Art credit: Terra Schneider, Maddie Rosemurgy
Music is inherently and intrinsically weaved into my life. Virtually everything I do, day in and day out, has a meticulously-chosen soundtrack. My guess, dear reader, is that we share this quality. For many years, I chose my music based on a single facet, be it lyrics, vocals, intricacy, simplicity, or whatever else delighted me at the time. I would study this quality, taking in as much as I could, until that artist or genre was exhausted for me, then I’d move on. As my tastes matured, however, this method of listening no longer satisfied my lonely ears. I grew to realize that, while studying scientifically as I had is immensely interesting and educational, music brings the greatest pleasure when it is mingled with and absorbed, rather than dissected.
In the winter of 2010, over the course of three-and-a-half months, I trained for a marathon. Mind you, I was living in Michigan at the time — the northernmost area, at that, so there was lots of snow. I lived very close to the shore of a lazy inlet of Lake Superior and every day when I got off work I would bundle up and run anywhere between five and twenty miles down a snowy, winding road. Dusk settled in around 4:30, so for the majority of the run, it’d just be me, the icy water, the snow-coated evergreens, an occasional streetlight, and my album of choice, Blake Mills’ Break Mirrors. I must’ve heard those nine songs several hundred times that winter. Two years and a lot of life later, the moment I put Break Mirrors on (as I just did), I go straight back there, the icicles on my clothes, the smell of burning firewood, the warmly-lit cabins tucked back into the woods. It was an incredibly peaceful and meditative period for me, and that calm, clear mindset comes effortlessly back whenever I listen to Blake Mills’ music.
Ever since that winter I’ve been carefully crafting playlists every month or so not only to mentally log the passing of time and seasons, but to use as a medium in which to record memories, moments, thoughts, and feelings. Those certain songs people have which make them so happy, as they transport them to a lovelier time or place? I’ve got thousands, and they enrich my life on so many levels. That is what I wish for these mixtapes.
I will be posting a new mixtape on the first of every month as a Spotify playlist. Each will have a theme that loosely unites the general “vibe” of the songs, and hopefully invokes a mood that will color and enhance my and your experience of the time. I’m asking for your help with these, as well. If you adore an upcoming month and have a theme you’d like to suggest, I’d love to hear it. If I announce a theme and you know a song or two that you’d really like to see on the playlist, I will certainly consider including them. Please leave any suggestions in the comments section below. As with the rest of the site, we will prefer to feature amazing work by musicians who are lesser-known to a popular audience.
We will also randomly choose one commenter each month to receive a physical copy of the mixtape, hand-made from me to you, as well as a small Wild Honey Pie treat. I hope you enjoy the first installation of the column and will continue to help it grow.
DECEMBER IS PEACE:
Spotify (some tracks unavailable):
Tracklist:
12/1 — “Dreams Today” - Efterklang (@Efterklang)
12/2 — “Clocks vs. Darts” - Modern Rivals (@ModernRivals)
12/3 — “I Ain’t Got A Friend” – Kissed Her Little Sister (@kissedherlittlesister)
12/4 – ”Re: Stacks (Bon Iver cover)” - Pearl and the Beard (@PEARLntheBEARD)
12/5 — “The Whale” - Flashbulb Fires (@FlashbulbFires)
12/6 — “Pyramids of Love” - Ozarks (@castleozarks)
12/7 — “Won’t Fade Away” - Yellow Ostrich (@yellowostrich)
12/8 — “Beauty & Gloom” - Time For T. (@timefort)
12/9 — “Den of Love” - Hooded Fang (@hoodedfang)
12/10 — “North Coast” - Santah (@santahhh)
12/11 — “Toboggan” – Breathe Owl Breathe (@breatheowlbreathe)
12/12 — “Sending Emoticons” - Urbantramper (@urbantramper)
12/13 — “Smashed Birds” - Sóley (@soleysoleysoley)
12/14 — “Wintersong” - Blake Mills and Jesca Hoop (@BreakMirrors), (@JescaHoop)
12/15 — “Merry Ex-mas” - Jake Newton and Lelia Broussard (@jakenewton), (@leliabroussard)
12/16 — “Walking In The Air” – The Eastern Sea (@TheEasternSea)
12/17 — “Wood Frames” – Dalton (@daltonmusic)
12/18 — “Spanish Moss” - Heyward Howkins (@HeywardHowkins)
12/19 — “Sleeping States” - Gregory And The Hawk (@gregandthehawk)
12/20 — “Give Out” - Sharon Van Etten (@sharonvanetten)
12/21 — “When I Get To Heaven” - Francolin (@FrancolinMusic)
12/22 — “DNA Bank” - Freelance Whales (@FreelanceWhales)
12/23 — “Shut Eye” - Stealing Sheep (@stealingsheep)
12/24 — “Ms” - Alt-J (@alt_J)
12/25 — “Christmas In The Room” - Sufjan Stevens (@SufjanStevens)
12/26 — “My New Toy Piano” - Norwegian Arms (@norwegianarms)
12/27 — “No Silver” - Chris Bathgate (@chrisbathgate)
12/28 — “Wishingbone” - Winter People (@winter_people)
12/29 — “Old Scenes” - Boat To Row (@boat_to_row)
12/30 — “Ghosts” - On An On (@itsonanon)
12/31 — “New Year” - Beach House (@BeaccchHoussse)
January’s Mixtape will be themed “Motion.” Please mention any song suggestions you have in the comments below.
