What is this?

This site is part of a new project I'm starting. Taking inspiration from a number of sources (including, but not limited to bookcrossing.com, PostSecret, Found Magazine, Love is a Mix Tape, High Fidelity, and sheer boredom) I decided to start a little project. I’ve always enjoyed the ideas behind bookcrossing, etc. but books or secrets have never been my kind of thing, and finding things just never seemed to work for me. So, I thought I’d try something new. Music has always been a big thing in my life, and I’ve always enjoyed making mix CDs. So, I figured why not put a couple things together and start giving out mix CDs to whoever’s lucky enough to find them.

This blog will serve as a place for me to post the CDs I've released, including a track listing and a little explanation. It'll also serve as a place for people to comment on any CDs they find, or on the concept in general. If you want to post about the specific CDs, please reply to the post about that CD. If you want to make a general comment, feel free to leave it as a response to this post. If I'm doing things right, this should remain at the top of the page at all times.

If anybody else feels inspired to create and distribute CDs of their own, I'd love to hear about it. Let me know about them and I'll make sure they get posted here.

I guess that's about it for now. Happy listening.

-Mike

My Best Girl

I don't know what I'm doing with this whole affair anymore. I didn't get much by way of responses before. Plus I've been kinda busy lately, so I haven't done a whole lot in terms of putting anything together.

That said, I'm sure I'll keep making mixes. Whether or not I actually do anything with them aside from posting them here, I don't know. I guess we'll see.

Anyway, this is one I've had sitting around for quite a while. I kinda put the songs together a long time ago, then had this feeling that I needed to work on the sequencing. I spent a little time on it here and there, but never really sat with it long enough to feel like it was completed. Looking back, I think it's been right for a while now and I was just never really sure enough. So here goes.

This one's called My Best Girl. Like the last one, I took a song and based a mix off of it. This time, it's the Lucero song. Basically, it's the story of a boy and his guitar, so that's what I went for with the rest of the mix. There are more than a few instances of other instruments showing up here and there, but I tried to keep it to things that focused on just a singer and a guitar. I think the biggest challenge here was getting away from a bunch of acoustic, singer-songwriter type stuff. Not that it doesn't have its merits (it still seems to dominate the mix), but there's something fantastic about solo electric stuff. With that in mind, I think my favorite parts of this are the Ted Leo and John Samson tracks. At the very least, they're a great change of pace.

My Best Girl
1. Lucero - "My Best Girl"
2. Mike Midwestern - "Airplanes"
3. Hot Water Music - "Bleeder"
4. The Replacements - "All Shook Down"
5. Zolof the Rock and Roll Destroyer - "There's That One Person You'll Never Get Over No Matter How Long It's Been"
6. Elliott Smith - "Thirteen"
7. The Hold Steady - "Citrus"
8. Rocky Votolato - "Makers"
9. Saves the Day - "Three Miles Down"
10. Josh Joplin - "President's Son"
11. Damien Jurado - "Chevrolet"
12. The New Amsterdams - "All Ears"
13. Modest Mouse - "Bankrupt on Selling"
14. Thrice - "Stare at the Sun (Acoustic)"
15. Jeff Buckley - "Hallelujah"
16. The Smashing Pumpkins - "Landslide"
17. Nick Drake - "Pink Moon"
18. Motion City Soundtrack - "Back to the Beat"
19. Ted Leo - "Dirty Old Town"
20. Jeff Ott - "Song #14"
21. David Gray - "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye"
22. John K. Samson - "Utilities"
23. The Decemberists - "I Was Meant for the Stage"

Let's Get Lost

This one was sort of a spur-of-the-moment inspiration. I needed a CD, so I put iTunes on shuffle and just waited for the first song to come along that would give me an idea. This was it. Basically it's just a bunch of songs that make me think of loss in some form or another.

1. Elliot Smith - "Let's Get Lost"
2. Pedro the Lion - "Secret of the Easy Yoke"
3. Jimmy Eat World - "A Sunday"
4. Dessa - "551"
5. Atmosphere - "Don't Forget"
6. John Vanderslice - "You Were My Fiji"
7. The Hold Steady - "First Night"
8. Lucero - "I Can Get Us Out of Here Tonight"
9. Sleater-Kinney - "One More Hour"
10. The Alkaline Trio - "If We Never Go Inside"
11. The Weakerthans - "Psalm for the Elks Lodge Last Call"
12. Jeff Buckley - "Hallelujah"
13. Brand New - "Sowing Season"
14. Thursday - "Understanding in a Car Crash"
15. The Get Up Kids - "Last Place You Look"
16. The Bouncing Souls - "Gone"

Released yesterday evening.

Satan Said Dance

This is a direct offspring of This Ain't a Scene.... Basically, when I was putting that one together, I realized I had far more songs than I was going to need. Given the choice between getting rid of songs or making a second CD, the latter seemed like the far better option.

One of my least inspired titles ever. I figured, at the very least I couldn't steal it from one of the songs on this disc. Still the transition between the last two songs was mindblowing enough to completely make up for it, in my mind. Completely accidental, but completely awesome.

1. Queen - "Under Pressure"
2. Fujiya & Miyagi - "Ankle Injuries"
3. Vicious Vicious - "Shake That Ass on the Dance Floor"
4. Sims - "Key Grip (Fax)"
5. Girl Talk - "Too Deep"
6. Tapes 'N Tapes - "Insistor"
7. The Replacements - "I Will Dare"
8. Stereolab - "Vodiak"
9. Gnarls Barkley - "Gone Daddy Gone"
10. The Strokes - "Last Night"
11. Beck - "Hell Yes"
12. Reggie and the Full Effect - "Mood 4 Luv"
13. A.C. Newman - "Miracle Drug"
14. The Get Up Kids - "Close to Me"
15. Franz Ferdinand - "Michael"
16. Jurassic 5 - "What's Golden"
17. We Are Scientists - "It's a Hit"
18. The Clash - "Overpowered by Funk"
19. Prince - "Let's Go Crazy"
20. Brother Ali - "Take Me Home"

Also to be released sometime tomorrow afternoon.

This Ain't a Scene, it's a Goddamn Dance Party

The first CD I made explicitly with this concept in mind. I've had the title flying around in my head for months now, as well as the basic concept. I figured it would be a good place to start, since I just had to put it all together. I'm not sure I've even heard the Fall Out Boy song I stole the title from.

Dance parties have never really been my thing. I'm not sure I would trust me to DJ one. But, this was my attempt at the concept.

1. David Bowie - "Let's Dance"
2. Kings of Leon - "Slow Night, So Long"
3. Of Montreal - "Gronlandic Edit"
4. Peter Bjorn and John - "Young Folks"
5. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - "Satan Said Dance"
6. Thunderbirds are Now! - "Eat This City"
7. The Apples in Stereo - "7 Stars"
8. The Streets - "Fit But You Know It"
9. Hockey Night - "For Guys Eyes Only"
10. The (International) Noise Conspiracy - "Bigger Cages, Longer Chains"
11. Gym Class Heroes - "Cupid's Chokehold"
12. Big Audio Dynamite - "Rush"
13. The Go! Team - "The Power is On"
14. Ono (feat. Peaches) - "Kiss Kiss Kiss"
15. Imogen Heap - "The Walk"
16. Mates of State - "Fluke"
17. Murs - "Yesterday & Today"
18. Hellogoodbye - "Touchdown Turnaround"
19. Electric Six - "Danger! High Voltage"
20. The Clash - "Train in Vain"

To be released sometime tomorrow afternoon.