fling93 loves fishies

My 2004 Mix CD

Update 2/15/06: My 2005 Mix CD is here. Also, some of you are coming here looking for the title of Avril Lavigne’s second album, which is Under My Skin. A good reference site to answer questions like these is AMG (formerly known as the All Music Guide). By the way, I have mixed feelings about “Collide” and “Mr. Brightside” becoming big hits. On the one hand, I guess it’s me being ahead of the curve again. On the other hand, this means I essentially wasted two tracks on this CD, since the recipients would’ve heard those songs anyway without me. Oh well.

I decided to try my hand at Rich Thomas’s End of the Year Mix CD Challenge. However, I haven’t added a whole lot of music to my library this past year due to running low on disk space at work (where I do most of my listening — thank goodness we’re due for new machines any day now). Rather than put some fringe new stuff, like Britney Spears or Lindsay Lohan, I figured I’d throw in some of my all-time favorites.

Which meant I couldn’t think of a unifying theme for this mix, nor a snappy title, merely calling it “fling93’s 2004 mix.” However, I was able to create a nice collage for the CD cover, as you can see (click for larger image). In case you don’t know who’s who, the cover from left to right: first row is Avril Lavigne, Tori Amos, Vanessa Carlton, second row is Peter Gabriel, Jill Sobule, Dar Williams, and Death Cab for Cutie. Last row is The Flaming Lips, Keane, and Howie Day. On the CD itself (ignoring artists that were already on the cover) from the top clockwise is R.E.M. (with muppets), The Killers, Shawn Colvin, Brand New, Hedwig (aka John Cameron Mitchell), and the Dresden Dolls. Man, I just realized I completely left out a picture of Rasputina. Well, maybe I’ll redress that if I burn a second copy.

I could delve into the role that mix CDs will play in this new Long Tail distribution model, but I think I’ll save that for a later post. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, check out Chris Anderson’s Wired article and his blog. And until I get my post written, you can see some of my “Long Tail” thoughts in a lengthy discussion with Stirling Newberry (in particular, my last comment in that thread).

But for now, let me just talk a bit about the songs.

Note, each songtitle in this list is a link to the iTunes Music Store (iTMS) entry for it. And while Rich is recommending eMusic, let me plug another alternative to iTMS, Audio Lunchbox. Same pricing as iTMS, $0.99 a track, $9.99 per album. However, the tracks come with no DRM and in both MP3 and Ogg Vorbis format, so you aren’t locked into the iPod portable player. Their MP3s are typically in 192 kbps and Ogg Vorbis files are Q6 (and remember, the Ogg Vorbis format will support bitrate peeling), and you get both versions when you buy a song. Their catalog doesn’t compete with iTMS, but they do have some well-known artists, including some from my mix CD.

Speaking of which, here’s the playlist:

Vanessa Carlton - Who’s to Say

From her second album, Harmonium. Vanessa Carlton is one of those artists that is going to be hurt by the iTMS distribution model. Her first album, Be Not Nobody, had two good songs, a couple of okay ones, and a bunch of crap. Her new album is pretty much the same, with White Houses playing the part of the showier A Thousand Miles and this song being the real gem on the album, much like Ordinary Day on her first one (and incidentally, I used GarageBand to record a cover of that song). The only other songs worth checking out are San Francisco and Afterglow. She may be forever consigned to be in the shadow of that other pop singer she’s always confused with, Michelle Branch (who’s more talented and, as unfortunate as it is that this matters, more attractive).

But I really, really love this song, especially the simple repeated chord progression of IV-I-vi-V, which just begs to be repeated since it doesn’t start or end on the root. And its relentless repetition makes the bridge even catchier because only then does the song finally shift to IV-V-vi-I for a while. And I also like how she repeats the bridge twice in this song, which is somewhat unusual. It’s a song carefully crafted to grow on you after a few playings, and it succeeds in spades. I’ll have to say that she’s not that great live, though. Especially since she comes across as having a huge rock-star attitude.

Death Cab for Cutie - We Looked Like Giants

I discovered this band by poking around on Audio Lunchbox, one of the very few complete albums that I’ve bought digital versions of. This is, by far, my favorite song off of Transatlanticism, perhaps because it’s about as uptempo as this mellow band gets (my second favorite being Sound of Settling). This song is a reminiscence of a young fling(!), and I like that it somehow captures both the nostalgia of the memory as well as the urgency and immediacy of the remembered moment. The ending drags on kinda long, though.

The Killers - Mr. Brightside

From their debut album, Hot Fuss. I first heard this song while shopping with my wife at Good Vibrations (um, no it’s not a music store) and I asked the clerk what was playing. I can never get it out of my head. I’m not sure why Somebody Told Me seems to be more popular. I like that song too, but not nearly as much.

Shawn Colvin - Round of Blues

Not new to me, but my all-time favorite Shawn Colvin song, and indeed the first song I ever heard of hers, while I was in college on KFOG. After buying Fat City, it soon entered my permanent rotation, and it wasn’t long before I owned all her albums. I figure most people didn’t hear of her until her Sunny Came Home off of A Few Small Repairs, so hopefully this song will be new to most of you. It has my second-favorite bridge (“All this time I been makin’ deals, Shades of black and white On a Hollywood reel…”), my favorite, of course, being Tori Amos’s “Silent All These Years.” Anyway, Fat City is an excellent album, especially Polaroids and Climb On (A Back That’s Strong), which was featured on Party of Five for a while (back when they rotated the songs used in the opening credits).

Howie Day - Collide

I first heard him as the opening act to a Tori Amos concert a few years back (I think it was the Strange Little Girls tour). It was a very interesting show, as it consisted of him and his guitar playing against a looped version of himself. I was hoping his albums would capture some of this, but no, it’s pretty much straight-ahead folk pop, but still pretty good at that. This is from his second album, Stop All the World Now, which is a much slicker production than his first, Australia.

Tori Amos - Landslide (cover)

Since Howie Day opened for Tori, I figured it’d make sense to have her follow him on this mix as well. This is also not new to me. It was one of the first tracks I found on Napster (does it count as stealing if there isn’t a place where you can buy it?), and my all-time favorite cover by Tori. Coincidentally, I finally got to hear her play it live on that tour with Howie Day. I simply love the piano accompaniment, and her version is my favorite out of all the different covers of this song (including the original Fleetwood Mac). But I’m a bit biased since I seem to have a thing for redheads. As far as I know, this cut isn’t available commercially.

Peter Gabriel & Deep Forest - While the Earth Sleeps

Wish they’d collaborated more. This is from the Strange Days movie soundtrack, during the closing credits. Probably the coolest song I know that most people haven’t heard, and thus, always one of the first songs I ever put on mixes like this. I actually first heard it on KSCU before I ever saw the film (which, unfortunately, was rather unremarkable), and jotted it down to download later (yes, from Napster).

The Dresden Dolls - Coin-Operated Boy

From their self-titled debut album. I swear I was ahead of the curve on this one as well. This was another song I first heard on KSCU several months ago, where it seems to be a popular request, but I had a doozy of a time trying to track it down online. At last, I found it on Audio Lunchbox several weeks ago. Of course, now that it seems to be becoming a hit, you can easily find it on iTunes. Funny and quirky and cool.

Brand New - The Quiet Things that No One Ever Knows

From their second album, Deja Entendu. I discovered them poking around on Audio Lunchbox. Pretty generic alterna-rock, I confess. Don’t really have much to say about them. Come to think of it, I don’t know why they made this list. I think I threw it onto the playlist cuz it was new, figuring I could squeeze it out later. Oh well, maybe somebody’ll like it. It’s got that catchy call-and-answer thing between the left and right channels going for it.

The Flaming Lips - Buggin’ (Remix)

I think I might have been the very last person to discover Radiohead two years ago, and probably ditto for The Flaming Lips, who are truly new to me for 2004. Saw them on the cover of Relix, and based on the name-recognition, I picked up a used copy of Transmissions from the Satellite Heart from Amoeba records early this year. Was rather unimpressed, and it wasn’t until hearing Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots pt. 1 on KSCU did I pick up some of their later stuff. I picked this song (from Soft Bulletin) since the harmonies here are frickin’ beautiful! But if you’ve got a surround-sound system, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots is a must-have on DVD-Audio!

Rasputina - Girl’s School

From Frustration Plantation. This was another Audio Lunchbox discovery, and probably the most indie choice in this whole mix (cello-driven rock, for chrissake!). I have the whole album, and I think this song best captures the essence of their sound. Another standout is My Captivity By Savages which features some very humorous voice-acting.

Avril Lavigne - Nobody’s Home

I figured this was a good place to stick a ridiculously mainstream artist. And since I have an Avril Lavigne calendar up in my cubicle, I suppose I ought to have her on this CD. I was actually looking forward to Avril’s second album, Under My Skin, coming out mostly to see how she would do without the help of that pop songwriting powerhouse, the Matrix, who wrote or cowrote almost all of the songs from her first album, Let Go, and also helped Liz Phair remake herself. I was wondering if she’d emerge triumphantly from the controversy like Sheryl Crow did, or fade into obscurity. Perhaps neither will happen, although the album itself sounded like a mixed bag, so I ended up buying only a couple of tracks off it. And she still hasn’t written any songs by herself, most of the new album being co-written by Chantal Kreviazuk. By the way, she is absolutely awful live. She can’t stay in tune. Have to wonder how long she’ll be a star — but damn, isn’t she pretty? What, did you think I have her calendar up in my cube because of her music?

R.E.M. - Furry Happy Monsters

This is R.E.M. doing a cute turn on their “Shiny Happy People” song. We have Sesame Street thumbed up twice on our TiVo, so we’ll watch it occasionally. When I first saw this last year, I just had to have it, so I ripped it from the TiVo to the line-in of my Nomad Jukebox 3 and used LAME to encode it into MP3. Michael Stipe clearly had a blast doing this.

Dar Williams - The Christians and the Pagans

An all-time fave from her excellent second album, Mortal City. You can also get it from Audio Lunchbox. Like Tori Amos, you have to see her live. Listen to “Out There Live” to get a taste of what I mean (also available on Audio Lunchbox — indeed, they have her entire discography). I first heard of Dar as a recommendation from an indie folk artist who used to be local, Allette Brooks, who herself is heavily influenced by both Dar and Ani DiFranco. This song is Dar at her witty best. Be sure to listen to the lyrics, as she tells a cute and funny story about an unusual holiday family reunion.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch - Wig in a Box

Saw the film for the first time in 2003 (an excellent film, by the way), but finally got around to buying the soundtrack several weeks ago, so I figure that’s close enough. Great film with a lot of great music, and I think this is the best song of the bunch. One of the best scenes from the film, too. Soundtrack is also available at Audio Lunchbox

Keane - This Is the Last Time

From their debut album, Hopes and Fears. Not exactly sure where I first heard of these guys. I must have heard Bend & Break on the radio at some point (probably on KSCU), because I had it jotted down on my Palm. And I also have a cousin who sends out an e-mail newsletter on music, and Keane was on a “Best of 2004” list, which was the actual impetus for me sampling and buying a few of their songs off iTunes a couple of days ago, although I didn’t realize it until now that it was the same band. Anyway, I’m a sucker for soaring vocals and piano-driven rock. Sounds kinda like a cross between U2 and Coldplay. Kind of an abrupt ending, but perhaps than an intentional way to illustrate how goodbyes are always too short.

Jill Sobule - Karen By Night

Another all-time fave from her self-titled second album. She’ll probably be forever known as that chick who sang, I Kissed a Girl (from the same album), but she’s much, much more than that. Wasn’t a big fan until I saw her live at Cafe du Nord as she was touring in support of Pink Pearl, which I promptly bought and got autographed. She’s extremely witty and a great story-teller (well, perhaps character sketches would be more accurate), and this song is a great example of both. Don’t miss that hilarious last line of the song! She does have a new album out, Underdog Victorious (available on Audio Lunchbox), but I haven’t had a chance to listen to it very much yet.

fling93 - Grasshopper

Um, yeah. This is me on GarageBand. Long-time readers will remember this from My First GarageBand Experience, although I’ve slightly tweaked a few things (including the mix) since that version. Okay, this is not much of a song, but cut me some slack since it’s my first ever musical composition. Plus I put a bit more work into this than your typical loop-driven GarageBand piece. For example, it actually includes chord changes, and I also ended up putting so many variations into the bass-line that nothing from the original loop was left. I also played the piano part from scratch. Not to mention I think that it’s kinda catchy.

So that’s it. Here are some other CD mixes:

• Courtney’s Best of 2004 and New to Me 2004.
• Elke’s My Blakean Year: Best New Music in 2004, Life Will Go On: Best Music That Was New To Me in 2004, and Tell Me Something Good.
• Ealasaid’s 2004 Mix Disc.
• This is not a mix CD, but here’s Jonas’s That was 2004 (soundwise) list.
• Buzz’s Favorite Songs of 2004.
• Rich’s Best of 2004 and New To Me 2004.

Let me know if I inadvertently left you out. And also let me know if you’d like a copy of this mix (I only burned one copy, figuring that most people wouldn’t want to keep it, so it could circulate around like a hot potato — that didn’t work out too well so for my 2005 mix, I went the conventional route and burned multiple copies).