making a mix cd for an occasion is an art. presumably, this is not a mix that you are going to listen to alone. it is to play in the car on a road trip, during a party, etc.

first of all, you must not indulge yourself. your favorite songs are YOUR favorite songs, but this doesnt mean other people are going to like them.

if you want a mix that will be appreciated, you have to pick songs that either everyone knows, or everyone is going to like on the first listen. sing a longs are an absolute must.

then there is the element of dynamics. you need a strong start that grabs everyone's attention, and absorbs them. through the middle, you can add good songs, but there HAVE to be a couple of absolute show stoppers evenly spread throughout or people will still lose attention. and then end it on something heart stopping.

however, the album itself is as much a work of art as the songs. it has to have a flow to it, and a dynamic, not all the same feel. keeping it short is essential. your mix tape may be the greatest ever, but everyone wants to play some of their stuff. playing everyone and 80 minute mix is going to annoy them, bore them, and it's going to be a loose, crappy mix anyway.

so here is the best mix i have made.

1. the flaming lips - fight test
2. cranberries - linger
3. jeff buckley - grace
4. fleetwood mac - gypsy
5. the goo goo dolls - name
6. 311 - outside
7. alice in chains - nutshell
8. rod stewart - young turks
9. dispatch - hey, hey, hey

fight test is a good song to start with. altough my friends probably hadnt heard of the flaming lips, this song easily enchants.

as a second song, linger provides some familiarity and nostalgia to offset the unknownness of the flaming lips. not to mention it's a gorgeous song.

grace takes us back to unfamiliarity, but again, it is one of those songs that you're gonna like the first time you hear it.

gypsy is a really easy going, incredible, song that provides even mroe nostalgia, and recognition from oldies fans in the audience.

name--more nostalgia, more great music, more singing along... but a break from the fast moving, fun songs. something to get a bit pensive about.

outside throws you back hard into the energy and good times. im sure nobody would know it, but it is 2 minutes long (flat) and catchy as all hell.

nutshell keeps the roller coaster thing we have going on. extremely emotional song, but less known. you're gonna like this song, no questions asked. at this point, the cd is starting to feel like a well-put together journey, more than a mix of random good songs.

young turks: what can i say. this is a great driving song, first of all. chances are people wont know it, but as with everything else, it's likeable on first listen. and it fits very well with the flow of the album. provides a gentle but quick incline for the final piece of the album.

could you think of a better song to end the album with than dispatch's hey, hey, hey? starts off really catchy, but near the end, it becomes one of the most emotional songs of all time. an unbelievable note to end the mix album on.

run time - 38.5 minutes.

And without further ado, here's my latest mix.

Title: Mystical

1. Faith & the Muse.......Visions
2. Shelagh McDonald.......Odyssey
3. Sufjan Stevens.........Seven Swans
4. Emiliana Torrini.......To Be Free
5. Sufjan Stevens.........The Tallest Man, The Broadest Shoulders
6. Faith & the Muse.......Whispered in Your Ear
7. The Doors..............The Ghost Song
8. Emiliana Torrini.......Nothing Brings Me Down
9. Keith Green............The Lord Is My Shepard (Psalm 23)
10. Elizabeth Cotten.......Shake Sugaree
11. Jeff Buckley...........Dream Brother
12. R.E.M..................Man on the Moon
13. Sufjan Stevens.........They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back From the Dead!! Ahhhh!
14. M. Ward................Flaming Heart
15. Emiliana Torrini.......Telepathy
16. Faith & the Muse.......Prodigal

I may have posted this earlier elsewhere, but here are two mixes:

Best Of Live Tracks:
(all tracks are live versions, and they blend into one another...so you here the audience applause mix into the next on most tracks...very cool!)
1. Born Slippy/Right Here Right Now - Fatboy Slim
2.Guns In The Sky - INXS
3.Next To You - The Police
4.Monkey Gone To Heaven - The Pixies
5.Morning Bell - Radiohead
6.Venus As A Boy - Bjork
7.Lake Of Fire - Nirvana
8.Ride My Llama - Neil Young
9.Nothingman - Pearl Jam
10.Galileo - The Indigo Girls
11.Gloria - Van Morrison
12.Driven To Tears - The Police
13.Mr. Zebra - Tori Amos
14.Scared - The Tragically Hip
15.Strange Fire - Indigo Girls
16.Layla - Eric Clapton
17.Wave Of Mutilation - The Pixies
18.Lukin - Pearl Jam
19.Nothing As It Seems - Pearl Jam
20.Flower In THe Sun - Janis Joplin

Down By The River...

1. Neil Young - Down By THe River 8:59
2.Dinosaur Jr. - water 5:37
3.Swervedriver - Up From The Sea 3:23
4.The Verve - Life's An Ocean 5:44
5.Indigo Girls - Down By The River 9:44
6.Indigo Girls - River 3:53
7. Beth Orton - Blood Red River 4:15
8.Peter Gabriel - Red Rain 5:39
9.Pj Harvey - Down By THe Water 3:14
10.PJ Harvey - The River 4:52
11.Indigo Girls - Bitterroot 2:46
12.Bruce Springsteen - The River 4:52
13.R.E.M. - Find THe River 3:49
14. Low & Dirty Three - Down By The River 9:37

This mix is titled: Vulnerable

I started with the three Hem songs and then found other songs that I felt fit well with them.

1. Hem - Half Acre
2. Vetiver - Been So Long
3. Aimee Mann - Save Me
4. Sufjan Stevens - Casimir Pulaski Day
5. Temple of the Dog - Hunger Strike
6. The Doors - Unhappy Girl
7. Faith and the Muse - The Burning Season
8. Devendra Banhart - It's A Sight To Behold
9. Denison Witmer - Little Flowers
10. Emiliana Torrini - Get It Together
11. Devendra Banhart - Koreandogwood
12. Fiona Apple - I Know
13. Hem - Night Like A River
14. Vetiver - Save Me A Place
15. Emiliana Torrini - Huddle Formation
16. Guns N' Roses - Patience
17. Devendra Banhart - Poughkeepsie
18. Mississippi John Hurt - My Creole Belle
19. Bob Dylan - Girl From The North Country (My favorite Dylan song)
20. The Mamas and the Papas - Dedicated To The One I Love
21. Hem - Idle (The Rabbit Song)

I consider this my masterpiece.

1. Everything We Know Is Wrong --- Apoptygma Berzerk
2. Safety Dance --- Men Without Hats
3. Pinetop's Boogie Woogie --- Blind Willie McTell
4. When Will We Be Married? --- The Waterboys
5. Ghost Highway --- Mazzy Star
6. Long Haired Child --- Devendra Banhart
7. Trawlerman's Song --- Vashti Bunyan
8. Silverline --- M. Ward
9. When I Was Drinking --- Hem
10. If I Were There --- Vashti Bunyan
11. Into Dust --- Mazzy Star
12. Nature's Interface --- Haujobb
13. Sredni Vashtar --- Faith & The Muse
14. Starsign --- Apoptygma Berzerk
15. Baby Blue --- Emiliana Torrini
16. Blue Light --- Mazzy Star
17. Monument --- Mirah
18. Rainbow River --- Vashti Bunyan
19. Everafter "Singing in the Rain" by J Stephen Foster --- Claire Voyant
20. Eclipse --- Apoptygma Berzerk
21. Fade Into You --- Mazzy Star

Here is my last mix CD. I'ts the 10th album i made ...and i've done a EP too, called "impertinent EP" but a half-year ago.

I will also make a kind of rating of the songs on 10. Here it goes:

"This breakthrought album is almost a failure"

1. Monkey - Low (9)
2. Zelda: the wind waker - Earth Shrine (8)
3. Wilco - Misunderstood (9)
4. Whiskeytown - Turn Around (8.5)
5. Hood - The negatives (8.5)
6. Donovan - Isle of Islay (8.5)
7. Matt Sweeney & Bonnie Prince Billy - I Gave You (9)
8. Prologue - Remasterisé par Carl Bastien (9)
9. 13 & God - Perfect Speed (8.5)
10. Out Hud - This just in (9)
11. McLusky - The world loves us and is our bitch (8.5)
12. Pépé et sa guitare - Toé tu l'a (9)
13. Uncle Tupelo - Fatal Wound (8.5)
14. The Mountain Goats - No Children (9)
15. Johnny Cash - I Hurt Myself Today (9)
16. Liars - Read the book that wrote itself (8)
17. Chrono Cross - Pathetic (9)
18. Les Claypool - Robot Chicken theme (8.5)

My newest Mix....
Titled: Winter Drive (can also be found listed on itunes)

1. Amon TObin - Slowly
2. Black Mountain - Bicycle Man
3. Broken Social Scene - 7/4 (Shoreline)
4. Death Cab For Cutie - Someday You Will Be Loved
5. Skalpel - Sculpture
6. Spoon - I Summon You (demo)
7. Stereolab - The Free Design
8. P:ano - Dark Hills
9. Black Mountain - Druganaut (ext. Version)
10. Amon TObin - Chocolate Lovely
11. Wolf Parade - This Heart's On Fire
12. Skalpel - Together
13. Low - Just Like Christmas

This is a great CD that I play at many of my parties with friends and family. Everyone enjoys it because they are all great, well-known, Spanish songs, except for one that is in English. Maybe some of you will know some:

1. Enanitos Verdes- “Lamento Boliviano"
2. Maná ft. Carlos Santana- “Corazon Espinando”
3. Celia Cruz- “La Vida es un Carnaval”
4. Thalía- “¿A Quién le Importa?”
5. Shakira ft. Alejandro Sanz- “La Tortura”
6. Paulina Rubio- “Lo Hare por Ti”
7. Juanes- “Volverte a Ver”
8. Selena- “Amor Prohibido”
9. Luis Miguel- “El Reloj”
10. Marco Antonio Solís- “Que Te Quieran Más Que Yo”
11. Maná- “Hechicera”
12. Paulina Rubio- “Algo Tienes”
13. Kumbia Kings- “Na Na Na (Dolce Niña)”
14. Don Omar- “Otra Noche”
15. Juanes- “La Noche”
16. Santana- “Maria, Maria”
17. Juan Gabriel- “No Vale la Pena”
18. Shakira- “Donde Estas Corazon”
19. Intocable- “Sueña”
20. Maná- “Mariposa Traicionera”

I guess this is my winter/valentine's day mix.


1. Assemblage 23............Divide
2. Mazzy Star...............Flowers In December
3. Delerium.................Run For It
4. The Dresden Dolls........Coin-Operated Boy
5. Apoptygma Berzerk........Rollergirl
6. Mazzy Star...............Ride It On
7. Ivy......................You Don't Know Anything
8. VNV Nation...............Legion
9. Assemblage 23............House On Fire
10. Faith & The Muse.........Shattered In Aspect (bassX_rmX)
11. Original Broadway Cast...Tomorrow
12. Apoptygma Berzerk........O.K. Amp - Let Me Out
13. Curve....................Sweetback
14. Delerium.................Truly (Wise Buddah Radio Edit)
15. Mazzy Star...............So Tonight That I Might See
16. Vashti Bunyan............Here Before
17. Mazzy Star...............I've Been Let Down

Sorry to put this in here, but I dont want to start another topic - too many already.

What is the ultimate guitar-jam mix tape. All era's welcome. I ask because I just put on White Stripes Elephant for the first time in ages and marvelled at Ball and Biscuit. Want songs with similar epic guitar rock outs.

Cheers