The Blair Mix Project: an Introduction.

So a few weeks ago some friends and I decided to exchange mixes based on themes that we could come up with. It started out simple enough and we thought it was a good way to hang out with one another without actually having to hang out with one another. Also, it's a great way to get in with certain music taste that I might not be exposed to. It's a nice way to archive your friends emotions during a certain period of time or their feelings towards a particular subject.

Past mix themes have been:
Summer Mix
Shitty Job Mix
Buddy Mix
A movie soundtrack mix (That was interesting)
Political/Religion Mix
Road Mix
and a 2008 Retrospect mix

The Rules:
11 Tracks (although there have been 12)
No repeated artists
No repeated albums

The latest mix is Ian's idea. A water mix. Pretty vague but with mixes I find the vague-er, the better...er.

I'm using this space as an opportunity to share my thoughts on the mixes I make. Specifically why I chose to use a certain track and why I put the mix in the order that it was in.

So here we go. My water mix is titled My Lungs are Fine. A mix in two acts.

The first act: Atmosphere

1. The Who - Quadrophenia
The title track from the Who's rock opera. The whole album deals with beaches and water. I open with this song because it's a nice instrumental kick-off song. It deals with the fears and anxieties that I have about water, but also the beauty and the love I have for being in water. This is the idea.

2. Pelican - March to the Sea
If Quadrophenia was the idea of water, March to the Sea is the actual going to water. It's driving opening riffs play to determination one has when running to the water. For me personally, water means an either ocean, or Lake Powell. This song is an homage to the hardship and brotherhood I feel when camping by water.

3. Explosions in the Sky - Six Days at the Bottom of the Ocean
Yet another song that plays my valentine for camping by a lake. I always had a feeling of displacement in water. My body does not belong here and yet I love the feeling I have when I'm in water.

4. Isis - Maritime
Ahhh...The peace. This song reminds me of floating. Isis has a whole album dedicate to the ocean. It was tough chosing this song from the album instead of other songs. To be honest I didn't want a whole lot of screaming for this mix. Somber and soothing was my vocal philosophy. So this instrumental plays to my ears slightly in between air and water. When I come too, I've floated too far and have to swim back to shore.

5. Tribes of Neurot - Sub Aqua
The sounds I hear when I swim under water. It's swimmers ear recorded. Neurosis understands sound at such a technical level, their (lack of a better term) alter ego Tribes of Neurot is their ambient outlet to demonstrate that manipulation skill. It fits for water to me because it's like listening to a seashell from another dimension. It's a nice conclusion to act one.

Act 2: The Beach

6. Simon and Garfunkel - Sounds of Silence
I'm not going to lie. I may have only chosen this song because of The Graduate. But it still fits. It's a soothing introduction into the second act. Not only is this a brillant song, but I like it because it reminds me of a call back to nature. A song looking unto water, wishing the rest of the world was as peaceful as the water.

7. Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones
It's a grown up kind of "Under Da Sea." Only if Sebastian the crab sang at a dive bar underwater lamenting about Aerial going to land. Tom Waits is always good sailor music. I put this song here after the Simon and Garfunkel song because it because it's another spin on beach music. The xylophones sound like fishbones.

8. The Arcade Fire - Haiti
Another beach tune. It conjures up visions of dancing by a fire in your swim wear. It brings out of the somberness of the first two beach tracks. Despite the fact of it's not-so-cheery subject matter. This is kind of a transistion to a beach and water party.

9. Sublime - Badfish
Every party has a pooper. I expect this would get some eye-rolls from all you music snobs, and albeit Sublime has become a staple of frat boy parties, but there's a universal-ness to Sublime that brings warm memories to all who hear it. This song is more like the heartbreak at a party. It plays to certain insecurities that one feels at a party and meeting someone. Or those uncomfortable feelings you get when you see someone you like being hit on.

10. Dalek - Tarnished
This is the return to the water. In a drunken or stoned stupor you run to the water in the dark. You swim and you swim. The mixing of the violin and the vocals sound like they are produced underwater. It's an awesome song.

11. The Melvins - Lividity
Alone and floating in the dark. This instrumental bass riff is repeated over and over, but it combines the atmosphere and the physio-sphere. It's a peaceful but eerie tone that speaks to the haunting stillness of water at night. The hacking and weezing at the end explains the title of my mix. "What you mean, my lungs are fine." Even though you might be drowning, you can still choke it out.

The Command Image: Water Command ring from Kings Quest.