Eighteen Visions
Kill Hannah
HIM

Reigning Sound
Saraha Hotnights
The Hives

Metric
Muse
Schoolyard Heroes
The Psychedelic Furs
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
X
Violent Femmes
Franz Ferdinand
Echo & the Bunnymen

Bristle
Antidote
Lower Class Brats
The Casualties

The Ditty Bops
Count Zero
The Dresden Dolls

Hazard County Girls
Rasputina

The Crimea
Doris Henson
Billy Corgan

Queens of the Stone Age
Nine Inch Nails

Clear Static
Shiny Toy Guns
Kill Hannah (Second Time)

Schoolyard Heroes (Second Time)
Kill Hannah (Third Time)
Mindless Self Indulgence

Sxip Shirey
The Red Paintings
The Dresden Dolls (Second Time)

Placebo

Evaline
Placebo (Second Time)

Saosin
Mindless Self Indulgence (Second Time)
Julien-k
Placebo (Third Time)
HIM (Second Time)
Taking Back Sunday
My Chemical Romance
Linkin Park

Kill Hannah (Fourth Time)

Shiny Toy Guns (Second Time)
Hot Hot Heat
Satellite Party
Bright Eyes
Social Distortion
The Smashing Pumpkins

IAMX

Peter Murphy

The Turn-ons
The Jesus and Mary Chain

The White Tie Affair
Innerpartysystem
The Medic Droid
Kill Hannah (Fifth Time)

Crystal Castles
Nine Inch Nails (Second Time)

BOLD indicates headlining act

Wow. This took an eternity to do! I skipped a few where I didn't have that number on my chart and just subbed other numbers in other places. Blah...blah...blah...

1. How did you get into 31?
Melvins
There really isn't any neat story behind it or anything...just one of those bands you read about, see merch for or whatever and end up checking out.

2. What was the first song you ever heard by 22?
There is no 22! It looks like the closest is Beastie Boys at 21. The first song with them would have been Girls, courtesy of an older brother singing it constantly for a while when we were kids.

3. What's your favourite lyric by 29?
For Gram Parsons, it's "We'll Sweep Out the Ashes in the Morning"
"We're two people caught up in the flame
that has to die out soon
I didn't mean to start this fire and neither did you
So tonight when you hold me tight
we'll let the fire burn on
And we'll sweep out the ashes in the morning"

That whole fire/sex metaphor is just too damned fun.

4. What is your favourite album by 49?
There is no 49! For Eugene McDaniels, I'll go with "Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse" which was a nice surprise upon first listen.

5. How many albums by 13 do you own?
The Sonics
Looks like about six, including some vinyl! :D

6. What is your favourite song by 50?
There is no 50! For the The Dead Milkmen, "I Walk the Thinnest Line" is pretty brilliant but I'm quite fond of "Thing That Only Eats Hippies" for the fun factor.

7. Is there a song by 4 that makes you sad?
Wilco
"How to Fight Loneliness" is a pretty big bummer:

How to fight loneliness?
Smile all the time
Shine you teeth 'til meaningless
And sharpen them with lies
And whatever's going down
Will follow you around
That's how you fight loneliness
You laugh at every joke
Drag your blanket blindly
And fill your heart with smoke
And the first thing that you want
Will be the last thing you ever need
That's how you fight it
Just smile all the time

8. What is your favourite song by 15?
No 15! I'll have to redo this some time after I've scrobbled more. Clem Snide is at 14 and I really like a lot of the Clem tunes, "Jews for Jesus Blues" and "Something Beautiful" are definitely up there.

9. What is your favourite song by 5?
The Monks
It's tough to pick a single favorite from stuff I really like like this. "monk time" is certainly one of the tops.

10. Is there a song by 6 that makes you happy?
Leonard Cohen
Wow. His stuff isn't often terribly happy, but "Chelsea Hotel #2" makes me smile. It's the sweetest song about a blowjob I can think of.

11. What is your favourite album by 40?
Butthole Surfers
I'll go with "Locust Abortion Technician" but don't take me too seriously on it, I haven't listened to enough of their stuff to seriously pick favorites.

12. What is your favourite song by 10?
No 10! For Andrew Bird, I'm awfully fond of "Why?" It makes me want to do things to him. ;)

13. What is a good memory you have involving 33?
No 33! For James Brown, I guess it would be memories of a male friend becoming enamored with "Sex Machine" which makes me giggle because the friend is a funny guy and that's not even close to being Brown's best song.

14. What is your favourite song by 37?
Jonathan Richman
He's such a fun guy. Of course it's hard to pick a single tune, but I'll select "Parties in the U.S.A." for today.

15. Is there a song by 19 that makes you happy?
No 19! We'll go with The Cure. While it's not the most artistically significant song they've got, "Just Like Heaven" is spectacu-fucking-happy-tastic! That opening keys bit and the "SHOW ME, SHOW ME, SHOW ME..." swell my heart every time and it's nearly impossible not to sing along. Okay, now I'm smiling just at the thought of it! :)

16. How many times have you seen 21 live?
I've seen none of my 21s live (Françoise Hardy, Al Green, Beastie Boys) but back before I went sour on the concept of marriage, I thought it'd be pretty sweet to have Al Green sing at my wedding.

17. What is the first song you ever heard by 23?
No 23! And I'm skipping this one because this is taking me far too long.

18. What is your favourite album by 11?
Andrew Bird
Armchair Apocrypha but The Mysterious Production of Eggs has a lot going for it too.

19. Who is a favourite member of 1?
What's my favorite member of Eef Barzelay? Hehehehe...naughty, naughty.

20. Have you ever seen 14 live?
I've seen Jeff Tweedy twice.

21. What is a good memory involving 45?
No 45...skipping...takes too long...blah blah blah.

22. What is your favourite song by 16?
No 16! Curtis Mayfield is nearby and I'll be damned if that Pusherman song isn't one of the coolest tunes ever.

23. What is the first song you ever heard by 47?
No 47...blah, blah, blah.

24. What is your favourite album by 26?
No 26...blah, blah, blah.

25. What is your favourite song by 18?
Blah...blah...blah...

26. What is the first song you ever heard by 38?
Comets on Fire
Probably "Pussy Foot the Duke"

27. What is your favourite lyric by 3?
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
I love his shit. He's my secret boyfriend...shhhh.
This bit is always hung in my head:
"today was one where, lost in thought
I really feel I am
losing not an ounce of what
you see in me, my lamb"

28. What is your favourite song by 2?
Reigning Sound
Oh my, there are a lot of them. "What Could I Do?" is one of them.

29. What was the first song you ever heard by 32?
The Astronauts
Probably "Baja"

30. What is your favourite song by 8?
Oh man, Pavement.
I think just about anything Malkmus touches is golden, but I'll just go with the "Killing Moon" cover here because I'm always a little apprehensive about covers but I think it's a quite good one.

31. How many times have you seen 17 live?
Devo
Zero, and I imagine it wouldn't be nearly as interesting now as it might have been in the past.

32. Is there a song by 44 that makes you happy?
No 44.

33. What is you favourite album by 12?
Oblivians
I listen to "Popular Favorites" a lot because it has "Bad Man" on it and I do lurve it so. That Greg sure knows how to sing a ditty.

34. What is the worst song by 34?
No 34! Sweet! That means I don't have to pick a "worst!"

35. What was the first song you ever heard by 46?
Howlin Rain
Probably "Dancer At The End of Time"

36. What is you favourite album by 42?
blah...blah...blah...no

37. How many times have you seen 39 live?
No 39, and I haven't seen anyone near that on the list live.

38. What is your favourite album by 36?
Yowza, Yo La Tengo
They've only got like 500 albums and all.
It's probably "Fakebook"

39. What was the first song you ever heard by 28?
The Amps
"Tipp City" because it ended up on a really long VHS of music videos we taped off of the telly many years ago.

40. What is your favourite album by 7?
Meat Puppets
II, of course. But I do really like the new one, "Rise To Your Knees"

Listen and see other shows here: http://pandapops885.wordpress.com

Plastic Bertrand - Ca Plane Pour Moi - Ca Plane Pour Moi
X-Ray Pop - Petit Animal - Psychedelik Dolls
Paralisis Permanente - Unidos - Grabaciones Completas
Lost Sounds - It’s My Dream - Memphis is Dead
_________________________________

The Last, “Should I Say A Word” on Look Again
Uncalled 4, “Grind Her Up” on Grind Her Up/Cotton Fields
Homosexuals, “Neutron Lover” on Astral Glamour
BOB, “Thomas Edison” on KBD Various
_________________________________

*The Hooters - And We Dance - Nervous Night
_________________________________

The Okmoniks - I’m Done - Party Fever - Slovenly
Deus Ex Machina - Inspiration - Motorpsycho
Mudhoney - Sweet Young Thing Ain’t Sweet No More - Superfuzz Bigmuff
Awesome Color - Ridin’ - s/t
_______________________________

Sandy Bull, “Little Maggie” on Fantasias for Guitar and Banjo
Sibylle Baier, “Tonight” on Colour Green
Denis, “Track 2″ on Self Titled
Knusperkeks, “Rechtslinksgeradeaus” on Self Titled
_________________________________

The Plugz - La Bamba - Electrify Me
Reigning Sound - Straight Shooter - Live at Goner
Radio Birdman - New Race - Do the Pop! The Australian Garage Rock Sound
*Handglops - The Weekend - Demos
______________________________

Velocidad, “Velocidad” on Metal Y Ca
Subjects, “Leather In The Park” on Subjects 12″ EP
Voigt/465, “Voices A Drama” on One Faint Deluded Smile
Stranglers, “Hanging Around” on Peaches
_________________________________

Spacefarm - On the Loose - Going Home
The Action - Come Around - Rolled Gold
The Leaves - Funny Little World - The Leaves are Happening
The Moving Sidewalks - Every Night a New Surprise - Pre-ZZ Houston Roots
_________________________________

Travolta Kids, “Let’s Dance” on s/t
No Horizon, “Live is not Pink” on No Horizon
Ausgang, “Here it Comes” on Best of
_________________________________

Os Brazoes - Tao Longe de Mim - s/t
Selda - Yaylalar - s/tLost SoundsThe LastHomosexualsBOBMemphis Is DeadOkmoniksMudhoneySuperfuzz BigmuffSibylle BaierReigning SoundHandglopsvelocidadThe StranglersThe Moving SidewalksAusgang

One song for each year I've been alive, not necessarily the best or favorite, just whatever I feel like talking about when that year comes up.

Part 1 is here, and Part 2 is here.

1994: In the mid-90s, Pravda released a series of cover/tribute albums focused on the kind of top 40 pop trash that used to be featured on K-Tel and Ronco collections. Like virtually all examples of this kind of collection, the results were mixed, but the high points of the series were among the best covers I've heard. When The Loud Family tackle America's soft-rock hit horse with no name, the results transcend the limp original. Moving from a distorted and phased guitar into an ethereal bed of keyboards, Scott Miller's band delivers a psychedelic re-vision of the original.

I used to own all of the Pravda series, but they all went away at some point. Have to re-download those.

1995: The The Apples in Stereo were the first Elephant 6 band I heard, so they can be credited with leading me to Neutral Milk Hotel and The Olivia Tremor Control, among others. Glowworm is a glorious candy-pop song about the death of a friend. Fun!

1996: Big Ass Truck was basically a Southern boogie band, but with turntables. Theem From sounds as if DJ Food had been in the Allman Brothers. Around this time, a good friend of mine was in a surf band, and I told him they needed to do something like adding a turntablist to differentiate themselves from the thousand other surf bands. He was probably right to reject my suggestion, but I still think most surf guitar bands are pretty much interchangeable.

1997: Only Stephin Merritt could write a song as funny and as bleak as The Tiny Goat. "The world's a leech / Crawling down one's throat. / One would rather be a tick than be a tiny goat."

1998: Most self-professed Christian rock bands come off as pale imitations of whatever subgenre they inhabit. Not so with the Danielson Famile, who create a universe all their own, where Neil Young's snotty little brother fronts a 60s girl group. The theology is mostly inscrutable, as in Southern Paws, but that inscrutability is probably liberating; Danielson doesn't feel obligated to explicitly spell out an evangelical message. The commercial appeal is already limited; this band is seriously weird, which of course I find appealing.

1999: Hardly anybody liked Terror Twilight, even a large part of Pavement's rabid fanbase (of which I am a member). Although the album is uneven, it has some of their best songs, including Cream of Gold. For me, it's a great comeback from what was a pretty boring penultimate album (Brighten the Corners).

2000: Did you hear that Calexico's Crystal Frontier (Widescreen) just got used as wake-up music in orbit? The musical taste of astronauts is getting better and better. They probably used to just wake up to HAL.

2001: Gillian Welch's Revelator is relentless. It quietly creeps up on you and destroys your will to live. And it does that without tricks, just Welch's gorgeous bone-tired croon and two acoustic guitars. That such stark simplicity can easily evoke what heavy psych bands sweat to even approach is remarkable.

2002: As long as I'm doing sad songs, let's follow that up with Beck's Lonesome Tears. Some resemblance to Massive Attack here.

Man, it is hard coming up with something to say about this many semi-randomly selected songs. Next time I do this (at track #21,965) I should work backwards, because I feel like I'm out of gas by the time the oughts roll around.

2003: In Bonanza, towards the end of the very brief track, there is the sound of a door opening. On headphones, the door sounds like it is opening right behind you, which is really creepy. And it took me four or five listens, even when I knew it was coming, to stop flinching.

2004: When Reigning Sound decided to call their album Too Much Guitar, they weren't kidding. Like a garage/soul version of Husker Du, all the guitars are overdriven to the point of red fuzz, but also like Husker Du, the fuzz conceals pretty melodies. After a few listens, songs like If You Can't Give Me Everything begin to reveal themselves and sound like 60s shoulda-been-hits.

2005: Blood on the Wall delivers pure punk adrenaline on Heat From the Day. It's nice that New York bands are still doing this kind of thing and not necessarily chasing after the Pitchfork seal of approval.

2006: Speaking of critical darlings, Baltimore's Beach House probably deserves those accolades. Listening to the baroqueAuburn and Ivory and reading about how Baltimore is blowing up with this type of chamber-psych sound makes me wonder about local scenes. I lived in Baltimore in the late 80s/early 90s, and the "Baltimore sound" then was funky hard rock/punk, like Monkeyspank and the All Mighty Senators. These new bands could hardly sound more opposed to that, and I wonder, how do changes like that occur? Gradually? All at once? And are some of these new bands the kids of the old funk-punkers? I'll be in Baltimore next week; maybe I'll ask around.

2007: When I met the guys in The High Strung five years ago, they were playing the same bar with us after having already being on the road pretty much nonstop for years. Genuinely nice guys, who lived in a van! And they're still going. Maybe You're Coming Down With It is a good example of their tight melodic pop songwriting. Their bass player is a melody machine all by himself.

2008: There are a lot of new bands I've started to love (easily a half dozen at least) this calendar year, but according to my strict format, from which I cannot deviate, I can only give love to one in this, the last spot on the tour. And that band is White Denim, a tight, rough n' tumble garage band with some psych and jazz tendencies. shakeshakeshake rocks the hop. So what do you say, dummies?

(If you've heard the song, that's a rhetorical question.)

So, I first would like to acknowledge pzantingh, also of the Monthly Mixtape community, from whom I brazenly stole this brilliant idea. The thing is, I make these mixtapes every month to send to one person. Occasionally, I'm proud enough of them to post them on the community board, but I still feel that they're being wasted to a certain extent. Also (to a lesser extent), I want the constructive criticism that inevitably comes from exposing your work to the much wider audience of musical sticklers that is Last.fm. Finally, a blog of this kind gives me the chance to make some of that cool cover art that everyone seems to like so much.

A couple of caveats: I won't tell you which ones are which, but there are definitely some of these mixes I'm more proud of than others. Looking back, there are definitely some things I would have changed, but I've put them up in their original condition, warts and all. You will also notice that there is no mixtape for November of last year. I didn't make one; November is always my worst month (which is why, no matter how much I want to, I will never finish NaNoWriMo). Finally: yes, it's true that there are several songs that appear more than twice in these twelve mixes. I make no apologies for this. If you feel like you're being gypped by my repeating songs...get over it?

So, here they are: a whole year's worth of mixes I made for the Monthly Mixtape, each one following a theme. The download links are in the art, which is included in the .zip files. Download, listen, critique or just enjoy. But if the spirit moves you, please leave a comment to show that the literal DAYS of work that went into this post were worth it...




(Theme: Numbers)

1. Carey Ott - Am I Just One
2. Josh Ritter - One More Mouth
3. The Beatles - Revolution 1
4. Band of Horses - Part One
5. Ben Harper - One Road For Freedom
6. Bob Marley & The Wailers - One Love/People Get Ready
7. Counting Crows - A Murder of One
8. Albert Hammond, Jr. - 101
9. Rogue Wave - 10:1
10. The Shins - One by One All Day
11. Sunset Rubdown - Us Ones in Between
12. Oasis - One Way Road




(The theme was instrumental, but I happen to hate instrumental music, so I did a more liberal interpretation and went with songs featuring violins. Ironically, I did end up including one instrumental song on the mix. I was rather sick of violins by the time I was done, hence the title.)

1. Final Fantasy - Furniture
2. Wilco - Jesus, etc.
3. The Beatles - Yesterday
4. Oasis - Whatever
5. The One AM Radio - This Is a Document
6. Arcade Fire - Wake Up
7. Basia Bulat - Snakes and Ladders
8. Bright Eyes - Four Winds
9. The Who - Baba O'Riley
10. The Verve - Bitter Sweet Symphony
11. Ben Harper - Strawberry Fields Forever
12. Andrew Bird - Case In Point




(Theme: Soundtrack of my life, which means all these songs mean something to me for one reason or another. If this tape doesn't necessarily flow as well as others, it's because the songs are in chronological order--for my life, anyway. And yeah, that's my crazy-looking mug in the picture)

1. Elton John - Bennie and the Jets
2. Del Amitri - Roll To Me
3. Don McLean - American Pie
4. The Beatles - Hey Jude
5. Barenaked Ladies - The Old Apartment (live Acoustic)
6. Llama - Could Be Me (Live)
7. Speechwriters LLC - Acetate
8. Wilco - I'm the Man Who Loves You
9. Oasis - She Is Love
10. Rilo Kiley - Portions for Foxes
11. Ben Folds - Army (live)
12. Pavement - Range Life
13. Old 97's - Designs on You
14. Paul McCartney & Wings - Jet
15. Spoon - Me and the Bean




(Theme: summer. It occurred to me while I was typing this that I should have entitled this "Sitting By the Riverside," since that's what I was thinking of when I compiled it)

1. The Autumn Defense - The Sun in California
2. Speechwriters LLC - Dear Liz
3. Ryan Adams - Gonna Make You Love Me
4. Oasis - Flashbax
5. Albert Hammond, Jr. - Well...All Right
6. Beck - Qué Onda Guero
7. War - Low Rider
8. Pavement - Cut Your Hair
9. The Beatles - Come Together
10. Harry Nilsson - Everybody's Talkin'
11. The Kinks - Sitting by the Riverside
12. Belle and Sebastian - Women's Realm
13. Madeleine Peyroux - Don't Wait Too Long
14. Bob Marley & The Wailers - Three Little Birds
15. Wilco - I'm a Wheel
16. Carey Ott - You Got Love




(The theme this month was track-time related. My chosen method was to pick a short song, then make each subsequent track a minute--or nearly a minute--longer than the last, without going over an hour total time)

1. The White Stripes - Little Room
2. The Shins - The Celibate Life
3. The Autumn Defense - The World (Will Soon Turn Our Way)
4. Radiohead - Electioneering
5. Billy Bragg & Wilco - Airline to Heaven
6. Paul Simon - Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes
7. The Flaming Lips - It Overtakes Me
8. The Doors - L.A. Woman
9. Blind Faith - Had to Cry Today
10. Ben Lee - Light
11. Wilco - Spiders (Kidsmoke)




(Theme: grief, I think. I decided to do the five stages of coping, with respect to love obviously)

1. Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins - You Are What You Love
2. Wilco - The Thanks I Get
3. Ben Harper - Show Me A Little Shame
4. Britt Daniel - Bring It On Home To Me
5. Derek and The Dominos - Bell Bottom Blues
6. Jonah Smith - My Morning Scene
7. The Beatles - I'm So Tired
8. Rhett Miller - Come Around
9. Cataldo - Wedding Cake
10. Bob Marley & The Wailers - No woman no cry (live)
11. Speechwriters LLC - Or Something




(Theme: spooky, obviously)

1. The Beatles - Because (from Love)
2. The White Stripes - Little Ghost
3. Creedence Clearwater Revival - I Put a Spell on You
4. Drake Tungsten - let me roll it!
5. Wilco - How to Fight Loneliness
6. Golden Smog - You Make It Easy
7. Llama - Carry Me High
8. Josh Ritter - Mind's Eye
9. The Natural History - Beat Beat
10. Oasis - Columbia
11. Band of Horses - Is There a Ghost
12. Fingers-Cut, Megamachine! - Mud Hands
13. Grizzly Bear - Knife
14. Spoon - 10:20 am
15. Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins - Happy (Reprise)




(Theme: Best of...whatever. I chose Britt Daniel of Spoon, my once and future music obsession. I don't know if this is truly a best of, but I like the way it turned out. There're some fun rarities on this mix anyway)

1. Britt Daniel - Bring It On Home To Me
2. Spoon - Utilitarian
3. Spoon - The Underdog
4. Spoon - Paper Tiger
5. Spoon - Tear Me Down
6. Drake Tungsten - This is a Whipping
7. Britt Daniel - Set Me Free (live acoustic)
8. Britt Daniel - Agony Of Laffitte (live acoustic)
9. Drake Tungsten - let me roll it!
10. Spoon - Change My Life
11. Drake Tungsten - Are You Part of the Movement
12. Spoon - I Summon You
13. Spoon - I Am the Key
14. Spoon - Jonathon Fisk
15. Spoon - I Could Be Underground




(Theme: The body. This is hands down the title I am most proud of. Props to Walt Whitman.)

1. Beck - Devil's Haircut
2. The New Pornographers - The Body Says No
3. Golden Smog - Frying Pan Eyes
4. Spoon - Headz
5. Interpol - Slow Hands
6. Jet - Skin And Bones
7. Oasis - Mucky Fingers
8. Wilco - A Shot in the Arm
9. The View - Face For The Radio
10. Cataldo - Lips and Dollars
11. The Beta Band - Needles In My Eyes
12. Voxtrot - Blood Red Blood
13. Radiohead - Bones




(For Valentine's Day, the theme was love. Easiest. Theme. Ever.)

1. Rilo Kiley - I Never
2. Fingers-Cut, Megamachine! - Our Love
3. Spoon - Anything You Want
4. The Beatles - I Will
5. of Montreal - Your Magic Is Working
6. Beck - Girl
7. The Doors - Love Her Madly
8. Ben Harper - Sexual Healing (Live)
9. Llama - To Believe
10. The Bens - Bruised
11. George Harrison - What Is Life
12. Josh Ritter - Kathleen
13. Rhett Miller - Terrible Vision
14. Oasis - Talk Tonight
15. Ben Kweller - Until I Die
16. Bob Dylan - Tangled Up in Blue
17. Bob Marley & The Wailers - Is This Love
18. The Beach Boys - God Only Knows




(Theme: names)

1. Supergrass - Grace
2. Oasis - Lyla
3. The Fratellis - Henrietta
4. De Novo Dahl - Jeffrey
5. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Susie Q
6. Ben Kweller - Lizzy
7. Ben Folds - Jane (Live)
8. Regina Spektor - Samson
9. Speechwriters LLC - Annie Dan
10. Simon & Garfunkel -