Monday Mixtape for June 24, 2013

Basically, the idea for this hopefully weekly segment traces its roots back to my college days, an age when most people begin to expand their musical horizons by being exposed to an extremely eclectic group of people with extremely eclectic tastes; unless of course you went to a state college and most of the student body still listened to Country and AC/DC.  If you were able to meet the right people (or download the right music with your newly found high speed university internet) you discovered a whole new galaxy of sound from artists you would have never heard of by keeping the dial tuned to the right on KBBL Rockz or whatever your hometown’s hackneyed classic rock station happened to be.

Anyway, I used to make mix CDs for my hour and a half-long trek from home to school during holiday or summer breaks and pretty soon I found myself making mixes for other people by request, something which I have continued to do today.  Recently, filling up the listening bloc for the annual 26-hour round trip/vacation trek to upstate New York got the creative juices flowing again, eventually leading to what you now see before you.

Basically, every Monday I will post a new “mixtape”, with both an “A” and “B” side.  Most of the cuts will be alternative or indie in nature, with a little punk, new wave, and other non-mainstream rock sprinkled in for variety.  For convenience purposes I have decided to just order them chronologically, and even though that isn’t really in the style of a mixtape, it gives people the option of skipping to whatever particular era they may prefer.  Most of the time, I won’t repeat an artist on the same mix but I will occasionally do it if I feel so inclined.

I will embed the Youtube playlist and then list the tracks below it.  I originally considered dropping some knowledge on each track but that would have tired me out enough that I would eventually dread having to post this every week – and I don’t want that to happen!  I would also upload the actual mix for you to steal at your leisure, but a lot of these artists could use some cash thrown their way by actually purchasing the music and I don’t particularly feel like getting any letters in the mail from angry Sony lawyers.  We’re the internet generation, if you need my help to steal music you just haven’t been paying enough attention for the last fifteen years.

A note on the playlists: Once you hit play, there is a button at the bottom of the player with the “play” symbol on it; click this button to bring up the remaining videos on the playlist. You may now choose between other songs on the selected playlist.

Monday Mixtape for June 24, 2013:

“A” Side

1. Joe Jackson – “Is She Really Going Out with Him?” (1978)
2. Public Image Ltd – “Public Image” (1978)
3. Simple Minds – “(Don’t You) Forget About Me” (1985)
4. The Housemartins – “Happy Hour” (1986)
5. They Might Be Giants – “Don’t Let’s Start” (1986)
6. A.R. Kane – “Lollita” (1987)
7. The Charlatans – “The Only One I Know” (1990)
8. The Cure – “Never Enough” (1990)
9. Beastie Boys – “So What’cha Want” (1992)
10. Manic Street Preachers – “She Is Suffering” (1994)

“B” Side

1. Foo Fighters – “I’ll Stick Around” (1995)
2. Modest Mouse – “Broke” (1996)
3. Super Furry Animals – “Something 4 the Weekend” (1996)
4. Radiohead – “Optimistic” (2000)
5. Franz Ferdinand – “The Dark of the Matinee” (2004)
6. The Decemberists – “Sixteen Military Wives” (2005)
7. Elbow – “Grounds for Divorce” (2008)
8. The Antlers – “Bear” (2009)
9. Girls – “Vomit” (2011)