Side Two

February 16

You all loved reading about Side One, I know. So here's side two of my mixed-tape, with annotations:

• "The Freshman," The Verve Pipe. I don't even know if I like this song, exactly, but whenever I hear it I think of driving around Chapel Hill in autumn-- the associations are all good ones.

• "Heart Cooks Brain," Modest Mouse. This is a good track, with some truly weird lines-- "My brain's the burger and my heart's the coal," "My heart's the bitter buffalo." I like songs that begin with fundamentally strange metaphorical premises.

• "Hobo Dog," Rockwell Church. A funny, funny song. And since I put this song on the tape, it was absolutely necessary to also include Soul Asylum's "Put the Bone In." But I'll get to that.

• "Let's Just Get Naked," Joan Osborne. Possibly my favorite Joan Obsorne song, which is saying something. "I know you like the back of my hand/ with a stamp that says I paid to get in/ and yes I am your television show/ and you're the nicest place I've ever been." Plus, I can sympathize with a song about forgetting all the troubles and seriousness for a while, and just getting naked.

• "Nightswimming," R.E.M. Makes me think of being in the Holly Grove with Blah in Arkansas, her swimming out in the water while I stood on the shore in the firelight.

• "How To Disappear Completely," Radiohead. Probably my favorite track from Kid A. It's useful at times to know how to disappear completely.

• "Wish I May," Ani di Franco. From her To The Teeth C.D., which I've only recently acquired. A song about the frustrations of artistic expression. Yeah, I'm down with that.

• "Plateau," The Meat Puppets. I probably like the Nirvana version better than this one, but I'm in a purist sort of mood today, so I went with the original. "And the work, it was fun."

• "Down Together," The Refreshments. Kick-ass song. "Your breath would smell like wine/I like that a lot/especially when I kiss you." Makes me feel like driving along and falling in love and being happy.

• "Chartreuse," Collapsis. Scott got me into this band-- a group from Chapel Hill, they had their major label debut last year with a disc called Dirty Wake. This song is actually from the band's first (and last) independent release, The Chartreuse E.P.. Those familiar with the Chapel Hill music scene will not be surprised to hear that Collapsis has some of the best songwriting around-- because their front man is Mike Garrigan, who played solo in the area for years before deciding it'd be nice to have a band behind him. "She's the best dessert that he's had in weeks." Totally.

• "One," Aimee Mann. She didn't write this one, of course, but she sings the ever-lovin' hell out of it, doesn't she? If this was the only good song on the Magnolia soundtrack, it would be worth my 11 bucks. But there's lots of other good songs on there, too... "It's just no good anymore since you went away."

• "I See You," Juliana Hatfield. Back in the day, nobody wrote about frustration and obsession like Juliana. Songs like "Forever Baby" and "Everybody Loves Me But You" and this track. I love her new stuff-- it's smarter and sharper and she's definitely a better musician now... but I can still get swept away by songs off "Hey Babe." It's so emotionally raw, with very little of the ironic distance she's cultivated since then. The songs are frustrated and obsessed, yes... but they're also strangely hopeful. I'd like to write stories with that same kind of hopelessly romantic yet oddly realistic tone. Listening to this song made me remember how much I love old-school Juliana. I'll have to pop Hey Babe in when I get done making this tape.

• "Lisa Listen," Lisa Loeb. Amily loved this song, and it makes me think of Boone, and those days in the snow when love was young. Boone. I fell in love often in that town. Aubrey, Blah, Meg. Not to mention the crushes, the could-have-beens, the almost-weres. I don't go back to those memories often enough. All these days have been the best days of my life. "The way you drank your coffee was the way you looked at me."

• "Put the Bone In," Soul Asylum. The extra track on the Hang Time disc, which is without question the pinnacle of Soul Asylum's career to date. "Bone" is not one of the best songs, but it is really funny in a transparently lewd and raucous kind of way.

• "Sliver," Nirvana. This was the first cool song I ever learned to play on bass. I learned to play Soul Asylum's "Runaway Train" before that... but the bass part on this song is way cooler. "Grandma take me home," indeed.

• "Bugs," Pearl Jam. I'm really not sure why. I needed something short to finish the tape, and I am fond of this tune in a freakshow sort of way. And, hell, I'm interested in bugs. "Bugs in the way I feel about you." "Tickle my nausea." "Can I trick them? I don't think they're dumb." It was a good choice to close the tape.

That's all. Go on. Go make some beautiful music.

Total Word Count: 28,490

Today's Word Count: 0 (so far)

The Daring Darlings:

Jim C. Hines

Hilary Moon Murphy

Nicole Montgomery

Melanie Miller Fletcher

Karina Summer Smith

Anne Hutchins