In a few days, I’ll be watching The National play in Singapore. I was supposed to see them in March, but they postponed the show to November. Which turned out to be pretty okay, because I can make all the “Mr. November” jokes I want.

Here’s a sampler of songs, which was difficult to pare down to these sixteen songs. First of all, I am a huge fan of The National. I might as well have uploaded their entire discography, if not for some moral faculties that are still in check. Secondly, I found The National after they had already released Boxer, so I didn’t get to bond with the earlier albums, except for Alligator, which ended up being my favorite.

Anyway—these songs. These are a couple of my favorites. Some of these, they don’t even play live all that often, but I wish they would (cough, “All the Wine,” cough). I hope you enjoy. It’s far from comprehensive, but I’d like to think it’s a pretty good list.

Matt Berninger’s voice takes a bit of time to get used to, but once you do, it’s difficult to imagine listening to anything else.

TRACKLIST:

1. “Fake Empire” from Boxer
2. “Looking for Astronauts” from Alligator
3. “Lit Up” from Alligator
4. “Mistaken For Strangers” from Boxer
5. “Abel” from Alligator
6. “Bloodbuzz Ohio” from High Violet
7. “Apartment Story” from Boxer
8. “Terrible Love” from High Violet
9. “Slow Show” from Boxer
10. “Daughters of the Soho Riots” from Alligator
11. “Sorrow” from High Violet
12. “England” from High Violet
13. “Start A War” from Boxer
14. “About Today” from Cherry Tree EP
15. “Mr. November” from Alligator
16. “All the Wine” from Alligator

download the .zip file

In response to this mix.

There’s a Wicket in my Pocket:

1. Sunlight in a Jar by The Lucksmiths
2. Low Shoulder by Toro y Moi (Daytrotter session)
3. Shook Down by Yuck (Daytrotter session)
4. Not Even Jail by Interpol
5. Honestly by Zwan
6. The Quiz by Hello Saferide
7. I Love How You Love Me (Live) by Neutral Milk Hotel
8. Thirteen by Elliott Smith (Big Star cover)
9. Girl From the North Country by Dear Nora (Bob Dylan cover)
10. Sleep Tonight by Stars
11. Put Your Hands On Me My Love by Owen
12. Christmas TV by Slow Club
13. This Heart’s On Fire by Wolf Parade

Please enjoy! Download link is here.

It’s been a while, so I’m posting a pretty mix someone made for me. I’ll be posting an accompanying mix I made in return in a few days. Here’s the download link.

1. Oboes Bleat and Triangles Tink by Say Hi
2. With Every Light by Smashing Pumpkins
3. Bored Games by Wild Nothing
4. I’ll Build You A Fire by Seabear
5. This is the Dream of Win & Regine by Final Fantasy
6. Face It by Beach Fossils
7. This Orient by Foals
8. Superconnected by Broken Social Scene
9. The Greater Times by Electrelane
10. Are You On My Side? by Rogue Wave
11. Cigarettes in the Theatre (Daytrotter session) by Two Door Cinema Club
12. On Melancholy Hill by Gorillaz
13. In An Aeroplane Over the Sea (Neutral Milk Hotel cover) by Matt Pond PA
14. Honestly by Zwan

Hope you enjoy! Feel free to let me in the comments know what you think of this mix. I personally love a couple of tracks, and a bulk of them are new to me. I like being introduced to new music, especially if it’s music that I’d like to hear more of.

Sharing music you like is one of the main functions of a mix. Another reason for the existence of the art of making a mixtape is letting people know how you feel about them. I bet you’ve done this, more than once, for feelings other than the romantic sort. Sometimes, nothing drives the point home better than a selection of carefully chosen songs, arranged in a fitting sequence.

Anyway, this mix. I love it. I hope you love it, too.

Truthfully, the title and the cover art have nothing to do with this mix. I made it quite a while ago, with the intention of maybe making a new mix, but I just made one now that I didn’t have a title for. So, here we are. I hope you enjoy. Some of them are quite sad, but lovely all the same. Didn’t really plan for this many covers, either.

Tracklist:

1. C’Mere by Interpol
2. Heart in Your Heartbreak by The Pains of Being Pure At Heart
3. Sentimental Tune by Tegan and Sara
4. Crossed Out Name by Ryan Adams & the Cardinals
5. Your Heart Is An Empty Room by Death Cab For Cutie
6. Ghost by Voxtrot
7. You and I by Wilco
8. By Your Side (Sade cover) by Beachwood Sparks
9. All I Have To Do Is Dream (The Everly Brothers cover) by Bob Dylan
10. Without Permission (Caroline Martin cover) by The National
11. Suburban War by Arcade Fire
12. Maps (Yeah Yeah Yeahs cover) by Rogue Wave
13. Sea of Love (Phil Phillips cover) by Cat Power
14. Don’t Have to Be So Sad by Yo La Tengo
15. Pale Blue Eyes by The Velvet Underground

download .zip here

I’ll leave you all to read between the lines, I guess.

Sure, it’s not the last day of the year yet, but I have slowly been making rounds around my blog archives and other means of internet documentation (music plays, books read, etc) and I am feeling as though so much has happened for me this year. 2010 is such a nice, round number, and it really made me think that Great Things were about to happen. It’s funny how a succession of numbers that don’t really mean anything—at least nothing that I am privy to, since I’m pretty much clueless when it comes to numerology—can give off that feeling of Mattering and of Significance. I don’t know about you, but 2010 really had a nice ring to it. And so, I expected and I hoped and I was met with a lot of failing.

If anything, this was the year of Trying Times, and I mean this phrase to mean more things than one. High highs coupled with low lows, and everything else being coated by a generally hopeless disposition. Post-graduation ,everyone went about throwing around the term “quarter-life crisis,” and making ourselves feel better by using the word “funemployed” to describe our own respective states of loss. But underneath this self-deprecating veneer, most of us were all, quite unfunnily, at a loss as to what the next steps were.

I’ve taken so many detours and side steps, and I’ve wrestled with so much uncertainty. I guess it comes with wanting to get the best for myself, but I’m constantly questioning whether this decision was the best, or if I was settling. I do think that most of the pains I went through were necessary sadnesses, things I needed to experience if only to arrive at the things I know now. I’ve tried new things, and I’m glad that I did.

2010 has been a tough time for me, but the truth is, I’ve had a lot of help along the way. Even though I had never experienced this much disappointments and failures before in my life, I can’t help but feel really grateful for everything. Like I told a few of my friends earlier this month, I quite liked 2010 more than I hated it, and I say this in all earnestness. If the good things do come with the bad, then I’d have to say that I would still want it all, anyway.

Because there are still a few more days left before 2010 ends, I’m going to save the year-in-review for later. I’m just really grateful for opportunities, second chances, and the occasional surges of boldness that have allowed me to try new things that were scary, but also, ultimately fulfilling.

I have a lot of things to say to a lot of people, but I suppose I have six days to muster up the courage to tell them, instead of copping out and typing them in a blog entry.

And, in closing, a tiny Christmas mix for you, comprised of eight meager tracks. I always mean to post Christmas mixes, but they always come together way too late. This is what I have so far, and I hope you like them regardless of their being Christmas-y:

1. The Only Gift That I Need — Dashboard Confessional
2. Linus and Lucy — Vince Guaraldi Trio
3. The Christmas Song — The Raveonettes
4. Xmas Time Is Here — My Morning Jacket
5. Baby, It’s Cold Outside (cover) — Darren Criss & Chris Colfer (Glee)
6. Christmas TV — Slow Club
7. Baby, Please Come Home (Darlene Love cover) — Death Cab For Cutie
8. Christmas Time Is Here (Vince Guaraldi Trio cover) — Mayer Hawthorne

Merry Christmas, everyone. I hope it was good for you. :)

I’ve always loved making mixes. Some are really hard to do, this one came to me pretty easily. (Funny how the title seems to hint at something completely the opposite.) I nearly broke my weird rule (about adding more than one song by an artist) but I prevailed, and it turned out pretty OK.

Here’s the tracklist:

1. “Ask” by The Smiths
2. “Slow Hands” by Interpol
3. “Tulips” by Bloc Party
4. “Do You Remember?” by Ra Ra Riot
5. “Run” by Vampire Weekend
6. “Whiskey” by Voxtrot
7. “Futile Devices” by Sufjan Stevens
8. “Ghosting” by Freelance Whales
9. “Say Yes” by Elliott Smith
10. “I Found a Reason” by Cat Power (The Velvet Underground cover)
11. “Call Me On Your Way Back Home” by Ryan Adams
12. “Slow Show” by The National
13. “The Wind” by Cat Stevens
14. “Maps” by Arcade Fire (Yeah Yeah Yeahs cover)
15. “Wait” by Death Cab For Cutie (Secret Stars cover)
16. “Sa Madaling Salita” by Ang Bandang Shirley

There’s a story in there somewhere.

Download here.