Mix Tape III!

Another mix for your sharing pleasure; this one for a great friend celebrating a recent birthday.
22 songs / 1:18:40 total

Side "A"
4 Non Blondes - What's Up.mp3 (from Bigger, Better, Faster, More!)
To Be Sung At Maximum Volume.

Rosie Thomas & Sufjan Stevens - Say Hello.mp3 (from These Friends of Mine)
A sweet tune with two lovely voices. I love the awkward, adorable "hi" introductions at the end.

Acacia Sears - Passion Play.mp3 (from Dialtones)
Another favorite track off the album by trhe same lovley lady interviewed here a few days ago.

The Unicorns - Sea Ghost.mp3 (from Who will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?)
Every song can be improved by a 17-second sea chanty intro.

Arcade Fire - Intervention.mp3 (from Neon Bible)
I've said it before and I'll say it again: this brain-exploding tune will melt your face so as to leave your corpse unidentifiable. This is an understatement.

Neutral Milk Hotel - Two-Headed Boy.mp3 (from In The Aeroplane Over The Sea)
"Never, under any circumstances, admit you have no idea who Jeff Magnum is." --Everybody Hurts
Words to live by, there.

Weird Al - Happy Birthday.mp3 (from Weird Al)
I've managed to make a birthday mix for this person every year for four years in a row now, always including a nontraditional birthday song, and never repeating one. However, I'm beginning to run a bit low on material.

Art Brut - Good Weekend.mp3 (from Bang Bang Rock & Roll)
Jess and I once proposed to PPH that the Mountain Goats should cover this; PPH replied that he'd been already practicing the bass line that weekend (which is a wonderful, fun bassline). Cue glee.

Peter Bjorn & John - Young Folks.mp3 (from Writer's Block)
The mandatory introduction to PB&J for everyone else who missed all the great music that came out last year.

Cut/Copy - Hearts on Fire.mp3 (from Cut/Copy)
Beleve it or not, this upbeat, highly dancable tune from some folks in Australia didn't come out in 1986; it came out within the last 12 months. I know, I was shocked too!

Depeche Mode - Enjoy the Silence.mp3 (from Violator)
Perfect transition into a classic that everyone loves (but sometimes forgets how beautiful this song really is).

Side "B"
Daniel Smith & Sufjan Stevens - Worried Shoes (Daniel Johnston cover).mp3 (from I Killed The Monster)
The two friends pair up here for a richly polished cover of one of our favorite lo-fi heroes.

The National - Ada.mp3 (from Boxer)
Moar Seekrit Soof-yawn Plz! Here he tickles the ivories with panache on one of the best songs from one of the best albums this year.

Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire - 11:11.mp3 (from The Swimming Hour)
This mix contains several duets and this is yet another, with a superb balance of male-female vocals here in a rousing Americana-tinged rock song.

Patrick Wolf - Tristan.mp3 (from Wind in the Wires)
A rough, passionate, dark and undeniably sexy song.

the Mountain Goats - Cubs in Five.mp3 (from Nine Black Poppies)
John Darnielle & Peter Peter Hughes up the "oh snap!" quoitent in this wicked sharp anti-love song.

Phish - Mmm Bop (live Hanson cover).mp3 (from A Live One) (YSI)
This is actually Phish doing an impression of James Brown's cover of Mmm Bop. Must be heard to be believed.

R.E.M. - Nightswimming.mp3 (from Automatic for the People)
The epitome of an Indian summer in New York. September's coming soon (and when it does, I too shall find myself there).

Belle & Sebastian - Your Secrets.mp3 (from the Books EP)
"I just had somebody tell me I was introspective to a fault." Wait, did I write this inappropriately bouncy song?

Holcombe Waller - Anthem.mp3 (from Extravagant Gesture)
A great man hailing from Portland, Oregon. With incredible, silky soaring falsetto vocals and digestabe lyrics, this tune redefines what rock is.

Jeff Buckley - Satisfied Mind (live Johnny Cash cover).mp3
A song for a funeral. Recorded live from the WFMU broadcast October 1992.

Tenacious D - Friendship Test.mp3 (from the self-titled album)
...It never hurts to check, just in case.