The Great CD Mix Exchange

Greetings, music lovers. Now you can leave. Let's get the other folks in here, they'd probably get along better with me on this topic.

As you may or may not know, I think I mentioned it in passing a couple of times here in the old blog, I participated in Stennie's Great CD Mix Exchange. Here were the rules. Participants were given a list of 25 descriptions of songs. It was our duty - yes, our sworn duty - to find 25 songs of our choosing to match up to these descriptions, put them onto a CD, and send them around to the other participants. Therefore, every participant would have a CD of everyone else's, and, well, let the fun begin.

Those are the simple rules. However, as happens sometimes when people are really enthusiastic about something and decide to fret and furrow and think too much, it turned out to be a long involved process, I think for all involved. What if all the songs wouldn't fit onto one CD? (A long tutorial of making mp3 CDs was given by Stenns.) Would we include track listings with our songs, or let them be a surprise? After all, the original rules said track listings were to be posted to blogs. (Easy on that one. Some did, some let the songs be a surprise.)

But, for me, and I now know for some other folks, the hardest part of the whole challenge was coming up with a final listing. "Yes, this song's perfect. Except this one might be more perfect. But this one's for #2, and it also matches #10, let's move it there. This one's great, but too long if I only want to use one CD and not go to the mp3 format. I really want to use this one, but I'm sure everyone will be using it, so I need to find something different. This song fits, but I hate it, I can't use a song I hate." And on and on. And on. And on.

We really did think about this whole escapade a great deal.

And of course, for me, there was the whole #18 conundrum. I honestly went through every CD I owned, walked along my shelves with my baby flashlight shining upon the spines of my discs, trying to find something - anything - to be my #18. I ended up with something dumb but heartfelt.

And #15 was no cakewalk, either.

Anyway, we ended up with 9 participants, which means we'd all be getting 8 CDs from around the country, filled with other people's musical ideas. So far I've recieved and listened to CDs from Mike, man of mystery and movies, and Stennie, and just today I received CDs from Flipsycab, River Selkie, and Kelly. Listening shall begin tonight on those. Oddly enough, I haven't gotten Michelle's yet, one can only hope she's planning on delivering hers in person.

Ah, the fun we have.

So here it is, posted today to my blog. My track listing for The Great CD Mix Exchange:

1. A favorite political track. "Draft Dodger Rag," by Phil Ochs. Makes me giggle, and should be required listening for every teenage boy. And girl, I suppose. Because before they know it, they're going to need its advice.
2. One of those tracks that will make you tap your feet no matter what. "Rattle My Bones," by the Suburbs. Ahhhh, those heady days in B'burg circa 1987. Most Saturday nights, South Main Cafe, Nervous Romance, the world's best cover band. They used to do this one.
3. The song you'd use to tell someone you love them. "Bus Named Desire," by Scruffy the Cat. Another mid-late 80s band. How can you disagree with a love song that starts out, "You're a top kid, you're a blue suit."
4. A song from a Broadway musical or a film soundtrack. "Galaxy Song," from Monty Python's Meaning of Life. I wasn't overly fond of the movie (it pains me to say that), but the song is brilliant.
5. A song that forced you to sit down and analyze its lyrics. "Step Right Up," by Tom Waits. After analyzing, I kind of came up with the conclusion that the guy's selling something. No, really, I took "analyze" in a different way than some. I took it to be, "What the hell are all the words to this?"
6. A song you like that a 5-year-old would like too. "All Around the Kitchen," by Dan Zanes. It makes me dance all around the kitchen, too. And if I can find a 5-year old to dance with me, I'm going to do the motions.
7. A song that makes you drive too fast. "Action Packed," by Ronnie Dee. "Gimme the downbeat, maestro!" This is one of the coolest songs ever recorded. Hear me? One of the coolest songs ever recorded.
8. A kick-ass cover song. "El Paso," by the Old 97s. The 97s rock out the old Marty Robbins ballad. I love the speed, and the harmonies at the end. And the "special guest appearance" by Bill from "King of the Hill" at the end certainly doesn't hurt. I can't help but think Marty would have smiled at this version.
9. A song that both you and your grandparents (would probably) like. "Virginia Way," by the V-Roys. I like this choice for a few reasons. It's got a distinct bluegrass feel, is about family, is about Virginia, and, well, I just know Mamaw Bowles would have loved this song.
10. A song you really liked when you were 14-16 that you don't hate now. "I Don't Wanna Love You," by the Sutherland Brothers and Quiver. I've tried hard to remember how I even discovered this song, I'm sure I heard it on some late-night radio station when I was supposed to be in bed on a school night. 1976, if I'm not mistaken, getting it in right under the age wire.
11. A break-up song. "Jilted John," by Jilted John. Many great break-up songs have been written and recorded throughout history, but there's just something about this one. Probably the cockney accent. And of course that refrain of, "Gordon is a moron."
12. The song that that would start the opening credits in the soundtrack to a movie about your life. "Wastin My Time," by the Eagles of Death Metal. I had a tough time deciding between two for this one, the other being a song called "Single Girl," with such wonderful lines as, "I'd rather be a single girl sailing on the sea than to be a married girl with a baby on my knee," and, "Single girl, single girl, she goes to the store and buys, but a married girl, married girl, she rocks the cradle and cries." Then I had to decide: in the end, will I be known more as a single girl or a colossal time-waster? The choice got easier.
13. An awesome live track. "Look Where That Sun Done Gone," by the Hackensaw Boys. I could have put the entire "Give it Back" CD on for #13, but this one is 1) awesome, and 2) a great indicator of the Boys live.
14. An a cappella song. "Uncorrected Personality Traits," by Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians. Psychology was never so fun. I also don't recall psychology ever having an "Oy!" thrown in.
15. A good song from a genre of music that no one could guess that you liked. "Big Mama's Door," by Alvin Youngblood Hart. Like I said, this one was no cakewalk, because I don't imagine anyone being surprised by any genre of music I might like. I almost put a hymn on, but it was bluegrass-based, so that wouldn't fool anyone, so I went with The Blues. Even though as The Blues go, this is a happy song. The man in this song is not depressed in the least.
16. A song you wish you could play, on the instrument of your choice. "Guisganderie." A quick little clarinet solo extravaganza. And just to further blow the minds of those who got to listen to the track, the solo in this particular recording was played by my very own best buddy, Mr M. See, I told you he was good. However, apparently Mr M disagrees, because he asked me to stress that this was recorded several years before his car accident, in which he was injured and "never played as well again." He says he couldn't play this as well now. I disagree.
17. A favorite artist duo collaboration. "O Death," by Ralph Stanley and Gillian Welch. What a happy little number this is. However, this version is about 14 times funkier than Ralph's solo a cappella version on the "O, Brother Where Art Thou" soundtrack.
18. A favorite song that you completely disagree with (politically, morally, commonsenically, religiously etc.) "Bucknaked," by Scruffy the Cat. First of all, who would have ever thought I'd be using Scruffy twice on my CD? But this was the one. This was the one I fretted over the most, because anything I disagree with, I don't like! However, I feel I can say with complete conviction that dancing around naked is pretty much right out for me. At least Scruffy do suggest we turn out the lights....
19. A song you love that a friend introduced you to. "1952 Vincent Black Lightning," by Richard Thompson. Introduced to me by my friend Mike. Mike, I owe you for a lot, including my life, but this one probably tops the list. (In a stunning turn of events, Mike used this song as his "song a friend intoduced you to." Now that's sharing the love.)
20. A song you wouldn't play in front of your Mom. "Kiss You Down There," by the Hackensaw Boys. This song won out over "Fuck This Town," by Robbie Fulks, for one reason. I've said "fuck" in front of my mom, but anything remotely sexual is, well, I'll either turn down the stereo or cough a lot.
21. A song that you like but would play loud to annoy the neighbors. "Molly's Chambers," by the Kings of Leon. It's loud, fast, thumping, electric. What's not to annoy?
22. A favorite song that's in a foreign language. "Riu Chiu," by the Monkees. Come on, I know we all remember the Christmas episode. The guys sing this one at the end.
23. A favorite track from an outfit considered a "super-group." "Cindy Incidentally," by the Faces. A great track. A great band. I saw the Faces live when I was about 13. They did "Ooh La La," and "Memphis," but I can't remember if they did this one. I tell myself they did to keep happy. Rod Stewart was wearing gold lame pants.
24. A song that makes you want to drink more beer. "Muirshin Durkin," by the Pogues. Let's face it, there's not a Pogues song out there you can't drink beer to, but for some reason this one was calling to me. Probably because it's under 2 minutes and time was short. It's still a great song.
25. Your favorite song at this moment in time. "Alabama Shamrock," by the Hacksensaw Boys. No surprise there. Has been my favorite song since I bought the album, still haven't worked out the words (it could have been my analytical lyric song), but this song makes me incredibly happy.

So there you have it. 25 songs, one CD, a few days of my life, and a cloud of dust. If you didn't participate and you want a CD anyway, I'll make you one. Cause I'm that kind of gal.

And by the way, if you're a participant - Stennie swears I got my songs for numbers 5 and 6 reversed. I'm positive I didn't. Someone please back me up here, I'm getting paranoid.

Betland's Olympic Update:
* We at Betland have had some sort of bug running through us (at least we think we have, it's either a bug or stress) for about 8 days now, and so we're going to retreat to bed for a while. That's a Friday Chill of a completely different kind.