Goodnight Moon: A Mix for the Dark Days Ahead

 

“Storm’s comin’.” You know that line? What movie is it from? Chances are, if I asked five people that, I’d get five different answers. Indeed, this particular cinematic moment is pretty ubiquitous: the hero in profile,  the gathering clouds, the low tones of ominous music, every signifier warning of danger, drama, high stakes. And though our version tends to be somewhat less dramatic, New Englanders have learned to look towards bleak November as the period when we play this scene out for real. Nights are getting longer. Dawns are colder. Where dew was, now there’s ice. A storm is coming, and its name is Winter.
 
This mix isn’t so much for winter itself, which has its own light, its own concerns and aural equivalents. Rather, this mix is for the onset, the dark days of November and early December, days and especially nights when the lights of the holidays only call into sharper relief how dead and cold the world has become. Of course, the desert of winter is only an illusion; anyone who read North Country Night as a child (still one of my favorite books)—or who’s spent any time in the woods in the winter—knows that plenty of creatures flourish this time of year. Is the Homo sapien one of those creatures? Well, one thing is certain: we’ve always been very good at adapting. My hope is that these songs aid you in that process, however slightly. Whether you’re stuck in beautiful Boston, rotten New York, or Arctic Chicago, or even overseas (in which case, I have no idea what season it is for you), hopefully these songs can stave off SAD for a few months. In truth, though, this is one of my more downer mixes, so maybe all these songs will do is give your wintry ennui a vague Romantic sheen. There is a tiny dance party in the middle—I think dance parties are important—but it’s quickly vanquished, sucked into the black hole of Godspeed and Michael Stearns.
 
Speaking of black holes, I don’t know if this comes across in the tracklist, but towards the end of putting it together there emerged a vague cosmological theme. This is different from a cosmetological theme, mind you, which one of my lovely co-workers is currently studying (she doesn’t really get my jokes re: cosmology vs. cosmetology). Part of the reason for the spaciness is that I’ve been exploring late seventies/early eighties ambient music a bit, guys like Michael Stearns, Klaus Schulze, and Brian Eno, all of whom tend to package albums like they’re scoring the latest Carl Sagan TV special. Only one track, Stearns’ “Life in the Gravity Well,” made it in; but a lot of these songs are on the chopping block. Look for them in future mixes, where they will disrupt the flow just as much as they do here. (This is called “challenging your audience,” and is a bad idea.)
 
I realize sixty songs is a bloated total, more like three mixes than one. In a sense, there are at least two sets of songs present. Originally, I’d planned on posting a full Halloween mix the weekend before the holiday; and another, Novemberish list a couple weeks later. Instead, we’re getting an amalgamation of both collections. Hopefully the blatant Halloween tracks won’t sound too out of place here in November. I don’t believe they do.

I also think I just incline towards autumnal or darker-sounding art, maybe a little more than with other themes—so my stores for these sorts of songs are a little deeper, and I have more opportunities to convince myself that this or that song just has to be included. In fact, I’ve been wondering for a while whether there just are more fall songs out there (what with all the heartbreak in the world, and all the longing); or if my taste just directs me to them. It’s an open question. Feel free to weigh in.

Well, that’s about it. Thanks to everyone who’s pointed me towards music that appears here, or that doesn’t. Music is and I believe should be a social phenomenon as much as a private one. And of course, insert the usual disclaimer about running order: the intended chronology is as posted, but in the age of the ipod, this is far from a requirement. Technical details are below. Leave a comment if you have any problems, or let me know however else you know how to reach me. Exploding telegram is of course the preferred method, but who has the time?

Right, so, I’m using Dropbox again as my means of conveyance. Here’s how it works: go to dropbox.com and log in as me, like this:
 
email: mercutioiixiv@hotmail.com
password: anceol
 
(an ceol, of course, being the Irish for “the music”)

Now right-click on the folder marked “Goodnight Moon Mix” and choose “download folder.” It’ll download as a .rar file, which is a sort of zip file. A program like WinRar should unlock it, which is available for free on the web (just google it). And that’s it. Tracklist is below.

1. Shivaree / Goodnight Moon
2. Geto Boys / Mind Playing Tricks on Me
3. Robyn / Dancing on My Own
4. The Be Good Tanyas / Scattered Leaves
5. Gil Scott-Heron / Me and the Devil
6. The Tallest Man on Earth / The Wild Hunt
7. The Mountain Goats / Hebrews 11:40
8. The-Dream / Abyss
9. Tom Waits / Shore Leave
10. The Knife / Silent Shout
11. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers / Trip to Pirate’s Cove
12. Justin Vernon & Ben Knox Miller / Wait for Me
13. Antje Duvekot / Long Way
14. Shearwater / Rook
15. The Walkmen / Stranded
16. The Mountain Goats / Michael Myers Resplendent
17. You Say Party! We Say Die! / Dark Days
18. Salem / King Night
19. Yeah Yeah Yeahs / Heads Will Roll
20. Passion Pit / Little Secrets
21. Kanye West feat. Consequence and John Legend / Grammy Family
22. Godspeed You! Black Emperor / Sleep
23. Michael Stearns / Life in the Gravity Well
24. Vashti Bunyan / Rose Hip November
25. The Velvet Underground / Candy Says
26. Antony and the Johnsons / The Lake
27. Bat for Lashes and Beck / Let’s Get Lost
28. Tinariwen / Awa Didjen
29. TV on the Radio / I Was a Lover
30. Luisa Maita / Ai Vem Ele
31. The Knife / Forest Families
32. Matthew Dear / Slowdance
33. These New Puritans / Attack Music
34. Van Halen / Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love
35. Metallica / Orion
36. The Cure / A Letter to Elise
37. Morphine / The Night
38. How to Destroy Angels / A Drowning
39. Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti / Beverly Kills
40. The Eagles / Journey of the Sorcerer
41. Beach House / Apple Orchard
42. Loreena McKennitt / Raglan Road
43. Eric Bibb / Wayfaring Stranger
44. Fever Ray / If I Had a Heart
45. Fleet Foxes / Your Protector
46. Alela Diane / The Rifle
47. Alice in Chains / Nutshell
48. Zola Jesus / Sea Talk
49. Laura Veirs / Sleeper in the Valley
50. Poe / Hey Pretty
51. Scissor Sisters / Sex and Violence
52. Garbage / #1 Crush
53. Lloyd feat. Lil Wayne / Pusha
54. Noisettes / Wild Young Hearts
55. D’Angelo / Shit, Damn, Motherfucker
56. Dessa / Crew
57. Bruce Springsteeen / Used Cars
58. Mark Knopfler / The Ragpicker’s Dream
59. Florence and the Machine / Heavy in Your Arms
60. LCD Soundsystem / All My Friends