March 29, 2011

Mixtape: Teenage Dreams, So Hard To Beat

... the only words I want on my tombstone, apart from my name, are: "Teenage Dreams, So Hard To Beat." What more do you need?John Peel

One of my all-time favorite styles of music is power pop: a 1960s-inspired rock genre typically comprised of driving drum beats, sharp vocal melodies, and straightforward minimalist arrangements. It's pop music that goes straight for the kill shot—the immediate hook and connection. What I find particularly engaging is the small shaded region where punk rock and power pop overlap into a sharp and deadly force. Not every song on this mix fits neatly under the umbrella of punk or power pop, but for this listener, they all make that immediate and holy pit-in-your-stomach musical communion with a ferocious and intoxicating force—those youthful exploratory moments when you realize you've discovered something truly great.

"Over the last 12 months..."
Exploding Hearts - "Sleeping Aides and Razorblades"
The Flamin' Groovies - "Shake Some Action"
Twin Shadow - "At My Heels"
"What came first, the music or the misery..."
Fresh and Onlys - "Waterfall"
The Vapors - "Jimmie Jones"
The Soft Boys - "I Wanna Destroy You"
"Last year's punk rock explosion ..."
The Undertones - "Teenage Kicks"
Gentleman Jesse and His Men - "Black Hole"
The Equals - "Diversion"
JEFF The Brotherhood - "Diamond Way"
Loud Fast Fools - "Time To Split"
Telekinesis - "Please Ask For Help"
The Replacements - "Favorite Thing"
The Jags - "Back of My Hand"
The Nerves - "When You Find Out"
Roxy Music - "Virginia Plain"
Wreckless Eric - "Whole Wide World"

Teenage Dreams Mixtape.mp3

The Exploding Hearts

6 comments:

  1. Not sure I understand the point of this post if there are only three songs, but no zip file?

    Am I missing something? Would be SO much cooler if you used mp3 find service, like BeeMP3 to connect all these songs together so that we can at least stream them since there doesn't appear to be a zip.

    Please post a zip of these tracks so everybody can taste :)

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  2. The third mp3 is the entire mixtape—all the songs connected into one file—and you can stream it by pressing the play button in front of it.

    I won't be posting a zip file, because the majority of these songs are not available for free download. If you like any particular song, they are all available on iTunes, Amazon or Emusic.

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  3. I've added "Mixtape" to the mixtape's file name. I apologize for the confusion and hope that helps.

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  4. whats the font that "TEENAGE DREAMS" is written in?

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  5. this mix rules.....thank you matt!

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