Short Time No See and Midterm Mixes, Volume 3

Last one. I tried to squeeze in everything left out of the first two, but sorry White Stripes. Sorry R. Kelly. This one, a sorta short one, turned out to be a bit more sentimental, dare I say romantic, than the others. In terms of, you know, interpersonal and, I guess, inter-instrumental.

Marathonpacks' 2007 Midterm Mix, Volume 3 (mp3 // 61:07 // 128k: 55.9MB)

1. 1990s "See You at the Lights" Yeah, I know.
2. The Broken West "On the Bubble" The whole album doesn't hold up as much as the first couple songs, but this one is easily the power-pop jam of the year.
3. Deerhoof "Matchbook Seeks Maniac"
4. Nicole Willis & the Soul Investigators "My Four-Leaf Clover" After a summer of Motown (see like most of the posts from May and June), this album is a revelation---Martha Reeves with the restraint of Mary Wells. And Carl took my joke (third item). Or, I took his, in my mind.
5. Amerie "Gotta Work" And of course, to follow the mellow Motown, the Sam & Dave Stax rave-up.
6. Outkast/UGK "International Player's Anthem" Otherwise known as the rap song that makes guys with girlfriends get all sentimental. I've spent the last month with the girl I love, and I'm certainly not immune. How could anyone be, with a script this perfectly realized? Andre 3000 nervous at the altar, with his less-than-monogamous buddies offering their measured opinions after his monologue, the best being Big Boi's financinal proviso: "that's like makin' it rain, every month on schedule."
7. Rihanna f. Jay-Z "Umbrella"
8. Siobhan Donaghy "Sometimes"
9. Justice "D.A.N.C.E. (Alan Braxe Remix)" I know, how bloggy of me. A menacing figure emailed me and threatened unceasing spam or something. At the start, I keep waiting for this to break into "Rock Steady" by the Whispers.
10. Battles "Leyendecker" Live, they're much less mechanical than one would think. Seeing them here last month, in a supremely hot Phoenix venue, one band member's PowerBook overheated, and Tyondai Braxton made up for the lull by quizzing audience members on 80s movie trivia. Ex-Helmet drummer John Stanier's cymbal is taller than Yao Ming, too.
11. The Field "A Paw in My Face" Perhaps my album of the year? In the top five, definitely. Axel Willner's usage of lite jazz/quiet storm music here has actually surpassed Cornelius' implementation of same.
12. The Rosebuds "Night of the Furies" (review)
13. The Sea and Cake "Up on Crutches" (original post)
14. Cornelius "Music" (review)
15. Hot Chip "My Piano"
16. Sally Shapiro "I'll Be By Your Side"