Mix Tape: The Claire Mix

by Claire Miller

Here are the songs that would be at the top of my mix tape:

“If I Had A Million Dollars” by the Barenaked Ladies. This one speaks to the desire we all have to win a million dollars and do ridiculous things with the money. I really would buy you a fur coat – but not a real fur coat. That’s cruel.

“Separate Ways” by Journey. What would a mix tape be without a song from a great 80s band like Journey? I also recommend watching the video for this one – it’s a one-way ticket back to 1983.

“One Sweet Love” by Sara Bareilles. This one hits home for me and probably other people as well, as Sara Bareilles wonders if she’s “already tasted her piece of one sweet love.” Her honest vocals and the guitar accompaniment fit the song well.

“Song for a Friend” by Jason Mraz. I think Jason says it best about his song: “This is a different kind of love song… oftentimes you see the sensitive singer/songwriter up here singing about his girlfriend over and over and over again. But I have a lot of dudes that I totally respect – y’all have inspired this piece.”

“The Medallion Calls” by Klaus Badelt, from the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack. This is the track playing behind Jack Sparrow when he makes his first appearance in The Curse of the Black Pearl, and it’s one of my favorite scores from a film. Love this scene and the music that goes with it.

Adam's Mixtape

As a graduating senior, each of these artists has a connection to Athens, Ga. in 2007-2008.

Atmosphere – In Her Music Box: Off the new album, If Life Gives You Lemons (released April 22^nd), Slug continues ending his albums with odes to his kids. It’s refreshing that after almost ten years, Ant and Slug still haven’t conformed to modern rap standards.

My Morning Jacket – One Big Holiday: Ten years after their debut in 1998, the Louisville band’s still going strong. This song off their 2003 album is one of their bests.

Girltalk – Night Ripper Tracks: Music for those suffering from ADD. The Pittsburgh DJ mixes Biggie and Elton John. That’s no easy feat.

Ghostface Killa – Assassination Day: Unlike others which branch free of earlier times, this song manages to maintain the classic Wu-tang sound.

R.E.M. – Houston: The top college band of the 80’s manages to make a great album thirty years later without their original drummer. Listen to the whole thing, but this song displays Stipe’s voice beautifully.

Mix Tape: The Amanda Album

“Play Crack the Sky” by Brand New - The dark, brooding final track of 2003’s Deja Entendu that had me weeping in my emo hoodie over my breakup with my high school boyfriend.

“In the Aeroplane Over the Sea” by Neutral Milk Hotel - Really, any song from their 1998 album would do, so we’ll just go with the title track. “Some day we will die, and our ashes will fly from an aeroplane over the sea. But for now we are young, let us lay in the sun, and count every beautiful thing we can see.” Indeed, Jeff Mangum, indeed.

“Jet Black New Year” by Thursday - Always a bridesmaid, never a bride. This song never made it on to an album, just their 2002 “Five Stories Falling” EP, but be careful if you listen to it while driving because I’ve found myself caught up in the relentless final crescendo (that doubles as an ultra-clever countdown to midnight) going well in excess of the speed limit.

“California Love” by Tupac Shakur featuring Dr. Dre - one of the greatest rap songs ever recorded and the song that introduced me to hip-hop. I vividly remember sitting in my bedroom in my parents’ house in 1996, trying to clandestinely tune in to V103 on my little radio in hopes that I might hear it and feel like I was part of the West Coast party, too.

“A Perfect Sonnet” by Bright Eyes - My favorite song of all time, period. Released on 1999’s Every Day and Every Night EP, Conor Oberst’s tortured, straining vocals make the song swirl and rumble over a frenetic backing track. I’m honestly not even sure what it’s about, but it’s captivating.

Mix Tape: The Rachel Mix

• "On Your Side" by Pete Yorn.  This beautifully complex song, on the musicforthemorningafter album, has alternately made me fall in love or burst into tears, depending on the amount of angst I was feeling at the time.  I used to love this song so much that a boyfriend of mine tried to learn how to play it on the guitar in order to serenade me, only to be foiled because there are three separate guitar parts.  This song was never a single (like "Life On A Chain" and "Strange Condition"), but the whole album is great.
• "Breakable" by Ingrid Michaelson. Michaelson has the distinction of being my newest girl crush, thanks to this song off the "Girls and Boys" album.  It was featured on "Grey's Anatomy," and her voice is so clear and sweet as to merit the adjective "angelic."  Also, I like the content of this song, because lyrics like "We are just breakable girls and boys" remind me that we're all human, fragile.
• "Stay" by Lisa Loeb.  Unlike most people of my generation, I would venture, my first album purchase is not in the least embarrassing: it was Lisa Loeb and 9 Stories' 1995 release "Tails."  Loeb's voice is still distinctive to me, even 12 years later.  This song, the CD's finale, taught me about what it is to yearn for someone.
• "Free Fallin'" by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. The classic American hit that best represents Petty's musical catalog and instantaneously makes me think of my childhood with rock-loving parents.  Actually, all of "Full Moon Fever" or the "Greatest Hits" compilations would have the same effect.  And, let's face it, sometimes we all need to pull a "Jerry Maguire" and sing "Freeeeee faaaaallin'!" really loud in the car to let off some stress. 
• "Rosa Parks" by OutKast.  I feel a special affinity for OutKast as a fellow ATLien myself (although this song is on "Aquemini").  This song's beat is still just as perfect for creating a dance party as it was in 1998, and I literally cannot resist.