I've been working on this since my sister made a request last week. When I realized that today was 4/5/6, I knew that there was no better day to make myself finish it for the name alone! Spring mixes are fun to put together. I'm not sure why, except maybe I'm just so glad it's not winter that everything seems more fun. In other numerological news, this is my 300th post on this blog.
1. Monkey Song -- Bunky -- What's not to love?? There is a SAXOPHONE and MONKEYS. One of which you never hear in pop music much anymore (I am sure I am just blithely unaware of a huge saxophone pop underground. Monkeys? They're everywhere.)
2. The Chimbley Sweep -- The Decemberists -- Spring cleaning/ chimbley sweeping. Makes sense, right?
3. Killer Queen -- Travis I am all amped up on the Queen covers because of Livewire the other day. IT IS FUN! The lyrics don't make much sense, but that's never been a deal breaker for me. Geisha Minor indeed.
4. Do You Want To -- Franz Ferdinand -- this was the one specific request that Bec made, because she likes to listen to it in the car and drive too fast. I like it because it is so outrageously arrogant, snotty, and 17 year-old dirty. (perfect ingredients for driving too fast!) "lucky, lucky, you're so lucky"
5. Just Can't Get Enough -- Depeche Mode -- it's true. this song is like crack! "When I'm with you baby/ I go out of my head/ I just can't get enough (just can't get enough)/ we slip and slide as we fall in love/ and I just can't seem to get enough of you"
6. When My Boy Walks Down the Street-- Magnetic Fields -- it just seems springy. Maybe it's the whole new kinds of weather, or butterflies turning into people, or something. "grand pianos crash together/ when my boy walks down the street/ there are whole new kinds of weather/when he walks with his new beat"
7. Springtime in New York -- Jonathan Richman For some reason this didn't work on last year's spring mix, but it was too good to leave off this year. One of my favorite bits is "Springtime in New York /when it's May and the leaves are on the trees/ when demolishing a building brings the smell of 1890 to the breeze" because it it so evocative and specific.
8. Be Gentle with Me -- The Boy Least Likely To (coincidental side note: they just played here last night with James Blunt!) This is a chimey bell-ringing, banjo-riffic indie bit of loveliness. (more death talk, though. but cheerful!) " so just be gentle with me (I'm not as young as I was)/ and I'll be gentle with you (I'm not as brave as I thought)/ cause my heart gets broken so easily/ so just be gentle (be gentle) with me"
9. Dear Old Greenland -- Andrew Bird -- I have recently gone on at length about how much this song pleases me, so I will keep it brief: I love it, and needed to hear it again RIGHT NOW.
10. Skullcrusher Mountain -- Jonathan Coulton I defy you not to like a song that starts out "welcome to my secret lair on skullcrusher mountain." I think you would've already had your heart removed by a mad scientist not to... Jonathan Coulton has an awesome website with this song and others available. This is from "Where Tradition Meets Tomorrow")
11. You Owe Me One -- ABBA sounds like classic ABBA, except I had never heard it before! It showed up on an mp3 blog a couple of months ago and is FUN. "uh huh, um hmm/ look at what you've done/ I'm missing all the fun/ baby, you owe me one"
12. Penelope -- Of Montreal -- this song just makes me giddy. It has its own sort of psychedelic Alice in Wonderland/ dream-logic /word-salad sense, but if a person came up to me on the street and said any of it I would assume someone forgot their meds and I would reach for my taser, if only I had a taser. (there is a sloth balloon! I could never taser someone singing about a sloth balloon) You can read the lyrics here, but trust me when I say it is best to hear it. (I cannot stop whispering the word "calendar," which no doubt has people on the street wondering if I forgot MY meds and reaching for their tasers. Clearly, we are too taser happy in this country. I am just under the Penelope influence!)
13. Loopy Loopy Love -- The Brunettes -- this was a last minute adjustment to the playlist, but it totally belongs. Go here to read all about them (and you can listen to all their albums streaming... this song is from Mars loves Venus) How can you not love a song that says "I'm goin' loopy loopy over love (loopy loopy love)/ I'm acting stupid stupid over love (stupid stupid love)/gonna kill me a cupid (cause a cupid causes love)"?
14. Fille Atomique -- Nous Non Plus -- this song is completely irresistible, and completely in French. I only understand a handful of words, but it doesn't matter! Singing along knows no language barrier if you are me and alone in the room.
15. Between The Lines -- Sambassadeur some indie pop tambourine jangle to recover from all the jumping around and singing French words I don't understand. "wish I was able to see what you see/ you turn all the words into poetry..... so I close my eyes and focus on whatever's been in my mind/ and I try to find a sign, but I never learned to read between the lines."
16. Chariot -- Page France -- I am pretty sure this is one of those stealth death songs, but it is just so jaunty... (lots of ringing bells, tambourines, and of course end of the world imagery). ... let our ribs return to dust...
17. Singular Girl -- Old 97's -- version WITH the teeth of the hydra, of course. "talkin' to you girl, is like long division, yeah" YEAH!
18. Popular Mechanics For Lovers -- Beulah I like this song lots, not least of all because the main character (it is a sort of mini-novel/movie) offers to rewrite parts of the relationship that didn't work. " Did you forget to read the script? /There was never a role for him/ It was always you and me, just me" and then a great Magnetic fields shout out! "I heard he wrote you a song/ But so what?/ Some guy wrote 69/And one just ain’t enough"
19. I Melt With You -- Modern English -- it was between this and the excellent Nouvelle Vague cover, but I decided the original was best for spring! There's nothing you and I won't do/ I'll stop the world and melt with you... this song is SO 80's, but also SO GREAT!
20. All These Things That I've Done -- The Killers I admit that I may still be under the influence of the video where the band is striding around a Las Vegas trailer park in cowboy outfits (it has a certain loopy charm). But it also has an 80's vibe which fits with a few other things on this mix and is fun to sing along to.
1. Monkey Song -- Bunky -- What's not to love?? There is a SAXOPHONE and MONKEYS. One of which you never hear in pop music much anymore (I am sure I am just blithely unaware of a huge saxophone pop underground. Monkeys? They're everywhere.)
2. The Chimbley Sweep -- The Decemberists -- Spring cleaning/ chimbley sweeping. Makes sense, right?
3. Killer Queen -- Travis I am all amped up on the Queen covers because of Livewire the other day. IT IS FUN! The lyrics don't make much sense, but that's never been a deal breaker for me. Geisha Minor indeed.
4. Do You Want To -- Franz Ferdinand -- this was the one specific request that Bec made, because she likes to listen to it in the car and drive too fast. I like it because it is so outrageously arrogant, snotty, and 17 year-old dirty. (perfect ingredients for driving too fast!) "lucky, lucky, you're so lucky"
5. Just Can't Get Enough -- Depeche Mode -- it's true. this song is like crack! "When I'm with you baby/ I go out of my head/ I just can't get enough (just can't get enough)/ we slip and slide as we fall in love/ and I just can't seem to get enough of you"
6. When My Boy Walks Down the Street-- Magnetic Fields -- it just seems springy. Maybe it's the whole new kinds of weather, or butterflies turning into people, or something. "grand pianos crash together/ when my boy walks down the street/ there are whole new kinds of weather/when he walks with his new beat"
7. Springtime in New York -- Jonathan Richman For some reason this didn't work on last year's spring mix, but it was too good to leave off this year. One of my favorite bits is "Springtime in New York /when it's May and the leaves are on the trees/ when demolishing a building brings the smell of 1890 to the breeze" because it it so evocative and specific.
8. Be Gentle with Me -- The Boy Least Likely To (coincidental side note: they just played here last night with James Blunt!) This is a chimey bell-ringing, banjo-riffic indie bit of loveliness. (more death talk, though. but cheerful!) " so just be gentle with me (I'm not as young as I was)/ and I'll be gentle with you (I'm not as brave as I thought)/ cause my heart gets broken so easily/ so just be gentle (be gentle) with me"
9. Dear Old Greenland -- Andrew Bird -- I have recently gone on at length about how much this song pleases me, so I will keep it brief: I love it, and needed to hear it again RIGHT NOW.
10. Skullcrusher Mountain -- Jonathan Coulton I defy you not to like a song that starts out "welcome to my secret lair on skullcrusher mountain." I think you would've already had your heart removed by a mad scientist not to... Jonathan Coulton has an awesome website with this song and others available. This is from "Where Tradition Meets Tomorrow")
11. You Owe Me One -- ABBA sounds like classic ABBA, except I had never heard it before! It showed up on an mp3 blog a couple of months ago and is FUN. "uh huh, um hmm/ look at what you've done/ I'm missing all the fun/ baby, you owe me one"
12. Penelope -- Of Montreal -- this song just makes me giddy. It has its own sort of psychedelic Alice in Wonderland/ dream-logic /word-salad sense, but if a person came up to me on the street and said any of it I would assume someone forgot their meds and I would reach for my taser, if only I had a taser. (there is a sloth balloon! I could never taser someone singing about a sloth balloon) You can read the lyrics here, but trust me when I say it is best to hear it. (I cannot stop whispering the word "calendar," which no doubt has people on the street wondering if I forgot MY meds and reaching for their tasers. Clearly, we are too taser happy in this country. I am just under the Penelope influence!)
13. Loopy Loopy Love -- The Brunettes -- this was a last minute adjustment to the playlist, but it totally belongs. Go here to read all about them (and you can listen to all their albums streaming... this song is from Mars loves Venus) How can you not love a song that says "I'm goin' loopy loopy over love (loopy loopy love)/ I'm acting stupid stupid over love (stupid stupid love)/gonna kill me a cupid (cause a cupid causes love)"?
14. Fille Atomique -- Nous Non Plus -- this song is completely irresistible, and completely in French. I only understand a handful of words, but it doesn't matter! Singing along knows no language barrier if you are me and alone in the room.
15. Between The Lines -- Sambassadeur some indie pop tambourine jangle to recover from all the jumping around and singing French words I don't understand. "wish I was able to see what you see/ you turn all the words into poetry..... so I close my eyes and focus on whatever's been in my mind/ and I try to find a sign, but I never learned to read between the lines."
16. Chariot -- Page France -- I am pretty sure this is one of those stealth death songs, but it is just so jaunty... (lots of ringing bells, tambourines, and of course end of the world imagery). ... let our ribs return to dust...
17. Singular Girl -- Old 97's -- version WITH the teeth of the hydra, of course. "talkin' to you girl, is like long division, yeah" YEAH!
18. Popular Mechanics For Lovers -- Beulah I like this song lots, not least of all because the main character (it is a sort of mini-novel/movie) offers to rewrite parts of the relationship that didn't work. " Did you forget to read the script? /There was never a role for him/ It was always you and me, just me" and then a great Magnetic fields shout out! "I heard he wrote you a song/ But so what?/ Some guy wrote 69/And one just ain’t enough"
19. I Melt With You -- Modern English -- it was between this and the excellent Nouvelle Vague cover, but I decided the original was best for spring! There's nothing you and I won't do/ I'll stop the world and melt with you... this song is SO 80's, but also SO GREAT!
20. All These Things That I've Done -- The Killers I admit that I may still be under the influence of the video where the band is striding around a Las Vegas trailer park in cowboy outfits (it has a certain loopy charm). But it also has an 80's vibe which fits with a few other things on this mix and is fun to sing along to.
I would love a copy of this mix! It sounds so awesome!
ReplyDeleteAre you taking orders? ;-)
ReplyDeleteLeslita - I will be happy to make you one!
ReplyDeletePatty - taking orders, like "please boss me around?" are you crazy!?! But if you mean "will you make me a copy too?" then the answer is YES, of course ;)
I know you already told me you would burn me one, but I'd like to officially submit my order. So, here it is: Make me one! DO it! <--- you know how to read that.
ReplyDeleteP.s. Who's your wig man?
ha ha ha! You know I can't I refuse you when you're doing your ben stiller as starskey impersonation!!! And besides, as you note, I already told you I would!
ReplyDeletejust to keep you all in the loop AND gloat a little, I was listening to Jen's copy in the car (no, I do not yet have a copy of my own) and here is what I have found - driving from our house, in average morning traffic, The Franz Ferdinand song that makes me drive too fast starts just before the freeway on ramp and goes for pretty much long enought to get over the bridge and back into stop and go traffic.
ReplyDeleteJust FYI.
The mix is seriously brilliant. 3-5, 8 & 11 are my most favorites, but that pretty much goes without saying. Once I am able to drive I will definitely play that Franz song...
ReplyDeleteYou know how some mixes just take some time to grow into? This was one of them for me. I don't know if I just had too many after my own March-April-May mix rampage or what. Anyway, I've apparently gotten my hearing back, because I realized yesterday as I was gleefully singing along with Bunky on the way to work that I LOVE this mix (in particular 1-3, 9-11, 13-14, and just about everything else [and what I don't LOVE, I like heartily!!)
ReplyDeleteHooray! I am so happy that you are enjoying it. I am convinced that #12 (my beloved Penelope) would be beloved by more if they just listened to it on headphones. there is a sloth balloon!
ReplyDelete