There is something fascinating about closing your eyes and imagining how a song might feel when accompanied by film. Radiohead’s famous title track from this mix represents one of these powerful moments in film, and it got me thinking about soundtracks ever since. Certain songs began to stick out from the rest. They seemed to hold some element that I couldn’t put my finger on, but that undeniably conjured images in my mind of hypothetical scenes from movies that didn’t exist.

I am a sucker for those incredible moments when the marriage of song and film nears perfection, one of my favorites being Nico’s cover of These Days (which Jackson Browne apparently wrote when he was 16 years old! I love wikipedia.) in The Royal Tenenbaums. I’m pretty sure this is why I love Wes Anderson movies… he pulls that shit all the time.

This mix is the first of many imaginary soundtracks that are floating around in my head. If it sparks any ideas for movies or even single scenes, drop a comment below.

Sean Kelley

Co-founder, Sanctuary143

I love all kinds of music, but I love certain kinds more. And here they are. This type of mix is what gets me through my day, and inspires me to practice being a good person and make fun art.

Hope you guys enjoy it. Sorry I don’t know how to make sweet blends and fabulous DJ techniques. So take time to enjoy the silence between the tracks too

Tocayo-
www.myspace.com/tocayodesign

1. Mistica – Orishas
2. Nag Champa (Afrodisiac For The World) – Common
3. The Light – Common
4. 2 AM – Slightly Stoopid
5. Oh Yeah – Foxy Brown
6. Mi Confesión – Gotan Project Feat. Koxmoz
7. Don’t Do Drugs – Danger Mouse & Jemini
8. Dying To Live – Diego Roots
9. This Ain’t Living – G. Love & Special Sauce
10. Charlie’s Kids – Gram Rabbit
11. Heartless – Kanye West
12. Wordless Chorus – My Morning Jacket
13. Bobby James – N*E*R*D
14. Shove It (feat. Spank Rock) (Album) – Santogold
15. Cotidiano – Seu Jorge
16. What a Bum Bum – Sister Nancy

P.S. – Don’t miss Tocayo’s next art show with Chris Kepler and DJ and co-conspirator Will Redd at Fowler’s in Solana Beach on 3/27.

- Tim Pyles
www.thelocalpyle.com

1. Afterparty At Jimmy’s – Anya Marina
2. Flash’s Theme (Bonus Track) – Louis XIV
3. Can’t Don’t Want To – Anna Troy
4. Classics Never Die – Da Bears
5. Days Go On – Greg Laswell
6. Warship – Manuok
7. Blood Drops – Writer
8. Tijuana Sound Machine – Nortec Collective Presents: Bostich + Fussible
9. Goose Egg – The Pocket
10. Throwing Up – The Powerchords
11. Dick On A Dog – Rocket From The Crypt
12. Foundation – Scarlet Symphony
13. This Bike Is A Pipe Dream – Vena Cava
14. Death By Discotheque – The Burning Of Rome
15. Ghost Rider – Crocodiles
16. Wavves – Wavves
17. California Goth – Wavves
18. Sub-Atomic – Apes Of Wrath
19. Hot/Cold – Apes Of Wrath

I’ve been thinking about death a lot lately. Not in a morbidly compulsive, Woody Allen-like way, nor in a mid-life, “what-does-it-all-mean?” kind of way. Rather, after a recent health scare and being let go by a soulless media corporation, my work on the first novel started to take a rather melancholic turn, which, incidentally, is exactly what it needed.

Within the unshaven, all-night, booze- and stimulant-fueled last few months, and the iTunes pretty much screaming at me to give Zoloft a chance, I found myself compiling a mixtape that I wanted to be handed out at my funeral. A 32-song examination of my life via the sounds and lyrics that have most moved me the last 30 years, but with a rather morbid emphasis on the two things I’ve loved the most in my life: myself and women. Most of the songs are somewhat sad in nature even if they border on solipsism, but the fact is that when you make a mixtape—even if it’s compiled for someone in particular and might or might not get you laid (as the awesome Dave Brown cleverly points out)—it’s still an exercise in egotism much in the same vein of googling one’s own name.

Below is a heavily abridged version of that playlist. I took the title from my favorite songwriter, Leonard Cohen. Anyone half as familiar with Cohen as I am knows that the Phil Spector-produced Death of a Ladies Man is his worst album, but certainly the one with the best title. The accompanying picture is a photograph of Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell at some festival. I actually have the poster version near my bed. Mitchell has this extremely jubilant, teethy, Kool-Aid smile, but you can’t see Cohen’s face, just his back facing away from the camera.

Unlike my fellow players below, I hardly have the time to fantasize about jet setting off to far-away environs, whether tropical or tundra. I’m just stuck in America. Stuck with the same ghosts that haunt Thom Yorke in “Pyramid Song.” Stuck in the same moment that Leonard probably was on many other occasions. Embracing the women I love with my back to the camera.

Seth Combs
The Last Blog on Earth

1. The Man Who Loved Women \\ Tom Petty
2. I Will Kill Again \\ Jarvis Cocker
3. Not Dark Yet \\ Bob Dylan
4. I Want Love \\ Elton John
5. Do You Realize?? \\ The Flaming Lips
6. How \\ Badly Drawn Boy
7. Hell Yeah \\ Neil Diamond
8. Lucky Man \\ The Verve
9. Pyramid Song \\ Radiohead
10. It’ll All Work Out \\ Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
11. Dead Flowers \\ The Rolling Stones
12. One Man Guy \\ Rufus Wainwright
13. Sometimes \\ DMX
14. The Message \\ NaS
15. A Change Is Gonna Come \\ Sam Cooke
16. In My Life \\ Johnny Cash
17. Tower Of Song \\ Leonard Cohen

17 years ago a mixtape dramatically changed my life.

This angry looking girl who sat across from me in art class was always wearing knee-high red Doc Martens and changing her hair color.  At the time I was a semi-clueless sophomore jock.  One day we started rapping about music.  She was like, “oh if you like so and so you should listen to this and that.”   A week later, bam, she slaps a mixtape on me. 90% of the bands on the tape were totally new to me.  It rocked.  I listened to the tape relentlessly.  Six months later I bought my own pair of giant Doc Martens.

The Dinosaur Jr. track #8 is a tribute to my long lost art class friend.  It was on her original tape from 1991.

I hope you enjoy this odd mix of psych/indie/folk/rock. The only common denominator here is that when I hear any these tracks in my car, I turn the volume way up.

-Nate
Urbanist Guide

1. Hello – Mr Oizo
2. Noam Chomsky Spring Break 2002 – Department Of Eagles
3. Milk Skates – Black Moth Super Rainbow
4. Ifa – The Benders & Tunji Oyelana
5. Mary Susan – Blood On The Wall
6. I’ll Believe in Anything (Album) – Wolf Parade
7. Sleeper Hold – No Age
8. The Wagon – Dinosaur Jr
9. What I See – The Dirty Projectors
10. Second Chance – Liam Finn
11. Low Gravity – The Acorn
12. Lay and Love – Bonnie “Prince” Billy
13. Heartbeats – Jose Gonzalez
14. The Wolves (Act 1 & 2) – Bon Iver
15. Crap Kraft Dinner – Hot Chip

The day’s drive starts at a red light alongside a curved cement fortress, a corner store painted in the likes of a green-and-yellow checkerboard. Cactus leaves for sale on one side, a man spraying fire from his mouth on the other. When green comes, I’ll know what to do. I could do it every day. Race through cobblestone roundabouts, circular kingdoms ruled by sword-wielding Aztecan giants and dead presidents. Fly over sidewalkless bridges that cover the concrete river. Dodge mammoth potholes that lurk along the pockmarked boulevards, avenues lined with women made of both clean white plastic and tarnished brown putty and square trees trimmed to look like the landscaping of an 8-bit video game. Brake, gas, brake, gas, brake, my eye all the while waving at the monstrous eagle flag waving at me from afar. Scale the rolling hills of urban sprawl, each its own tidal wave disguised as a wall of Technicolor confetti. Count the specks as I feel myself climbing into the sky. Follow the fence westward through whiffs of sewage and street food, to where the line between “here” and “there” switches from rusted panels to a roofless cage made of railroad tracks before trailing into the sea. There, in the shadow of the bullring, pause in the company of the coconut shacks, cotton candy peddlers, divided families and the falling sun, and know that the long night ahead, wrapped in neon-streaked disco twilight, will close with another slow dawn that I’ll dedicate to not letting the fear of gunfire keep me from driving the same lap tomorrow. Welcome to my Tijuana taxicab.

Derrik Chinn is a permanent tourist.  See for yourself at derrikchinn.blogspot.com.

1. “Sex City” // Van She
2. “Wake Up” // Lo-Fi-Fnk
3. “Vamos a La Playa” // Righeira
4. “Moonlight Affair” // Silent Circle
5. “Fashion Victims” // Zemmoa
6. “Time Stands Still” // Cut Copy
7. “Double Shadow” // Junior Boys
8. “I Want Your Love” // Chromatics
9. “Life After Sundown” // Glass Candy
10. “Pegaso” // Professor Genius
11. “Neverland” // Silent Shout
12. “Lady Operator” // Mirage
13. “Caught By Surprise” // Laban
14. “Sunlight In Electric Wires” // San Serac
    

I’d like to pretend I’m cooler than I am and my musical tastes are more obscure than they are, but this mixtape is me.  I like folk music and alt country, mainly, and the more melancholic and beautiful the better.  I tried to put together a playlist that represented the type of music I actually listen to on a daily basis. Neutral Milk Hotel, the Decemberists, Bon Iver, Sam Amidon and Bonnie “Prince” Billy is the music I fell in love with in the last decade — some within the last few months. And I grew up on bands like The Allman Brothers, The Kinks and The Band (thanks mom and dad).

I’ve been in San Diego for almost six years now, and local bands like Transfer, The Album Leaf and, more recently, Calico Horse and Joel P. West, have made me proud to be a part of the San Diego cultural scene.   I included Bostich + Fussible (of the Nortec Collective) because I’ve lived in Tijuana for the last two and a half years, and the songs they make are such a perfect representation of the chaos, fun and excitement of my beloved TJ.  Hedwig and The Angry Inch is on my list, too, simply because the song is freakin’ awesome. Plus, musicals make this world more enjoyable, don’t you think?

Kinsee Morlan
San Diego CityBeat + Adapta Project
http://tijuanatales.wordpress.com/

1. Two – Headed Boy    Neutral Milk Hotel
2. Pale Green Things    The Mountain Goats
3. Skinny Love    Bon Iver
4. For Every Field There’s a Mole    Bonnie “Prince” Billy
5. The Breeze    Dr. Dog
6. Random Rules    Silver Jews
7. Saro    Sam Amidon
8. The Crane Wife 3    The Decemberists
9. Hoppípolla    Sigur Rós
10. The MP    The Album Leaf
11. Melissa    The Allman Brothers Band
12. The Weight    The Band
13. Well Respected Man    The Kinks
14. 28th & NE Davis    Joel P West
15. Gold    Calico Horse
16. Everybody In    Transfer
17. Papa Was A Rodeo    The Magnetic Fields
18. Origin Of Love    Hedwig & The Angry Inch
19. Tijuana Sound Machine    Nortec Collective presents Bostich + Fussible

Back when pagers were out, 143 meant “I Love You.” Based on that I picked the songs that speak to the different ways I have felt about Love. From the best feeling in the world, to a time when it hurt more than anything I can ever remember. So my 143 playlist is about the best and worst parts of love. The things that love will make you do.

- Jacques Slade aka KU
Kustoo.com and Vajraband.com

1. I Can’t Stop Loving You -  Kem
2. Happy Feelings (Live) -  Maze Feat. Frankie Beverly
3. 143  -  Musiq (Soulchild)
4. My Own Zero  -  Zap Mama
5. Love T.K.O.  -  Teddy Pendergrass
6. Assumptions Ft. J-Luv and Soleux  -  KU
7. Shit, Damn, Motherfucker  -  D’Angelo
8. Goodbye My Lover  -  James Blunt
9. Smoking Cigarettes  -  Tweet
10. Love Song for No One  -  John Mayer
11. Nothing Even Matters  -  Lauryn Hill

I grew up in house where my dad would play the sax along to some old Charlie Parker albums while my mom was steady rocking to LL Cool J and Run DMC. So it’s really no surprise that this mix is laced with jazz infused hip-hop tracks from start to finish. This is a re-recoding of a mix that was first played during my Sunday afternoon dj sets at Le Papagayo restaurant in Leucadia, Ca. Enjoy!

WILL REDD
willredd (at) gmail (dot) com or facebook

1. Passing Me By (Fly As Pie Remix) – The Pharcyde
2. Take The D Train – Pete Rock
3. Ramsden Road – Charlie Tate
4. The Language Of Music – Jaywalkers
5. Suite For Beaver PT 1 – People Under The Stairs
6. A Little Soul – Pete Rock
7. Get Involved – Pete Rock
8. Hai Pinga – Colossus
9. Afros In Ya – J Boggie
10. Morning Mist – Jaywalkers
11. Try Me (People Under The Stairs Remix) – J Boogie
12. Dogg Starr – Ladybug Mecca
13. Cali Spaces (Lazy Day Mix) – Mark Farina
14. Chocolate Distance (Hot Chocolate Mix) – Karuan
15. Movin To My Beat – J Boogies Dubtronic Science
16. Ohhhh Ma Ma Ma – Laird and John Pickett

Few things have me whipping out my Visa faster than an airfare sale on Travelzoo, but ever since those little green pieces of paper called “dollars” all but disappeared from this American life, the only travel I’m doing these days is strictly imaginary.

This mix is the soundtrack to my post-recession world tour, starting with a trio of sexy Spanish-language singers. Next, it’s over to Europe for jazzy flamenco duo Bebo & Cigala and Parisian chanteuse Keren Ann, then South America, with the Brazilian Bia and two amazing Argentines: now-L.A.-based Juana Molina and composer Lalo Schifrin (better known as the genius behind the original Mission: Impossible theme).

Back to Eastern Europe we go, getting gypsified in the Balkans with Koçani Orkestar, followed by a pretty Russian folk song (from a mix CD given to me by my mom) and a great cut by Moscow-born Regina Spektor. Lily Allen and The Kinks represent for the UK, while Scandinavia shows up strong via Stockholm’s Ane Brun, Iceland’s Emiliana Torrini and Norway’s Susanna and the Magical Orchestra, whose haunting Joy Division cover kills me every time. We hit Canada (sort of) when Madeline Peyroux covers a stellar Leonard Cohen number (he’s from Montreal, btw), then we bring it home with a beautifully lonely little tune from the Synecdoche, N.Y. soundtrack by L.A.’s Jon Brion.

No passport required.