MeFiSwap Mailing Deadline Reminder - SATURDAY FEB 4TH January 28, 2012 10:51 AM   Subscribe

Don't worry! There's still plenty of time! All afternoon, then all week, then all Friday afternoon and Saturday morning before those MeFiSwap discs have to be in the mail. This is your Mailing Deadline Reminder Thread — Saturday, Feb. 4th
and
Also Reporting Awesome Swapping Thread!

First, apologies to anyone who's reading this and exclaiming "Oh crap I missed it!" The next swap starts in June and if you want to email me (please don't memail me regarding this!) I'll send you a reminder email when sign-ups are open again. That goes for anyone interested in swapping mix CDs this summer. Alternatively, if you'd like to be removed from the sign-up reminder list, you can email me about that too.

Now,

- If you can't make the deadline, for whatever reason, email your swapset to let them know. Or you can tell me privately and I'll break the news to them gently. Communication is key; please don't disappear without a word. Late is better than never!

- If in a while you figure a member of your swapset just isn't going to come through, please let me know (again, via email) so I can try contacting them and/or make a note for the next swap. People who don't mail out aren't invited to swap in the future until they make good. (If your ears are burning right now, email me and we can talk.

- Do you have any suggestions on how to run these swaps better? it seemed pretty smooth from my end, but further input is always appreciated. "Don't fuck stuff up so much" is taken as a given, thanks. ;)

My mix is burned and my liners are printed and I broke down and bought some cardboard envelopes this time around (moving house last year destroyed my used mailers collection) and I think I can make it to the post office early this week. It'll be the first time ever I've been ahead of schedule mailing mixes. As soon as they go out I get to open all of these packages that have already arrived!

How's your swap going?
posted by carsonb to MetaFilter-Related at 10:51 AM (79 comments total) 8 users marked this as a favorite

I got reynir's mix this week (and am admiring reynir's good taste, thank you!). Mine will be ready to go soon; I have the mix made and the cover designed. All that's left is manual labor: burning, printing, assembly, and taking it to the post office.
posted by immlass at 10:55 AM on January 28, 2012 [1 favorite]


All mine were sent out before Christmas. None received in return yet.
posted by scruss at 10:56 AM on January 28, 2012


I sent all mine out early, too, and hadn't received any, so I was feeling kind of sad. Then yesterday I got one from dubusadus. And now I'm happy again. See, it's that easy!
posted by BlahLaLa at 11:08 AM on January 28, 2012


I messed up in a swap quite a while ago and since I still have the addresses of the poor souls who I stiffed, I occasionally consider sending them a mix CD. Should I?
posted by sciencegeek at 12:55 PM on January 28, 2012


Yes!
posted by not_on_display at 1:04 PM on January 28, 2012


For sure! Better late than never =)
posted by flex at 1:09 PM on January 28, 2012


This has always seemed a bit intimidating to me, which is one of the reasons why I've not participated. Everyone seems so creative. But I have a huge mp3 music collection, and much of it is rather eclectic. I'd be happy to try and put something together and join in for June.

Do the mixes have to have some sort of theme? And do we have to get creative and artistic with the packaging and liner notes, or can they be a bit more generic?
posted by zarq at 1:36 PM on January 28, 2012


zarq: It runs the gamut. Some folks get really into packaging design, with large handcrafted booklets. Others come up with really creative themes. And many wonderful others just offer a solid mix of recent favorites with no artwork, and a printed or handwritten tracklist. Every swapset I've ever participated in has had a wide range of options.

So, yeah, there's no barrier to entry other than interest in sharing music through the mail. You should absolutely sign up in June. I think you'd dig it.
posted by .kobayashi. at 1:47 PM on January 28, 2012


Cool! Thanks for explaining. I will!
posted by zarq at 1:49 PM on January 28, 2012


Yeah, the rules are:

1) Burn a mix of music in audio format to a CD
2) Mail it to the people in your group, by the deadline if at all possible

You can do whatever you want otherwise; I've gotten some mixes with a theme and printed cover art on glossy stock and other, equally awesome ones, where the tracklist is just a hand-written note. All are equal in the eyes of the swap.

I think it's a best practice for easy identification to note, on the CD itself in permanent marker, your username and the month of the swap, but that's not like a rule or anything.

Big ups to carsonb for keeping the cats herded swap after swap, by the way.
posted by strangely stunted trees at 1:57 PM on January 28, 2012 [1 favorite]


I got one from BlahLaLa and it's fantastic!

I had many creative themes that didn't pan out and I finally just settled on the songs I play most often. My mix is mostly finalized and I'm really flummoxed by the idea of artwork, so it will probably be minimalistic.

carsonb is in my group, and I can't help but wonder if he's in ALL the groups. I would totally do that if I were running things. Think of all the free music!
posted by Eumachia L F at 2:03 PM on January 28, 2012


I'm not! I wish I could afford to be in all the groups. Three-ish this time; I had to fill in some spaces.
posted by carsonb at 3:40 PM on January 28, 2012


I didn't even do a playlist. Oops.
posted by BlahLaLa at 4:09 PM on January 28, 2012


And a reminder to folks who are so inclined: There's the MeFi Swap Cover Pool on Flickr, where you can upload the artwork for your mix for all to see.
posted by .kobayashi. at 4:44 PM on January 28, 2012


So much rocking of asses in my group so far. I hope my mix holds up against the early thunder.
posted by mintcake! at 4:52 PM on January 28, 2012


I received one so far (forget who from but it only had six tracks, they were all great, long and slow-building types) and have done exactly zero work on mine, unless a couple of false starts count.

So ... based on the 4 swaps I've participated in in the past, I'm right on schedule.
posted by mannequito at 6:49 PM on January 28, 2012


I've had the playlist planned forever, but just today got around to actually copying the files off of CDs, and hit one of the cornerstones of the set that's scratched, and need to go obtain another copy of the disk.

I really don't want to burn CD's from mp3 files, then have everyone rip their own mp3 files from those -- the generational loss there is as bad as cassettes.

I did also get some of the liner text copy written & came up with a theme for the cover in my head. (I've not done covers before, and am wanting to step up my game, here)

Hopefully, I won't be late.
posted by Devils Rancher at 8:00 PM on January 28, 2012


Last cd is burning now. No cover yet though, and one of the people in my swap has "mp3s" in his fucking name.

Little bit nervous.
posted by Orange Pamplemousse at 8:39 PM on January 28, 2012


In a burst of creativity, I got the cover done in, like, an hour.
posted by Devils Rancher at 9:06 PM on January 28, 2012


Is there a way to burn a CD so that, when inserted into a player that can recognize ID3 (or whatever) information, it'll display song titles, etc.?

(Usually when I import a mix CD from someone, it's all "Track 1" "Track 2" etc. Once, though, I did get a mix from someone where al the song names were filled in!)

So: little help? I am using iTunes, if that matters.
posted by not_on_display at 11:26 PM on January 28, 2012


4th? Oh god, I thought it was the 14th.

Still I'm pulling an allnighter tonight so we'll see how that goes.
posted by solarion at 12:21 AM on January 29, 2012


not_on_display: I'm not sure about how to do it with iTunes, but I open my files up with VLC and edit the ID3 info that way. Then, it's up to the player. That is, my shitty Circuit-City-is-Closing car stereo won't read them, but my friend's fancy new Mini car stereo will. Anyway, I usually just do a heavy edit on the tags and then make available for download a digital copy of my mix, so people don't have to rip it manually.
posted by carsonb at 9:09 AM on January 29, 2012


> I really don't want to burn CD's from mp3 files, then have everyone rip their own mp3 files from those -- the generational loss there is as bad as cassettes.

No it isn't. It's pretty much once off. And tape adds lovely hiss, wow and flutter.

> Is there a way to burn a CD so that, when inserted into a player that can recognize ID3 (or whatever) information, it'll display song titles, etc.?

iTunes writes CD-Text.
posted by scruss at 9:17 AM on January 29, 2012 [1 favorite]


BlahLaLa, it was actually really fun to just play the disc without spoilers. More exciting than it probably should have been, but we grad students have to make our own fun.
posted by Eumachia L F at 9:18 AM on January 29, 2012


No it isn't. It's pretty much once off. And tape adds lovely hiss, wow and flutter.

Well, my point was, if I rip an mp3 from a CD, then burn a new CD from that mp3, then you rip that to an mp3, it's not going to sound too great. A friend of mine made a point about the audio artifacts in mp3 files a while back that when our old cassettes got to sounding that bad, we threw them away. People have come to accept sub-par audio quality form mp3 files, but I really hate that crinkly high end that gets audible in mp3 files below 256 kbs and I'm trying to go to a little extra trouble to help the recipients of my CD get something that's actually CD quality.

Even if the analogy was forced.
posted by Devils Rancher at 9:25 AM on January 29, 2012


Spoilers! That's how I'm going to refer to tracklists from now on! It's always made me feel really guilty to not include them with the mix discs I mail out (waiting to share until after everyone has received their disc) but I didn't ever want to spoil the mix by putting all the info out there right away. Putting it in this light makes me feel much better. Thank you Eumachia L F!
posted by carsonb at 9:26 AM on January 29, 2012


I've settled on a mix that I like. Now I just have to go get CDs and mail the damn thing.

I'm going to go ahead and send spoilers. In advance I'll say that it's a collection of my favorite electronicish songs from the last year or two.
posted by spitefulcrow at 10:46 AM on January 29, 2012


I always put my spoilers in my profile page. People can go look at them while they contemplate my general awesomeness, and I don't have to gouge them in reverse into a lino block in order to maintain the visual aesthetic of my cover art.

WIN-WIN.
posted by Sallyfur at 10:59 AM on January 29, 2012


Mannequito: six long tracks, you say? Yup, sounds like my mix - glad you liked it! Can't wait to hear what my fellow swapmates have come up with.

And since there are few things in life I like more than inflicting my musical tastes on others, I've uploaded my setlist to 8tracks right here for general consumption. I was trying for a grand, cinematic feel, and I think it mostly works out. Here are the tracks for anyone interested:

Cerberus Shoal - Myrrh (reprise)
Sweep The Leg Johnny - Columbus Day
These New Puritans - We Want War
The Microphones - Mt. Eerie
Juno - We Slept In Rented Rooms (The Old School Bush)
Early Day Miners - Summer Ends
posted by Consonants Without Vowels at 11:02 AM on January 29, 2012 [1 favorite]


Mine are going out in the mail tomorrow. If the five on my list want to see spoilers, or if anyone else wants to see how TOTES EPIC AWESOME my mix turned out, there are photos in the Flickr group.
posted by jbickers at 1:15 PM on January 29, 2012


hehe ... I thought 'consonants without vowels' was the name of the mix! but yeah, it's great, I've listened to it 3 or 4 times already.
posted by mannequito at 3:44 PM on January 29, 2012


I've got...two, from my swapset so far, but they don't say who they're from!
posted by tzikeh at 4:19 PM on January 29, 2012


I was surprised by that email the other day but it got me off my ass to actually finish up the final mix.
Should get them burned tomorrow or Tues. them mailed out.
Mine is food themed. Should be interesting.
posted by ShawnString at 5:01 PM on January 29, 2012


I listened to Consonants Without Vowels's mix tonight both heading to and heading back from the MeFi meetup. It's quite meditative, building up and slowing down. Thanks for sharing - it's all new to me and it went well with driving, which is kind of my shining ideal of mix music.

I spent the weekend transferring from my old bustafuxored laptop to the newer happy one so now I can get to burning my mix for my swap groups this week. Can't wait to put it all together!
posted by flex at 9:04 PM on January 29, 2012


Devils Rancher: " I really don't want to burn CD's from mp3 files, then have everyone rip their own mp3 files from those -- the generational loss there is as bad as cassettes. "

When I create mine, I would be willing to include an extra cd with mp3 files if anyone would like. Or better yet, I can simply upload them to yousendit or dropbox or something.
posted by zarq at 10:49 PM on January 29, 2012


zarq, a lot of folks upload theirs after sending out the CDs - should be fine. :)
posted by tzikeh at 5:53 AM on January 30, 2012


Got one from my swap already; just got the covers printed (here at work when no one was looking) and hopefully will get them mailed out this week. (definitely by the 4th).

Oh -- I also learned that UPS will let you re-direct the address to send your delivery to if anyone needs to do that (they charge five bucks, but it's a hell of a lot easier than doing the whole do-si-do of rescheduling the delivery for a certain date and then missing it and then trucking out to where the warehouse is in the ass-end of Queens and having the guy go back and search the room five times before finally finding that it was mistakenly stowed in with the packages that were supposed to be going out to Mamaroneck).
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:40 AM on January 30, 2012


So, I got a mix called "recursion." The CD is labeled "MeFi 12-1," with no other information.

Anyone in my swapset wanna own up?
posted by tzikeh at 8:10 AM on January 30, 2012


I was going to do a mix of neat songs I found last year. Then I just read A Canticle For Leibowitz. Swapset, prepare for apocalyptic funk.
posted by supercrayon at 2:25 PM on January 30, 2012 [2 favorites]


omg supercrayon - that sounds like an EXCELLENT mix.

And I adore Canticle. One of the great books.
posted by tzikeh at 4:13 PM on January 30, 2012


Got mine out today; have gotten two in the mail so far. There's a dropbox link to my playlist in my profile.
posted by obloquy at 11:02 PM on January 30, 2012


Tzikeh, my copy of "recursion" came in a mailer with a return address that matches one of our swap group. On the slight chance that yours didn't, and the even slighter chance that it was left off for some interesting reason, I'll avoid outing the person in public. Weren't me, though.

Mine will be in the mail tomorrow. It's not pretty, nor particularly coherent, but it's better than a missed deadline. (I began with elaborate plans, ran low on time, and wound up just nailing two half complete ideas together and calling it a mixtape.)

Also, I received yours some time ago. The spoilers are really intriguing; however, as far as any CD player I own can tell, the disc itself is blank. Will send it along with my own.

Finally, Canticle is fantastic. An extra bonus round all-Leibowitz-themed swap could be fun, though I'm not sure I have the patience to create properly illuminated cover art.
posted by eotvos at 11:09 PM on January 30, 2012


That's a nice mix obloquy, in fact you've stolen one of my tunes...

Should be burning mine today and posting tomorrow (goes off to google Royal Mail to see exactly how pricy it is to send CDs to the USofA...)
posted by brilliantmistake at 2:22 AM on January 31, 2012 [1 favorite]


I feared I was going to be late this time, but my mix has come together quite quickly and will be going out in the next few days.

Sorry The Self-Dual Convex Regular 4-Polytopes but it's a bit of a downer. I always make sad compilations when I'm in a good mood *:)
posted by garrett at 5:56 AM on January 31, 2012


obloquy -- That mix looks like a lot of fun. I've always wanted to put something together based on that theme, and it's good to see that somebody's done it. Also, I can no longer watch a movie with Julie Christie in it without that YLT tune cycling through my head for days afterward.
posted by .kobayashi. at 6:30 AM on January 31, 2012 [1 favorite]


Mine goes out today.

All I'll say by way of hinting is: Feb. 4th is not too far off from St. Patrick's Day and one of the Beatle's birthdays.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:54 AM on January 31, 2012


etovos - CRAP! Blank?! That... it shouldn't be...

Seriously, this exchange is like, *cursed* for me or something.

Ugh. Erm. I'll MeMail you....
posted by tzikeh at 1:16 PM on January 31, 2012


I received two of my group's mixes way back in early January, and I finally managed to mail mine out during lunch today. Hopefully members of The Orders of the Garter will get the mix soon.

If anyone is interested in spoilers, I put the mix up on Spotify (and its only missing one song!)
posted by Joe Schlabotnik at 4:08 PM on January 31, 2012


Going into final mix culling today with the playlist on repeat to see what doesn't fit, which particular song to pick from some artists, and figure out how to organize the list which goes through 3-4 themes.
posted by garlic at 4:58 AM on February 1, 2012


Well my mix is finalized. CDs will prob get burned today. Cover is done (needs to be printed and assembled). but other then THAT mine are done. Prob still mailed out on Sat though.

And if anyone needs a EASy way to do cd covers (or envelopes) check this page out
posted by ShawnString at 5:57 AM on February 1, 2012 [2 favorites]


Speaking of "easy CD covers" - sometimes simple really is good. Just received Go Banana's mix from my set -- and the cover was just a picture of Marvin Gaye, with the caption, "Hey, Baby." Reader, I laughed out loud.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:24 AM on February 1, 2012 [1 favorite]


Oh, I should upload my "cover artwork" to the flickr group.

And by "cover artwork" I mean "a picture I found."
posted by tzikeh at 12:41 PM on February 1, 2012 [1 favorite]


Fellow Harshads, your mixes are in the mail as of today. If you want spoilers, I've included the set list (though not the liner notes) on my profile page. At some point I will post a download link to my profile as well. And I'm considering making a sequel mix, as some of the songs I gathered did not fit into my self-imposed timeframe.
posted by expialidocious at 9:44 PM on February 1, 2012


I've just assembled mine and now they're sitting waiting to go to the post office tomorrow, fellow Harshads. All of you (except the international people) should have them next week.
posted by immlass at 12:51 PM on February 2, 2012


Burned all mine, gonna miss the deadline, but will do it.
posted by alasdair at 4:12 PM on February 2, 2012


Mine has horns. It is going out monday. I hope you like horns. You are getting horns. BLAAAAT! HONK! SQUAWNK!
posted by not_on_display at 9:38 PM on February 2, 2012


Hey, just wanted to tell everyone I'm going to be late because my dog ate my bus pass when I had to take my friend to the hospital because of reasons
posted by griphus at 8:48 AM on February 3, 2012 [1 favorite]


Heads up to the rest of the Odd Primes... Eumachia's Dance Mix has been dispatched. I have no idea how long it will take, but they're coming from the UK as inexpensively as possible. They should arrive eventually. Please note that what I consider dance music may not be universally agreed upon, though I have actually performed on the trapeze to three of the songs.

I'm also warning you in advance that I have broken the unwritten rule of only one track per artist. Flagrantly and without remorse. These are my favoritest of favorite songs right now and they all fit perfectly in the mix. So there.
posted by Eumachia L F at 9:52 AM on February 3, 2012


Yay a dance mix!!

Shipped mine yesterday! I hope you all enjoy the custom cover art -- I enlisted my housemates to help me draw w crayons and colored pencils on construction paper. (They bare no significance to the content of the mix).
posted by likeatoaster at 7:21 PM on February 3, 2012


Okay, mine are officially on the way. Fellow Chopin's Preludes, I hope you enjoy robot music.
posted by spitefulcrow at 4:08 PM on February 4, 2012


Done on deadline day! Everything is assembled and addressed and ready to go - they will be mailed on Monday.
posted by flex at 7:12 PM on February 4, 2012


Harshad numbers, the CDs are out. Coming from Australia it will take a little while for the stark extended-vocal-technique-centered songs to reach you so I am apologetic for that.
posted by solarion at 7:16 PM on February 4, 2012


I've sent mine all out already - just a question though - when / were can we post the playlists on MeFi??
posted by Faintdreams at 4:21 AM on February 6, 2012


Just back from the post office – sorry mine are a bit late, hopefully it’s worth the wait!
posted by shiny shoes at 7:19 AM on February 6, 2012


Sorry, The Tirthankaras (sp?)! After obsessing over cross-fades, track volume & between-track gaps for over a week, I finally got them all burned and in their jewel cases last night, then promptly left them there on my desk. I swear I'm actually done and ready to ship.
posted by Devils Rancher at 11:26 AM on February 7, 2012


I've received from eotvos, tzikeh, and Joe Schlabotnik. I sent mine out (recursion) in early January.
posted by subajestad at 3:19 PM on February 13, 2012


I'm also 3-for-5 (in the Alliot Sequences); I wanted to give it another week before making inquiries, but may be worth an inquiry now.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:25 AM on February 14, 2012


I'm also 3 for 5 in the Harshad Numbers and have been told mine has reached at least one of my swapmates. I'm assuming the packages are moving slowly because of the holiday (I have another package I'm waiting anxiously for that's not. quite. overdue.).
posted by immlass at 7:03 AM on February 14, 2012


Oh -- and someone said something about posting playlists? Is that also a thing we do? Do we do that yet?

(Also, fellow Alliots -- have y'all gotten MINE? I had to send via the Post office print-your-postage-on-the-label-from-your-printer thing and I'm not 100% certain I trust that.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:45 AM on February 14, 2012


*Double-Double W/ Cheese* (the mostly YouTube edition)

01. The Double - Idiocy
This was the song I started with for this mix. I'd been trying to fit a song from The Double onto a mix ever since I picked up a couple of their albums several years ago, but they're a sort of stubborn sound and I hadn't been able to figure out where they fit. Being the first song I considered for the mix, the realization was quick to my mind that it would make a very good opener. The swelling synth groans to life, dragging along with it a jumbled mess of punched up percussion and screeching guitars. The tinkling melody in the background lifts the sound up out of the muck though, and the lyrics are barely distinguishable as a deranged yet hopeful-sounding screed. I tend to read a lot into song titles and refrains, basing many of my arranging decisions around something as simple as a repeated phrase or double meaning. This song being called 'Idiocy', along with my girlfriend's assumption that whenever I talked about this band The Double I was referring to the band Double, was what led me to the theme for this mix. Double Double W Cheese. You see, there's two tracks from bands called Double, and then a whole lotta cheese in between. I suppose it might have been cleverer to find cheesy tracks that talked about meat and/or pickles and/or lettuce and/or ketchup or mustard or whatever else goes on a cheeseburger, but let's not get carried away, yeah?

02. Billy Joel - Uptown Girl
Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese! Uh, forget what I said about not getting carried away. Billy Joel is awesome. Like several of the other songs on this mix, I chose this track because I remember it from my childhood. Back seat of mom's Honda, driving through the hot, dry Tucson summer, belting Woah-woah-woahahs wherever we went. It works just as well nowadays, so I encourage you to right now, as you peruse MeFi and look at YouTube videos, roll 'em down and belt 'em out.

03. The Go - Summer's Gonna Be My Girl
Found these guys on the library's recently-returned shelf. They're from Michigan, the same scene that produced The White Stripes. Jack White was probably in The Go at some point, but not when they made this track. It will probably blow out your speakers if you're not careful. The original audio engineer had something devious in mind when laying this recording down, I think, and it's cranked full of thumpy, bouncy bass and hulking drums.

04. 30 Amp Fuse - Tilt-A-Whirl (mp3 download)
Another act that I've been meaning to feature on a mix for quite some time, I found this album in the dollar bin at Zia Records in Tucson sometime around the turn of the century. It's pure indie power pop, and this is maybe the second or third least cheesy song from the album. (I had to pull back a bit in some places, even a cheese-loving guy like me can admit when there's too much cheese.) Try jumping and singing this one, maybe with your arms out to your sides, parallel to the ground, and twirling like a madperson.

05. The Deadly Snakes - Trouble's Gonna Stay A While
I participate a goodly amount on MetaFilter, natch, and have plenty of occasion to discuss music. I like being able to go back through my posts and see what tunes I've talked about. Well, I'd forgotten until recently that I'd quoted lyrics from this song sort of out of context at one point a few years ago. Another user read those words late last year and couldn't place the song (though they recognized that they were lyrics and it was a pop song). When I told them what it was, and linked to a video, I think they were surprised at the sound-- it wasn't what they thought it would be. Hopefully this mix, by the time you're done listening, won't be exactly what you'd thought it'd be. Anyway, the 'Snakes finish up this little triad of pop/punk cheese and segue nicely into, erm, whatever these next few songs are. Not sure if they're worthy of a cohesive definition, but I'm sure I can come up with some bs to string 'em together for ya.

06. OutKast - Hey-Ya!
This song is nearly ten years old and still awesome. That's all.

07. Matthew Wilder - Break My Stride (Break Brian's Stride)
I think of this track all of the time, thanks to my old friend Brian (the guy in the video). A late addition to the mix, it floated around in the order for a long time before I settled on using it here.

08. Girl Talk - The Remix
Another MetaFilter-based track, I've been listening to 'All Day' a lot over the last year. The track-by-track breakdown (mefi post) fascinated me, but I first came aware of it from the Kickstarter project for 'Girl Walk - All Day', an full-length interpretive dance video for the album. It was just released in its entirety recently: http://girlwalkallday.com/watch-the-film
This track features lyrical clips from several rap songs, and several of those selected feature less-than-ideal lyrics & ideas for a mix meant for polite distribution. Bear with me while I/we dance through the offensiveness.

09. ELO - Don't Bring Me Down
I may have heard this song in my youth, but by late last year it had faded from memory. The other ELO tracks that have cropped up into my awareness have always delighted. This one came about because my electrician's name is Bruce. When he introduced himself, he said, "You know, like the song." And I didn't know, so while he replaced a switch in the kitchen I looked up the track on YouTube. After Bruce finished he stayed for a cup of coffee and told me a human relations story straight out of AskMe's Anonymous Greatest Hits Archive. There are, of course, competing theories on what is actually said in the song after the titular lyrics. (Because the question raised by the common interpretation, "Who's Bruce?", is an awfully big question indeed.) But I like to sing it 'Bruce' in my loudest, cheesiest squeal, and I encourage you to do the same.

10. Alabama Shakes - Hold On
BitterOldPunk linked me to this track a while back, and Alabama Shakes have been tearing it up ever since. Good song. I also really like how this is the point where things calm down a bit from the intense cheese mania of the past several songs. The culmination of E.L.O. begging to not be brought down coupled with this encouragement to hold on is one of my favorite parts of this mix.

11. The Drums - Days
Totally ripped this from my girlfriend's last mix that she gave me. I like this song!

12. Jimmy Eat World - Lucky Denver Mint
My first favorite Jimmy Eat World song, from back before they were a mainstream band. Jeez, this is already about 15 years old, isn't it?! I can place it vaguely because it was an album or two before 'Bleed American', which had the misfortune of being a heavily-promoted release mere weeks before 9/11/2001. Never cared much for J.E.W's subsequent releases, but had a lot of fun driving up to PHX for several of their shows while in high school.

13. LOWLEAF - pure . love
On Ventura Blvd, just west of Coldwater Canyon, lies a very small triangle of a building with a large plate glass window facing the street. Probably it was originally a guard house or valet parking shack, but then for a long time it was a tiny psychic readings house. Then, not long after that psychic lost their vision, the shack was taken over by a very small, very young woman who decided it would be cool to call it the Music Prizm, fill it with the weird self-released recordings of her own and her friends, and then never ever staff the damn place. All there ever was was a bare flourescent ceiling fixture (the kind you hang in a hung ceiling, just a big white box with two flourescent tubes in it). I swear I went by this tiny wedge of a building a hundred times before she was there. I'd stop, peer in, wonder at all of the tiny and precious-looking wares that were horribly unavailable. Finally I was headed somewhere else and drove by it and saw the light box OUTSIDE on the sidewalk. Cue screeching of tires and desperate searching for a parking spot. I wound up going where I was headed anyway, and walking back much later. Luckily she was still there, and luckily she recommended I check out this little handmade EP from Low Leaf.

14. Hall & Oates - Crazy Eyes
I like how this one starts out with some gentle strings, an easy melody, then BAM! It's a funky wonderland of crazy cheese. Le frommage des yeux fou! I think this song is about cocaine, but I can't be for sure. Hall & Oates have polluted my posting history recently as well; if you missed the excellent Callin' Oates I highly recommend you give it a call/click.

15. The Czars - Paint the Moon
This is an orphan track in my mp3 collection that cropped up while listening to the entire collection on random. I'll admit it's a little sappy/country for my tastes, but only whenever I stop to consider things. Stop singing, that is. It was one of the first tracks I threw into this mix, and it's always been one of the first I've thought to remove when looking to shake things up and shift 'em around, but the simple fact that I inevitably sing along with this one has kept it hanging on.

16. High Places - Golden
Grabbed this album off the returns shelf at the library. It's good! Trippy a bit.

17. Starship - Nothing's Gonna Stop Us
Mannequin cheese. This is me giving in to my basest desires. For you!

18. Destroyer - Kaputt
Indie rock cheese. I wrote a Theory of Destroyer based on this song on MeFi a while back. I could probably flesh it out to a few thousand words. Destroyer is my favorite band of all time, and I shamelessly include a track of theirs in pretty much everything. Most of my mixes, omelettes in the morning, yogurt smoothies, doodles, papers for school, random musings, pants pockets, car stereos, letters to the editor, love potions, platitudes, attitudes, arguments, angel flesh, Ragnarok, angry Spock, trail mix, passionate moans, and latte foam—like I said, if it exists, Destroyer goes in it.

19. Double - Captain of Her Heart
When I first told my girlfriend how excited I was about using a song by The Double for this mix, this is the band she thought I was referring to. It's both the other-Double of 'Double-Double' AND the cheese!

OK, so that was it! I'm in the midst of a battle of wits (to the death) with my computer right now, so this is the best digital version I can make available presently. But I think there's enough to go on here, and perhaps a link to a zip is forthcoming. I'll keep y'all updated.

Anyway, I've received about a ton of mixes from all over so far. Thanks to all who sent one my way! I'm listening to them carefully, taking notes and all, and I'll get back to each and every one of you about the stuff I liked and what I thought in general and maybe some punishing criticism of your taste in music eventually I promise.

You rock!
posted by carsonb at 5:47 PM on February 15, 2012 [4 favorites]


I couldn't decide on what theme to go with for mine. I started collecting songs for an '80s - or maybe '70s? or both? - theme; then for a "wintertime women" theme; then for a Canadian theme; then for a "good stuff my friends have posted and I have shamelessly swiped" theme. But nothing was... gelling.

Finally I gave up in frustration, and at the last minute mashed a bunch of my selections across themes all together into something I thought sounded good, and called it "Will It Blend?". I think it works.

Lou Rawls - It's You (...I could only find this on YouTube. 1969)
Sporto Kantès - Whistle (...from France. 2008)
The Reactions - Marianne (...from Florida. 1981)
The War On Drugs - Baby Missiles (...from Philadelphia. On the label Secretly Canadian. 2011)
The (English) Beat - Save It For Later (...love this. 1982)
The Letters - Nobody Loves Me (...from the UK. 1980)
Marmoset - Written Today (...from Indianapolis. Formerly on the label Secretly Canadian. 2009)
Ana Egge - Hole In Your Halo (...born in Saskatchewan. 2011)
Smith Westerns - Only One (...from Chicago. 2011)
The Renegades - Things Will Turn Out Right (...from the UK, popular in Finland. 1966)
Martha & The Muffins - Paint By Number Heart (...Canadian new wave. 1980)
Steely Dan - Don't Take Me Alive (...one of my favorite SD songs. 1976)
The Saints - A Minor Aversion (...Australian. 1978)
The Sunnyboys - Alone With You (...Australian. 1981)
Hooded Fang - ESP (...from Toronto. 2011)
Cut Off Your Hands - You Should Do Better (...from NZ. 2011)
Tennis - Origins (...from Denver. 2011)
Joel Plaskett - On The Rail (...from Nova Scotia. Created for The Great Canadian Song Quest on CBC Radio 2. 2009)
The Sheepdogs - I Don't Get By (...from Saskatchewan. 2010)
Darondo - I Don't Understand It (...funk/soul singer. 1973/1974?)
Jamie Lidell - Figured Me Out (...from the UK. 2008)
Breakbot feat. Irfane - Baby I'm Yours (...from France. Swiped from mandymanwasregistered! 2010)
Teaspoon & The Waves - Oh Yeh Soweto (...from South Africa. Re-release by Sofrito. 1980)
Hjálmar - Til þín (...Icelandic reggae. I need say no more. 2005)

I'm really happy with how it turned out! I have made it available for download here.
posted by flex at 10:49 PM on February 17, 2012


Well since we are doing this...mine was based on food. Breakfast, a small lunch, dinner, dessert and of course alcohol (thats food right?)

"All I wanna eat is them BBQ chips"

Beer for Breakfast-The Replacements
Milk (Ode To Billy)-Anthrax
Black Coffee In Bed-Squeeze
All Her Favorite Fruit-Camper Van Beethoven
Banana Pancakes-Jack Johnson
Coconut Island-The Hula Monsters
Raisins-Barenaked Ladies
Tangerine-Led Zeppelin
Nine Bowls Of Soup-They Might Be Giants
Packt Like Sardines in a In a Tin Can-The Punch Brothers
5-Piece Chicken Dinner-Beastie Boys
Eat Steak- The Reverend Horton Heat
Know Your Onion!-The Shins
Koka Kola-The Clash
Orange Crush-R.E.M.
Mars Bars-The Undertones
Candy-The Presidents Of The United States of America
Big Rock Candy Mountain-Harry McClintock
Bubbles in My Beer-Bob Wills & His Texas Playboy
Whiskey In The Jar-Belle & Sabastian

You can get it here
posted by ShawnString at 10:25 AM on February 18, 2012


Okay: I did two.

1. The first one was inspired by a mix tape that a high school friend made for me as a birthday gift once- I share a birthday with George Harrison, so he made me a career-spanning retrospective, everything from the very early days of the Beatles up to the (then-contemporary) Traveling Wilburys. This is still one of my favorite birthday gifts ever; and the playlist of George songs I made is very similar to what Patrick made me nearly 24 years ago.

Roll Over, Beethoven
I'm Happy Just To Dance With You
Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby
Think For Yourself
If I Needed Someone
Taxman
I Want To Tell You
Love You To
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
The Inner Light
Long, Long, Long
It's All Too Much
Here Comes The Sun
Something
For You Blue
My Sweet Lord
Wah-Wah
All Things Must Pass
Dream Away
Got My Mind Set On You
When We Was Fab
Handle With Care
End Of The Line

And as this is long, the second playlist next...
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:43 AM on February 18, 2012


Right!

The second playlist was inspired by a St. Patrick's Day thing I've been doing for a few years now -- a local Irish-born musician gets together a bunch of people for a concert that he calls "a revue of the Irish rock songbook." His own band is the house band, and he ropes a whole bunch of other singers in to each take a different song, and they do all songs by bands who either ARE Irish, or had a member whose parents were Irish at least; which is why you get the Sex Pistols, Elvis Costello, etc. His own band has a couple numbers, and the whole thing is usually a benefit for something in the Irish-New York community. It's way better than the parade. So the second playlist was a "virtual version" of the revue.

If I Should Fall From Grace With God - The Pogues
Gloria - Them (Van Morrison)
Son Of A Preacher Man - Dusty Springfield (aka Mary Bernadette O'Brien)
Teenage Kicks - The Undertones
Alone Again, Naturally - Gilbert O'Sullivan (You wouldn't believe how enthusiastic the crowd gets for this after a few drinks.)
The Boys Are Back In Town - Thin Lizzy
I Will Follow - U2
I Don't Like Mondays - Boomtown Rats (If you thought the crowd got into singing to "Alone Again," they get more into this.)
Come On Eileen - Dexy's Midnight Runners
Dirty Old Town - The Pogues
Domino - Van Morrison
Pump It Up - Elvis Costello (aka Declan McManus)
Get On Your Boots - U2
Raglan Road - Glen Hansard (Someone always does this at the concerts; it's tricky, as it's a little too easy to get oversentimental or cheesy with it. This Glen Hansard cover is hands-down the best version of this song I have ever heard.)
Fisherman's Blues - The Waterboys
Mandinka - Sinead O'Connor (Actually, they're more likely to do "Nothing Compares 2 U" at the revue, but to be honest, I'm sick of that song.)
Streams Of Whiskey - The Pogues
The Devil's Dance Floor - Flogging Molly
Into The Mystic - Van Morrison
Desire - U2
Irish Breakfast in a Greek Diner - Joe Hurley & The Gents (Joe is the guy who coordinates these events each year; The Gents is his band, and is the house band for the revue. "Irish Breakfast In A Greek Diner" is one of the crowd favorites. This video was actually filmed AT one of the revues.)
God Save the Queen - The Sex Pistols (This traditionally closes out the revue each year. Johnny Rotten, the mc reminds us, is of Irish descent, so it counts. I think they just like playing this.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:05 AM on February 18, 2012 [1 favorite]


my mix, The Long Hiss Goodnight:

1. The Caretaker - You And The Night
2. Paavoharju - Ikuisuuden Mailma
3. The Orb - Codes
4. Wax Audio - Jogiha
5. Mutamassik - 34th Chamber
6. Antipop Constortium & Vadim - Sleep Thieves
7. Land of Kush - Bilocations
8. Have A Nice Life - Who Would Leave Their Son Out In The Sun?
9. Daniel Lanois - Matador
10. Medeski Martin & Wood - Nocturnal Transmission
11. Busdriver, Radioinactive & Daedelus - Sleep Standing Up
12. Gonjasufi - Kobwebz
13. The Books - Thankyoubranch
14. Kaki King - First Brain
15. Calexico & Iron and Wine - Burn That Broken Bed
16. Low & Dirty Three - I Hear Goodnight

Nighttime themed obviously, and made in one go, midnight to 4am with a bottle of wine.

I received my 4th out of 5 mixes Friday and there hasn't been a dud yet. Good times all around. Thanks as always to carsonb for organizing this.
posted by mannequito at 12:05 AM on February 19, 2012


Here's mine:

1. Wages of Sin by Damon Jurado and Rosie Thomas

2. Some Velvet Morning by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood

3. e Ajnabi by Mahalakshmi and Udit Narayan

4. Seven Years by David Byrne and Shara Worden

5. Good to be on the Road Back Home by Cornershop

6. For Shame of Doing Wrong by Evan Dando and Syd Straw

7. No Next Time by Allison Moorer

8. Down to the Well by Kevin Gordon

9. Crap Kraft Dinner by Hot Chip

10. City of Electric Light by Chad Van Gaalen

11. Dreams Come True Girl by Cass McCombs

12. E-bow the Letter by R.E.M.

13. What New York Couples Fight About by Morcheeba

14. A Heart Needs a Home by Shawn Colvin and Loudon Wainwright

Cover Art and dropbox link for download available here.

Posted at 5:24 PM
posted by pasici at 2:34 PM on February 19, 2012


So Long, Sweet Dreams by Orange Pamplemousse

1. So Long, Sweet Dreams by Conshafter
2. Bohemian Like You by The Dandy Warhols
3. Laid by Matt Nathanson
4. Since When by 54-40
5. Anywhere Under the Moon by DaLa
6. The Fear by Lily Allen
7. Lose You by Peaches
8. Suomi by Alexander Rybak
9. Paralyzer by Finger Eleven
10. Camera One by The Josh Joplin Band
11. Flowers in the Window by Travis
12. Let Go by Waking Ashland
13. Do it Again by Stroke 9
14. Dreaming of You by The Coral
15. She's Got You High by Mumm-Ra
16. Life by Our Lady Peace
17. Dracula From Houston by Butthole Surfers
18. You Make My Dreams by Hall and Oates
19. No Sugar Tonight by The Guess Who
20. The Last Saskatchewan Pirate by Captain Tractor
posted by Orange Pamplemousse at 6:14 PM on February 20, 2012


Okay, since we're spoilering at this point:

I procrastinated on this for a good while, knowing that I had a few killer tracks to anchor things on and planning to just fill in the gaps with other good stuff when I had a spare afternoon. Then it was January 27th or something and I was like "Well, let's see what happens."

So what happened was a bunch of electronica tracks from widely varying sub-genres! Enjoy.

1. M83 – Intro, from Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
2. Neon Indian – Fallout, from Era Extraña
3. Com Truise – Brokendate, from Galactic Melt
4. Patrick Wolf – The City (Richard X Remix), from Lupercalia
5. Goldfrapp – Strict Machine, from Black Cherry
6. Bon Iver – Calgary, from Bon Iver
7. James Blake – Measurements, from James Blake
8. Ulrich Schnauss – …passing by, from Far Away Trains Passing By
9. Madeon – Pop Culture
10. MSTRKRFT – Heartbreaker (Three Fingers Remix), from Fist of God
11. Little Boots – Shake
12. Metric – Monster Hospital (MSTRKRFT Remix)
13. Tyson – After You're Gone (Extended Mix)
14. Ellie Goulding – Salt Skin, from Bright Lights
15. Parov Stelar – Happy End, from Shine
posted by spitefulcrow at 6:31 PM on February 20, 2012 [1 favorite]


I posted my list but it was deleted. Plus I haven't got anyone else's mix CD.
posted by scruss at 7:58 PM on February 23, 2012


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