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).