October Mix

It's been a while, but I hope I have made up for the lack of posts with this extra special mix. No Halloween theme, but a lot of new music I'm very excited about, in fact I think all of it may be from this past year (don't quote me on it though).  There's stuff from the Drive soundtrack, two tracks from Still Corners, and something new from The Soft Moon.  Hope you like it.

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1.  Exorcised Painting - Mood Rings

2.  Sad Girls - Big Troubles

3.  Rats Live On No Evil Star - Ringo Deathstarr

4.  Total Decay - The Soft Moon

5.  Blue Rose - Speculator

6.  Into the Trees - Still Corners

7.  Wild at Heart - Lisbonne

8.  Sunsets - Malvoeaux

9.  The Last Line - Tammar

10.  Feyd Rautha Dark Heart - Grimes

11.  Videotapes - Blouse

12.  City Vs Mountains - Airbird

13.  Nightcall - Kavinsky & Lovefoxxx

14.  Landslide - Harmonizer

15.  Pretender - Black Marble

16.  I Know That You Will - I Do Not Love

17.  Cuckoo - Still Corners

August Mix

Here it is the "August Mix." I have some brand new songs, some classics, a couple of interesting covers (my new favorite is HEALTH's cover of Pictureplane's "Gothstar"), and quite a few different genres if I do say so myself. I hope you enjoy.

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1.  Harsh Realm - Widow Speak

2.  She Didn't Know - Twerps

3.  Web In Front - Archers of Loaf

4.  Time - Selebrities

5.  Seafoam Green - The Bilinda Butchers

6.  Dark Bloom - Pink Playground

7.  Eyes Closed - Soft Metals

8.  R U Happy - Rimar

9.  Wicked Game - Washed Out

10.  Carry Me Ohio - Sun Kil Moon

11.  Public Image - Public Image Ltd.

12.  Loveless Love - The Feelies

13.  Goth Star - HEALTH

14.  Underworlds USA - Cold Cave

15.  Eat Yr Heart - HTRK

16.  IxC999 - White Ring

July Mix

So my long-overdue July Mix is technically in August...but hopefully the quality will make up for the quantity, or should I say frequency?  Mostly new songs and quite a few artists (and labels) that I've posted before.  Not the same songs though; I would never do that to you! Hope you like.

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1.  Alone - J Mascis

2.  Meet Me In the City - The Babies

3.  The Hoodoo - Purling Hiss

4.  San Cristabal De Las Casas - Swirlies

5.  Shredder - Jeff The Brotherhood

6.  XCPR - Hoop Dreams

7.  I Just Don't Know How To Say Goodbye - The Millennium

8.  Cog - Eternal Summers

9.  Value Lines - Brilliant Colors

10.  Shadow - Grass Widow

11.  Hurricane - The Coathangers

12.  Dextromethorphan - [PHYSICS]

13.  Lost Time - The Never Years

14.  Natural - Clams Casino

15.  Brokendate - Com Truise

16.  Hanging On - Active Child

17.  o m a m o r i - Elite Gymnastics

18.  ...And The Rain - John Maus

May Mix

I feel like this mix is especially hodge-podge, but that's a good thing, I mean that's the point of these mixes, right?  There's some riot grrrl and X (RIP my Hole - Live Through This cassette that died this past Sunday),  a Purity Ring song that I'm obsessed with, a few songs that remind me of my mom, and quite a few brand new songs (I know there are two Quiet Lights songs, but I like them both...).  Hope you enjoy!

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1.  Bunhill Fields - Amor de Dias

2.  CQ Car Chase - Mellow

3.  I'd Rather Dance With You - Kings Of Convenience

4.  Catch The Wind - Donovan

5.  Song for Adam - Jackson Browne

6.  The Arrangement - Joni Mitchell

7.  Lofticries - Purity Ring

8.  Sofija - Jesse Ruins

9.  Sunday - Dreams

10.  March - Quiet Lights

11.  Sundown - COLOURS

12.  Ablaze - Quiet Lights

13.  Malibu - Hole

14.  Outta Me - Bikini Kill

15.  Nausea - X

April Mix

Late as usual...
This month (or last month) I started listening to a couple of really great bands, Yuck and The Soft Moon.  They both sort of set the mood for this mix, a bit 90's sounding and a little melancholy.  Hope you enjoy them as much as I have.  I also have a few electro tracks, as always... And I thought I'd throw in a little Jenny Lewis which, if you ever listened to my radio show, you know is a staple in my own musical diet.

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1.  When It's Over - The Soft Moon

2.  Smile When You Smile - A Place to Bury Strangers

3.  Blown A Wish - My Bloody Valentine

4.  Belong (Daytrotter Session) - The Pains of Being Pure At Heart

5.  Screaming Skull - Sonic Youth

6.  Hawaii - No Joy

7.  Get Away - Yuck

8.  Camouflage - Small Black

9.  Believer - John Maus

10.  Beat and the Pulse - Austra

11.  Do You Really Wanna Know - Papercuts

12.  Blue Above The Rooftops - Eugenius

13.  Blackeye - Love Inks

14.  Joe Says - The Sandwitches

15.  Godspeed - Jenny Lewis

16.  Love Hurts - Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris

March Mix

More new music than old this month, and a few of my all-time favorite artists.
This mix is full of lots of "clingy-clangy" music.  So if you aren't into that, you probably won't like this mix. But if you do...enjoy!

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1.  While You Doooo - Teebs

2.  Touch - HOLY OTHER

3.  Waterparker - Botany

4.  Feels Like Heaven - Adventure

5.  Young Silence - Echo Lake

6.  So High - Ringo DeathStarr

7.  Eyes Feathers - Sweet Bulbs

8.  Esa Nena Nunca Regreso - Davila 666

9.  Connection - King Tuff

10.  Finger - Ty Segall

11.  Diamond Way - JEFF The Brotherhood

12.  Puppet Man - Jay Reatard

13.  Hang Wire - Pixies

14.  You Should Close the Door - Craft Spells

15.  Sharivari - The Dirtbombs

16.  Captin - Scary Mansion

17.  Sparkler - Jeans Wilder

18.  Last One Awake (Friend Version) - Memory Cassette

19.  Emergency Room - Ford & Lopatin

20.  ep - Junior Boys

January Mix?

Two days late....Oh well, hopefully February's mix will still be in February.  I'm going to attempt to be on my A-game this month.  This mix is a bit of a hodgepodge, but isn't that the point of the "menagerie?"  It's messy in a good way; a little 80's super-group, noisy 90's trip-hop, some new stuff from familiar artists, a bit of chill-wave (bad connotation, but I only have the best of intentions) that wouldn't be un-welcome on 94.7 The WAVE, and Carissa's Wierd? That one is for 16 year old me, 16 year old me would have loooooved Carissa's Wierd, had I known about it at the time....

Here it is, enjoy.

1. Two Cool Rock Chicks Listening to Neu - Ciccone Youth

2. Wasting Time - Reading Rainbow

3. Jesus Fever - Kurt Vile

4. Wild I - The Babies

5. Devils Hearts Grow Gold - La Sera

6. Caregiver - Memoryhouse

7. New Beat - Toro Y Moi

8. Weak Need - Sad Souls

9. It Goes Through Your Head (DaM-FunK Clubdub) - Nite Jewel

10. Like I Do - Star Slinger

11. Cover Your Tracks - Young Galaxy

12. Ignorant Piece Of Shit - Carissa's Wierd

13. Drag Open - Women

14. Wild Bore - Mika Miko

15. Teenager - Cowabunga Babez

16. I Sing Just For You - Pens

17. Perfume - The Jesus & Mary Chain

18. Another Day - Air

Less Than Zero Playlist

Note: I had this post ready a couple days before Christmas, but my parents live in the stone-age and didn't have wireless or a fast enough connection for me to upload this when I originally intended.

Many forget that Bret Easton Ellis's Less Than Zero is actually a Christmas story (I mean, how could you forget?).  During a time of the year when everyone is supposed to be coming together, showing kindness, and celebrating life and new beginnings, Ellis's novel focuses on how its characters, privileged Los Angeles teens, can no longer connect to one another on any sort of emotional level.  The city of Los Angeles is its own character in the story, and in L.A. neo-noir fashion, it consumes the innocence and humanity of everyone in it, and as their real identities disappear, selfish, almost sociopathic, facades emerge in place.  These characters realize what is happening to them, but instead of fighting it, most of them decide to ride it out, even if it does end up a dead end.    

Music plays a huge role in Less Than Zero and so I decided to base my Christmas playlist on Clay's Christmas break playlist, chronicling every song he remembers, listens to, or is played in the background during his break.  As I was taking down each song, I noticed that even the more briefly mentioned songs said more than just the place or time period of the book, they had something to say about the individual characters, and how they were truly feeling at that specific point in the story.  I could write a post and explanation for each song as well as the plethora of other artists just mentioned in the book (Kim seems to like Prince, Bob Seger is embarrassing, and something interesting I found is that most of the artists/songs that Clay and his friends like are surprisingly poppy, but many have dark undertones, etc. etc. etc.), but I won't bore you with that right now.  I'll leave you with just the tracklisting, which almost tells the story on its own.

Here is a mixtape consisting of every track that is mentioned in the book as well as what page you can find them on.  A couple are played or hummed by the characters, and some have various artists and no specific artist mentioned in the book, for those I chose a version myself.  Enjoy! and Merry Christmas, or not.

1. New Kid In Town - The Eagles (12)

2. Crimson & Clover - Joan Jett & The Blackhearts (20)

3. Teenage Enema Nurses in Bondage - Killer Pussy (25)

4. Do You Really Want To Hurt Me? - Culture Club (30)

5. Artificial Insemination - Elton Motello (40)

6. The Earthquake Song - The Little Girls (45)

7. Straight Into Darkness - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (48)

8. September Song - Sara Vaughan (67)

9. In The Sun - Blondie (74)

10. Hungry Like A Wolf - Duran Duran (120)

11. L.A. Woman - The Doors (147)

12. On The Sunny Side of the Street - Judy Garland (164)

13. Tainted Love - Soft Cell (178)

14. Somebody Got Murdered - The Clash (181)

15. I Love L.A. - Randy Newman (193)

16. Worlds Away - The Go-Go's (198)

17. Vacation - The Go-Go's (198)

18. Los Angeles - X (207)

November Mixtape

It still counts as technically November, right?  Anyhow, here is the November mixtape. I actually had most of it done before the middle of the month, but had to find a couple more gems before I could call it complete.  October was originally not supposed to just be a holiday theme mix, but, some reason, I wasn't feeling any of the new songs I listened to, and was frustrated with all of the old stuff too.  Not music's fault, well maybe a little, but mostly mine.  Annoyed and bored with my own playlists, I decided to listen to some of my friends' radio shows, and there I found some fresh, new (to my ears) music that inspired me to make the November playlist.  A few of the songs are pulled directly from their sets, and the rest just sort of fell into place.  So thanks to Ada and her show, Music When The Lights Go Out, and Kat and her show, Asa Nisi Masa, both are fantastic and have a lot of ticket giveaways if you ever want to tune in!

Sorry for the wordy post, here's the tracklisting:

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1. Lightening Fossil - Prince Rama

2. Real Estate - FLIGHT

3. Take Me Over - Cut Copy

4. Slow - Twin Shadow

5. Cat Alert - Waskerley Way

6. Fass - Thieves Like Us

7. Heart In Your Heartbreak - The Pains Of Being Pure at Heart

8. Can I Touch You - My Bloody Valentine

9. Academy Fight Song - Mission Of Burma

10. I Don't Mind It - Screaming Females

11. Mind Ride - Jeff The Brotherhood

12. I Don't Want U - Blonde Redhead

13. Shark Ridden Waters - Gruff Rhys

14. Deep Blue Day - Brian Eno

15. I wrote this song for the girl Paris Hilton - Vincent Gallo

Halloween (October) Mixtape

This month I decided to do a Halloween themed mixtape (big surprise).  I decided to make it up of songs that I think are actually spooky!  Some of the artists you've seen before on this blog, some on other blogs, and hopefully a couple of the tracks are new for you (I know "Lovely Bloodflow" has been all over the blogs for a while, but I couldn't resist a title like that...also, I kinda like it).

It's a little shorter than the previous mixes, but it's just as special! Enjoy!

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1. Wander Birds - Lucky Dragons

2. Make My Sleep His Song - Broadcast & The Focus Group

3. Running Out Of You - Keep Shelly in Athens

4. In Violet (SALEM Remix) - HEALTH

5. Lake Eerie - Dream Boat

6. ASIA - SALEM

7. Voices - Nosaj Thing

8. Lovely Bloodflow - Baths

9. Slight Night Shiver - M83

10. Small - Portishead

11. Lawns Of Dawn - Nico

September Mixtape

I know it's technically October, but...I have finally finished the September Mixtape!

It's a little more dance-y than the previous mixes, along with hints of shoegaze (or is it nu gaze?) and a few earnest confessions of unrequited love . Enjoy!

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1. Search Party - Small Black

2. Stay Out Tonight - Lay Bac

3. Gonna Beg You - The Bird Day

4. VHS Dream - Deerhunter

5. Heedless - No Joy

6. Suffragette City - A Place to Bury Strangers

7. Transparency Is the New Mystery - Marnie Stern

8. Never Yours - Low Sea

9. I L U - School of Seven Bells

10. Ixchel, The Lady Rainbow - Sister Crayon

11. Boy In The Yard - Roadside Graves

12. Flying - The Beatles

13. Girlfriend Is Better - Talking Heads

14. Interzone - Joy Division

15. Shy Billy - White Denim

August Mixtape

Here is the (late) August mixtape. I tried to make it as beachy sounding as possible, while still mixing up genres.

I also made some actual mixtapes for those of you who still have cassette decks at home or in your car.
Keep an eye out for them, they could turn up anywhere!

I really enjoyed making this mix, and I hope you enjoy listening to it!

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1. The Fall - Beat Happening

2. Animal Farm - The Kinks

3. Big Wave - Jenny & Johnny

4. Your Rabbit Feet - Wild Nothing

5. Not the Answer - Lorelei

6. Pancake - Swirlies

7. Serpentine Pad - Pavement

8. Girl Attorney - HEALTH

9. Red Alert - Teenage Jesus And The Jerks

10. Chin Up (feat. Nika Roza Danilova) - Former Ghosts

11. Ready For The World - How To Dress Well

12. Prologue - Kraftwerk

13. Order Of The Golden Dawn - Daedelus

14. Holograms (Primary 1 Rework) - Fol Chen

15. Am I Real? - Nite Jewel

16. La Femme Ressort - La Femme

17. On the Beach - Neil Young

18. Beechwood Park - The Zombies

June Mixtape

It's been a while...and well, it's a little late, I know, but here it is!

The June/first half of July mixtape!  A little old, a little new, some in-between, and lots and lots of love...

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1. The Fun Powder Plot - Wild Beasts

2. Beach Comber - Real Estate

3. Yer Blues - The Beatles

4. That's When I Reach For My Revolver - Mission Of Burma

5. Crucify You - The Depreciation Guild

6. Not In Love - Crystal Castles

7. o - iamwhoiami

8. Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) - Kate Bush

9. Life Magazine (Delorean Remix) - Cold Cave

10. Lady Daydream (Blackbird Blackbird Remix) - Twin Sister

11. Wasn't Sure You Could Swim - Brother Mitya

12. At Least That's What You Said - Wilco

13. Amsterdam - John Cale

14. Make It Easy On Yourself - Dionne Warwick

I always preferred Cousin-Dionne over Whitney...

Hello, Welcome, have a mix on me...

So, when my college radio show, "The Musical Menagerie", ended this past month, it surprised me how truly sad I was to see it go. The radio station (and its wonderful staff of students) played a defining role in my college life. Making playlists every week, discovering the new music in the studio, and playing it for my friends and listeners is something I am not quite ready to let go of. So I decided to make a music blog roughly based on my show. In it I’ll continue to make mixes free to download and enjoy as you please and some other musings and treats I’ll post as well. I have made the first mix, and it’s a lot like my show, mixing old and new, and combining different genres. I picked songs that I truly enjoy, because well if I picked something just because it was new and buzz-worthy and I didn’t actually like or react to it, how reliable of a DJ would I actually be? The track listing is below. I hope you like it, and if you have any questions or comments send them my way.

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1. Winters Love - Animal Collective

2. City Girl - Kevin Shields

3. It's Getting Harder All the Time - The Mindbenders

4. Our Deal - Best Coast

5. Franklin - Male Bonding

6. Freak Train - Kurt Vile

7. Heaven's On Fire - The Radio Dept.

8. Frederick - The Patti Smith Group

9. I Just Love You More - Kate Nash

10. Rub 'Til It Bleeds - PJ Harvey

11. Scarecrows On A Killer Slant - Liars

12. Steady Diet - Fugazi

13. No Bones - Dinosaur Jr.

14. Green Light - Sonic Youth

15. Sweatmother - Tobacco

16. Kelly - M83