Artist	Song
Jonathan Coulton	Code Monkey
from Thing a Week Three (2006) A friend of mine had introduced Jonathan Coulton earlier in the spring, and his many choruses of "Skullcrusher Mountain" convinced me to give this Jonathan Coulton guy a try. Fantastic, nerdy singer/songwriter stuff with (get this) actually catchy melodies and actually clever lyrics. Someone oughta report this guy.
Fall Out Boy	She's My Winona
from Folie a Deux (2008) Fall Out Boy has been one of my favorite bands since I heard them in 2005, expertly blending catchy melodies with driving riffs and furious energy. Since then, Fall Out Boy kept expanding their sound, until it was far more pop than pop punk. I might have been pissed off if they didn't continue to deliver good product, but they did. "She's My Winona" is one of the sleeper greats off of their most recent album, Folie a Deux. Sandwiched in between "I Don't Care" and "America's Suitehearts," "She's" avoid becoming lost in the sonic soup by acting as a supporting track, with a pleasing but not overbearing melody and "ohhhh"-tinged chorus. It's one I always forget I like until I listen to it, and listen to it I shall.
Destiny Worldwide	Trade It All
from Rockin' Romance (2009) This song is part of a Punk Goes...-style compilation of love song covers, from bands both large (A Change of Pace, Runner Runner) and small (The Scene Aesthetic, Goodnight Sunrise). Truth be told, I only bought the comp for Goodnight Sunrise's cover of Jessica Simpson's "With You," and don't have much use for the rest of the material now. Still, I was hell-bent on filling this mix with "new" material, so I chose the least-offensive cover on the mix, Destiny Worldwide's cover of Fabolous' "Trade It All." I'm not sure if I've even heard the original. It really doesn't matter. At any rate, I think I stuck with "Trade It All" because it acted as a good halfway point song, bridging the pop punk and hip hop sections of the mix by its merits as... a pop punk cover of a hip hop song. Natch.
Ludacris	Down in the Dirty (Co-Starring Rick Ross & Bun B)
from Theater of the Mind (2008) I've only truly began to embrace my affection for Ludacris in the past few years; as a lover of Native Tongue, "conscious" hip hop, I always found it easy to take the high road and scoff at his songs about money, women, and other stereotypical "rap" topics. Then came 2008's Theater of the Mind, when I made a startling revelation: dude can rap just as well as any backpacking artist on my playlist, and his huge, swaggering rhymes were often just as playful as my umpteen tracks about battle-rap. None of the tracks from Theater sounded particularly ripe for mix-inclusion, except for this bonus track off of the Best Buy edition of the album.
BT	Madskillz - Mic Chekka
from Movement in Still Life (2000) In the winter of 2008, I realized (with some panic) that I hadn't bought a new electronic album in years, and went on an erratic artist search, knowing that SOMEone must make Andrew-appealing tunes to stand beside the Fatboy Slims and Andy Hunters of the world. Enter BT, who I had previously known for his single "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)," as well as a few tracks from the GameCube game XGRA. Madskillz is far more hip hop-influenced than most of Movement in Still Life, and fit well following 1) a rap cover, and 2) an actual rap song. Incidentally, the version here is from the wacked-out American version of Movement in Still Life, which is divided into separate tracks, and features a different song list than its European counterpart. I would proceed to discover the UK version of Movement in Still Life in 2010 and lose my f#@%ing mind, but that's another story.
The Crystal Method	Sine Language (feat. LMFAO)
from Divided By Night (2009) I've liked The Crystal Method for as long as I've liked electronic music, and lapped up Divided By Night when it finally dropped in the summer of 2009. Of course I did--it was their first full-length studio LP in six years, following the Andrew-classic Legion of Boom. Much of the album is less mix-ready than past discs, but Sine Language was too good to pass up. I love the synthesizer counter melodies during the chorus, whilie LMFAO (of "Party Rock Anthem" fame, but two years prior) hammers a one-note delivery that artists like Ke$ha would utilize the following year. I also dig the hip hop nature of the track, making it an excellent follow-up to yet another rap-infused electronic song.
Uncharted: the Eldorado Megamix	DJ Shadow
from Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (Official Soundtrack to the Video Game) (2007) During the summer's of 2008 and 2009, I had an internship at a local company, where I worked at a desk doing data entry. My employer let me use headphones during work hours, but I found my performance slacked if I listened to songs with lyrics. In response, I opted to listen to film scores and video game soundtracks, choosing music from Star Wars and Chrono Trigger, among many others. The Uncharted soundtrack was high on my playlist in mid-'09, and I wanted to represent it in the mix. Thank goodness for this DJ Shadow-propelled joint from the end of the album, which helps set up the mix's later set of gaming music.
100% Dundee	The Roots
from Things Fall Apart (1999) Okay, I flat-out cheated with this one. I had been a fan of The Roots for over five years at the time I made this mix, and their inclusion would have been nothing new in my friend's musical lexicon. Still, I thought it would be dishonest if I didn't include at least one track from my top tier of favorite bands, and the beat box-fueled "100% Dundee" seemed like just enough of a shakeup to include on a mix of supposed "new" tracks.
War	Little Brother
from The Chittlin Circuit 1.5 (2005) Little Brother was a group I discovered in college, and my friend and I dug deeper into together. After thoroughly listening to all of their studio albums between summer '07 and winter '08, I began dipping my toes into Little Brother's mixtape catalog, despite my general aversion to the genre; as LB rapper Phonte says in a track on a different tape, "Why do I want to hear you rap over a beat someone else already rapped on?" Fortunately, Little Brother's mixtapes are anything but old-beat-new-lyric affairs, instead sounding more like full-length albums, albeit very casual ones. "War" is the lead-off track on Little Brother's first mixtape, The Chittlin Circuit 1.5, and features excellent wordplay between Little Brother's two emcees, Phonte and Big Pooh, in addition to wonderfully soulful beats from beatsmith 9th Wonder.
Safe to Say	Valencia
from We All Need A Reason to Believe (2008) Valencia is a band I've always wanted to like more than I've actually liked. I dug their energy and several tracks on their debut album This Could Be A Possibility, but the idea of what they are capable of is always more enjoyable than their output, which tends to suffer from flat vocals and occasional melodic heavy-handedness. "Safe to Say" was the least heavy-handed out of the songs on We All Need A Reason to Believe, and its immediate beginning made it a nice tie-in with "War."
Queso, I Have an Idea	Goodnight Sunrise
from Stop, Drop, & Roll (2009) Ah, Goodnight Sunrise. The local band that ain't so local anymore, not after moving from Helena, Mont. to Los Angeles. Not bitter. Anyway, Goodnight Sunrise is a great example of the pop punk music I like, with heavy focus on both melody and energy, though Stop, Drop, & Roll works the melody far more than the energy one. "Queso" stands out for me because of the sleepy, dreamy quality about the song; from the single-guitar intro to the slowed down, romantic tone of the chorus. Far less than other pop punk songs, "Queso's" lack of insistence is a boon to its sound, creating a unique feel while hanging on to what I love about the genre.
Flight Through Jerusalem	Jesper Kyd
from Assassin's Creed (Original Game Soundtrack) (2007) Speaking of dreamy, "Flight Through Jerusalem," a choice cut from the Assassin's Creed soundtrack, sounds positively ethereal. I love the Middle Eastern flavor the song has, with its strings and cries offsetting the woodwinds and hurried percussion. With this one, I like to close my eyes and imagine myself in The Animus, rushing from rooftop to rooftop, controlling my whole experience from my safe, comfortable chair.
Battlefield Theme (Chamber Version)	Mikael Karlsson
from Battlefield: Bad Company (Original Video Game Soundtrack) (2008) Around the fall of 2008, I fell deeply in love with Battlefield: Bad Company for the Xbox 360. It was the best, most casual shooter I could ask for, replete with many mechanics inviting aimless faffing about and fun-having. I made it my quest to scrounge up more experiences based on Bad Company, with is why I was pleased to discover the soundtrack, with included my favorite track in the game: a cello'd-out, tribal drum cover of the heroic Battlefield theme that played during several of Bad Company's loading screens. Short and enjoyable, it acts as a fine taster for an excellent in-game sonic experience.
The Decisive Battle	S.S.H.
If there's a genre of game music more hit-or-miss than "heavy metal covers of 8- and 16-bit tunes from the early days of Nintendo," I'm not sure what it is. That said, "The Decisive Battle" falls on the right side of the line, keeping the original song's key and recognizable elements, while jacking of the proceedings with Dragonforce-style power riffs. My affection for the original certainly doesn't hurt, either; for who could possibly hate on Nobuo Uematsu in arguably his finest project?
Motivation	Quietdrive
from Deliverance Quietdrive was a group I fell hard and fast for back in 2007 (along with a girl at the same time; my relationship with the band has proved far more fruitful), and I had high hopes for their sophomore album, Deliverance. Clearly the group had higher goals than the entry-level pop punk that comprised their first CD. The only problem: I had rather grown to like the entry-level pop punk of their first album, and the musical departures taken in Deliverance were less-than-satisfying, especially when their experiments seemed more hubris than humor. Still, "Motivation" was an excellent supporting track from the album, offering low-key thrills while backing them up with good melodies.
The Rain	Missy Elliott
from Supa Dupa Fly (1997) Before she worked it in 2002 or got her freak on in 2001, Missy Elliott was Supa Dupa Fly, making it rain with her cohort Timbaland, whom you may remember brought sexy back in 2006 with Justin Timberlake. But enough Musical Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. Really, I don't have a whole lot of emotional attachment to "The Rain," only that I remember hearing it one night at work on the radio, and responding well to the hypnotizing bass.
Over You	Acceptance
from Phantoms (2005) A group that broke up well before their time, Acceptance was a pop punk band that took advantage of the genre's emotional catharsis without overstepping into emo territory. I love the urgency of this song, and the way the choruses cascade a huge ending. Yeah, still not much emotional attachment, but I'm pleading Apple Jacks on this one: I listen to what I like.
Buy Me a Condo	Weird Al Yankovic
from In 3-D (1984) Ohhhh boy. I've had a thing for Weird Al since the late 90's, and thanks to a guy on my floor in college, I was able to listen to his whole discography during one long, busy week. Out of his many, many non-parody tracks, this one stood out to me the most, largely because of how much I like it despite not being especially fond of reggae. The chorus, I think, is where the appeal lies; it's simple, repeats often, and is funny without being "funny," so as to wear out its welcome ("The Be-Sharps!"). Not only that, some of the lines are just great ("Now I'm just a lonely Rasta man living in this American town / Gonna sell me Bob Marley records, gonna get me some Jackson Browne"). I just now realized how the album title is making a riff on the 80's trend of seeing movies in 3D. A trend we are currently thigh-deep in. The more things change...
M4 Part II	Faunts
from Mass Effect (Original Soundtrack) (2007) Probably the band my friend and I share the most mutual respect for, I needed to include a Thrice song on this mix. Unfortunately, Thrice's newest album, Beggars, was about as un-mix-friendly as I could have asked for, and none of the tracks worked well out of context (I would even argue that they don't work very well in general, but we're getting off-topic). Enter Faunts, a Canadian group who provided the ending credits theme for 2007's Mass Effect. Who knows what their other material sounds like, but "M4 Part II" delivers everything I like about Thrice into a decidedly non-Thrice package.
(Bonus Track) We're the Robots	Ippo Yamada
from Mega Man 9 (Original Soundtrack) (2008) I liked to add little cheeky bonus tracks to my mixes, and "We're the Robots" is perhaps the cheekiest. "M4 Part II" is as definitive an ending track as I could have hoped for, with an extended run-time and quiet outro. What better way to blow a sonic raspberry than a three and a half minute, wordless chiptune jam? None better, that's what.

Comment:

This was the mix the re-got me into making mixes. My best friend had moved away to Denver the previous year, and I planned to visit him during the summer of 2009. We're both pretty steeped in music, so I wanted to make him a mix of everything new I was listening to at the time. I made sure to include a little of everything from my known stable of preferred genres: pop punk, hip hop, and electronic. At the time, I was also starting to get heavily into gaming soundtracks, which is why I chose to include cuts from games like Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (the El Dorado remix), Assassin's Creed (Flight Through Jerusalem), and Battlefield: Bad Company (Battlefield Theme).

Many of my favorite artists are featured on this mix (Fall Out Boy, Goodnight Sunrise, The Roots, Little Brother), but got a bit caught up in the "make it new" aspect, and included several tracks from acts that I'm only partially into at best (Valencia, Destiny Worldwide).

Still, I'm very satisfied with this mix, if only because of how vividly I can recall the drive down to Denver. It was never meant to relaunch the Testermix brand, but in retrospect, this little CD lead to many others.

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