Decadeology

I tried my hand at Madmadcat's decade mixtape challenge: 20 songs, 2 songs from each year, with no band duplicates. I tried to go for a mix with a decent flow and I think I succeeded somewhat. Naturally, it was difficult to pick just 20 songs to represent the past 10 years, but that is part of the fun. And really, it's in no way representative of the entire decade. Get the download link below. You can peruse the tracklist while you wait for the file and clown (or praise) me in the comments.


1. Elliott Smith - Everything Reminds Me of Her (2000)
2. PJ Harvey - This Is Love (2000)
3. Curve - Gift (2001)
4. The White Stripes - Fell In Love With A Girl (2001)
5. Neko Case - I Wish I Was The Moon (2002)
6. Tom Waits - Alice (2002)
7. PUFFY - Planet Tokyo (2003)
8. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps (2003)
9. Lali Puna - Left Handed (2004)
10. Ted Leo / Pharmacists - Me and Mia (2004)
11. Kate Bush - How To Be Invisible (2005)
12. The New Pornographers - Sing Me Spanish Techno (2005)
13. Asobi Seksu - New Years (2006)
14. El Perro Del Mar - God Knows (You Gotta Give To Get) (2006)
15. Grinderman - No Pussy Blues (2007)
16. Kaela Kimura - Ground Control (2007)
17. Perfume - Puppy Love (2008)
18. Portishead - Machine Gun (2008)
19. Fever Ray - If I Had A Heart (2009)
20. Sweet Trip - Your World Is Eternally Complete (2009)

>>zip file<<

Favorite films of 2009

Because we all like lists of some sort, these are my favorite films of the past year. Keep in mind these aren't really in any order, and they are basically out of what I've seen. I haven't seen Avatar, Up In The Air, Precious or anything else that people are going crazy about. So there.


In case the images fail, again:

• Black Dynamite
• District 9
• Fantastic Mr. Fox
• Inglourious Basterds
• A Serious Man
• Thirst
• Up
• The Road
• Zombieland
• Moon

Refrain from breaking my heart

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I'm really liking Theoretical Girl's cover of Erasure's A Little Respect. The sleigh bells are a nice touch. I fucking love sleigh bells, maybe even more than handclaps. In any case, she posted this track on her blog as part of her Advent Calendar series. If I were you, I'd head over there and download this, and everything else. There are some really cool tracks available...for free!

Theoretical Girl > A Little Respect


And while we're at it, why don't we show a little respect to the classic original track? See what I did there?

Erasure > A Little Respect

Children's Christmas Song

This little gem is from the Supremes' Christmas album, pictured above. The backing vocals feature Diana Ross' little brother, Chico, and Berry Gordy's children, Joy, Berry, and Terry. Diana name checks them all in the song, which is pretty cool. I wanna be immortalized in a Supremes song. Merry Christmas, peeps.

The Supremes > Children's Christmas Song

You're gonna tell me sweet things

One of my all-time favorite bands. Debbie Harry is all class. This is a Buddy Holly cover from Parallel Lines, which is arguably their best album. I think I've said it before, but I could go with either Parallel Lines, or Eat To The Beat. Both of those albums, start to finish, are nearly flawless to my ears. Just for fun, I'm including the Buddy Holly track, as well.

Blondie > I'm Gonna Love You Too


Buddy Holly > I'm Gonna Love You Too

Monica Bellucci

Sweet Trip > Monica Bellucci

Hey, are you satisfied?

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The Replacements > Unsatisfied

Night Time

The xx > Night Time

No one makes me feel the way you do

Say hello to the magical, Kate Bush. I love the sweet and lilting feel of this track, it's a perfect little gem. Songs like this are the reason that b-sides were invented.

Home For Christmas is a b-side from the Rubberband Girl single, which was taken from her 1993 album, The Red Shoes.

Kate Bush > Home For Christmas

And the bells were ringing out

The classic. RIP Kirsty MacColl.

Repost: I will be hating you for Christmas

This one is a repost from last year. It's a holiday fave, what can I say?

Remember that feeling of getting dumped right before Christmas? I'm sure we have all been there. This song sums up that feeling.

I love this:

There's gotta be a better way to deal with the pain
There's gotta be a better way to deal with the hate
Wish that I could find some way to make you go away
Wish that I could have a drink and make you fade

It's so perfect.

Check this out on Everclear's So Much For The Afterglow album. It's an unlisted track at the end of the album, so keep listening after you think the last song is done.

Everclear > Hating You For Christmas

That was the worst Christmas ever

A long time ago, I used to work at the Mervyn's at Serramonte Shopping Mall in Daly City. This one particular Christmas eve, we closed up the store and we got off at 5 or 6, I think. There was an El Torito (Mexican restaurant slash bar) across the parking lot, so a few of us decided to head there for drinks.

About 5 Long Islands later, the bar is closing and this guy, Vince, suggest we all go to his place for beers. And so we go. Vince has a case of beer through which we plow. We drank it up fast. Then, Vince produces a bottle of Herradura, which we all proceed to finish. It's something like 2am and I remember being absolutely gone. The doorbell rings, and a few more people join the party. Somebody brought special brownies, but I didn't know they were special. I hungrily wolf a couple of them down.

Bad move.

I pass out on Vince's couch around 3 or 3.30 in the morning. Soon enough, 6.30 am arrives and Vince is waking me up. "Dude, you gotta get outta here, my parents are gonna be home soon", he says. Thick cobwebs in my brain and my head spinning, I somehow manage to drive home. I couldn't even make it upstairs to my bedroom, I pass out on the couch.

Less than an hour later, my little brothers, ages 6 and 7, come galloping down the stairs for the opening of the Christmas presents. All excited, they wake me up and I'm somehow able to play it straight in front of everyone. After the presents are done and everyone else is occupied, I crawl upstairs to my bed and sleep until dinner time.

Sufjan Stevens > That Was The Worst Christmas Ever

Come On Santa

You're sitting in a booth in an old greasy spoon, eyes staring into the eternal darkness of the coffee that sits before you. It's Christmas eve and there's a sad little Charlie Brown Christmas tree by the door. There's one other patron, a man sitting at the counter, wearing a faded baseball cap, ignoring his plate of sausage and eggs while he drinks from a flask of Wild Turkey that he intermittently pulls from his shirt pocket.

She walks through the doorway and the open doors momentarily allow the wind to announce her presence. She slowly drifts to your booth and the music starts as if it were cued for this moment. For a second she's standing there, staring down at you with big blue eyes shrink-wrapped in tears, and it feels like forever. You give a barely perceptible nod and start to get up. As your frame unfolds, she takes your hand and leads you for a few steps and then stops. She whirls in slow motion to face you and takes a hold of your hips, pulls you close and you both begin to slowly sway to the music. Her arms snake their way up and drape themselves around your neck, her head resting on your shoulders while she breathes sighs into your ears. "Come on, Santa..."

The Raveonettes > Come On Santa