Melanie selected this photo of Drew listening to music at Easy Street Records. He is not listening to Courtney’s mix. Yet.
When Inward Facing Girl and I were in college together, we started a Christmas Eve Eve party tradition with our closest friends. Note from Melanie: I like to call it Christmas Adam. Clever, huh? Every December 23rd during those years, our circle of friends got together for food, libations, and gift exchanging.
We even continued to gather for many years after several of us moved away, but in later years we focused more on catching up over drinks than exchanging gifts.
All of us in this circle of friends are great fans of music, and, at some point several years ago, one of us suggested exchanging “mixed tapes” during our annual gatherings. The mixes were supposed to be a collection of our favorite songs of the year. Year after year, I look forward to receiving these CDs from my friends. Not only do they give me a peek into my friends’ lives over the past year, they also expose me to new music I might not have previously heard.
This past December 23rd, I received three CDs, and there is promise of a few more to come.
My mix for 2011 is a collection of music I discovered this year and instantly loved (Lana Del Rey, Charles Bradley), music that slowly grew on me and now I can’t get enough of (St. Vincent, Girls), music that reminded me of great shows I saw during the year (Damien Jurado, Bon Iver, The National, and Okkervil River), and new music of some old favorites (Wilco, Ryan Adams).
“Honey Bunny” Girls
“Video Games” Lana Del Rey
“Cruel” St. Vincent
“The World (Is Going Up In Flames)” Charles Bradley
“Chasing Pavement” Adele
“Whole Love” Wilco
“I and Love and You” The Avett Brothers
“Bloodbuzz Ohio” The National
“Holocene” Bon Iver
“Ohio” Damien Jurado
“Ashes and Fire” Ryan Adams
“Your Past Life as a Blast” Okkervil River
“I’ll Try Anything Once” Julian Casablancas
Even if you aren’t able to get together with old friends over the holidays, why not send them a mix of what you’ve been listening to? I have a feeling your year in music will make them happy.
– Courtney
Note from Melanie: If you’d like to listen to this mix, head over to my Facebook page and press play. If you don’t have a Spotify account, you’ll need to sign up. Don’t worry, you can get a free version.