How Fucking Romantic

I tried to make this mix err more on the "we-broke-up-and-I'm-pissed" side than the "we-broke-up-and-I'm-wearing-black-eyeliner-and-moping" type of break-up songs. It's not perfect. It's messy and ugly, just like a broken relationship. Hey-o!

Let's commence.

Download here

1. The Distillers -"Dismantle Me" Brode Dalle's throaty roar out-Courtney Loves even Courtney Love. Choice lyric: "And all I know dissolved/I could never reundo you"
2. Sleater-Kinney - "One More Hour".
The counterpoint harmonies between Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein just drive home the heartbreak. It makes it hit home even more when you know this was written about their breakup. Choice lyric: "Take off the dress, take off the face/I'll hold you close before I leave"
3. The Magnetic Fields - "Yeah! Oh Yeah!"
It would be impossible to make a breakup mix without this band. Choice lyric "I've enjoyed making you miserable for years". For the way Stephen Merrit delivers that line, in the most cosmopolitan way.
4. Rihanna - "Breakin' Dishes"
Choice lyric: "I'm killin' time, you know, bleachin' your clothes/I'm roasting marshmellows on the fire/And what I'm burning is your attire"
5. Ani Difranco - "Dilate" Choice lyric: "'Cuz you've left me with nothing/But I've worked with less"
6. Ben Folds - "Gone" Choice lyric: "I know that you went right to someone else/while I worked through all this shit here by myself". So simple, but it cuts right to the quick.
7. Alkaline Trio - "Stupid Kid" Choice lyric: "Remember when I said I loved you/Well forget it, I take it back". Bratty and perfect.
8. Nightmare of You - "Why Am I Always Right" Choice lyric: "Stick a fork in a socket, do what you'd like /Just make sure that I'm far out of your life"
9. Bjork - "5 Years" Choice lyric: "I dare you to take me on/I dare you to show me your palms/I'm so sick of cowards/Who say they want, but can't handle love"
10. The Mountain Goats - "No Children".
Maybe the finest breakup song in the bunch. Hell, I'd go as far to say the best breakup song EVER. No hyperbole. Choice lyric: Too many, but I'll go with "And I hope when you think of me years down the line /You can't find one good thing to say /And I'd hope that if I found the strength to walk out, You'd stay the hell out of my way"
11. Of Montreal - "The Past Is a Grotesque Animal"
At nearly 12 minutes, this is by far the longest song on this mix, but it is well worth it. The energy just builds and builds. Plus, spaceship noises! Choice lyric: "Let's tear the fucking house apart/Let's tear our fucking bodies apart/But let's just have some fun"
12. Fiona Apple- "Oh Well" Choice lyric: "What wasted unconditional love/On somebody who doesn't believe in the stuff"
13. Dance Hall Crashers - "Nothing Left To Say" Choice lyric: "So you can't be mad when you don't get your sweater back /'Cause it's the only part of you that I can hold"
14. Dresden Dolls - "Truce" Choice lyric: "And if we should meet through some misunderstanding/I'll be very sweet, very patient and forgiving/Now get off my side of the state"
15. Robyn - "Should Have Known" Choice lyric: "My family, they never did pretend/My mama felt she never liked you/And neither did my friends"
16. Feist - "Let It Die" Choice lyric: "And after all it won't take long to fall in love /Now I know what I don't want /I learned that with you"
17. Kate Nash - "Foundations" Adorable british accents make everything go down easier, don't they? Choice lyric: "Well, I'll leave you there 'till the mornin'/And I purposely wont turn the heating on/And dear God, I hope I'm not stuck with this one."
18. Shellac "Prayer To God".
And I've saved the best one for last. This isn't so much a breakup song as it is, dear God, keep Steve Albini AWAY from that girl and her boyfriend cause he IS gonna fucking kill them. White-hot anger, distilled into a four minute song. Choice lyric: "Make him cry like a woman, no particular woman/Let him hold out hope that someone or other might come". Ouch!

Throwback

Happy birthday, USA! Olivia Newton John's "Physical" was #1 on the charts the day I was born, so I thought it was only appropriate for an album cover. I was born in 1981, so to celebrate my year of birth (and America's) , here are songs from albums of that year.

Download Here

1. Stevie Nicks- "Edge of Seventeen"
2. New Order- "Ceremony(7" Single Version)
3. Black Flag- "Rise Above"
4. Prince- "Sexuality". I know just included him on my last month, but this song is essential listening.
5. Squeeze- "Tempted"
6. Electric Light Orchestra- "Twilight" No relation to the shitty book of the same name.
7. Oingo Boingo- "Only a Lad"
8. Billy Joel- "Miami(Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)." Fuck the haters, this song is EPIC.
9. Mission of Burma- "That's when I Reach For My Revolver"
10. Depeche Mode- "Just Can't Get Enough"
11. The Gun Club- "She's Like Heroin To Me"
12. The Go-Go's- "How Much More"
13. Elvis Costello- "Strict Time"
14. The Cure- "Primary"
15. Kim Carnes- "Bette Davis Eyes".
16. Ramones- "The KKK Took My Baby Away"
17. The Birthday Party- "Nick the Stripper". Early Nick Cave. Awww yeah.
18. The Pretenders- "I Go To Sleep"
19. The Raincoats- "Shouting Out Loud
20. Stiff Little Fingers- "Silver Lining"
21. Kraftwerk- "Pocket Calculator"
22. Hall and Oates- "You Make My Dreams Come True". If you don't like this song you are flat out LYING, sir.

Where's the Ritalin?

Starts out slow and instrumental, then progresses into alt-country, then mellow folksy, then finally gets punk rock, upbeat-y at the end. Please enjoy.

My zip file uploaded them all out of order, but I suggest you listen to them in this order:

Download here

1. Sufjan Stevens- In this temple, as in the hearts...
2 The Avalanches- Little Journey
3 Matmos- Rag for William S Burroughs
4 Beirut-La Banlieu
5 Magnetic Fields- Wi' Na Me Bairn Ye'll Me Beget
6 Eels- Theme from blinking lights
7 Cat Stevens- Tea for the tillerman
8 Okkervil River- Black sheep boy
9 Jenny Lewis with the watson twins- Run, Devil run
10 Neko Case- A widow's toast
11 Lucero- Banks of the arkansas
12 Cat Power- Islands
13 Francoise Hardy- Doights
14 Nick Drake- Harvest breed
15 The Smiths- Please please please let me get what i want
16 The Shins- The Celibate life
17 Cut chemist- Motivational speaker
18 Outkast- ?
19 Man Man- Little boxes
20 Lou Reed- New York Telephone conversation
21 Casiotone for the painfully alone- I should have kissed you when i had the chance
22 Drakkur Sauna- Very much alone, Part 4: oh fuck..
23 Mountain Goats- Down here
24 Husker Du- Never talking to you again
25 Ted Leo and the pharmacists- First to finish, last to start
26 Against Me!- T.R.S. (This shit rules)
27 Pixies- Alison
28 Future of the Left- Fingers become thumbs!
29 Buzzocks- Love you more
30 Misfits- Attitude
31 Rocket from the crypt- Panic Scam
32 Titus Andronicus- Titus andronicus forever
33 Prince- Ronnie, talk to russia
34 Elvis Costello and the Imposters- The Imposter
35 The Simpsons- We Do (The stonecutter's song)

Family Jamz

(made with MS Paint. Shitty, but heartfelt)

Thanksgiving at my family's house means dad's putting on opera or Gypsy Kings in the background. I don't have a problem with either, but I prefer to have something a little more dance-able while I'm carving up a turkey. Without further ado, here is a family-friendly mix for you and yours.

Download here.

1) Belle and Sebastian- I'm a Cuckoo
Belle and Sebastian are the epitome of warm and fuzzy(but not innocuous!) music. Mom and dad can get down with that.

2) They Might Be Giants- Birdhouse in Your Soul
I suspect the Giants will make it onto a lot of these lists.

3) Weezer- Surf Wax America

4) Sufjan Stevens- The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts
Sing along choruses for everyone!

5) Sam Cooke- Twistin' the Night Away
When in doubt, always go with an oldie(but an awesome one)

6) Dusty Springfield- I Only Want To Be With You

7) The Flaming Lips- Buggin'

8) Stevie Wonder- Sir Duke
I think everyone in my family can agree on Stevie Wonder

9) Jackie Wilson- I Get The Sweetest Feeling
My father practically weaned me on old-school soul.

10) The Pogues- London Girl
The only Pogues song that isn't about death, or has the word "cunt" in it. Post-Thanksgiving dinner-jig!

11) Los Campesinos!- Broken Heartbeats Sound Like Breakbeats
Fun Welsh-pop

12) Ozma- Rocks

13) Bjork- It's Oh So Quiet
A little more abrasive than other songs on this mix, but this is my attempt to get my dad into Bjork. Plus, it sounds like a big band song, and he likes those.

14) Cat Stevens- Tea For The Tillerman

15) The Doors- Land Ho!
Another parental favorite. Both my mom and dad were really into the Doors. Plus, it's a sea-shanty song.

16) Peggy Lee- It's A Good Day

17) Prince- Play in the Sunshine
Bet you never thought Prince would make it onto this list. One of his songs that ISN'T about sex. Don't worry, you can play it around grandma too!

18) The Ramones- California Sun

19) Electric Light Orchestra- Mr. Blue Sky

20) The Go! Team- Huddle Formation

21) Santogold- Lights Out

Music To Spook By

I tried to make a mix full of equal parts goofy fun and appropriate creepiness. Some of these were chosen based on the names (having the word "ghost" in the title helps), some just sounded dark and rather menacing, eg. Swans' "I Am The Sun". Hope you enjoy 'em!

1) Transylvanian Concubine - Rasputina

2) Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts - Wolf Parade

3) I Am The Sun - Swans (every Halloween mix should include this band)

4) Cemetary Polks - Tom Waits (obligatory Tom Waits song...but an appropriate one)

5) Zombie - The Death Set

6) Tori Amos - Raining Blood (creepier than the original, I dare say)

7) Dracula's Wedding - Outkast ( I wanted to put in a hip-hop track. This was as close as I got. Vampires are popular, right?)

8) Dead Souls - Joy Division (obvious choice, but whatever!)

9) Meet Ze Monsta - PJ Harvey

10) Lullaby - The Cure (Robert Smith gets eaten by a SPIDER!)

11) Phantom - Justice

12) Zombie Boy - The Magnetic Fields

13) Strange Days - the Doors

14) Werewolf - Cat Power

15) Slide - The Dresden Dolls (I chose this one for the creepiness factor. Who IS the orange man? I don't know!)

16) Help Me I Am In Hell - Nine Inch Nails

17) Burn The Witch - Queens of the Stone Age