4th annual Songblague mixtape!

Well, this was an eventful year. "Interesting times", as the Chinese curse has it. In many ways, the world seems a more unsettled place — economically, environmentally, and a creeping sense of hopeless national dysfunction in spite of Obama holding the line. And yet (and I hope I'm not tempting fate by saying), it was a pretty good one for me. Generally healthy, domestically happy, with all the gratitude that goes along with that, what fool could complain? Which is a weird place to be for someone in tune with the doom and dread in even the most benign situations.

So here's a year-end 'blague round-up that maybe hits some of the above notes, influenced also by a nagging case of jetleg (still getting my head around literally going back in time via crossing the international date line). At any rate, the flow feels right. Hope you enjoy whatever narrative comes across for you. Maybe even throw it on for a bit at your New Years party. See you on the other side.

Aside
Willie Hutch - I Choose You
Greg Hawkes - Block Party
The Toms - Other Boys Do
Joni Mitchell - Black Crow 
Cass McCombs - You Saved My Life
David Axelrod - The Warning Talk (Part II)
Tangerine Dream - The Dream Is Always The Same 

Beside
Zazou/Bikaye/CY1 - Mangungu
Violens - Der Microarc
Hiss Golden Messenger - Blue Country Mystic
Daniel Johnston - Sorry Entertainer
Andy Statman - My Hollywood Girls
Rodriguez - Street Boy
D Train - You're The One For Me

Seaside
Tone Dogs - Secret Crush
The Cut - Atmospheres
The Smiths with Sandie Shaw - I Don't Owe You Anything  
David Bowie - Velvet Goldmine
Guy Boulanger and Edgar Vercy - Cormoran Blesse   
Der Plan - Space Bob

Decide 
Beach House - Other People
The Move - Omnibus

El Coyote y Su Banda - Arboles de la Barranca 
Nite Jewel - In The Dark
Polmo Popto - Kiss Me Again And Again (Songblague edit)
Toshifumi Hinata - Pentimento
Marvin Gaye - My Love Is Waiting

3rd annual Songblague mixtape!

Year-end roundup time again. And this time I'm indulging myself and stretching things out to a luxurious 30-song span. No double album configuration this year. This one is a straight, linear fly-through of 2011 postings. The usual caveats apply — these aren't necessarily my favorites of the year, this is one story among millions, very few of these songs actually came out this year. But I've been pretty happy about my decisions lately, and I hope you enjoy the ones right here. Happy pre-New Year!

Laurie Anderson - Excellent Birds
Karla Bonoff - Somebody's Eyes
Dirty Beaches - Lord Knows Best
Kissing The Pink - All For You
Grovesnor - Taxi From The Airport
Vince Guaraldi - Oaxaca
Lush - Desire Lines
Yo La Tengo - Fog Over Frisco
Dylan Ettinger - Penguin Point
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Up Jumped The Devil
Be Bop Deluxe - Orphans Of Babylon
The Stranglers - Nice n' Sleazy
Aztec Camera - We Could Send Letters
Erroll Garner - Body And Soul
Anna Calvi - Blackout
Peter Hammill - Breakthrough
Ennio Morricone - Il Grande Silenzio (Restless)
The Sound - Golden Soldiers
Hot Cold - I Can Hear Your Voice
Tuxedomoon - Atlantis
Inoyama Land - Glass Chaim
Martin Newell - Julie Profumo
Sorcerer - The Dream
Tall Dwarves - Starry Eyed and Wooly Brained
Tom Waits - Never Let Go
Thin Lizzy - We Will Be Strong
Yasauaki Shimizu - Semitori No Hi
We The People - In The Past
Heaven & Earth - Feel The Spirit
Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - Marty's Song

2nd annual Songblague mixtape!

Yeesh, this took a while. No matter how I try to prevent it, I always get overwhelmed by choice. I love all my babies, and we're talking over 250 songs this year to boil down into a single, digestible "story." In the end, I decided not worry about equitable representation. No 2010 in miniature, just one view out of a million possibilities. If you're looking for a little bit of everything, you should just take a listen to the year in full. Backwards, of course. Or just stock up on Bill Nelson records — Songblague's obsession of the year (anything up to 1986; after that, it gets pretty spotty).

So here's your 2010 mix, featuring all of two songs that actually came out this year. (The past is always present!) Picture it double album style. Five tracks a side, which is one week in Songblague time. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that it would make a pretty OK soundtrack for your New Year's party. Most of it anyway. Enjoy!

Side A
Susumu Yokota - Tobiume
Bill Nelson - White Sound
Japan - My New Career
Ambrosia - If Heaven Could Find Me
Roger Miller - My Uncle Used To Love Me But She Died

Side B
Marcos Valle - Tira a Mão
Simple Minds - Glittering Prize
Nora Guthrie - Home Before Dark
Need New Body - Show Me Your Heart
Superchunk - My Gap Feels Weird

Side C
Hatchback - Midnight Jogger
Shalamar - Don't Try To Change Me
Haniwa-Chan - Sumidagawa Daisanji
The Pretenders - I Go To Sleep
Pete Townshend - Face Dances Part Two

Side D
The Fall - Rowche Rumble
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Let It Sway
Serge Bulot - Fumee
Arthur Russell - The Letter
John Stewart - Gold

Not-so-secret track (If a record could do a tastefully-chosen encore)
Cube - Concert Boy

Another not-so-secret track (If a record could point out to the last guy at the party and the sun is now coming up and it's time for sleep)
Nite Jewel - Artificial Intelligence

1st annual Songblague mixtape!

As promised, a year-end mix. Songblague is just about to hit the 200 post mark! And that's a mighty big pool to fish from. I must say I'm pretty surprised at how this one shaped itself out. But then, serendipity is part of the whole project. Thanks for listening so far. Hope you continue checking in. And I hope you dig this little sampler. I meant to make it one continuous track, but hey, I'm on vacation. And the Yahoo media player does a pretty good playlist function. Meanwhile, hope you all have a successful escape from the flaming wreckage of the 'aughts. Err, I mean, Happy New Year, citizens!

Inouk - Elected
Gang Gang Dance - House Jam
Alan Parsons Project - I Wouldn't Want To Be Like You
Three O'Clock - On My Own
Daryl Hall & Robert Fripp - Something In 4-4 Time
Peter Ivers - Gentle Jesus
Cheyenne - Come Back To Me
The Cure - Throw Your Foot
Lambchop - Ohio
20/20 - Giving It All
Savage - A Love Again
Miles Davis - Little Church
Passport - Rockport
The Ukrainians - Batyar
Skatebård - Data Italia
Run On - Anything You Say
The Crystals - He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss)
Robyn Hitchcock - Sometimes I Wish I Was A Pretty Girl
Robert Palmer - Johnny and Mary
Goldmund - In A Notebook
David Shire - End Title

Arrgh, indecision strikes. Even after things have been decided. I thought 21 tracks made a pretty tidy package. Blackjack. But a few others kept dancing around in my head. Since Songblague tends to work in week-size batches, here's a little 5-song companion mix. Like an EP. Or a sidecar. Or a short course of antibiotics.

The Kinks - People Take Pictures Of Each Other
George Duke - I Love You More
The March Violets - Turn To The Sky
The Notations - Make Me Twice The Man
Phil Manzanera - Frontera