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Mixtape #02: Oh, This Could Be Trouble After All

Let these lyrics do the talking for me.
Download- Side A: Pro &  Side B: Con

Side A:  Pro

1. After All- Sondre Lerche:  I like you too much after too little time
2. Paperweight- Joshua Radin:  I’ve been this way with so many before, but this feels like the first time
3. Happy Together- The Turtles:  Imagine me and you; I do.  I think about you day and night, it’s only right
4. L-L-Love (Acoustic)- Blondfire:  There’s a magic in you, and I’ll be under your spell, l-l-love
5. Brighter Than Sunshine- Aqualung:  Love will remain a mystery, but give me your hand and you will see, your heart is keeping time with me
6. Cocoon- Dan Black:  Wrap me ’round your finger
7. You Told A Lie- Camera Obscura: If you were a season you would be in bloom
8. Hug Me- Meg & Dia: Hug me ’til you drug me, honey, hug me. Drug me ’til you love me, honey, love me
9. Brightly Wound- Eisley:  We were walking there and I had tangles in my hair, but you make me feel so pretty
10. Rave On- M. Ward: Well, the little things you say and do, make me wanna be with you. Rave on this crazy feeling, I know it’s got me reeling

Side B:  Con

1. She Doesn’t Get It (Acoustic)- The Format: Because I feel much older, look at me as if I got a reason to stare
2. Fall Apart Today- Schuyler Fisk: I wish I wasn’t so fragile, ’cause I know that I’m not easy to handle
3. Act Appalled (Acoustic)- Circa Survive: Maybe you’re mistaken for someone who cares
4. True Affection- The Blow: You were out of my league at a distance that I didn’t wanna see
5. New American Classic- Taking Back Sunday:  See the months they don’t matter. It’s the days I can’t take, when the hours move to minutes and I’m seconds away
6. Breathe Me- Sia: Help, I have done it again.  I have been here many times before.  Hurt myself again today, and the worst part is there’s no one else to blame
7. Lost- Coldplay: Just because I’m hurting, doesn’t mean I’m hurt
8. Nineteen- Tegan and Sara: I felt you in my life before I ever thought to.  Feel the need to lay down beside you and tell you, I feel you in my heart and I don’t even know you
9. My Love- Mariachi El Bronx: You made me weak; you made me pale. You made me nervous; you made me shake
10. Annie Waits- Ben Folds: You see this is why I’d rather be alone

-V-

Mixtape #3: ‘Aussie Aussie Aussie’

it’s Australia Day tomorrow. It’s our national day, where we celebrate what it means to be an Aussie. So, in keeping spirit with nationalist sentiments, i thought i’d pay homage to some Australian artists by constructing a play list of tracks i love by Aussies! Enjoy!

Side A:

1. Fire, Fire, Fire – Dappled Cities
2. Sleeping Lion – Sparkadia
3. Holiday – The Holidays
4. Dulcinea – Closure in Moscow
5. You’ve Changed – Sia
6. Bella – Angus & Julia Stone
7. Parade – Former Child Stars
8. Milk Eyes – The Grates
9. Camp Out – An Horse
10. Ghosts – Laura Marling

Side B:

1. Take Us To Your Leader – Paul Dempsey
2. Breathe Me – Sia
3. Heartbreak Scorsese – Snob Scrilla
4. Sweet Disposition – The Temper Trap
5. Oh Five Hundred – Staying At Home
6. Kelly – Van She
7. Killer – Whitley
8. To The Test – 50 Lions
9. Chiswell Green – Staying At Home
10. Where The City Meets The Sea – The Getaway Plan

-Audrey Nacorda

Free Music For A Rainy Night

I am sitting in a dark room with the fan blasted.  Listening to the thunder and rain, I feel as if a playlist is necessary.

1. Arcade Fire – Windowsill
2. Kevin Devine - It’s Only Your Life
3. The Shins – New Slang
4. Beach House – Used To Be
5. Bon Iver – Blindsided
6. My Morning Jacket – Librarian
7. Manchester Orchestra – Badges And Badges (Live from Daytrotter)
8. Bright Eyes – I’ve Been Eating (For You)
9. William Fitzsimmons – You Broke My Heart
10. Noah and the Whale – Blue Skies

Mixtape Vol. 1 – the A.P.

The A.P. (After Party) Recipe:
-20 Songs
-Handful of Friends
-A Dash of Acquaintances
-One Night Stand (optional)
-All Available Alcohol
Mix all ingredients and serve in a perfect location.

Side A: Aha, Sha-ake
1. Fourth of July – Be Careful
2. The Almighty Defenders – Cone of Light
3. Kings of Leon – Taper Jean Girl
4. ZZ Topp – Cheap Sunglasses
5. The Love Language – Lalita
6. Black Lips – Drugs
7. Harlem – Friendly Ghost
8. The Rapture – Out of the Races and Onto the Tracks
9. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Satan Said Dance
10.The Kills – U.R.A. Fever

Side B: Recording Dreams
11. Roman Numerals – Occupado
12. Interpol – Say Hello to the Angels
13. The Fiery Furnaces – Don’t Dance Her Down
14. Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros – Janglin’
15. Crystal Stilts – Crystal Stilts
16. ? and the Mysterians – 96 Tears
17. Girls – Lust for Life
18. Women – Black Rice
19. Surfer Blood – Floating Vibes
20. Boo and Boo Too – David Turns a Mystic

Mixtape #2: ‘Back to Work’

The holidays are well and truly over. This week is looking busier and stressful the more i think about it. It seems that all those lucky bastards basking in the sun, are now returning to their 9-5 jobs, back in the game and most of all back to routine. The songs I’ve chosen for today’s mixtape, on one side conjure, to me themes of selling out, frustration, and anger towards having to work whilst on the other are song i love hearing at work.

Side A:

1. New Noise – Refused
2. Mutiny! – Set Your Goals
3. Sell Out – Reel Big Fish
4. You’ve Made Us Conscious – The Audition
5. Oxford Comma – Vampire Weekend
6. For The Workforce, Drowning – Thursday
7. All I’m Losing Is Me – Saves The Day
8. Swing Life Away – Rise Against
9. Heart Attack At 30 – Polar Bear Club
10. Know That – Mos Def

Side B:

1. Stand By Me – Ben E. King
2. M79 – Vampire Weekend
3. Killer – Whitley
4. Bridge & Tunnel – The Honorary Title
5. The Boy That Blocked His Own Shot – Brand New
6. Sloop John B – The Beach Boys
7. Lump Sum – Bon Iver
8. French Navy – Camera Obscura
9. Coffee – Copeland
10. Little Motel – Modest Mouse

-Audrey Nacorda

An Introduction…

Its seemed like the number of people who made “my top albums of the decade lists” was about the same as kids who wrote letters to Santa. I couldn’t decide which one was more important so I composed one of each.
When going through the release dates on my list I realized I could have easily called this my Top 11 Albums from 2002-2007. I can’t say much for pre02 since I began the new millennium as a 14 year old and not even a very cool one. Post 07 yielded a mess of great music I loved and plenty of new bands discovered yet I don’t think I’ve been able to spend enough time with them just yet. Everything on my list is still highly listenable and I haven’t tired of any of it. If I compiled my best of the decade list in a few years it might look slightly different and pick up a few albums from 08 and 09.
*Drum Roll* In order as I ‘discovered’ them (because I’m calling it an 11-way tie) here are my albums:

Glassjaw – W/T
For lack of a better description I was a ‘nu-metal kid’ before I saw the video for ‘Cosmopolitan Bloodloss’ on MTV2 back when it truly was only music videos. I was blown away and immediately in love with all things Glassjaw. Worship & Tribute was epic, clever and a gateway to much better music that I had been looking for. Daryl Palumbo is a brilliant, a god if you will. When I finally got to see Glassjaw live a few years ago it was perfect and when they performed ‘Gillette Calvacade of Sports’ my life was complete.

Interpol – Turn on the Bright Lights
I stumbled upon Interpol while working at Hot Topic. (I know, right?!) Turn on the Bright Lights made me want to live in whatever after dark world Paul Banks was talking about. Its definitely an album that I’ve enjoyed more as I’ve gotten older. I like the range from the sexiness of ‘Say Hello to the Angels’ to the sad tale of ‘Stella Was a Diver and She Was Always Down’ which *sidenote* is one of my biography songs.

Every Time I Die – Hot Damn!
“Tonight I’m coming home in a coma if it fucking kills me.” Opens track one, ‘Romeo-a-go-go’ and I thought “Holy fuck this is amazing.” That’s really all it took. Keith Buckley’s lyrics are what sold me on the only southern-hardcore-band-from Buffalo that I will ever like.

The Life and Times – Suburban Hymns
I could write million word essays about this band. There’s something in the chemistry between these three guys that makes the most amazing spacerock. A friend sent me a few tracks from Suburban Hymns and I never stopped listening. The live shows are stunning and I still listen to songs like “Skateland” as though I’m hearing them for the first time.

Creeper Lagoon – Long Dry Cold
This is hands down the most underrated album of the last decade. Long Dry Cold was such a beautiful and different collection of songs that really never got their due. The layers of acoustic guitars, electronic beeps and buzzes and drum loops that are sometimes played in reverse are a blissed out backdrop to the vocals. Srsly, do yrself a favor and buy this album from Creeper Lagoon. They sold the digital download for LESS THAN ONE DOLLAR!

Ad Astra Per Aspera – Catapult Calypso
My first real show when I moved to Lawrence was Ad Astra’s 100th show. Its something I’ll tell my grand kids about. This band brings such an energy and breath of fresh air to music which is so hard to find anymore. They’re brilliant on a big stage and they’re just as good in a basement at a house a bunch of crust punks and metal kids dubbed the Haunted Kitchen.

Death From Above 1979 – You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine
Sometimes when someone pushes music on me its hard to get into. That happened with this band. By throwing the songs into shuffle with a bunch of other stuff I started to hear amazing tracks that belonged to DFA1979. Not long after they were in heavy rotation. This album has ‘swagger.’ Its fast, oversex’d and oh so good.

Grizzly Bear – Yellow House
Whenever I play Yellow House I think of the winter I fell in love with this band. All of the intricate little pieces that make up these collection of songs is perfect. On a Neck, On a Spit is easily one of my favorite songs of all time from start to finish, the entire five minutes and forty-seven seconds of it is filled with beauty and an understated grandiose. Grizzly Bear was my Little Band That Could and when Veckatimest came out they were the Amazing Band That Did.

Dirty Projectors – New Attitude
I listened to “Fucked for Life” on repeat trying to decide if I loved it or hated it. The harmonies were so unclassic and everything just seemed off from what you come to expect from music. In the end the choice is clear though and they have only gotten better since with their brand of music that really expands the possibilities of the creative process.

Beirut – Gulag Orkestar
This was on repeat with no rest for most of the spring of 07. A lot of cheap wine was drank and front porches gathered on to the sound of the modern gypsy band. I had heard OF Beirut but never actually heard a song until we were Sunday afternoon drinking at the Replay and ‘Postcards from Italy’ came on. See, being a midday drunk pays off.

Fiery Furnaces – Widow City
For some reason the Fiery Furnaces didn’t take the first time I listened to them and at this point I’m not even sure why I gave them a second try. Widow City was an instant success for my ears though followed by the rest of the catalog. There’s something about it that reminds me of songs I heard from long ago but totally in a good way. They also put on a damn good live show perfecting the magic of reworking the songs so at times they’re completely different but just as good.

Mixtape #01: Life’s Ups & Downs

This is my first post ya’ll, get excited! I decided to make a mixtape about, you guessed it, life’s ups and downs. We all have to deal with them, so I think this is quite relatable.

Side A: The Ups

1. When Life Gives Me Lemons I Make Lemonade- The Boy Least Likely To
2. It’s Oh So Quiet- Björk
3. Whatever It Is- Ben Lee
4. O Valencia- The Decemberists
5. Piazza, New York Catcher- Belle & Sebastian
6. Action/Reaction- Choir of Young Believers
7. We Could Be Friends- Freelance Whales
8. Home- Great Northern
9. Day to Day- Eulogies
10. Glue Girls- Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin

Side B: The Downs

1. Alligator- Tegan and Sara
2. Magic Marker- Monsters of Folk
3. Information Travels Faster- Death Cab for Cutie
4. Comets- Fanfarlo
5. Everblue- Mandy Moore
6. This Side You’ve Never Seen- The December Drive
7. Gray Or Blue- Jaymay
8. Lovers Without Love- Joshua James
9. I Wasn’t Prepared- Eisley
10. Lost- Coldplay

-Victoria

Mixtape #1: ‘This Is A New Year’

Mixtape Monday:

It’s Monday here in Sydney, so here’s my first mixtape for 2010. Entitled ‘This Is A New Year’, it commemorates the start of a new and hopefully a brighter year. The songs I’ve selected either inspire me to see the beauty in life and to appreciate it, express my insecurities associated with growing up and turning 20 or are just awesome up-beat songs for the summer.

Side A:

1. I  Wish I Knew Natalie Portman – K-OS
2. 5 Years Time – Noah & The Whale
3. Learn To Fly – Foo Fighters
4. Mexican Mavis – Boy & Bear
5. We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed – Los Campesinos!
6. Deadbeat Summer – Neon Indian
7. Postcards – An Horse
8. Save Tonight – Eagle Eye Cherry
9. Two Weeks – Grizzly bear
10. Epic Last Song – Does It Offend You, Yeah?

Side B:

1. Brooklyn – Mos Def
2. Life is Good – DJ Deckstream feat. Mos Def
3. Young Forever – Jay Z feat. Mr Hudson
4. Oh No – Andrew Bird
5. Parade – Former Child Stars
6. You Make My Dreams – Hall & Oates
7. You Know I Should Be Leaving – American Football
8. All You Need Is Love – The Beatles
9. If I Ever Feel Better – Phoenix
10. Paris – Friendly Fires

-Audrey

Alyssa’s Top 10 Albums of 2009

1. Andrew Bird-Noble Beast
I know this hasn’t been on any of the “best of” lists but I absolutely love it. This was the first album by Andrew I had ever heard, and I fell in love with it automatically. I fell in love with him automatically, and now he’s probably my favorite artist. Almost a year later, I can still put this album on and listen to it all the way through and feel pure joy while listening to “Fitz and the Dizzyspells” or “Anonanimal.” This may not have been the best album of the year but it was certainly my favorite.

2. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros-Up From Below
If there’s one thing I like, it’s bands with a lot of members. If there’s another thing I like, it’s music with instruments like ukuleles and trumpets and accordions. If there’s yet another thing I like, it’s music guys with beards. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros has all three of these things. Their debut album is filled with joy and love and happiness, and Alex Ebert has become one of the most interesting voices in music. His love for Jade, who also has a gorgeous voice, is incorporated into many of the album’s tracks, and it’s wonderful to listen to. I saw them live at the end of the summer and they put on one of the best shows I’ve ever been to.

3. Bruce Peninsula-A Mountain is a Mouth
You want a big band? Well, Toronto’s Bruce Peninsula is one of them. This album is perfection, combining pure theatricality with gospel, Native American and African sounds, gorgeous choral harmonies and amazing percussion. It’s dark, and at times menacing and at other times, heartbreaking. Such an impressive debut.

4. Devendra Banhart-What Will We Be
Initially, I didn’t love this album. And then I saw him live. Sure, these songs work way better live but after repeat listens, I realized this collection of songs is fun and makes me want to dance. Not Devendra’s best but still pretty damn good.

5. Florence + the Machine-Lungs
This album is proof there are great female artists out there that aren’t annoying, unlike some of the other British imports that have been forced on us over the years. Florence’s voice is wonderful, and her style is a combination of pop, rock, jazz, and funk. There are songs of this album that I couldn’t bear to take off repeat when I first heard them. This is just a really enjoyable pop record that I want to listen to again and again.

6. Bat of Lashes-Two Suns
Yet another amazing album from a beautiful-voiced Brit. This album is miles better than Natasha Kahn’s debut; it’s darker, more mature, and way more diverse. Definitely requires listen after listen…after listen.

7. St Vincent-Actor
It was a good year for women, what can I say? I initially hated this album on first listen. And then I tried it again and still didn’t get the hype. After a third listen, I was in love. You really need to listen to Annie Clark’s albums all the way through before judging it. Her songs start off slow and then bam! they hit you hard. She is a fantastic guitarist, her voice is gorgeous, and she’s one of the best lyricists writing today.

8. The Avett Brothers-I and Love and You
As someone who has been a fan of The Avett Brothers for awhile now, I was pretty turned off from this record initially. Where was the banjo? The grit? The rawness? I wasn’t a fan of their polished, produced sound. But then I listened to it a bit more and realized this is probably their most complete album. And on any given day, it can make me cry like a baby.

9. The Antlers-Hospice
I’m still new to this one but it is fantastic. The Antlers are like a hybrid of the sound of Arcade Fire and Grizzly Bear with the isolation and claustrophobic atmosphere of Bon Iver.

10. Patrick Watson-Wooden Arms
Yet another artist whose second album is way better then the first. Patrick’s voice is gorgeous, his piano playing makes my knees weak, and his use of sound is incredible. Watson incorporates everything from wheels to bicycle tires to enhance his haunting sound.

Honorable Mentions:
Tegan and Sara-Sainthood
Bell x1-Blue Lights on the Runway
Alec Ounsworth-Mo Beauty
Noah and the Whale-The First Day of Spring
tUnE-yArDs-Bird Brains
Emmy the Great-First Love
Little Joy-Little Joy
Animal Collective-Merriweather Post Pavilion
Grizzly Bear-Vecktamist
Local Natives-Gorilla Manor
The Dodos-Time to Die
Bear in Heaven-Best Rest Forth Mouth
Real Estate-Real Estate
Bon Iver-Blood Bank EP
Volcano Choir-Unmap
Dirty Projectors-Bitte Orca
Patrick Wolf-The Bachelor