Shuffle 12/26/14

1. Coldplay - "The Scientist"
2. David Ford - "Throwaway"
3. Moby (with Skylar Grey) - "The Last Day"
4. Louis Armstrong - "When It's Sleepy Time Down South"
5. The Builders And The Butchers - "Devil Town"
6. Titus Andronicus - "First Inaugural Address, take two"
7. Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears - "I'm Broke"
8. Barenaked Ladies - "Adrift"
9. Carina Round - "Weird Dream"
10. Nico Muhly & Sam Amidon - "The Only Tune: III. The Only Tune"

David Ford.
Louis Armstrong.
Carina Round.
Nico Muhly & Sam Amidon.

UPDATE:  On this last listen to the mix, I have to say that the Moby and Barenaked Ladies songs are pretty fucking stellar too. And the Scottish man talking in the Carina Round sound makes me want to move there and marry him.

This is a mix full of beautiful music, but those four tracks are worth everything. A fantastic last mix of the year.

Oh, and the Titus Andronicus track isn't a song, but a monologue that lasts under a minute, and it's not on Spotify. I don't feel like uploading it. It's cool in the flow of this mix, but whatever. All the REST are on Spotify, so just let it play.

iTunes Shuffle 12/19/14

1. Sylvan Esso - "Hey Mami"
2. Rush - "Face Up"
3. Elton John - "You Gotta Love Someone"
4. Butterfly Boucher - "All Of The Things"
5. Bunny's A Swine - "Greetings From The Bottom"
6. Twista ft. Young Buk - "Adrenaline Rush"
7. Steve Moakler - "Run"
8. Hole - "20 Years In The Dakota"
9. Canasta - "I Don't Know Where I Was Going With This"
10. Swimful Buterfly - "Real OG (Lil B Instrumental)"

Hmm. This mix. Weird. Confession time:  I love Rush. And I love cheesy Elton John songs.

Aside from that: Sylvan Esso is a great electro-pop kinda group, Butterfly Boucher is a great singer/songwriter out of Nashville. Let's see, let's see. Bunny's A Swine is a band from western Massachusetts that just intrigued me enough that I downloaded their entire catalog. Twista is rap from the 90's.

I think the highlights here are Steve Moakler and Canasta. First of all, Steve Moakler looks like this:

And his music is nice too.

He also looks like this:

Anyway, he's a Nashville artist too. 

Like I said, Canasta is another highlight. 

Finally, it started electronic with Sylvan Esso and it ends electronic with Swimful Buterfly, the end.

iTunes Shuffle 12/12/14

1. Dido - "Take My Hand"
2. Anathallo - "All The First Pages"
3. Trainwreck Riders - "Chug Along"
4. The Clash - "Career Opportunities"
5. Emily Elbert - "Keep On Pushing" (Curtis Mayfield & The Impressions cover)
6. Crushed Out - "Weigh You Down"
7. Ewert and the Two Dragons - "Good Man Down"
8. The Beatles - "Polythene Pam"
9. Jason Marsalis Vibes Quartet - "Ballet Class"
10. Phish - "Wolfman's Brother"

Dido's first record was actually really good. That's all I'm saying about that. Anathallo is a very, very good Christian band, sort of in the way that Sufjan Stevens is a very, very good Christian artist. That's to say, it does not matter that they are a Christian band, the music stands on its own. Trainwreck Riders follow with their thing that simultaneously sounds like alt-country and like Modest Mouse.

Other highlights include Emily Elbert's cover of the Curtis Mayfield/The Impressions song. Good shit. Also good shit is Ewert and the Two Dragons, an indie rock band from Estonia.

Late Beatles, some jazz and some goddamned Phish, the end.

iTunes Shuffle 12/5/14

1. The Revivalists - "Common Cents"
2. Jason Mraz - "The Freedom Song" (Luc & The Lovingtons cover)
3. Tori Amos - "Jackie's Strength" (Gold Dust orchestral version)
4. Blitzen Trapper - "American Goldwing"
5. Battles ft. Matias Aguayo - "Ice Cream"
6. Curtis Mayfield - "Power To The People"
7. Ice-T - "New Jack Hustler (Ninio's Theme)"
8. Lily & Madeleine - "In The Middle"
9. The Salvation Alley String Band - "Pretty Paper" (Roy Orbison/Willie Nelson cover)
10. Tom Jones - "It's Not Unusual"

So, it's the holidays now. Huh. Onto the mix, as usual?

We start with one of New Orleans's best current bands, The Revivalists. Jason Mraz is one of my favorite humans alive, and assuming I get married, he will be on my celebrity list (you know, the one where if you get to sleep with that celebrity, your marriage vows don't matter and you can't get in trouble). The New Orleans trend continues in The Freedom Song, which was written in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Another underlying trend here is that a few of these songs are relevant to the Ferguson situation, continuing my belief that, sometimes, my iTunes is a sentient being.

Onto the orchestral version of one of Tori Amos's most beautiful songs, "Jackie's Strength." It's been a while since she's shown up here.

Other highlights: Blitzen Trapper is always good southern country rock fun. The Curtis Mayfield is another song that seems particularly relevant at the moment and makes an interesting juxtaposition with the Ice-T just after.

Lily & Madeleine are a really special folk duo, two sisters, on Sufjan Stevens's label.

Finally, my iTunes seems to know it's the first week of the Christmas season, so we have a cover of the Roy Orbison song, "Pretty Paper." Willie Nelson wrote it in 1963 but didn't release his own version until 1979.

And finally, my mom says I'm not supposed to listen to Tom Jones.

The sorta charmingly out of tune Christmas song first, then the Spotify list: