This mix is simply entitled "Yeah," in my iTunes. I think it was given that name to match up with my sort of downtrodden state this weekend. Most of these songs are middle emotion, midtempo; they've hit me in the way I feel certain circumstances in my life have been hitting lately, but certainly they've struck my so-called metaphysical chords quite harmoniously.

Apologies to those of you reading this to find new music as some of the songs appear on old mixes found here. This week, I was definitely going for music to match a mental state. Hopefully, you understand.

1) The Little Willies - No Place to Fall
2) Jeff Tweedy - Be Not So Fearful
3) Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
4) Elton John - Come Down in Time
5) Sufjan Stevens - Chicago (Acoustic)
6) Chaka Khan - Love Me Still
7) The Rolling Stones - I Got the Blues
8) Van Morrison - Beside You
9) The Beatles - Cry Baby Cry
10) Corinne Bailey Rae - Like a Star
11) Bill Withers - Can We Pretend
12) Carla Bruni - Quelqu'un Ma Dit
13) The Weepies - Gotta Have You
14) Rosie Thomas - Since You've Been Around
15) Lyle Lovett - If I Needed You
16) Townes Van Zandt - Flyin' Shoes
17) Bill Withers - Stories
18) Luz Casal & Carlos Nunez - Negra Sombra
19) Bill Fay - Be Not So Fearful
20) Townes Van Zandt - High, Low, and In Between

The Weepies, not The Weebles, have stolen much of this weekend from me, and I'd like it back. It's either that, or I am going to have them steal your week. You may resist, but this song's infectious chorus will stick to you like gum to a shoe's sole. That's too nice. I'll say this: it's like walking into a spider's web of harmonies - ok, ok, maybe not a web, but something that clings to everything and makes trying to do anything else futile. It's like the schadenfreude involved in the inexplicable joy of watching someone attempt to parallel park a six foot long car in four feet of space. But it's not malicious. Ok, I'm prefacing this song too much for what it is. Give it a listen and get back to me. It may follow you home like it did me - staring up at me with those eyes, that lost, sorta cute, but definitely mutty dog that it is. It's a dog. I love this song, even though it may pee on my shoes.

The Weepies - Gotta Have You
If that link doesn't work, you can view my plagiarism and get the song here.

Oh, yeah, and Deb Talan and Steve Tannen, the pair who make up said Weepies, have the sweetest story.

The Brooklyn Vegan has posted a New York Summer Concert Preview. It's going to be a good summer!

Oh, and according to Pollstar, Wilco's playing in Prospect Park on July 13th.

So there! I've wanted to see Wilco for about five years now, and I am finally going to be able to see them, I'll be able to afford this show, and I'll be outside in the park drunk with friends. What more could a guy ask for? A double kick drum by The Landing would perhaps be nice. That's right, Chicago - The Landing.

Here are two videos of my favorite comedian, Aziz Ansari. The first one is from a show I saw in February of '05. The second is Aziz's contributions to The Mix Tape for this week. Also, check out Eugene Mirman. And Happy Easter.... totally unrelated, I know.

The Best New Album of 2006 (Thus Far)

I can't believe I haven't posted anything about Josh Ritter's new album. "The Animal Years" is at the same time grown organically and with painstaking care with its raw, sublimely picked strings, warm, full drums, and well thought out, wonderfully crafted, smart, biting lyrics. I've connected to his words more so than I have any other artist in recent years. And with the e-card above, you can listen to the entire album online for free!

The first time I heard Josh Ritter, I had just ended a relatively passionate relationship which managed to waiver on being the most honest and dishonest encounter I have ever been party to. Honest in all the flushes and rushes being in love can do to two people. We'd spend hours together just to be together. We'd spend all our money to be able to do so. It was dishonest in that when we were apart, the relationship delved into a lie so absurd I will spend my life trying to understand it. I suffered a series of whacks to my esteem: backhandedness, cheating, lying, and pure abuse. I'd returned from California where she was living, and for reasons I won't go into now, we'd both been watching HBO's "Six Feet Under" somewhat incessantly over those ten days. The first episode after our break-up ended with "Come and Find Me" by Mr. Ritter accompanying the credits. I immediately went out and found all the Josh Ritter I could, and became somewhat obsessed for the latter part of my senior year of college. His music seemed somehow to mend the pain she'd caused in all her lies. It recreated in me the desire to love, to find it again, if not for a moment.

The summer after college, I moved on from Josh Ritter to Damien Rice, Jeff Black, and Patrick Park, and that fall, I moved to London where as I continued to love Mr. Ritter's increasingly potent songs, I found out that while an Idaho native, thanks to major support from Glen Hansard and his band The Frames, Mr. Ritter'd gained a lot of leg in Ireland - where I would move next. Just prior to my arrival, he announced a Valentine's Day concert. My very close friend and roommate Blake and I leapt with excitement. We went. It was a wonderfully scattered show, and the Irish truly love him, especially, the rotund gentleman who'd heckle, "Keep playin', John."

Why I am telling you all this, I have no idea - just to lay out my coming to find the man who asked that we "come and find" him. So, do so now. It's never been a better opportunity.

I am in the midst of watching Be Here to Love Me for the fourth time since Sunday. This movie, this music, this man have engulfed me, part or whole in a big way. First time director Margaret Brown has crafted the best movie I have seen since The Ballad of Jack & Rose with a plethora of old footage, cool new shots of Texas roadsides, and hundreds of songs worthy of being called "perfect." Among Townes' more popular songs are "If I Needed You" and "Pancho and Lefty."

His songs tell the stories life handed him. They aren't necessarily big, they usually aren't beautiful, and they definitely aren't popular, but man, they become more than the sum of their parts - sorry to use a cliche.

What has stung me is his notion that in order to succeed he needed to abandon everyone and everything in his life - wives, kids, friends, jobs, homes, everything. But what can you expect from a man whose first serious song was "Waiting Around to Die." I'm passing a new milestone on my life's road, and with this one, I'm at a similar crossroad. I could very easily blow everything off, forget about everybody else and just take off and do it for myself, but I think I'm choosing to do it completely differently.

I'm going to pursue this artist's life, I'll be poor, down and out, malnourished, unkempt, as long as it means I get to do what I want. Wish me luck. Check out this movie. Check out "Marie," "Tecumseh Valley," and "Dead Flowers" a cover of The Rolling Stones' song made famous in The Big Lebowski.

Oh, and Margaret Brown's interview on WFMU is worth a listen if you have oodles of time or desire.

3 Discoveries for This Week

Track a Tiger - Sound as Ever
Ian Love - The Only Night
Gnarls Barkley - Crazy

Thanks to Mike for the third one. Cee-lo's back with DM in tow!

I'm on a major Bill Withers kick right now.

1) Donny Hathaway - A Song for You
2) Bill Withers - Let Me in Your Life
3) Roberta Flack - Killing Me Softly
4) Marvin Gaye - Mercy Mercy Me
5) Lauryn Hill & D'Angelo - Nothing Even Matters
6) Bill Withers - Can We Pretend
7) Prince - Starfish & Coffee
8) Neil Young - Don't Let It Bring You Down
9) Bill Withers - Use Me
10) Jungle Brothers - I'm Gonna Do You
11) A Tribe Called Quest - I Left My Wallet in El Segundo
12) William Bell - Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye
13) Neil Young - The Painter
14) Dooley Wilson - As Time Goes By
15) Bob Marley - Turn Your Lights Down Low
16) Procol Harum - A Whiter Shade of Pale
17) Joni Mitchell - California
18) Billy Joel - Vienna
19) Bill Withers - Stories
20) Bob Dylan - My Back Pages

Selections from Grey's Anatomy - Season Two

Pardon me while I exude what's left of my Grey's Anatomy load.

After scouring all that I care to scour of Alexandra Patsavas' selections from season two, I have found these nineteen tracks to best suit my recent mood. I won't bore you with any links, photos, etc. I just ask that you consider listening to a couple 30 second clips on iTunes, or Googling these bands. I've really enjoyed each of these tracks this week, a week - for me anyway - filled with music.

1) Slow Runner - Break Your Mama's Back
2) Monotypes - Dead Streets
3) Ben Lee - Catch My Disease
4) Anya Marina - Miss Halfway
5) Mark McAdam - Too Hard
6) Inara George - Fools in Love
7) Rosie Thomas - It Don't Matter to the Sun
8) Foy Vance - Homebird
9) Kate Earl - Someone to Love
10) Kendall Payne - Scratch
11) Corinne Bailey Rae - Like a Star
12) Jim Noir - I Me You
13) Moonbabies - War on Sound
14) Gemma Hayes - Two Step
15) The Headlights - Everybody Needs a Fence to Lean On
16) Keren Ann - Not Going Anywhere
17) Joe Purdy - Far Away Blues
18) Tegan and Sara - Not Tonight
19) Merrick - Infinity

A curmudgeonly old woman who once babysat me while my parents were out of town said, "Never trust a Greek." Ms. Patsavas and a few other Greek-Americans I'm more closely associated with here in New York are beginning to break my Greek-weary spell. So, to those of you untrustworthy, miserly, moody, greasy Greeks out there who read this meek web log, please thank Ms. Alexandra Patsavas in your bedtime prayers for helping me to begin trusting Greeks again. And pardon the "greasy" tag; it was admittedly a low blow. Being of German and Irish descent, there was more than one summer's day I was nicknamed "the sweater."

Still to come... a review of a musical review starring yours truly.

Three Free Downloads

I found these today when checking out the music used in season two of Grey's Anatomy. I don't even have TV, and yet I'm checking out TV show soundtracks.

Regardless, these three songs are free for you to download. The first two are notable because they're quite good. The third is notable because one of my classmates and good friends, Robyn, was a Wienermobile Girl for an entire year after college, and Grey's Anatomy is one of her favorite shows, odd coincidences for odd February afternoons.

Slow Runner - Break Your Momma's Back
Monotypes - Dead Streets (you may have to follow the "music" link to download this one)
Mike Tarantino - Wienermobile Girl

Also, for whatever reason, I found it important to note that Salon.com's Audiofile is an awesome place for some free music. They offer everything from James Taylor to Cat Power.

Off with Their Heads!

The tease is out on the new film from Sophia Coppola, and apparently the French aren't all mad. Michèle Lorin, the president of the Marie-Antoinette Association in France, seems to think come this fall we'll take to the streets, crazed with "Marie-Antoinette mania." And thanks for that lovely image, Michèle. I'm hoping heads will roll.

London's The Independent threw together a little piece on it. You can read it in its entirety here.

The teaser trailer begins with 18th Century men on 18th Century horses in 18th Century France, and what to my wondering ears should sound, but the lovely clanging of four little 20th Century English musicians, known most commonly as Manchester's own New Order. The teaser plays out like a beautifully crafted Duran Duran video from 1986, perhaps 1987, and Kirsten Dunst looks, say it with me - ah, ah, ah, en Français - incredible, but something about this pairing strikes me: it was ok when Rob Reiner used The Great American Songbook to express love as he did in When Harry Met Sally... (and I mean, c'mon let's face it. He stole the idea from Woody Allen, right? The whole movie is just a slightly sunnier W.A. movie), but is it ok to do the reverse, use modern music to score a period piece cum Vangelis? Discuss.

I began responding to Martin's comment on the 125 Songs Before Pearl Jam, and it turned into this:

Paul Carrack? Allmusic.com calls him "pop music's ultimate journeyman," saying "his finest work often came at the expense of his own identity as a performer."

I agree, this Englishman first came into prominence in the heat of late 70s prog-rock with the band Ace. Their wonderfully cured song "How Long" has helped me through more than one lonely night.

It was his solo song "Don't Shed a Tear" I remember loving most as a scabby-kneed tike.

However, I remember Mike & the Mechanics as a band who produced seemingly flawless pop music with a hint of message. "The Living Years" and "All I Need is a Miracle" were both on heavy rotation around the Wastler household in the middle 80s.

And yet, his work for the band Squeeze is what I think he's most often recognized for thanks to the Ben Stiller-helmed flick Reality Bites, at a time when Carrack had reconnected with the band to rerecord their biggest hit (at least with him at the wheel. I also like "Black Coffee in Bed"), "Tempted."

That being said, there's something in his voice that's both saccharine and earnest. It's as put-on as Elvis Costello, and it's as blue-eyed soul as Daryl Hall. And you can't go wrong with either of those.

Ok, so perhaps you can. "You Make My Dreams Come True" still pangs a sharp pain in the heel of my velcroed Reeboks every time I imagine his acid-washed jean dance. That's what it was: a Hall-a-palooza of tapered-jean tawdriness.

As for the Flaming Lips, you're right about their post Ten status. And like I said, there are several post Ten songs, but none ventures into my high school years when - let's face it - music snobbery begins to take shape.

I was attempting to find the purest music to represent myself after having read some other bloggers' posts about their first loves, musically speaking, and feeling their selections were a bit wonky.

Most appeared to be filled with the pretensions of a post-Pearl Jam/post-Nirvana/post-Soul Garden/post-STP/post-whatever grunge band you first connected with viewpoint.

In other words, I felt these people weren't revisiting themselves as they were before the plaid, before the butt-cuts, before the hiking boots, black jeans, and dirty caps. They were allowing all these things - and more - to inform their decisions. I am totally opposed to this. It's as though music's influence on the twenty-something's life began in 1995. I know Ten was released in 1991, and that's when I received it, but I wasn't really weened off my taste for heavy duty pop music until, well, I'm still not off it, clearly. Point is, high school began for me in '95, and it was then that I started listening to music for more than just the armrest thumping songs to listen to in the car. I was searching for something beyond that which life offers. I was looking to enhance life.

I'm of the opinion life, that of the music-lover, began much, much earlier. One of my earliest memories is singing Springsteen and Glen Campbell, Willie Nelson and the Pointer Sisters while staying with my extended family - my parents out frolicking, attempting to enjoy the last few available years of youthful exuberation, and probably conceiving my brother - I hope no one is offended by that image.

I remember JT, MJ, Billy Joel, and Whitney Houston overtaking our roadtrips to Kansas City and Colorado. I very vividly recall the cassette tape travel kit strewn about the back seat of my dad's Porsche filled with summertime favorites: The Diamond, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Jim Croce, and even The Material Girl (although pop'd never admit it).

This is when music first infused my soul, took over my body, and turned me into something bigger than I could ever be alone.

I remember breakdancing with Andy Bradshaw in my navy blue Member's Only jacket on the carpet of our basement floor while listening to Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson. Royce Mitchell and I used to have a radio show in his basement on our First Sonys. He would always, always play "Rock & Roll All Night" by Kiss. I was maybe five at the time. This was music.

I watched the USA for Africa video of "We are the World" again last night (thank you, Martin). We used to have it on VHS. I wore that thing raw. James Ingram, Sheila E, and Lindsey Buckingham are still my favorite sights in the bizarre vid. Yeah, yeah, Akroyd was there, but he was still musically valid: the Blues Brothers hadn't too many years earlier broken the top 40, and he was buds with all those cats no small thanks to LA's star-heavy drug scene. That video, in all its weirdness with MJ getting special filters, hair & makeup, and what I'm sure is not the first and certainly not the last gawdy, bejeweled military costume, with the cheap-o Hanes Beefy-Tees all the other performers were forced to wear, with Bob Dylan's studied "I've lost my singing voice" immitation, and just mainly with too much Springsteen and not enough Warwick, was AWESOME! It's a special day when you can get all those personalities into one room, especially after having to sit through Dick Clark's not-so-rockin' American Music Awards.

If you have the chance, check that out. Check out Paul Carrack.

That's all the links I have time for kids. I hope you found this entry as fun to read as I did to write. Happy Valentine's Day.

Lush Sounds for a Sunday

I am attempting to enter the wicked world of HTML. Buried in this entry are several free downloads from the artists themselves.

My listening patterns this week have included Hem, Over the Rhine, The Guggenheim Grotto, and - as always - Josh Ritter.

I first heard the Joseph Arthur cover of "In the Sun" on a live cut from Coldplay's appearance on Austin City Limits. At the end of their performance, Martin quipped, "This is the best song ever written in my opinion." It's a very good song, Chris, yes.

Other highlights in this mix include former roommates', Redder Records' generous free cover of Nada Surf's "Inside of Love," as performed by in-house genius/former workerbee, Ben Barnett AKA Kind of Like Spitting (say that ten times really fast) and songs from the second season of ABC's Grey's Anatomy. Music Supervisor Alexandra Patsavas should win an award. According to IMDB, she hasn't yet. Finally, I'm still rockin' Trespassers William, even though Mazzy Star did it better and a decade earlier.

1) M. Ward - Transfiguration, No. 1
2) * Hope for a Golden Summer - Hearts in Jars
3) * The Guggenheim Grotto - One for Sorrow
4) * Josh Ritter - Girl in the War
5) The Elected - I'll Be Your Man
6) Sam Winch - I Got Some Moves
7) Rosie Thomas - Since You've Been Around
8) Merrick - Infinity
9) Michael Stipe & Coldplay - In the Sun
10) * Hotel Lights - Stumblin' Home Winter Blues
11) Gillian Welch - Revelator
12) Over the Rhine - I Want You to Be My Love
13) * Kind of Like Spitting - Inside of Love
14) Trespassers William - Lie in the Sound
15) Mazzy Star - Fade Into You
16) Damien Rice - Prague
17) * hem - Carry Me Home
18) M. Ward - Transfiguration, No.2

I know, I know. Nobody's going to visit all of these links. I just had to prove it to myself that I can do this HTML thing. At least check out the ones with *highlighted songs. There you can hear what I'm talking about. Wait. You can't actually hear me talking. I should try and rephrase that, but I won't.

125 Songs Before Pearl Jam

There is little order to this list, and yes, I probably broke every rule, but I hope you enjoy remembering these songs as I have.
Rather than explain why I put these songs up, perhaps, if any of them strike you, purge a memory, anything, feel free to comment.

The Captain and Tenille - Do That to Me One More Time
Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse of the Heart
Atlantic Starr - Always
Peter Cetera - The Glory of Love
Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart, and Sting - All for Love
Luther Vandross - Here and Now
Michael Bolton - How Am I Supposed to Live Without You
John Secada - Just Another Day
The Cars - Drive
Aaron Neville & Linda Ronstadt - I Don't Know Much
The Commodores - Easy
Phil Collins - Against All Odds
Spandau Ballet - True
Duran Duran - Ordinary World
Tears for Fears - Sowing the Seeds of Love
Crowded House - Don't Dream It's Over
John Waite - I Ain't Missing You
Mr. Big - To Be with You
Bonnie Raitt - Not the Only One
Marc Cohn - Walking in Memphis
Bruce Hornsby - That's Just the Way It Is
Joshua Kadison - Jessie
Bad English - When I See You Smile
The Jeff Healey Band - Angel Eyes
Whitney Houston - The Greatest Love of All
TLC - Baby-Baby-Baby
Wilson Phillips - Hold On
Big Mountain - Baby, I Love Your Way
Whitesnake - Here I Go Again
Mr. Mister - Kyrie
Cutting Crew - I Just Died in Your Arms Tonight
Billy Vera & the Beaters - At This Moment
Jefferson Starship - Sara
Stevie B - Because I Love You
Lisa Loeb - Stay
The Thompson Twins - Hold Me Now
Peabo Bryson - If Ever You're in My Arms
James Ingram - I Don't Have the Heart
Linda Ronstadt & James Ingram - Somewhere Out There
Mike & the Mechanics - The Living Years
Meatloaf - I Would Do Anything for Love
Richard Marx - Now and Forever
Cyndi Lauper - True Colors
Sinead O'Connor - Nothing Compares 2 You
Rod Stewart - Downtown Train
Deep Blue Something - Breakfast at Tiffany's
Nelson - Can't Live Without Your Love and Affection
Kenny Loggins - Meet Me Halfway
Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up
Go West - King of Wishful Thinking
Fine Young Cannibals - She Drives Me Crazy
Boy Meets Girl - Waiting for a Star to Fall
George Michael - Freedom '90
Madonna - Like a Prayer
Calloway - I Wanna Be Rich
Milli Vanilli - Blame It on the Rain
Lisa Stansfield - Been Around the World
Dolly Parton - 9 to 5
A Ha - Take on Me
Escape Club - Wild Wild West
C&C Music Factory - Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)
Ready for the World - Oh Sheila
The Whispers - Rock Steady
Deniece Williams - Let's Hear It for the Boy
Kenny Loggins - Footloose
Billy Ocean - Get Out of My Dreams, Get Into My Car
Inner Circle - Sweat (A La La La Long)
Soul II Soul - Back to Life
Susan Vega - Tom's Diner
Paula Abdul - Opposites Attract
Coolio - Gangsta's Paradise
New Kids on the Block - The Right Stuff
Pet Shop Boys - West End Girls
Color Me Badd - I Wanna Sex You Up
Technotronic - Pump Up the Jam
Salt & Pepper - Shoop
MC Hammer - Too Legit to Quit
Snow - Informer
Wrex N Effect - Rump Shaker
EMF - You're Unbelievable
Young MC - Bust a Move
Us3 - Cantaloop
Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby
Scandal - The Warrior
Steve Perry - Oh Sherrie
Asia - Heat of the Moment
Pat Benetar - Hit Me with Your Best Shot
Jane Child - Don't Wanna Fall in Love
Dan Baird - I Love You Period
Squeeze - Tempted
Gin Blossoms - Hey Jealousy
Ray Parker, Jr. - Ghostbusters
Huey Lewis & The News - The Power of Love
Bob Seger - Old Time Rock & Roll
Terence Trent D'Arby - Wishing Well
Paul Carrack - Don't Shed a Tear
Del Amitri - Roll to Me
Glass Tiger - Don't Forget Me When I'm Gone
Wang Chung - Everybody Have Fun Tonight
Janet Jackson - Alright
Ini Kamoze - Here Comes the Hotstepper
Queen - We Are the Champions
Glenn Campbell - Rhinestone Cowboy
John Cougar Mellencamp - Small Town
Blues Traveler - Runaround
The Spin Doctors - Two Princes
The Jeff Healey Band - Angel Eyes
Prince - Seven
They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse in Your Soul
Crash Test Dummies - MMM
The Flaming Lips - Tangerines
Green Jelly - The Three Little Pigs
4 Non-Blondes - What's Going On
Alannah Myles - Black Velvet
Boyz II Men - Motownphilly
Bell Biv DeVoe - Poison
R Kelly - Bump 'N Grind
Warren G - Regulate
En Vogue - Free Your Mind
Bill Conti - You're the Best
Robyn - Show Me Love
The Pointer Sisters - Pink Cadillac
Jesus Jones - Right Here Right Now
Genesis - I Can't Dance
Dexy's Midnight Runners - Come on Eileen
REM - It's the End of the World as We Know It
USA for Africa - We are the World

- A few of these songs may or may not have come to my attention after receiving Pearl Jam's Ten, but if they are in the same vein as the rest of the songs that appear on this list, especially if they're songs I'm embarrassed to admit to loving at one time, I felt it necessary to include them - within reason. No song on this list, to my knowledge, was released in last half of the nineties.
- Phil Collins regrouped with bandmates Genesis to record "I Can't Dance," but it was "Against All Odds" that sold me on that short, silly Englishman with the single tuft of hair.
- Rod Stewart's in a trio with Sting and Bryan Adams on the Adams-penned "All for Love," and he sings a cover of Tom Waits' "Downtown Train."
- Linda Ronstadt sings duets with James Ingram and Aaron Neville, so I counted that as one entry for her.
- James Ingram appears in a duet and on his own.
- Prince appears twice as a songwriter with "Seven" and "Nothing Compares...."
- Michael Jackson, Billy Joel, Lionel Richie, and several others I grouped under "parental influence" appear on "We are the World." And just about everyone on this list, apart from John Popper, were a part of this song, but it meant so much to me as a little kid, I had to include it.
- But it's Paul Carrack, my favorite singer of the eighties who appears on this list three times. Any guesses as to how it's possible?

Coming up...

I'm busy putting together a list of songs that were important to me - that are important to my life, my love of music, but most importantly they're a list of the songs that affected me first.

I was busy putting together a list of music for two friends at school who sit with me and sing a capella versions of the cheesiest songs we can think of from the seventies, eighties, and especially the early nineties, when suddenly I discovered all these songs had something in common. All of them were songs that in one way or another played a huge importance in my understanding of what makes songs ... tick, for lack of a better word. What is it that drew me to these songs, and why? And what happened after receiving Pearl Jam's "10" in fifth or sixth grade that changed all that?

The parameters I have set for this list are:

1) No more than 125 songs can be applied to the list.
2) No more than one song per artist.
3) No music by Michael Jackson, James Taylor, Billy Joel, The Beatles, or anything else weighted with strong parental influence may be included. In other words, these songs all have to be personal discoveries, either through channels like friends, radio mix tapes (of which I had hundreds), or the occasional memory of MTV - which we didn't have until after Pearl Jam.
4) Most importantly, this cannot include songs from the time period that I later loved and wished to have listened to at the time. It must be music that I honestly listened to at the time, whether I still do or not.

February is notoriously a very difficult month at my school. To put it plainly, it's when everyone begins fighting and holding grudges and biting and kicking and scratching each other. I've ironically entitled this mix "Smile It's February" for it's mostly down-trodden atmosphere. Enjoy!

PS Note the correct usage of the word "ironically."

1) Chet Baker - I Fall in Love Too Easily
2) Marc Shaiman - I Have Dreamed (The State Dinner)
3) Israel - You Are Not Forgotten
4) Hem - The Fire Thief
5) Over the Rhine - I Want You to be My Love
6) Cat Power - Where Is My Love
7) Hank Williams - Tennessee Waltz
8) Fleetwood Mac - Songbird
9) Whiskeytown - My Hometown
10) Hotel Lights - Miles Behind Me
11) Neil Young - Are You Ready for the Country?
12) Joe Cocker & Leon Russell - Space Captain
13) Elvis Costello - What Do I Do Now?
14) Scott Walker - 30 Century Man
15) Tom Waits - Hold On
16) Antony & the Johnsons - Hope There's Someone
17) Juliet Turner & Brian Kennedy - I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love with You
18) Leonard Cohen - Winter Lady
19) Enescu - Romanian Rhapsody, Op. 11, No. 1

For whatever reason, I entitled this mix FUNKY, yes, all caps. It should be entitled SYNTHS or something funnier like, "Yes, I live in Williamsburg." This is a classic hipster move: claim to love eighties synth r&b, and throw in a bit of pop for familiarity's sake. That being said, this mix is one I've been working on since this summer when first I heard "I Like It" by DeBarge at my favorite restaurant on the Lower East Side, The Pink Pony. So, laugh as you will, but this mix makes me shake, it makes me move, it makes me laugh, and most importantly, it makes me happy.

1) DeBarge - I Like It
2) The Whispers - Rock Steady
3) Shalamar - The Second Time Around
4) Diana Ross - Upside Down
5) Carl Carlton - She's a Bad Mama Jama
6) Lakeside - Fantastic Voyage
7) Earth, Wind, & Fire - Let's Groove
8) Prince - Controversy
9) Rick James - Give It to Me Baby
10) The Human League - Fascination
11) Shannon - Let the Music Play
12) Mtume - Juicy Fruit
13) Skyy - Call Me
14) Chaka Khan - Ain't Nobody
15) Leon Ware - Why I Came to California
16) Ready for the World - Oh Sheila
17) Midnight Star - No Parking on the Dancefloor

Re:Discoveries

1) KT Tunstall - Other Side of the World
2) Secret Machines - Nowhere Again
3) Billy Bragg - Sexuality
4) XTC - River of Orchids
5) Erin McKeown - To the Stars
6) Left Banke - Walk Away Renee
7) Richard & Teddy Thompson - She May Call You Up Tonight
8) Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins - Handle with Care
9) Rilo Kiley - With Arms Outstretched
10) Rilo Kiley - Go Ahead
11) Mary Chapin Carpenter - Come On Come On
12) The Elected - I'll Be Your Man
13) Mary Gauthier - Mercy Now
14) Teddy Thompson - I Don't Want to Say Goodbye
15) Neil Diamond - Captain of a Shipwreck
16) Etta James - Someone to Watch Over Me
17) Nico - I'll Keep It With Mine
18) Bob Dylan - Talking World War III Blues

Sad Sack: Music for Rejection... and/or other shoulder schlumping moments life presents
Subtitled: Dying to Live

1) Willie Nelson - He Was a Friend of Mine
2) Johnny Cash - Folsom Prison Blues
3) Townes Van Zandt - Dead Flowers
4) Edgar Winter - Dying to Live
5) Bob Dylan - Don't Think Twice, It's Alright
6) The Rolling Stones - Memory Motel
7) Whiskeytown - Sittin' Around
8) Kings of Convenience - I Don't Know What I Can Save You From
9) Josh Ritter - Come and Find Me
10) Gillian Welch - Revelator
11) Bonnie Raitt - Since I Fell for You
12) Bruce Robison & Kelly Willis - Angry All the Time
13) Neil Young - Heart of Gold
14) Rachael Yamagata - The Reason Why
15) John Prine & Bonnie Raitt - Angel from Montgomery
16) Tim Hardin - Reason to Believe
17) Nick Drake - Which Will
18) Emmylou Harris - A Love that Will Never Grow Old
19) Dave Van Ronk - He Was a Friend of Mine

Rhythm, Blues, Funk, & Soul

Check this mix out. If this doesn't turn you on, well, I'm sorry. Nothing will.

1) Chuck Berry - Little Queenie
2) Doris Troy - Just One Look
3) Koko Taylor - Voodoo Woman
4) Buddy Guy & Junior Wells - Good Morning Little School Girl
5) Barrett Strong - Money, That's What I Want
6) Muddy Waters - I Just Wanna Make Love to You
7) James Brown - Cold Sweat
8) Junior Walker - Roadrunner
9) The Meters - Cissy Strut
10) Slim Harpo - Baby Scratch My Back
11) Curtis Mayfield & the Impressions - We're a Winner
12) Stevie Wonder - You Haven't Done Nothin'
13) Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band - Express Yourself
14) Jamie Lidell - Multiply
15) Ann Peebles - I Can't Stand the Rain
16) Donny Hathaway - A Song for You
17) William Bell - Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye
18) Little Willie John - I Need Your Love So Bad
19) Rickie Lee Jones - Easy Money
20) Big Bill Broonzy - The Glory of Love
21) Charles Brown - Black Night
22) Leon Russell - Tight Rope
23) Sonny Boy Williamson - Bring It On Home to Me
24) Stevie Wonder - Living for the City