yes, it's another month and another mix from yours truly. but first, take this FUN quiz!!!1!! of the tracklist below, how many names do you recognize? 0-5: don't feel bad. that's the score this mix was designed to give to the average listener. 5-10: you are not a casual music listener, but an aficionado, and read and listen to music from many genres as voraciously as i do. 10-15: you probably know me fairly well or you are among my inner circle of "music friends" (you know who you are) and i've probably already alerted you to many of these. 15-21: you're lying. i can almost guarantee that there are at least 6 people on this mix that you've never heard of. i've waxed poetic previously about the many joys of finding great obscure songs, discoveries that i then treasure and even hoard. most of my motive for digging up and celebrating the obscure and semi-obscure is simply the joy of the archeologist, the talent scout, and the collector: to acknowledge the worth of the perhaps previously overlooked, to be the harbinger of the next great thing, and to just find some great new (and sometimes unique) music. i've always consciously tried to include some obscure but worthy musical acts on my mixes, but have long been wanting to do a mix focusing solely on them. i recognize that it's not really all that hard to make mixes w/ acts most people have never heard of since people's journeys through life throw random music their way by chance all the time. (carl, winnie, and andy, who have been my greatest fellow music scouts in recent years, do so all the time w/ more ease than i, especially since i get to be obsessive about listening to all of an artist's back catalog rather than finding new people.) but part of my effort was to have only a small percentage of the tracks below signed to any "recognizable" record label; some aren't signed at all. as an added restraint i focused on songs from the past 5 years or so. there are a few tracks here that recall the message i posted about appreciating music that's not that unique per se but are quite satisfying. i'm sorry to say that some of the people on this mix are mostly one-offs, but i haven't completely given up on them. the really obscure ones are people i've stumbled across online. the paradox of the internet is that through it anyone can get heard, but the chance of finding someone is so minuscule, so this is a step in spreading the word. some miscellanous comments: - f*** the corporate radio monopoly! listen to music of your own choosing instead of what's force-fed to you! yeah! - this mix started off being way too indie and as a result too dour. i was glad to see that i could find a wide range of non-indie but still relatively obscure music (and more than a couple of tracks that are actually quite funny). - the vhs or beta track is thanks to carl. this band totally sounds like the cure to me, but they're still good. and they're from louisville! gotta support my peeps. - i've been wanting to do a mix in alphabetical order for a while, but this is the first time it really worked. - the track by me is the first track that i've felt is really worth me releasing, even though it's still more of a demo. - of the ones w/ links listed, i strongly suggest you check out stateshirt, esp. if you like people like radiohead. this guy's stuff has i think really gotten stronger lately and there are some other good tracks on his site. okay i'll shut up now. --- all hail ye celebrating the obscure and the semi-obscure 3/19/05 1 bitch and animal . eternally hard . sparkly queen areola 2 caravan ray (orig. marcus kellis) . moscow, idaho 3 cat power . you are free . he war 4 fred choi . dark all day 5 the dan emery mystery band . natural selection . the only one who loves you 6 fannypack . so stylistic . the theme from fannypack 7 kaki king . everybody loves you . carmine st. 8 lovedrug . pretend you're alive . blackout 9 matt pond PA . nature of maps . athabasca 10 des mckinney . www.deshead.com . nights and songs 11 joanna newsom . milk-eyed mender . inflammatory writ 12 the oracle boy . www.theoracleboy.co.uk . levitate 13 pinback . summer in abaddon . non photo blue 14 michael sanders . salsa.ioioio.net . teen girl squad 15 rego sen . songs from the institute vol. 1 . kelly 16 the so and so's . give me drama . please you 17 state shirt . www.stateshirt.net . fell out of the sky 18 the twilight singers . blackberry belle . decatur st. 19 vhs or beta . night on fire . you got me 20 what's her face . strong bad sings and other type hits . i think i have a chance with this guy [edited] 21 the wonder stuff . camp (soundtrack) . the size of a cow