Guest Mix: Kurd's "The Last South, Vol. 1"

[Ed: Kurd and I took a road trip to Anchorage last weekend--to just get the hell out of Fairbanks, basically--and we both made mixes for the trip. Somewhere along the way we decided it would be cool if Kurd blogged one of his mixes here, rather than me giving you the same old crap. You can read more of Kurd's award-winning writing here and here. Without further ado, then, heeeere's...Kurd!]

For the drive south to Anchorage, I felt it would be good to crank out a new mix. I have notoriously poor taste in music and thought I would torture Steve’s ears for several hours. To be nice, though, I kept the mix Nickelback free. I didn’t really have a theory for the compilation. I kept the road themes minimal (“Let It Ride”), and also kept very few songs referencing my impending departure from the AK (“Where You Goin’ Now”). I included some songs that have been popping into conversations between Steve and me weirdly often (“Show Me the Way”) and some songs I haven’t thought about in a long time. I tried to keep a nice mix of old and not-quite-as-old. I get most of my new music from Steve, so it seemed counter-productive to use any of that. I made two mixes, Volumes 1 and 2 (the list here is Volume 1), and Steve pumped out a volume 1.5. We hit some overlap with “Burden in My Hand” and “Hunger Strike,” which seemed weird, or perhaps oddly meaningful, though I have no idea what that meaning might be. I think my genius in creating the mix (if there was any) was not going with the song by an artist that the listener would expect, but instead choosing a secondary option; for example, “The Drugs Don’t Work” instead of “Bittersweet Symphony,” “Where You Goin’ Now” instead of “High Enough,” “Sacrifice” instead of “The Seed 2.0,” and “My Sweet Lord (2000 Version)” instead of “My Sweet Lord.” In retrospect, I don’t think anything here has taken on deeper meaning post-trip. The road still led where it went, we didn’t go hungry, and the drugs kept on working, praise the lord.

1. Estranged, Guns ‘n Roses
2. He’s a Mighty Good Leader, Beck
3. Where You Goin’ Now, Damn Yankees
4. Unwell, Matchbox 20
5. My Sweet Lord (2000 Version), George Harrison
6. Sacrifice, The Roots
7. Burden in My Hand, Soundgarden
8. Mary, Scissor Sisters
9. The Ghost of Tom Joad, Rage Against the Machine
10. The Drugs Don’t Work, The Verve
11. Let It Ride, Ryan Adams and the Cardinals
12. Sour Girl, Stone Temple Pilots
13. The Road Leads Where It’s Led, Secret Machines
14. Show Me the Way, Styx
15. Hunger Strike, Temple of the Dog
16. Free, Vast

Notes:
Somehow, I stumped Steve with four songs he didn’t know: “He’s a Mighty Good Leader,” “Where You Goin’ Now,” “Mary,” and “Free.” I did not foresee this happening...I picked the songs on the fly, and chose “Unwell” for my Matchbox 20 pick (I don’t know why I felt I needed Matchbox 20 on there)...It wasn’t as good as I remembered; I should have went with “Bright Lights,” which is better and more thematically relevant: “But if the bright lights don't receive you, you should turn yourself around and come on home”...The tune by the Roots has very subtle backing vocals by Nelly Furtado, and rocks much harder in a car with a subwoofer. Yes, I used to be that guy...You may not believe this, but I love the Scissor Sisters, especially when they run their tunes through the Elton John transmogrifier ...Holy fuck, that Verve song is good...For a stretch of several months, it seemed like I listened to six songs on Ryan Adams’ Cold Roses on endless loop. It’s probably in my top three albums, with Howl by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and The Last Broadcast by Doves...“Show Me the Way” reminds me of the first Gulf war, which makes me think about our current situation overseas, which makes me feel less apathetic because I’m thinking about “big issues,” which makes me feel less like I’ve failed myself and my potential as a person...When Vast started playing, Steve looked over and asked if I was doing some head-banging. I was.