My Awesome Mix Disc Vol. I

Way back in the day of the burgeoning independent American film world, there was this funny/intense scene that struck a friend and I, as we watched Boogie Nights in the theater. Dirk Diggler (Mark Wahlberg) and Reed Rothchild (John C. Riely) join a friend in an attempt to sell some drugs to this mad dealer high on his own stuff, as a skinny oriental kid blasts firecrackers inside the house and an armed mysterious black man checks out their goods nearby.

During the scene the dealer talks about his intense love for Rick Springfield’s “Jesse’s Girl” as he slaps on a cassette he has entitled “My Bad Awesome Mix Tape #6.” As the deal steadily goes sour, for dramatic reasons not worth spoiling, it remains one of the most intense scenes of 90s filmmaking (watch the 10-minute scene above while it lasts on YouTube).

Anyway, that scene has informed many a mix tape title since. I’ve upgraded to CDs at this point, but I still throw together mixes of favorite tunes. So here is the first in what will hopefully be a series of music mixes shared via this blog.

Volume I in the series mostly features catchy songs by different artists ranging from very independent and obscure (here you can get the long out of print hollAnd “Coughing Up Stars” single in its 2-track entirety) to popular and even legendary. I put it together a few months ago, before Vampire Weekend’s Contra came out. Some are easy to find for free on-line and even officially so, but some are not, so if there are any complaints, I will make the tracks unavailable, but I’ll make them all available for download through the link in the title until any band/manager/label protests. For now, this is free exposure to some killer catchy cuts, so check them out. Here is the ideal track listing (flow is always important in a compilation, I could not even separate the brilliant contrast between “Jed the Humanoid” and “The Crystal Lake” from Grandaddy’s the Sophtware Slump).

Vol. I

The Vaselines – Son of a Gun
Grandaddy – Jed the Humanoid
Grandaddy – The Crystal Lake
Belle and Sebastian – Electronic Renaissance
Atlas Sound – Shelia
Arcade Fire – Keep the Car Running
Broadcast – Corporeal
Guided by Voices – Cheyenne
hollAnd – Beep, Kiss
hollAnd – Coughing Up Stars
Broken Social Scene – Major Label Debut (Fast)
Vampire Weekend – Horchata
Hot Chip & Peter Gabriel – Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa
Lali Puna – Grin and Bear
Of Montreal – I Was Never Young
The Big Pink – Dominos
The Sounds – Hurt You
Modest Mouse – Heart Cooks Brain