Every year, at the end of December, I like to make a downloadable mix of songs that meant something to me over the past year. (See 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011.) Some of them are new, many are only new-to-me. This was a particularly eclectic year. The cover art is winter at a cabin in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, where I’ll be spending New Years Eve this year.

Download here.

1. The Whigs - “Staying Alive”
2. David Wax Museum - “Yes, Maria, Yes”
3. The Memory Band - “Demon Days”
4. Josh Ritter - “Why”
5. The Wedding Band - “Thumper”
6. Divine Fits - “Would That Not Be Nice”
7. John Lennon - “Stand By Me”
8. Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins (featuring M. Ward, Conor Oberst and Ben Gibbard) - “Handle with Care”
9. Passion Pit - “Take a Walk”
10. blur - “Parklife”
11. André Previn & Royal Philharmonic Orchestra - “Jupiter, Bringer of Jollity” (from The Planets Suite)
12. Ray Charles - “Night Time is the Right Time”
13. Bob Dylan - “Simple Twist of Fate”

notthatindie:

Have I never posted my Spooky Love Halloween mixtape?? It’s one of my favorites!

Download here.

1. The Beatles - “Because (Love version)”
2. The White Stripes - “Little Ghost”
3. Creedence Clearwater Revival - “I Put a Spell on You”
4. Drake Tungsten - “Let Me Roll It!”
5. Wilco - “How to Fight Loneliness”
6. Golden Smog - “You Make it Easy”
7. Llama - “Carry Me High”
8. Josh Ritter - “Mind’s Eye”
9. The Natural History - “Beat Beat”
10. Oasis - “Columbia”
11. Band of Horses - “Is There a Ghost”
12. Fingers-cut, Megamachine! - “Mud Hands”
13. Grizzly Bear - “Knife”
14. Spoon - “10:20 AM”
15. Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins - “Happy (Reprise)”

It’s time for my annual playlist of songs that made a particular impact on me this year! Some were released in 2011, most weren’t, and I don’t want to hear your bitching about the Foster the People song. I like it, okay. If you’re so inclined to download, you may do so here!

(Credit for the cover photo of New Year on Second Ave. in Nashville goes to amandapair.com)

1. Fitz and the Tantrums - “Breakin’ the Chains of Love”
2. Creedence Clearwater Revival - “Bad Moon Rising”
3. Led Zeppelin - “Fool in the Rain”
4. Duffy - “Stepping Stone”
5. The Black Keys - “Everlasting Light”
6. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - “Senator”
7. Tristen - “Baby Drugs”
8. The Farewell Drifters - “Virginia Bell”
9. The Sheepdogs - “I Don’t Know”
10. Pickwick - “Hacienda Motel”
11. Radiohead - “House of Cards”
12. Foster the People - “Pumped Up Kicks”
13. The Ting Tings - “That’s Not My Name”
14. The Rolling Stones - “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”

I made this playlist while I was reading American Gods, because I couldn’t get the book out of my head even when I wasn’t actively devouring it. Some of the songs are actually mentioned or the lyrics quoted in the book, while some just seemed particularly appropriate for certain scenes or characters. It goes in more or less chronological order, so if you’re especially canny you can follow the narrative of the book from beginning to end in these 15 songs. You can download a .zip of the whole mix here.

1. Patsy Cline - “Walkin’ After Midnight”
2. The Velvet Underground - “Who Loves the Sun”
3. Spoon - “Goodnight Laura”
4. Bob Dylan - “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall”
5. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - “Red Right Hand”
6. Wilco - “Bull Black Nova”
7. Louis Armstrong with Gordon Jenkins and his Orchestra - “Winter Wonderland”
8. Traffic - “No Face, No Name, No Number”
9. Tom Waits - “Tango Till They’re Sore”
10. Ryan Adams - “The Shadowlands”
11. Daniel Goyone, Trilok Gurtu, Marc Bertaux, Jean-Marc Phillips & François Du Bois - “Balkis”
12. Josh Ritter - “Folk Bloodbath”
13. The Animals - “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”
14. Indigo Girls - “Closer to Fine”
15. Paul Simon - “America”

Have I never posted my Spooky Love Halloween mixtape?? It’s one of my favorites!

Download here.

1. The Beatles - “Because (Love version)”
2. The White Stripes - “Little Ghost”
3. Creedence Clearwater Revival - “I Put a Spell on You”
4. Drake Tungsten - “Let Me Roll It!”
5. Wilco - “How to Fight Loneliness”
6. Golden Smog - “You Make it Easy”
7. Llama - “Carry Me High”
8. Josh Ritter - “Mind’s Eye”
9. The Natural History - “Beat Beat”
10. Oasis - “Columbia”
11. Band of Horses - “Is There a Ghost”
12. Fingers-cut, Megamachine! - “Mud Hands”
13. Grizzly Bear - “Knife”
14. Spoon - “10:20 AM”
15. Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins - “Happy (Reprise)”

I made this space-themed mixtape back in 2008. I listened to it on the way up to St. Louis this weekend and was pleasantly surprised at how much I still like it. It’s definitely meant to be listened to chronologically—even though many of the songs only fit the theme because of their titles, everything still flows pretty well together.

1. John Williams - “Wild Signals”
2. Shout Out Louds - “Man on the Moon” (REM cover)
3. Travis - “Out in Space”
4. Radiohead - “Planet Telex”
5. The Velvet Underground - “Ride into the Sun”
6. Speechwriters LLC - “Maestro’s Rocketship”
7. Eagles - “Journey of the Sorcerer” (ALL my geek points if you know why this is included)
8. Oasis - “D’Yer Wanna Be a Spaceman”
9. Bob Dylan - “Shooting Star”
10. Old 97’s - “In the Satellite Rides a Star”
11. The Beatles - “Across the Universe”
12. The Whigs - “Mission Control”

Download here.

The cover art for my 2010 mixtape is nothing special, but when I uploaded it I ran across some of my other covers from when I used to do one a month for the Monthly Mixtape last.fm group. I thought I’d share some of my favorites. Nothing super fancy, but even a self-taught Photoshop novice can turn out something pretty once in a while.

It’s the best time of year again - time for my annual mixtape of songs that meant something to me this year! Some were released in 2010, some weren’t, and yes, this one has a Rod Stewart song. No apologies. Click on the cover art to download if you’re so inclined.

1. Josh Ritter - “Long Shadows”
2. Florence + the Machine - “Dog Days”
3. Rod Stewart - “Maggie May”
4. Tristen - “Eager for Your Love”
5. Delta Spirit - “White Table”
6. Mumford & Sons - “Little Lion Man”
7. Blitzen Trapper - “Furr”
8. Ryan Adams & the Cardinals - “If I Am a Stranger”
9. Vampire Weekend - “I Think Ur a Contra”
10. She & Him - “Get Along Without You Now”
11. The Kinks - “Victoria”
12. George Harrison - “Got My Mind Set on You”
13. Miike Snow - “Animal”
14. Dr. Dog - “Alaska”
15. The Whigs - “Black Lotus”

I made this mix last June and just discovered it again today. I had to stay late at work and it was raining and traffic was terrible; I needed something to get me excited about it being Friday night!

You can download by clicking on the link above.

1. Spencer Davis Group - “Gimme Some Lovin’”
2. JET - “Skin and Bones”
3. The Whigs - “Technology”
4. The Clash - “Train in Vain (Stand By Me)”
5. Wreckless Eric - “Whole Wide World”
6. Ryan Adams - “Shakedown on 9th Street”
7. The Who - “My Generation”
8. Reigning Sound - “Stormy Weather”
9. The Beatles - “Oh! Darling”
10. Spoon - “Utilitarian”
11. Cream - “I Feel Free”
12. Indigo Girls - “Closer to Fine”
13. Ben Harper - “Show Me a Little Shame”
14. Billy Squier - “Lonely is the Night”

Perhaps you noticed I’ve been out of the mixtape game for the past several months. Honestly, it was getting to be more of a chore than a fun diversion, so I decided to take a break—which has made me extra ready to compile my second annual year-end mixtape! For those of you who weren’t around last year, I keep a smart playlist on iTunes that tracks what music I’ve added to my library over the past year and how much I’ve played it. At the end of the year, I compile a playlist of new-to-me songs that have made their mark on me over the past twelve months. The song of 2009 was, for me, Ryan Adams and the Cardinals’ “Cold Roses.” I first heard it while “cramming” for his show at the War Memorial Auditorium on March 15, and it was a standout for me from the opening chord progression. Hearing it live really cemented this as one of my all-time favorite songs—I’m still obsessed with it nine months later.

Without further ado, “Cold Roses” and 17 other tracks that meant something to me this year. (No cover art ‘cause I didn’t feel like it.)

Download here.

1. Ryan Adams & the Cardinals - “Cold Roses”
2. Led Zeppelin - “Hey, Hey What Can I Do”
3. Vampire Weekend - “Everywhere”
4. Duffy - “Mercy”
5. The Kinks - “Lola”
6. Ray LaMontagne - “You Are the Best Thing”
7. M. Ward - “Never Had Nobody Like You”
8. Yes - “Owner of a Lonely Heart”
9. The Cars - “Just What I Needed”
10. The White Stripes - “You Don’t Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You’re Told)”
11. Spoon - “Got Nuffin”
12. Wilco - “You Never Know”
13. The Features - “The Drawing Board”
14. Kings of Leon - “Use Somebody”
15. Wolfmother - “Vagabond”
16. Neal Casal - “Freeway to the Canyon”
17. The Whigs - “In the Dark”
18. The Monkees - “Apples, Peaches, Bananas and Pears”