there there, li'l bear

sufjan’s new album, the age of adz, is streaming at npr riiiiiiiight…now!

go listen.

things i am getting in the mail today:

rollei prego 90 (recommended by jordan)
damien jurado - saint bartlett (vinyl)
damien jurado - this fabulous century (vinyl)
damien jurado (and gathered in song) - i break chairs (vinyl)
denison witmer - safe away (vinyl)
saxon shore - the exquisite death of saxon shore (vinyl)
sufjan stevens - michigan (double vinyl)
mewithoutyou - it’s all crazy! it’s all false! it’s all a dream! it’s alright. (double vinyl, etching on side 4)
charley harper - an illustrated life (this one’s a book, not a record)

…it’s gonna be a good day.

li’l bear/cloud atlas mix 1 - we’re all gonna die (but don’t give up)

cloud atlas is a book - but it’s also a gobstopper, a nesting doll, and a fish wrapped in newspaper.  each narrative is told in two pieces, tiering towards the center.  and this mix is like that - this mix is tellings and retellings building towards each other, with death and hope nestled in the middle.

…maybe the track listing will help this make sense:

1) daniel johnston - true love will find you in the end
2) castanets - you are the blood
3) grizzly bear - shift
4) the beatles - tomorrow never knows
5) nick drake - cello song
6) the postal service - we will become silhouettes
7) scout niblett - your beat kicks back like death
8) beach house - master of none
9) japandroids - wet hair
10) neil young - heart of gold
11) radiohead - packt like sardines in a crushd tin box
12) colour revolt - mattresses underwater
13) david bazan - packt like sardines (live in beverly)
14) birds and batteries - heart of gold
15) teen daze - wet hair
16) toro y moi - master of none
17) jens lekman - your beat kicks back like death
18) the shins - we will become silhouettes
19) jose gonzalez and the books - cello song
20) secret colours - tomorrow never knows
21) levek - shift (a capella)
22) sufjan stevens - you are the blood
23) basia bulat - true love will find you in the end (live at daytrotter)

…do you see it?  do you?  each song is reflected on either half of the center - originals are in the first half, and covers are in the second.  tellings and retellings.  fish and newspapers.

i tried to do a few things with this mix.  i tried to keep with the themes of the book: death, and rebirth, and occasional hope (of course love snuck in there, as it does into everything).  i tried to choose covers that stand as their own songs.  i tried to make it flow well on both sides.  i tried to make the central song a true axis (but may have been blinded by my love of colour revolt).  most of all, i tried to make it something i would listen to on purpose.

so…i hope you like it.  if nothing else, it was fun to make.  and i would love for people to actually listen to it - so pass it around, reblog it, email it to your friends, press it into vinyl for your parents, or do whatever else you want (if you think it deserves it).

(part 2 coming next week…and i promise it’s more fun, less desperate)