Of all the questions to be asked about the 19 (currently working on 20th) mixes like this I have made, there is one that had a definitive answer: Which mix has the best first song? You will find no better way to start a mix than the way this one begins.
For what it’s worth, I spent the first 5 months of 2002 living in Atlanta. I then drove back to Ohio, and then flew to Los Angeles. There’s very clearly a song on here specifically for that drive out of Atlanta (and, in theory, my flight to California). Most of these songs seem to take a turn for the fast paced, which only seemed appropriate given my new surroundings. While the “underground” music that seeped into Ohio from New York, DC, and Chicago seemed much more experimental and heavy, it just felt right somehow to listen to upbeat, singalong type music once I got to Los Angeles. If I’m ever independently wealthy, I’d love to research and write a book about the differences in the underground music scenes from the west coast and the east coast — and the north coast, for that matter. They all seem very much rooted in some sense of geographic identity.
Anyway, with all that in mind…
“Party Hard” by Andrew WK
“California” by Phantom Planet
“Hate to Say I Told You So” by the Hives
“City of Angels” by the Distillers
“Another Morning Stoner” by Trail of Dead
“Diazapam” by Karate
“Disco” by the Butchies
“You Are Invited” by the Dismemberment Plan
“It’s Over” by the Fire Theft
“Get Free” by the Vines
“Paris In Flames” by Thursday
“Fell In Love With a Girl” by the White Stripes
“Beautiful Disaster” by American Hi-Fi
“Cochise” by Audioslave
“All Systems Go” by Boxcar Racer
“Clocks” by Coldplay
“Light Rail Coyote” by Sleater Kinney
“Eastern Wave” by Three Mile Pilot
“Taste of Ink” by the Used
“Keep Fishin'” by Weezer
“No One Knows” by Queens of the Stone Age
Seriously, there was a point over the summer when I listened to just the Vines, the Hives, and the White Stripes. It was all very strange. I blame my exposure to KROQ.
I will say this: moving to a new city caused me to latch on to music in a way that I hadn’t really done before. Going forward, I would keep track of release dates and end up buying a new CD nearly every week. I’d never really been a part of that ritual, but I found that I needed new music every week — it brought me a sense of stability, akin to new comic book day on Wednesdays.
Perhaps that will be my next stroll down memory lane — a biographical mix of comic books.
KyleGarret.com 