My older brother recently came into possession of a pile of burned CDs I made for a car that only had a disc player. It was a stack of about twenty discs, mostly albums that I really like or new stuff I wanted to hear. Only a few of those rotten, obsolete discs were specific mixes of songs that I like. Nothing crazy, just everything I gave 5-stars to on my iTunes were thrown into a playlist and burnt. Call it a make shift Pandora, if you will. Or don't. That isn't the point.
The point is that my brother has brought to my attention that I am, perhaps, the worst mix maker in the entire world, living and dead (I'm sure Ghandi made some seriously bitchin' mix tapes for his bros). Those aren't his exact words, but for our verbally piqued audience members (those of which are actually reading...I'd leave right about now), that will suffice. My brother, a relatively well-rounded scientist, has forged a particular image of himself as an artist of the musical experience. That is to say, he makes good mixes (again, for a more accurate portrayal of said expertise, see: "It's like f***ing, bro, but better). All I can say about those mixes are that, structurally, they are like Michael Bay movies. It starts off on an okay note, setting up something well enough. You get the idea (hollow character arch-types, stupid humor et al.), then it becomes a hodgepodge of special effect semen that Bay sprays all over the screen for what I presume is just a $300 million orgasm. Sure, shit was loud and grandiose in theory-- but in the words of Margaret Thatcher, "who really gives a flying fuck?*".
So on to the real point. I never thought about the structure of a music mix more than I would think about the symbol I would shave into my bush on Friday nights. Make it nice, clean and neat. Nothing fancy, just something everyone would like (see: 'peace symbol' or 'Justin Bieber'). With today's comfort (or lack of comfort...whatever) of secular thought, I find it okay to leave my musical experience to a 'higher power'. The ever so popular idiom turned cliché, the soundtrack to our life, would be nothing without it. This brings us to the present. Having been iPod-less for a year (it was stolen on the metro--Who'd thunk that DC has crime?!), I've recently purchased a new one. With the power of having my whole music library with me at all times, I don't have to have specific bands, songs or albums dictate how I should feel throughout the day-- rather I leave it to the Shuffle Gods to choose the course.
And with that I bring you, untouched, purely picked by chance playlists archived from every day life. If you like some of the songs, great! If you find something new that you like, even better! But respect the Gods, or you shall feel the wrath of a thousand Black Eye Peas. And who the f*** would want that?
*Her words, not mine.
** I'll get a slick mp3 player up and running once I learn how to...code websites. I'm not Zuckerberg here, so cut me some slack. Until then- below is the list of tunes and the time they played.
Sunday, September 11th, 2011 10:26 AM - 12:19 PM
Recurring - Bonobo 12:19 PM
Assassins - Geto Boys 12:14 PM
240 Years Before Your Time - The Black Keys 12:08 PM (I hesitate to put this on the list as it was 2 minutes of a real song, 20 minutes of silence and 2 more minutes of a song. I can't stand when bands think they can do that. It's selfish, really. What's the point of all the silence? It's not I'm sitting here waiting for an encore. Just play the second part of the song!)
The Pack vs Glass Candy - Freaky Chameleon - The Hood Internet vs The Pack 11:57 AM
Tomorrow (Edit) - Jono McCleery 11:54 AM
The Gentle Art Of Making Enemies -Faith No More 11:51 AM
Ending - Longwave 11:47 AM
Swedenborgske Rom - Jaga Jazzist 11:43 AM
Tsubasa - M83 11:34 AM
Banga - Ali Shaheed Muhammad Feat. Stokley Williams 11:30 AM
A Roller Skating Jam Named "Saturdays" - De La Soul 11:26 AM
Center Of The Universe - Built To Spill 11:22 AM
To Get By - Gramatik 11:19 AM
Your Girl - Mister Heavenly 11:13 AM
Satan's Angel [Exclusive] - Evil Bastards 11:11 AM
Big Go Go - INXS 11:05 AM
Ramble Tamble - Creedence Clearwater Revival 11:02 AM
Midway Souvenirs - White Light Riot 10:55 AM
Memory - Seatbelts 10:50 AM
Bad Boy - The Beatles 10:48 AM
Let There Be Horns - RJD2 10:46 AM
Ain't With Being Broke - Geto Boys 10:42 AM
Doggin’ Blues - Johnny Otis 10:38 AM
Avignon - Pinback 10:35 AM
Legend In My Spare Time - The Bloodhound Gang 10:32 AM
Strange Times - The Black Keys 10:29 AM
Rendezvous - Cut Copy 10:26 AM
