Love of Music, Part 3: How about the power...to move you?

Here it is! The digital mixtape for my beloved blog readers. You can see the tracks (with a little commentary) below. I don't have any particular theme here other than a snapshot into my musical life at the moment. These are some of the the songs that have basically been on repeat for the past month or so (maybe longer). I had to take out about 25 to get it to flow well (like Brandi Carlile, which pained me!)

The songs might not be particularly cool, new or hip, but this is what you get with me. "Here is a part of my soul."

If you would like a CD of this mix for your very own listening pleasure, leave a comment saying so and I'll mail you one free of charge! They link to my YouTube playlist of the songs. Be sure to click "Play all videos" to listen to the whole playlist, minimize the window and pretend you and I are on a roadtrip. Some videos are live or to random pictures, but the songs are real. You get the idea and you'll get over it.

1) Breaking Up - Rilo Kiley - Best line: "Betrayal is a thorny crown, you wear it well, just like a king"

2) Hey, Soul Sister - Train - I recognize that this may be the most bubblegum song ever, but it makes for a great summer. Especially when sung by thousands in a baseball stadium. Try not to smile when you sing along. Impossible.

3) You Always Make Me Smile - Kyle Andrews - I always think of my niece and nephew when I hear this song. There is NO ONE that I love more than those two. (Sorry, Kev.)

4) I'll Believe You When - Matchbox Twenty - Oh, how I still love Rob Thomas.

5) Breakeven (Falling to Pieces) - The Script - Hayley put this on her mix for the drive to Montana and I downloaded it right then, whereeveritwasthatwewere (Thank you HT and iPhone!) I have since downloaded the whole album. It's fantastically lyrical. "The Man Who Can't Be Moved" is my favorite. Oh, HT, they'll be in Seattle Oct 16 if you're interested!

6) The Opposite of Hallelujah - Jens Lekman

7) All The Plans - Starsailor

8) It Ain't Over Til It's Over - Lenny Kravitz - While in Montana (yes, I still need to blog about it), we were exhausted and at pizza place when this song came on. We all just started singing along and I've listened to it a lot since. I don't care that it's almost 20 years old (SERIOUSLY!) It's a great song.

9) We Are Nowhere and It's Now - Bright Eyes - It's about trying to connect with the world when you are under a cloud of heartache and grief. I have thought about my friend, Francesca

(Bjurstrom blog on right), every day for the past two months since her young son unexpectedly passed away and this song is for her.

10) Rise - Eddie Vedder - This was on the season premiere commercials for Deadliest Catch and was so moving, I cried every time. Maybe it had something to do with Captain Phil's death, but still.

11) Farther Find Me Now - The Coal Men - Another Deadliest Catch song. Damn you, Producers of Deadliest Catch!

12) Addicted to Love - Florence + The Machine - EXCELLENT cover.

13) Whole Wide World - Wreckless Eric - Stranger than Fiction is one of my favorite movies for many reasons, one of which is because it popularized this song 30 years after first release.

14) Giving Up The Gun - Vampire Weekend - I fell in love with VW like everyone else in 2008. Their new release "Contra" is good, but a little self-righteous. This is one of the better tracks.

15) When We First Met - Hellogoodbye - such a fun song!

16) All In - Better Than Ezra - I have been a LONG time fan of BTE and this is off their newest release.

17) Sit Down - James - No explanation needed.