I couldn’t tell you the last time I tried to make a mix; here were the guidelines, of which I think I managed to break all once. [link to come]

1. Avoid familiar songs, familiar artists.

2. No artist can have more than 1 song.

3. Similar sounding songs cannot be adjacent.

There are some flaws: over-reliance on certain sounds, the newest stuff isn’t too new, but I am pretty satisfied with it.

1. The Artisans - “Start Again”
   
   From the Slumberland Records comp Why Popstars Can’t Dance (1994).
   
   
2. The Eyes - “You’re Too Much”
   
   B-side from 1966 with a raw-ass fuzztone.
   
   
3. Empire - “Hear My Voice on the Radio”
   
   From Empire (rec. 1974, rel. 1995) – I could not resist adding this anomaly – a prog-rock group doing a country-influenced radio friendly would-be single.
   
   
4. Microdisney - “Rack”
   
   Acidic lyrics matched with mid-80s pop sound – big in the UK. Guess they had a penchant for that sort of thing, like Felt. This song’s a big fuck you to the pop music industry.
   
   
5. Sleeping in the Aviary - “Pop Song (Piano Version)”
   

   Demo downloaded from the band’s website years ago. Band version on Oh, This Old Thing? (2007).

6. Clare & The Reasons - “Science Fiction Man”
   

   Bit of a mini-pop epic from The Movie (2007). I saw her open around that time for Shara Worden.

7. Crimes - “Easy Money”
   
   Vaguely eerie song. I bought this band’s tape (Good Hope (2011)) after a great show, and then discovered it was free on Bandcamp.
   

8. Giles, Giles & Fripp - “Digging My Lawn”

   This entire album (The Cheerful Insanity (1967)) is composed of weird jazzy pop songs from the trio which evolved into King Crimson.

9. The Honey Slides - “Not to Worry”

   Local band with a couple of guys from The Midwest Beat and Heather from The Hussy. Sounds a lot like the former.

10. Jook - “Aggravation Place”

    Where mod / power-pop and punk anger overlap.

11. Showdown at the Equator - “Strippin”

    From the band’s website, years ago. YOU CANNOT STOP THIS RIFF.

12. Commander Thornby and the Sky Sailors - “Beauty Shot the Beast”

    Sleeping in the Aviary and a friend cranking out ultra-short pop songs on Again and Again (2011). On Bandcamp.

13. Richard Thompson - “Burns Supper”

    Let’s slow things down.

14. The Passions - “I’m in Love With a German Film Star”

    Love that guitar and the cool passion of the vocals. Big UK hit in 1981.

15. Game Theory - “24”

    ENJOY IT. Real Nighttime (1985).

16. The Aislers Set - “One Half Laughing”

    Or the song with the la-las. Last Match (2000).

17. Microdisney - “Town to Town”

    Here’s a catchy song about living after the apocalypse! Crooked Mile (1987).

18. Jake Kaufman - “City Streets 2 (Mango Tango – Neon Jungle)”

    From a video game soundtrack; roll with it.

19. Alex Kemp - “On Your Side”

    Solo work from a guy from the group Small Factory. From the Rat D’Hotel EP on his website.

20. The Creation - “For All That I Am”

    The stereo version. There is something so intrinsically good about this band.

21. David Bowie - “Holy Holy”

    A 1971 single, and great song.

22. Big Star - “Blue Moon (demo)”

    No comment.