Reforesting

1. If Ever There’s A Reason—Derby

2. Closing The Doors—Caroline Smith and The Goodnight Sleeps

3. Honor Amongst Thieves—These United States

4. With A Giggle And A Hug And A Tickle And A Kiss—Alyssa A. Robbins

5. Niagara Falls—The Harlem Shakes

6. Waiting On The Stairs—Pela

7. The Walls Are Coming Down—Fanfarlo

8. Up To Our Nex—Robyn Hitchcock and The Venus

9. Relator—Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson

10. Cartoons and Forever Plans—Maria Taylor

Not as Hip as I Am.

1. On a Cloud—PPP (Platinum Pied Pipers)

2. She Came Along (feat. Sharam)—Kid Cudi

3. Just So You Know—Helladope

4. Feeling Good—Nina Simone

5. Ordinary Man—Chinese Man

6. Ghostwriter—RJD2

7. This Beat—The Jazzual Suspects

8. Saturday Night--Ozomatli

9. Kids (Feat. MGMT)—Chiddy Bang

10. Two Weeks of Hip-Hop—The Hood Internet (Dead Prex vs. Grizzly Bear)

Drat! The number 5 link isn't working. Here's the song you missed:

Driven

1. Just A Gigolo/I Ain’t Got Nobody—Louis Prima

2. You’re Driving Me Crazy—The Ray Gelato Giants

3. I Got My Mind Set On You—George Harrison

4. Chick Habit—April March

5. Jeepster—T.Rex

6. Destination Unknown—Missing Persons

7. Once In A Lifetime—Talking Heads

8. Life Is A Highway—Rascal Flats

9. Driving Down Alvarado—Anne McCue

10. Hey Pretty (Drive-By 2001)—Poe

Getting Over It, Kinda

Not really.

1. Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow—Amy Winehouse

2. Coffee—Motel Motel

3. Heart Skipped A Beat—The xx

4. Let Me Kiss You Now (And I Will Fade Away)—Plushgun

5. Can’t Stand The Rain—The Rescues

6. Grace Kelly—Mika

7. Say Yes—Langhorne Slim

8. Never Forget You—Noisettes

9. I’m Scared—Duffy

10. Only You—Joshua Radin

Bonus:

You Will Love This Song—Amber Rubarth

Elevator Girl

The Americans: "Elevator Girl" by Robert Frank

1. Past Present and Future—The Shangri-Las

2. Be My Baby—The Ronettes

3. Downtown—Petula Clark

4. Monday Monday—Mamas & The Papas

5. Turn! Turn! Turn!—The Byrds

6. When They Fight, They Fight—The Generationals

7. All of My Love—Led Zeppelin

8. Love Me Like a River Does—Melody Gardot

9. You’re No Good—Linda Ronstadt

10. You Don’t Own Me—Lesley Gore

Good story: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112389032

Hide & Seek

God is childish in many ways, not at all cynical like half of his creations. My own belief in Him frequently wavered depending on the day, environment or internal bio-chemical reaction that science has yet to explain. That said, imagine my surprise when I found God hiding behind mall parking-lot flora; His cheeks flush with a rosy mix of embarrassment and mischief.

God giggled in response to my question, “What the hell are you doing here?”

Where was the authoritative figure I had been raised to revere, later rebel against, and finally feel indifferent towards. God is a farce. The impression of Him that motivates so many people is ridiculously overrated. It turns out that the only reason for our creation was so that God would have playmates, people with whom He may play hide-and-seek. Our mission, as we were originally wired to accept, is to contemplate His whereabouts and figure out how to reach Him. The fun and thrill of the game has been lost over the centuries. Some of us began taking the game too seriously, developing expanded rulebooks and trying to exclude various people from play. Opinions differ greatly. Instead of loving the game many people began resenting having been created to play. Atheists are the poorest sports and agnostics are the ones content to sit out this round. They are no fun.

You may think me a cheat, but His whereabouts aren’t that mysterious, just look among the flora. He loves the color green. Winning and ending His game is impossible, but you’ll probably want to figure that out on your own. No sooner had I found God then He requested that I close my eyes and count to ten. I did what I was instructed and when I reopened my eyes He was gone. Just like that—no God.

I called out, “Olly olly oxen free!” but God is relentless and never tires of our pursuit. The end.

(Not bad for a nonbeliever. I'm too tired to make a mix--oh well!)

Do You?

1. Airline To Heave—Billy Bragg & Wilco

2. Quiet Town—Josh Rouse

3. This Sweet Love—James Yuill

I like playing this roller coaster video while listening to chorus of "This Sweet Love". The pairing makes the ride gentle, yet thrilling--the way it sometimes feels when you're sitting still just thinking about how damn lucky you are to be cuddled up with your partner.

(I'm not sure if this small video screen is able to pull off the effect. Sigh, oh well!)

4. My Only Swerving—El Ten Eleven

5. The Guy That Says Goodbye To You Is Out Of His Mind—Griffin House

6. Sweet Memory—Melody Gardot

7. Fitz and Dizzyspells—Andrew Bird

8. Lisztomania—Phoenix

9. Two Weeks—Grizzly Bear

10. Flakes—Mystery Jets

Pindown Girl

1. Island Blues--Koop
2. Oh My My--Jill Barber
3. All the Same to Me--Anya Marina
4. All for Love--Sean Hayes
5. Bei Mir Bist Du Schon--Robin Mckelle
6. Whatever Lola Wants--Dinah Shore
7. Get up...Carmen--Waldeck
8. Fever--Peggy Lee (Gabin Remix)
9. Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend--Marilyn Monroe (Swing Cats Remix)
10. Got Your Number--Nadia Oh
11. Stripper--Sohodolls

P.S. Have you been keeping up with Mad Men? I can't get Ann-Margret's "Bye Bye Birdie" out of my head.

"Bye bye birdiiieee. Time for me to flyyy...time for me to (shake boobs at camera) flyyyyyyy...Time to say good-byeeee!


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Derby Dolls 2009

Whoa! The new season has brought new rules, new teams, and the fastest jammers I have ever seen! Last night I saw The Swarm cut through The Sirens like butter. Why, why, why, does The Swarm have to be from San Diego? Will Los Angeles ever be able to redeem itself?

http://www.derbydolls.com/la/

1. Kiss with a Fist—Florence and The Machine

2. Oh My God—Ida Maria

3. Help I’m Alive—Metric

4. Last Day of Magic—The Kills

5. Amphetamine—Everclear

6. Gilt Complex—Sons and Daughters

7. Because I’m Awesome—The Dollyrots

8. Ice Cream—New Young Pony Club

9. Le Disko—Shiny Toy Guns

10. Boys Wanna Be Her--Peaches

The Beauty of Fantasy

These love affairs...

1. The Cat's Pyjamas--Isobel Campbell

2. Summer's Gone--Aberfeldy

3. Ever Fallen In Love--Nouvelle Vague (cover)

4. Gipsy Kings Medley (Bamboleo, Volare, Djobl Djoba, Pida Me, Bailia Me)--Gipsy Kings

5. Anyway You Choose To Give It--The Black Ghosts

6. Love is a Wave--Crystal Stilts

7. Lonely No More--Magnet

8. A Beautiful World--Tim Myers

9. I Adore You--Melpo Mene

10. Comes And Goes (In Waves)--Greg Laswell

...We shall hide

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The Reaper

1. Another One Bites The Dust--MJAS

I don't like the original song--so repetitive! Just like reincarnation.

2. Car Crash--Cloud Cult

Another haunting car crash song is "MIA" by Emmy Great. I couldn't find a good version on playlist, so you'll have to find it yourself. While making this mix I found a surprisingly large amount of fatal car crash songs on my ipod--perhaps an unconscious nod to my grandfather. Or maybe I have a latent desire to watch NASCAR. God I hope that's not it.

3. (Don't Fear) The Reaper--Blue Oyster Cult

It's a dirty job...

4. Happy Phantom--Tori Amos

Sounds fun--sign me up!

5. The Day I Died--Just Jack

Alanis Morissette may call this ironic--she calls a lot of things ironic.

6. Seasons in the Sun--Terry Jacks

Just another feel good death song...

7. Let the Mystery Be--Benjamin Wagner

I *just* found this song. I love it when lyrics match my personal philosophy.

8. Fog--Mason Proper

I just want to point out that "between you and I" isn't correct grammar because "between" is a preposition and accusative case pronouns come after prepositions, not nominative case pronouns. Alanis Morissette may like this song, and she'd probably call it ironic, just like everything else.

9. Vicious Traditions--The Veils

Not since Kurt Cobain have I enjoyed a musician that sounds like he is singing with marbles in his mouth.

10. Black Fur--Fredrik

Sounds so ancient black parade! Like a goth's wedding song.