Summer Playlist 2009

This is a great summer mix. Even though after I put it together, I realized that some of the songs reference winter or the darkening of lights...but whatever. The whole mix SOUNDS like it is really about fun and summer and whimsy. Also, I realized I need to drop a few of these songs from the mix cd circuit. I've overused several of them. Resolution time!!!!!

RESOLUTION 1: Okay, this will be (I swear) the last time I use 'Fidelity', 'It's All Good', 'That's It, I Quit, I'm Movin' On' and 'Travelin' Man' in a mix. I think in the future, if I am going to reference a year in the title of my playlist I really should make at least a third of the playlist contain songs that are from the year referenced, nitpicky I know. Perhaps I should have just called this CD "A Summer Mix". This playlist only has two songs from 2009. But let's not let that deter us from the awesomeness that is this mix, or deny the validation behind the miriad of times I've played it, but in the future I vow to be more current if a mix references a year. I could just change the title, you say? But I can't, it's been burned, inked with a sharpie and passed on. There is no going back.

Summer Mix '09

1. Lights Out (Diplo's Panda Bear Mix) - Santogold
2. Always a Friend - Alejandro Escovedo
3. Fidelity - Regina Spektor (why do I insist? I mean, its not like this song isn't also overplayed everywhere else too)
4. Watch the Sunrise - Big Star
5. I Don't Know - Lisa Hannigan
6. I Don't Love Anyone - Belle and Sebastian
7. Honky Tonkin' - Joe Ely
8. Travelin' Man - Dolly Parton (seriously, though it's getting banned, I have NEVER gotten sick of this song)
9. Why Look at the Moon - The Waterboys
10. Polite Dance Song - The Bird and the Bee (2009 entry #1)
11. A-Punk - Vampire Weekend
12. Black Horse and the Cherry Tree - KT Tunstall (too obvious, too four summers ago, I should ban this one too because it too has made numerous appearances outside of enough, I just didn't think to mention it above. Seriously, though, I LOVE this song.)
13. Just A Little Bit - Etta James
14. Iko Iko - Cyndi Lauper
15. Jambalaya (On the Bayou) - Hank Williams
16. Bad Things - Jace Everett (2009 entry #2. And also perhaps the very first television theme song that I have listened to voluntarily, and added to my record collection, that I first heard as a television theme song.)
17. I Can't Dance - Gram Parsons
18. Certainly Cliquot - Robyn Hitchcock (I wish I hadn't used this song...the only one I didn't end up liking in the mix. But now it's flawed presence is as much a part of the mix as the one-two finishing punch of "I'm Allright" followed by "It's All Good". I like the song, just not here. Maybe it's there to remind me to avoid songs with jarring voices that declare in a strange and deep voice-over "she uncorked herself/teeth spilling from her nostrils" while a small chorus cheerfully chirps "she's certainly cliquot/she's certainly cruel". I think lately I've just been liking the word Cliquot, and thought I'd put it here. BAD choice, Shannon. Beirut has a good song called "Cliquot". It's a good word. It's a particular vintage of wine, I believe, but it has a beautiful staccato quality. I fell victim to the title, and forced it into the playlist...sigh.)
19. Outbound Plane - Nanci Griffith (last time I use this song, too)
20. That's It, I Quit, I'm Movin' On - Sam Cooke (last time!!!!!)
21. Telegraph - Ochestral Manoevers in the Dark
22. Just A Ride - Jem
23. Little Yellow Spider - Devendra Banhart
24. I'm Allright - The Go-Betweens
25. It's All Good (with Damien Dempsey) - Sinead O'Connor (LAST TIME)

This is a self-indulgent mix. Half of these are just, plain and simple, MY favorite songs to bop in the sunshine in the car too. Of course I give this my extra fancy AAA mix rating, but I need to open these playlists up a little more.

Funny story about how this mix came about, by the way. I wanted to give this guy a mix tape for summer - he mentioned, mumbled actually, about looking for summer type music in a cd store - so I thought, aha! I will make him a summer mix. I don't know if he is the type who likes mixes because he always burns me entire albums, but I was trying something new. So I put together the mix, loved it so much I listened to it thirty times before giving it to him. So, then, when I handed it to him I mumbled "I made a summer mix for everyone. I decided you get one" because I thought I might like him and didn't want to admit to making him a mix CD - because mix CDs are SIGNIFICANT, you know? I just sort of tossed it in his lap. Do I really like him? We-ell, I don't really know - but not enough or too much to admit to making him a mix cd. So THEN after I said that, I realized that it was kind of a good idea to make a summer mix CD, so even though summer is half over, I am going to start handing out the mix. Then I wasn't lying. I do stand by it even if it is mostly indulgence. (P.S. I did hand it out to like two other people, but continued to listen to it myself for the rest of the summer. And I know now that I DO NOT like him like him, if you know what I mean, so THANK GOD I didn't admit to making him a personalized mix CD.)