U-Bahn to Kreuzberg (Start Again, Butterfly)
This mix is about a drug addict who falls for a prostitute.
Why It’s Pretentious: I promised super pretentious and here it is: This is an epic about a drug addict who picks up a hitchhiker on his way home, falls for her, and then finds out she’s a prostitute. Wanting to start a better life together, they try to get clean. He succeeds. She doesn’t. So even though he loves her, he can’t be with her. Named after a song by Bloc Party, it features a Smiths bootleg and a song by Jimmy Eat World that used to be a rarity but can now be found on iTunes. #displeased
Oh, and the story unfolds backwards. So.
Tracklisting and downloads after the jump.
Read More
The Rise and Fall of Vaguely Radical Behavior (Side One: The Night Bleeds Into Day)
This mix is about the end of the world.
Why It’s Pretentious: Since I’ve been posting a lot of middle school tapes lately, I thought I would overcompensate with another convoluted epic. This one has a ridiculously long title that I obviously stole from David Bowie and is based off Foals’ “Electric Bloom.” Basically, this kid keeps having nightmares about the end of the world, so he tries to warn people, but no one listens to him. He’s waiting and waiting for a sign to show people that his visions are real, but he just gets angrier and angrier until he snaps, goes on a rampage, and single-handedly destroys the world as we know it. Self-fulfilling apocalyptic prophecies, you guys!
Also, he’s like, in love with a girl and stuff.
Tracklisting and downloads after the jump.
Read More
Untitled (or, Mischief Managed)
This mix is about Harry Potter, the greatest seven-book trilogy ever written.
Why It’s Pretentious: I know, big shock, the girl who named her house Hogwarts is obsessed with Harry Potter and made a mix about the series. I lovingly crafted this in preparation for the seventh book— though, at 7 songs and 25 minutes, it wasn’t even close to being long enough to soundtrack my 12-6 am rapid-fire absorption of Deathly Hallows. Obviously, being high school, I chose remember the saddest and most angsty moments possible so get ready to cry your eyeballs out like those credits are already rolling. (I also worked in Morrissey because do you not know me at all?)
TONIGHT IS THE NIGHT. RAISE YER WANDS UP, WIZARDS. MISCHIEF MANAGED.
Tracklisting and downloads after the jump.
Read More
New York, New York
This mix is about New York, sans Elton John, plus various shades of punk.
Why It’s Pretentious: I am obviously very good at mixtapes, so I frequently get mix requests. I’m talking, beautifully unraveling scroll of parchment that details requests in small, shining black quill pen ink. You catch my drift? Well, last week, one of my favorite people in the entire world, Morgan Swank, asked me to make one about New York. Here is the request verbitim:
Anything and everything New York. I’m not a fan of cliche NY songs unless they’re remixed. Unless of course it’s Elton John’s “Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters” because I cry every time I hear it.
This mix does not include Elton John because I was not in the mood to cry. I was in the mood to ROCK. So I have for you a lot of songs with “New York” in the title and/or by New York bands. It’s fairly heavy on CBGB’s-era punk and the 2000s post-punk/garage rock revival, with a little side of dance-punk. (At a quick glance, the most recent song may be a 30-second in-your-face jam by Heavy Cream.) In true high school fashion, the mix ends with a remix coming out of left field— but I dare you not to like it. Nay, double dog dare you.
Download: Right-click, save as.
Tracklisting after the jump.
Read More
