There's a problem though, in that many of our cars don't have connections for digital music players. Sure, mostly all of them do now, but you go back a few years and they all lack that AUX jack that makes it all come together. Instead, we're stuck with a single disc CD player and the radio. My car is a 2008 model and has that AUX jack so I don't have much of an excuse to pop in a CD anymore, aside from that fact that it is infinitely more convenient than getting the cable and everything plugged in (especially while driving - a big no no) and navigating the interface to start playing something. With a CD, I pull it out of the visor storage area and pop it in, the music is playing immediately. So there is much to be said for the CD mix these days, although I recognize I am in the minority here.
It's been a few years since I've made a mix CD. The one that has stayed in my car and gotten the most play is entitled MIX 2008 I. Sadly, there was never a II, or even a follow up the next year. The only time I remember actually burning another mix is when my friend and I drove to Chicago. I created a couple of playlists from my iTunes collection using Genius. So based on one track, I would simply burn the remainder of Genius recommended tracks to the disc. We never listened to them. They are lost.
MIX 2008 I is representative of a transition from a car without AUX input to one with, and an ushering in of the new, digital player era. On long trips I no longer needed a binder of discs, but simply a cradle to put my iPod in and that 3.5mm cable to connect to my car. This also brought on the era of podcasts, as talk radio on a multi-hour drive was always important, and sometimes the CBC just wasn't that interesting.
I wanted to share the track listing of MIX 2008 I
01. Swan Lake - Widow's Walk
02. Sufjan Stevens - We Are What You Say
03. Franz Ferdinand - Tell her Tonight
04. Placebo - The Bitter End
05. British Sea Power - It Ended on an Oily Stage
06. Interpol - Roland
07. The Strokes - Reptilia
08.
09. The Killers - On Top
10. Kaiser Chiefs - Ruby
11. The National - Mr. November
12. Panda Bear - Comfy In Nautica
13. Andrew Bird - Fake Palindromes
14. Peter Bjorn and John - Let's Call it Off
15. Radiohead - Reckoner
16. Spoon - Laffitte Don't Fail Me Now
17. The Decemberists - Summersong
18. Barenaked Ladies - Lover's in a Dangerous Time
19. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Mercy
There are no liner notes, no track listing on the CD: I used Shazam to recognize most of the track names. It failed me on track eight, which I'm not surprised at. It was an impulse addition of a track I thought I enjoyed, but it's nigh implorable. For the past five years I've pressed the skipped button more times than I care to remember. The rest of the album, however, is borderline genius.
We start off with Swan Lake moaning; I've had friends wrinkle their faces in disgust and confusion as this title is a bit different to begin with. However, it smooths out into a more typical song and easily transitions into the other tracks. Mind you, it was not a completely random order of tracks either: I tried my best to ensure they come into one another, so that you are not too startled or taken aback by a change in pace. And this is proven in the last few tracks of the album, which wind you down from the earlier, more aggressive tunes that run from Tell Her Tonight through to Ruby. Mr. November by the National has a way to transition from powerful yet subdued, which sets up the second half of the album. And finally, the compilation finishes on one of my favourite tunes, and what I think is the perfect ending.
After five years, it's a very relevant mix of great music.
And now you can enjoy it too, if you're on Rdio that is. Or perhaps I'll take the time and link to the songs on Youtube, if possible.
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