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ShareNow, 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.
DOWNLOAD THE FULL MIX
Soundscape - Valentine’s Day [MP3]
Photo: Jan Allen
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]
