Hey! It's my first year-end Best Of mix CD ever! Here are my thoughts when putting it together:

1. Action Action: Don't Cut Your Fabric (from Don't Cut Your Fabric To This Year's Fashion)
From Day One, this was always my choice to start off the mix. It tells the world what we're up to here, and that we ain't taking no prisoners. This sounds a lot like a more uptempo Afghan Whigs to me, although maybe that's more from the vocals than from the music. I don't think the Whigs ever did an analog synth solo. There are actually two versions of this song on the album - this is the second, faster one and appears as the second to the last song on it. The slower version starts off the album and is called This Year's Fashion. It was interesting listening to this album the first time, because when I got to this track, I thought "Hey, this really sounds familiar", like it's a song I already and knew and loved, not totally realizing it was a different version of the same song that started off the album. I thought instead that it was just so catchy that it was instantly recognizable. Or that I had heard it on the radio. I bought this album based on a review I read somewhere, without having heard any of the songs. There's a bit of sameness to the songs on the album, but it's definitely grown on me a lot. If I had not used this song, I probably would've gone with Drug Like ("The world falls apart in just seven days") or The Short Weekend Begins With A Longing.

2. The Features: There's A Million Ways To Sing The Blues (from Exhibit A)
The Features are a Nashville band that was recommended to me by my friend Miles. I checked out some song samples on their website and immediately fell in love with their sound. They sound very British to me (a recurring motif on this here mix). I choose this song because it's quick, snappy, catchy, and I like the simple, obvious truths expressed in the lyrics.

3. Starflyer 59: Wake Up Early (from I Am The Portuguese Blues)
It was really hard for me to pick a song from this album, as I pretty much like them all equally, and they all get me moving. I picked this one because it starts off the album and sets the tone. Wake Up, indeed. I like how this band started off somewhat emo, and is now balls-to-the-wall rockin' out.

4. Dogs Die in Hot Cars: Pastimes & Lifestyles (from Please Describe Yourself)
As I've said before: bad band name, good music, great album. This song got the nod because I can listen to it over and over again and not get tired of it (rare for me). Besides the tempo, this has two other things I can't resist in songs: 1) A killer bridge between the verse and chorus (the part that starts out "Every night I am woken by police..."), and 2) A fast-moving chord progression during the chorus. This reminds me of a hundred songs I loved during the 80s, so I suppose it is recapturing my musical youth. This Scottish band reminds a lot of people of XTC, but I hear a lot of other influences as well.

5. The Killers: Somebody Told Me (from Hot Fuss)
I balked at putting such a well-known omnipresent song on here, but I just had to, since it's my favorite song of the year off my favorite album of the year. All the songs on the album are killer (groan), but this one sends me to a place I never want to leave. Yes, that place is nostalgia to some extent, but it's also a place where the modern age is learning lessons from the past while still moving forward. And for a Las Vegas band, they sure sound British.

6. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists: Me And Mia (from Shake the Sheets)
As was declared about another New Jersey resident before him, Ted Leo is the Future of Rock and Roll. I am totally convinced he has a long, interesting career ahead of him and what we've heard so far is only scratching the surface of his talent. This is another album where it's hard to pick a single song. The choice was made easier by me trying to avoid using songs from it that others of my friends had put on their mixes. But the more I listened to the album, the more I realized this is my favorite song on it. Most definitely the catchiest song ever written about eating disorders (Mia = Bulimia, Ana = Anorexia?).

7. Franz Ferdinand: This Fire (from Franz Ferdinand)
Like The Killers, Scottish band Franz Ferdinand are another "Flavor of the Year" that deserved all the almost-mainstream attention they got. I like Take Me Out a helluva lot, but it was a little too obvious to put on here. I briefly considered using Jaqueline instead and pairing it with Green Day's Holiday, but I couldn't quite make it fit.

8. Arcade Fire: Rebellion (Lies) (from Funeral)
I'm not sure what it is - though this song is long and somewhat repetitive (two things that usually turn me off), there's something very hypnotic about it. The backgrounds change just enough to keep me interested, elevate my adrenaline levels and give me that little shiver in the back of my head. And bonus points for the song title reminding me of the lyrics of my favorite Blue Öyster Cult song.

9. Von Bondies: C'mon C'mon (from Pawn Shoppe Heart)
A perfect two minutes of rock/pop. I really didn't get into the other songs on this album (aside from Not That Social), so it surprises me that I liked it so much. Probably has something to do with it being the theme to the TV show Rescue Me.

10. The Stranglers: Long Black Veil (from Norfolk Coast)
A brilliant return to form for an old favorite band. I no longer miss Hugh Cornwell.

11. L'Arc-En-Ciel: Ready Steady Go (from Smile)
This is the token foreign language song on the mix. I first heard of this group through Driver's High, their brilliant theme for the Japanese anime show Great Teacher Onizuka (GTO). So when I saw they were releasing an album domestically, I snapped it up. I later noticed that this song was being used as the theme to Full Metal Alchemist, currently playing on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. I briefly consider pairing this with Better Lead Than Dead from the Ted Leo album, just to trade on the alchemy connection.

12. Juliana Hatfield: Tourist (from In Exile Deo)
Time to slow things down a bit and give y'all a break. I've included this song because things were a bit too testosterone-heavy overall, and because I really like the lyrics.

13. Shalini: I Wanna Be Near You (from Metal Corner)
Another album where I could've picked almost any song. I nearly went with Heartbreaking Machine, but went with this because it's a bit shorter. I love the way this song closes out the album, with cool harmonizing and guitar pyrotechnics. And such an interesting melody too.

14. Statuesque: Rock, And Therefore, Roll (from Choir Above, Fire Below)
In many ways, this song is the centerpiece of the mix. This is what it's all about. Get drawn in by the music, but listen to the lyrics.

15. Aveo: Dust That Dreams Of Brooms (from Battery)
I knew I wanted to include a song from this album because I really like the sound of this band and I had never heard them before, and I was guessing few others have heard them also. This was another case of reading a good review and buying it without hearing any of it. I actually picked this song more or less at random (love the title!), but the more I heard it, the more I liked it and the more I realized how well it fits here.

16. Interpol: Evil (from Antics)
The chorus of this song blows me away. It's one of those melodies that hits me instantly and pushes every musical pleasure button in my mind. I still thing Interpol sounds a lot more like Kitchens of Distinction than Joy Division or other bands the critics compare them too, but with this second album they are definitely forging their own path.

17. Bill Nelson: Times Of Our Lives (single version) (from Satellite Songs)
I say "single version" because I ended up chopping off the ending 2.5 minute guitar solo, in order to fit more things on the mix. It's a nice solo, but not really essential to the song - it almost sounds like a different song. Forgive my editing. Anyway, I think Satellite Songs is the best album the most prolific Bill Nelson has done in years, even though it's another solo home recording disc rather than a full-blown band album. He did actually mean for it to be a full band album, in order to have some new songs to put out and perform with his Lost Satellites band on his recent Be Bop Deluxe and Beyond Tour, but never quite had the time to go into the studio with the band before the tour. So he released the "demos" as is. But they still sound pretty complete to me. I nearly used the song Hollywood Still Burning instead, since it's more intense and follows the theme of the mix better, but this joyful little ditty won out over my more cynical inclinations.

18. Poster Children: We Don't Need This Fascist Groove Thang (from On The Offensive)
The EP this came from an all-covers disc they put out before the election to espouse their political stand. All the covers on it are pretty strong. This song was originally done by Heaven 17, a band I never really got into. But I do like this version.

19. Keane: This Is The Last Time (from Hopes & Fears)
I felt I needed to include a Keane song, because their (non-guitar based) sound was an important component of the musical year. Somewhere Only We Know was a bit too overexposed and I was tired of it. I really like the way this song and the next one take the mix into unexpected directions. There's a multichannel SACD of this album available, but I haven't bought it yet. I bet it sounds great.

20. Magnetic Fields: I Don't Really Love You Anymore (from i)
Love the melody, love the arrangement. Uses stereo effects to, uh, good effect.

21. Local H: California Songs (from Whatever Happened To P.J. Soles?)
Now we enter the in-joke section of the mix... there's many reasons this song was paired with the next one. See if you can figure them all out!

22. The Thrills: Whatever Happened To Corey Haim? (from Let's Bottle Bohemia)
A lot of people were disappointed by this second Thrills album, and I have to admit that it's not as good as the first. Or maybe it's too much like the first, and we're just tired of that sound. But I felt it's a pleasant enough little album and I really like this song.

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