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.)

98: The First iTunes Mix

I think the title is pretty self-explanatory. Songs I bought on iTunes are in Bold:

1. The Bar-Kays - Soul Finger (as heard in the 1980s comedy Spies Like Us)
2. The Pointer Sisters - Automatic
3. Philip Bailey & Phil Collins - Easy Lover (I always loved singing along with the harmonies in this song, but it only appeared on Philip Bailey's solo LP, and I wasn't about to buy a whole album for this one track. Long-story-short: this song is what 99c downloads were meant for!
4. Hall & Oates - Private Eyes
5. The Doobie Brothers - What a Fool Believes
6. Prince - When You Were Mine (later covered by Cyndi Lauper)
7. Wilco - I'm A Wheel
8. The Rolling Stones - Can't You Hear Me Knocking (Used to great effect in the movie Goodfellas.)
9. Jet - Get What You Need (obviously owes a debt to #8 above)
10. The Isley Brothers - This Old Heart of Mine (used to great effect in an episode of Moonlighting.)
11. R.E.M. - Harborcoat
12. Guster - Amsterdam (Live in Portland, ME December 2002)
13. Paul McCartney & Wings - Call me Back Again
14. Ray Charles - Half As Much
15. Trey Anastasio - Alive Again
16. Los Lobos - I Got Loaded (used in Bull Durham, when they turn on the field sprinklers and go on a drunken escapade.)
17. Tommy McCook & The Skatalites - GOldfinger (a ska song about the movie)
18. Crystal Waters - Come On Down (A dance track whose chorus is based on the closing credits theme to The Price Is Right TV show.)
19. Laura Branigan - Gloria (a big hit single right around the time I started listening to music.)