After I made a mix for J.G.'s brother a few months ago, their mom heard it and liked it, "The Ice Of Boston" in particular, and to my surprise, requested that I make a CD for her too. So now pretty much that whole family has mix CDs from me. She's pretty open minded for her age, but then, my taste is pretty classic rock-oriented when it comes to even newer rock music, so it wasn't too hard for me to make it accessible for her, and I included a lot of the same artists from John's mix, although mostly different songs. I think it came out pretty well. The Michael Bublé track was one that J.G. asked me to grab off iTunes and include, but that song is actually kinda growin' on me.

1. Ted Leo/Pharmacists - "Timorous Me"
2. Apollo Sunshine - "Today Is The Day"
3. The B-52's - "Private Idaho"
4. The Dismemberment Plan - "The Ice Of Boston"
5. The Posies - "Conversations"
6. Elliott Smith - "Angeles"
7. The Who - "5'15"
8. Spymob - "Walking Under Green Leaves"
9. John Mellencamp - "Cherry Bomb"
10. Ben Folds Five - "Philosophy
11. Talking Heads - "Thank You For Sending Me An Angel"
12. Elvis Costello & The Attractions - "High Fidelity"
13. They Might Be Giants - "Don't Let's Start"
14. Rufus Wainwright - "April Fools"
15. Brendan Benson - "What I'm Looking For"
16. Chris Lee - "Lonesome Eyes"
17. Private Eleanor - "On Our Side"
18. Randy Newman - "Baltimore"
19. Michael Bublé - "Home"
20. Jeff Buckley - "Satisfied Mind"

Labels: Apollo Sunshine, Baltimore music, Brendan Benson, Chris Lee, Dismemberment Plan, Elvis Costello, mixtapes, mp3, Spymob, Ted Leo, The B-52's, The Posies, The Who, They Might Be Giants

Last month I bought a new computer and for the first time finally have a CD burner. The first CD I burned was a mix that I gave to J.G.'s brother John as a Christmas gift:

1. Fugazi - "Song #1"
2. Medications - "Safe And Sorry"
3. The Dismemberment Plan - "The Ice Of Boston"
4. Apollo Sunshine - "Ghost"
5. Sonic Youth - "Teen Age Riot"
6. Superchunk - "Detroit Has A Skyline"
7. Brendan Benson - "I'm Easy"
8. Private Eleanor - "Estimated Distance"
9. Elvis Costello & The Attractions - "No Action"
10. Spymob - "It Gets Me Going"
11. Bob Dylan - "Simple Twist Of Fate"
12. Jeff Buckley - "Grace"
13. Lake Trout - "Pill"
14. Ted Leo/Pharmacist - "You Always Hate The One You Love" (mp3)
15. The Geraldine Fibbers - "Lilybelle"
16. Bruce Springsteen - "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)"
17. The Posies - "Song #1"

The Ted Leo track was the first thing I ever heard by him, way back in 2000 when I reviewed a crappy indie comp for Pitchfork that it was on, and it slowly had me hooked by the time Tyranny of Distance came out. In a way it's still one of my favorite songs by him and I kinda wish he'd do a whole record like that, solo and lo-fi but still energetic and song-driven.

Labels: Apollo Sunshine, Baltimore music, Brendan Benson, Bruce Springsteen, Dischord, Dismemberment Plan, mixtapes, mp3, Sonic Youth, Spymob, Superchunk, Ted Leo, The Geraldine Fibbers, The Posies

The 3rd mix I ever made for J.G., in August of 02.

side 1:
1. Jeff Buckley - "Lover, You Should've Come Over"
2. The Posies - "Somehow Everything"
3. They Might Be Giants - "New York City"
4. Pulp - "Disco 2000"
5. Ben Folds Five - "Fair"
6. Ted Leo - "Parallel Or Together?"
7. REM - "Sweetness Follows"
8. Ben Kweller - "Falling"
9. Death Cab For Cutie - "Photo Booth"
10. The Posies - "Fall Song"

side 2:
1. Sparklehorse - "Box Of Stars (Part One)"
2. Talking Heads - "This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)"
3. Ted Leo - "Come Baby Come"
4. Sonic Youth - "That's All I Know (Right Now)"
5. The B-52's - "Rock Lobster"
6. The Dismemberment Plan - "If I Don't Write"
7. Jon Auer - "Love My Way" (Psychedelic Furs cover)
8. Ben Folds Five - "Emaline" (live)
9. Sparklehorse - "Heart Of Darkness (wiggly)"
10. Rufus Wainwright - "Hallelujah"
11. Jeff Buckley - "Grace"
12. Ken Stringfellow - "Here's To The Future"
13. Cat Power - "Sea Of Love"
14. Sparklehorse - "Box Of Stars (Part Two)"

Labels: Dismemberment Plan, mixtapes, Sparklehorse, Ted Leo, The B-52's, The Posies, They Might Be Giants

About 2 years ago, I was hanging out with my brother, and he let me go through the mp3 folder on his computer and pick out a bunch of songs and burn myself a CD. It was fun, and I was pretty pleased with the result. I wish I could do that more often, just rummage through someone's hard drive for an afternoon and make a mix from it.

1. The Clipse - "Grindin'"
2. Elvis Presley - "In The Ghetto"
3. No Doubt - "Sunday Morning"
4. Bruce Springsteen - "Rosalita"
5. Coldplay - "Shiver"
6. The Clash - "Lost In The Supermarket"
7. The Notorious B.I.G. - "Juicy"
8. Memphis Bleek f/ Jay-Z, Twista and Missy Elliott - "Is That Your Chick?" (The Lost Verses)
9. The Dismemberment Plan - "Can We Be Mature?"
10. Justin Timberlake f/ The Clipse - "Like I Love You"
11. Elastica - "Stutter"
12. The Descendants - "I'm The One"
13. Josie and the Pussycats - "Three Small Words"
14. State Property - "Roc the Mic"
15. Jay-Z - "Streets Is Watching "
16. Memphis Bleek f/ Jay-Z - "Murda Murda"
17.The Dismemberment Plan - "Since You Died "
18. Usher f/ Ludacris - "U Don't Have To Call" (remix)
19. Queen and David Bowie - "Under Pressure"

Labels: Bruce Springsteen, Dismemberment Plan, hip hop, Jay-Z, mixtapes, R and B

my 50 favorite albums of the first half of this decade:

1. Jay-Z - The Blueprint
2. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - The Tyranny of Distance
3. Sonic Youth - Murray Street
4. Kanye West - The College Dropout
5. Ken Stringfellow - Touched
6. Cex - Being Ridden
7. Missy Elliott - Miss E...So Addictive
8. Spymob - Sitting Around Keeping Score
9. Justin Timberlake - Justified
10. The Dismemberment Plan - Change
11. Reflection Eternal - Train of Thought
12. Chris Lee - Chris Lee Plays & Sings Torch'd Songs, Charivari Hymns & Oriki Blue-Marches
13. Enon - Believo!
14. Lake Trout - Alone At Last
15. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Shake The Sheets
16. Trick Daddy - Thug Matrimony: Married To The Streets
17. Jay-Z - The Dynasty: Roc La Familia
18. Carla Bozulich - Red Headed Stranger
19. Brendan Benson - Lapalco
20. Nas - God's Son
21. Kenna - New Sacred Cow
22. Two Dollar Guitar - Weak Beats and Lame Ass Rhymes
23. Radiohead - Kid A
24. Bossman - Law & Order
25. Cex - Tall, Dark and Handcuffed
26. Grand Buffet - Pittsburgh Hearts EP
27. Sonic Youth - Sonic Nurse
28. The Mercury Program - All The Suits Began To Fall Off EP
29. Blink 182 - Blink 182
30. The Diplomats - Diplomatic Immunity
31. Faraquet - The View From This Tower
32. Destroy All Nels Cline - Destroy All Nels Cline
33. Jay-Z - The Black Album
34. No Doubt - Rock Steady
35. Trick Daddy - Book Of Thugs: Chapter AK Verse 47
36. Outkast - Stankonia
37. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Hearts of Oak
38. Firewater - Psychopharmacology
39. Freeway - Philadelphia Freeway
40. D'Angelo - Voodoo
41. Pulp - We Love Life
42. Scarface - The Fix
43. Travis Morrison - Travistan
44. Amon Tobin - Supermodified
45. Tim Trees - Dalton, Vol. 1
46. Rod Lee - The Pressure EP
47. Youngblood Brass Band - Unlearn
48. The Boredoms - Vision Creation Newsun
49. Grand Buffet - Cigarette Beach EP
50. Limp Bizkit - Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water

Labels: Baltimore music, Chris Lee, Dismemberment Plan, Enon, Jay-Z, Kanye West, lists, R and B, Sonic Youth, Spymob, Ted Leo, The Posies

This is the first mixtape I ever made for my girlfriend, J.G., when we first started dating in May of 2002:

side 1:
1. La Lengua Asesina - "Hotel Opera"
2. Ben Folds Five - "Philosophy"
3. The Dismemberment Plan - "The Ice Of Boston"
4. Saltine - "Reveal Love"
5. Soul Coughing - "I Miss The Girl"
6. J Mascis & The Fog - "Same Day"
7. They Might Be Giants - "First Kiss" (live)
8. Superchunk - "Hyper Enough"
9. Pavement - "Spit On A Stranger"
10. The Posies - "You're The Beautiful One"
11. The Dismemberment Plan - "Time Bomb"
12. Eels - "Ant Farm"
13. La Lengua Asesina - "Hotel Opera (reprise)"

side 2:
1. The Clash - "Train In Vain"
2. Elvis Costello & the Attractions - "High Fidelity"
3. Al Green - "Tired Of Being Alone"
4. They Might Be Giants - "Why Does The Sun Shine? (The Sun Is A Mass Of Incandescent Gas)"
5. Brendan Benson - "Emma J"
6. Lake Trout - "Sounds From Below"
7. Sonic Youth - "Shadow Of A Doubt"
8. The Dismemberment Plan - "Following Through"
9. Ben Folds Five - "Missing The War"
10. Sparklehorse - "Hundreds Of Sparrows"
11. Elliott Smith - "Say Yes"
12. Ted Leo / Pharmacists - "Biomusicology"
13.Jeff Buckley - "Hallelujah"

I've made her a half dozen other mixtapes since this one, but she says this one is still her favorite, and when she lost it, she requested that I make it for her again, which I did a few months ago. The only difference on the new version was the omission of "Train In Vain", which was due to the fact that I had accidently stepped on and broken the one Clash best-of CD-R I had, but it worked alright because on the original, "Hallelujah" got cut off at the end of the tape, but now there was enough room for all of it. My tastes are considerably broader (and more obscure) than J.G.'s, but I try not too pull the music snob "my girlfriend doesn't understand/needs to be educated about good music" attitude. There is a good amount of crossover between our tastes, though, so I enjoy bringing alt/indie stuff to her attention that she might enjoy. Since I made this for her, she's acquired (either bought or burnt from my copies of) albums by about a half dozen of the artists on this tape, and has accompanied me to many D Plan and Ted Leo shows.

Labels: Dinosaur Jr., Dismemberment Plan, Elvis Costello, mixtapes, R and B, Sonic Youth, Soul Coughing, Sparklehorse, Superchunk, Ted Leo, The Posies, Two Dollar Guitar