the good ol' days

it seems that lately my head's been filled entirely of to-do lists, to-do lists and more to-do lists. tomorrow, mike's sister is getting married and then shortly after that (two days after, to be exact!) mike and i are taking a vacation and going up to Quebec ski resort Mont Tremblant.

{there's no skiing this time of year.}

but there will be tons of other exciting & relaxing things to do... none of which will be including to-do lists. for the drive up there, however, i've been planning what snacks to bring, what comfy clothes to wear, where the best rest stops are, and of course, the inevitable soundtrack question... what music will we listen to?

i have an incredibly eclectic taste in music. what i listen to depends really on my mood. mike, on the other hand, listens to rock - more specifically, hair metal. we're both generally pretty laid-back about what we listen to and when (generally, we listen to mike's music in mike's car, and i get to choose when we're in mine).

did i mention that we're taking my car?

and so, with all of this thinking about road trips and soundtracks, i got to thinking about mixed tapes.

yes, i realize that tapes have gone the way of the dodo and if anything, people are probably making mixed cds. {do they even sell cassettes anymore?} regardless, it's a weird quirky thing with me that i just cant call it a mixed cd. i'd love to relate it to some sort of retro-purist personality trait, but somehow i just don't feel like i can make that sound believable. it's sort of like the people who get annoyed when you call an artist's album a 'record'. it's a recording, isn't it?

i digress.

looking through my music library, i realize that there's a good number of songs that have come from online sources, instead of having been ripped from cds. because of that, is nobody making mixed cds anymore?

i'm sure we'll start to miss those personalized works of art, where you spend all afternoon waiting for the perfect song to come on the radio, then go running across your bedroom - jumping like an olympic hurdler over your bed and desk chair - to get to your radio and hit 'record' (sometimes you'd catch the beginning of the song, and sometimes it would get a little cut off.. regardless, it's there. and it's the thought that counts right? after that, you decorate the crap out of the cover and, if you're anything like me, toss a few liner notes in for good measure, and then pass it on to your best friend/roomie/crush/sister/new friend to get them nicely acquainted with your taste and style.

(or then there's the post-cassette style of mixed tape technique, where you just choose the songs you'd like off of your computer and burn 'em to a cd - however, i think that the other method is much better for your cardiovascular health and agility.)

either way, mixed tapes were the way that i found most of the music that i've grown to love today. i miss them. someone should start up a mixed tape revolution. kind of like a chain letter, but with mixed tapes.

here's a sample of a few songs that will be accompanying me on my way to Quebec:


01) shut up and let me go - the ting tings (i know. i know. i'm a consumerist jerk for loving this song just because apple used it to advertised the ipod. whatever, it's still a happy song.)
02) motorcycle drive-by - third eye blind (seriously, i'm not a big fan of third eye blind in general but this song is such an incredible song.)
03) dogs - damien rice
04) coconut skins - damien rice
05) brown skin - india.arie
06) maddening shroud - frou frou
07) this boy - james morrison
08) hustle rose - metric
09) cowboy take me away - dixie chicks
10) those anarchist punks are mysterious - against me!
11) name - goo goo dolls
12) linger - the cranberries
13) dreams - the cranberries
14) transatlanticism - death cab for cutie
15) cause = time - broken social scene

given that mont tremblant is about a 6-hour drive from toronto, i'll need to make a few more albums. which means i need suggestions. i'd like to stumble across something new! so i'll throw it out to you... what were some tracks on your favourite mixed tapes?