Tomorrow marks 100 days since the BP oil spill in the gulf. I know they “successfully” capped it, but as long as that sucker is still leaking, I’m saying there is still an oil spill. But this disaster got me thinking a lot about the good old days of folk – when popular music regularly included anthems for a better world. So here you go, ten songs in the spirit of activism. They are warnings of what might become of our world,  encouragements to better our environment, and frustrations upon frustrations in lyric form.

Mother Earth (Natural Anthem) – Neil Young and Crazy Horse
If you can get past the first minute of dissonance, there are some really beautiful harmonies in here.
Key lyric: Oh, Mother Earth, With your fields of green / Once more laid down by the hungry hand / How long can you give and not receive / and feed this world ruled by greed

Don’t Go Near The Water – Johnny Cash
Really, this whole song could be put into the key lyric section. I love when he stops a tells a story.
Key lyric: Don’t go near the water children / See the fish all dead upon the shore / Don’t go near the water / Cause the water isn’t water anymore

Excuse Me Mr. – Ben Harper
I loved this song when I was in college, but never really thought about the lyrics until recently. Ben Harper has a lot of great songs in the folk tradition (How Many Miles Must We March, Like a King, I’ll Rise to name a few) and though I actually love the others more, this one stands out for its finger-pointing tone.
Key lyric: Excuse me mister but isn’t that your oil in the sea / And the pollution in the air mister / Whose could that be?

Earth Song – Michael Jackson
Sure, Heal The World is the obvious choice, but I like to roll against type.
Key lyric: Did you ever stop to notice all the blood we’ve shed before / Did you ever stop to notice the crying Earth the weeping shores?

Death of Mother Nature – Kansas
Mother Nature personified. I think this song is unnecessarily scary/loud at times, but I guess that’s what they were going for.
Key lyric: We’ve strangled all her trees and starved her creatures / There’s poison in the sea and in the air / But worst of all we’ve learned to live without her

Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) – Marvin Gaye
Couldn’t really have a mix about fixing up the world and not have this song, right?
Key lyric: Whoa mercy, mercy me, / Things ain’t what they used to be / Oil wasted on the ocean and upon our seas, fish full of mercury

Don’t Go Near The Water – Beach Boys
Another one where the whole song could be a key lyric. This is one of my favorites on this mix.
Key lyric: Oceans, rivers, lakes and streams / Have all been touched by man / The poison floating out to sea / Now threatens life on land

My Dirty Stream (The Hudson River Song) – Pete Seeger
This is about pollution in our beautiful waterways, but oil is pollution too, right?
Key lyric: At Glens Falls, five thousand honest hands / Work at the consolidated paper plant / Five million gallons of waste a day / Why should we do it any other way?

Paradise – John Prine
Okay, this is about coal mining. But coal is a fuel, and oil is a fuel. Just go with it, okay?
Key lyric: And daddy won’t you take me back to Muhlenberg County / Down by the Green River where Paradise lay / Well, I’m sorry my son, but you’re too late in asking / Mister Peabody’s coal train has hauled it away

In Our Talons – Bowerbirds
This is the most recent song here. It’s also has the most general lyrics, but I love the key one as a way to end this mix.
Key lyric: It takes a lot of nerve to destroy this wondrous earth / We’re only human; this at least we’ve learned.

America Is Not The World by Morrissey came on my shuffle the other day, and I thought “Gee, that would be a humorous song to put on a Fourth of July mix, if only I had one of those.” And then I realized how easy it would be to accomplish just that. I think in the end, better judgment prevailed and I skipped the anti-American sentiments in favor of an all-American get ready for bar-b-que and fireworks playlist. So go ahead and listen to this as you get ready for your bar-b-ques and fireworks, people!

Though I thought about just surprising you, here is the track listing:

Lee Greenwood – God Bless The USA
You can thank me later.

Ray Charles – America The Beautiful
Though I recommend checking out the Willie Nelson version, I love that equally if not sometimes more.

Celine Dion – God Bless America
Particularly awesome version, given that it was from the 9/11 memorial concert and she is Canadian.

Simon & Garfunkel – America
Great song about finding yourself

Neil Diamond – America
I had to sing this in an elementary school play about emigration. To Israel. You figure it out.

Jimi Hendrix – Star Spangled Banner
Of course.

Martina McBride – Independence Day
A song about wife beating disguised in patriotism that is sung on almost every season of American Idol. Go figure.

James Brown – Living In America
From Rocky IV and has the line “Eddie Murphy, eat your heart out.”

Whitney Houston – Star Spangled Banner
I was led to believe it would be un-American of me to leave this version of this song off the list. It’s from Super Bowl XXV.

Team America – America, F**k Yeah
But it would be even more un-American to leave this off. Enjoy.

Last night I realized something awful. I had mistakenly deleted 22 folders of music. Permanently. This is what I get for procrastinating and working on mixes at 3am. I was raised to be a loyal PC girl, so no Mac Time Machine for me. Needless to say, I was pretty devastated. I posted an account of my ineptitude on my personal tumblr, along with a list of the full albums I had lost and cared to get back. (That list is here, if you’re interested.) I then tweeted the link, and shot an email to friends I thought might be able to help. And holy god, help they did. Within 45 minutes, I had half of the list back in my possession, and at this moment am downloading the last of the files.

One of the albums I had lost was Clinging To A Scheme by The Radio Dept. On it is a song I considered sending to everyone that helped, titled A Token Of Gratitude. But then I thought, why not just one up myself and make a full mix of it. This way you all get to benefit from my stupidity. And it’s better than a fruit basket.

Taxes are no fun. But aren’t you glad you are all done with them? Because it means refund time! So consider this your first of hopefully several, a mix about money, taxes, and stickin’ it to the man. Here are my top ten money/tax-related songs.

1. The Beatles – Taxman
2. The Robert Cray Band – 1040 Blues
3. Notorius B.I.G. – Mo Money Mo Problems
4. Spoon – Who Makes Your Money
5. Pink Floyd – Money
6. The Kinks – Sunny Afternoon
7. Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – What If We All Stopped Paying Taxes?
8. Monty Python – Money Song
9. The Jam – Burning Sky

#10 of the mix was meant to be Johnny Paycheck’s Me And The I.R.S., but I couldn’t find it anywhere but YouTube:

This year I saw 50+ bands while in Austin. It was pretty exhausting. More exhausting though? Writing this post. What follows is a recap, illustrated through video I took during the week, and soundtracked with two jam-packed mixes for your streaming pleasure. You may notice that some bands have more love in the commentary than others. This is not a reflection of any one band, just the time I had to devote to researching them further. You’ll enjoy it anyway, I promise. All of my photos from Austin can be found here.

The first four bands on this list were actually during SXSW Interactive, but who’s counting, right? The Walkmen played during the Digg party, and We Are Scientists played during the closing party. Technically, I only heard the latter band over the concrete wall of Mohawk, since we were next door riding a mechanical bull. Both of those bands have been on past mixes, I’m sure you are aware of them. The Octopus Project played at Barbarian’s party at Mohawk. They are pretty much all instruments (including a theremin!), no lyrics. They also incorporate trippy videos on a huge screen behind them. Probably the most artistic band I saw all way. Here is the video for the song Truck:

I am aware His Orchestra exists because one of it’s members, Kestrin, kindly let me sleep on her couch in LA last summer, and also, she runs the RVIP – one of the greatest creations to ever hit SXSW. Also, her band is pretty awesome. I caught them in a pop-up show out by the power plant. I can’t embed, unfortunately, but here is some video Cameron took that night. Yes, that is a flame-thrower attached to the fence. Really fun band, I hope to catch them when they hit NYC in May. Now onto bands from the actual music portion of the festival…

Day One. Eleven Bands.

I tried to see Broken Bells first, but lines were insane. Any time they played lines were insane. So they are not on this mix. I don’t like lines. I ended up catching the end of Rural Alberta Advantage’s set while waiting for The Morning Benders. Both were great. The Morning Benders are about 12 years old. How have they been making music for (relatively) so long? Here is my video of them playing Wet Cement, off their new album Big Echo.

Free Energy is a band that flew into my SXSW experience under the radar. I forgot I knew who they were. I loved their song Something in Common before, and then kind of forgot about them. Big mistake.

So fun live, this turned out to be one of my favorite shows all week. Best I can describe them is dancy-punkish-pop-rock. Also, they look like they stepped out of some nostalgic movie of my generation, like a mix of Dazed and Confused and Almost Famous. Does that help?

Joe Pug was recommended to me when I was back into my folk singer songwriter period for a bit. He played before Freelance Whales. Thought he was good, maybe a little too acoustic for the crowd at hand, but worth looking into back home. Freelance Whales were good, of course, but nothing in this concert differed much from when I saw them in Brooklyn a few weeks ago. Suckers also play in NYC a lot, you should go find them. Great live.

I did not love Real Estate live as much as I had hoped to. This is most likely chalked up to the fact that I had super high hopes. I expected them to be a little more jammy, less rock-infused. I loved their Beach Boys-ish influences, which were a little lost in concert. Still love them though. I stumbled across Or, The Whale in Zone Bar’s strange little refresh lounge thing. Really pretty harmonies define an otherwise hard to pigeonhole band. Part country, part rock, but in no way are they alt-country. Apparently from San Francisco, though I would have been quicker to guess Texas or New Orleans or the sticks of Arkansas. Look them up, if only because they are named after Moby Dick.

I meant to see Here We Go Magic last year, but didn’t, so I guess I was just making up for that. Perfect stoner music. The Middle East is the one band that I was truly let down by at SXSW. I thought their live show paled in comparison to their album. I’ve been told since that maybe I was not in the right area of the venue – apparently the acoustics were vastly different in the back of Club de Ville than they were up front, and their quiet lulling vocals didn’t travel well. Plus I heard they rocked elsewhere. But truth be told, my friends and I could not stick out the whole thing. Which was fine, because I got to see Spoon instead.

Day Two. Nineteen Bands.

This video is the reason I will continue to love Shearwater:

The dude on the left is the drummer, Thor. (Real name.) Fanfarlo’s song The Walls Are Coming Down is one of my favorites of theirs, the lyrics are beautiful. Always happy to see them live:

I saw Neon Indians and Local Natives play at Fader Fort this year. The fort is not so much a fort, more a little pop-up refugee camp for lost little hipsters. Once you braved the line for the wristband, the line-up was pretty solid, and the set-up, while a hike, was actually pretty nice. Local Natives was one of those buzzy bands that somehow was dubbed to be a darling of SXSW, so there was a lot of interest wherever they went. Ultimately, worth the hype, I think. Good on paper, better live.

I didn’t mean to see Julianna Barwick, and though this was primarily because I did not know who she was, I was probably better off with that original plan. I went to the French Legation in hopes of catching the end of Dum Dum Girls, but they were running so super late, that I got this set instead. Interesting music, I supposed, just not my cup of tea. The poor timing meant I only got to catch the beginning of Dum Dum Girls and none of The xx, who were to follow.

*Technical Note: I saw a band called Label Whores, who all I can gather about them is they are a local Austin group, and that they have zero online presence. They were good, so if you hear of them in the future, look them up.

Nicole Atkins was nice. I didn’t really know her before, but have been actively seeking her music since I’ve been home. Superchunk is one of those significant bands that I am aware of due to their significance, but never really got into. So when I showed up a little late to the Merge showcase to hear Let’s Wrestle, a band I have never seen and knew little of beyond 2 songs, it did not occur to me that the band I was watching might be a surprise performance by Superchunk. So I agreed when Theresa said “The lead singer is way older than I pictured.” And was appreciate of Rick and Emma setting us straight. In the end, both bands were good.

Mistaken identity #2 of the night led me to Moonrats. I was walking down a shady back alley to get into the backstage of some venue on 7th Street, and went into the wrong shady back entrance. Stayed for two songs to hear this band. Ended up only able to catch the last two songs of the band I originally intended to see, Harlem. While sad about this, I’d say in the end that finding Moonrats made it a win. Harlem still has one of my favorite albums this year.

Love love loved seeing jj in concert. Just the lead singer on a folding chair, a commanding presence on the stage. Leaving Mohawk, Ang and I heard Lonely Forest playing at Club de Ville from the street, and had to go check them out. Really good show. Piano-driven pop music with a slightly rockier edge than I would have expected, reminds me a little of Snow Patrol, back when Snow Patrol was the band I fell in love with. They just signed with Chris Walla (of Death Cab)’s label, if that is an indication of style. I caught the end of the set from The Soft Pack. I spent the whole time they were on just waiting for the Drive-By Truckers. Sorry Soft Pack.

The Truckers will probably forever be one of my favorite bands. Long ago in these mixes I’ve professed my love for Patterson Hood, and each time I see them live, that spot in my heart swells just a little bit more. If you only watch one video (though later I will say this again, so watch 2 at least, okay?) watch this one.

I would have recorded more, but someone on the patio above us spilled their beer and it started pouring through the slats of the floor/ceiling. It is Hood’s intro (and the beginning of) Let There Be Rock. And in case you don’t take me up on watching the video, here is what he says before the song: “I worked at record stores, and had friends that worked at record stores, which is why we need to keep record stores alive. Cause where else can troubled young men and troubled young women who are into rock go to learn about great new things and great old things; like Big Star. So I want to dedicate this to Alex Chilton – the late great Alex Chilton. This song is about how rock and roll saved my life as a teenager, maybe some of yours too, and I woke up this morning and I’m forty-five years old and I gotta birthday in a few days and I got two small children at home and goddamn if it doesn’t still save my life each and every day…” Love.

Band of Horses was a slight let-down for me. I thought they were a bit cheesy on stage, and were really far better than the set they played. What saved this show was the insane set design – videos projected onto the canvas overhang of the stage. Here is a moose walking near the water to No One’s Gonna Love You:

and here is The Funeral, set to a giant mountainscape:

The last band of the night, Delta Spirit, by all accounts, put on a throw-away set. It was fine as background music, but nothing about that show made me jump out of my chair. I miss their older stuff tremendously.

Day Three: Eight Bands

*Technical Note: The first band on my list for the day I have written down “band from across the street that woke me up; wave rooftop – look them up.” I tried and failed. While I am typically opposed to being woken up by noises from the street, this was actually kind of nice. Oh well.

Band of Skulls were another somewhat buzzy band I went to see. Technically, I didn’t actually see them, because the line to get in was somewhat insane, so Willo and I made the executive decision to just hang around the sidewalk of Cedar Street and listen to their set from there. They are good, though from what I heard, maybe a little over-hyped.

I was always a bit of a sucker for a band with a good emo name, hence my love of The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart at the Village Voice party. This party also featured The xx, who I again missed, as I opted to head to the other side of town for some South Congress shows. Jukebox the Ghost at Home Slice and Justin Townes Earle at Yard Dog. Jukebox The Ghost have been featured here before, but I had never heard of JTE until here. We got out of the taxi and he was standing on the sidewalk, totally peculiar looking in electric-blue pants and a cowboy hat. Go google-image him for an idea. I listened to almost all of The Antler’s set from the really long line to get into Club de Ville, and they lived up to my expectations, even without being able to physically see them.

We got into de Ville in time to see Centro-Matic and Lucero, two bands that I knew of peripherally, but had never really delved into. I watched them standing with a pack of dudes who were waaay into them. These are the guys you see at concerts who are super drunk, and super into the band, rocking out jumping and throwing full cups of beer. The guys you only find amusing if you’re with them, I suppose. But the whole experience, while mildly surreal, made the show what it was. And when one of said dudes leaned over and whispered (albeit drunkenly) “I would totally go gay for this band,” I got it. Because regardless of what was going on in the crowd, Lucero demanded my attention. They reminded me somewhat of a Hold Steady DBT mash-up, in the best alt-country of ways.

*Technical Note: I went home to grab some food and rest up and ended up watching tv and getting Kebabalicious with Jessica and passing out. So no bands after 6pm. Oops.

Day Four: Twelve Bands

Started my last day right when I made the last second decision to pop into Red Eyed Fly to catch Dawes. Now, I will repeat myself. If you watch only one video of all of mine in this email, watch this one:

It is of When My Time Comes, which happens to be my second favorite song of theirs. And this song is a great way to get your day started with a bang. For the record this is the official video for my favorite:

From there I traveled to Stubb’s to catch some of Rachael Ray’s party. Dr. Dog did not disappoint, though the sound guys did. The vocals disappointingly kept dropping off entirely, and it was never exactly mixed properly. But they played their asses off in the cold, and I friggin love everything they do. They played a variety of stuff from recent albums, and threw in this new one, called I Only Wear Blue – off the album Shame Shame, which came out this past week:
And here is The Rabbit, The Bat, and the Reindeer:

I also stayed for a bit of Jakob Dylan and Neko Case but don’t really have all that much to add about them.

The next chunk of my day was spend at Cedar Street. Athlete played an acoustic set, which was pretty awesome. I love when they rock out a bit, but this set made me appreciate them a little more. Here is my video of the acoustic version of The Getaway:

and here is the official video, full band:

The Constellations were 8 people packed onto a relatively tiny stage, jamming out with a little funk-infused 70′s-esque rock. Here ismy video of their brave-the-wind performance:

Looking forward to their album, due out in June. I watched the next band (in large part due to the aforementioned wind) from inside, but that should not be a reflection of how good they were, only that it was goddamned cold in Austin that day. I did emerge for Frightened Rabbit, though. I mean, who wouldn’t?

*Technical Note: Post dinner, I ended up at some douchey lounge for a bit. It is the type of place you would expect a super bad techno dj to be holding court, but instead it was a super douchey loud punk band. I didn’t bother to find out who they were, because I didn’t want to feel obligated to subject you all to them. You’re welcome.

I truthfully only caught Felix Cartal because I was patiently waiting for Wallpaper to come on. I’m at the combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. You’re welcome again. Here they are playing Poison, with apologies for the shaky camera-work, but c’mon, you know we were dancing at the same time.

Stars of Track and Field ended the night. One of my favorite shows of the week, sad to say not too many people in the audience, since they all missed an awesome set. Lucky for you, this being the last show of the night also meant I could take video till the memory card stopped me. Here are three videos, so you can almost feel like you were there.

So kudos to you if you got through that entire write-up. The 50-track mix comes in at just over 3 hours, so good luck with that too. Enjoy!

Full Track Listing:
01 – The Walkmen – If Only It Were True
02 – The Octopus Project – Truck
03 – We Are Scientists – It’s A Hit
04 – His Orchestra – Attached
05 – The Rural Alberta Advantage – Frank, AB
06 – The Morning Benders – Excuses
07 – Free Energy – Hope Child
08 – Joe Pug – Unsophisticated Heart
09 – Freelance Whales – Broken Horse
10 – Suckers – It Gets Your Body Movin’
11 – Real Estate – Fake Blues
12 – Or, The Whale – No Love Blues
13 – Here We Go Magic – Ahab
14 – The Middle East – Fool’s Gold
15 – Spoon – Is Love Forever?
16 – Shearwater – An Insular Life
17 – Fanfarlo – Finish Line
18 – Neon Indian – Deadbeat Summer
19 – Local Natives – Warning Sign
20 – Julianna Barwick – The Highest
21 – Dum Dum Girls – Jail La La
22 – Nicole Atkins – Together We’re Both Alone
23 – Superchunk – Like a Fool
24 – Let’s Wrestle – My Arms Don’t Bend That Way, Damn It!
25 – Moonrats – FLM
26 – Harlem – Poolside
27 – jj – masterplan
28 – The Lonely Forest – Now On To Other News
29 – The Soft Pack – Future Rock
30 – Drive-By Truckers – The Fourth Night Of My Drinking
31 – Band of Horses – Monsters
32 – Delta Spirit – People C’mon
33 – Band Of Skulls – Light of the Morning
34 – The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – A Teenager In Love
35 – Jukebox The Ghost – Miss Templeton’s 7000th Dream
36 – Justin Townes Earle – They Killed John Henry
37 – The Antlers – Kettering
38 – Centro-Matic – Triggers and Trash Heaps
39 – Lucero – Tears Don’t Matter Much
40 – Dawes – Love Is All I Am
41 – Dr. Dog – Uncovering the Old
42 – Jakob Dylan – Will It Grow
43 – Neko Case – That Teenage Feeling
44 – Athlete – Vehicles & Animals
45 – The Constellations – Setback
46 – The Boxer Rebellion – Flashing Red Light Means Go
47 – Frightened Rabbit – Foot Shooter
48 – Felix Cartal – Why Wait
49 – Wallpaper – The Remix
50 – Stars of Track and Field – The Breaking of Waves

I went to South By Southwest this year with a plan. It was a somewhat grandiose plan, with over 250 items on it for music alone, and when all was said and done, I saw 51 different bands perform. Granted, some on that original list represented the insanity promoting your band has become – best I can tell, Local Natives played 9 different times in 9 different venues. But a lot of those items were bands, regardless of how many times they were playing, that I simply did not have the time/energy/mindset to venture out to see.

Now that I have been home for a week and have time to review and decompress, I realize how many bands I missed that I was super psyched about beforehand. And since I am still working out the final kinks of my SXSW10 Ultimate Playlist of bands I saw, here is a short round up of bands I regret not seeing. So in no particular order…

Top 11 You Can Stream Below:
Memory Tapes: These guys are electronic done well. Breezy and romantic, it’s music that plays well in the background while banging out a boatload of work while on a deadline that also works in the spotlight. I meant to see them Friday night, but crashed out sitting up in the condo across the hall an hour before show time.
Basia Bulat: The choice not to see her was purely logistical. No way I could run and see her on the east side of 6th street, and still make it to Cedar Street and La Zona Rosa further west immediately afterwards. I fell in love with her after I looked up who sang in a Subaru commercial I wrote about for an earlier post. Canadian folky singer-songwriter, who straddles the line of where that genre becomes a bit cheesy, but always falls on the right side of the fence.
Broadcast 2000: I had their debut EP on repeat back in 2008 but then they kind of fell off my radar. This Brit indie-folk outfit was on my list out of pure curiosity over what they’ve been up to recently.
Broken Social Scene: This is the saddest to appear on my list. I was at Stubb’s for Drive-By Truckers and Band of Horses, who played before them. I was also in shoes that did not agree with standing for ages on dirt floor. I hit the trifecta of drunken-/tired-/cranki-ness where I had to leave and change shoes and I had to do it right then, and it happened to be right before they came on stage.
Chew Lips: Buzzy girl-fronted Brit-pop. I have been enjoying their album Unicorn, and was looking forward to seeing how their energy translated to a live show. My friend Lee did make it there, however, and the picture above was taken at their show. (He somehow saw many of the bands I missed, see more photos of his here.)
Midlake: Still owners of “Morgan’s favorite album this year” title. They play once the entire festival, and it just happened to be during my slight breakdown at Stubbs.
Efterklang: I guess they’ve been around for 10 years, but I only recently discovered this Danish quartet. Don’t know much about them beyond the fact that I really enjoy the few one-off tracks that have come my way, and I was looking forward to discovering more during my time in Texas.
These United States: Love Love Love this band. Their two 2009 releases were both in my top ten that year, and I only caught half of their show at last year’s sxsw. I keep waiting for this band to blow up. Their eclectic-lyrics-driven tunes have been featured in my mixes before, and I wish they’d played more sets so I could’ve fit them in my schedule. They deserve the love.
Broken Bells: Lesson #1: If you build an act with Danger Mouse and The Shins’ frontman James Mercer, people will come. In droves. To the point that attempting to get into any of their shows was futile. But worthy of the attention nonetheless.
Bear Hands: Brooklyn-based, I opted to see a different band each time they played in the hopes of catching them when they play around here. In hindsight, I regret this decision, and have had them on repeat since I’ve been home.
Warpaint: Another buzzy one I intended to see if only just to assess whether the buzz was deserved when translated to a live show. I’ve heard this all-girl group did not disappoint.

9 Honorable Mentions to round out my top 20: Barcelona/Joe Purdy/Miike Snow/MoZella/Phantogram/Princeton/Rogue Wave/Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings/The xx.

Day #4 of sxsw = last day. I saw 12 acts, if you include the one I have labeled “douchey punk band.” Things like that are what happen when your drinks:band ratio tips in favor of drinks. Plenty of bands I did love, despite numerous sound system failures. I chalk it all up to the frozen tundra that Austin became – nothing was quite as it should be, and yet everything was pretty damn awesome.

This mix includes: Dawes, Dr. Dog, Athlete, The Constellations, The Boxer Rebellion, Frightened Rabbit, Wallpaper, and Stars of Track and Field.

Friday marked a full week that I had been in Austin, and thus I was a little strung out from lack of sleep and too much rock. (If that’s possible.) I tried to take it easy, and saw only 8 bands all day. Full disclosure: the first band on my list I have no idea what their name was, only that my condo faced out over 6th street, and was woken up first by streetsweepers, then by music, and so in my official tally I have written down “band from wave rooftop that woke me up at 10:30am.” I intend on finding out who they were, but until then I subbed in Nano Whitman, a singer-songwriter who Willo and I met on the street near Homeslice and gave us directions (even though I missed seeing him actually play).

This mix includes: Band of Skulls, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Jukebox the Ghost, Justin Townes Earle, The Antlers, Centro-matic, Lucero, and Nano Whitman.

The second day of SXSW music was my busiest by far. That day alone I saw 17 bands. Here are some standouts from Thursday’s insanity.

This mix includes: Fanfarlo, Neon Indian, Local Natives, Nicole Atkins, jj, Lonely Forest, Drive-By Truckers, and Delta Spirit.

I can account for 51 bands I saw while in Austin for SXSW. I am sure I will get around to posting a definitive favorites mix with full commentary and personal videos, but until then, I wanted to give you guys a small taste of what I saw. Inspired by my friend Trammell, I’ve made a mix of 8 bands I saw each day. Here is Day #1. (Days 2-4 to follow.)

This mix includes: The Rural Alberta Advantage, The Morning Benders, Free Energy, Joe Pug, Freelance Whales, Suckers, Real Estate, and Or, The Whale.

Okay kids. SXSW 2010 Music is just two weeks away. I thought you might need some help figuring out who you should be excited to go see live. Or, if you are sadly unable to go, you should at the very least know who I am super excited about seeing. Last year I fell just short of my goal to see 50 bands in 4 days (came in at 45) but this year I fully intend on achieving it. Here are some of the bands I hope to see.

This past summer I wrote about the top commercial songs. I liked that I could use advertisements to find new bands. And while I am still discovering artists this way, I’ve found recent commercials to be using bands I already know and love. This post is an amalgamation of both. You can stream most of the tracks at the end of the post.

J Ralph – One Million Miles Away – Volkswagen

Many people will trace the phenomenon of music being the signature of the commercial to Volkswagen’s 2000 Cabrio ad featuring Pink Moon by Nick Drake. I prefer this one. The 2001 spot features James Spader doppelganger Kevin Rahm (who currently resides on Desperate Housewives’ Wisteria Lane) in a race against time.

Forever Thursday – How Can It Be – JC Penney

The transitions are visually a little awkward, but I see what they were working towards. And I totally dig the music. This commercial is several years old already, I’m surprised I haven’t heard more from this band.

The Cinematic Orchestra – To Build A Home – Chivas & Schweppes

I really really love the Chivas commercial. Everything about it, including appropriate voiceover. But when I was looking for it online, I came across another gem, using the same song, but for Schweppes. It is visually stunning. Here is that one, too.

Basia Bulat – Before I Knew – Subaru

Not much to say about this one, except that it was really hard to find.

Dawn Landes – Straight Lines – Chrysler

I totally love this song, which I had never heard before this commercial. I never remember what’s it’s for, or even that it’s a car commercial to begin with, so it might not be a total win for Chrysler, but oh well for them.

Annie Little – Fly Me Away – Kindle

While I can’t see myself ever owning one of these devices, I am a sucker for stop motion.

Matt & Kim – Daylight – Bacardi

I realllllly wanted to hate this commercial. And yet, I friggin love it. Who knew Matt & Kim could span eras so seamlessly? I think the flappers are my favorite. No, maybe the ballroom. Actually, it’s the poodle skirts. Damn. I just love the whole thing.

Langhorne Slim – Worries – Travelers Insurance

There is a disconnect here for me, in that the commercial is filled with whimsy, and whimsy is one thing I do not associate with Langhorne Slim. Almost as though the ad agency googled lyrics for “worries” and went with the result that had the right tempo. But it’s cute, I guess, if I didn’t have prior knowledge of the musician.

Marc Robillard – So Much More – Sun Chips

I don’t think this was originally a Super Bowl commercial, but that remains the first and only time I’ve seen it. I was just as intrigued by the message and thought behind the ad as I was the music. In the words of Sun Chips: “We created this time lapse video from photos taken every 15 minutes as the bag was decomposing over 14 weeks in a hot, active compost just like one you could use at home. So you eat the chips. The earth eats the bag. And we all live in a cleaner world.” I hate Sun Chips, but may just start eating them because of this spot. Success.

Grizzly Bear – Two Weeks – Volkswagen

Some of the best commercials are ones where you don’t even notice that a band you love is the background music, because it’s truly merely a supporting player. This Volkswagen spot was one of my favorites in this year’s Super Bowl. There were so many little interactions that made me smile, the least of which being the “Ha nothing, how you did that?!?” ending.

The Arcade Fire – Wake Up – NFL

I wanted to hate this commercial. After hearing The Arcade Fire over and over again in the commercial for Where The Wild Things Are, I was a little burnt out. But this Super Bowl spot is perfectly edited, from the countdown intro to the jumps between fans. I’m even willing to let it slide that they didn’t have Patriots fans, that’s how much I couldn’t hate it.

Sia – Breathe Me – Coke

I first saw this commercial during the Olympics opening ceremonies. It makes me a little teary-eyed, especially watching the Special Olympians receive their medals. However, knowing this song beforehand, I can’t fully commit to loving this commercial. I find it odd that an ad with such an uplifting message has song with such sad and almost dark lyrics.

The Hours – Ali In The Jungle – Nike

This commercial also played during Olympics opening ceremonies. I didn’t know the song or really the band, so I’m glad I remembered to search for it. The song is great, and I highly recommend looking into their other stuff. The commercial itself is a roll call of athletes both famous and not, and again, perfectly edited – Everybody gets knocked down, how quick are you going to get up? As for why I’m so drawn to this commercial, Nike says it best themselves: “…the road to athletic greatness is not marked by perfection, but the ability to constantly overcome adversity and failure.”

The xx – Intro – AT&T

This one is titled “Record.” It took me typing that just now to understand the dual meaning. Maybe I’m just too visual. But kudos to Apolo Ohno on becoming the most decorated US Winter Olympian. The song is almost ruined by the prolonged voiceover at the end, but I like the band enough to throw it in here.

Lou Reed – Perfect Day (AT&T)

While searching for the Apolo Ohno commercial, I came across this one, which I almost forgot about. This may because I was totally thrown off that they used a song, highly recognizable from Trainspotting, with allusions to heroin. But to each his own, right?

Stream here:

I will be the first to admit, my love of Christmas is somewhat irrational. I was raised to be a good Jew, but I can’t get enough of lights, stocking, and carols. Heck, I even send out a holiday card with me and my dog in matching sweaters. Part of this obsession with all-things-Christmas is amassing an unreasonable amount of holiday songs. So I present to you two mixes: side one is a mix of contemporary songs and side two is the best of the classics.

Click here to stream the mix.

Side One:
Christmas Is All Around – Billy Mack (Love Actually soundtrack)
Last Christmas – Glee Cast
Happy Christmas (War is Over) – John Lennon
Fairytale Of New York (Pogues cover) – Stars
Christmas In Prison – Emmy The Great/Lightspeed Champion
My Grown Up Christmas List – Kelly Clarkson
Same Old Lang Syne – Dan Fogelberg
Christmas Song – Dave Matthews Band
Jesus was a Dreidel Spinner – Jill Sobule
Christmas In Hollis – Run DMC
My Only Wish – Britney Spears
This Christmas – Ruben Studdard
Believe – Josh Groban
That Was the Worst Christmas Ever! – Sufjan Stevens
All I Want For Christmas Is You – Mariah Carey

Side Two:
Do You Hear What I Hear – Destiny’s Child
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas – Luther Vandross
White Christmas – Michael Bublé
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen – Barenaked Ladies & Sarah McLachlan
Santa Claus is Coming to Town – Bon Jovi/Mary J. Blige/Tracy Chapman/Eric Clapton/Sheryl Crow/John Popper/Run DMC/Vanessa Williams
Winter Wonderland – Jewel
Silent Night – Enya
O Holy Night – NSync
Joy To The World – Sufjan Stevens
Santa Baby – Eartha Kitt

Summer Jams have a way of defying everything you hold sacred about your music tastes. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, your entire aesthetic jumps right out the window, in favor of a radio-friendly, beachy, head-bopping soundtrack. You know you have succumbed to the allure of the most infectious Summer Jams when they can be heard multiple times in a one hour car trip, and you yell to not change the station. And what better day to revisit the greatest Summer Jams of the decade than on the last day of autumn, with a foot of snow on the ground.

Summer Jams are delivered in many packages. Summer movie blockbusters attempt to remind you of how awesome they are by permeating your radio with an immediately identifiable soundtrack. Many movies that try to accomplish this fall short, such as Will Smith’s Black Suits Comin’ (in MiB: II). However Aaliyah’s Try Again (of Romeo Must Die), Christina Aguilera and friends’ Lady Marmalade cover (from Moulin Rouge), and Chad Kroeger’s Hero (of Spiderman) were all far more successful.

Some had help rising to the top from the sheer luck of being associated with a moment in pop culture. Beyonce’s Single Ladies was undoubtedly super-huge, but it was propelled by over 25,000 YouTube videos of people imitating her dance steps.It also didn’t hurt when Justin Timberlake spoofed it on SNL, or Kanye West extolled it’s virtues in his now infamous “Imma let you finish” speech. In 2004, if you did not at some point yell “Yeah!” like Lil’ John, then you are really just lying to yourself. Not that Usher needed the help, but Dave Chappelle’s Lil’ John impersonation was so infectious, the rapper himself has credited Chappelle with increasing his visibility as an artist.

And speaking of Usher, he has to be the crown prince of Summer Jams in the 2000s. The man knows how to work a release schedule.

Click here to stream the whole mix.
25. Nelly Furtado ft Timbaland – Promiscuous (2006)
24. Hoobastank – The Reason (2004)
23. Chris Brown – Forever (2008)
22. Vanessa Carlton – A Thousand Miles (2002)
21. 50 Cent – P.I.M.P. (2003)
20. Chad Kroeger ft Josey Scott – Hero (2002)
19. Avril Lavigne – Complicated (2002)
18. Evanescence – Bring Me To Life (2003)
17. Maroon 5 – This Love (2004)
16. Lifehouse – Hanging By A Moment (2001)
15. Pussycat Dolls ft Busta Rhymes – Don’t Cha (2005)
14. Gnarls Barkley – Crazy (2006)
13. Aaliyah – Try Again (2000)
12. Katy Perry – I Kissed A Girl (2008)
11. Vertical Horizon – Everything You Want (2000)
10. Fergie – Big Girls Don’t Cry (2007)
9. Black Eyed Peas – I Got A Feeling (2009)
8. Kelly Clarkson – Behind These Hazel Eyes (2005)
7. Plain White Ts – Hey There Delilah (2007)
6. Beyonce – Single Ladies (2009)
5. Nelly – Ride Wit Me (2001)
4. Christina Aguilera, Lil Kim, Mya and Pink – Lady Marmalade (2001)
3. Rihanna ft Jay Z – Umbrella (2007)
2. Gwen Stefani – Hollaback Girl (2005)
1. Usher ft Lil John & Ludacris – Yeah! (2004)

Honorable Mentions:
Alicia Keys – If I Ain’t Got You (2004)
Beyonce ft Jay Z – Crazy in Love (2003)
Black Eyed Peas – Don’t Phunk With My Heart (2005)
Eve ft. Gwen Stefani – Let Me Blow Ya Mind (2001)
Jimmy Eat World – The Middle (2002)
Kelly Clarkson – I Do Not Hook Up (2009)
Mariah Carey – We Belong Together (2005)
Nelly – Hot In Herre (2002)
Nina Sky – Move Ya Body (2004)
Pitbull – I Know You Want Me (2009)
Train – Drops of Jupiter (2001)
Usher – Confessions, Pt. II (2004)
Usher – U Remind Me (2001)

I ended up jumping into some music that may not be as well traversed as it usually is. So I figured the only right thing to do was share some new electro, hip hop, and smoothness. Alright the last song on the mix is very mainstream, but I do drive around in a car listening to Top 40′s from time to time. If it’s too much for you stop at track 7.

Been having trouble with music recently.  Not sure if this is just a phase people sometimes go through, or if I’m just getting old or something (which would be very depressing) but I just haven’t been excited about new music in a little while.  This is an attempt to remember that I like new shit… everything (except the RJD2 instrumental section in the middle) was made in 2008 or 2009.  Not totally right now, but hey… kinda close.

Enjoy… embedded mix after the jump…

One of my guiltiest pleasures this year (besides armed robbery) has been the electro-schmaltz hit “Evacuate the Dancefloor” by euro deities Cascada (both the name of the band and sometimes of the lead singer- bizarre).  I can’t help myself- something about this song is so balls-out intense, I can’t turn it off when it comes on the radio.  And it comes on the radio approximately every five seconds.

I might have been listening to it for the five thousandth time this morning on the way to work, and it hit me.  Cascada is without a doubt X-men’s very own Alison Blaire, a.k.a. Dazzler.  And “Evacuate the Dancefloor” is nothing less than her coming out song.  I think muties are finally going public.

For those of you who had normal childhoods and didn’t have to hide away in comic books, a quick recap.  Dazzler is a mutant whose latent power turns sounds into lights and energy bolts.  The more sound in the air, the more power she stores up- until she explodes it in some evil villain’s face.  By day she’s a pop singer, by night an X-men.

Sure, Cascada looks a lot like Alison Blaire, and they both share the same profession, but it’s the lyrics that make the revelation irrefutable: 

Oh, oh, evacuate the dancefloor
Oh, oh, I’m infected by the sound
Oh, oh, stop, this beat is killing me
Hey Mister DJ come on and burn this place right down to the ground

My body’s aching
System overload
Temperature’s rising
I’m about to explode
Watch me I’m intoxicated
Taking the show
It’s got me hypnotized
Everybody step aside

Clearly Dazzler’s decided to spill her guts about her eternal struggle- keeping the light energy trapped in her body, not leaking out like it would without her constant willpower.  And most likely this song began as a spontaneous warning during a concert when Dazzler felt the music growing too loud, and was about to wreck Madison Square Garden with her explosive aural might.

I imagine some A&R guy heard the lyrics at the show (if he survived) and loved them so much he forced her to publish the song.  Or else Dazzler felt it was time.  Either way, I’m onto you, Alison Blaire.  And now that I know you’re out there, I’m looking for all you other X-men.  Nuff said.

Visual proof:

I took what Hawkes wrote last week to heart, and I took time to let the balloon boy hullabaloo set in. (Full Confession: It doesn’t hurt that I am in England and had minimal internet connectivity until now.) And what this time off helped me to see is what balloon boy really needed: a mix to chronicle his journey, I mean, should he ever actually take that journey for real. So here are my top ten songs (plus one spoken word)… from launch to lies, airborne to attic-bound, headline news to hoax.

Stream this mix here.

Mitch Hedberg – Hot Air Balloon
The Flaming Lips – Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia)
The Lisps – Red Balloon
Badly Drawn Boy – Magic In The Air
Pearl Jam – Thin Air
Andrew Bird – Fiery Crash
Air Traffic – Empty Space
The Arcade Fire – Rebellion (Lies)
The Avett Brothers – The Weight of Lies
The Antlers – Stairs to the Attic
The New Pornographers – The Fake Headlines

In procrastinating packing for my pending trip to England, I started to think about all of the traveling I’ve done as of late. And it’s actually quite a lot. If I only count the places I need to procure non-public transportationto get to (i.e. rent a car/take a bus/book a flight), I could name ten cities in the past ten months. I’ve been to New York City, Austin, Jacksonville, Cape Cod, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Seattle, San Francisco, Boston, and in 24 hours from now, London as well. So here are my top ten city songs, in honor of my travels.

Click through for a full track/city list and a link to stream it all.

Stream this mix on 8tracks while you read!

Ryan Adams – New York, New York
I live in New York, so this may be cheating a bit to include it. But sometimes I do still feel like a tourist.

The Shakin’ Apostles – Austin, Texas Blues
Home of the wonderful SXSW Festival. Ten straight days of awesome.

Sufjan Stevens – Jacksonville
This is off of Illinoise, but I’m talking about the one in Florida. April vacation with my brother and sister-in-law at their new home.

Vampire Weekend – Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa
Annual 4th of July trip to Onset Island. Can only get there by rowboat, and my friend’s kids give my dog a mohawk and dye job every summer. What more could you ask from a vacation.

The Decemberists – Los Angeles, I’m Yours
Spur of the moment trip to help out a friend, one of the best crazy decisions I ever made. And only for that reason would I consider myself Los Angeles’.

The Magnetic Fields – Washington, D.C.
Planned a trip for the Air Guitar National Championships. Drank too much tequila and bourbon.

The BPA (Feat. Emmy The Great) – Seattle
Homebase by default. My parents uprooted themselves from my childhood home 2.5 years ago, and I’ve grown to call Seattle home.

Vanessa Carlton – San Francisco
If I had the means and a job waiting, I would up and move tomorrow. No, tonight. I would move to SF tonight.

Augustana – Boston
Homebase by heart. And the reason I can never fully be a true New Yorker, no matter how hard I try.

The Smiths – London
It’s a work trip, and technically it’s Brighton, not London, but I don’t have songs written about the south coast and I want to play The Smiths.

These United States – When You’re Traveling at the Speed of Light
I do have lots of songs written about traveling, but this one wins.

Making mixes was my life for a good decade, and I still dabble from time to time, though I miss handing off tapes and CDs to friends.  But maybe this will prove a decent venue…

Here’s one of my friends’ favorites, a mix I made five or six years ago.

Fourteen tracks, each song title a girl’s name, book ended by that classic Big Star track, September Gurls.