Mix Tape of the Day: June 20, 2015 - Summer's Here!

Technically, tomorrow is the first day of summer, but we've been feeling it for a month now, so lets get to our summertime mix!

1. Misirlou - Dick Dale (1963)

2. Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini - Brian Hyland (1960)

3. A Summer Song - Chand & Jeremy (1964)

4. Summer in the City - The Lovin' Spoonful (1966)

5. Cruel Summer - Bananarama (1983)

6. Blister in the Sun - Violent Femmes (1983)

7. Theme from A Summer Place - Percy Faith (1960) Or if you prefer with lyrics.

8. Summer of '69 - Bryan Adams (1984)

9. The Boys of Summer - Don Henley (1984)

10. Summer Girls - LFO (1999)

11. Island in the Sun - Weezer (2001)

12. In the Summertime - Mungo Jerry (1970)

13. Wipe Out - The Surfaris (1963)

Mix Tape of the Day: April 6, 2015 - Power Pop!

The fun part of this blog is when I learn something new.  For example, I now know that there is a genre that consists of my favorite type of music that I have been unable to classify up until this point.  See, I wanted to do a list featuring certain songs that were only tangentially related content-wise and I was wondering why I picked this collection of songs to feature together.  I looked them up and learned that they all belonged to the genre known as "power pop," which is like a harder rock version of "pop rock."  Whatever the distinction is, I'm glad I can finally have a go-to answer when people ask what kind of music I like.

(This list is far from complete, as many will be appearing on later mixes.)

1. Surrender - Cheap Trick (1978) I love this song!  And I never realized it was one of the earliest examples of this genre (I mean technically, the earliest exaples would be from the '60s, but this is the song that made the genre popular).

2. Just What I Needed - The Cars (1978) "I needed someone to bleed...at Circuit City." - Circuit City ad circa 2005

3. My Sharona - The Knack (1979) In Eerie, Indiana, a man switched his mind with an 8-track tape of this song.  That's fantastic.

4. Turning Japanese - The Vapors (1980) Haha, yeah, this one counts too.

5. What I Like About You - The Romantics (1980) The '60s influence really shows in this one.  Doesn't get better than this.

6. 867-5309/Jenny - Tommy Tutone (1981) Yep, the signature sound of the early '80s is all thanks to the power pop genre.

7. Jessie's Girl - Rick Springfield (1981) Be honest, you get this one confused with "My Best Friend's Girl" by the Cars  and "Jenny" all the time just like I do.  Well, now you know the reason!

8. Bohemian Like You - The Dandy Warhols (2000) After a couple decades of a power pop dry spell, it's second heyday came back.  Probably due to that whole "20 year nostalgia law" where kids of the past grow up to become artists who repeat what they experienced in their youth. Let's start with a song that caught me off guard the first time I heard it and stuck with me ever since.

9. Sk8er Boi - Avril Lavigne (2002) This is the original song that sparked my quest to uncover today's genre.  I originally just knew I wanted to do a mix with this song and I immediately thought of "Bohemian Like You," and then I wondered, "What other songs work with these two?"  And I ended up featuring nearly every song I've wanted to use on a mix thus far with no qualms because they all go together!  I am no longer ashamed of loving this song so much.

10. Stacy's Mom - Fountains of Wayne (2003) I also discovered that there is a theory that links all the major power pop songs together.  "What if Stacy's mom was Jessie's girl and her number was 867-5309?" Pure genius.

11. I Predict a Riot - Kaiser Chiefs (2004) Hey, this one counts too!  All my faves!

12. 1985 - Bowling for Soup (2004) I nearly overlooked this gem! It was even telling me to put it on the list with it's ode to the '80s when power pop was still going strong.  Fun Fact! In high school, I had this on a mix CD right after "Kokomo" by the Beach Boys.  It was a purely random placement, but after digging up my old CDs, I discovered that the two are the exact same melody, only "1985" has a faster tempo.  Somebody even mashed them up with ease!

13. (If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To - Weezer (2009) Thanks Weezer, for keeping this genre alive today.

Mix Tape of the Day: March 13, 2015 - The Best of 2005

Time to go back to 2015.  We are now 10 years in the past, and things look...not really that different.  Most of these artists are still going strong today, even if things have died down a bit.  Once again, it was a bit tough coming up with 13 favorites.  And I'll warn you now, I didn't include "Feel Good, Inc."  It just doesn't click with me.  I'm sorry.

1. Beverly Hills - Weezer (2005) I was always kind of aware of Weezer, but it wasn't until "Beverly Hills" that I really began to take notice.  I knew they were clever, but now I felt they had a more enjoyable quality than before.

2. Sugar, We're Going Down - Fall Out Boy (2005) Fall Out Boy's back with their first hit,  "Datahwhenyerinoryeround."

3. Wake Me Up When September Ends - Green Day (2004) I left this one off my Green Day mix, but everyone seems to like it.  I still hear it on the radio all the time.  So, I'll admit, it's good.  Not great...but good.

4. I Don't Want to Be - Gavin DeGraw (2003) Ah yes, a song for the high school senior who was tired of following the rules and just wanted to be him/herself.  At least, that's what it was for me.

5. Just the Girl - The Click Five (2005) Um, I do not remember this band at all.  They feel like every boy band past, present, and future.  So that means that this song is going to be quite...average.  But, like, good average.

6. Listen to Your Heart - DHT (2004) I know this is a cover of an '80s song, but for some reason, I was always under the impression that this was the original version.  Then I went and listened to the original and realized that this one is slower and more introspective.

7. Photograph - Nickelback (2005) Sorry.  Too many memories associated with this one.  I hope they finally figured out what the hell was on Joey's head.

8. Daughters - John Mayer (2003) I always like it when a John Mayer song makes the charts.  It's like one of those "restored faith in humanity" moments.

9. Behind These Hazel Eyes - Kelly Clarkson (2004) Here's more from Clarkson's Breakway album.  She really crafted a work of art with that one.

10. Cool - Gwen Stefani (2004) This song is "Cool."

11. Speed of Sound - Coldplay (2005) Yay, more Coldplay!  I'm glad we're entering Coldplay territory.  The next few yearly mixes should be fun.

12. You and Me - Lifehouse (2005) Here's one of my hopeless romantic songs that I listened to all the time in high school.  Probably the one I listened to the most.

13. Collide - Howie Day (2003) But even better than "You and Me," was "Collide."  It's just so perfect.  I imagine it playing every time I bump into somebody.

Mix Tape of the Day: February 7, 2015 - The Best of Youtube

In today's age, we experience content from throngs of amateur artists who can share their craft with the world instantly.  Today, I've picked those non-mainstream compositions that I find myself returning to again and again.

1. Russian Unicorn - Bad Lip Reading (2011) Musicless music videos, literal music videos, and the shreds series are all forms of my favorite type of musical comedy.  Taking the visuals of one source and replacing the audio with something different will always work for me.  And nobody does it better than Bad Lip Reading.  And they don't get better than "Russian Unicorn."  Even without the video, "Russian Unicorn" is a fantastic, silly love song.  But flipping the conceit of "Haven't Met You Yet" and creating this filthy ode to lust and rare, vermilion, Ukranian unicorns is just brilliant.

2. iPad - Parry Gripp (2010) Parry Gripp's usual MO is supplying cutesy soundtracks to cutesy animal videos.  But I love it when his songs have an edge of satire to them.  This song came out when we barely knew anything about the iPad, other than what that first commercial was telling us.  This brief song takes that idea of hype and uncertainty and carries it to it's logical(?) end.

3. Double Rainbow Song - The Gregory Brothers (2010) It wouldn't be a list of Youtube songs without an autotuned version of a previous viral video.  This is probably the Gregory Brothers' best as it is so catchy and positive.

4. Pork and Beans - Weezer (2008) This isn't a Youtube song, per se, but the video captured all the hottest Internet memes and viral videos from the early years of Youtube (2005-2007).  It was fun witnessing the birth and development of "pop culture controlled by the masses."  Sure, all of these references, may seem horribly dated and unfunny now, but this video is a little museum that captures our strange sense of humor for a brief moment in time.

5. Everyday - Carly Commando (2006) One of those early Youtube hits was the "Noah takes a photo of himself everyday for 6 years" video.  It was an early showcase of the creativity people had with this new technology at their hands.  The music specifically composed for the video is a haunting reminder of the passage of time and it is lovely on it's own.

6. the TV show - Manabe Takayuki (2009) I just love hidden gems on Youtube.  I mean, it's a pretty popular video now, but being exposed to a creation from across the globe is so cool.  The music is great, and I love the way the video builds on itself.  It is so clever and appealing.

7. Modify - Kniles (2013) An original song by our friends at Bad Lip Reading.  I guess they are trying to break out from their gimmick.  It works for me because they are clearly talented.  For me, this is the Game of Thrones theme song.

8. Freaks - Timmy Trumpet (2014) This isn't technically a Youtube song, but thanks to my favorite viral video of the past year, I think it should be included here.

9. Toyz Noize - Pogo (2010) Some of the best art comes from repurposing other art, as many Youtube artists prove.  Pogo takes sounds from film and television to create music that invokes the spirit of the original piece.  There are many great ones to choose from, but his work with the Pixar films is some of my favorite (and it even drew the attention of Disney who commissioned him to make some official songs).  While the Up and Monsters, Inc. ones are fantastic, I always come back to Toy Story.

10. Accidentally in Love - Julia Nunes (2008) A lot of Youtube artists have a long back catalog of songs featuring them covering hit songs while singing directly into their webcam.  Something about Julia Nunes' personality and voice allowed her to rise above the rest.  Whenever I was feeling down in college, I would just peruse through a bunch of Nunes's tuneses.  How can you go wrong with a uke and melodica?  (Also, Nunes just has my favorite type of voice for music.)

11. Beat It - Pomplamoose (2009) Here's another pair of musicians who I just find to be adorable.  They lways try to come up with clever ways to incorporate odd instruments and effects into their covers, but really, they could just perform the telephone book and I'd be happy.  "Beat It" was my introduction, and thus remains a personal favorite.

12. 4 Chord Song - Tetrastar (2010) Youtube has something for everybody.  When I fell in love with the "4 Chords" song, I searched for as many other similar mashups as I could.  I found this little band who seemed to be my musical soulmates as they covered all of my favorite songs.  They don't seem to be in operation anymore, but I downloaded their album to hear my favorite songs ("Hallelujah," "Such Great Heights," "Float On," "Numa Numa," etc.) in their signature style.  I also like their bizarre "Zebra Crossing."

13. A Thousand Years - The Piano Guys (2012) And sometimes, I just want some beautiful piano and cello covers of my favorite tunes.  And boy do the Piano Guys deliver.  Every one of their songs is gorgeous, and when they cross paths with Christina Perri, there is no way you could lose?