Mixtape: Flux-Rad 2008, Pt. 2

There are, naturally, a few things that didn’t make it on to part one or two of my year end mixtape, but they’ll reappear when I share my worthless list of favorites from the year. This mix is pretty all over the place, but you’ll forgive – there’s a nice mix of eclectic and straight pop (the Mother Mother song in particular, though I was turned off by the record as a whole). Yes, there are two Lambchop songs. Wagner released OH and a tour only CD this year, and both are totally incredible. The tour only disc is entirely live covers, and I picked my favorite, a tune by the Buzzcocks. I was slow to crack on the Deerhunter record, mostly because everyone goes nuts and it makes me put it off … bad habit of mine. Yet, “Nothing Ever Happened” could very well be one of the finest songs released this year. I have Matt Dewitt to thank for pushing me to stop everything and listen. You’ll recognize Joose Keskitalo’s voice from the Nosedive mix, his ensemble Paavoharju released a gorgeous record this year. Unlike the first mix, which featured songs belonging to albums I could get behind in their entirety, this mix has a few stragglers, I bet you can pick them out. Hint: I’m a huge Grubbs fan but am so far underwhelmed by An Optimist Notes the Dusk. The Ruby Suns song is a cover of an El Guincho song, but I can vouch for their entire album, it was a quiet stunner for me this year.

DOWNLOAD: Flux=Rad 2008, Pt. 2 (zip)

01 Deerhunter “Nothing Ever Happened”
02 The Ruby Suns “Palmitos Park”
03 Okkervil River “Blue Tulip”
04 Young Widows “Old Skin”
05 Guapo “The Planks”
06 Goldmund “Finding It There”
07 Final Fantasy “Blue Imelda”
08 Hauschka “Rode Null”
09 Lambchop “Why Can’t I Touch It”
10 Tindersticks “The Organist Entertains”
11 Joose Keskitalo “Saimaan rannalla”
12 Mother Mother “Wrecking Ball”
13 David Grubbs “Holy Fool Music”
14 Helios “Fourteen Drawings”
15 Fleet Foxes “Tiger Mountain Peasant Song”
16 Department of Eagles “Herring Bone”
17 Mount Eerie “Moon, I Already Know”
18 The Alps “Cloud One”
19 Benoit Pioulard “Ahn”
20 Nico Muhly “Skip Town”
21 Lambchop “Sharing a Gibson With Martin Luther King Jr.”