Soundscape Mix #2: Valentine’s Day

Now, the making of a good compilation tape is a very subtle art. Many do’s and don’ts. First of all you’re using someone else’s poetry to express how you feel. This is a delicate thing.”

— Rob Gordon (John Cusak) from High Fidelity

This Soundscape installment is all about love. As such, I am dedicating it to the three most important women in my life. This is to my mom (who did a much better job raising me than she thinks she did), to my aunt Pat (who is my mom away from mom), and to my beautiful and intelligent fiancée (without whom I would be eating nothing but Kraft dinners and tuna while spiraling into conspiracy theory psychosis in a moldy basement somewhere). Everything I am today I owe to these fantastic, inspirational women.

Whether you have a significant other in your life right now or not, Valentine’s Day is a good day to show love to whomever is important in your life. Love is a dish best served in a buffet. Let everyone have some.

To help hammer this point home, PopMatters is proud to present an eclectic selection of passionate songs that portray moments of love in a variety of forms, from the raunchy, fickle lust of Jookabox’s “You Will Love My Boom” to the cutesy tweetronica of Alfred “Daedelus” Weisberg-Roberts and his wife Laura Darlington’s duet project the Long Lost. Further highlights include Zero 7, who appears at their silky lush extreme with the help of the bold and beautiful Sia, along side the ecstatic bliss of rising electronic stars Echaskech. These contrast the bizarre kink of Oy, whose “Sex” proves you can do so much with only one or two good lines, and the brash throwback pop of Gigi.

Fair warning: this is a Valentine’s Day mixtape for mature lovers. Although Benni Hemm Hemm’s contribution is almost too sweet for words and Ernest Gonzales’s “Untitled Love Song” is an instrumental ode to his wife, many songs here do lyrically allude to sexual acts and, on occasion, drug use.

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Soundscape – Valentine’s Day [MP3]

     

01 Parenthetical Girls – “Sit Down” (The Scottish Play, 2008)

– Start time: 0:00; Links: Tomlab – Parenthetical Girls

02 Jookabox – “You Will Love My Boom” (Ropechain, 2008)

– Start time: 1:13; Links: Asthmatic Kitty – Jookabox

03 Echaskech – “Every Touch” (Every Touch EP, 2008)

– Start time: 5:05; Links: Just Music – Echaskech

04 Zero 7 – “Somersault feat. Sia” (When It Falls, 2004)

– Start time: 9:12; Links: Atlantic – Zero 7

05 Oy – “Sex” (First Box Then Walk, 2010)

– Start time: 16:05; Links: Creaked – Oy

06 Fol Chen – “No Wedding Cake” (Part 1: John Shade, Your Fortune’s Made, 2009)

– Start time: 18:10; Links: Asthmatic Kitty – Fol Chen

07 Ernest Gonzales – “Untitled Love Song” (Been Meaning to Tell You, 2010)

– Start time: 21:43; Links: FoF Music – Ernest Gonzales

08 The Long Lost – “Domestics” (The Long Lost, 2009)

– Start time: 24:40; Links: Ninja Tune – The Long Lost

09 Sic Alps – “Love Is Strange” (A Long Way Around to a Shortcut, 2009)

– Start time: 27:05; Links: Drag City – Sic Alps

10 The Delta Mirror – “Hold Me Down Just Don’t Let Me Go” (Machines That Listen, 2008)

– Start time: 28:38; Links: Lefse – The Delta Mirror

11 Urbs & Cutex – “The Thing” (Peace Talks!, 2003)

– Start time: 32:49; Links: Hong Kong Recordings – Urbs & Cutex

12 Magnetic Fields – “Time Enough for Rocking When We’re Old” (69 Love Songs, 1999)

– Start time: 36:39; Links: Nonesuch – Magnetic Fields

13 Benni Hemm Hemm – “I Can Love You in a Wheelchair” (Benni Hemm Hemm, 2006)

– Start time: 38:41; Links: Morr Music – Benni Hemm Hemm

14 Gigi – “Everyone Can Tell feat. Ryan Beattie” (Maintenant, 2010)

– Start time: 40:55; Links: Tomlab – Gigi

15 Capitol K – “Love in Slow Motion” (Happy Happy, 2004)

– Start time: 43:27; Links: Faith & Industry – Capitol K

Total Running Time: 48:03

DOWNLOAD THE FULL MIX

Soundscape – Valentine’s Day [MP3]