Yankee Swap 2008: "The Future"

The theme of this year's Yankee Swap was THE FUTURE. I was very pleased when a CD-R of my mix got "swapped" several times around the party!

When I first thought of this idea, all I had in mind was "In The Year 2525" by Zager & Evans, "Mr Roboto" by Styx, and "The Body Electric" by Rush. I had an OK first draft done when I asked my lovely wife for her perspective. She thought it was too focused on robots and spaceships, and she started suggesting songs about "things that will happen someday" which are NOT sci-fi oriented. Her ideas vastly improved the mix, as you will see...

1. Battlestar Galactica Theme: My brother used this song (from the classic 1970s TV show) as his wedding ceremony recessional theme. I kid you not.
2. "1999" Prince: A 26-year-old song, about partying 9 years ago, IS about the future.
3. "Fly Like An Eagle" Steve Miller Band, aka "Time keeps on slippin, slippin, slippin... into the future!"
4. "Until The End of the World": My wife thought of this one.
5. "Robots [live]" From the Flight of the Conchords CD THE DISTANT FUTURE: 'It is the distant future. The year 2000.'
6. "The Body Electric" Rush
7. "Someday I Suppose" I found this Mighty Mighty Bosstones song because it's next to "Someday, Someway" in my iTunes.
8. "My Science Fiction Twin" Elvis Costello: Another suggestion from my wife.
9. "The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades" Timbuk 3
10. I found the Leonard Cohen song "The Future", from the Natural Born Killers soundtrack, by searching for FUTURE in iTunes.
11. I bought the Flaming Lips song "One More Robot/Sympathy 3000-21" especially for this mix,
12. "Robot Chicken Theme" The show Robot Chicken isn't actually about the future per se, but this Les Claypool instrumental is short and fun.
13. "Pets" by Porno for Pyros song is perfect for this mix. I first heard this song as Beavis & Butthead were watching the video for it on MTV!
14. "In The Year 2525" The words to this Zager & Evans hit are kinda weird!
15. "Robot Parade" There were many They Might Be Giants songs to choose from.
16. "Mr. Roboto" Styx
17. The Jetsons Theme: I could not find the original theme song on iTunes, so I settled for this barely-better-than Casio keyboard recording.
18. "Attack El Robot! Attack!" Calexico
19. "When I'm Sixty Three and a Half" After the Beatles recorded "When I'm Sixty-Four" in late 1966, Paul McCartney, intending to make his voice sound "younger", asked producer George Martin to speed up the master tape, just enough to shift the key of the song a half-step sharp. To undo this change, I have pitch-shifted the song a half-step down (flat), to match the key in which McCartney originally sang it. The tempo has not been changed.)
20. "Someday We'll Know" New Radicals
21. "Someday, Someway" Marshall Crenshaw
22. "My Flying Saucer" Billy Bragg & Wilco
23. Star Trek Theme
24. "Tomorrow Never Knows" The Beatles

116: Soup Du Jour

I don't know why I haven't called a mix "Soup of the Day" before?

The Cover: A collage of snaps from our digital camera, including a view of New York City, me playing guitar at this very desk, our cat Max and his needlepoint doppleganger, and our infant friend Isaac.

The Tracks: Only six of the songs are from the 20th century:

1. Oh Well- Leo Kottke & Mike Gordon (a cover of the Fleetwood Mac song)
2. Smile (Mark Ronson Remix) - Lily Allen
3. Pressure Drop - Keith Richards and Toots & The Maytals (free? on iTunes)
4. Tenderness (Live at the Channel 1984) - I really like this modern soul song from General Public. Too much of the soul music of the Eighties has aged poorly, but this track still sounds good. I found this live recording on a cancer benefit record called LIVE! for LIFE, which we had in the library of my high school radio station, WBMT 88.3 FM. In those days, I had a negative bias against live recordings, but now I am totally into finding rare live records like this. I also like the idea that this was recorded in Boston, a mere 28 miles from where I was living my 12-year-old existence, playing air guitar along with "Footloose" and dreaming of seeing Bruce Springsteen at Giants Stadium.
5. Union, Jack - Big Audio Dynamite (I only heard this song once before: when I was interning for Neal Robert at WFNX in 1993, he played this track, whose drum track sounds like a sample from "Honky Tonk Women". Fast forward 14 years, and I buy a used vinyl copy of Megatop Phoenix at a record shop in Red Bank, NJ, for $2, and here we are...)
6. You Only Live Once - The Strokes (I think I found this song while listening to the Adult Alternative channel on my cable TV.)
7. Hollywood - Collective Soul (I heard this shameless Cars style-ripoff on WXRV and I knew it would make it onto a mix someday.)
8. If You're Into It - Flight of the Conchords
9. The Way I Am - Ingrid Michaelson (I am only a little embarrassed when I include songs from iTunes commercials on my mixes.)
10. Dark Horse - The title track from the George Harrison LP best known for George's rough, laryngitis-damaged vocals.
11. Everywhere I Go - I really like the chorus of Shawn Mullins's almost-hit.
12. Fair - This piano arrangement on this recording-- from Ben Folds's 1990 solo demo tape-- sounds like "Virtual Insanity", which never ceases to amuse me.
13. Make It Easier - My high school radio station, WBMT 88.3 FM, was on the mailing list of only a few select record labels. Because we had nearly no budget for buying music, we ended up playing a lot of music from artists whose music we got for free. One of those labels who sent us free records was Epic, home of Living Coloür and Indigo Girls, along others. That's the long story of where I got to know Indigo Girls's music from the very beginning.
14. Ride - The Vines
15. Fell In Love with A Boy - Joss Stone
16. Long Limbed Girl - Nick Lowe (from his latest album "At My Age")
17. To Know Him Is To Love Him (Napster live session) - Amy Winehouse
18. Someone To Love - Fountains of Wayne
19. Yellow Ledbetter - A great Pearl Jam B-side from the Versus era. This song always reminds me of my old friend Meg (Goldstein) Chapman, who was the biggest PJ fan in the world back then.
20. September Gurls - From The Bangles second LP, Different Light, which I got for a penny from the RCA record club.
21. Wake Up - Rage Against The Machine (aka the closing credits song from The Matrix.)

115: Eye In The Sky

#115 and 116 were composed simultaneously. The Cover: My wife's new commute route takes her past this monstrosity on a hill every day- that's her woodsy pondside road cutting diagonally through this Microsoft Visual Earth photo.

This disc is very current-heavy: over half the tracks are from the last five years, and seven of them are from 2007:

1. Tears Dry On Their Own - Amy Winehouse
2. Winning Ways - The Vines (I found this song on Music Choice channel 414.)
3. Hero Takes a Fall (Live in London 1986) - The Bangles
4. Robots (Live in NYC 2007) - Flight of the Conchords
5. LDN - Lily Allen
6. Our Town - Marshall Crenshaw
7. Traffic and Weather - Fountains of Wayne
8. Don't You Evah - Spoon
9. A Life Without You (Is No Life at All) - John C. Reilly (Reilly as Dewey Cox, singing a Roy Orbison-style torch song.)
10. Eye In The Sky - Jonatha Brooke (an interesting cover song, discovered on iTunes while looking for songs for my "1982" mix. I actually met Ms. Brooke circa 1992, when her former folk duo The Story visited WERS-FM.)
11. The Breakup Song - Greg Kihn (heard on the PA system before a New Pornographers concert.)
12. Casimir Pulaski Day - Sufjan Stevens (My wife included this song on a mix. Possibly the saddest song of the year!)
13. Uncle Walter - Ben Folds Five
14. Seen The Doctor - Michael Penn
15. All In My Head - Shawn Mullins
16. Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On) - Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
17. Getting Better (Live 2002) - Paul McCartney (I only bought this song because I remember liking the newly-arranged ending when I saw this show at the Meadowlands with my friend Robert.)
18. Happier (Live In Portland 2003) - Guster
19. Are We Ourselves? - The Fixx
20. Radio Nowhere - Bruce Springsteen
21. The Melee - Beastie Boys

114: Living In The Now

The Cover: Quite uninspired, actually. Just some mucking about with Photoshop. I do like the font choice.

The Tracks: Heavy on the new music, with a selection of vinyl:

1. I'm Shipping Up To Boston | DROPKICK MURPHYS
2. Dashboard | MODEST MOUSE
3. Runaway | TRAVELING WILBURYS (Another reason to love iTunes: the Traveling Wilburys recently released a box set, including their two albums, five extra tracks, etc. Since I already own the two albums, I was able to spend $4.96 to buy the five extra tracks a la carte, instead of shelling out for the whole box!)
4. Australia | THE SHINS (aka my wife's ringtone)
5. In The Mood | ROBERT PLANT
6. 1,2,3,4 | FEIST (Another mildly embarrassing song from an iTunes commercial.)
7. Mary Lynn | MICHAEL PENN
8. All Through The Night | JULES SHEAR (Shear is better known for his songwriting for other people; I found one of his LPs with this song, vastly improved in Cyndi Lauper's cover version.)
9. What Light | WILCO (a Volkswagen commercial?)
10. The Underdog | SPOON
11. Smile (edit) | LILY ALLEN
12. Wouldn't It Be Good | DANNY HUTTON HITTERS (from the Pretty In Pink soundtrack, a cover of this song was on the HBO show "Extras".)
13. Young Folks | PETER, BJORN, & JOHN
14. I Trained Her To Love Me | NICK LOWE
15. Gone Daddy Gone | GNARLS BARKLEY (I heard this cover version on a cable show called "Live From Abbey Road".)
16. Sleeping With The Television On | BILLY JOEL (My favorite Billy Joel song which no one else knows.)
17. Rehab | AMY WINEHOUSE
18. Everything I Need | MEN AT WORK (The single from their third LP which no one bought.)
19. Ever Present Past | PAUL McCARTNEY
20. Running Up That Hill | PLACEBO (This cover has been on a few TV shows, trailers, and commericals.)
21. Your Own Worst Enemy | BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN (so so so SAD!)

113 Man Band

The Tracks: This is the first mix I composed after purchasing a "USB" turntable. A miracle of modern technology, a "USB" turntable is simply a record player with both traditional "RCA" output wires and a USB cable output. This feature makes it easy to play music from vinyl on your PC and record it. Since I bought this new turntable, I have listened to dozens of LPs and 45s which I haven't played in years. All I have to do is press RECORD, and I can save these songs as MP3s, import them into iTunes, and I can add them to playlists. I may never buy an album recorded before 1987 again, when I can find a used LP at a record store or a yard sale for 99¢ ! Number 1 on this mix is Marvin Hamlisch's solo piano "Solace", a melancholy track from The Sting movie soundtrack. The LP was a birthday gift from my wife in 2005, with autographs from stars Paul Newman and Robert Redford!

The Title: While composing this mix, I started to notice there were a bunch of tracks where the artist played all the instruments themselves, either live or multitracked. So I called the mix One (Hundred and Thirteen) Man Band.

The Cover: I did a GIS for the artwork, and the font inspired the pink and grey color scheme.

1. Solace - Marvin Hamlisch - Solo piano
2. The Hardest Button To Button - The White Stripes - As heard on The Simpsons
3. Zak & Sara - Ben Folds - My sister-in-law Sara's name would have been Zak had she been a boy!
4. Don't Look Back - Barry & The Remains (A Boston-based band most famous for opening for The Beatles on tour.)
5. Midnight Blue - Lou Gramm - HMV cutout bin
6. Slipping Away - Dave Edmunds (Edmunds let Jeff Lynne (ELO) produce this LP, and as a result, the normally roots rockin' Dave sounds distinctly New Wavy here.
7. I Wanna Know - The Mavericks - Scrubs TV show
8. Let's Live For Today - The Grass Roots (I still have a hard time believing that the same Creed Bratton who played guitar on this song is the same guy from The Office.)
9. Trouble - Lindsay Buckingham - Austin TX record store
10. How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore? - Prince (the great B-side to "1999")
11. I Think She Likes Me - Treat Her Right - Providence RI yard sale
12. Diner - Martin Sexton - Scrubs TV show
13. My Favorite Waste of Time - Marshall Crenshaw - One Man Band
14. Strapped For Cash - Fountains of Wayne
15. All For Leyna - Billy Joel - Birthday present, circa 1986
16. When The Stars Go Blue - Blake Lewis - American Idol
17. It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference - Todd Rundgren - One Man Band
18. What Matters - Matthew Sweet
19. Roscoe - Midlake - CD swap with George
20. What Can I Say? - Brandi Carlile - Tower Records liquidation sale
21. Daylight Fading - Counting Crows - Yard sale
22. More Than This - Norah Jones

111 and 112: Odyssey

Mixes 111 and 112 were composed at the same time. I used a photo taken of an art installation for the cover photos. We had just returned from a trip to Texas, where we visited an art museum. The cover for #111 (in orange) is the original color of the art installation; #112 (in blue) is the "negative" image of the same photo.

The Title: Odyssey is the name of an avant-garde Journey cover band we saw perform while we were visiting Texas.

The Tracks: I really dug deep into the history books for some of these songs:

1. Claire - The Push Stars
2. In the Meantime - Spacehog
3. Hey Jude / Sgt. Pepper (Reprise) - From The Beatles "LOVE"
4. Why Does This Always Happen to Me? - "Weird Al" Yankovic featuring Ben Folds on piano
5. In Between Days - Ben Folds
6. One-Sided Love Affair - Elvis Presley
7. Ain't Never Gonna Give You Up - (the only) Paula Abdul (song I like)
8. Big Bang Baby - Stone Temple Pilots
9. Cinnamon Girl - Suzanne Hoffs & Matthew Sweet
10. Poison - Bel Biv Devoe
11. You Only Live Twice - Pat DiNizio (the Smithereens lead singer, on solo piano, covering the Bond theme song.)
12. Divine Intervention (DEMO) - Matthew Sweet
13. Where Or When - Dave Edmunds
14. Hey Porter - Johnny Cash
15. Memphis - Chuck Berry
16. See the World - Gomez
17. Speed of Sound - Coldplay
18. Help Me, Suzanne - Rhett Miller
19. Better Days - Bruce Springsteen, featuring Randy Jackson on bass
20. Age Of Consent - Grant Lee Phillips

---

1. Sly - The Cat Empire
2. Driven To Tears - The Police
3. Tell Her This - Del Amitri
4. Nothing Lasts - Son Volt
5. You're So Damn Hot - OK Go
6. What'd I Say, Pts 1 & 2 - Ray Charles
7. Life On A Chain - Pete Yorn
8. New Frontier - Counting Crows
9. TLC: Creep
10. Going Through The Motions - Aimee Mann
11. Think I'm In Love - Beck
12. Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is - Jet
13. Sold Me Down The River - The Alarm (I put this Alarm song next to the Jet song because they both remind me of the Rolling Stones.)
14. I Want It All - Queen (I heard this Queen song on a Coca-Cola commercial.)
15. Jesusland - Ben Folds
16. Somebody Told Me - The Killers
17. Get Back - The Beatles, from the CD "Love"
18. Bizarre Love Triangle - New Order

110: S**T Blended Up

The title was inspired by a monologue we heard at the comedic showcase Mortified- the woman was reading from her teenage diary, an entry about summer camp and the so-called "food" the campers were fed.
The Cover: the top half is my face, with my vintage sunglasses I bought from an Indonesian man on eBay; the bottom half is my wife brushing her teeth.
The tracks: the blend is a little forced. I try not to use the same tracks on mixes repeatedly, but I should not have used that particular Jennifer Trynin song. I had just read her autobiography Everything I'm Cracked Up To Be, and I wanted to include a song of hers, but I should have stuck to one of the "hits" instead of trying to include a "deep cut". I need to learn that I don't have to be adventurous with EVERY choice! On the other hand, I dug deep for the Semisonic track "El Matador", which I now really love. I had just read the drummer's autobiography, So You Wanna Be A Rock & Roll Star, which inspired that choice. The last track is U2's "Vertigo", which I shoulda left off. I was sick of that song at the time, and I am sick of it now:

1. Battle Without Honor or Humanity TOMOYASU HOTEI (aka That Song from Kill Bill)
2. Let Keane In KEANE vs PAUL McCARTNEY (a great mashup)
3. Crazy GNARLS BARKLEY
4. Give Judy My Notice BEN FOLDS a very early-70s country-rock vibe.
5. Least Complicated INDIGO GIRLS
6. Monkey COUNTING CROWS
7. Lose Yourself EMINEM (an awesome song on its own, even better in the context of the movie 8 Mile.)
8. Let It Be Me SHAGGY vs THE BEATLES
9. El Matador SEMISONIC
10. Pictures of You LIT (an okay cover of the Cure song. The original was in those Hewlett-Packard computer printer commercials at the time.)
11. Come Around RHETT MILLER
12. Any Little Town THE PUSH STARS
13. When You Were Young THE KILLERS
14. Nothing'severgonnastandinmyway (Again) WILCO
15. Rock Your Body JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE
16. Time Won't Let Me THE SMITHEREENS
17. Bad Reputation JOAN JETT
18. Vertigo U2

109: American Talk Show Rest Stop

The Cover: my wife and our friends looked sorta like a rock band in this photo I snapped on the street after our attendance of a "Daily Show" taping (summer 2006.) This visit also informed the title, based on the Phil Ayoub track "American Highway Rest Stop":

1. A Life Of Illusion - the opening titles song from The Forty-Year-Old Virgin by Joe Walsh;
2. Just Pretend - The Bens (Folds, Lee, and I can't remember the third?);
3. Put Your Records On - Corinne Bailey Rae;
4. Right Time,Wrong Place - Bonnie Raitt and BB King;
5. Hearts For Sale - The Rolling Stones (a song I nearly forgot from Steel Wheels);
6. The Edge Of Forever - This Dream Academy song is from the soundtrack of Ferris Bueller's Day Off, when Ferris and Sloane say goodbye at the end of the day;
7. Break (A mashup of The Beastie Boys over Queen's "I Want To Break Free";
8. Listen (A mashup of "Shake Your Rump", "Root Down", and "Radio Ga Ga";
9. If You Talk Too Much - People In Planes (I saw this CD advertised in a TV commercial, of all places, and I liked this song. I bought the CD on sale at Target for $4.99);
10. Closer To You - Liz Phair;
11. Sunday Morning - Maroon Five;
12. Day Tripper - The Beatles - with a false start included, and no fadeout;
13. Always The Last To Know - Del Amitri;
14. American Highway Rest Stop - My friend Robert is a fan of Phil Ayoub, so he came up to Cambridge from NYC to see Phil at a CD release party, and Robert invited me along.
15. I Know There's Something Going On (I heard this song on the PA system at a restaurant, and I remembered the song but had no idea who it was. It sounded like Phil Collins on drums, and I was right- it's Frida, one of the ladies from ABBA, and her sole solo single hit);
16. September - Earth Wind and Fire;
17. Sexx Laws - Beck;
18. Rockin' Down The Highway - The Doobie Brothers;
19. Point of Know Return - Kansas;
20. Feel Flows - The Beach Boys song from the closing credits of "Almost Famous"

Our Wedding Favor Music Mix

It was surprisingly hard to select and agree on 80 minutes worth of music that was personal, appropriate, and fit well together. Artists that are our favorites, like Bruce Springsteen, didn't quite fit. On the other hand, bands which are barely on our radar (Haircut 100) made it when the song was just perfect for the moment. Read on for more about our wedding favor mix...
1. “Across The Universe” The Beatles • It was tough picking just one song. This is Emily’s favorite.
2. “I Love Every Little Thing About You” Stevie Wonder • I once bought three Stevie Wonder CDs in one day, and lived to tell the tale.
3. “Radio Sweetheart” Elvis Costello • We both love Elvis, and Emily used this song at the start of her college radio show.
4. “Fearless Love” Bonnie Raitt • This is an old favorite – I heard it as background music in the movie Sideways.
5. “Fair” Ben Folds Five • If our love for music were a Venn diagram, Ben Folds would be at the center of the overlap. We actually attended the same BF concert two months before we met. A very When Harry Met Sally moment, wouldn't you say?
6. "Kiss On My List" Daryl Hall & John Oates • The first cassette I bought from the Record & Tape Club was Hall & Oates Rock 'n' Soul Pt. 1. Of course, I still have the tape.
7. "Come Rain Or Come Shine" Ella Fitzgerald • For Emily, it’s impossible to pick a favorite American songbook standard, but it had to be Ella.
8. “Sunday Morning” Maroon Five • This song sounds like the soundtrack to our own screwball romantic comedy.
9. “Black Coffee In Bed” Squeeze (live 1990) • Yes, this is a breakup song, but it means a lot to us. I wrote in my online personal ad that my "most humbling moment" was when I couldn't hit the high notes in this song anymore! Emily was naturally charmed, and the rest is history.
10. “I’ll Be Your Mirror” Clem Snide • A cover version of Emily’s favorite Velvet Underground song.
11. “Lovely Day” Bill Withers • The soul classic that also reminds Emily of rollerskating up and down the driveway, circa 1982.
12. “What A Fool Believes” The Doobie Brothers • Song of the Year from 1979, this one goes out to Miss Amy Armstrong, our fellow Michael McDonald-o-phile!
13. “The Good Part” Wilco (live) • On our second date, we went to see a documentary about Emily’s favorite band. It's hard to find a Wilco song with a positive outlook on love, but this fits the bill.
14. “The Painter” Neil Young • From the album Prairie Wind, we first heard this in the amazing concert film Neil Young: Heart of Gold.
15. “This Old Heart Of Mine” The Isley Brothers • We had to include some Motown here, and Nat has a soft spot for this 1965 hit as it's prominently featured in his favorite “Moonlighting” episode!
16. "Love Plus One" Haircut 100 • This song sounds like the soundtrack to our own John Hughes 80’s teen drama.
17. “Drive South” John Hiatt • I once got John Hiatt’s autograph, but I was too nervous to engage him in conversation, can you believe it?
18. “Waiting For My Real Life To Begin” Colin Hay is the lead singer from Men At Work, a teenage favorite for both me & Em, all grown up here.
19. “Delirious Love” Neil Diamond • Another classic from our youth reincarnated!
20. “Age of Aquarius/Let The Sun Shine” featuring the Cast of The Forty-Year-Old Virgin • Feel free to sing along, just like the end of the movie...

Wedding Reception Background Music

When planning our wedding reception, my wife and I decided to omit dancing. We were more interested in the "family and friends reunion" reception than the "dance party" reception. We decided to hire a classical guitarist for the "cocktail" hour, followed by background music.

Emily and I had a lot of fun putting this playlist together. It's Nat & Em's Greatest Mellow Hits 1940-2006! There are a lot of covers of popular songs on here- it's a nice way to include a fresh take on an overplayed hit song. With the Amazon MP3 store and iTunes, it's easier than ever to browse for a cool cover song, or seek out that long-lost nugget, without paying for a full CD.

1. This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody) • Shawn Colvin
2. She's No Lady (She's My Wife) • Lyle Lovett (live)
3. I.G.Y. (International Geophysical Year) • Donald Fagen
4. Tupelo Honey • Cassandra Wilson
5. Magic In The Air • Badly Drawn Boy
6. As Time Goes By • Billie Holiday
7. Your Sweet Voice • Matthew Sweet
8. God Only Knows • The Beach Boys
9. A Mi Manera (My Way) • The Gypsy Kings
10. Words • Ellis Paul
11. Landslide • Fleetwood Mac
12. Love and Some Verses • Iron & Wine
13. Baby Now That I've Found You • Alison Krauss & Union Station
14. Better Be Home Soon • Crowded House
15. The One I Love • David Gray
16. Gee Baby, Ain't I Good To You? • Diana Krall
17. Rain King (live, acoustic) • Counting Crows
18. Calico Skies • Paul McCartney
19. Come and Find Me • Josh Ritter
20. Ooh La La • The Faces
21. Pink Moon • Nick Drake
22. I Will • Alison Krauss & Tony Furtado
23. Tonight You Belong To Me • What I really wanted was the recording in the movie The Jerk where Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters sing on the beach. I found this very similar version by Eddie Montana instead.
24. You Belong To Me • Patsy Cline
25. Stranded • If you insist on including Van Morrison in your wedding, please select one of his dozens of great ballads that are NOT "Have I Told You Lately"!
26. Razor Love • Neil Young
27. They Can't Take That Away From Me • Lisa Stansfield
28. Real Love • John Lennon recorded this as a demo only. It first appeared in the documentary John Lennon Imagine in 1988, and was later transformed into a Beatles reunion track in 1995.
29. Green Eyes • Coldplay
30. Honeymoon Suite • Suzanne Vega
31. More Than This • Charlie Hunger Quartet, featuring Norah Jones
32. One on One • Hall & Oates
33. Nightswimming • R.E.M.
34. When You Wake Up Feeling Old • Wilco
35. It Had To Be You • Billie Holiday
36. Sea of Love • The Honeydrippers
37. She Will Have Her Way • Neil Finn
38. Last Train to Clarksville • Cassandra Wilson
39. Runaway Feeling • The Thorns
40. Conceived • Beth Orton
41. Color My World • This totally retro Chicago song was my in-law's wedding song.
42. The Long and Winding Road • This version of the Beatles' classic is from the Let It Be Naked album, which strips away Phil Spector's Wall Of Sound strings and choir tracks, thank goodness!

108: Love Is Strong

The cover was inspired by the sexiest photo ever taken of actress Scarlett Johansson, from the cover of Interview magazine. The combination of a beautiful actress, and a horizontally striped sweater is irresistible. I was not satisfied with just admiring her beauty from afar; I wanted to incorporate her beauty into my cover design, even if she has ZERO to do with the contents of the CD.
I used the photo as a jumping-off point for the cover concept- I would mock up my own magazine cover, with headlines which include the titles of the songs.
At the same time, I was beginning to experiment with attaching the text to non-straight paths, and what better template than the horizontal stripes of Ms. Johansson's sweater?

1. Fascination Street THE CURE
2. Cold Turkey JOHN LENNON (A great dance remix by IDC)
3. Love Is Strong The ROLLING STONES
4. She's Gone ERIC CLAPTON
5. Hypnotized FLEETWOOD MAC
6. Don't Fear The Reaper WILCO (a low fidelity live recording)
7. I'm On Fire (live at Giants Stadium 8-19-85) BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
8. Begin the Begin (live 11-19-92) R.E.M.
9. Use Me BILL WITHERS
10. Me Myself I - DE LA SOUL
11. 40 Days, 40 Fights BADLY DRAWN BOY
12. I Want Love ELTON JOHN (I picked this track off my wife's 2CD Greatest Hits collection, for two reasons: a> it was produced by Jeff Lynne (ELO, Traveling Wilburys), and b>Ringo Starr plays drums.
13. What Would It Take (from JEFF LYNNE's little-known solo album Armchair Theater.)
14. You Can't Get What You Want (Til You Know What You Want) JOE JACKSON
15. Stuck in the Middle vs. Nasty Girl (A silly mashup of Stealer's Wheel and Vanity 6.)
16. Big Time PETER GABRIEL
17. Lazy Sunday CHRIS PARNELL & ANDY SAMBERG
18. Cantaloupe Island YESKA (sampled by US3 for their song "Cantaloop", aka "dip trip, flip fantasia...")

107: Chairlift

The cover photo is a self-portrait, while riding the chair lift at Mt Wachusett.

The Title: This disc has no title. I created the packaging for #105, 106, and 107 all in one shot, and I was not inspired with titles.

1. Ponta de Lanca Africano (Umbabarauma) - The best song about a futbol player EVER.
2. Use It - My favorite New Pornographers song.
3. Jump Into The Fire - This Harry Nilsson song was used in the movie GoodFellas.
4. Shine - Trey Anastasio
5. I Want It That Way - You cannot deny the perfection of this song.
6. Just the Two Of Us - Bill Withers w/Grover Washington
7. Don't Let Me Lose This Dream - Aretha Franklin
8. Just One Smile - Dusty Springfield
9. Diamonds From Sierra Leone - Kanye West
10. If There's a Hell Below, We're All Going to Go - Curtis Mayfield
11. Protection - This Donna Summer song was written by Bruce Springsteen after he cancelled plans for her to duet with him on "Cover Me".
12. This Charming Man - Death Cab For Cutie
13. The Way We Make A Broken Heart - John Hiatt
14. You Can't Resist It LIVE in TEXAS- Lyle Lovett & His Large Band
15. Can't Turn You Loose LIVE in EUROPE- Otis Redding
16. Heavy Metal Drummer LIVE IN CHICAGO - Wilco
17. It Ain't Me Babe - Johnny and June Carter Cash
18. Memo From Turner - A Rolling Stones song used in the movie GoodFellas
19. Riding to Vanity Fair - Paul McCartney

106: Sunrise

The cover is a snap I took just before daybreak in Elizabeth, New Jersey on Thanksgiving morning 2005, as my wife and I awoke extra early to go see the Macy's parade.

The Title: This disc has no title. I created the packaging for #105, 106, and 107 all in one shot, and I was not inspired with titles.

1. Don't Stop Me Now - Queen, as heard in Shaun Of The Dead.
2. Lovely Day - Bill Withers
3. Deacon Blues - "Steely Dan is not one guy!"
4. I Can't Make You Love Me - Bonnie Raitt
5. Walk In The Sun - Bruce Hornsby
6. Thin Line Between Love and Hate - The Persuasions (1973)
7. Margarita - The Traveling Wilburys
8. Wild Mountain Honey - When I was a teenage DJ at WBMT 88.3 FM, We played a LOT of Steve Miller. Our Steve Miller Band Greatest Hits LP got a lot of use. It was nice to include Mr. Miller on one of my mixes for the first time in at least 10 years!
9. I Am Trying To Break Your Heart - You might think it impossible to include this Wilco song on a mix, but I think I pulled it off. Sandwiched between a trippy 1970s song and a loopy 1980s song, I think it works.
10. America Is Waiting - When I was a college DJ at WERS 88.9 FM, I played this sample-heavy experiment-rock track from David Byrne & Brian Eno on the afternoon world music/jazz fusion/experimental show Gyroscope.
11. Screenwriter's Blues - Soul Coughing
12. Desire - The "Hollywood Remix" of the U2 song.
13. Mass Romantic - New Pornographers
14. All The Right Friends - A surprisingly retrograde R.E.M. song from the Vanilla Sky movie soundtrack.
15. Panic - The Smiths
16. Soap Star Joe - This Liz Phair track brings the mix to a dead halt. I should have cut it out.
17. Frere Jacques - The famous nursery rhyme, recorded in the style of "The Space Between" by Dave Matthews Band, credited to "Dave Math Shoes". I found the web site advertising this collection and I loved it.
18. A Bit Of Alright - Paul Peña wrote the song "Jet Airliner" which Steve Miller made a smash hit. This song was (at the time) used in Boston.com/jobs TV commercials.

105: Apple

The cover photo is my wife's hand holding a freshly-picked apple October 16, 2005.

The Title: This disc has no title. I created the packaging for #105, 106, and 107 all in one shot, and I was not inspired with titles.

1. Never Destroy Us - I found this song by The Dears when researching music for our SXSW trip earlier that year.
2. Count On My Love - I don't apologize for liking all phases of Liz Phair's career, from the lo-fi indie rock to the current hi-fi power pop.
3. When My Baby's Beside Me - You can only read so many critics saying how awesome Big Star are before you buy their CD for yourself.
4. Who Did You Think I Was? - This is from John Mayer's attempt to be taken seriously as a blues-rock trio.
5. Times Like These - Foo Fighters
6. Chest Fever - The Band
7. Diddley Daddy - Bo Diddley
8. Hickory Wind - You can only read so many critics saying how awesome Sweetheart of the Rodeo is before you go buy the CD for yourself.
9. Photograph - The first time I heard this Jamie Cullum song, I thought he sounded *exactly* like Paul McCartney. The rest of this CD is a little too jazz-y for my taste.
10. Fine Line - Paul McCartney
11. Something Wild - Maia Sharp was the female singer Du Jour on the radio that week.
12. No Way To Treat A Lady - Canadian rocker Bryan Adams had a flourishing sideline as a tunesmith for other artists. Along with his writing partner Jim Vallance, Adams contributed songs for KISS, Krokus, .38 Special, and Joe Cocker, among others. Two women named Bonnie covered this song: Bonnie "Total Eclipse of the Heart" Tyler, and Bonnie "A dozen Grammys" Raitt.
13. Get Your Hands off My Woman - Ben Folds
14. Don't Pass Me By - The Georgia Satellites cover Ringo's song as a Southern-fried rave up.
15. Free Girl Now - I had this Tom Petty CD single lying around for 5 years without listening to it. I finally cracked the seal and gave it a slot on this mix.
16. Eight Years Old - I generally like Ben Lee, but I was trying too hard to find new music when I picked this track off one of his CDs for this mix.
17. Paul Newman's Eyes - I saw Dogs Die In Hot Cars at SXSW that spring.
18. Forty Feet - Franz Ferdinand
19. Vox Humana - I saw this terrible Kenny Loggins video on "V-66" when I was a teenager, and I bought the cassette.
20. Sleeping Bag - ZZ Top

104th Of July

The cover photo of my friends Kim and Laura looked like a band photo, maybe a female Steely Dan? The sunglasses, the way they're looking away from the camera, the angle, it all says "album cover" to me.
1 THE STYLE COUNCIL: "Mick's Up" (a instrumental track from their odds & sods collection.)
2 ELVIS COSTELLO: "...This Town..."
3 LIZ PHAIR: "It's Sweet"
4 GENESIS: "Turn It On Again" (I liked this song long before it was in those Chevrolet commercials.)
5 THE B-52's: "Dry County"
6 RAY CHARLES: "Let The Good Times Roll" I love the way the horns and vocals are nearly overmodulating. Sounds like a hot session!
7 GORILLAZ: "Feel Good Inc." (I first heard this song in a TV spot for those "NOW Thats What I Call Music!" collections.)
8 THE SHORE: "Waiting For The Sun"
9 KEANE: "Everybody's Changing" (When The Shore and Keane charted these big hits, I could never remember which band was which.)
10 DANNY ELFMAN: "Veruca Salt" Elfman wrote and recorded original music for the Charlie & The Chocolate Factory movie, with lyrics taken directly from the book.
11 COUNTING CROWS: "The Ghost In You" (A great cover of the Psychedelic Furs song, live at KBCO Boulder 8/28/93; from the Clueless soundtrack.)
12 PSYCHEDELIC FURS: "Love My Way"
13 MODEST MOUSE: "Ocean Breathes Salty"
14 R.E.M.: "Talk About The Passion"
15 PAUL McCARTNEY: "Momma Miss America" (used to good effect in the "travel montage" in Jerry Maguire)
16 THE WHO: "Summertime Blues" (Live at Leeds 2/14/70)
17 MARK KNOPFLER & JAMES TAYLOR "Sailing to Philadelphia"
18 NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE: "Changing Highways"

103: The Effects of a Texas Festival on a Musical Mix

I think the title says it all: I composed this mix after attending the South By Southwest Music Festival for the first time. There's no better time to escape dreary Boston winter weather than mid-March; and Austin, Texas, is not a bad place to escape to: T-shirts and jeans abound, tequila flows like water, the roads are paved with pork ribs, the Dr. Pepper is sweetened with cane sugar, and the steaks are chicken fried.
This mix is peepered with music we heard on our trip: read on...

1. HUDDLE FORMATION; I saw The Go! Team perform at a UK Pop showcase. The show was a circle-jerk of music industry weasels with corporate credit cards. It was like the Black Hole Of Calcutta of self-congratulation. The Go! Team had a UK record deal but was pimping themselves for a US deal- the hype was so thick I had to burn my sneakers afterwards. The band members knew it, and they were so smug I wanted to slap the bass player around to regain my self respect. Having said all that, I like this song.
2. BRIGHT FUTURE IN SALES; Fountains of Wayne
3. F.I.N.E.; I was reminded of this Aeromsith song when I heard the new Billy Idol song on the radio.
4. SCREAM; Billy Idol
5. SISTER SURROUND; We saw The Soundtrack of Our Lives from the front row as they opened for Robert Plant on our first night in Austin. The Scandinavian sextet did great imitation 1970s rock, with one Keith Richards clone, one Pete Townshend clone, and the lead singer was a beefy bearded man in a mumu who looked like Mick Fleetwood. Between sets, I ran into "Mick" near the bar. I gave him a quick soggy hug and yelled in his ear "you guys are FABULOUS!"
6. BIBLE CYST; The Legendary Shack Shakers also opened for Robert Plant, and they put on a hell of a show. Think of a hillbilly Stray Cats on amphetamines and you're close to the mark.
7. OH WELL, PT. 1; Fleetwood Mac
8. SON OF A PREACHER MAN (live 1991); Joan Osbourne
9. SHOW SOME EMOTION; Joan Armatrading
10. LOUNGER; Dogs Die in Hot Cars was also in the UK Pop showcase - I was drawn to them because they play power pop and their lead singer sounds like the guy from XTC. Their CD was pretty good, and their set was OK.
11. TAKE ME OUT; Franz Ferdinand
12. ONE (live 1992);  'Automatic Baby' was a hybrid of R.E.M. circa Automatic for the People and U2 circa Achtung Baby:
    • Michael Stipe, vocals
    • Mike Mills, guitar
    • Adam Clayton, bass
    • Larry Mullen Jr, percussion
    This one-off ensemble covered U2's "One" at an awards show. I really liked Stipe's interpretation of the lyrics. He sang the same words as Bono did, but his style is so different! Back in the early 1990s, it was damn near impossible to find a one-time-only performance from a TV show- if you didn't record it on VHS, you were out of luck. Somehow I found the recording on a benefit CD completely unrelated to the awards show.
13. CLOSER TO YOU; The Wallflowers
14. SUCH GREAT HEIGHTS; The Postal Service, since used in UPS commercials?
15. BOULEVARD OF BROKEN SONGS; A great mashup of "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" and "Wonderwall"; A year after I discovered this mashup, we heard it on the set of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart- it was one of the high-octane songs they play during commercial breaks to keep the crowd pumped up.
16. KINGDOM OF RAIN; I always liked this song by The The because Sinead O'Connor sings on it. I finally bought the CD at a yard sale that spring.
17. CATCH MY DISEASE; Ben Lee, I always love tinkly kiddie piano!
18. RENT A COP; Ben Folds
19. PERHAPS, PERHAPS, PERHAPS; Cake
20. GUERO CANELO; A memorable song in 12/4 time, from Calexico- we saw them live at SXSW too.

102: Mashups

I created this mix at the zenith of my interest in "mashups". Mashups, in their simplest definition, are DIY music remixes where DJs will disassemble rock and pop music and mash up the vocal tracks of one song with the rhythm section of another. Thanks to audio mixing and processing software, it's possible for a DJ to isolate discrete vocal and instrumental tracks, change the pitch and/or tempo with precision, and endlessly loop the smallest instrumental break to fit their needs. Most of the mashup titles are include words from both/all the songs sampled; I have included notes to help clarify the provenances, and I have credited the DJs who created these mashups. This collection represents the best mashups I discovered in 2004:

(1) MACA-MUPPET by Pilchard | The Doors vs The Muppets vs The Macarena!
(2) SWEET SECRET by Soundwasta | Madonna vs Mick Jagger
(3) CHOCOLATE CAKE, REVISITED by Lenlow | featuring Bill Cosby "Chocolate Cake For Breakfast"
(4) SEE
(5) BITE by The Kleptones | Queen vs KRS-One, Queen vs O.D.B.
(6) SAY LADY SAY by Brat Productions | The Beatles vs Paul McCartney
(7) WHATCHA WANT, LADY?
(8) MOTHER NATURE'S RUMP
(9) SURE-LA-DI, SHOT-LA-DA by DJ BC | The Beastie Boys vs The Beatles
(10) TO THE TAX-MOBILE! by Lenlow | Batman vs The Beatles vs "Wipeout"
(11) PAPERBACK BELIEVER by Go Home Productions | The Beatles vs The Monkees
(12) BABY YOU'RE A PURE MAN by Brat Productions | The Beatles vs All Saints
(13) CRAZY LITTLE FOOL by Go Home Productions | The Beatles vs Queen
(14) YOU WON'T SEE YOU'RE ALL I NEED TO GET BY by DJ Nite | The Beatles vs Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
(15) DREAMING IN YOUR SLEEP by Brat Productions | The Romantics vs Depeche Mode
(16) WRAPPED DETECTIVE by Go Home Productions | The Police, Lionel Richie, Elvis Costello, Peggy Lee, Bob Marley
(17) THIS IS HOW WE DOOBIE by DJ Jay-R | Montell Jordan vs The Doobie Brothers
(18) J-LO vs K-CO vs S-WO by Lenlow | Jennifer Lopez vs Nirvana vs Stevie Wonder
(19) CALL ON VALERIE by Mixomatosis | Steve Winwood's "Valerie"... Remixed

100: Centennial Mix

I wanted to celebrate the 100^th mix (almost 12 years since my first numbered mix tape) with some kind of retrospective. At first, I tried assembling a 20-song collection of my favorite songs of all time. That proved to be to all-encompassing. Eventually I settled on a 20-track collection of the best songs which had appeared on my mixes in the "CD-R" era, which began with Mix #49.

The definition of "best" is a flexible one. Many of these songs are some of the best songs of their time, but in this collection, "best" also means a song which fits well on a collection, many of them are fun to sing along with, have a good beat, or have some strong emotional connection for me. The songs don't necessarily date from 2000-2004, but they all appear on one of the 50 mix CDs I had made in that five year span. The track listing below includes info about what CD the songs originally appeared on.

The cover design (main photo covered with checkerboard of smaller images) was inspired by Sheryl Crow's Tuesday Night Music Club. I am not as pretty as Sheryl, but that photo of me (taken by my friend Robert) may be the best photo of me ever. If it weren't for that photo, at the top of my online personal ad, my now-wife may not have ever met me!

01> Sick Of Myself (MIX 65; My favorite Matthew Sweet song and a hell of an opening track.)
02> Chemistry (MIX 65; the second would-be hit from one-hit wonder Semisonic.)
03> Bohemian Like You (MIX 84; Speaking of one-hit wonders, this is the only Dandy Warhols song I know.)
04> Supernova (MIX 72; Maybe Liz Phair's best song.)
05> Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town (MIX 62; this Pearl Jam acoustic b-side is better than the album version.)
06> Clocks (MIX 94; this Coldplay song is WAYYY overplayed and overdone now, but it was THE song of the year at the time.)
07> Forget About It (MIX 52; this melancholy Alison Krauss song means a lot to me.)
08> Einstein on a Beach (for an eggman) (MIX 57; a leftover song from the August & Everything After sessions, this is my favorite Counting Crows song.)
09> Peace Tonight (MIXES 60 & 78; from the Indigo Girls album when they hired the "JB" horns to add some muscle to their sound.)
10> Some Fantastic (MIX 50; a "deep cut" from Barenaked Ladies that I always liked.)
11> High & Dry (MIX 77; a perfect song from Radiohead.)
12> Barrel of a Gun (MIX 55; I love trying to sing the harmonies on this Guster song.)
13> Murder (or a Heart Attack) (MIX 55; a cool song from The Old 97s about a lost housecat.)
14> Malibu (MIX 55; liking Courtney Love's music is a guilty pleasure.)
15> Circles (MIX 80; this hypnotic Soul Coughing song has me in its spell.)
16> Little Plastic Castle (MIX 88; I love the 12/4 time signature and the awesome rhythm section on this Ani DiFranco song.)
17> It's My Life (MIX 99; a great No Doubt cover of a cool 80s New Wave classic.)
18> Heavy Metal Drummer (MIX 81; it was tough picking only one Wilco song.)
19> Not The Same (LIVE 2002; this Ben Folds Live cut makes its debut here- recorded on the tour where my wife and I went to the same concert, one month before we met for the first time.)
20> Frying Pan (MIX 14; breaking the rules a little here- this Evan Dando solo acoustic cover of a Victoria Williams song originally appeared on mix tape #14, but I re-made that mix on CD-R in 2001.)
21> Strange Condition (MIX 86; a good ending from Pete Yorn.)

101: Chicks Rawk (aka Womyn In Music)

CHICKS RAWK was composed as a Christmas present for my sister-in-law Sara. It's all women, obviously. My wife offered some guidance of the artist and track selection.

After I gave a copy to Sara, I created cover art for the collection. The cover is the only photo of Madonna I could find online from her video for "Open Your Heart". My 14-year-old self was already deeply in lust for Madonna when that video came out in 1986, and her gold-nippled costume didn't cool things off any.
1 Sinead O'Connor "The Emperor's New Clothes"
2 The Breeders "Divine Hammer"
3 Go-Gos "Head Over Heels"
4 Liz Phair "Why Can't I?"
5 Sheryl Crow "Hard To Make A Stand" (my wife loves this song- I had never heard it before)
6 Garbage "Stupid Girl"
7 No Doubt "Hey Baby"
8 Cyndi Lauper "Girls Just Want To Have Fun"
9 Madonna "Open Your Heart"
10 Lucinda Williams "Right In Time"
11 The Bangles "If She Knew What She Wants"
12 The Cranberries "Empty"
13 Aimee Mann "Save Me"
14 Alison Krauss "Baby, Now That I've Found You"
15 Bonnie Raitt "Fearless Love" (I thought I was the only person who liked this song, until I heard it in the movie Sideways.)
16 k.d. lang "Constant Craving"
17 The Pretenders "Don't Get Me Wrong"
18 10,000 Maniacs "Candy Everybody Wants"
19 Indigo Girls "Peace Tonight" (18 & 19 go together because they both feature bands with newly-hired horn sections.)
20 Suzanne Vega "Tombstone"

99: Afternoon Delight

Assembled shortly after the Boston Red Sox won the 2004 World Series:

1. Let's Get It Started - The Black Eyed Peas (this song was used in one of the many montages of baseball excitement on TV.)
2. Staring At The Sun - Simple Kid
3. Life Less Ordinary - Carbon Leaf (Worst band name ever. The song is good- they sounds like Mr Mister for the 21st century.)
4. Old Days - Chicago (from the Starsky & Hutch movie soundtrack.)
5. IGY (International Geophysical Year) - Donald Fagen (I see Donald Fagen's The Nightfly album in yard sales and used record bins all the time!)
6. Mr. Blue Sky - Electric Light Orchestra (from the theatrical trailer for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.)
7. Ride - The Kleptones
8. Float On - Modest Mouse
9. The Spirit Of Radio - Rush
10. Gimme All Your Lovin - ZZ Top
11. Love Song - 311 (An inventive cover of the Cure song)
12. Sleepwalker- The Wallflowers
13. Look What You've Done - Jet
14. History Repeating - The Propellerheads featuring Shirley Bassey
15. Afternoon Delight - Will Ferrell & The Channel 4 News Team (I love the scene in the movie where they spontaneously sing this song a capella!)
16. The Waiting - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (also used in Red Sox montages.)