Michael Andrews and Gary Jules (Donnie Darko OST)
28. "God Make Up Your Mind" - Cold War Kids (Robbers & Cowards)
29. "Pan's Labyrinth Lullaby (Nana Del Laberinto del Fauno)" - Javier Navarette (Pan's Labyrinth OST)

*Yes, I know there are repeats from my last mix. Get over it, they fit really well.