Twisted Mixtape: Awesome Mix Volume 2

So Jen returned one of my very favorite blog hops this week, Twisted Mixtape!  Oh how I’d missed it.  With the stress of getting married, starting my own company, and writing twice weekly for Lefty Pop, my personal writing time has taken a serious hit.  In fact, someone of you are thinking, “oh yeah, I do remember subscribing to this blog.  I thought she’d disappeared into the void of blogging block.”  Nope, just busy.  But no way was I going to miss out on the opportunity to follow a mixtape assignment!  Today’s tape is inspired by the original Awesome Mix Volume 1 from Guardians of the Galaxy (awesome movie if you haven’t seen it).  It’s just a bunch of songs I wouldn’t mind as a soundtrack while floating around in space.  And in also keeping with the movie, these songs all skew older.  There nothing here beyond 1988.

 

U2:  Where the Streets Have No Name

Really this could have been just about any song from War or Joshua Tree

George Baker Selection:  Little Green Bag

Jen and I have discussed our mutual love for this song.  Never gets old.

Ram Jam:  Black Betty

This is just a pure rock out track.

ELO:  Mr. Blue Sky

Makes me happy.

Allman Brothers Band:  Blue Sky

I can see my childhood living room and feel the warm summer breeze coming through my window if I close my eyes.

Rush:  Subdivisions

Quintessential nerd jam.

Yes:  Owner of a Lonely Heart

Solid advice.

Toto:  Africa

Made me miss the rains and I’ve never even been to Africa.

Tears for Fears:  Head of Heels

Belongs on any mixtape I make.  One of my favorite songs ever.

Simple Minds:  Alive and Kicking

My 2nd favorite 80s new wave hit.

Pink Floyd:  Learning to Fly

Hard to pick just one Pink Floyd song, but this one has always been instantly repeatable for me.

 

After a thorough review of my songs, you could easily call them “Songs I listened to in the backseat of my childhood car”, which is fitting given how Star Lord obtained his mixtape.

 

Stay positive & love your life!

-Melissa

 

Today:

Listening to:  Bosnian Rainbows – Eli

Eating:  Rigatoni with homemade vodka sauce, arugula, and garden fresh tomatoes.

Drinking:  H20

Random thought:  This time next month I’ll be prepping for my engagement party.  Squee! So excited to be marrying my soul mate, best friend, and perfect partner in life!

Twisted Mix Tape Tuesday: Till Next Time

Here we are; it’s the very last week of Twisted Mix Tape.  All my favorite blog hops are leaving me!  Hopefully some of the buddies I’ve met through this blog will join me in the fun of my new blog hop every Friday.  Five for Friday will be an ever changing theme of lists of five.  Last week I divulged some of my personal weaknesses.  Go check it out!  It’s not too late to link up and share.  And be sure to come back this Friday…and one after and the one after that.

Goodbyes, I kind of suck at them.  So I’ll take Jen’s word that this is simply a “see you later”.  We’ll all return to share music and life later.  And if she doesn’t return to host, I know at least a few of us would be honored to take up the helm.  Thanks Jen for introducing me to so many great bloggers and friends.  You rock!

Here are my 5 goodbye songs….they follow the theme a bit loosely, but are solid jams nonetheless.

The Cars- Touch and Go

 

Tegan and Sara- Call It Off

 

Ballyhoo!- Walk Away

 

Marcy Playground- Bye, Bye

 

 

And of course I’m going to end with 311.  As the song says, I’ll be here a while.  So come say hi Twisted Mixtapers.  Don’t be strangers!

311- I’ll Be Here a While

 

Stay positive and love your life!

-Melissa

 

Today:

Listening to: 

Eating:  Arugula and pecan salad.

 

Twisted Mix Tape Tuesday: So So Def Melissa Allstars

Jen asked for guilty pleasures this week.   I think I could likely fill an entire week’s place list with some of the turds hiding in my list.  Even a music snob is subject to allowing a not-so-cool character into the party every now and then.  Most of what resides in my closet of musical skeletons is so tightly wrapped in nostalgia that I’ll never be able to part from it.  And I’m not embarrassed.  These songs, at some point in my life, were on repeat in my room, on my Walkman, or in a friend’s car.  I went with a theme within a theme this week and picked all rap/hip-hop tunes.  While I was a atl rock chick for sure in HS, these jams infiltrated a nearly embarrassment-free, guitar heavy, meaningful/deep lyrics laden Seattle love fest.

First on the list is a not so safe for work jam out of Atlanta Ga.  Yes, a bunch of country-ass white girls used to roll through the street’s of Branford, FL blasting this.

Luke-Scarred

Luniz- I Got Five on It

I’m sure my Mom and Dad loved this.

INOJ-Love You Down

Again, I’m sure parent’s were thrilled with the message.

OK, these two take us back a bit further.  My older cousins listened to these songs, so of course I thought they were the coolest.

Linear- Sending All My Love

Timmy T- One More Try

Bonus:

I should do an entire playlist dedicated to songs that were played at every dance I ever went to in HS.  That list would be so amazing awful/awesome that the internet may explode.  Here’s one of those songs.

12 Gauge- Dunkie Butt

Folks, twerking isn’t new.  Miley is simply ripping off 90s jam dance moves.  And parents our music wasn’t as innocent as you’d like to remember.  Case in point-

Yes, I still love every song on this list.  Sorry, I’m not sorry.

 

Stay positive & love your life!

-Melissa

 

Today:

Listening to:  Market Place on NPR

Eating:  Hummus wrap

Drinking:  Water

Random thought:  Where are all of the animals on Walking Dead?  Some of them would have made it away from the zombies, right?  No birds, dog, cats at all?

Twisted Mix Tape Tuesday: Up in the Air

Here’s my quickie, lunchtime contribution to TMT.  This week Jen asked for songs inspired by letting go and moving on.  My list is meant to be a journey from acknowledging an issue, attempting to take control of it,  feeling helpless and then finally moving on.  Given that I’m pressed for writing time today, I’ll let the music speak for itself.

Come a Little Closer- Cage the Elephant

Up in the Air- 30 Seconds to Mars

Falling to Pieces- Faith No More

Stop the Fu*king Car- Circa Survive

Leave it Alone- Broken Bells

Bonus:

Julian Hatfield does a wonderful cover of this Foo Fighter’s song.

Stay positive & love your life!

-Melissa

Today:

Listening to:  Spoon – The Mystery Zone

Eating:  Grits, lima beans, and ch’kin fingers

Twisted Mix Tape Tuesday: Till My Lungs Collapse

Workout songs!  This is just the mixtape I needed today! Thanks for the boost Jen!

I love music and I love fitness.  I REALLY do love it, I know that seems odd to 90% of you.  I’ve often said running or hitting the gym is my therapy.  I’ve said the same thing about music too.  So workout music must be doubly therapeutic right?  Thing is, not a lot of my music “likes” always lend them selves well to a hardcore workout.  Rock works, but guys in with long beards and oddly high voices (ie. my indie picks) do not.  I tend to find myself listening to either heavy rock or rap or rappish hip-hop with some techno/dance/dubstep added in for good measure.   A lot of the stuff I love to sweat to would not be something I really listen to during the day.

Here are five songs that may pop up on my playlist:

Galvanize- The Chemical Brothers

This one is my absolute favorite.  It will give me a burst of motivation anytime I need it.  I’ve hit repeat on many an occasion.

Eminem- I’m a Soldier

Hard to pick one Eminem song for this.

Eve- Tambourine

Skrillex- Bangarang

When is dubstep okay to jam to?  When you’re on the Step Mill.  It makes me feel like a Transformer.

Die Antwoord- Fatty Boom Boom

**Okay, this song…and all of their songs are NSFW**  Likely one of the strangest bands I listen to and that’s saying A LOT.  Also, love how crudely they pick on Gaga.  Song actually starts at 1:55.

 

Bonus:

One rock song for you because you know that’s my fave.  I left them out of the main list because this genre gets a feature nearly every week, and I couldn’t choose just one or five…or 20.

Pantera- Walk

Pantera is perfect for lifting.

 

What do you workout to?

 

Stay positive & love your life!

-Melissa

 

Today:

Listening to:  Queens Of The Stone Age – “You Got A Killer Scene There, Man…”

Eating:  Tofu scramble and protein pancakes.

Random fact:  This may be the first year I’m actually lamenting my birthday a bit.  I have adored my 30s so far, but sometimes getting older sucks!

 

 

 

Twisted Mixtape Tuesday: Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy

Weather got you down?  Cold making you act like a baby?  Yeah, me too.  I prefer blue skies, sunshine, and the smell of fresh-cut grass.  Right now, however, I’m eating lunch in my office located in downtown Atlanta watching the snow fall outside.  From 32 stories up, safe in the confines of my office, it looks beautiful.  But I’m still dreaming of spring and summer.

This week, Jen over at My Skewed View asked for a playlist to cheer up a friend.  Mine seems to have some semi-unintentional weather related theme going on.  It can’t be helped.  Come on sunshine!  Here you are my interweb buddies,  5 songs (and a bonus) guaranteed to cheer you up even in the bitterest of cold!

Day by Day- The Dirty Heads

Love these lyrics:

Bright lights on
Coming off the hinge
Rambling on like a Led Zeppelin
I got my sword and my pen like mad mordagin
Outta the abyss starting to ascend
Top of the class peak of the summit
Throw your worries of a cliff watch them as they plummet

Shine on You- Matisyahu

Love these lyrics:

Oh my soul has been so low
Make them clouds fade to blue
So my love can shine on through
Shine on you

 

Mr. Blue Sky- ELO

Love these lyrics:

Runnin’ down the avenue,(Pant, Pant, Pant)
See how the sun shines brightly
In the city on the streets
Where once was pity,
Mr. Blue Sky is living here today.

 

Drivin’ on 9- The Breeders

This song isn’t really conventionally happy, but it makes me smile!  Maybe it makes me think of long drives with the stereo cranked and the windows down.

Love these lyrics:

Drivin’ on 9
I sure miss you
Pass a motel
Looking at the pines

Sun Hands- Local Natives

 

Love these lyrics:

The most beautiful colors chase the sun
They wrap her trail in a taunting gesture
That seems to sing out loud,
“this is what you’re missing”

 

Bonus:

Outside-311

A nice little, happy b-side-

 

Four instant happy makers for me:  summertime, best friend, music festival, King of Pops!

 

Stay positive & love your life!

-Melissa

 

Today:

Listening to:  Arctic Monkeys – Pretty Visitors

Eating:  Sesame Ch’kin, bok choy, veggies and rice.

Drinking:  H2O, but a Monster will be had soon.

Random fact:  Skiing is not on my list of “fun” vacation ideas.

 

Twisted Mix Tape Tuesday: We Can Dance If We Want To

Dance music.  Initially this prompt made me think of clubbing.  Clubbing makes me think of douche bag dudes (ala Jersey Shore) and drunk chicks dressed like hookers (ala….well, Jersey Shore).  I’ve never been a clubber.  While I was a teen in the 90s, I missed the whole rave moment (thank God) and I’ve always preferred going to a show or hanging at a bar  instead of a dance club.  Really the only type of dance club I’ve ever remotely enjoyed is a gay one, but that’s a story for another time.  Until that time, here’s a picture of me and my best friend Bee tearing it up on stage at Jungle (Atlanta).  Yes, we have choreographed moves.  Yes, there was alcohol involved.

Okay, on to Jen over at My Skewed View’s prompt for the week: Dance music.  Actually, this prompt really wasn’t as challenging as I first thought.  I came up with this list in no time flat.  I’m giving you 3 from the 80s, 2 from the 90s, and 2 from today.

 

80s PICKS

THE decade for dance in my humble opinion.  Nearly every song is danceable.  New Wave is actually dance music for snobs.  Or Brits.  Or snobby Brits.

When Smokey Sings- ABC

One of my favorite 80s groups.  This song just oozes 80s from the first note.  Try not to dance.

Head to Toe- Lisa Lisa & the Cult Jam

Give me a synthesizer beat and some shoulder pads and see if I can sit still.

 

Push It- Salt n Pepa

Still my jam.  Timeless classic.

90s PICKS

The 90s were FULL of dance music.   After all, there had to be an opposite to the grunge/alt rock movement.  Most of it is bad and falls under the guilty pleasures category-

Better Off Alone- Alice Deejay

And some of it…..seriously, WTF is this?

Blue (Da Ba Dee)- Eiffel 65

Yes, I owned this album.  I thought I’d bleached it from my memory, but it cropped back up today.  Just….wow.  It should have been on my list two weeks ago:  Embarrassing Albums I Owned.   Take it easy on me, I’m baring some of life’s biggest lapses of judgement through this list.

Today’s PICKS

Oddly enough, when you listen to a lot of the indie music today, it is actually dance music!  While rock owns my heart, I have plenty of room for this too.  It’s an 80s synth rehash with a slight rock vibe.

Punching in a Dream- The Naked & Famous

Midnight City- M83

This song got played to death, but for some reason I just never tired of it.

 

Stay positive & love your life!

-Melissa

 

Today:

Listening to:  Kate Tucker & the Sons of Sweden – Blue Hotel

Eating:  Leftover taco.

Random thought:  You know you’re a book nerd when you’re super excited to start your next book while you’re still reading your current book.