January 2009

This is a very special month of mixes.  You see, what with having had cancer in the last year, I became really thoughtful about the music I’d been listening to.  What gave me hope, what made me smile, what made me feel better when I felt at my worst.  Music became my inspiration even more than ever; my will to live, as it does for so many others.

In September, after 3 rounds of intense chemotherapy, I crashed in a big way and nearly died of sepsis.  106-degree fevers, gangrenous cellulitis all over my left thigh (almost lost my leg, eeeep), night terrors, eating via IV.  I was on a lot of drugs, but still lucid enough to get really scared in a very peripheral way.  I coped by putting my energy towards making these mixes, all my favorite songs in one place.  You know, “just in case”.  I wanted my family and friends to know who I really was, and in my language.

I obviously pulled through…and I don’t tell you all this so that you’ll feel bad for me or my situation.  I suppose it’s just that I’m offering these discs as a free digital download (for the first time in Mixtress history) and I want you, my readers, to understand who I am and where I’m coming from right alongside the people that are closest to me.  Enjoy.

—> (click here to download Disc 1) <—

* to get them in the order of the mix, just be sure to organize by “Date” *

1. BLUEBOY — So Catch Him

2. SONIC YOUTH — Dirty Boots

3. THE WALKMEN — Red Moon

4. SAM COOKE — You Send Me (demo)

5. FLEETWOOD MAC — Songbird

6. THE MAKE UP — Hey Orpheus

7. ARLO GUTHRIE — Coming Into Los Angeles

8. GARBAGE — Only Happy When It Rains

9. BLONDE REDHEAD — Top Ranking

10. FREDA PAYNE — Band of Gold

11. ERIC CLAPTON — Layla (acoustic)

12. MY MORNING JACKET — One Big Holiday (live)

13. SEBASTIEN TELLIER — Divine

14. KURTIS BLOW — The Breaks

15. THE MISFITS — Hybrid Moments

16. THUNDERCLAP NEWMAN — Accidents

17. BIG STAR — Thirteen

18. SAMUEL BARBER — Agnus Dei (Adagio for Strings)

—> click here to download Disc 2 <—

* to get them in the order of the mix, just be sure to organize by “Date” *

1. QUEEN — I Want To Break Free

2. BLONDIE — Rapture

3. KRAFTWERK — Computer Love

4. BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE — Anthems For A Seventeen Year-Old Girl

5. CAT STEVENS — The Wind

6. THE CARPENTERS — A Song For You

7. PATTI SMITH — Hymn

8. ALPHAVILLE — Forever Young

9. THE SMITHS — Asleep

10. GREAT WHITE — The Angel Song

11. THE MODERN LOVERS — Hospital (live)

12. GRATEFUL DEAD — Terrapin Station (live)

13. DOLLY PARTON — Jolene

14. TALULAH GOSH — Escalator Over The Hill

15. THE LEMONHEADS — Into Your Arms

16. DEAD BOYS — Ain’t It Fun

17. ALICE IN CHAINS — Rain When I Die

18. THE BEACH BOYS — Wouldn’t It Be Nice (a cappella)