It’s been a while since I’ve posted a downloadable playlist, so I finally fought off my laziness long enough to put some songs together and get one up on the blog— and now I feel like I’ve had a pretty productive day and it’s only noon, which is dangerous, because I may spend the rest of the afternoon watching terrible reality TV or napping with the dog to keep me in check. It’s my day off and these are my life decisions…
Travelling has always been a pretty fun and relaxing thing for me, because you’re usually going somewhere new and exciting so it’s always worth the sore neck from awkward napping positions and germs from the recycled air, plus, making a playlist for the airport/flight just adds extra excitement to the whole process. So here are 15 songs inspired by travelling and the places that make me want to go to them, that hopefully you can enjoy next time you take off.
01 You Only Live Once - the Strokes
02 Gangster Tripping - Fatboy Slim
03 Archipelago - Miike Snow
04 Leave House - Caribou
05 Eighth Avenue - Hospitality
06 Trip - Vacationer
07 Canada vs. America - Broken Social Scene
08 Mexico - The Soft Pack
09 Verona - Geographer
08 Zimbabwe - Bob Marley
10 Paris 2004 - Peter, Bjorn & John
11 Summer - Tiger Waves
13 Desert Island - Architecture in Helsinki
14 The Harrowing Adventures Of - Tokyo Police Club
15 Lucid Dreams - Franz Ferdinand
August is one of my favourite months. Not because of the warm weather–even thought that is pretty awesome. Not because it means a break/vacation from school–school’s for fools kids, and not because of my birthday… Gotcha – that is exactly why I love August… I know some people try to ignore their birthday, but clearly I am not that type of person (who passes up a guiltless excuse to eat cake?). I also know I’m late with this playlist and that August is almost at its halfway mark, but better late than never I hope.
I took a nostalgic route to this months mix, as usual. Most of the songs remind me of my month abroad. Regardless, I hope you like the medley of Avi Buffalo, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!, Broken Social Scene, and Talking Heads to round off the month with. Enjoy!
Track Listing:
01 Favourite Food - Tokyo Police Club
02 Truth Sets In - Avi Buffalo
03 The Golden Age - The Asteroid Galaxy Tour
04 7/4 (Shoreline) - Broken Social Scene
05 Staring at the Sun - Tv on the Radio
06 Each Year - Ra Ra Riot
07 Black & Blue - Miike Snow
08 I've Got Some Friends - Akron/Family
09 The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!
10 Thank You For Sending Me - Talking Heads
11 Your Own Religion - TV Girl
12 Outlaw - Triptides
13 After Hours - We are Scientists
14 Kid A (cover) - John Mayer
The following 10 albums round out my all-time favourites to listen to over the past year in ascending order. Enjoy, and please comment with your favourites of the year, I’m really interested since I am not able to listen to every single album that was released in 2010!
#10 - Causers of This – Toro Y Moi
This album made for great travel music; despite whether I was driving, forcing a driver to listen to it, or on the GO/subway. I like the tone of Chad Bundick’s voice and his lyrics are really sweet. Watching them perform live was a bonus and only made me like the album more. Take a listen to Imprint After, Blessa, and Talamak.
Talamak – Toro y Moi
#9 – Eyelid Movies – Phantogram I have a crush on these songs, because they seem so effortless and sweet but still have this funky side to them. As Far As I Can See has a bit of a motown vibe, and When I’m Small and Mouthful of Diamonds (the most popular of the album) are upbeat and dancey. Then it has songs like 10 000 Claps and All Dried Up that hit you in the gut when you pair their lyrics with Sarah Barthel’s voice. Yet another musical front-woman that makes me envy her talent.
When I’m Small- Phantogram
#8 - Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager – Kid Cudi
Even though this album was just released, I am constantly listening to it. I go from start to finish without skipping over songs (something I don’t do often with albums that have over 13 tracks, since I suffer from musical ADD…). Plus, blasting these songs in my car and pretending I can rap is incredibly fun. My favourites: Mojo So Dope, We Aite (Wake Your Mind Up), MANIAC, and REVOFEV.
REVOFEV – Kid Cudi
#7 – Animal Shapes – Geographer
I like that Geographer has this synth-y sound to its songs and how it also pops some of the ol’ cello in there. Kites is the stand out of this trios EP, but Night Winds, Verona and Paris are just as awesome to me. There’s something special about Michael Deni’s voice, who started up the band after the tragic death of his sister and father; it’s almost angelic. Especially when he hits those high notes.
Kites – Geographer
#6 – Forgiveness Rock Record – Broken Social Scene
I pretty much just wrote a love letter to Broken Social Scene in my last post so I’m not going to say why this album made my list.
Romance to the Grave – Broken Social Scene
#5 - Say It – Born Ruffians & Champ – Tokyo Police Club (TIE)
Trying to figure out which one of these bands I like more would be like picking a favourite sibling. I only have one sibling, so I never have to choose in that scenario. I don’t want to choose in this one so I made them tie. Both have adorable frontmen who write geeky romantic lyrics that make you feel like you’re reading their diaries, sorry, jooournals… and I’ve probably seen them maybe a dozen times combined? So clearly I’m a fan.
What to Say - Born Ruffians
Favourite Food - Tokyo Police Club
#4 – This is Happening – LCD Soundsystem
I love this album. Two of my favourites are Dance Yrself Clean and Home. I love how they build (and build up) a song – it’s like James Murphy has it to a science. Just wait for the 2:55 mark of Dance Yrself Clean and hopefully you will get what I mean. Other songs I love: All I Want and Pow Pow.
Dance Yrself Clean – LCD Soundsystem
#3 – Swim – Caribou Making my top three was easy, and putting them in order wasn’t all that hard either. Swim will no doubt be several people’s favourite album of the year. Take a listen to Odessa (a mega hit this year) off of Swim and you will understand why this band is so special. Because you will no longer be sitting reading this post. You will be up. Out of your seat. Dancing.
Odessa – Caribou
#2 – The Suburbs – Arcade Fire I must admit I was late on the Arcade Fire bandwaggon, and I don’t harness a personal love or awe of talent for its members (most likely because I’ve never seen them live). All I know is I really like the music they make. I even had a weird moment of making awkward head shakes when thinking of what to write about this album because I like it so much. And the whole idea of urban decay and the feeling of emptiness in suburbia isn’t lost on me. My favourites from this album: Rococo, Modern Man, Ready to Start, and City With No Children, but my all time favourite was the continued version of Suburbs (insert weird and awkward head movements again from me just thinking about that song).
We Used To Wait – Arcade Fire
#1 – Teen Dream – Beach House I saved the best for last (because that’s the point of these lists…). I have easily heard this album start to finish over a hundred times since it has been out. The dreamy and sad tone in Victoria Legrand’s voice, the easy listening quality of it without being boring. It’s just a solid album. If that wasn’t enough, they also sound just as perfect live as they do on the album.
I have FINALLY finished a playlist, and I made it extra long to compensate for the delay. Hopefully you will enjoy the mash-up of older and new-ish songs as well as some of my musical throwbacks to the summer and California.
TRACK LISTING
01 Yesterday Never Tomorrows - The Stills
02 Le Ferrassie - Tokyo Police Club
03 Danse Cave - Still Life Still
04 Rich - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
05 Spitting Venom - Modest Mouse
06 Green Eyes - Wavves
07 In the Water - Beat Connection
08 CP2Low feat. Ludacris - Woodhands
09 Another Mother To Mother You - Metronomy
10 Bearfight - Ten Kens
11 I Remember - Yeasayer
12 One Life Stand - Hot Chip
13 Santa Ana Winds - Cold War Kids
14 There's So Many Colours - Akron/Family
15 The Suburbs (con't) - Arcade Fire
16 Saint Simon - The Shins
17 The Mountain - Heartless Bastards
18 Hot Like Fire (cover) - The xx
19 Slow Kids - Cheeky Cheeky and The Nosebleeds
20 The Maid Needs a Maid - Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton
21 The Pilgrim - Sam Roberts
22 Tonight - TV on the Radio
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I’m making a comeback to posting because it’s my b-day. I hope you like this remix, it isn’t very new but it sounds celebratory. I am going to celebrate my b-day with a 7 km hike and then I will eat until my face falls off at the Mandarin. Kung hei fat cho!
Welcome to August everyone! Warm weather, long weekends, and (for me at least) birthdays. I intentionally put a song with some birthday lyrics in there just for me, but the rest of the songs are a mix of older and new. It’s basically a mash-up of what I wanted to listen to in the car/at work for the rest of this glorious month — so I hope that you’ll like it too. Enjoy.
Track Listing
01 Wires - Coconut Records
02 Turtles Have Short Legs - Can
03 Sheila - Atlas Sound
04 Yellow Wings - Keepaway
05 Swift Coin - Land of Talk
06 Hey - Pixies
07 Black Sheep - Metric
08 My Heart Rate Rapid - Metronomy
09 Kites - Geographer
10 Polygons - Magic Man
11 New Country (live) - Broken Social Scene
12 Come Back - Born Ruffians
13 Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) - Arcade Fire
14 Frankenstein - Tokyo Police Club
Happy Canada Day Weekend! Here is my FIRST full and DOWNLOAD-ABLE playlist for the site — perfect for the long weekend. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I have been.
Track Listing
01 Om Nashi Me - Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
02 Wires & Wool - The Envy Corps
03 Big Love - Kevin Drew
04 Lay it Down - Peter Bjorn & John
05 First Date Kit - Tokyo Police Club feat. Luke Lalonde
06 Almost Crimes (Acoustic) - Broken Social Scene
07 St. Peter's Day Festival - Ra Ra Riot
08 Hard Rain - Shout Out Louds
09 Osaka Loop Line - Discovery
10 Blessa - Toro Y Moi
11 FLowers and a Wreath - Still Life Still
12 Out of the Blue - Julian Casablancas
13 Diplomat's Son - Vampire Weekend
14 All I Want - LCD Soundsystem
Here are some new songs from Tokyo Police Club- wordpress won’t let me upload soundwave files so you’ll have to get to the audio player through the link. I’ve had the opportunity to listen to some of these songs before except Favourite Food, it’s new to me so it’s my favourite. I suggest you give it a listen
Talamak – Toro y Moi
REVOFEV – Kid Cudi
Kites – Geographer
Romance to the Grave – Broken Social Scene
Odessa – Caribou
We Used To Wait – Arcade Fire
Track Listing
