I'm a year older and hopefully marginally wiser but, more importantly, it is time for another Birthday Mix. The rules are simple: I can only include songs that I discovered between birthdays (this typically means hear for the first time, although if I rediscover a song between birthdays or "get" a song after initially hearing it earlier, that counts as well).

The good news is 2012 did not kick my ass like 2011. Where 2010-2011 was a year of transition, 2011-2012 has been more stable and consistent. I bought a audiophile stereo system this year and signed up for Mog, a high-resolution streaming music service. I feel like I am falling in love with music all over again. I'm spending more time finding new music than I have in years and more time listening to music because, you know, I can actually hear the finer details in the recording. It's been so exciting to explore new genres and rediscover old favorites.

I put the birthday mix into one MP3 file for the rare person who actually wants to listen to it. Below is a track list with some thoughts on each song.



Track List:
1. Main Attrakionz - Bossalinis and Fooliyones Pt. 2. I first heard this song driving back from the gym in Eric's car. Even on shitty car speakers, the production was striking. The song was so stoned and calculated, borrowing from dubstep (not the Skrillex variety), and with an instrumental hook that seemed designed to be left alone. It quickly fell into heavy rotation.
2. Arcade Fire - Keep the Car Running I saw the Arcade Fire play with the National at the UIC Pavilion in April of 2011. If you ever have the chance to see the Arcade Fire in concert, do yourself a favor and go. This song leveled the place and by the first chorus, I realized that I had really missed the boat on Arcade Fire. I guess that means I spent the following few months swimming after the Arcade Fire boat. I am not sure if the boat is stopped or moving in my metaphor.
3. Motorhead - Stay Clean This year's Motorhead favorite. I watched part of that Lemmy documentary with Mike. We turned it on shortly before Lemmy goes to buy a Beatles box set in mono (as it was meant to be heard, he insists). I clearly remember Lemmy going on a bit about how the Beatles are the greatest rock band ever and, unlike the Rolling Stones, aren't exerting effort to be gritty (although he did not call the Beatles gritty). Apparently the Rolling Stones were all prep school boys, while the Beatles came from working class homes. This gave the Beatles instant street cred in Lemmy's book.
4. Das Racist - You Oughta Know 2011 was definitely Das Racists's year. I had heard Das Racist prior to You Oughta Know, but it was this brilliantly appropriated hook that pulled me in for good. It's such a distinctive part of Billy Joel's Moving Out, and yet I would never imagine it as a rap hook. I was really mixed on the freestyle, stream of consciousness rapping in the second verse, but I've come to look forward to it.
5. The Weeknd - House of Balloons The Weeknd's House of Balloons EP leveled me. It seemed to appear out of the ether in 2011. It is misleading to call this R&B for the drug sect or hipster R&B or any of the other labels attached to it. The Weeknd is masterfully produced and lyrically horrifying. At least we have the answer to the question of "What would an R&B song sound like when sung by an unrepentingly lecherous and amoral character?" But seriously though, when can we give these producers a MacArthur?
6. The Little Ones - Lovers Who Uncover (Crystal Castes v. The Little Ones) This is really just a Crystal Castles remix. A brilliant remix. I love the chopped up vocal sample in the hook and the slight overdrive on the vocals. The song sounds appropriately love sick and I never get tired of the side-chained bass synth.
7. Death Grips - Takyon (Death Yon) This is what hardcore-inspired rap sounds like.
8. Big K.R.I.T. - My Sub Big K.R.I.T.'s Return of 4Eva mixtape blew up my summer. Oddly, My Sub isn't that bass heavy. Aside from a deep kick, there isn't a lot on the low end. No matter. It glows with childlike excitement (sort of like what you'd experience when listening to a huge subwoofer).
9. RVIVR - Seethin' Dear RVIVR, thank you for killing it in the second half of the song.
10. Cults - Go Outside 100% of the credit goes to Arianna for playing Cults for me. Go Outside has this soft sense of longing throughout it. It's a beautiful song that sounds like a less-than-perfect summer day.
11. Shabazz Palaces - Swerve... The Reeping Of All That Is Worthwhile (Noir Not Withstanding) Have you heard anything that sounds like this? If this album isn't in your top 10 rap albums of 2011, we need to talk.
12. The Roots - Make My Here's a rap song about the tireless pursuit of money that sounds as empty as raw materialism feels.
13. EMA - The Grey Ship Please play this at my viking funeral.
14. Can - Paperhouse I just discovered Can this year, but I feel late to the party. Not only were they most active in the 1970s, but many of my friends had been listening to Can since their college years. The song is masterfully recorded and produced and I love how thin the drums are. The guitars are hot and at times the whole song sounds like it's about to melt your speakers, regardless of playback volume. It's hard to produce that level of electricity in a studio performance, much less capture it.
15. Waylon Jennings - Billy The lyrics are about two close friends who must go their separate ways so that our protagonist can settle down. The vocal inflection tells me that this is a love song, before country singers could write gay love songs. Wait, can country singers write gay love songs yet?
16. Latterman - Yo, Get Into It! Punk song about unity. Stop categorizing me, man, let's just be human together.
17. REO Speedwagon - Roll With The Changes There is a time and place for huge, dad-rock jam sessions, and that time is the second half of Roll With The Changes and that place is anywhere you can listen to Roll With The Changes.
18. Daft Punk - Digital Love I was reading about MSTRKRFT and wondering why I only like their remixes, when the reviewer stated the obvious: MSTRKRFT owes much of their style to Daft Punk, specifically Discovery-era Daft Punk. It'd been a long time since I tackled the album, so I put it on that afternoon and listened to Digital Love. A lot. I feel a little odd rocking out to this song roughly a decade after it was hot, but what can you do? It's still artistically relevant and is obviously a fantastic song.