This is a mix that I've posted several times in various places and in several configurations. It's an example of looking for that perfect mix. This mix is part of my Late Night series.
It has many of the characteristics that I've strive for in a mix. First of all I like all of the songs because after all I'm making mixes for myself foremost and would not put something on a mix that I personally didn't like. It holds a certain mood or feel and as part of my Late Night series it can be brooding, quiet, hypnotic, reflective, etc.
I don't think I'm going to change this mix again.
1. Leonard Cohen - Famous Blue Raincoat (Songs of Love and Hate, 1971)
2. Nick Drake - Pink Moon (Pink Moon, 1972)
3. Richard Thompson - Waltzing's for Dreamers (Amnesia, 1988)
4. Elliott Smith - Waltz #2 (XO, 1998)
5. Mazzy Star - Five String Serenade (So Tonight That I Might See, 1993)
6. R.E.M. - Nightswimming (Automatic for the People, 1992)
7. The Arcade Fire - Crown of Love (Funeral, 2004)
8. Beck - The Golden Age (Sea Change, 2002)
9. Nada Surf - Blonde On Blonde (Let Go, 2003)
10. The Shins - New Slang (Oh, Inverted World, 2001)
11. Band Of Horses - The Funeral (Everything All The Time, 2006)
12. My Morning Jacket - The Way That He Sings (At Dawn, 2001)
13. Neil Young - Don't Let It Bring You Down (After The Goldrush, 1970)
14. Lou Reed - Perfect Day (Transformer, 1972)
15. Tim Buckley - Song to the Siren (Starsailor, 1970)
16. Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah (Grace, 1994)
17. Jennifer Warnes - Bird on a Wire (Famous Blue Raincoat, 1987)
18. John Cale & Suzanne Vega - So Long, Marianne (Bleecker Street: Greenwich Village in the 60's, 1999)
Leonard Cohen is perfect to start this mix. The mix title comes from the opening lines of this opening song... "It's four in the morning". The mood is immediately set in place. The backing vocals are awesome.
Nick Drake is a great followup. It's from the same time period and carries the same feeling. It could have been any Nick Drake song but choosing "Pink Moon" is a popular favorite for many people. The Richard Thompson song continues the quiet self examination going on in the mix.
Often times a mix is really a collection of smaller sets of similar music. A group of songs that work well together connected to other small groups.
The transition is always important. I've never liked jarring contrasts that a mixer puts there just to shake up the listener.
The next three songs are from popular albums from the 90's and not only maintain the general mood of the mix but add a slightly classical music feel... the waltz, the string serenade and the piano along with the yearning vocals.
The Arcade Fire comes in with some pomp and emotion with a tempo changing interlude. This was a late addition to the mix when I was looking for something to transition different groups of songs. It also comes from what I think was probably my favorite album of the last decade.
"The Golden Age" was the opening song from Beck's Sea Change which was another favorite album of the decade. The Beck, Nada Surf and Shins songs have been together on this mix since it's very earliest versions. They do everything I want together. "New Slang" is a particular favorite for many people.
The Band of Horses song adds some heavier guitar sounds to the mix along with some very intense quiet moments. The vocals move the song forward and move the listener to the very distinctive singing of My Morning Jacket. Their classic rock sound is a perfect lead in to Neil Young. After The Goldrush is a great album from 1970 and I picked a deep cut but that was an album that was played everywhere by everyone at the time. You heard it all the time and every song was familiar so it's nice to hear the not so obvious song from an album.
The next song is another deep track from a classic album. Lou Reed's Transformer is mostly known for "Walk On The Wild Side", "Vicious" and "Satellite of Love" but the pop sheen and mood of "Perfect Day" is the perfect song for the this mix. It is followed by Tim Buckley, one of the great vocalist of the 60's, whose wildly experimental vocal style highlights the classic "Song to the Siren" from 1970's Starsailor.
That little set of 70's singer songwriters is followed by a set that pays tribute to Leonard Cohen who opened the mix. Tim Buckley's tragic son Jeff Buckley gives a nearly definitive reading of Cohen's "Hallelujah" followed by "Bird on a Wire" from Jennifer Warnes' 1987 Cohen tribute album. The closer is a wonderful version of Cohen's "So Long, Marianne" by John Cale and Suzanne Vega. A fitting tribute to a great artist and the ending to a search for a perfect mix. Well, still not perfect but time to move on to the next one.
