This wasn’t the mix that I was supposed to be making.

I’ve been working on a mix for the past few months that seemed to fall apart every time I got close to completing it. I’d get a fantastic run of songs going, then go back and listen and something always went wrong: usually a single song just wouldn’t fit and I’d end up dismantling the whole playlist to try to work it out. When I last worked on it (almost a month ago), I left it as twenty-some-odd songs that I finally threw my hands up and walked away (or, more literally, drove away, as we left for vacation).

Upon my return, I tried to give it another stab, by looking at other songs by some of the same artists. What (relatively) quickly emerged was this: a sort of alternate-reality version of the mix that’s been a bugaboo for me of late. Most came together quite naturally, some songs were no-brainers, some required some digging into the “my music” folder, some I serendipitously stumbled upon around the Internet (thanks sammyg123 for turning me on to the Summer Camp track), some came from recent purchases at the local Borders that was shuttering its doors.

So will that other mix ever see the light of day? I hope so, but I’m not worrying about that now. Just give me my headphones and a comfy chair and let me enjoy the breeze….

NW020.

01. Don't Stop/THE STONE ROSES
02. Listening Wind/TALKING HEADS
03. Today I Started Celebrating Again/BONNIE 'PRINCE' BILLY
04. Ghost Train/SUMMER CAMP
05. Don't Look Down Or Back/TUNNG
06. 2012 Breakdown/60 WATT KID
07. Glory/RADICAL FACE
08. Kids/MGMT
09. Tell Me Now/MAZZY STAR
10. (i'll name you) The Flame That Cries/GUIDED BY VOICES
11. loch (dub)/I AM KLOOT
12. Battery In Your Leg/BLUR
13. Super Glider/DRUGSTORE
14. By Some Miracle/PHILIP SELWAY
15. ZYX/GOMEZ
16. Gloomy Planets/THE NOTWIST
17. Hallucinists/THE OCTOPUS PROJECT
18. Dry The Rain/THE BETA BAND