It's the last day of 2014, so I decided to compile Mike Mix 2014. It's an interesting mixture this year. Hope you enjoy.
1) "Freakquency" by USS
Five years ago, Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker were a dominant presence on Mike Mix 2009, with songs from two albums making an appearance. Now, with their release of a new EP, the have the honor of kicking off this year's Mike Mix.
2) "Come to Light" by Arkells
Lethbridge finally has a good radio station, and one of the bands that get good airplay on this station is the Arkells. I don't like every song of theirs, but "Come to Light" is definitely one of the ones that I like.
3) "Pittsburgh" by The Amity Affliction
Every now and then, you need to indulge the depressed 18-year-old that lives inside of us all. 36-year-old Mike chuckles at music like this, but the angsty teenager who just stumbled into adulthood at the end of high school listens to this guy screaming out the lyrics and thinks, "Yes. This music speaks to me. This music gets me." Then I hear the track on the album (yes, I bought the entire album) that is a depressed guy leaving a depressed voicemail on his buddies phone with depressing music playing in the background, and even 18-year-old Mike says, "Whoa, that's a bit much."
4) "Now That's What I Call a Polka!" by Weird Al Yankovic
Weird Al was the soundtrack of my childhood. I stopped listening to him much as the '90s ended, but this latest album (which I already blogged about) was quite good. I won't say much more about this song, since the previous post on this blog was a review of Mandatory Fun. I'll just say that it's been a while since I recognize so many songs in a Weird Al polka.
5) "Get Lucky" by Daft Punk (featuring Pharrell Williams)
Astute listeners might have noticed that the last song in the polka medley was this very song. It's actually Weird Al who convinced me to finally by Random Access Memory. I'm glad I did. It's one of my favourite CD purchases of the year. Very funky '70s vibe.
6) "Dangerous" by Big Data (featuring Joywave)
That video will disturb young children, so be careful who's around when you watch it. Noah showed me this video a few months ago, and all I remembered about it was the video. Later, I heard the song on that new radio station I mentioned, and then Emily helped me realize that the song and the video go together, and now here we are.
7) "Monkey Tree" by Mother Mother
I've been vaguely aware of Mother Mother for a while now, enough that I knew they seemed like a band that I would like, but I never did anything about it until I started listening to The Bridge (that radio station I keep referring to), and I was exposed to this song and to "Get Out The Way". I bought this album, "Very Good Bad Things", yesterday.
8) "Punching In a Dream" by The Naked and Famous
Noah introduced me to The Naked and Famous. They have two albums, and I bought them both this year. "Punching In a Dream" is from the older of the two.
9) "Go Away" by Weezer
2014 was the year that Weezer's first album (my all-time favourite album) turned 20 years old. They celebrated by releasing an album that was much better than their previous four. I chose this song because I'm a sucker for male/female duets. I want to learn how to play this on guitar and then perform it somewhere with Avril.
10) "Lampshades On Fire" by Modest Mouse
Modest Mouse hasn't released a full album since 2007, but we'll be getting one in early 2015. "Lampshades On Fire" is the first single off of it.
11) "On Top of The World" by Imagine Dragons
I was originally going to use "Radioactive" for the mix, but I decided that it was overplayed, so I went with a lesser known song, which is also a much happier song. Mind you, "Radioactive" has an awesome video. It was suggested to me that I go with their current single, but I decided that I'll wait for the album to come out in February and pick my favourite from it for Mike Mix 2015.
12) "Lovely Cup" by Grouplove
Grouplove made their debut on Mike Mix 2013 with "Ways To Go", so I almost didn't include another one of their songs until I realized that "Lovely Cup" and "Ways To Go" were from different albums, so I'm not breaking any of my self-imposed rules.
13) "Take Me to Church" by Hozier
This video features a gay couple kissing, so if you're offended by such things, don't watch it. This is another song I learned about from The Bridge.
14) "Waltz" by The Naked and Famous
The second Naked and Famous song, this one from their newest album. Good song, but not much of a waltz.
15) "Weight of Living Pt. I" by Bastille
I found out about Bastille last year when I was looking for filler for Mike Mix 2013. I went out and bought the deluxe double album of "Bad Blood", and it turned out to be my favourite album of 2014. Go buy it. This song is from the bonus content album, which I actually like a little bit more than the actual album.
16) "We Are Giants" by Lindsey Stirling (featuring Dia Frampton)
And that brings us to Avril's favourite album of 2014, Lindsey Stirling's sophomore album "Shatter Me." There were a lot of good tracks to choose from, but I decided to go with one of the two that had lyrics.
17) "Stolen Dance" by Milky Chance
Another one I heard on The Bridge, and which was also recommended to me when I put out a request for song ideas on Facebook. A little different than what I usually listen to, but I like it.
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Saturday, August 2, 2014
Mandatory Fun
I've been a fan of "Weird Al" Yankovic since the song "Eat It" back in 1984. He was my favourite musician for most of the '80s and '90s. My interest in him waned as I got older and my interests expanded into more serious music, but he's always had a special place in my heart. I follow him on Twitter, and when he started marketing his latest album, "Mandatory Fun," I found myself getting excited for one of his albums for the first time in a long time. The last album of his that I bought was "Poodle Hat" in 2003, and I planned on buying this one when it came out. That proved easier said than done. You see, Al did such a good job marketing this album that, combined with his huge Twitter following that he's built up in recent years, "Mandatory Fun" is his first ever #1 album. The stores in Lethbridge sold out within hours of getting the album in stock, and I had to get them to special order one in for me. It arrived yesterday, and now I have it, and I'm going to talk about it track-by-track now.
As some of you may already know, he released eight new music videos in eight days when the album came out. I'll either embed or link these videos.
1) Handy
Of the five parodies on the album, this is the only one that is for a song that I've never heard before by an artist that I've never heard of. The song it parodies is "Fancy" by Iggy Azalea. Musically, I'm not a big fan of this song, but that's Iggy's fault, not Al's. Lyrically, there's nothing really special. The humor comes in the contrast between the original song - a girl singing about how fashionable she is - and the parody - a middle-aged man singing about what a good craftsman he is.
Lyric of choice:
Let me be your stripper.
Takin' off lacquer?
No one does it quicker.
2) Lame Claim To Fame
The low point of the album happens pretty early on with this song, and it's all up hill from here. This original song is a blue-collar schmuck bragging about uninspiring brushes with celebrities.
Lyric of choice:
Once at a party, my dentist accidentally sneezed on Russell Crowe.
3) Foil
Bonus points for having Patton Oswalt guest star in the video. This song is a parody of "Royals" by Lorde, who is a musician that I kind of like, albeit more for her songs that aren't "Royals." I like this song because of the swift descent from a song about using aluminium foil to wrap your food to a song about the Illuminati.
Lyric of choice:
Stick it in your cooler
Eat it when you're ready
Then maybe you'll choose
A refreshing herbal tea.
Oh, by the way, I've cracked the code
I figured out these shadow organizations
And the Illuminati know
That they're finally primed for world domination.
4) Sports Song
This is what happens when you get a nerd to write a sports anthem: non-poetic, to the point lyrics, inappropriately large words, and the constant reminder that the metaphors are to be taken in a figurative sense The marching song about a nameless, generic sports team is a nice send-up of school spirit, reducing the chorus to an overly-simplistic mindless repetition of "We're great and you suck!"
Lyric of choice:
We're really, really great
In contrast, you really suck.
Okay, full disclosure, we're not that great
But nevertheless...you suck!
5) Word Crimes
I love this song. This song makes me so happy. I used to have an online persona named Captain Grammer (ironic misspelling was on purpose) who went around thoroughly correcting what other people posted and thoroughly ignoring all requests to f*** off. It's a parody of "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke, and it successfully takes the catchy tune and removes all Thicke's rapey lyrics and replaces them with chastisements over grammar, spelling, and word usage. And yet still has some sexual innuendo (ie. cunning linguist).
Lyric of choice:
You should never
Write words using numbers
Unless you're seven, or your name is Prince.
6) My Own Eyes
There's no official video for this one, but you can at least hear the song in that video I embedded. This song, one of Al's originals, is the heaviest song on the album. It's in my top three for favourite songs on the album. It's about the things he's seen in his life that he wishes he could forget. These things are, of course, quite absurd.
Lyric of Choice:
My neighbor's kids sold weapons-grade plutonium
And frosty, ice-cold lemonade.
They took MasterCard and sometimes human organs in trade
That's how we paid.
I have to say that it was really darn good lemonade.
7) Now That's What I Call Polka!
Every "Weird Al" album, with the exception of his first one, has a polka on it, which is a medley of pop songs that he never got around to making a parody of set to goofy polka music. These polkas are always one of the highlights of the album. This polka includes the following songs:
"Wrecking Ball" by Miley Cyrus
"Pumped Up Kicks" by Foster the People
"Best Song Ever" by One Direction
"Gangnam Style" by PSY
"Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen
"Scream & Shout" by will.i.am & Britney Spears
"Somebody That I Used To Know" by Gotye
"Timber" by Pitbull featuring Ke$ha
"Sexy And I Know It" by LMFAO
"Thrift Shop" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
"Get Lucky" by Daft Punk
8) Mission Statement
This song, with an extremely catchy melody, is made up of nothing but corporate jargon, and brilliantly illustrates how meaningless all of that lingo is. As someone who studied management and briefly worked in that world, this song amuses me to no end.
Lyric of Choice:
We must all efficiently
Operationalize our strategies
Invest in world-class technology
And leverage our core competencies
In order to holistically adminstrate
Exceptional synergy.
9) Inactive
This might be my favourite song on the album, largely because it's a parody of a song that I like quite a bit. In fact, both this song and the original ("Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons) will be on Mike Mix 2014. "Inactive" is simply about a guy who just sits in his basement all day watching TV and eating Cheetos. By the way, watch the video for "Radioactive" that I linked to.
Lyric of Choice:
I'm waking up in Cheeto dust
My belly's covered with pizza crust
I'm using my inhaler now..*wheezing*
10) First World Problems
This song isn't a parody, but it's done in the style of The Pixies. The lyrics are inspired by the first world problems Internet meme, which makes fun of privileged people complaining about their soft, cushy lifestyles.
Lyric of Choice:
I bought too many groceries for my refrigerator.
11) Tacky
"Tacky" is a parody of Pharell Williams' infectiously upbeat song "Happy". This song is about all things tacky. Tacky in fashion, and tacky in social situations.
Lyric of Choice:
I'll get drunk at the bank and take off my shirt at least
Because I'm tacky
I would live tweet a funeral, take selfies with the deceased
Because I'm tacky
12) Jackson Park Express
This marathon of a song is about love on the bus. The POV character of the song sees a girl he's attracted to on the bus, and most of the song is him making up detailed, often bizarre dialogue based on reading way too much into innocent body language. It's quite absurd, and had me laughing out loud at times.
Lyric of Choice:
I gave her a penetrating stare, which could only mean
"You are the answer, my answer to everything
Which is why I'll probably do very poorly
On the written part of my driver's test"
And that's the album, which I am, overall, very pleased with. Now, I'm going to end this without saying much more because I've been trying to write this while at work on a busy night, and it has taken me the entire shift to make it to the end.
As some of you may already know, he released eight new music videos in eight days when the album came out. I'll either embed or link these videos.
1) Handy
Of the five parodies on the album, this is the only one that is for a song that I've never heard before by an artist that I've never heard of. The song it parodies is "Fancy" by Iggy Azalea. Musically, I'm not a big fan of this song, but that's Iggy's fault, not Al's. Lyrically, there's nothing really special. The humor comes in the contrast between the original song - a girl singing about how fashionable she is - and the parody - a middle-aged man singing about what a good craftsman he is.
Lyric of choice:
Let me be your stripper.
Takin' off lacquer?
No one does it quicker.
2) Lame Claim To Fame
The low point of the album happens pretty early on with this song, and it's all up hill from here. This original song is a blue-collar schmuck bragging about uninspiring brushes with celebrities.
Lyric of choice:
Once at a party, my dentist accidentally sneezed on Russell Crowe.
3) Foil
Bonus points for having Patton Oswalt guest star in the video. This song is a parody of "Royals" by Lorde, who is a musician that I kind of like, albeit more for her songs that aren't "Royals." I like this song because of the swift descent from a song about using aluminium foil to wrap your food to a song about the Illuminati.
Lyric of choice:
Stick it in your cooler
Eat it when you're ready
Then maybe you'll choose
A refreshing herbal tea.
Oh, by the way, I've cracked the code
I figured out these shadow organizations
And the Illuminati know
That they're finally primed for world domination.
4) Sports Song
Lyric of choice:
We're really, really great
In contrast, you really suck.
Okay, full disclosure, we're not that great
But nevertheless...you suck!
5) Word Crimes
I love this song. This song makes me so happy. I used to have an online persona named Captain Grammer (ironic misspelling was on purpose) who went around thoroughly correcting what other people posted and thoroughly ignoring all requests to f*** off. It's a parody of "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke, and it successfully takes the catchy tune and removes all Thicke's rapey lyrics and replaces them with chastisements over grammar, spelling, and word usage. And yet still has some sexual innuendo (ie. cunning linguist).
Lyric of choice:
You should never
Write words using numbers
Unless you're seven, or your name is Prince.
6) My Own Eyes
There's no official video for this one, but you can at least hear the song in that video I embedded. This song, one of Al's originals, is the heaviest song on the album. It's in my top three for favourite songs on the album. It's about the things he's seen in his life that he wishes he could forget. These things are, of course, quite absurd.
Lyric of Choice:
My neighbor's kids sold weapons-grade plutonium
And frosty, ice-cold lemonade.
They took MasterCard and sometimes human organs in trade
That's how we paid.
I have to say that it was really darn good lemonade.
7) Now That's What I Call Polka!
Every "Weird Al" album, with the exception of his first one, has a polka on it, which is a medley of pop songs that he never got around to making a parody of set to goofy polka music. These polkas are always one of the highlights of the album. This polka includes the following songs:
"Wrecking Ball" by Miley Cyrus
"Pumped Up Kicks" by Foster the People
"Best Song Ever" by One Direction
"Gangnam Style" by PSY
"Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen
"Scream & Shout" by will.i.am & Britney Spears
"Somebody That I Used To Know" by Gotye
"Timber" by Pitbull featuring Ke$ha
"Sexy And I Know It" by LMFAO
"Thrift Shop" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
"Get Lucky" by Daft Punk
8) Mission Statement
This song, with an extremely catchy melody, is made up of nothing but corporate jargon, and brilliantly illustrates how meaningless all of that lingo is. As someone who studied management and briefly worked in that world, this song amuses me to no end.
Lyric of Choice:
We must all efficiently
Operationalize our strategies
Invest in world-class technology
And leverage our core competencies
In order to holistically adminstrate
Exceptional synergy.
9) Inactive
This might be my favourite song on the album, largely because it's a parody of a song that I like quite a bit. In fact, both this song and the original ("Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons) will be on Mike Mix 2014. "Inactive" is simply about a guy who just sits in his basement all day watching TV and eating Cheetos. By the way, watch the video for "Radioactive" that I linked to.
Lyric of Choice:
I'm waking up in Cheeto dust
My belly's covered with pizza crust
I'm using my inhaler now..*wheezing*
10) First World Problems
This song isn't a parody, but it's done in the style of The Pixies. The lyrics are inspired by the first world problems Internet meme, which makes fun of privileged people complaining about their soft, cushy lifestyles.
Lyric of Choice:
I bought too many groceries for my refrigerator.
11) Tacky
"Tacky" is a parody of Pharell Williams' infectiously upbeat song "Happy". This song is about all things tacky. Tacky in fashion, and tacky in social situations.
Lyric of Choice:
I'll get drunk at the bank and take off my shirt at least
Because I'm tacky
I would live tweet a funeral, take selfies with the deceased
Because I'm tacky
12) Jackson Park Express
This marathon of a song is about love on the bus. The POV character of the song sees a girl he's attracted to on the bus, and most of the song is him making up detailed, often bizarre dialogue based on reading way too much into innocent body language. It's quite absurd, and had me laughing out loud at times.
Lyric of Choice:
I gave her a penetrating stare, which could only mean
"You are the answer, my answer to everything
Which is why I'll probably do very poorly
On the written part of my driver's test"
And that's the album, which I am, overall, very pleased with. Now, I'm going to end this without saying much more because I've been trying to write this while at work on a busy night, and it has taken me the entire shift to make it to the end.
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Sinister 7
Sometime around this past Christmas, I got a text from my sister Mary asking me to do her a huge favor. I asked her what the favor was, and her only response was "Are you in?" By this point, I was pretty sure what she was asking me to do. She and her husband Greg are pretty hardcore runners, and they will sometimes enter long distance relay races and ask family members to join them. This wasn't the first time she had asked me, but I had never agreed. This time, she was trying to get me to commit before I knew exactly what I was committing to, and even though I saw through her ruse, I agreed. She e-mailed me a link to this website, and informed me that I'd be running the seventh and final leg of a 100-mile race through the Rocky Mountains in the Crowsnest Pass area of southern Alberta. So after half a year of getting my fat butt out running, and after shedding 20 pounds (my goal is 50 pounds, but I sure do love fattening food), we met in Coleman, AB this weekend and ran the race. The team breakdown was this:
Leg 1: Noah Heninger (my cousin)
Leg 2: Curtis Woolf (my brother-in-law)
Leg 3: Mary Bourne (my sister)
Leg 4 & 5: Sara MacKenzie (my sister and team captain)
Leg 6: Greg Bourne (my brother-in-law)
Leg 7: Mike MacKenzie (my self)
Along as support were my sister Amy (Curtis' wife) and Mike Lush (Sara's boyfriend). Avril and my kids showed up Saturday afternoon. This was the first race for three of us (me, Noah, and Curtis), and a lot of people were shocked to find out that we chose the Sinister 7 to be our first. It isn't called "sinister" for nothing.
Noah and I stayed where, until recently, my in-laws had a cabin, but they had just torn it down, so we slept in a tent trailer.
Noah started in Blairmore (just down the road from Coleman) at 7:00 Saturday morning. Leg 1 (the Frank Slide) was 16.5 km.
The road to the transition area between leg 1 and leg 2 was treacherous, so we weren't allowed to drive up there to meet Noah at the end of his leg. Curtis was bused up since he had to run leg 2, so it was up to him to greet Noah after Noah finished leg 1 in the impressive time of 1 hour and 50 minutes. Then Noah got on the bus and met us down at the base of ski hill in Blairmore where we waited for Curtis to arrive at the end of his leg.
Leg 2 (Hastings Ridge) saw Curtis running 16 km, but with higher climbs than leg 1. He had an elevation gain of 937 meters and then an elevation loss of 1100 meters. He powered through it and we cheered him in to the transition area.
Mary was the first of the experienced runners to head out.
Leg 3 (Willoughby Ridge) was 35 km with an elevation gain (and then loss) of 1327 meters, and it had a difficulty rating of 6 out of 7. It took a few hours, and a close encounter with a grizzly bear (nobody was hurt, thankfully), but Mary headed into the transition area at the end with a big smile on her face.
There were seven legs, but we only had six runners, so Sara volunteered to run two legs, starting with leg 4 (Saddle Mountain), which was 17 km. We drove out to the transition area between legs 4 and 5 to cheer her on, where she changed into a new pair of shoes and socks (the first pairs were wet and muddy) and to have her blisters tended by Mike Lush. After the change of shoes, she set out on leg 5 (Mount Tecumseh), which was 29.6 km. A good deal of this leg was run at night. She finished at 1:00 in the morning while I was sound asleep resting up for my turn.
Once Sara was finished, Greg set out on the hardest single leg of the course. Leg 6 (Crowsnest & Seven Sisters) was 36.2 km, and had Greg running around the Seven Sisters and Crowsnest Mountains.
Five hours after he started, shortly after sunrise, we met Greg at the final transition area. He had a great run and was all smiles as he finished.
So with everyone else finished, it was my turn to head out on the final leg. Leg 7 (Wedge Mountain) was the shortest leg (10.7 km), but not the easiest. It was rated 2 out of 7, and it started with a steep 390 meter climb. It was rough. I huffed and puffed all the way up, and my legs burned, but I knew that if I stopped to rest, I wouldn't be able to start moving again, so I kept hiking up the trail (one thing I learned about trail running is that there's a lot of walking involved).
After a little while on that wide path, I veered off onto a narrow path that just kept going up and up. I've been out of breath on runs a lot since I started training for this, but I had never heard my heart pounding in my ears the way I could on the way up. Eventually, I reached the highest point of leg 7, where I had been instructed by Sara to take a selfie.
Then it was time to start down, which turned out to be almost as hard as going up. The ascent was hard on my lungs; the descent was hard on my legs. It took a lot of strength to keep my control and not just fall all the way down the mountain.
I don't have any pictures of it, but the steepest downhill section was a narrow path through the trees, and I slid most of the way down this stretch on my butt, using my hands slow myself by grabbing trees as they went by. I got to the bottom and looked back up only to see three more people coming down the same way I did. "Beats coming down on your face" one woman said to me.
The rest of the run took me through beautiful mountain forests, through a creek, down more hills, and eventually into Coleman. The majority of the running I was actually able to achieve was in town, but the running in town was easier than the walking I did on the mountain. Finally, I rounded a corner and saw the finish line. I finished my leg in 2 hours and 10 minutes, and celebrated with my team and my family.
I had a great time, and I plan on doing more runs in the future. I want to drop those other 30 pounds I planned on losing, and the feeling I had when finishing the run is one I want to experience again. Thanks, Mary, for making me do this.
And here are a few more random photos of the weekend:
Leg 1: Noah Heninger (my cousin)
Leg 2: Curtis Woolf (my brother-in-law)
Leg 3: Mary Bourne (my sister)
Leg 4 & 5: Sara MacKenzie (my sister and team captain)
Leg 6: Greg Bourne (my brother-in-law)
Leg 7: Mike MacKenzie (my self)
Along as support were my sister Amy (Curtis' wife) and Mike Lush (Sara's boyfriend). Avril and my kids showed up Saturday afternoon. This was the first race for three of us (me, Noah, and Curtis), and a lot of people were shocked to find out that we chose the Sinister 7 to be our first. It isn't called "sinister" for nothing.
 |
| Me and Noah at Lee Lake |
 |
| The Ramblers at the start line in Blairmore. |
 |
| Noah getting off the bus after his run |
 |
| Curtis finishes his leg. (Those are folded-up hiking poles he's holding. A lot of people used them.) |
 |
| Mary heads out |
 |
| Mary finishes. (Sorry about my finger) |
 |
| Sara's reaction when told about the bear |
 |
| Sara after she was done. |
 |
| Greg and the mountains he ran around. |
So with everyone else finished, it was my turn to head out on the final leg. Leg 7 (Wedge Mountain) was the shortest leg (10.7 km), but not the easiest. It was rated 2 out of 7, and it started with a steep 390 meter climb. It was rough. I huffed and puffed all the way up, and my legs burned, but I knew that if I stopped to rest, I wouldn't be able to start moving again, so I kept hiking up the trail (one thing I learned about trail running is that there's a lot of walking involved).
 |
| There's a lot of mouth breathing involved, too |
 |
| "Gotta hurry up and take this before I die." |
 |
| That's the town of Coleman in the distance, which is where the finish line was. |
 |
| The downward path |
The rest of the run took me through beautiful mountain forests, through a creek, down more hills, and eventually into Coleman. The majority of the running I was actually able to achieve was in town, but the running in town was easier than the walking I did on the mountain. Finally, I rounded a corner and saw the finish line. I finished my leg in 2 hours and 10 minutes, and celebrated with my team and my family.
 |
| Nearing the finish line |
 |
| The Ramblers with our Sinister 7 medals |
 |
| Going in for a hug from Avril |
 |
| Hugging my kids |
And here are a few more random photos of the weekend:
 |
| Noah and I came across a turtle near our campsite |
 |
| Waiting for the race to start |
 |
| Another view of the Seven Sister and Crowsnest Mountains |
 |
| Dad waiting for Sara to finish leg 4 |
 |
| Sara (in blue) finishing leg 4 |
 |
| Me and Mary waiting for Greg |
 |
| An actual flat section (it's blurry because I was moving when I took the photo) |
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| Another open-mouth selfie. This section of the trail reminded me of Skyrim. |
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| Me with my medal and horrible hat hair |
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| Noah and I taking our phones for a hike |
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Mike Mix 2013
Well, it's a few weeks late, but Mike Mix 2013 is finally compiled. I usually link to videos of each song, but I'm feeling fancy today, and I'll actually embed them in the article.
1. "Don't Count on the Wicked" by Billy Talent
Billy Talent are no strangers to Mike Mixes. (That isn't a subject/verb grammatical mistake; Billy Talent is the name of the band, not a single person.) In fact, 2013 marks the ten-year anniversary of Billy Talent's debut album and subsequent debut in Mike Mix 2003. I still like their first album the best. Dead Silence is their fourth album (and first with an actual title, breaking tradition of Billy Talent, Billy Talent II, and Billy Talent III), and I think it's their strongest since that first album. It scratches my itch for heavy alternative music that doesn't manifest itself as often as it did in my teens and twenties.
2. "Crystallize" by Lindsey Stirling
This is technically breaking the MiKenzie Inc. rules for Mike Mix compilations, as Mike Mix 2012 included "Transcendence", which is from the same album as "Crystallize." Here's the thing, though. Last year, I just bought "Transcendence" on its own. Later, in 2013, Avril bought a bunch of other Lindsey Stirling songs, so I count them separately. Lindsey has had a pretty big year, too, so kudos to her. Yay for Mormons! (She's not the only one to make it this year.)
3. "How" by The Neighbourhood
Here's a first. The Neighbourhood is in the R&B category of iTunes. I didn't know that when I bought this album. I'm not known for my fondness of R&B. This isn't typical R&B, though. This is one of the rare physical albums that I bought on CD in 2013. I don't like it as much as I did that day I listened to it in HMV, but it's still pretty good, especially when I'm craving something different than my usual fare of alternative rock and mellow adult alternative.
4. "Holes" by Passenger
This is the single version of the song. The album version, which is what made it to Mike Mix, is a little different. This video sensors out the "motherf-__er," though, so you're welcome, I guess. I bought this album at the same time that I bought The Neighbourhood, and it's much more in line with my usual taste in music. As you can tell from his voice, I'm sure, he's not from North America. He's British.
5. "Coffee Girl" by The Tragically Hip
The Tragically Hip used to be one of my favourite bands, especially in the early '00s. I stopped following them as time went on. This song is actually from 2009, but I never bought the album it comes from. I heard it on the radio a few months ago and decided to buy it off of iTunes. And now here it is on a Mike Mix. It's been almost a decade since the Hip made an appearance on one of these things.
6. "Reflecktor" by Arcade Fire
Another Canadian band. Arcade Fire came out with a new album in 2013, and I bought the physical (double) CD. This is the best song off of the album, and probably the most commercially accessible one. For reasons I won't go into detail over, this album will always remind me of hemorrhoids.
7. "Guns of Carolina" by Matthew Good
Despite being my favourite solo musician, Matt Good always seems to surprise me with his new albums. As in, one day, I'll just stumble across his new album after it has already come out. This is the fourth of the four physical CDs I bought this year. I'm a huge Matt Good fan. Weezer, my long-time favourite band, exemplifies the music of my youth. Matt Good exemplifies the music of my adulthood. (This Mike Mix is nicely heavy on the Canadian content, I'm just noticing.)
8. "Ways To Go" by Grouplove
If you only watch one of the videos I'm posting here, watch this one. It's a nice homage to Kim Jong-Un. This song was introduced to me by Noah, who was a big influence on Mike Mixes when I was a single adult. It's a good, catchy, alternative song with a bit of electronica in it for good measure.
9. "Wild Country" by Wake Owl
This is the mellowest song on this year's mix. I don't know much about Wake Owl. I discovered them listening to the indie station on Grooveshark. It's a very pretty song. Hauntingly beautiful, even.
10. "Wake Me Up" by Avicii
I just noticed that I have three songs in a row that start with W. This song is quite different than what I usually listen to. The story of how I found out about it is kind of funny in a "Mike's a nerd" sort of way. This year, Avril and I started playing a D&D-esque tabletop RPG called Pathfinder with our friends, Jared and Susan Aldridge. One of the other players (Susan's brother) used a character that he named Avicii, and he explained to me that it's the name of a DJ that he likes. So I looked him up, and decided that this is a cool song.
11. "Sail" by AWOLNATION
I forget where I first heard this song. I'm pretty sure it was in a YouTube video, but I forget which one. Oh well. I was reminded of it today when I was looking at iTune's top ten most popular alternative songs, so I bought it. True story, I swear.
12. "Pompeii" by Bastille
I had no idea who Bastille was before an hour ago, but now I want their entire album. Another discovery from iTune's top ten alternative songs. I sampled the whole album, and it was all good, but I chose this one because it was the first one I heard.
13. "Only the Young" by Brandon Flowers
More Mormon music. You may recognize Brandon Flowers as the lead singer of The Killers. This is from his 2010 solo album, Flamingo. Noah pointed this song out to me, so that's two for this mix. Well, actually, he pointed it out to Jake, but I overheard it on Facebook.
14. "Recover" by CHVRCHES
This is another band I hadn't heard of before today. I needed some more music, so I googled "best indie music 2013" and this was one of the results. CHVRCHES kind of reminds me of Purity Ring, who appeared on either Mike Mix 2011 or 2012. I can't be bothered to go back and check. This one is a little more upbeat and catchy than Fineshrine.
15. "I've Got Your Fire" by Jenn Grant
For a while there I was driving my in-law's '98 Jeep Grand Cherokee, which didn't have a CD player or functional tape deck, so I could only listen to the radio. Lethbridge radio sucks, so I only ever listened to CBC radio. That's where I heard this song. It's not the greatest song, but I like singing along to the "Oooo-oo-oooo"s.
16. "Say Something" by A Great Big World featuring Christina Aguilera
What?!?! Christina Aguilera on a Mike Mix?! What is this?! What's happening?! I know, I know. I never thought it would happen, yet here we are. To be fair to myself and my musical sensibilities, this isn't a Christina Aguilera song. It's a Great Big World song, featuring Christina Aguilera. I came close to buying the version of the song without Christina, but that harmony is just too pretty to pass up. I'm a sucker for male/female harmony. I know this is a popular song--it was number one on iTune's regular page, not the alternative page--but I had never heard of this song before today.
17. "Here With Me" by The Killers
Mormon song #3. Haven't had enough Brandon Flowers yet? Have a song by The Killers! The Killers are no strangers to Mike Mix Productions, but it has been a while. And that's all I have to say about that, I guess. Next!
18. "Paris" by Magic Man
This is another song I found from my google search of 2013 indie music. I don't really have all that much to say about it, because I know next to nothing about Magic Man. Very catchy, upbeat song.
19. "Dubstep Solves Everything 3" by Jack Douglass
You should watch this video, too. I've been a fan of Jack Douglass for a while, mostly because of his Your Grammar Sucks videos, but the first video I ever saw of his was the original Dubstep Solves Everything, which is hilarious. Dubstep Solves Everything 2 was disappointing, but he hit it out of the park with Dubstep Solves Everything 3, thanks to a little help from Autotune Jesus.
So there you have it. Mike Mix 2013. 19 tracks this year, so consider yourselves lucky.
1. "Don't Count on the Wicked" by Billy Talent
Billy Talent are no strangers to Mike Mixes. (That isn't a subject/verb grammatical mistake; Billy Talent is the name of the band, not a single person.) In fact, 2013 marks the ten-year anniversary of Billy Talent's debut album and subsequent debut in Mike Mix 2003. I still like their first album the best. Dead Silence is their fourth album (and first with an actual title, breaking tradition of Billy Talent, Billy Talent II, and Billy Talent III), and I think it's their strongest since that first album. It scratches my itch for heavy alternative music that doesn't manifest itself as often as it did in my teens and twenties.
2. "Crystallize" by Lindsey Stirling
This is technically breaking the MiKenzie Inc. rules for Mike Mix compilations, as Mike Mix 2012 included "Transcendence", which is from the same album as "Crystallize." Here's the thing, though. Last year, I just bought "Transcendence" on its own. Later, in 2013, Avril bought a bunch of other Lindsey Stirling songs, so I count them separately. Lindsey has had a pretty big year, too, so kudos to her. Yay for Mormons! (She's not the only one to make it this year.)
3. "How" by The Neighbourhood
Here's a first. The Neighbourhood is in the R&B category of iTunes. I didn't know that when I bought this album. I'm not known for my fondness of R&B. This isn't typical R&B, though. This is one of the rare physical albums that I bought on CD in 2013. I don't like it as much as I did that day I listened to it in HMV, but it's still pretty good, especially when I'm craving something different than my usual fare of alternative rock and mellow adult alternative.
4. "Holes" by Passenger
This is the single version of the song. The album version, which is what made it to Mike Mix, is a little different. This video sensors out the "motherf-__er," though, so you're welcome, I guess. I bought this album at the same time that I bought The Neighbourhood, and it's much more in line with my usual taste in music. As you can tell from his voice, I'm sure, he's not from North America. He's British.
5. "Coffee Girl" by The Tragically Hip
The Tragically Hip used to be one of my favourite bands, especially in the early '00s. I stopped following them as time went on. This song is actually from 2009, but I never bought the album it comes from. I heard it on the radio a few months ago and decided to buy it off of iTunes. And now here it is on a Mike Mix. It's been almost a decade since the Hip made an appearance on one of these things.
6. "Reflecktor" by Arcade Fire
Another Canadian band. Arcade Fire came out with a new album in 2013, and I bought the physical (double) CD. This is the best song off of the album, and probably the most commercially accessible one. For reasons I won't go into detail over, this album will always remind me of hemorrhoids.
7. "Guns of Carolina" by Matthew Good
Despite being my favourite solo musician, Matt Good always seems to surprise me with his new albums. As in, one day, I'll just stumble across his new album after it has already come out. This is the fourth of the four physical CDs I bought this year. I'm a huge Matt Good fan. Weezer, my long-time favourite band, exemplifies the music of my youth. Matt Good exemplifies the music of my adulthood. (This Mike Mix is nicely heavy on the Canadian content, I'm just noticing.)
8. "Ways To Go" by Grouplove
If you only watch one of the videos I'm posting here, watch this one. It's a nice homage to Kim Jong-Un. This song was introduced to me by Noah, who was a big influence on Mike Mixes when I was a single adult. It's a good, catchy, alternative song with a bit of electronica in it for good measure.
9. "Wild Country" by Wake Owl
This is the mellowest song on this year's mix. I don't know much about Wake Owl. I discovered them listening to the indie station on Grooveshark. It's a very pretty song. Hauntingly beautiful, even.
10. "Wake Me Up" by Avicii
I just noticed that I have three songs in a row that start with W. This song is quite different than what I usually listen to. The story of how I found out about it is kind of funny in a "Mike's a nerd" sort of way. This year, Avril and I started playing a D&D-esque tabletop RPG called Pathfinder with our friends, Jared and Susan Aldridge. One of the other players (Susan's brother) used a character that he named Avicii, and he explained to me that it's the name of a DJ that he likes. So I looked him up, and decided that this is a cool song.
11. "Sail" by AWOLNATION
I forget where I first heard this song. I'm pretty sure it was in a YouTube video, but I forget which one. Oh well. I was reminded of it today when I was looking at iTune's top ten most popular alternative songs, so I bought it. True story, I swear.
12. "Pompeii" by Bastille
I had no idea who Bastille was before an hour ago, but now I want their entire album. Another discovery from iTune's top ten alternative songs. I sampled the whole album, and it was all good, but I chose this one because it was the first one I heard.
13. "Only the Young" by Brandon Flowers
More Mormon music. You may recognize Brandon Flowers as the lead singer of The Killers. This is from his 2010 solo album, Flamingo. Noah pointed this song out to me, so that's two for this mix. Well, actually, he pointed it out to Jake, but I overheard it on Facebook.
14. "Recover" by CHVRCHES
This is another band I hadn't heard of before today. I needed some more music, so I googled "best indie music 2013" and this was one of the results. CHVRCHES kind of reminds me of Purity Ring, who appeared on either Mike Mix 2011 or 2012. I can't be bothered to go back and check. This one is a little more upbeat and catchy than Fineshrine.
15. "I've Got Your Fire" by Jenn Grant
For a while there I was driving my in-law's '98 Jeep Grand Cherokee, which didn't have a CD player or functional tape deck, so I could only listen to the radio. Lethbridge radio sucks, so I only ever listened to CBC radio. That's where I heard this song. It's not the greatest song, but I like singing along to the "Oooo-oo-oooo"s.
16. "Say Something" by A Great Big World featuring Christina Aguilera
What?!?! Christina Aguilera on a Mike Mix?! What is this?! What's happening?! I know, I know. I never thought it would happen, yet here we are. To be fair to myself and my musical sensibilities, this isn't a Christina Aguilera song. It's a Great Big World song, featuring Christina Aguilera. I came close to buying the version of the song without Christina, but that harmony is just too pretty to pass up. I'm a sucker for male/female harmony. I know this is a popular song--it was number one on iTune's regular page, not the alternative page--but I had never heard of this song before today.
17. "Here With Me" by The Killers
Mormon song #3. Haven't had enough Brandon Flowers yet? Have a song by The Killers! The Killers are no strangers to Mike Mix Productions, but it has been a while. And that's all I have to say about that, I guess. Next!
18. "Paris" by Magic Man
This is another song I found from my google search of 2013 indie music. I don't really have all that much to say about it, because I know next to nothing about Magic Man. Very catchy, upbeat song.
19. "Dubstep Solves Everything 3" by Jack Douglass
You should watch this video, too. I've been a fan of Jack Douglass for a while, mostly because of his Your Grammar Sucks videos, but the first video I ever saw of his was the original Dubstep Solves Everything, which is hilarious. Dubstep Solves Everything 2 was disappointing, but he hit it out of the park with Dubstep Solves Everything 3, thanks to a little help from Autotune Jesus.
So there you have it. Mike Mix 2013. 19 tracks this year, so consider yourselves lucky.
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