I was trying to find a song off of Paul Westerberg's Suicaine Gratifaction on iTunes and despite not finding the song, or the album for that matter, I did once again stumble upon the iTunes' user mix database called "iMix."

The concept is genius: users put together a list of songs, most of them falling under a general theme, and publish them for the general public. It's the modern version of the mix tape, a practice that, up until now, I felt was a woefully dying art, especially amongst teenagers. There is barely a music lover alive that doesn't think that he or she can compile a definitive list of songs that can capture the most complex of human emotions in 45 minutes or more, and then -- and this is the most important element of the process -- feel the need to share the mix with the world at large. It's as though we think we should be thanked for what amounts to us piggybacking off of the words of someone else.

I've wasted hours going through these mixes, sometimes disagreeing, sometimes agreeing that, for instance, "Yes. Mos Def's UMI Says might just be the ideal song to listen to as one drinks a whiskey sour, as this mixer suggests with his own recipe for the concoction in the notes of the mix, though I am of the school of thought that says that orange should never be introduced to whiskey and if you have to put fruit in it, make it a cherry or make it nothing at all."

This is how music geeks think. When given the opportunity to dissect and pick apart we do and we do it with self-righteous glee. I mean, how can you put together a mix of 70s AM Radio and not include anything from Captain & Tennille? This isn't to say that I own anything by the Captain or Tennille for that matter but love will keep us together damnit so show some respect.

Inevitably you find the iMixes that are in line with your tastes, put together by people who know as much or more than you about the kinds of melodies and words and the rest that distill the good stuff from the bullshit better than anything else and really give you something to think about.

So I'm looking for "It's A Wonderful Lie" and instead I find "First Glimmer," which is such a wonderful song that I can still remember when I first heard it, driving around with my friend Joy our junior year of high school. The song is listed in an iMix with songs that someone feels best reflect "Heartbreak" and upon persual of this list, one made by an individual with clearly enough taste to appreciate a lyric like "Do you remember me long ago/Used to wear my heart on my sleeve/I guess it still shows," I see he or she also has included "Always Be My Baby" by Mariah Carey which just goes to prove that love can really fuck a person up.

[Edited to add: Thank you, Lori. You rule, sista friend.]

Posted by Erin at 09:42 AM | filed under: Odds and ends

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