and the joke is that the stereo just ate the mix tape that you made

by mg at 11:16 PM on April 20, 2002

I don’t think I ever mentioned it, but I participated in the first round of Burn Baby Burn. I just thought it was such a great idea. Getting mixed tapes from people around the country is just one of the coolest things about the Internet. And actually sitting down to make a mix tape for someone is one of the funnest things to obsess about. Certainly better to pour through my hugenormous music collection (25 gbs of MP3s, 600 CDs and 200 LPs), than to root through someone’s garbage in the middle of the night, disobeying restraining orders and getting threatened with a shotgun. Not that that’s ever happened to me.

So, if you know me, it is of no surprise that my discs went out a little late. For one thing, I had about 200 songs in my initial round. I cut that to about 3 hours worth of music, and came up with three different play lists. I picked my favorite, and with two play lists left over, I’m so I’m ready for Burn Baby Burn 2.

Unfortunately, I then went back and read the directions for this round and realized the CDs were supposed to have a theme, summer. So I went back to my initial 300 songs and culled out 23 songs, which turned out to be more about sex than summer. I don’t know what that says about me. I’d like to think it’s just that both sex and summer will make you all hot and sticky, but I’m sure if I was seeing a shrink a couple times a week (like the court mandated), they’d say it had something to do with my years as an altar boy.

At any rate, I sent out my CDs yesterday, only a couple days late. So far, I’ve received CDs from Antwon (plus a lovely antwon.com sticker. All I need now is a car to put it on), Teel at Fuck Yourself to Hell (great domain name!), and Chris at Flazoom (so far my favorite mix). I actually received the ones from ‘Twon and Teel on my birthday, which was a nice little surprise.

I’m still waiting for discs from Jeff at Druzba and Lisa at Windward Skies, but I can’t complain since, you know, I just sent mine out yesterday.

If you are one of the lucky five receiving disc from me and don’t want the surprise spoiled when you open the package, DON’T READ ON! Spoilers! Spoilers! Spoilers!

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I’ve always wanted an excuse to do that.

So, here is the play list and a short (well, as short as I could hope to keep it) explanation for why I choose each song.

1 - Quality Control – Jurrasic 5 (fea Cut Chemist) – Quality Control

This isn’t so much a song as an introduction.

2 - Early to Bed - Morphine - Like Swimming

It is every musician’s nightmare to die on stage. Morphine’s lead singer, Mark Sandman, actually did. Heartache. Dead. Truly sad considering Morphine was a fantastic band that never quite hit their stride. This is one of their most upbeat songs, I just love the horn in this one.

3 – Car Lover – Elastica - s/t

This song makes me hot every time I hear it. The first line is “You can call me a car lover…” which, with Justine Frischmann’s sexy British accent always sounded to me like “You can call me a cunt lover…” The end.

4 – Song Against Sex – Neutral Milk Hotel – On Avery Island

For the rest of my life I will never make a mix tape that doesn’t include a Neutral Milk Hotel song. The only reason I choose this one over any other they’ve released is because this discs theme was sex, and the rest of their songs that deal with sex do so in a way that is more than a little disturbing. I don’t want to scare people here.

5 – Instant Pleasure – Rufus Wainwright – Big Daddy Soundtrack

I don’t own the Big Daddy Soundtrack, let’s just get that out of the way right now. Still, I love Rufus Wainwright and this probably one of his most accessible songs. It also really fits my mood right now because “I don’t want someone to love me, just give me sex whenever I want it.” Yeah, I’d even be willing to do Rufus at this point, he is soooo dreamy.

6 – Please Let Me Get What I Want – Halo Benders (cover - Smiths) – Not available on CD

Halo Benders are a side project from the lead singers of Built to Spill and Dub Narcotic. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, imagine Mickey Mouse and Barry White putting out an album of indie rock, and you’ll have a pretty good idea what the Halo Benders sound like. This version of The Smiths song (which is fantastic to begin with) is just divine. I haven’t removed it from my portable MP3 player in a year and a half. I don’t think I could ever get sick of this song.

7 – Cum on Feel the Noize – Bran Van 3000 (cover - Quiet Riot) – Glee

Quiet Riot as done by the Canadian dance music collective most famous for their dirge to wasted time and city living, "Drinking In L.A." from a couple summers ago. Need I say more?

8 – Let’s Pretend We’re Bunny Rabbits – Magnetic Fields – 69 Love Songs

I love the Magnetic Fields (which explains why they appear on this disc twice). This is just a nice salute to hedonism.

9 – Matador – Starlight Mints – Dream That Stuff Was Made Of

Why do I have to explain myself to you?

10 – Joyride – Built to Spill – Normal Years

“Love is just a joyride, drink a lot of beer and climb inside.” Built to Spill are from Idaho, not many bands come from Idaho. Ben Folds once wrote he’d be happy to spend the rest of his career as a Built to Spill cover band. Considering how his last album sold, that might not be such a bad idea.

11 – Luv Luv Luv – Pansy Division – Absurd Pop Song Romance

One of the few bands on this compilation I’ve seen live. I’ve always had a think for bass players, and the fact that the bass player’s dress came down half way through the show certainly colors my impression of them. He went around for the second half of the set topless, and I think he was making eyes at me after the show. Yes, I meant to say he.

12 – Fluid – Gerbils – Are You Sleepy?

One of those songs I’ll just put on repeat and listen to five or six times before moving on. I want this song played as the first dance at my wedding.

13 - Eep Opp Ork Ah-AH (Means I love you) - Violent Femmes (cover – the Jetsons) - Saturday Morning Cartoons Greatest Hits

I remember seeing this on the Jetsons. I think I only put this on here because I had the Violent Femmes in my head because I’d heard them in a bar a couple nights before. You know, on the jukebox, not in person. A really fun song.

14 - Hangover Girl - Gomez – Liquid Skin

Alcohol, sex, and the morning after. Or something.

15 – Flower – Liz Phair – live unreleased (original version on Exile in Guyville)

“Every time I see your face I think of things unpure, unchaste. I want to fuck you like a dog. I'll take you home and make you like it.”

16 – Can’t f(x) – Nothing Painted Blue – Placeholders

A song with a driving bass line (see above about love of bass players). A song with a math joke for a title. But most importantly, a song about impotence.

17 – Take Ecstasy with Me – Magnetic Fields – 69 Love Songs

Nothing more romantic than offering a loved one drugs. I’m not sure if Ecstasy helps you get it up, but this song was meant as the flip side to the previous song about impotence.

18 – Naked – Math and Science – s/t

I can certainly relate to wanting to see you naked. Whoever you are. You should send me pictures of you naked.

19 – Harder Better Faster Stronger – Daft Punk – Discovery

I was going to include Digital Love instead, but that song isn’t as cool without seeing Juliette Lewis in that Gap ad dancing with her little beret on. Hmmm, beret.

20 – Baby One More Time - Fountains of Wayne (cover - Britney Spears) – (I have no idea where this came from)

The RIAA say MP3s are destroying the industry. But how many people went out to buy a Fountains of Wayne album after downloading this song? Not me, but I’m sure there were people out there who did.

21 – Steady Slobbin’ – Prince Paul (fea. Breeze) – A Prince Among Thieves

Probably the most realistic rap song about sex ever written. Love the sample to death.

22 – Satisfaction – Cat Power (cover – Rolling Stones) – The Covers Album

Take one of the most famous songs ever, strip out it’s well know chorus, and slow it down until it becomes completely unrecognizable and you’ve still got a beautiful song.

23 – Cecilia – Simon and Garfunkel – Greatest Hits

When I was in high school, we had a yearly competition between the grades called SING. Each grade wrote, produced and preformed a musical. The songs were all covers with the words changed to fit the story. The first time I heard Cecilia was in our classes SING my junior year. The end.

24 – Zombie Slut – NIL8 - …doug

NIL8 was this band from Chicago that used to play at my college all the time. I never saw them since they broke up before I ever heard of them. Bastards. If you’ve ever seen High Fidelity there is a NIL8 sticker on the door to John Cusack’s office in the record shop.

If I knew I was going to have to write so much, I would have this an E.P.