Car Mix: November 2006

Every once in a while I like to compile a list of songs that I’m currently listening to onto a CD to make drive time a little more bearable so I can avoid hearing that chain hang low song one more time on the radio. So here are some suggestions of songs that you should be listening to these days. This CD comes in at 76:09.


1. When You Were Young (2006 MTV Video Music Awards) - The Killers (Okay so I may have been harsh on the Vegas boys, see Nobody Ever Had a Dream Round Here, but this is one of the best rock songs of the year and one of the few good performances at the VMA’s this year)
2. God’s Gonna Cut You Down - Johnny Cash (See the great video: Go Tell That Long Tongue Liar, Go and Tell that Midnight Rider; also check out my album review: He Said “John Go Do My Will”)
3. Goodbye Earl - Me First and the Gimme Gimmes (See my album review: Yippee-I-Yah Yippee-I-Yo)
4. Call Me When You’re Sober - Evanescence (See my album review: I Want to Stay in Love with My Sorrow)
5. Wine Red - The Hush Sound (A wrongfully overlooked ditty from the summer. If you have .99 burning a hole in your pocket, it’s worth the download)
6. Smile - Lily Allen (I know I’ve been waxing poetic about Ms. Allen for a while and hopefully you picked up this song when it was free over at iTunes; and just remember where you first heard of her when she hits it big here in the States)
7. Promiscuous - Nelly Furtado (See my album review: I've Been Hurt by My Past but I Feel the Future)
8. I Wish I Was a Punk Rock Girl (With Flowers in My Hair) - Sandi Thom (See the video: When They Own the Information They Can Bend it All They Want)
9. Under the Weather - KT Tunstall (See my album review: Her Face Is the Map of the World)
10. Work it Out - Jurrasic 5 & Dave Matthews (See my abum review: We Would Say Our Rhymes to the Beat Right)
11. Dynamite (Going Postal) - Rhymefest (I can’t believe no one had sampled Jimmy Walker before; see my album review: Who Rapper You Know Before His Album Drop Is a Grammy Winner)
12. Don’t Feel Right - The Roots (See my album review: I'll Make it Hotter than Shaft in Africa)
13. Waiting on the World to Change - John Mayer (See my album review: It’s Not a Silly Little Moment, it’s Not the Calm Before the Storm)
14. The Saints Are Coming (Live from New Orleans) - U2 and Green Day (Finally this song hit iTunes this week and even though it doesn't say so on the page, I believe all proceeds go to Music Rising charity)
15. Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol (check out my album review which I published long before any crappy televisions shows co-opted the song: The Final Word in the Final Sentance)
16. Don’t Download This Song - “Weird Al” Yankovic (Of course if you are feeling lucky you can always download the song at dontdownloadthissong.com)
17. Easy - Barenaked Ladies (see my review: Musings From the Back 9: Music Edition II)
18. Juicy - Better Than Ezra (see my album review 3 ½ Minutes, Felt Like a Lifetime)
19. Crazy - Gnarls Barkley (The best song of the summer, and the fall for that matter. Be sure to see how high the song land on the Best Songs of 2006 coming next month)
20. Here I Come (Late Show with David Letterman) - The Roots
21. Tribute to Rakin - 2006 Hip-Hop Honors (The best tribute at this year's event.

Car Mix - June 2006

Every once in a while I like to compile a list of songs that I’m currently listening to onto a CD to listen to in the car. So here’s some suggestions of songs that you should be listening to. The CD comes in at 76:58.

1. Black Horse and the Cherry Tree - KT Tunstall (see my album review - Her Face Is the Map of the World)
2. Unwritten - Natasha Bedingfield
3. Hips Don’t Lie - Shakira & Wyclef Jean
4. Touch the Sky - Kanye West & Lupe Fiasco (see my album review - You Gotta Love Though, Somebody Still Speaks from His Soul)
5. Number One - Pharrell & Kanye West
6. Crazy Times (Team9) - Gnarls Barkley vs. Prince (For those keeping track at home, this is a mash-up of Crazy and Sign 'o' the Times)
7. Drive Slow - Kanye West, Paul Wall, & GLC
8. Cash Machine - Hard-FI (Another great Single of the Week)
9. Walk Away and I’ll Wait (Aggro1) - Kelly Clarkson vs. Van Halen (What mix tape would be complete without a Kelly Clarkson remix, this time with Van Halen getting the mash-up treatment)
10. Dani California’s Last Dance (Laptop Punk) - Red Hot Chili Peppers vs. Tom Petty (Apparently someone pointed out that Dani California sound similar to Mary Jane's Last Dance, even though I really don't hear it, but that didn't stop an unknown mash-up artist from putting the two songs together)
11. World Wide Suicide - Pearl Jam (I hope you got this back when Pearl Jam had it up for free on their website, if not, it is worth the .99)
12. Suddenly I See - KT Tunstall
13. Steady, As She Goes (Acoustic) - The Raconteurs (This and the next song were both Free Singles of the week on iTunes, but instead of getting the album versions, we get acoustic versions of their latest songs. Hopefully this tread continues)
14. Put Your Records On (Acoustic) - Corrine Bailey Rae
15. Not About Love - Fiona Apple (see my album review - I Promise You Everything Will be Just Fine)
16. Boston - Augustana
17. Brand New Way - Rhett Miller (see my album review - Sex in Wartime Is Sweeter than Peace)
18. Over My Head (Cable Car) - The Fray (I always find it interesting whenever a former Free Single of the Week makes it into the top 25 downloaded list on iTunes, luckily, I got this song back when it was free)
19. Sway - The Perisher (This was featured during the Sadie Hawkins dance episode on Veronica Mars and it sounded familiar and lo and behold, I downloaded it back when it was a Free Single of the Week)
20. You’re Pitiful - “Weird Al” Yankovic (For those that made it to the end of my lengthy MTV Movie Awards recap saw this gem where Al is letting you download his latest parody on his website. Get it before he takes it down before you have to pay .99 for it by clicking on the song name)

Car Mix - February 06

Every once in a while I like to compile a list of songs that I’m currently listening to onto a CD to listen to in the car. So here’s some suggestion that you should be listening to. The CD comes in at 78:15.

1. Ohio (Come Back to Texas) - Bowling for Soup
2. I Wish My Doorbell Rang (Sam Flanagan Mix) - Skee-Lo vs. the White Stripes
3. Boulevard of Broken Songs (Dean Gray) - Green Day vs. Oasis
4. Breakdown - Handsome Boy Modeling School (This essentially boils down to a remix of the same song that appears on the Jack Johnson album)
5. Original of the Species - U2
6. Don’t Give Up (Africa) - Bono & Alicia Keys (This is a remake of the old Peter Gabriel song with proceeds going to the “Keep a Child Alive” charity)
7. Adelaide - Old 97’s ( This song was featured at the end of the Veronica Mars episode where Duncan rode off with his daughter into the sunset; you can either buy the song from iTunes or if you are a cheapskate, the band has the song available for free on their website http://www.old97s.com/)
8. O’ Sailor - Fiona Apple (See my album review - I Promise Everything Will Be Just Fine)
9. I Wasn’t Prepared - Eisley (See my album review - You Humor Me Today)
10. Talk - Coldplay (See my album review - All That Noise, All That Sound)
11. Landing in London - 3 Doors Down & Bob Seger (See my album review - If I Get Boring, Would You Still Call Me Superman?)
12. U Been Throwing it Away - Kelly Clarkson vs. Genesis (The great Clarkson mash-ups just keep on coming)
13. Me Plus One (James Iha Remix) - Annie
14. Be Without You (Remix) - Mary J. Blige & Stat Quo (See my album review - Anyone Who’s Ever Loved You Know What I Mean)
15. Heard ‘Em Say - Kanye West & Adam Levine (See my album review - You Gotta Love it Though, Somebody Still Speaks From His Soul)
16. Keep Doin’ - 2 Skinny Dorks (A local band, I even had a class with one of the dorks in college; you can check out their music and download this song at their website http://www.2skinnydorks.com/)
17. Get Out Of My Mind - Hootie & the Blowfish (See my review - State Your Peace)
18. Nice Talking to Me - Spin Doctors (See my review - The Longer We Talk the Less We Say)
19. Lazy Sunday - Chris Parnell & Andy Samberg (Best SNL skit in ages)

Car Mix - November '05

Every once and a while I like to make a mix tape of the best songs out there to listen to in the car. Here’s what you should be listening to.

1. Gold Digger – Kanye West & Jamie Foxx (Check out my album review - You Gotta Love it Though, Somebody Still Speaks From His Soul)
2. I Got a Woman – Ray Charles (Of course Gold Digger was built around this Ray Charles classic)
3. The Corner (Remix) – Common, Scareface, & Mos Def
4. So High – John Legend
5. I’m Feeling You – Santana, Michelle Branch & the Wreckers (See my album review - Your Fire Fills My Soul)
6. Dreamgirl – Dave Matthews Band (See my album review - Bring That Beat Back to Me Again)
7. The Mixed Tape – Jack’s Mannequin (See my album review - I'll Send This Message Through the Speakers)
8. Good Times – Tommy Lee (See my album review - I'd Rather Play You on My TV)
9. Breakdown – Jack Johnson (See my album review - We Drew Our Own Constellations)
10. Bad Day – Daniel Powter (Another good iTunes free Single of the Week)
11. Do it Again – Nada Surf
12. Last Getaway (ReAct Now: Music & Relief) – The Radiators (These next three song came from Connect.com with proceeds going to Katrina Relief)
13. Home (ReAct Now: Music & Relief) – Marc Broussard (Although the song is taken from the Connect set, if you follow this link it will take you to the iTunes store with another live version with proceeds also going to Katrina relief)
14. Wake Me up When September Ends (ReAct Now: Music & Relief) – Green Day (Again, this link takes you to iTunes version with proceeds of the song going to charity)
15. All These Things That I’ve Done (Live 8) – The Killers (Look for the Live 8 DVD coming out next Tuesday)
16. Behind These Immigrant Eyes – Led Zeppelin vs. Kelly Clarkson (Another mix tape and yet another Kelly Clarkson mash-up. I still have a couple more on my iPod)
17. In the Rough – Anna Nalick
18. Who We Are – Hope Partlow (Check out my album review - Hope Is What I'm Hoping to Find)
19. The Theme to Fame (Emmy Idol) – Kristen Bell (What should have been the winner at this year’s Emmys, check out my review - We on Award Tour - 2005 Emmy Awards)
20. They Don’t Know (World Series Remix) – Paul Wall (Thanks to some shaky umpiring, the World Series didn’t go they should have, but Astro’s fan and Houston native Paul Wall made the best pre-championship song since the Superbowl Shuffle and was able to name drop each player on the roster and front row ticket holder George Bush, that is the real one, not the pale imitation that is his son)

Car Mix - August '05

Here are some song to listen to that will fit on a single CD that you can play in your car, at the beach, a barbeque, or anywhere that need some summer music to dance to.

1. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Live 8) – Paul McCartney & U2 (I started off this CD with two of my performances from the Live 8 concerts.)
2. Bittersweet Symphony (Live 8) – Coldplay & Richard Ashcroft
3. Fix You – Coldplay (One of the few songs on their latest album that stands up to their earlier work.)
4. City of Blinding Light – U2
5. All These Things I’ve Done – The Killers (This song features one of my favorite lyrics in recent memory, “I got soul, but I’m not a soldier.”)
6. Somebody Rock Me – The Clash vs. The Killers (This is a killer mash-up, lame pun intended.)
7. Son’s Gonna Rise – Citizen Cope & Santana (A cool song that you may recognize from a recent car commercial. This guy should be getting a lot more publicity than he’s getting.)
8. The Harder They Come – Willie Nelson (A country artist doing a reggae song? Only Willie, and a whole lot of pot, can pull that off.)
9. Portions for Foxes – Rilo Kiley (Depressingly sad lyrics dressed up with bouncing music makes this song pop gold.)
10. Me Plus One – Annie (iTunes Single of the Week has been offering up some bland music recently, but my ears pop up when I first heard this. It is quite possibly the best pop song since the 80’s. The song would fit very well in a Tom Tom Club album.)
11. These Word – Natasha Bedingfield (When I first heard this song, I wasn’t very impressed, but by the end I was sing, “I love you, I love you, I love you,” right with the song.)
12. She Said – Brie Larson (Not as good as the previous three in the pop department, but a lot better than the overproduced music clogging the radio these days.)
13. Love Love Love – Tristan Prettyman (Check of my review of her album – I Wish You Couldn’t Take Your Eyes Off of Me.)
14. Spending One of These Nights with Kelly – The Eagles vs. Kelly Clarkson (This is one of the most disturbingly entertaining songs ever created.)
15. Pon De Replay – Rihanna (Introducing this summer’s ubiquitous club anthem. Although if you played it back to back with last year’s ubiquitous club anthem, Move Ya Body, I’m not sure if I could tell them apart.)
16. Go – Common, John Mayer & Kanye West (Hip-hop good boy gets help getting dirty with Mr. You Body is a Wonderland and the Workout Plan King.)
17. Diamonds Are Forever (Remix) – Kanye West & Jay-Z (I mentioned this song a couple weeks ago in regards to its blood diamonds topic, check it out here – Throw Up Your Diamonds Like You’re Bulimic.)
18. Mind on the Road – Reverend Run (Sampling Joan Jett’s I Love Rock n Roll, this song rivals anything he did with Run-DMC. Just skip the cheesy video, but if you must, click here.)

Car Mix - June '05

Here is a list of the songs I'm listening to right now that fit on a single CD:

1. American Baby Intro – Dave Matthews Band
2. American Baby – Dave Matthews Band
3. Speed of Sound – Coldplay
4. Ashes – Embrace (Even though this is the best song from their album, you may want to check out the song Gravity which is free on iTunes this week.)
5. Since You Been Gone (Jason Nevins Remix) – Kelly Clarkson (I have already chronicled my love of this song a few times – I’m Soooooooooooooooooooo Moving On.)
6. Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money) – Pet Shop Boys (The theme to my favorite new show of the summer, Beauty and the Geek. Stayed tune for a full review of the show coming soon.)
7. One Word – Kelly Osborne (I never though I’d like a song from her, but she did make a smart move going away from rock and into techno where it can hide poor singing ability. Ashlee Simpson, take note.)
8. Till I Get to You – Nikka Costa
9. 1 Thing (Remix) – Amerie & Jay-Z
10. Diamonds (From Sierra Leone) – Kanye West (A full review of this song and the accompanying video should be up in the next few days.)
11. Dreams – The Game (I don’t care too much for the Game, but the Kanye West production makes up for the lackluster rhyme skill.)
12. The Corner – Common, Kanye West, & Last Poets (The best rapper than no one listens to gets a little help from the best producer of the moment.)
13. You’re Gonna Luv Me – Da Backwudz (This song really sounds like it was produced by West with the sped up chorus.)
14. (Expletive deleted) Ain’t (expletive deleted) – Dr. Dre & Snoop Doggy Dogg (My love of the Ben Fold version made me dust off my Dre album just to hear the original.)
15. (Expletive deleted) Ain’t (expletive deleted) – Ben Folds
16. The Right Time – Joss Stone (yes this is the one from the Gap commercial. Get it for yourself, it free from the gap link. Or if you like paying, click the other link.)
17. Chariot (Stripped) – Gavin DeGraw
18. Breathe (2 AM) (Live - Hotel Café) – Anne Nalick

Car Mix - April '05

1. Beverly Hills – Weezer (Check out my thought on this song at Just Don't Bring too Many Dudes.)
2. Club Foot – Kasabian (This song seems to popping up during all my favorite TV shows lately and was a former single of the week on iTunes.)
3. City of Blinding Light – U2
4. Work (Demo) – Jimmy Eat World (This was on the special edition version of JEW's latest album that I picked up as I'm a sucker for things of that nature. The song's a rawer version of the original.)
5. Back to Me – Kathleen Edwards (This was another great Single of the Week. It's a neo-country song, but not in the "My sister looks hot" kind of country.)
6. Behind These Hazel Eyes – Kelly Clarkson (This is the second song that she has conned me into liking. To be honest, it might be time for someone to hold an intervention for me.)
7. Be the Girl – Aslyn
8. Somebody – Bonnie McKee
9. A Lifetime – Better Than Ezra (From the guys that brought us Good, yet another solid song. BTE is one of the few bands to constantly put out good music.)
10. Telescope Eyes – Eisley
11. Toxic – Local H (A disturbingly faithful cover of the Brittany Spears song from the band best known for the mid-90's rocker, Bound to the Floor. Yet not even the best cover on this CD. That title goes to:)
12. (expletive deleted) Ain’t (expletive deleted) – Ben Folds (Due to the website's censors, I need to explain this. The song is a moody, piano driven version of the last song on Dr. Dre's first album which features Snoop Doggy Dogg. If you are not sure what I'm talking about, click the link and take a listen for yourself. This is the very reason that makes iTunes great. Due to the lyric, the song won't be played on the radio and it wouldn't fit very well on an album, so iTunes is a great place to get this type of music.)
13. Landed – Ben Folds
14. Chariot – Gavin DeGraw
15. Ordinary People – John Legend
16. All Falls Down – John Legend & Kanye West (A great live version of the song.)
17. 1 Thing – Amerie (The best song from a Will Smith movie since, umm, does the Theme to The Fresh Prince of Bel Air count?)
18. Gotta Get Up from Here – Ellie Lawson (This song has a cool Celtic feel to it.)
19. When the President Talks to God – Bright Eyes (A thoroughly amusing, yet sad at the same time, song you can get free the last time I checked at iTunes. Something everyone should take a listen to, which is easy because it's free. Who doesn't like free?)
20. Coconut – Harry Nilsson (A completely cheesy song that recently got co-opted by Coke. I've loved the song ever since it appeared on the Reservoir Dogs soundtrack.)

Car Mix - March '05

Every once in a while I like to make a CD to play in my car of recent music I'm listening to. Here my most recent CD.

1) Bold as Love - John Mayer (Taken from the Tsunami Aid: Concert of Hope which can be bought on connect.com)
2) Across the Universe - Various Artists (Taken from this year's Grammy awards. Proceeds, like the previous song, goes to Tsunami relief organizations. So don't say I didn't do my part, that's $1.98 right there.)
3) Sunday Morning (Acoustic) - Maroon 5
4) Trouble - Bonnie McKee
5) Breathe (2AM) - Anna Nalick (Along with Trouble, these were both former Single of the Week on iTunes. Most of them are really good so you should always check them out because you may find gems like these.)
6) Telescope Eyes - Eisley
7) Collide - Howie Day
8) Daughters (Home Demo) - John Mayer
9) Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own - U2
10) Existentialism on Prom Night - Straylight Run (I found this song free at mtv.com. Yet another steal.)
11) Chocolate - Snow Patrol (I was turned onto this band when their song Run was a Single of the Week. Solid album)
12) Work - Jimmy Eat World
13) Let Me Go - 3 Doors Down
14) Boulevard of Broken Songs - Green Day vs. Oasis (One of the best mash-up that I have heard in a while. It's built around the Green Day song and has hints of Oasis' Wonderwall and throws in some Travis and Aerosmith to round out the song. Highly recommended if you can hunt it down.)
15) Why [Remix] - Jadakiss, Common, Styles P and Nas
16) Jesus Walks - Kanye West, Common & Mase
17) Twisted (Remix) - Mobb Deep, Jae Millz, Joe Budden
18) Drop it Like it's Hot (Lil John Remix) - Snoop Dogg