2008 Favorites

I've put together my annual mix of my favorite songs from the last year (2007, 2006, 2005 can be found here). It's an imperfect process. I try to get a group of songs together that make a good mix and that I like a lot. I only did one song from each album so there may be a song that's my second favorite song of the year but it didn't make the cut because my first favorite song is on the same album.

I feel like there aren't many new artists on my mix this year or rather artists making their first appearance on one of my yearly compilations. I'm not sure if that's due to the fact that I've been very busy (new baby, renovating old building, starting a business) or if I've missed some good stuff that came out. I hate when I discover music that I love only to find out that it came out in the previous year and I just missed it. If you want a copy let me know. I have a distribution list and I'm only about 1/3 of the way through printing them up and sending them out.

Ray LaMontagne - Meg White
Tilly and the Wall - Pot Kettle Black
She and Him - Why do you let me stay here?
Bon Iver - Skinny Love
Hayes Carll - Girl Downtown
Dr. Dog - 100 Years
The Dutchess and the Duke - Out of Time
Gentleman Auction House - ABCDEFGraveyard
Gnarls Barkley - Run (I'm a Natural Disaster)
Langhorne Slim - Colette
Love as Laughter - Bonnie and Clyde
Theodore - One Good Fall
Okkervil River - Lost Coastlines
The Ting Tings - That's Not My Name

2007 Favorites

Once again I have pulled together a list of some of my favorite tracks of the previous year and put them in a mix to hand out to friends. In some instances I may have picked tracks that weren't my absolute favorite, but the track I selected fit better in the mix and I liked it a lot anyway. While a track like Rehab from Amy Winehouse was one I listened to a lot last year there wasn't any point in putting it on the mix since everyone else heard it as well. Besides, Amy's backing band is on track 4 anyway.

I think the album I listened to most last year was probably Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga by Spoon and the track I listened to most was most likely Unless It's Kicks by Okkervil River. If you want a copy let me know and I'll see if I have any lying around. I'm working on Favorites of 2008 already. We'll see where Cat Power falls next January after it's been out a year.

Track Listing:
1. All Smiles - Summer Stay
2. The Avett Brothers - Die Die Die
3. Okkervil River - Unless It's Kicks
4. Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings - 100 Days, 100 Nights
5. Andrew Bird - Imitosis
6. Blonde Redhead - 23
7. Elvis Perkins - While You Were Sleeping
8. Dr. Dog - My Old Ways
9. Spoon - The Underdog
10. Hotpipes - Song for the Late Riser
11. Jose Gonzalez - Killing for Love
12. Iron and Wine - The Devil Never Sleeps
13. Theodore - Down River Blues
14. We All Have Hooks for Hands - The Man Trying to Outfox Us All
15. The National - Apartment Story
16. The Shins - Turn On Me
17. Saturday Looks Good To Me - (even if you die on the) ocean
18. The White Stripes - It's My Fault for Being Famous

2006 Favorites

I've put together my list of favorite songs for 2006. It can be downloaded here:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=R4QLNP36

Unfortunately the megaupload program puts the titles in alpha order. Below is the order in which I intended.
1. TV on the Radio - Wolf Like Me
2. Tapes 'n Tapes - The Iliad
3. Tilly and the Wall - Rainbows in the Dark
4. Cat Power - Living Proof
5. Gentleman Auction House - A Hospital or Heaven
6. The Hard Lessons - Bamboo
7. Band of Horses - The Funeral
8. Eef Barzelay - I Wasn't Really Drunk
9. Ray LaMontagne - Three More Days
10. Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins - Rise Up With Fists!
11. M. Ward - To Go Home
12. The Avett Brothers - When I Drink
13. The Raconteurs - Steady As She Goes
14. Beck - Nausea
15. Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor
16. Yo La Tengo - Mr. Tough
17. Ben Kweller - Sundress
18. Jack Johnson - The 3 R's
19. Ray LaMontagne - Can I Stay (live) bonus

100 Songs, 1,000,000 Memories

100 songs that I love in no particular order. I didn't use any artist twice to get as much representation as possible. What are your favorite songs?
1. Joe Henry - Short Man's Room
2. The Stooges - No Fun
3. Nina Simone - My Baby Just Cares for Me
4. Charlie Rich - No Headstone on My Grave
5. Brendan Benson - Tiny Spark
6. The Shins - Caring is Creepy
7. John Lee Hooker - Boom Boom
8. Tapes n' Tapes - The Illiad
9. Big Maybelle - That's a Pretty Good Love
10. The Kinks - Milk Cow Blues
11. Neva Dinova - Yellow Datsun
12. Son Volt - Tear Stained Eye
13. Andrew Bird - Satisfied
14. The Long Winters - Blue Diamonds
15. Sly & the Family Stone - If You Want Me to Stay
16. Kevin Russell's Junker - Somebody Bring Me a Flower (I'm a Robot)
17. Superchunk - Detroit Has a Skyline
18. Blonde Redhead - Equus
19. Willie Nelson - I'm Not Trying to Forget You Anymore
20. Cat Power - Free
21. Smoosh - Massive Cure
22. Jackson Browne - Late For the Sky
23. Ben Kweller - Lizzy
24. Gladys Knight & the Pips - I Heard it Through the Grapevine
25. Weezer - El Scorcho (goddamn you half Japanese Girls!)
26. Clem Snide - Messiah Complex Blues
27. Pixies - Mr. Grieves
28. Stevie Wonder - Superstition
29. Nirvana - Sliver
30. Urge Overkill - Emmaline
31. Hazel Dickens - West Virginia, My Home
32. M. Ward - Helicopter
33. Tom Waits - Gun Street Girl
34. Old 97's - Wish the Worst
35. The Hard Lessons - That Other Girl
36. Neil Young - Southern Man
37. Lightnin' Hopkins - Jake Head Boogie
38. Uncle Tupelo - Graveyard Shift
39. The Monkees - Stepping Stone
40. Fugazi - Waiting Room
41. Iron & Wine/Calexico - A History of Lovers
42. Bruce Springsteen - Used Cars
43. Yo La Tengo/Daniel Johnston - Speeding Motorcycle
44. The Jackson 5 - Who's Loving You
45. Ryan Adams - Halloween
46. Afghan Whigs - Debonair
47. Public Enemy - Fight the Power
48. The Replacements - I'll be You
49. Metallica - Fade to Black
50. Cowboy Junkies - Murder, Tonight, in the Trailer Park
51. Dangermouse - Encore
52. The Gourds - Gin & Juice
53. Richard Buckner - Rainsquall
54. Dave Dudley - Six Days on the Road
55. Beck - Where It's At
56. Tom Petty - American Girl
57. James Brown - Papa's Got a Brand New Bag pt.1
58. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Scar Tissue
59. Dave Alvin - King of California
60. Athlete - Vehicles and Animals
61. Otis Redding - These Arms of Mine
62. Michelle Shocked/Uncle Tupelo - Shaking Hands
63. Bettie Serveert - Palomine
64. K's Choice - Not an Addict
65. Elton John - Where to Now St. Peter?
66. Aqualung - Brighter than Sunshine
67. Rolling Stones - Ventilator Blues
68. Elliott Smith - Somebody that I Used to Know
69. Buffalo Tom - Birdbrain
70. Low - When I Go Deaf
71. Sam Cooke - Please Don't Drive Me Away
72. Sloan - Underwhelmed
73. Violent Femmes - Kiss Off
74. Al Green - Love & Happiness
75. the White Stripes - Red Death at 6:14
76. Ike & Tina Turner - A Fool in Love
77. the Jayhawks - Waiting for the Sun
78. Pavement - Trigger Cut
79. Beastie Boys - Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun
80. Crowded House - Four Season's in One Day
81. Gillian Welch - Paper Wings
82. Jay Farrar & Kelly Willis - Rex's Blues
83. Cat Stevens - Wild World
84. Etta James - Something's Got a Hold on Me
85. Kasey Chambers - The Captain
86. Olabelle Reed - You Led Me to the Wrong
87. Vic Chesnutt - Isadora Duncan
88. Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend
89. Louis Armstrong - A Kiss to Build a Dream on
90. XTC - Dear God
91. Evan Dando - Why Do You Do This to Yourself?
92. The Black Keys - Hurt Like Mine
93. Steve Earle - Feel Alright
94. Nick Drake - Saturday Sun
95. Neal Casal - These Days With You
96. Ray Charles - What'd I Say pts 1&2
97. Tilly & the Wall - Bessa
98. Louis Prima - Wanna Be Like You
99. Robert Earl Keen Jr. - Then Came Lo Mein
100. Aretha Franklin - Baby I Love You

Tilly and the Wall at the Creepy Crawl July 17, 2006

I've never been filled with the spirit of comraderie and rock n roll happiness like I was last night. Thank you Tilly and the Wall for renewing my faith in live music. I needed it.

2005 Favorites

I like to make compilation cd's each year for my friends of my favorite songs of the previous year. Unfortunately the whole burning, creating artwork, buying envelopes, mailing the mix thing slows me down and I rarely get many mailed off. Especially this year since I'm reahabbing our new house, selling our old house (we close on 2/28/06!), takingcare of a baby and moving. It just didn't seem like it was going to happen.So this year I have done something different. I've uploaded all of the songs that I would have put on a cd so that you can download them to your computers if you like.

All you have to do is go to this link:http://www.megaupload.com/?d=38LHE9XC In about 45 seconds it'll ask you where you want to download the file. You'll want to download it to wherever you keep your other MP3's (MyMusic folder perhaps?). It takes a little while to download depending on the speed of your connection. It takes far less time than going to your local music store though. I believe the file will be actively stored on that website for 30 days.

The drawback to doing it this way is that I can't control the order in which you hear the songs or give you the full experience with the liner notes and cover art so, I'm making a list of the order in which I would have burned the mix.

2005 Favorites: Year of the Baby
1. Spoon - My Mathematical Mind
2. Calexico/Iron & Wine - A History of Lovers
3. Beck - Black Tambourine
4. the White Stripes - Denial Twist
5. Tilly & the Wall - Bessa
6. the Sights - Scratch My Name in Sin
7. the Mountain Goats - Pale Green Things
8. Love as Laughter - Every Midnight Song
9. Fruit Bats - Born in the 70's
10. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Howl
11. Bright Eyes - Old Soul Song
12. Low - When I Go Deaf
13. Andrew Bird - Skin Is, My
14. Brendan Benson - Cold Hands (Warm Heart)
15. Weezer - Perfect Situation
16. Calexico/Iron & Wine - Red Dust
17. Spoon - I Turn My Camera On
18. Danny Barnes - Rat's Ass