Sunday, December 15, 2013

Holiday Mixes 2013

Mix 1
1. The Wolf - Phildel. Phildel is one of my two favorite discoveries this year, along with MS MR. This is the description I read when I was introduced to this song; "British musician Phildel makes songs that sound like the ones on Florence + the Machine's first album, or maybe White Chalk–era PJ Harvey—nursery rhymes with drum machines for grownups who've seen some shit. (She's seen her fair share, having been raised in an abusive home that didn't allow music.) Her first (and right now, only) album, The Disappearance of the Girl, has its ups and downs, but this song will never leave your head. Ever. Prepare to be constantly singing to yourself about wolves and blood and sinners and stuff, because that's your life now."
2. White Teeth Teens - Lorde. Not that I don't love Royals - I do - but we've all heard it often enough this year, yes? This is my other favorite off her album. I love the harmonies on it. Can we also talk about how wonderful she is live?
3. Dark Doo Wop - MS MR. I love them. They played Outside Lands this year, and they were easily my favorite set.
4. So High - Here Is Your Temple.
5. Because the Night - Garbage & The Screaming Females. The Screaming Females were opening for Garbage on their last tour, and they put out this single for Record Shop Day. I know we're all used to the 10,000 Maniacs version, but once you adjust to this tempo, I really like having the two singers, plus the amazing guitar solos. That girl is a crazy force of nature.
6. Adelaide - Meg Myers.
7. To Dust - Alice Russell. (That link is a live recording.)
8. Hot Knife - Fiona Apple. Heh, on last year's mixes (which I seem to have never uploaded. Whoops.), I noted that I had just started listening to this and Lana's Ride. So here they are, because I still love them a year on. I also loved the video her Ex, Paul Thomas Anderson, did for her here.
9. That's Alright - Laura Mvula.
10. Dance Apocalyptic - Janelle Monae. I haven't liked the Electric Lady quite as much as her last two, but this is a really fun song. Another performer who is just crazy talented live.
11. Bring the Noize - M.I.A. I actually like the song Matangi just a little bit more, but it was harder to fit in a mix. Y.A.L.A. is also great.
12. Sacrilege - Yeah Yeah Yeahs. They also played Outside Lands, and Karen O was AMAZING. She is just the coolest. Also, I hadn't seen this music video, but I love it.
13. Waste of Time - .
14. Halo - LP. Her live Beyonce cover. I find some her vibrato almost painful to listen to, but I find her voice so unique and some of those notes she holds are just amazing. (We've all heard Into the Wild, yes?)
15. Diamonds - Jessie Ware. (Live BBC cover) Another Outside Lands set - which was surprisingly energetic, given that I tend to think of her as a next-gen Sade. (Wildest Moments being my favorite.)
16. My Kind of Love (RedOne & Alex P Remix) - Emeli Sande. Its not up to the same level as Next To Me (from last year), but I did get a chance to see her at Outside Lands this year, so I wanted to include something of hers.
17. Ride - Lana Del Rey. God I love this. I love her entire, insane rambling short video about being a biker prostitute. I wish to god the Oscars would let her make a short film for Young and Beautiful for the middle of the Oscarcast.
18. Foolish Games - Jewel & Kelly Clarkson. 16 years on, and I still love this song. (16?!? Holy fuck.)
19. Bones -MS MR. Some more.(Hurricane, Fantasy and Think of You are also all worth checking out.)
20. Into the Black - Chromatics. I just love this cover. Yet another Outside Lands group, too... (You may know Chromatics from their scoring part of that astounding opening chase in Drive with Tick of the Clock.)
21. Beside You - Phildel

Mix 2
1. A Little Party Never Killed Nobody - Fergie ft. Q-Tip and Goonrock. I'm a little sad that this isn't going to be the Gatsby offering for best song. I kinda want a chorus line doing the Charleston. Or to let Baz choreograph a big Busby Berkeley number.
2. Aye - Dio ft. Sef. Okay, so I have fallen wildly in love with Welcome to Night Vale, which became one of the top 3 podcasts last summer. (This article from the awl, is a great introduction. I'm one of those who went, "what is this shit all over my tumblr?" I really highly recommend you go listen to the Pilot. Cecil's voice is wonderful.) Anyways, each episode has a song as the day's weather. This is one of those songs.
3. Rocks - Primal Scream. This year, the lovely and talented Leila Sales published This Song Will Save Your Life, which is a great book about a teen who becomes a DJ. Leila makes some of the best mixes I know, and she is the one who introduced me to The Pill, the Friday indie dance party in Boston that was also one of the inspirations for the book. Needless to say, I listened to the mix for the book quite a lot this year, and several of the songs made their way on here.
4. Money for the Weekend - Alberta Cross.
5. Medicate or Stimulate - Minutes til Midnight.
6. The Bus is Late - Satellite High. Another Night Vale addition. As one person put it, "I identify with this song on a spiritual level." Plus - hey! He's from SF. Awesome.
7. Moral of the Story - Watsky. SF!
8. We Are Your Friends - Justice vs. Simian. Another one from This Song Will Save Your Life.
9. It's You - Duck Sauce. I saw half of Duck Sauce - A-Trak - at Outside Lands. It was weirdly ravey for the middle of the park.
10. Quarter to Three - Gary U.S. Bonds. Another from This Song....
11. Killer Queen - Queen. I don't remember what prompted me to add this to a playlist back in the spring, but it's pretty much been stuck in my head the rest of the year. (Hey, did you hear Ben Whishaw is going to play Freddie Mercury in the official biopic?! Crazy, no?)
12. Mis-Shapes - Pulp. Another oldie, but goodie. Also from This Song...
13. 17 Crimes - AFI.
14. Once in a Lifetime - Wolfsheim. Last one from This Song...
15. Love is a Bourgeois Construct - Pet Shop Boys.
16. Thieves in the Night - Hot Chip. So I finally got around to seeing Sound of My Voice, which is a great film, and this played over the end credits. It was an unusual choice, but it worked, and I've been listening to it a lot ever since.
17. Resonance Disaster - Hubrist.

Mix 3
1. Duet - Philip Glass (performed by Sugar Vendil and Trevor Gureckis, Stoker Soundtrack). Stoker is one of my favorite films of the year, and the scene where Mia Wasikowska and Matthew Goode play this duet might be my favorite scene of the year. Hell, David Ehrlich loved it so much, he used it to bookend his annual Top 25 films montage.
2. Hopeless Wanderer - Mumford & Sons. Yes, they are ridiculous, and yes, the music video for this is a parody. But it makes me laugh. And I still like the song.
3. When This All Started - The Soft White Sixties. Another SF band and Outside Lands discovery. (I'm somewhere in this crowd...)
4. Female Robbery - The Neighborhood.
5. The Long Haul - NO.
6. The Vampyre of Time and Memory - Queens of the Stone Age. Hooray.
7. Pink Rabbits - The National. Guess who jumped into the crowd right by me?!
8. Line of Fire - Junip.
9. Underwater - Mika. (BTW - Mika and Kristen Chenoweth singing the Popular Song? Adorable.)
10. Falling - HAIM.
11. Demon Dance - Surfer Blood. Hey - these guys were at Outside Lands!
12. We Can Work it Out - The Beatles. Hey, Paul McCartney played Outside Lands. It was wonderful.
13. KV Crimes - Kurt Vile. Also at Outside Lands.
14. Pictures of Matchstick Men - Camper Van Beethoven. Outside Lands (Also, the 80s were weird.)
15. Got Something For You - Best Coast & Wavves. Wavves were at Outside Lands, too!
16. Freedom - Anthony Hamilton and Elayna Boynton. From the Django soundtrack.
17. Truth - Alexander. This played over the end credits to Curfew, which won best live-action short last year. (And well-deserved, too! It was one of the Oscars I was rooting hardest for. It's available on iTunes if you're interested. If you don't want to spend $3, here's the trailer.)

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