Rounds of Sound | A Round of Sound

A Round of Sound: 2009 Mixtape

January 17, 2010

Now that the countdown is complete, all that is left is to present my 2009 Mixtape, an annual mix of the songs that helped shape the past year in music. This is maybe becoming my favorite part of my yearly top albums tradition because it’s fun to see what tunes I can pack into an 80 minute disc. I started doing this on my own just to make a mix cd of some of my favorite songs of the year to keep for listening in my car, but it has evolved into a way for me to kind of summarize the best music of the year in just a “mixtape” form, especially since I find it pretty impossible to do a ranking of the best songs of the year. And people seem to enjoy it, so here we are again. By the way if you want to see my complete top 25 Albums of 2009 on one nice, put together page, head on over to my Amazon.com list to give it a look.

So, here’s some stats about the mix. This year I packed 19 songs on the disc (down one from last year’s 20), but as usual this does not necessarily mean these are my 19 favorite songs of the year. There a plenty of songs that I had to leave off because they were too long, or maybe they just didn’t fit with the mix. Also, as usual the order here is how they appear on my mix, but it is not a ranking. The songs are placed based on how they appear on their respective albums. For this year, 9 of the songs are off albums in my top 10 (Antony & the Johnsons is the only top 10 album not represented). Five of the songs are from albums in my #11-#25 range and two songs come from albums outside my top 25. The lowest ranking album with a song in the mix is Set ‘Em Wild, Set ‘Em Free by Akron/Family (ranked #44) with “River”. And finally, three songs (“Blood Bank”, “My Night With The Prostitute From Marseille”, and “It Gets Your Body Movin'”) are songs off of EPs, and thus came from albums not eligible to be in my rankings. Most of these songs have been featured somewhere on this blog in the past, or in the top albums countdown, but now here they are all in one place!

The picture above is thanks to Amy Boyd, who for the second year in a row has provided me with the album art for the Mixtape. Another fine job indeed. Today is her birthday (as well as Zooey Deschanel’s) so she also has that going for her. Enjoy!

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[“French Navy” – Camera Obscura :: My Maudlin Career]

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[“Blood Bank” – Bon Iver :: Blood Bank]

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[“1901” – Phoenix :: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix]

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[“Two Weeks” – Grizzly Bear :: Veckatimest]

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[“River” – Akron/Family :: Set ‘Em Wild, Set ‘Em Free]

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[“My Girls” – Animal Collective :: Merriweather Post Pavilion]

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[“Young Adult Friction” – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart :: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart]

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[“Crystalised” – The xx :: xx]

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[“Funeral Singers” – Califone :: All My Friends Are Funeral Singers]

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[“Now We Can See” – The Thermals :: Now We Can See]

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[“Stillness is the Move” – Dirty Projectors :: Bitte Orca]

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[“Don’t Haunt This Place” – Rural Alberta Advantage :: Hometowns]

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[“Never Seen” – Lightning Dust :: Infinite Light]

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[“Home” – Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros :: Up From Below]

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[“Two” – The Antlers :: Hospice]

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[“My Night With The Prostitute From Marseille” – Beirut :: March of the Zapotec & Realpeople: Holland]

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[“Marrow” – St Vincent :: Actor]

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[“Sleepyhead” – Passion Pit :: Manners]

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[“It Gets Your Body Movin'” – Suckers :: Suckers EP]

2 Comments | All, Music, Rounds of Sound, Top Albums of 2009 | Tagged: 2009, Akron/Family, Animal Collective, Antlers, Beirut, Bon Iver, Califone, Camera Obscura, Dirty Projectors, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Grizzly Bear, Lightning Dust, Mixtape, Music, Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Passion Pit, Phoenix, round of sound, Rural Alberta Advantage, St. Vincent, Suckers, Thermals, Top Albums of 2009, xx | Permalink
Posted by Hawkins

A Round of Sound: Holiday Edition!

December 23, 2009

I’m not planning on having another post until I unveil my Albums of the Year list in early January, so for my last post of 2009, I figured I’d close the year out by a little Holiday playlist consisting of a few songs from my collection that (sorta) have something to do with Christmas* and New Year’s. Happy Holidays!

[“The New Year” – Death Cab For Cutie :: Transatlanticism]

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[“Christmas Song” – The Felice Brothers :: Tonight at the Arizona]

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[“It’s Christmas So We’ll Stop” – Frightened Rabbit]

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[“New Year’s Project” – Further Seems Forever :: The Moon is Down]

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[“New Year’s Prayer” – Jeff Buckley :: Sketches For My Sweetheart The Drunk]

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[“Why Can’t It Be Christmastime All Year?” – Rosie Thomas :: A Very Rosie Christmas]

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[“Sister Winter” – Sufjan Stevens :: Songs for Christmas]

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[“New Year’s Day” – U2 :: The Best of 1980-1990]

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[“In the New Year” – The Walkmen :: You & Me]

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*OK, so one of these songs has “Christmas” in the title only because its the name of one of the brothers, but whatever…try to guess which song!

Leave a Comment » | All, Music, Rounds of Sound | Tagged: A Very Rosie Christmas, Christmas Song, Death Cab For Cutie, Felice Brothers, Frightened Rabbit, Further Seems Forever, In the New Year, It's Christmas So We'll Stop, Jeff Buckley, Music, New Year's Day, New Year's Prayer, New Year's Project, Rosie Thomas, round of sound, Sister Winter, Sketches For My Sweetheart the Drunk, Songs for Christmas, Sufjan Stevens, The Best of 1980-1990, The Moon is Down, The New Year, The Walkmen, Tonight at the Arizona, Transatlanticism, U2, Why Can't it be Christmastime All Year, You & Me | Permalink
Posted by Hawkins

A Round of Sound: Emo Style (pt 2)

July 26, 2009

With the recent Sunny Day Real Estate news, I figured it’s about time I posted my second part to my “Emo Style” Round of Sound I posted way back when. All the same holds true that I said back in that post concerning these songs. There is still A LOT I have left off this playlist, and this isn’t meant as a definitive guide to what is “emo”, it’s just songs that at one time or another have been considered emo…like it or not.

A few notes about these tracks: Some of these are just extensions of songs I posted on Part 1 meaning that a few of these bands have a counterpart from that list in that they may be side projects or a whole new band all together spawned from previous projects (ie. Further Seems Forever -> Dashboard Confessional, The Get Up Kids -> The New Amsterdams, Mineral -> The Gloria Record). Also, some of these bands are still going strong (Cursive, Dashboard, New Amsterdams) and some of these bands are no longer but have spawned notable new acts (ie. American Football -> Owen, Promise Ring -> Maritime). Anyway, I felt like all that was worth mentioning.

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[“Never Meant” – American Football :: American Football]

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[“The Shell” – Audio Learning Center :: Friendships Often Fade Away]

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[“Suspended” – Breaking Pangaea :: Cannon to a Whisper]

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[“Art Is Hard” – Cursive :: The Ugly Organ]

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[“The Brilliant Dance” – Dashboard Confessional :: The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most]

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[“Grace the Snow is Here” – The Gloria Record :: The Gloria Record – EP]

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[“The Cruelest Month” – Lewis :: Even So]

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[“I Won’t Run Away” – The New Amsterdams :: Never You Mind]

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[“Stop Playing Guitar” – The Promise Ring :: Wood/Water]

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[“In Circles” – Sunny Day Real Estate :: Diary]

Leave a Comment » | All, Music, Rounds of Sound | Tagged: American Football, Art is Hard, Audio Learning Center, Breaking Pangaea, Cannon to a Whisper, Cursive, Dashboard Confessional, Diary, Even So, Friendships Often Fade Away, Grace the Snow is Here, I Won't Run Away, In Circles, Lewis, Music, Never Meant, Never You Mind, New Amsterdams, Promise Ring, round of sound, Stop Playing Guitar, Sunny Day Real Estate, Suspended, The Brilliant Dance, The Cruelest Month, The Gloria Record, The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most, The Shell, The Ugly Organ, Wood/Water | Permalink
Posted by Hawkins

A Round of Sound: Other Mid-’09 Goodies

July 9, 2009

To conclude my mid-year wrap up of the music so far in ‘09, I figured I’d do A Round of Sound featuring some of my favorite tracks of the year that I haven’t already mentioned in a post on the blog. So here’s a few of my favorite songs so far in 2009 that will all surely be candidates for my end of year mix tape.

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[“My Night With The Prostitute From Marseille” – Beirut :: March of the Zapotec & Realpeople: Holland (EP)]

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[“Blood Bank” – Bon Iver :: Blood Bank (EP)]

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[“Pieces” – Dinosaur Jr :: Farm]

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[“Shampoo” – Elvis Perkins In Dearland :: Elvis Perkins In Dearland]

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[“How We Exit” – Gentleman Reg :: Jet Black]

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[“Strictly Game” – Harlem Shakes :: Technicolor Health]

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[“Help I’m Alive” – Metric :: Fantasies]

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[“It Gets Your Body Movin'” – Suckers :: Suckers EP]

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[“Silver Moons” – Sunset Rubdown :: Dragonslayer]

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[“Wilco” – Wilco :: Wilco (The Album)]

1 Comment | All, Music, Rounds of Sound | Tagged: Beirut, Blood Bank, Bon Iver, Dinosaur Jr, Dragonslayer, Elvis Perkins in Dearland, Fantasies, Farm, Gentleman Reg, Harlem Shakes, Help I'm Alive, How We Exit, It Gets Your Body Movin', Jet Black, March of the Zapotec & Realpeople: Holland, Metric, Music, My Night With the Prostitute From Marseille, Pieces, Rounds of Sound, Shampoo, Silver Moons, Strictly Game, Suckers, Sunset Rubdown, Technicolor Health, Wilco, Wilco (The Album) | Permalink
Posted by Hawkins

A Round of Sound: Last Songs

May 17, 2009

The last song is often one of the most important tracks on an album. It’s the last thing the listener hears and should serve as closure to the album while leaving the listener wanting more, but not to the point where it feels like the album is ending to soon. It’s a tricky mix to get right. There are plenty of closing tracks that are good songs but do not have that vibe of being a perfect closer. Some of my favorite songs are last songs because they just have that special something. Here are a few of those.

[“Falling” – Ben Kweller :: Sha Sha]

[“The Weather – Built to Spill :: Ancient Melodies of the Future]

[“I’ll Catch You” – The Get Up Kids :: Something to Write Home About]

[“Slapped Actress” – The Hold Steady :: Stay Positive]

[“Makers” – Rocky Votolato :: Makers]

[“1000 Seconds” – Secret Machines :: Ten Silver Drops]

[“The Past and Pending” – The Shins :: Oh, Inverted World]

[“Funny Thing” – Travis :: Good Feeling]

[“Only in Dreams” – Weezer :: Weezer (Blue)]

[“Shoot a 45” – 764-Hero :: Nobody Knows This is Everywhere]

Leave a Comment » | All, Music, Rounds of Sound | Tagged: 764-Hero, Ben Kweller, Built to Spill, Last Songs, Music, Rocky Votolato, round of sound, Secret Machines, The Get Up Kids, The Hold Steady, The Shins, Travis, Weezer | Permalink
Posted by Hawkins

A Round of Sound: Mother’s Day Mix

May 10, 2009

I know I’m getting this up a little late, but it’s still Mother’s Day so it still counts. In honor of Mother’s Day, after a quick little search of “Mother”, “Mom”, or “Mama” these are a few of the tunes that show up in my itunes library. I didn’t go back and listen to any of them to see if they are actually appropriate songs for Mother’s Day, but whatever…enjoy!

[“You Get That From Your Mother” – Audio Learning Center :: Cope Park]

[“Mama, Won’t You Keep Them Castles In the Air Burning?” – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah :: Some Loud Thunder]

[“My Mother Was A Chinese Trapeze Artist” – The Decemberists :: 5 Songs EP]

[“Decatur, or, Round of Applause for Your Stepmother!” – Sufjan Stevens :: Illinois]

[“Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives” – Voxtrot :: Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives]

Leave a Comment » | All, Music, Rounds of Sound | Tagged: Audio Learning Center, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Mother's Day, round of sound, Sufjan Stevens, The Decemberists, Voxtrot | Permalink
Posted by Hawkins

A Round of Sound: Emo Style

May 3, 2009

This is the first of what I plan to be a regular occurrence here on the blog. Every now and then, I’ll post a little playlist, or “A Round of Sound” (hey, that’s the name of the blog!) as I like to call it. Sometimes it’ll have a theme, other times it’ll just be random tunes. What all the songs will have in common though is that they’re all in my music library. So without further ado:

My post about Jimmy Eat World and their amazing album Clarity got me kind of on a late 90’s into the early 2000’s emo nostalgia kick. So here’s an emo playlist for your pleasure. Note that I left A LOT off of this list (I’m trying to limit these to about 10 songs). I’ll have to do a part 2 sometime in the future. Argue all you want about whether or not these are truly “emo”, but all of these were indeed at one time or another considered emo.

[“Forever Longing the Holden Sunsets” – The Appleseed Cast :: Mare Vitalis]