And Then.

[Simian Mobile Disco mixing LCD. Tribulations.]

Tonight.

Just Because You Knock A Man Down Don't Mean That You Got Him Beat

When I listen to music, I listen to two things:

• the music - the instruments, the voices, the vibe; and
• the lyrics - the word choice, the rhyming, the message.

I have been repeatedly told that I place more weight on the latter. There are definitely songs in this mix that I picked because of their lyrics. There are a few, however, that I picked because of the mood they convey.

There is definitely one song in this mix that I think that I would choose if I had only one song express who I am. Feel free to guess away in the comments and at some point I might even tell you which one it is.

Without further ado, I give you my mixtape and my reasons for the songs.

The Heavy - Short Change Hero
"This ain't no place for no hero, this ain't no place for no bitter man..." Apparently all my songs are by foreign groups.

Mind Over Matter - Rappers In Wonderland
This song is a recent addition to my music collection. These guys are from Australia and have a bounce and swagger that I liked. The chorus is catchy and the beat does something for me. I've listened to it 40 times now and i still bob my head.

Swollen Members - Too Hot
Continuing the international trend, yet another song that's about the attitude. But there are definitely lyrics that speak to me. The part that jumps to mind immediately is during Madchild's first verse when he raps:

Anger, anger, thats one of my hangups
You dont wanna rock and roll kid, your head gets banged up
Feel tension, blood starts pumpin
My friends always win in the fights, I still jump in
And I dont have a drinking problem
I drink, talk shit, fall down no problem
When I drink its a problem, cause I cause problems

The rest of the lyrics are good too.

Moka Only - Sitting On The Porch (feat Mad Child)
Continuing with folks from the Great White North, I picked this song because it tempers the raging impression of me created in the previous song. Mad Child brings it back to a relaxed chill vibe. I love sitting, watching the world go by. I'm working very hard to not be angry.

Brother Ali - The Puzzle
Finally! Repping the hometown of Minneapolis....no wait...that's not right..... But I do like the song because it's what I need to hear. It begins right in the first verse:

Listen when life leaves you beaten up
Don't lay around in it, hurry pick them pieces up
Cling closely to the people you love
They're your umbrella when the weathers tough
See to it that your head is up
If not just remember this
Just never let your chest and your chin touch in public

and on it goes. I listen to this song on my bad days and it makes it all better.

Eazy E vs Johnny Cash - Folsom Prison Gangstaz 106bpm
I like Johnny Cash and I wish I was a baller like him. But without the drug habit and general all around douchiness he exhibited earlier in life. When paired with Eazy E? The beat fits with E's rapping and a classic is born.

Gangstagrass - On The Run
Who mixes bluegrass with hiphop? I like it. It's a dichotomy, that isn't......just like me. I like the way he enunciates his words, the swagger, and the taking care of business vibe of this song.

Ray LaMontagne - Henry Nearly Killed Me (It's A Shame)
Another one of the songs that's about the attitude and the first of Ray's two appearances on the mixtape. I like the whole first verse, but I especially like the following:

"Just because you knock a man down, Don't mean that you got him beat"

Well said Ray.

Santogold - Les Artistes
I really like the chorus on this song.

I can say I hope it will be worth what I give up
If I could stand up mean for the things that I believe

Bishop Allen - Things Are What You Make Of Them
I heard this song in the movie "Saved" and I had to get it. I love the band, their funky vibe and their music. The song title says it all.

Fruit Bats - When U Love Somebody
This song is 4:31 and only has 4 lines of lyrics.

Baby, remember on the bus and my hand was on your knee
When U love somebody it's hard to think about anything but to breathe
Baby, I am the cub who was washed out in the flood
When U love somebody and bite your tongue all you get is a mouthful of blood

This song is very visceral to me. I just ended a two year relationship and their 4 lines sum up what I'm feeling about all of it right now.

DeVotchKa - You Love Me
The first of two tracks by Dita Von Teese's former back up band. This song spoke to me in my recent break up. It's not an exact match to what happened, but the feeling it evokes really speaks to me. Interestingly it also ties back to the Western vibe at the beginning of the mix.

Kanye West - Hey Mama Grammy Remix
My mother passed away over 5 years ago, and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't miss her. I think Kanye can be a real piece of work, but I think this performance makes me forgive a lot. The video gives me goosebumps every time I watch it.

Last night I saw you in my dreams, Now I can't wait to go to sleep.
This life, is all a dream, an my real life starts when I go to sleep.

DeVotchKa - Dearly Departed
Another song about loss.

Blitzen Trapper - Furr
Don't we all want to abandon society and run wild with the wolves? I know I do. My friend Alex jokes that my children will be feral children. But I don't think so. I do love the woods and the idea of running free.

Ray LaMontagne - Empty
I think that this is my favorite song by LaMontagne. If you get a chance, read the lyrics while you listen to it. There is no line that has ever spoken to me like this one:

Its the hurt I hide that fuels the fire inside me.

It's so true.

Heartless Bastards - Hold Your Head High
This song pairs with "The Puzzle" in my mind. The same idea of friends that help you through the bad times works for me. Listen to it with the lyrics in front of you.

Hold your head high, just as high as you can
Things will work out soon, things will come round again

Cave Singers - Dancing On Our Graves
A foot tapping song that always gets me. I like the Zydeco feel and the old time religion video they made for the song.

But oh lord, I know what I've done,
And oh lord, I ain't afraid.

Black Strobe - I'm A Man
Another foreign band. This song oozes swagger and attitude from the opening classic blues chord. A cover of a Muddy Waters song that really snarls and expresses that cocky and confident side of my character that I'm rediscovering.

Heavy - How You Like Me Now
We end like we began, with The Heavy, who send us off with more snarl and swagger. Watch their performance on Letterman on YouTube, if you really want to get the full treatment.


So now that you've listened to my mixtape, how you like me now?

88.5 WXPN - Top Ten Road Trip Songs

WXPN is having a competition for the best top 10 road trip songs.

Ya'll should enter!  Info here.

And my mix will be posted by Monday!  Promise!

...It's gonna be a long walk

See comments for the details, zip files coming ASAP

Now:

1. Joshua James, The New Love Song

2. Atmosphere, The Things That Hate Us

3. Rilo Kiley, Portions for Foxes

4. The Cure, Maybe Someday

5. Ani Difranco, Swim

6. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, American Girl

7. Counting Crows, Recovering the Satellites (live)

8. Regina Spektor, On the Radio

9. Tete, Fils de Cham

10. The Hush Sound, Break the Sky

11. The Cat Empire, The Lost Song

12. Iron & Wine, Someday the Waves

13. Keren Ann, La Corde et Les Chaussons

14. Charles Aznavour, Emmenez-moi

15. Dave Matthews Band, Crush

16. The Weepies, World Spins Madly On

17. Company of Thieves, Oscar Wilde

18. Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova, The Swell Season

19. Foxy Shazam, Bye Bye Symphony

Then:

1. Yann Tiersen, J'y suis jamais alle

2. Atmosphere, Trying to Find a Balance

3. Sage Francis, Sea Lion

4. Postal Service, I'll be

5. Blind Melon, Mouthful of Cavities

6. Yann Tiersen, Pas si simple

7. Pleasure Pause, Penelope

8. Raphael, Caravane

9. Ani Difranco, Both Hands

10. Spoon, I Summon You

11. Fiona Apple, Sullen Girl

12. Yann Tiersen, Comptine d'ete n-2

13. Counting Crows, Round Here

14. Yann Tiersen, Soir de fete

15. Flogging Molly, Devil's Dance Floor

16. Yann Tiersen, Mouvement Introductif

17. Dave Matthews Band, Crush

18. Me First & the Gimme Gimmes, Danny's Song

19. PJ Harvey, Sky Lit Up

20. Sage Francis, Crumble

Technical Details

My apologies for the length of this post, but I had a few quick technically related thoughts.

Formatting
To make sure that your mixtape stays in the correct order when you post it and we download it, I would recommend taking the following steps.

1. Copy all the files from wherever they are located on your computer and put them in a new folder with the Mixtape title.
   
   
2. Number all the songs. I would recommend a simple "01 - Artist - Track Name" format. I know that some of my songs that I'll be putting up did not have that format so I will be formatting mine that way.
   
   
3. Make a zipped archive out of your Mixtape folder. My program of choice is 7zip, but there are a variety of other programs out there. If you do not know how do to this, e-mail me and I will talk you through it, or possible write another post on how to do it.
   
   
4. You can then upload the mixtape to one of the sites listed below and post the link to the shared mixtape in your post.
   

Sharing/Uploading
There are a variety of uploading options. I'm not sure how much actual hosting space they give us with this blog, so I would say our best bet is to host them externally. Our options are as follows:

1. Google Documents - If everyone has a Google Account (basically GMail), we have the option of uploading them to Google Documents in a zip file and sharing them with other Google users. The Google size limit is 1 GB, but this is a total account limit. So if you have other documents saved, then the limit is whatever your remaining space is.
   
   
2. Drop.io - If you are not a Google user, I would recommend Drop.io. This is the quickest and easiest method of sharing and doesn't require signing up for anything. Keep in mind that the file size limit per Drop is 100 MB. Thus, depending on the size of your finished mixtape, you may need to break it up into multiple zipped archives and upload each individually, making sure each is under 100 MB.
   
   
3. Dropbox - Finally, there is the Dropbox option as well. If you any of you are Dropbox users then we could create a shared folder in our Dropboxes and swap them that way. The file size limit is a bit bigger here, but you'd have to sign up for an account, so it could be more of a pain.
   If there is interest in this method, I am available to discuss it. (Even if you don't want to share your music this way, I highly recommend it for backing up important computer files.)
   

Editing
If any of you want to edit your songs (cut/crop them), I would recommend using Audacity. I will be editing some of my tracks to remove random talk from a remix and studio chatter/applause on live tracks, so it occurred to me that others might want to do so as well.

I realize all of this may be too much too fast, so if you have any questions or difficulties with any of it, please feel free to e-mail me and I will help you out. I know JP put quickly and easily put his mixtape up using these sites and I look forward to helping the rest of you put them up too.

first upload

Give this a try (credit goes to the Reuben for the help on this one):
http://drop.io/jpsmixtape

If you burn it to a cd, arrange the songs the way I have them on my playlist. They probably will not be in order when you download them. Or if not, I'll take care of it when we pass cds around at the cd pass around night thing.