My Mixtape Experiment

In response to a class project, I have created this little experiment in blogging to test some of the other features available to me. The idea is to do something different than my norm.

So I have delved into my iPod looking for some of the music that I'm listening to now.

1. Bright Eyes - Road to Joy I know Holly already dedicated a bloggpost to Bright Eyes. However, this album is outstanding and deserves another mention. "Road to Joy" closes his album, but I think it fits well at the beginning of any mix with the crescendo of the music. Conor Oberst was a child prodigy that exploded on the scene with this album and, to some extent, the other album he released simulteaneously, "Digital Ash in a Digital Urn".

2. The Beatles - Happiness Is A Warm Gun The Beatles have long been one of my favorites. They were, hands down, the most influential band in rock history. One of the great things about the band was how much they grew up during their time together. Meet the Beatles is the Brit Pop that came across the pond and hit the Ed Sullivan Show. The White Album developed a harder edge with songs like Revolution 1 and Happiness...

3. The Shins - Mine's Not A High Horse This New Mexico band gained some popularity when they had two songs, "New Slang" and "Caring is Creepy," on the soundtrack for the movie Garden State. This song is on their more recent album, Chutes Too Narrow. The band's sound is pretty unique and very complicated. They can do things with music that not many other bands these days can. One of my favorites.

4. Billy Bragg - Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards Bragg is great. A folk rocker with a socialist slant. He's been around for years, but never really caught on over here. The only exception to that is his joint effort with Wilco, titled "Mermaid Avenue." Mermaid Ave. is a collaberation with Wilco and Woody Guthrie, who had been dead since 1967. Bragg and Wilco found some unpublished lyrics and set them to music. This song is a Bragg original. It's a great song to start a revolution.

5. The Futureheads - Hounds of Love This is a cover of the Kate Bush classic. The song begins with a haunting call and echo that breaks into the heavier than original riffs. This classic make-over really demonstrates what the British are doing right in music these days. The Futureheads, Kaiser Chiefs and Arctic Monkeys made my list. Bloc Party and The Libertines very well could have made the list.

6. Arctic Monkeys - When the Sun Goes Down (Scummy) The Monkeys had to be included after I already included them in a previous blogpost. The album has now been released in America. The band will tour in America to support the album later this year. The chosen song shows off some of these guys high-energy music and lyrics sung with a thick accent. It is an album worth checking out.

7. Wilco - Passenger Side This is the song that introduced me to Wilco. However, I had known, frontman, Jeff Tweedy's music from his work in Uncle Tupelo. Uncle Tupelo collapsed when the working relationship between Tweedy and Jay Farrar did. "A.M." is an impressive album. This led to several more great albums including the aforementioned "Mermaid Ave." and 2002's "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot". Rock music with a little bit of "twang."

8. Son Volt - Windfall Jay Farrar's answer to Tweedy's Wilco never took off like Wilco, but that doesn't mean that the music wasn't good. "Windfall" was the perfect song to roll down your windows and drive. The song's chorus wishes you the same, "May the wind take your troubles away." The music has alot of the same alt.country feel as Wilco, but is just a little more raw. That seems to be exactly the point, though.

9. Bob Dylan - Subterrainean Homesick Blues This is one of those songs that you know it when you hear it. Bluesy and fast-paced, the song is known for giving a name to the '60s radical group The Weathermen. The group used the line, "You don't need a weatherman to know how the wind blows," in order to attract some more attention to the group and its ideals. Dylan is well-known for his attention to social justice in his music. But, if you don't listen to him for his political views, then, he is simply a great introduction to folk music.

10. The Walkmen - The Rat I can honestly say that I don't know much more about this band than this song. But, it could be a sign of good things out of this band. "The Rat" is loud, fast and hard. Hamilton Liethauser's vocals scream out over the music, but he manages to clearly enunciate every painful word. "Can't you hear me, I'm beating on the wall."

11. Sufjan Stevens - Chicago In perhaps the strangest musical endeavor ever, Sufjan Stevens has made it his intention to create an album based on each state in the union. Illinois is his second attempt. Choirs, orchestras and banjos create some really cool musical accompaniment to the lyrics that are interspersed with a history lesson of the state. I can't tell whether to be inspired or depressed by "Chicago," but it is impressive.

12. The Rolling Stones - Sympathy for the Devil Another British Invasion Band and another generation's band that has crossed into my library. "Sympathy..." debuted on the 1968 album "Beggars Banquet". It quickly hit number 1 and became one of the Stones greatest hits. The Stones have continued to produce new music and tour throughout their over 40 years together.

13. Kaiser Chiefs - I Predict A Riot The Kaiser Chiefs are yet another British band on the indie-rock scene. The band is high-energy and this song is a good example of that. There is alot of good music coming out of the indie-scene recently that has been pushing into the mainstream. The Arcade Fire, The Postal Service, Death Cab for Cutie and Modest Mouse have all had success in the mainstream.

This took longer than I thought it would when I started it, and I know it's pretty long. But, my mind and technology got the better of me. So here it is, my attempt at "growing my mind" and expanding my use of bloggging technology.