MixTape Monday #2: Thanks!

Here is my 2nd installment of MixTape Monday!  A new idea that I came up with that we can have fun seeing how long it lasts, where each week (with the help of all your recommendations) I put together a different music playlist (a la mix tapes from the '80's and '90's) for yours and my listening pleasure.

This week's theme is songs for Thanksgiving.  These could be songs that you listen to while preparing a Thanksgiving feast, or hanging out with loved ones, or thinking of loved ones, or just a list of songs that invoke the spirit of giving thanks for the things you love and appreciate in your life.

A lot of the songs that were so generously and thoughtfully recommended were very mellow and warm sounding, so I decided to go with that feeling for this Thanksgiving playlist.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.  I'll actually be in China this Thanksgiving, so I'll be sending you all lots of love and thanks, while listening to this playlist throughout my day!  :)

For those of you who do the Spotify thing, here is a link!

THANKS!

Vince Guaraldi Trio – Thanksgiving Theme

Michael Kiwanuka – Home Again

Adam Sandler – The Thanksgiving Song

Mark Mothersbaugh – Let Me Tell You About My Boat - Score

Ray LaMontagne – You Are The Best Thing

Elizabeth & the Catapult – Thank You For Nothing

Bob Hope & Shirley Ross – Thanks For The Memories

Father John Misty – Funtimes in Babylon

King Coleman – (Do The) Mashed Potatoes

The Shins – New Slang

Zee Avi – Monte

Bobby Caldwell – What You Won't Do For Love

Cat Stevens – If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out

Fionn Regan – Be Good Or Be Gone

Toro Y Moi – New Loved Ones

Billie Holiday – Any Old Time

M. Ward – Pure Joy

AA Bondy – There's A Reason

Van Morrison – Astral Weeks

Labi Siffre – Bless The Telephone - 2006 Digital Remaster

Loudon III Wainwright – Thanksgiving - Live

Xavier Rudd – Food in the Belly

William DeVaughn – Be Thankful for What You Got

Yan-Pascal Tortelier – Chants d'Auvergne: Baïlèro (Series 1, No.2)

The Head And The Heart – Winter Song

I hope you all have a wonderful week filled with love and people/things/memories/dreams/moments you can be thankful for.  Thank you for all of your love and support.  I appreciate the people in my life, including all of you, so much.  

Much love,

p. a.

MixTape Monday #1

Hi there!

I was tired of letting another week go by when I would have that moment of, "Oh man... I haven't posted anything interesting to my blog in forever!"  It's so hard for me to come up with something interesting to say or share with you all the time, like other, more professional, bloggers I love.  But then I realized today how much I love making playlists.  Especially after reading this list of 55 Things Only '90's Teenage Girls Can Understand, I remembered the mix tapes that I (and so many of us born before 1992) used to make!

So every Monday I'm going to try to post a fun new mix for you to listen to.  Most of them will be themed, and every Sunday I'll ask for some suggestions via Facebook and Twitter, so please hit me with yo' best stuff!  I actually will listen to every song you suggest.  :)  And because putting this list together tonight kept me up til 3:30am, I'll ask for song suggestions the Sunday a week in advance!  Sort of like The New Yorker does their comic contest.  Sort of.

SO HERE IS MY 1ST ONE!  I needed to clean the house today, but couldn't find the energy to do it, and needed some pick-me-up tunes to get me going.  With a few of my faves, and A LOT of your amazing and thoughtful suggestions, I feel like I came up with a really fun "cleaning" mix that'll keep me company-- and hopefully you too-- until 2014!

{Thank you for all your suggestions!  fyi:  The songs I chose are solely based one whatever mood I'm in, what would get me going when I clean the house, I chose some "hit" songs because they are "hits", and some "non-hit" songs because they are "non-hits", etc...so don't feel sad if I didn't pick yours this time!}

I loved that Fleetwood Mac was a common, nostalgic cleaning theme!  Some favorite new discoveries for me were Cathedrals, Sylvan Esso, The Drums, Mapei, Soko... 

Take a gander at the list below.... or have a listen Here.  I present to you 2 full hours of...

CLEAN!

1.  Dance Yrself Clean - LCD Soundsystem
2.  Gypsy - Gardens & Villa
3.  Bag Of Hammers - Thao
4.  Soy Loco Por Ti America - Caetano Veloso
5.  Sweet Thing - Van Morrison
6.  Buzzcut Season - Lorde
7.  Wild Thing - The Troggs
8.  Fidelity - Regina Spektor
9.  Shock To Your System - Tegan And Sara
10.  Unbound - Cathedrals
11.  Hey Mami - Sylvan Esso
12.  See-Line Woman - Nina Simone
13.  Beautiful Woman - Shin Joong Hyun
14.  Sunny Road - Emiliana Torrini
15.  Accused Of Stealing - The Delgados
16.  MoneyGrabber - Fitz And The Tantrums
17.  Negra Leono - Miguelito Valdés
18.  Little Bird - Jay Woodward
19.  Down By The Water - The Drums
20.  Basic Space - The xx
21.  If You Think You Need Some Lovin - Pomplamoose
22.  Pumpin Blood - NONONO
23.  Caravan - Bunny Berigan And His Orchestra
24.  I Follow Rivers - Lykke Li
25.  Warm Heart Of Africa - The Very Best
26.  Three Little Birds - Bob Marley And The Wailers
27.  Vase - Miike Snow
28.  Everyday People - Sly & The Family Stone
29.  Don't Wait - Mapei
30.  First Love Never Die - Soko
31.  I Wonder If I Take You Home - Full Force, Lisa Lisa, Cult Jam
32.  Something - The Beatles

Here's an incredible video someone shared with me on Facebook.  A Japanese song about a Mother's chores::



To give me a head start on next week's playlist, please send me your recommendations for "Thanksgiving" songs -- songs that make you feel "thankful" or songs you like to listen to while getting ready for or enjoying Thanksgiving Day.

love,
p. a.