Secret Mixtape Review: Mix #16 (10-31) is up!

[@SkitchP]

the taylor swift song has me wondering. Although you like her too, don't you?

me? Just a couple songs. I do love the 5'11" though

[Jorge]

Taylor Swift is 5'11"?

[Norah]

now she's even sexier

[Jorge]

I like short girls better.

[@SkitchP]

Taylor Swift is 5'11"?

oops. 5'10". Point remains however.

[stip]

Hah---and there are the mynahbirds!

not one of my favorites of theirs, but I was pretty disappointed with generals, in retrospect.

[stip]

I like short girls better.

I like short redheads and married a tall blonde

[Norah]

get that h out of there

[stip]

Track 12: this is what Fiona Apple would have sounded like it she was recording for phil spector in the mid 60s.

[stip]

This was also pretty good. Quite a few artists on here I'm tempted to check out.

[stip]

this song kept getting better and better as it chugged along.

[stip]

Track 13: I feel like this just lopped back into varis' mix. Not my thing.


But this was really strong. A fair amount of stuff I didn't know, almost all of it was good.

[stip]

nice job chud and/or Kevin Davis

[Jorge]

Definitely Chud. Kevin Davis doesn't listen to Tegan and Sara.

[Norah]

still wasn't me

[Heathen]

It was me, guys.

[Lament]

So this mix is fucking great out of the gate because track one is

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Zero by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs

, which is one of my all-time favorite songs. I play this almost every week at work and have been doing so for a long time and it is almost guaranteed to always improve my mood (I love the video for it too). This song has one of my favorite bridges of all-time (the “Was it the cure?” part). Outstanding way to kick things off. This is also one of the best songs to scream along to while you're driving.

The second track is

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Living Room by Tegan & Sara

, and it does a good job of handling the nearly impossible task of following the song before it pretty well. It's am obvious change of pace, but it doesn't feel awkward, probably because even though it's far more subdued than the first track it still moves along at a brisk pace and obviously isn't trying to reach the heights of that the opener does. Well chosen second track. Track three,

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Shadrach by the Beastie Boys

gets back into stratosphere of the opener.

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Paul's Boutique

was the first album I ever genuinely loved note for note, beginning to end, and this is a contender for the best track on the record. This one is built around a sample from a killer Sly song (Loose Booty).



(Goddammit Sly, why you gotta be so funky?)

Another home run with track four,

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Janelle Monae's Dance Apocalyptic

. A perfect follow up to the previous track, this one keeps things on a fun, funky, quirky level. This mix is great. I love her so much. I had completely forgotten about track five. I know it's

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The Fugees

, but I don't know the name of it. I Only Have Eyes for You is one of my favorite songs, so I love the sample. The song is a lot better than I remember it being.

I know track six is

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St. Vincent

, but it's an older one, and I can't remember the name of it (it's

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Paris is Burning

, right?). Anyways, this is a really great song. I really need to listen to more of her stuff. Nice shift in direction from the previous three tracks. Track seven is

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Recover by CHVRCHES

. My unabashed love for them is pretty well-documented. This song makes me dance like Molly Ringwald in The Breakfast Club. I'm not ashamed of that.

The first time I listened through I thought tracks eight and nine were the only two songs that didn't do it for me, but it turns out I was only half right. Track nine is good. I probably was quick to dismiss it because of what came after it. Track eight isn't for me though. The only dud (in my eyes at least) on this mix.

Track ten is

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Shaking Through by R.E.M.

, and seems to kick off the home stretch of the mix. Classic song, and it always makes me think of The Year of Purification by Manic Street Preachers because that song completely rips off the intro to this one. Track eleven is

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Disaster by The Mynabirds

. Not one of my personal favorite from them, but I do like it. It always reminds me of Lykke Li (which is a very good thing). Track twelve is totally

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Lorde

, but I don't remember the name of it. I've only heard the album in its entirety a few times. It's a nice track, and it works well in the mix, but it's not something I'd revisit outside of this context.

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Ugly by The Violent Femmes

closes things in a playful manner. It probably shouldn't work as well as a closing track as it does, but I'm digging its placement here.

Fucking awesome mix. Granted, I knew nearly everything on it beforehand, but that's not the kind of thing that bothers me in a mix. I've played this things quite a few times, and probably will continue to do so (though I will probably skip track eight, which I've been doing already). Well done.

[Lament]

Ugh, I hate what spoilering does to the formatting.

[stip]

your formatting is taking away from my enjoyment of this mix.

[Lament]

If I had a dollar for every time someone told me that...