The mix:
This summer, I decided that I had so much good music that I had to make an excellent mix. After beginning my process, I soon realized that I had far too big a batch to choose from for one mix- okay, it would need to be two mixes. Before long, I realized that there were certain songs being forced into the two mixes (one of the mixes is more “beachy” while the other is more of a “chill” mix). The songs simply didn’t fit in with the other mixes. At this point it was either just don’t use the songs or make another mix. I decided on the latter.
In its early stages, I called this mix “Third Mix.” I decided that this mix would have all the songs that would not fit into the other mixes, but that I truly loved. Once decided, I chose to make the mix sort of weird and experimental by adding in opera (a love of mine) and Scott Walker (one of the most influential singers and musicians who flourished in the late 1960s and early 1970s). This would be a mix about the things I love.
When I began making the mix, I was rewatching episodes of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. In one episode, Frank (Danny DeVito), at his sister-in-law’s funeral, says “I don’t know how many years on this earth I got left. I’m gonna get real weird with it.” I realized that since this mix is very weird, that would be a nice audio clip to begin the mix. A few seconds later I thought, “I love Sunny, I’ll just dedicate the mix to the show and its characters.” That’s what I ended up doing and that is why there are funny audio clips from various episodes throughout the mix.
Art:
This also explains why the characters are on the album art. I told my sister, Racheli, my idea for the mix and that I wanted the characters of Sunny on the cover- that was the one condition. She abided by this condition and created what you see on the cover. She used printouts, her own drawings, and paint. The key was to keep it weird. This is, for instance, why Charlie, is positioned over an opera house, an unlikely combination, as is the whole mix.
Songs:
This mix was not so hard to make simply because it was “the leftovers.” To be fair, the first song that prompted me to make a new mix was the first song, Amanda Blank’s “Might Like You Better.” I love this song and want more people to hear it (and her MIA-esque style), but it just doesn’t fit with my other two mixes.
Additionally, some of the songs are not as recent as others. That is the beauty of this mix though- it is weird. One such song is “Ultraviolence” by HEARTSREVOLUTION. I first heard this maybe 2 years ago in Diesel’s music contest. I love this song and want more people to hear them and support this small band.
I included one of my favorite songs by Scott Walker: “Jackie.” I have to admit that my uncle, Mennu, first introduced me to him. If anyone is interested, I have all his work. I also recommend the documentary Scott Walker: 30 Century Man (available on Netflix watch instantly!).
There are two tracks from operas in the mix. The first is “Mal Reggendo,” from Verdi’s Il Trovatore, sung by the great Enrico Caruso. This version was recorded on gramophone between 1908 and 1910. This explains the scratchy quality. I chose this both because I love his voice in the role and because I love the opera. The second opera song is from the beginning of Mozart’s Don Giovanni (“Notte e giorno faticar”). I think that most listeners can immediately appreciate the genius of Mozart in this opening “track” of the opera.
I would also like to note that I used a few songs from a mixtape for HBO’s new series How to Make it in America. My roommate, Dusty, and I attended a screening of two episodes of the show hosted by HBO and Starbucks. At this screening we received this mixtape/CD. The songs that I used are “Night by Night,” “You’ve Got the Love,” and “Cities in Dust.” Needless to say, I enjoyed this mixtape by Kid Cudi and DJ Green Lantern.
I wanted to use Sondre Lerche on one of my mixes and I realized that he would have to go on this mix. “Easy to Persuade” is one of my favorite songs from his most recent release, Heartbeat Radio. I actually saw Sondre twice this past academic year (once at A-Ha’s farewell tour with Dusty).
Putting “Rome” by Phoenix on this mix was a very hard decision. I really wanted to put it on the “beachy” mix, but decided that because they were a huge hit last summer, they would go on this third mix. Additionally, that mix already has a song named “Rome” on it (by Yeasayer).
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