For whatever it’s worth, here’s basically everything I was listening to in January:
“Born Again” by Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons
“Canaan” by Black Dub
“I Will” by Alison Krauss
“Crazy” by Shawn Colvin
“Mercy Seat” by Johnny Cash
“Tonight!” by the Positions
“Middleclass Kid” by Pelle Carlberg
“Gotta Get Smart” by El Perro del Mar
“Hang Me Up to Dry” by Cold War Kids
“Giving Up on Love” by Slow Club
“Evergreen” by the Fiery Furnaces
“West Coast” by Coconut Records
“Do What You Wanna Do” by Acid House Kings
“If I Only Had a Brain” by Jeremy Little
“Sixteen Shades of Black & Blue” by Fujiya & Miyagi
“Don’t Say Oh Well” by Grouplove
“Truth” by Alex Ebert
“Lahaha” by Shugo Tokumaru
“Shake Me Down” by Cage the Elephant
“We Are Stars” by the Pierces
“Highway Down” by I See Hawks in L.A.
“Wake Up, Sleepyhead” by Azure Ray
“Time” by the Alan Parsons Project
“Not a Through Street” by Anya Marina
“Rolling in the Deep” by Adele
“Christ Jesus” by Deer Tick
“This Is Why We Fight” by the Decemberists
“How You Like Me Now” by the Heavy
“Walking Far from Home” by Iron & Wine
“Shell Games” by Bright Eyes
It’s months like this that make putting together a short year-end “best of” mix so very difficult. Still, I really like this mix. There’s some really great music here.
Every month, I put together a mix of new music. Some of it’s just new to me, or even just rediscovered music, and I’ve been doing it for a couple of years now. Sometimes I get a bit carried away, but I have fun doing it. And I have fun sharing those mixes, on occasion, with others.
Here’s my December 2010 mix:
“Ballad of Winslow Homer” by the Dimes
“American Dream” by Danielle Ate the Sandwich
“Lille” by Lisa Hannigan
“We Meet, We Part, We Remember” by the Holmes Brothers
“Always” by Junip
“Sucker Row” by Mark Knopfler
“Merry Happy” by Kate Nash
“Over” by Phonosapiens
“Tonight the Streets Are Ours” by Richard Hawley
“Say it Right” by Nelly Furtado
“Song to Bobby” by Cat Power
“Nostrand” by Ratatat
“Save Yourself” by Sharon Van Etten
“Albuquerque Lullaby” by Dan Bern
“When My Time Comes” by Dawes
“Card From a Multipack” by the Just Joans
“White Wine in the Sun” by Tim Minchin
“Year End Letter” by Garfunkel and Oates
And here’s a “Best of” mix I mailed out to a few people, in lieu of Christmas cards…and, well, after Christmas.
“The Weary Kind” by Ryan Bingham
“Southland in the Springtime” by Indigo Girls
“Breathe” from In the Heights
“Lazarus” by Sophie Solomon
“Say Hey (I Love You)” by Michael Franti & Spearhead
“The Queen of Lower Chelsea” by the Gaslight Anthem
“Belle of the Ball” by Carsie Blanton
“Where Will You Be” by Sara Watkins
“Organ Donor” by Jeremy Messersmith
“Clementine” by Sarah Jaffe
“Americanarama” by Hollerado
“Hard Believer” by First Aid Kit
“Levi Stubbs’ Tears” by Billy Bragg
“American Dream” by Danielle Ate the Sandwich
“Lille” by Lisa Hannigan
Believe me, even winnowing that down to 30 songs, on two discs, was a challenge. And, although it’s really sort of a Christmas song, and therefore a week too late, I just really like this song from Tim Minchin, “White Wine in the Sun.” It seems like a good note to end on for the year.
The one good thing about almost nobody ever taking me up on my offer of a monthly mix CD exchange? On the not at all rare occasion that I go a little crazy and cobble together a mix this long, which by its length requires a minimum of two CDs, I don’t have to do anything except pleasantly post it here and say, hey, here’s some stuff I’ve been listening to recently.
So hey, here’s some stuff I’ve been listening to recently.
“Never Listen to Me” by the Thermals
“Thule Fog” by John Vanderslice
“The Queen of Lower Chelsea” by the Gaslight Anthem
“Organ Donor” by Jeremy Messersmith
“Americanarama” by Hollerado
“The Ballad of…” by Franz Nicolay
“Belle of the Ball” by Carsie Blanton
“Get Me Away from Here I’m Dying” by Bettie Serveert
“Devil’s Best Dress” by Corb Lund
“Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground” by Chris Thile
“New York (Saint in the City)” by the Academy Is…
“Remains” by Maurissa Tancharoen & Jed Whedon
“You Are Not Alone” by Mavis Staples
“Birds Fly Away” by Theresa Andersson
“Window of My World” by Guided by Voices
“The Way We Get By” by Spoon
“Rain City” by Lucy Schwartz
“Down River” by the Temper Trap
“Hard Believer” by First Aid Kit
“Levi Stubbs’ Tears” by Billy Bragg
“The Ballad of Grim and Lily” by Bree Sharp
“Where Will You Be” by Sara Watkins
“I Will Follow You Into the Dark” by Death Cab for Cutie
“There’s Room in My Tardis for Two” by Love Ends Disaster!