Girls of Summer

Good morning my dear readers. I've had an inspiring weekend. Made my living room pretty with some paint and rearranging.

Also made this mix. I keep a "junk drawer" of songs I come across that I'm really liking at the moment and I realized today that a good portion of them were female artists. This is a pretty big change from my youth when I was listening to largely emo and post-hardcore stuff which as we 90's kids know, was largely male dominated. It wasn't a conscious choice to listen to mostly male fronted bands (although I suspect hormones may have had something to do with it) just as now it isn't a conscious decision to choose female artists for my listening pleasure. Things just happen. Like this mix. It just happened this morning. Enjoy.

P.S. You may have noticed Sylvan Esso has made another appearance here and it's because I'm obsessed with them. Go check them out. The whole album is killer.

Summer Church

My summers are stressful as hell. Work gets crazy, there's a million social events every weekend... I don't slow down until September. This playlist is for my sanity. 

Good for: Long drives when road rage may become a factor, falling asleep outside on a blanket, listening at work when you need a few moments to daydream, and anytime you want to close your eyes and get lost in the moment.

Bonus: Most of this music is brand new so you'll also have a chance to get introduced to some great new bands. Current obsession: Vancouver Sleep Clinic.

Oh Sailor

I know I haven't been around. Life and all that. But here's a mix for your pretty ears.

I'm trying to get better. Here and everywhere.

Sverige är orsaken

I know it seems like I've abandoned making mixes but every once in a while one comes together on my long commute to work. This one is for driving, dancing and gritting your teeth when you're stuck in traffic.

Sverige är orsaken loosely translated means, "Sweden is the reason." It's a phrase I use with a friend of mine which means creating a reason to do something when there isn't really a reason at all.

So whatever your reasons are, please enjoy.

Poetry on the Dashboard: Spring Mix #2

As promised, here is Spring Mix #2, the one I would have made ten years ago, had I been making spring mixes back then.

(This picture actually is me, circa 2000.)

Now, this is not entirely accurate since, unfortunately, I can't find my Juliana Theory CD but be aware, there would have been some JT on there had it been available. Also, this is constructed from memory, which is flawed, so some songs might have been released in 2001 or something but... I don't care. I'm more about the spirit of the mix than googling a bunch of dates and other such music geekery. There's probably a lot I'm leaving out... Alkaline Trio, Ben Folds Five, Blink 182... But these are the songs I especially remember listening to when it was getting warm out, these songs were the staples driving in the car with the windows down.

Poetry on the Dashboard

1. Morning Glory - Oasis  
2. Lucky Denver Mint - Jimmy Eat World
3. The Swiss Army Romance - Dashboard Confessional 
4. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic - The Police
5. My Name Is Jonas - Weezer 
6. Chinatown - Jets to Brazil
7. Red Letter Day - The Get Up Kids
8. Crash into Me (Acoustic) - Dave Matthews
9. In Circles - Sunny Day Real Estate
10. Little Dipper - Hum
11. Mysterons - Portishead
12. Nothing - Pedro The Lion
13. Paper Bag - Fiona Apple
14. Savory - Jawbox
15. Passenger - Deftones
16. Invalid Litter Dept. - At The Drive-In
17. crush on everyone - Onelinedrawing

Don't even THINK about giving me any gruff about that Dave Matthews tune, just thank your lucky stars there isn't more Dashboard Confessional on there. An actual mix from me in 2000 would have included at least three Dashboard tracks.

Ten years ago in the spring, I thought I had my whole life mapped out. I had no idea that by a mere year later, everything would have changed forever. Ah, spring.

Hey, if any of you all make springish mixes, would you let me know? I'm in the mood for new music.

Go Outside and See for Yourself: Spring Mix #1

Alrighty. This mix will come to you in two parts. First, we have a mix of current(ish) songs I'm digging at the moment. This mix is intended for windows down driving. Please take this mix with big gulps of fresh air and a generous helping of bare feet in new grass.

Go Outside and See for Yourself.

1. Moths Wings - Passion Pit  
2. The Loneliness and the Scream - Frightened Rabbit    
3. Young Sensualists - Throw Me The Statue
4. The Gardener - The Tallest Man on Earth  
5. I Am the Cosmos - Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson
6. Optimist vs. The Silent Alarm (When The Saints Go Marching In) - Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
7. country radio - El Oso
8. Can I Buy a V_wel? - Into It. Over It.
9. Lay a White Rose - Serious Sam Barret
10. Bells - Hey Mercedes
11. Paper Tiger - Spoon
12. When I Am Gone - Sparrow House  
13. All Yr Songs - Diamond Rings
14. Keep The Car Running - The Arcade Fire
15. Under the Sun - J. Tillman

Mail Mix: A Mix for Stephanie

 

So, for this to make sense, you have to understand me and Stephanie. I have known Stephanie for longer than I have been friends with her. Basically, we each knew the other existed, seeing as our social circle is pretty much all the same people, but we're both shy and it wasn't until her boyfriend Nabeel (not shy) suggested that we should be penpals because we both have typewriters and it would give us an excuse to use our beloved machines and would obviously lead us to become awesome friends who geek out about all things mail and typewriter related. I gotta hand it to Nabeel. His plan totally worked. 

Stephanie is hands down my favorite penpal ever which is made extra awesome by the fact that I get to see her in real life quite often as well. Letters from Stephanie almost without fail will include a poem (or three or five) she has come across and typed up (not photocopied) for me to have. Sometimes they have little English professor type notes on them like, "Read this one aloud!" I am making a book of these poems.

So, obviously the theme is "mail," and now, hopefully, the reason for that theme is obvious as well. So the track listing is typed up and "mailed" with an air mail envelope I bought on etsy. I dug through my collection of stamps to find ones in denominations that corresponded with the track numbers.

And yes, I collected stamps at one time. Voraciously, in fact. I've recently re-embraced this part of myself that I'd lost for a while there. Anywho, all the tracks have to do with mail or the post office or typewriters. I was pretty thrilled to find that many tracks in my collection that fit the theme.

I have for the past few springs, made a spring-themed mix which I typically share on my other blog. I will again celebrate the coming warm weather with a mix and I will share it here this year because, I mean, this is my mix tape blog. It only seems right.