At Long Last, A New Mix CD

As I sat down to make this mix CD I remembered the main reason it had been so long since I made one - ITunes isn't compatible with Vista & my burner. I had found one registry fix that worked but was annoying and had to constantly be repeated, but even that doesn't seem to work for me anymore. It's a known issue shared by many, but I'm guessing patching their products to work with Windows isn't a big priority for Apple. So anyway, this took a lot of jockeying of files around, but here it is:

"Deck It Out In Fairy Lights - The Best of 2008"

1. White Winter Hymnal - Fleet Foxes
Easily one of my favorite songs of the year. I was actually upset when the radio here picked it up. I wanted to keep it all to myself.

2. Get Better - Mates of State
"Everything's going to get lighter, even if it never gets better". I have no idea what that means, but they made it stick in my head for a really long time.

3. Suffering Jukebox - Silver Jews
I don't know how anyone could ever be surly listening to the Silver Jews.

4. Heart of Stone - Chris Knight
The only song to make me cry in 2008. Kind of cheezy, but, yeah...

5. Why Do You Let Me Stay Here? - She & Him
She & Him is actress Zooey Deschanel (Elf & Almost Famous) and singer M. Ward. Zooey handles 95% of the vocals and wrote most of the songs. Sunny, soulful, a throwback to another time without being derivative. The concert I most regret missing this year.

6. Don't Tell Me To Do The Math(s) - Los Campesinos!
I haven't decided if this was my favorite album of 2008, but I know I listened to it more than any other. Amazingly they just released their second full length record this year, and it's almost as good.

7. Good Times - Colin Meloy
He's no Sam Cooke, but he could still put out an EP of him singing the telephone book and I'd buy it and like it.

8. Past Time - The Baseball Project
Combining 2 of my favorite things, baseball and Scott McCaughey. This had the look of a novelty album, but turned out to be a superb everyday use type of album.

9. Home - David Byrne & Brian Eno
I've never understood why I don't listen to more David Byrne.

10. Living In The Aftermath - Chris Mills
This guy is sadly underappreciated. This album came out pretty much under the radar this year, but is an alt-pop masterpiece.

11. Ooh La Ooh La - They Might Be Giants
On their third "kids" record, Here Come The 1,2,3s, TMBG have created a classic. It's all my daughter wants to listen to and it's yet to wear on me. They make good music first, and market it to kids later.

12. The Righteous Path - Drive-By Truckers
This overly long album didn't do much for me this year, but there are a few songs that stick out, and this is definitely the brightest.

13. The Twist - Frightened Rabbit
Apparently I'm into Scottish indie-emo-alt-whatever. Last year it was The Twilight Sad, and this year Frightened Rabbit. As far as I'm concerned Scotland can keep it coming.

14. Joke About Jamaica - The Hold Steady
Much like the new Drive-By Truckers, this was the first Hold Steady album to really disappoint me. They experimented a bit too much and it was lyrically disappointing. This song is hard not to like though.

15. We Call On The Author - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
By far the hardest/grittiest album I bought this year. I think Nick Cave could sing the phone book too and make it sound important.

16. No Baby I - Old 97's
Rhett Miller has got to be get near to his God-given limit of incredibly good pop-rock songs.

17. My Year in Lists - Los Campesinos!
Really hard to pick a favorite song from this album, but I think I listened to this one more than any.

18. Make No Plans - Marching Band
Rookies of the year? I liked this album alot, but expect that the best is yet to come.

19. Jigsaw - Mates of State
"You write the good songs baby...". Yes, she does.

20. We'll Get By - Gary Louris
Probably my number one musical disappointment this year. Can be appreciated in a certain mood, but not often. This track is a keeper.