je vois la vie en rose. -- august 19/08

I have a deep and enduring love for Audrey Hepburn. This is not unusual. To me, and to most people I believe, she embodies a simplicity and grace of spirit that is wholly, unfailingly comforting. She and her most well-known movies (Breakfast at Tiffany's, Sabrina, Roman Holiday) seem to be enchanted mementoes of a time in which people hoped without reservation or secrecy, in which idealism was not a state of mind but a tender undefeated fact. Each time Holly Golightly finds Cat in the rain, I briefly forget the possibility of disappointment.

""People associate me with a time when movies were pleasant, when women wore pretty dresses in films and you heard beautiful music. I always love it when people write me and and say 'I was having a rotten time, and I walked into a cinema and saw one of your movies, and it made such a difference.'"

So this mix are all the songs I could find that communicate even an iota of that delicate, transcendent calm. These are not hipster show-off songs; this may be viewed by some as a dull mix. Don't try to do chores to this mix. Instead - fall asleep to this mix. Be comforted by this mix. I could think of no better title for it than the obvious.

original track list
01. "Reflections After Jane" - The Clientele (Suburban Light);
02. "Quelqu'un m'a dit" - Carla Bruni (Quelqu'un m'a dit);
03. "A Sunday Smile" - Beirut (The Flying Club Cup);
04. "Vein of Stars" - The Flaming Lips (At War with the Mystics);
05. "A Sweet Summer's Night on Hammer Hill" - Jens Lekman (Oh You're So Silent Jens);
06. "Maybe Lately" - Miracle Fortress (Five Roses);
07. "The Aspidistra Flies" - Stars (The Comeback);
08. "Dogs" - Damien Rice (9);
09. "Gold in the Air of Summer" - Kings of Convenience (Riot on an Empty Street);
10. "Weigh Me Down" - Royal Wood (A Good Enough Day);
11. "She's Always a Woman" - Billy Joel (The Stranger);
12. "La Valse d'Amelie (piano)" - Yann Tiersen (Amelie OST);
13. "The Only Living Boy in New York" - Simon & Garfunkel (Garden State OST);
14. "Moon River" - Audrey Hepburn" (Breakfast at Tiffany's OST);
15. "You Really Got a Hold on Me" - She & Him (Volume One);
16. "Grace Cathedral Hill" - The Decemberists (Castaways & Cut-outs);
17. "You Belong to Me" - Jason Wade (Shrek OST);
18. "Those to Come" - The Shins (Chutes Too Narrow);
19. "We Put a Pearl in the Ground" - St. Vincent (Marry Me); and
20. "La Vie En Rose" - Edith Piaf (Sabrina OST).