so a few years ago i made a cover song compilation that has since become somewhat notorious amongst my friends. its notoriety is not because of its contents, but because i totally dropped the ball on delivering it, even though i had hyped the whole thing up quite a bit, so for most people it was a rather vicious tease.

the trouble was that i got sucked into grand plans of liner notes and cover art that made the whole project take much longer than necessary, and then when it was finished the poor thing had to contend with me looking up addresses, finding packaging, and going to the post office, which are all activities that i tend to find difficult in a degree that is far out of proportion with reality.

my resistance was hopefully understandable, therefore, when in the midst of this cover project i conceived of aNother cd project – not of cover songs, but of the songs that happened to stand out for me in a given year, be they new discoveries or old favorites that are somehow heard anew.

it seemed like a fun alternative to a christmas letter, since it would be a similar sort of “year that was”, but it would then also have the bonus of performing a function other than the justification of the existence of the refrigerator magnet.

not that magnet support is not a noble function; it’s just already a pretty full market.

it was a masterstroke of procrastination, really, even though it was trying to sneak by in generosity’s clothing. my brain wanted to prolong the fun of picking and ordering songs indefinitely, so it decided to conceive of a lifelong ambition rather than admit that the first cd was done and prepare it for mailing.

i really am rather insane.

i scolded myself and put the idea aside with the intention of returning to it later, but since the cover story fizzled out and thinking about it makes me tired and guilty, the “year of songs” idea has suffered by association.

this year, however, i started considering it again while i was traveling, and probably because overseas postage made my desire to avoid a massive mailing seem reasonable rather than embarrassing, i kept thinking about it, and decided that i would just make it a blog post, and then maybe there will be enough momentum that i will be motivated to make a cd version next year.

or maybe cds won’t exist next year…

heh heh

as it happens, given the combined impact of lucy’s amazing card sending habits and the fact that i got a christmas card from jeff and shaowen and i didn’t even give them my address, i am considering making the hanging up of my postal hangup into a new year’s resolution, so perhaps those cover cds will be on their way yet.

while me and the resolution board sort that one out, though, the “just put it out there” action committee is proud to offer you kynthia’s year in music, 2006.

despite their longing to be free, a concession to the unresolved nature of the intellectual property debate will lead me to return the songs to the captivity of private ownership after ONE WEEK ONLY – that is through January 9, 2007, after which only the links endorsed by the artists themselves will remain, and you’ll have to ask itunes or napster or some music getting elves if you missed the train.

that means i’m taking the songs down next tuesday, a’ight?

if you made it on time, and you’re using firefox like a good monkey, you might want to check out the flashgot extension if you don’t have it already. it downloads all the links on the page, so you don’t have to.

once it’s installed, i recommend going to tools->flashgot->more options->downloads and putting mp3 in the box, because then it will only get the mp3 files, which saves you the hassle of deleting a bunch of crap that you really don’t want.

if that sounds too complicated, just do whatever makes you happy. :)

happy listening, and happy new year!

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Kynthia’s Year in Music, 2006

In January I decided that I wasn’t allowed to ride my bike with my new mp3 player and super-duper headphones. I knew that I was smitten when I then found myself walking to class even when the roads were clear and dry.

1. This Heart is a Stone – Acid House Kings
2. Say – Cat Power
3. Blow – Lincoln

In February, at F&L, David sang scat with his eyes shut tight and his hands in the air, Erik built a dance party out of mad skillz and honeybells, and the Beatles revealed new secrets to me early in the morning. Each of them reminded me in turn of why and how much I love them.

4. Minnie the Moocher – West End Orchestra and Singers (Blues Brothers Soundtrack)
5. Let’s Get Retarded – Black Eyed Peas
6. Carry that Weight/The End – The Beatles

In the spring and early summer I stared the reality of graduation in the face and buckled down to conjure a capstone from the scattered trail of post-it notes, sketches and grandiose visions that had been accumulating in my wake all year. In the midst of the whirlwind, Moby mysteriously became the soundtrack for Dunn Woods at dusk, Josh Ritter centered me as I floundered in the effort to express something so big that I could barely glimpse how it held together, Fiona Apple was a gift from Erik as we made our pact to present something every day even when we sounded like lunatics, and, before it was anywhere and everywhere, Crazy secured its place in my memory as a video in I107 as we procrastinated, a joyous shout from Lucy as we shared 1/2 price wine, and a drunken singalong anthem on moonlit backroads and train tracks leading home from the Vid as spring bled into summer and we struggled valiantly against the weight of what was to come.

7. Stop Whispering – Radiohead
8. Underwear Goes Inside the Pants – Lazyboy TV
9. Freshman Thesis – Thee More Shallows
10. Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad – Moby
11. Thin Blue Flame – Josh Ritter
12. Waltz – Fiona Apple
13. Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Part One) – Pink Floyd
14. Crazy – Gnarls Barkley

Summer hit full force, but it took a while for the idea that I had finished a Masters’ Degree to sink in. In the meantime, I went to St. Louis to eat ribs and climb on old airplanes, and drove to Tennessee to go desitively bonnaroo. Then I set off on my solo trek down the eastern seaboard that would lead eventually to Scotland and 6 months across the sea.

15. Fake Plastic Trees – Radiohead
16. Bastard – Ben Folds
17. Masterfade – Andrew Bird
18. Another Mystery – Dar Williams
19. And it Rained All Night – Thom Yorke

In Edinburgh there was a lot of music, but it was such a whirlwind that the only thing that really sticks in my mind is some guys with didgeridoos and bagpipes, and I don’t have a recording of them. The Hollytree, on the other hand, was a dive into the pop charts as we sought ways to fill the hours and connect to the world from which we were otherwise isolated by miles that might as well have been oceans. Tania took this more seriously than the rest of us by singing something ALL of the time, even if words or spoons were thrown in her direction. Some things will never leave our heads as a result. :)

20. Mr. Jones – Counting Crows (“caught up in kentallen… show me some of that ceilidh dancing…”)
21. Hips Don’t Lie – Shakira
22. America – Razorlight
23. Falling Stars – Sunset Strippers

I’m rounding the year off in London, with a lot of alone time. It has given me the chance to catch up on 3hive recommendations from the past few months, and, as always, a few of them are like old friends I am overjoyed to finally meet. In true “one is silver and the other’s gold” fashion, however, Michael Stipe made his way onto the playlist by chance and stayed there, so he gets a nod as well.

24. You are the Everything – R.E.M.
25. You Never Got Me Right – Frida Hyvonen
26. George -First Coat
27. Hey Momma – Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground
28. Words – Evan Duby

In many ways, Andrew Bird is the artist of my year (buy this whole album!), so he deserves another even if it disturbs my roughly chronological ordering, which I am honestly surprised that I followed, but it’s fun and actually flows quite well.

Luckily, this song strikes me as a very fitting theme for the year as a whole, so I can think of no better way to wrap things up.

29. Tables and Chairs – Andrew Bird

Enjoy!

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