November, to me, is when it really starts to feel like fall. The night comes earlier, and is darker, quieter. The air outside is scented with fallen leaves and wood fires, inside with soups and baked bread.
If spring is a time of new beginnings and rebirth, than fall is surely its opposite. It feels as old and comfortable as the sweaters that have just been pulled from their summer slumber. The colors, the shades of gray and gold, are warm and gentle.
These songs envelop all of these feelings for me. They feel wrapped in antiquity, comfortable, familiar, and slightly haunting. They are at once as warm as blankets pulled from cedar-lined chests, and as chilly as the air sneaking in under old window panes. They are the sounds, at least for me, of fall.
Hello and Happy Monday, my Darlings. Welcome to October, and welcome to the sixth edition of Mix Tape Monday. And since this is October, and October is traditionally full of things like falling leaves, a chill to the air, and Halloween, I thought we'd celebrate this month with a collection of haunting cover songs. Cover songs seem to fit right in with Halloween in my mind. It's like the singer and the song are both dressed in the costume of another band. And to me, all of these songs feel like chilly night listening.
So pull up your wooly socks, fix yourself a hot toddy, and snuggle in. Happy listening.
A rain-soaked hello and a late day welcome to August, Dear Readers!
It is indeed the first day of a new month, and a Monday to boot, making today Mix Tape Monday. We're changing things up a bit this time around, because today marks the 30th anniversary of the launch of MTV. And though I was but a wee small girl on that long-ago day, I still have hazy memories of watching those first few videos with my dad and my mom's brother (who was living with us at the time).
Which begs the question-what was I still doing up at midnight? Who was in charge there?
I came out of the womb loving music. So it's no wonder that actually seeing the songs that I loved so much made such a huge impact on my formative years. So, friends, today I invite you to take a little trip down memory lane with me, and watch some of the songs that shaped who I am today.
Enjoy.
The Pretenders, Brass In Pocket. There was really nothing special about this video. At all.
But my tiny self loved it. And has had a love/hate affair with bangs ever since.
Fleetwood Mac, Gypsy. I was obsessed with Stevie Nicks. I saw this, and my whole world changed.
To this day, I still answer the question "What do you want
to be when you grow up?" with these two words:
Stevie Nicks.
We didn't have cable for very long while I was growing up, so I missed a lot of videos. Jump ahead to 8th grade.
The Cure releases Disintegration, along with oddly colorful videos for a large number of the songs. Sunday nights are spent sleeping at friends' houses so I can see them all on 120 Minutes.
A new obsession has been born.
The Stone Roses, I Wanna Be Adored. A lifelong love affair with dreamy britpop began here.
And a good many hours were spent laying on the living room floor, listening to this album on the big headphones.
So there it is, a tiny slice of my life in music videos. I could probably have filled an entire day with little snippets of song, but these left the biggest mark.
What about you, Dear Readers?
On this MTV-aversary, what videos have made an impact on you?
Happy Monday, my friends! And what a Monday it is. It's the second Monday of July (already!), and seeing as how the first Monday was a holiday, and I was off enjoying that fact, this week becomes the de facto week for July's edition of Mix Tape Monday.
This month, it's all about road trippin'. July is the perfect month for such an activity: school's out, time off is easy to come by, and there are still a few pleasant weeks of windows down type driving days before the August heat settles in.
I could have gone a few ways with this mix- the classic rock route, my preffered listening choice for windows down driving, or the literal route (Thunder Road, Born To Be Wild). I instead decided on the songs that, when I hear them, remind me of a particular journey. I remember a time in high school, riding in my friend's car, driving aimlessly about and singing Suite: Judy Blue Eyes at the top of our lungs, making up words to the last bit. I remember travelling south on a bus from Rome to Naples. Gasoline Alley came up on my iPod, followed by Dear Someone. They both fit that particular moment in time so perfectly that I spent the rest of the ride listening to those two songs over and over again while catching distant glimpses of the sea out of one window, and Mount Vesuvius out of the other. The Weight always makes me think of driving to my aunt and uncle's in upstate New York with my family. It's probably one of the only things we could all agree on listening to without argument. And there was the sleepless night spent on a train travelling from Paris to Barcelona, trying fruitlessly to lull myself to sleep listening to Nick Drake's serenely beautiful Pink Moon album.
Enough of my rambling reminising. Let's get to the listening!
I hope you have your passports in order, because this month's Mix Tape Monday is taking us around the globe. It's going to be a whirlwind, zigzagging across oceans and several continents.
So fasten your seatbelts and prepare for take off.
Hello my friends, and welcome to Mix Tape Monday, Volume Two. Perhaps you remember about a month ago, when I said I'd like to make Mix Tape Monday a regular feature. Well, it's May, and I'm staying true to my word ;)
Now, this little mix comes to you not as I had intended (seems Computer has a rather naughty side that I will be adressing with him later); but it comes to you non the less. I hope you enjoy it, and I hope your month is off to a marvelous start.
Hello, my lovelies! And welcome to a new week. Perhaps you remember, and perhaps you're just hearing, but way back in January, I made a list of things that I would like to make this year. One of those things was mix tapes. I mentioned this to a friend of mine, who replied with a raised eyebrow and a snide remark about whether I planned on building a time machine to take me back to a time when I actually owned a tape player. Good point.
Whatever you want to call it, I have made for you today a mix of melodies to delight your ears. And I want to make you more. I'm declaring the first Monday of each month Mix Tape Mondays. (It's at this point that I should mention that I am as equally proficient in Big Plans as I am in No Follow Through. But I like this. And I like you. So, I think there's gonna be follow through here.) So, have a listen, tap a toe, or get up and perform a little full-on boogie if you feel so inclined. Happy listening :)
xo
