driving mixes, part 1
Just remembered that sometime before the holidays bonibaru asked me to put up some of my mix lists. This made me laugh, because I have years' worth of mix lists that I wrote out by hand before switching to computer, and I'm not typing them in.
Planning mixes on paper has a certain insane artistry all its own, really. I planned mine by making song lists on yellow legal pads, in very small, very tidy handwriting; song length was noted next to each title; side placement was determined by general mood and marked with one of two symbols (or colors, if I could find my colored pens), and songs were then numbered -- usually the first three or four were easy, and the last three or four were easy, and then it was a matter of deciding what order best bridged the gap. Then side length had to be calculated -- your typical 90 minute tape actually has about 46:20 per side, and a really obsessive mix-maker likes to make sure that there's no more than 45 seconds of silence at the end of a side. I had mental lists of songs around 2 minutes (The Candyskins, "All Over Now"; The Church, "Don't Look Back"; etc. etc. etc.) that came in very handy for filling small gaps... Anyway, the yellow sheets ended up covered in small cryptic notes, and... Sorry, I'll stop. I'm not actually as nostalgic for the system as I'm making it sound, but I am a control freak, and making mixes suits this particular brand of freakishness extremely well.
Where was I? Oh yeah -- not gonna type all those lists in. Fortunately I do have a number of mix lists on the computer (easier to plan, implement, and mentally test changes to song order), so I might as well post some of them. These are driving mixes, and thus are idiosyncratic and specialized in a whole series of ways that I won't go into now because they're quite possibly interesting only to, you know, me.
here's luck's original road music mix - designed for setting off just before dawn, so that the day side comes up just as the day starts to get bright.
Night side
R.E.M. - Drive
Madder Rose - Razor Pilot
The Church - Metropolis
10,000 Maniacs - The Painted Desert
Madder Rose - Car Song
R.E.M. - Driver 8
The Church - Destination
The Sundays - On Earth
Ani Difranco - You Had Time
R.E.M. - You are the Everything
U2 - Running to Stand Still
Day Side
Shawn Colvin - Round of Blues
Sun-60 - Maybe Baby
Gin Blossoms - Hey Jealousy
Indigo Girls - Nashville
The Blue Aeroplanes - Yr Own World
The Replacements - Someone Take The Wheel
The Primitives - Crash
R.E.M. - Can’t Get There From Here
Mary’s Danish - Don’t Crash the Car Tonight
The Sundays - Hideous Towns
The Candyskins - Freedom Bus
Ani Difranco - God’s Country
The Candyskins - All Over Now
day driving mix #1: blue skies ahead
Dar Williams - As Cool as I am
Ani DiFranco - Gravel
Rusted Root - Send me on my Way
Shawn Colvin - Sunny came home
Cowboy Junkies - Southern Rain
Rosanne Cash - The Wheel
Shawn Colvin - Object of my affection
Peter Mulvey - On the way up
Dar Williams - Travelling Again
Cowboy Junkies - To Live is To Fly
Tom Petty - King’s Highway
The Connells - Logan Street
Voice of the Beehive - I walk the Earth
Velocity Girl - Crazy Town
Gin Blossoms - Alison Road
Rosanne Cash - From the Ashes
The Candyskins - europe & japan
Bettie Serveert - Tomboy
The Blue Aeroplanes - Wond'ring Wild
Tom Petty - Runnin' Down a Dream
The Candyskins - Get on
Tori Amos - Take To The Sky
day driving mix #2: no exits
Fountains of Wayne - Radiation Vibe
Counting Crows - Hanginaround
Mary Lou Lord - lights are changing
Sheryl Crow - Every day is a winding road
Catie Curtis - Do Unto Others
The Connells - Glade
Bettie Serveert - What Friends?
lisa hunter - nowhere fast
The Nields - Georgia O
The Candyskins - circles
Bettie Serveert - Rudder
Shawn Colvin - Nothing on Me
Cowboy Junkies - Miles from our Home
Kris Delmhorst - Open Road
Counting Crows - St. Robinson & His Cadillac Dream
Joy Askew - Big Sky
Paula Cole - Oh John
Melissa Ferrick - Everything I Need
Ani DiFranco - Out of Range
R.E.M. - Departure
Kris Delmhorst - North Dakota
jump little children - come out clean
Dar Williams - Another Mystery
day driving mix #3: rainy day driving
Travis - Why does it always rain on me?
Mary Lou Lord - Western Union Desperate
counting crows - daylight fading
Paula Cole - Happy Home
Travis - Driftwood
Dar Williams - Spring Street
The Replacements - Left of the Dial
The Nields - last kisses
R.E.M. - Leave (skip intro)
Eleanor McEvoy - Weatherman (12 days)
The Connells - Still Life
Cheryl Wheeler - Rainy road into Atlanta
Indigo Girls - World Falls (live)
Lyle Lovett - if I had a boat
Kris Delmhorst - Gravity
Toshi Reagon - Misty Mountain
Ani DiFranco - Back Around
Dar Williams - End of the Summer
Peter Mulvey - all the way home
Kris Delmhorst - weatherman
Carrie Newcomer - Hold on
R.E.M. - Find the River
Feel free to borrow (or otherwise take inspiration from) any of the song combinations listed here.
Planning mixes on paper has a certain insane artistry all its own, really. I planned mine by making song lists on yellow legal pads, in very small, very tidy handwriting; song length was noted next to each title; side placement was determined by general mood and marked with one of two symbols (or colors, if I could find my colored pens), and songs were then numbered -- usually the first three or four were easy, and the last three or four were easy, and then it was a matter of deciding what order best bridged the gap. Then side length had to be calculated -- your typical 90 minute tape actually has about 46:20 per side, and a really obsessive mix-maker likes to make sure that there's no more than 45 seconds of silence at the end of a side. I had mental lists of songs around 2 minutes (The Candyskins, "All Over Now"; The Church, "Don't Look Back"; etc. etc. etc.) that came in very handy for filling small gaps... Anyway, the yellow sheets ended up covered in small cryptic notes, and... Sorry, I'll stop. I'm not actually as nostalgic for the system as I'm making it sound, but I am a control freak, and making mixes suits this particular brand of freakishness extremely well.
Where was I? Oh yeah -- not gonna type all those lists in. Fortunately I do have a number of mix lists on the computer (easier to plan, implement, and mentally test changes to song order), so I might as well post some of them. These are driving mixes, and thus are idiosyncratic and specialized in a whole series of ways that I won't go into now because they're quite possibly interesting only to, you know, me.
here's luck's original road music mix - designed for setting off just before dawn, so that the day side comes up just as the day starts to get bright.
Night side
R.E.M. - Drive
Madder Rose - Razor Pilot
The Church - Metropolis
10,000 Maniacs - The Painted Desert
Madder Rose - Car Song
R.E.M. - Driver 8
The Church - Destination
The Sundays - On Earth
Ani Difranco - You Had Time
R.E.M. - You are the Everything
U2 - Running to Stand Still
Day Side
Shawn Colvin - Round of Blues
Sun-60 - Maybe Baby
Gin Blossoms - Hey Jealousy
Indigo Girls - Nashville
The Blue Aeroplanes - Yr Own World
The Replacements - Someone Take The Wheel
The Primitives - Crash
R.E.M. - Can’t Get There From Here
Mary’s Danish - Don’t Crash the Car Tonight
The Sundays - Hideous Towns
The Candyskins - Freedom Bus
Ani Difranco - God’s Country
The Candyskins - All Over Now
day driving mix #1: blue skies ahead
Dar Williams - As Cool as I am
Ani DiFranco - Gravel
Rusted Root - Send me on my Way
Shawn Colvin - Sunny came home
Cowboy Junkies - Southern Rain
Rosanne Cash - The Wheel
Shawn Colvin - Object of my affection
Peter Mulvey - On the way up
Dar Williams - Travelling Again
Cowboy Junkies - To Live is To Fly
Tom Petty - King’s Highway
The Connells - Logan Street
Voice of the Beehive - I walk the Earth
Velocity Girl - Crazy Town
Gin Blossoms - Alison Road
Rosanne Cash - From the Ashes
The Candyskins - europe & japan
Bettie Serveert - Tomboy
The Blue Aeroplanes - Wond'ring Wild
Tom Petty - Runnin' Down a Dream
The Candyskins - Get on
Tori Amos - Take To The Sky
day driving mix #2: no exits
Fountains of Wayne - Radiation Vibe
Counting Crows - Hanginaround
Mary Lou Lord - lights are changing
Sheryl Crow - Every day is a winding road
Catie Curtis - Do Unto Others
The Connells - Glade
Bettie Serveert - What Friends?
lisa hunter - nowhere fast
The Nields - Georgia O
The Candyskins - circles
Bettie Serveert - Rudder
Shawn Colvin - Nothing on Me
Cowboy Junkies - Miles from our Home
Kris Delmhorst - Open Road
Counting Crows - St. Robinson & His Cadillac Dream
Joy Askew - Big Sky
Paula Cole - Oh John
Melissa Ferrick - Everything I Need
Ani DiFranco - Out of Range
R.E.M. - Departure
Kris Delmhorst - North Dakota
jump little children - come out clean
Dar Williams - Another Mystery
day driving mix #3: rainy day driving
Travis - Why does it always rain on me?
Mary Lou Lord - Western Union Desperate
counting crows - daylight fading
Paula Cole - Happy Home
Travis - Driftwood
Dar Williams - Spring Street
The Replacements - Left of the Dial
The Nields - last kisses
R.E.M. - Leave (skip intro)
Eleanor McEvoy - Weatherman (12 days)
The Connells - Still Life
Cheryl Wheeler - Rainy road into Atlanta
Indigo Girls - World Falls (live)
Lyle Lovett - if I had a boat
Kris Delmhorst - Gravity
Toshi Reagon - Misty Mountain
Ani DiFranco - Back Around
Dar Williams - End of the Summer
Peter Mulvey - all the way home
Kris Delmhorst - weatherman
Carrie Newcomer - Hold on
R.E.M. - Find the River
Feel free to borrow (or otherwise take inspiration from) any of the song combinations listed here.