Friday, May 22, 2009

Challenge #2: Under the Milky Way Tonight (Marc's Mix)




This one was more of a challenge for me. As I don't drive too much at night and when I do it mostly obnoxiously upbeat remixes or spoken word. But I know what Matt was going for when he came up with this. My only regret is that mine might be at times too literal for some. I tried to go for simply a feel, but with limited time due to being out of town, then coming home to a crashed motherboard, I had to go a bit more obvious on some tracks. 

Under the Milky Way Tonight: Music for a Night Ride Home
  1. Night Ride Home -Joni  Mitchell
  2. Travelin' Light-Chet Baker
  3. The Downtown Lights-The Blue Nile
  4. Tonight We Play-Flying White Dots (feat. the Cure and Bjork)
  5. Stars (original mix)-Dubstar
  6. Walk On By-Isaac Hayes
  7. Be Thankful For What You've Got-William DeVaughn
  8. Lady Cab Driver-Prince
  9. Driving (MAW Mix)-Everything But the Girl
  10. Stay On These Roads-a-ha
  11. The Killing Moon-Echo & The Bunnymen
  12. Under the Milky Way-Grant Lee Phillips
  13. When the Stars Go Blue-Blake Lewis
  14. Sudden Rush-Erlend Oye
  15. Stars Above Us-Saint Etienne
  16. Four to the Floor (thin white duke mix)-Starsailor
  17. Beautiful Ghost/Introduction To Songs Of Experience-U2

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3 comments:

  1. ColinMay 22, 2009 at 12:41 PM

    When I had lunch with Matt, he joked about someone putting "Pink Moon" on it... And then looked at me and said, "Oh and if you put Pink Moon on your disc, I love it." wondering if he put his foot in his mouth.

    No pink moon on my disc...

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  2. RedMonkeyJune 18, 2009 at 4:59 PM

    1- Joni Mitchell NIght Ride Home
    As a Joni Mitchell fan, you can’t go too wrong in my book by opening with the perfect opener. Sweet summertime observations after a perfect late night drive home. Crickets and all.

    2- Chet Baker Travellin’ Light
    Followed by Chet?! Are you after my heart? I hold Mr. Baker in the highest regard. As you all will learn, I am extemely visual and cinematic in my thinking. I create movies when listening to multiple songs together like this: so, I tend to take lyrics too literally. I imagine Chet playing on the radio (especially cause this is just such a sad song), as Joni still drives under the night sky.

    3- Blue Nile - Downtown Light
    One of my favorite Blue Nile songs. And definitely one of those cases, where I smile and wish I would have selected this band for my mix, it’s such a perfect midnight drive sound. A great selection after Chet Baker’s Travellin’ Light, because it’s also woeful, but nicely optimistic for what could be.

    4- Flying White Dots - Tonight We Play
The opening highway traffic noise, leads me to think cinematic once again (!) and create the story and interconnection of the songs selected. The Cure (and slight mixture of Bjork’s Play Dead instrumentation work so beautifully, no?) leads me to start feeling the tale of two people separated and their after midnight longings. This song is so passionate and desperate, it fits this theme well.

    5- Dubstar - Stars
    I am not sure how I know this song. I don’t own it, but wow, this one really hit me nicely. A great song and I love the idea of stars extinguished. Midnight thoughts of closing down your relationships, your mind, your talents... quit thinking so much and watch the stars go out. My favorite track so far...

    6- Walk On By - Isaac Hayes
    Nice! A shift from the thinking of the last song to me, because its woeful. In my movie, this, like the Chet Baker song is playing on the radio in the car, while the characters are still watching the lights go out. But I am enjoying the interplay of emptiness and longing between these tracks, fitting because midnight is ultimately about being alone.

    7- Be Thankful for What You’ve Got - William DeVaughn
    Oh my god. This song has a special meaning for me. It reminds me of a dear friend who exposed me to her collection of music, including much love for Mr. DeVaughn. This song reminds me of driving around in her Mazda with the sunroof open at night. Good times. I just smiled through this track! Ha! But a nice follow-up to Isaac.

    8- Lady Cab Driver - Prince
    Hell yeah. Love this song. I love where the stretch of road that tracks 6 through 8 have taken me. A completely different direction and a familiar, well-loved road.

    9- Driving - Everything but the girl
    So funny, because this almost ended up on my mix. Makes me feel like I am in the right group for these challenges! I love its placement after the Prince song. Nice.

    10- Stay on These Roads - aha
    At this point, I have kinda given up on trying to build a specific story from track to track. These are all just great late-night driving songs. However, this song makes me think of Marc Moder, simply because I credit you with reigniting my interest in a-ha again. A beautiful song that somehow is like a breath of oxygen to my brain. This song gives me clarity about my own life and what my next steps are.

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  3. RedMonkeyJune 18, 2009 at 5:00 PM

    11- The Killing Moon - Echo & The Bunnymen
    Ahhh, a fine song that has meaning to me growing up (like a lot of us) and so reminds me of driving in high school as a moody, poetry-writing teenager. Such a good song. And fits nicely into that previously mentioned “Midnight is Alone” theme thats woven throughout so many of these songs.

    12- Under The Milky Way - Grant Lee Phillips
    Do I sound like a broken record yet? I came so close to putting The Church’s version up. I am glad you chose Phillips’ version. It’s stunning, far different in mood to The Church, and so heartfelt.

    13- When The Stars Go Blue - Blake Lewis
    Such a jump from track 12 for me. Sorry, not a fan of this song. I have no idea why.

    14- Sudden Rush - Erlend Oye
    Okay, Erlend Oye, yes. My mind is back on track, and a nice compliment to the overall mood that’s developed through this mix. This is a perfect midnight drive song to me.

    15- Stars Above Us - Saint Etienne
    You can never go wrong with Saint Etienne, in my mind at least. And something’s happened to this mix’s story: Hope! And while the song to me is more of a “sunset” song... I like the idea that one of the characters could be reflecting upon their beautiful evening with this song. Lounging on a rooftop, twiddling the remains of cocktail smiling up at the stars with someone nearby.

    16- Four to the Floor - Starsailor
    Although, I never considered this for my own mix. Golly, I love this song and had been listening to it a lot lately. In fact, I questioned if it had accidentally slipped on to the playlist by accident. And while, I never considered it for a midnight drive song... it works in the overall theme of this mix.

    17- Beautiful Ghosts/Introduction to... - U2
    I don’t know this song at all. I don’t consider myself a huge U2 fan (however, it feels like it could have been on a movie-themed Passengers album), but am so nicely surprised by the mood of this song. We’ve arrived at our destination. It’s late. This is a perfect closing lullaby to end with.

    Overall, I really enjoyed the journey that Under The Milky Way provides. It has a dance to it that intrigues me, in other words I perceive two moods here giving and taking from each other, both are thematically and musically kinda different, but they work well together.

    Artwork notes: You artwork fits. And I like the unbalanced, motion blur to it, because for me it implies the uncertainty of the songs’ messages within.

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