Mix-a-lot

My yesterday...

1. The Pieces Don't Fit Anymore, James Morrison- Undiscovered

This guy has a remarkable voice and this song is so heartfelt.  I adore it.  Listen to it everyday.

2. Details In the Fabric (feat. James Morrison), Jason Mraz- We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things (Bonus Track Version)

This song says what I would want to tell a person I love.  If I had a child I would say these words to him/her. "Hold your own. Know your name.  And go your own way."  I do yoga to this song.  I find it perfect for such... and at the end the answering machine recording is hilarious.

(It also ties in, word-wise, nicely with my book.) 

3. Lover, You Should've Come Over, Jeff Buckley- Grace (Legacy Edition) 
One of my all-time favorite songs EVER!! I heard it for the first time and said, "Nick, I love it!" He looked it up and bought it for me on the spot.  This artist, Jeff Buckley, has an interesting and tragic story.  He died too soon, at a very young age.  An all too familiar story among the extremely talented. (He drowned; he didn't O.D.)

4. Fall At Your Feet (Acoustic), James Blunt- Back to Bedlam

This guy is amazing.  I have had one of his cds in my car disc player (All the Lost Souls) without ever taking it out, for over three years now.  I have several copies of that album... and must say, "Bryant Odom, thank you."  With this song, the acoustic whisper is key.

5. Slow Dancing In A Burning Room (Acoustic), John Mayer- The Village Sessions

Mr. Mayer, you are very, very good.  Lyrics are very visual and his voice... A+.  I prefer all of his songs acoustic (that's the case with every artist it seems).  I like to hear the guitar and it sounds better this way.  Dude can get it on the guitar! For real!

6. Misery (Acoustic), Maroon 5- Hands All Over

Smooth and choppy.  Their songs are high style.  

7. Love Is Blindness, U2- Achtung Baby

U2 being on any list needs zero words.  But, what a haunting song.  Haunting songs soothe me like warm tea.

8. Just Breathe, Pearl Jam- Backspacer

Really.  Just breathe.  Great advice.  Pearl Jam, "I love you."

9. When I Was In Your Heart, David Gray- Foundling

David Gray, a modern day poet and singer/ songwriter.  I read his lyrics and marvel at them.  His voice projects an intense amount of emotion.  I say favorite a lot, I know.  I like lots of stuff the best, it seems, but David Gray is my absolute favorite artist.  His albums can be listened to in entirety and really transport.  Every time this one comes on, I say, "Ooh!  My favorite!!" Like an annoying teenage girl.  And in reality I have about 20 favorite David Gray songs.  The Irish accent... niiiice.

10. Bedshaped, Keane- Hopes and Fears

Wonderfully sad.  I love it when men play the piano.

11. Porcelain, Red Hot Chili Peppers- Californication (Bonus Track Version)

Red Hot Chili Peppers?  Yes. Red Hot Chili Peppers.

12. The Beauty of The Rain, Dar Williams- The Beauty Of The Rain

If you haven't heard it yet, just listen.  It's glorious.

13. Saturday Sun, Nick Drake- Five Leaves Left (Remastered)

Another favorite guy. Another poet, singer/songwriter. Another tragic story.  Another song that is so beautiful it can make you weep.

14. No Ceiling, Eddie Vedder- Into the Wild (Music for the Motion Picture)

Eddie Vedder is cool factor to the max.  The soundtrack he did for Into the Wild is sheer genius.  This is a snippet, listen to the entire album.  A lot of what he gave to Sean Penn for the movie he handed him three days after watching a rough cut for the first time.  WoW.

15. Waiting for You, Ben Harper- Both Sides of the Gun

Painful.  Forbidden love.  Perfect for what I'm writing.

16. Exit Music (For A Film), Radiohead- OK Computer

Some may not like this.  There's nothing cheery about it, but it's just really my style of music, so it made the list.  Its name is perfect because it leaves you feeling as if you've just watched a confusing film about people who probably died and here you sit, watching credits roll, wondering, "What was that I just watched?"

17. See You Soon (Live), Coldplay- Coldplay: Live 2003

This mix of songs was a mix for a friend.  This is her favorite group so it was given the grande finale spot.  Coldplay, a group that, when they come to Atlanta, gives a shout out "thank you" to the crowd.  They say they were ready to hang it up, but the way the crowd in Atlanta went crazy for them made them hold on a bit. Dave FM played them all the time and there was a huge following early on.  Atlantans are over-the-moon for Coldplay. 

I burned my friend a cd or two... or seven!!  She requested one, a fabulous Jason Mraz album, and I got sucked in.  Before I knew it, it was 4 P.M.  The mix above is a particular favorite.  These artists are some of my very favorite and these songs are some of the ones I look most forward to hearing on their albums.  It's hard to draw the line when choosing favorite songs for a list.  Draw The Line... that album, in fact, is jammed full of David Gray favorites.  I listen to it nearly every, single day of my life.    

It started with Jason Mraz, led to a mix of favorites (above) that I love listening to while writing, then to another "booty mix" of great dance songs that made me miss the ATL, and then I made several mixes of fun music from across the board featuring everything from Satin In A Coffin, Modest Mouse to Cold Desert, Kings of Leon to Time to Pretend, MGMT... hell, I'll just list them too.  If you are interested in music and haven't heard some of these by chance... it could lead to extreme happiness in musical discovery.

Before doing that though, I must make a confession.  Before the day was done (nod to talent, Nick Drake) I was slap back in the 80's.  Nick and I love the 80's.  We really do have fun listening to all 80's varieties and man do we dance.  I'm gonna just throw him under the bus here...  Home-boy's got a booty.  He is stacked in the back for a white boy, no joking.  And I'm not making fun, because it takes one to know one.  I've had my share of remarks from behind.  Coming out of Whole Foods... in the mall... people aren't scared to ask you about it. One of our friends even made reference to it during our wedding festivities... there isn't a moment that goes by without a booty joke. Anyway, it gets fun around our house when the 80's music hits the speakers and 'dance party' is unleashed.  Nick has me in stitches... I laugh so hard.  He does all these funny moves that are so right-on 1986.  He even moon walks and smashes that with Mr. Roboto and ends up with a Moon-Roboto that looks segmented like a strobe light in a dark room.  He does this thing that looks like The Hammer (don't act like you aren't familiar with M.C. Hammer...) and can travel all over the house that way!!  It's incredible.  He doesn't tire.  And then, the best is when he imitates the "ass-only" dance that claimed every rap video from the 90's on to today.  He is so funny.  When he really gets going and does all these things back to back, no stopping in between, we all (me and China and especially Selma Lu) stop with frozen expressions and don't move- we don't even blink- because we don't want to miss anything.  I hold my laughter until he finishes, so my ribs end up interlocked, Selma stops chasing his feet and stands with a doggy-smile and crossed-eyes (meaning happy perplexity), and China just jerks her head, looking from this side of the room to that side to keep up with what he's doing.  At the end, he just looks at me and says, "Yeh? Yeh?  You like that?" in a Ben Stiller sort of way.  Giggle, laugh... no.  Rolling-on-the-floor funny is what it is for me.   

That was last night.

I had Beat It, by the fabulous and one and only, Michael Jackson playing when he walked in the door.  (I burned a couple of cds for my nieces and nephew, thinking, "OMG!! If they don't know about all things Michael Jackson, that would be a SIN!! Must Burn Disc.) 

I was playing Michael Jackson's music and found myself dancing with a huge smile on my face and near tears in my eyes.  That is what his music translates to in my age bracket.  Happy, happy memories.  I really did hope, as I was mid stride in Smooth Criminal, that he is somewhere looking down at all the people just like me in the world who are happy instantly simply because his music plays.  When it does, the body just has to dance, no debating.

When thinking of Michael Jackson, emotions trigger from many things.  Enormous talent... like as big as it gets, happy music memories, the acknowledgment of how "cool" we were back in the day, the tormented artist, the persecuted artist, the sex-scandal, freak-show, media-circus event that steered his life into the ground.  And then, the final act, when we all watched as his daddy referred to him only as "The Greatest Artist who ever lived" (which is too huge of a statement to be true, because art encompasses so very much... for instance, another Michael... Angelo, for one) repeatedly before plugging his own come-back... never a genuine tear for simply his "son".  

Then, we all watched This Is It.  I was surprised.  It was really great.  And, Nick said what I was thinking.  "There is no way the person we are watching, the person that is apologizing for not being able to hear through his equipment, so considerate of everyone's feelings, did what he was accused of doing."  I agreed.  Seemed impossible.  

Then, a very faint news break, the boy, grown up now, who accused Michael Jackson of sexual molestation, was black-mailed by his own father to do so for money all those years ago.  Where were the headlines now?  I wondered if anyone had given enough time to allow a name to be redeemed.  It is, after all, probably the largest factor of what caused his demise.  The stress of that, the drugs, the craziness that followed... too much.  Now, the baby-dangling episode... I can't say there is much of an excuse for that.  He should have known better than that.  But, wasn't he a boy inside?  Didn't he get left behind?  We poked and prodded him like a freak.  We made fun of him for being extreme.  Then, when he wasn't being extreme, we all got impatient... "Michael, do something nuts so we can have you back the way we expect you to be, our entertainment."

That is why I pull for Britney Spears.  Because, we create this madness with our consumption of tabloids and our need to judge... to tear down and build up on a whim.  Elvis couldn't withstand it, he turned to drugs and self-abused.  Michael Jackson couldn't withstand it, he turned to drugs and self-abused.  Then, here is Britney Spears, who was a kid too when her Circus started... news media had her obituary drawn up and ready for print... just wanting to be the first with breaking news.  Sad.  I pull for her.  Especially after viewing Kesha's performance on an awards show.  At least when Britney Spears performs... singing or faking, she is dancing up a storm and hauling a python around on her neck.  I used to not be Britney fan.  But, then, she became an extreme under dog.  She became a spectacle.  She became this person everyone judged and said with certainty they would never be like in the same circumstance.  I thought, "Really?  How do you know?  You've never been caged."  I saw a video of her on the beach once.  Only, she wasn't visible.  The view was from outside of the cameras.  She was smothered with big men with camera equipment and you could hear them taunting her, trying to get her to snap.  That changed my mind about celebrity and any judgements made of celebrities.  I know I would snap.  I would be irate.  And I would have to work at keeping my sanity if that surrounded me always and I was a game for everyone in the world.  Those that enter the celebrity arena later in life after real friends have been made are much better off.  They have reality.  The children who enter are close to doomed.  Unless they are like Dakota Fanning and have parents who yank them out of Hollywood for a breath of air, right?  Parents have a lot to do with it.

Okay, so that was an unexpected conversation with myself on the topic of doomed pop stars.  Sorry.

Here is the list of the other mixes.  I love these songs and am in fact listening to the assortment now.  

And I actually hear a couple playing in my head as I wake up in the morning, most mornings.  Float On, Modest Mouse... wakes me up from inside my mind 9 out of 10 mornings.  I like that.  It makes me smile.  I think someone is playing it for me, maybe an angel, knowing it translates to "Good Morning" for me.

Enjoy!


1. Give A Little More, Maroon 5- Hands All Over

Reminds me of driving in Atlanta and trying to not seat-dance myself into a wreck!  Impossible to sit still to this song.

2. Electricityscape, The Strokes- First Impressions Of Earth

I close my eyes and my body feels like it's moving when it's not.  Cool song.  Unique 'anticipation' mixed with 'gloom' feeling to this song.

3. Satin In A Coffin, Modest Mouse- Good News For People Who Love Bad News

One of the coolest groups ever.  In a weird way, this song makes you want to march.

4. God Put a Smile Upon Your Face (Remix), Coldplay- Single

One of my book-writing songs that embraces my surreal, warped state-of-mind required to do so.  Also, I itch to be in a movie scene: dark, dance club in an inner city with graffiti on the walls dancing by myself, slightly disoriented but confident... slow motion.

5. New Year's Prayer, Jeff Buckley- Sketches for My Sweetheart The Drunk

This one I stay up late to, dancing until tired enough to sleep.  Another disorienting type of song with an eastern flare (which I'm always attracted to).  The music alone sounds really spiritual.  Love it.  Jeff Buckley is an ALL-TIME favorite.  Incredible vocalist.  Can't skip this one, must listen to the whole song.

6. Cold Desert, Kings of Leon- Only By the Night

4,5,and 6 on this list go together to me.  Just do yourself a favor and grab a glass of wine.  Play them loudly, dress sexy, and risk looking like a fool... but drop all guard and let body move to music.  This one builds and relents in a great way.

7. Sing For Absolution, Muse- Absolution

Their songs sound movie-worthy.  They are mysterious, defiant, and empowering.  You can feel energy stirring immediately as they play. 

8. No Curtain Call, Maroon 5- Hands All Over

I do some sort of interpretive dance to this song that would no doubt classify me as weird if witnessed. ;)

9. High And Dry, Radiohead- The Bends

I love the tragic sound to this band.  That is how I interpret the sound.  They have been one of my top choices since I drove my silver Honda Civic, moon roof open, windows down.  In Moultrie, in Athens... Radiohead played.

10. Float On, Modest Mouse- Float On 

Aaaah.  Like I said, this song is a part of me now.  It wakes me up.  And the idea of Floating On is peaceful and uplifting to me.

11. Vaporize, Broken Bells- Broken Bells

This was shared with me by my Music Man friend.  This album rocks.

12. Use Me (Live), Craig Shields, Edwin McCain & Hootie & The Blowfish-The Best of Hootie & The Blowfish (1993-2003)

It never fails, every time Nick and I go to a Hootie concert we underestimate the amount of fun we are going to have.  We kill it at Hootie concerts.  We, fortunately, have been to more than a couple.  We have a mutual friend with Darius Rucker and Edwin McCain and so, at separate times, were able to hang out.  I remember when meeting Darius, he said, "Oh, my wife's name is Beth too."  

13. All Night, Damian Marley & Stephen Marley- Welcome to Jamrock

I stalked this song.

14. Sexy, Black Eyed Peas- Elephunk

I nearly fall off the treadmill when this song comes on.  I want to belly dance or stripper dance and the treadmill won't permit it.

15. Lost Without U, Robin Thicke- The Evolution of Robin Thicke (Deluxe Edition)

Great for solo dancing and excellent for the ego.

16. The Seed (2.0), The Roots & Cody Chestnutt- Phrenology

Instantaneous break-down song in the Cassini household. Very funky, very sexy, very funny! 

17. When Doves Cry, Prince & The Revolution- Purple Rain

I have locked myself in a room by myself and danced, twirl-my-hair work-it style, to this song since age 4 or 5. My family used to spy on me and embarrass me.  I cried at 5... I wink at spyers at 30.  

18. Gone Daddy Gone, Violent Femmes- Violent Femmes

ooh, Violent Femmes... naughty. Folk punk at its best.

19. Time To Pretend, MGMT- Time To Pretend 

The underwater submarine sounds open this song in a super-awesome way... and by the end of it, you are ready to marry a model, divorce her and die young via overdose!  They are very convincing :)

20. Flower, Moby- Play & Play: B Sides

My self-proclaimed soundtrack to life.  I like to envision myself walking down the sidewalk Angeline Jolie style, like a real bad-ass that has a glare that will literally kill.  Then, I can go steal a porsche and ride into Mexico as the sun sets and my hair whips out of the window as I speed down an isolated highway at 100 mph.  This is, of course, ridiculous fantasy... and not a real wish.  Don't go and report me to one of those stupid "tell on your neighbor" hotlines.    

More of the mixes to come later...

Selma just told me she needed to go outdoors for a break. That's what it means when she blows her lips at me and looks at the door. :)