birthday

The Dunce Cap: April 11, 2011

in: heavy rotation

Image from...uh?

The Dunce Cap, Vol. 32: I wanted to control it. But, love, I couldn’t hold it. (click on link to listen to mix via 8tracks)

1. “The Things That You Say That You Do” – Dressy Bessy
2. “Gold Soundz” – Pavement
3. “French Navy” – Camera Obscura
4. “Everyday” – Vetiver
5. “Don’t Carry It All” – The Decemberists
6. “Seaweed Song” – Passion Pit
7. “The Hill” – Bombay Bicycle Club
8. “Never Forget You” – NOISEttes
9. “Your Ex-Lover is Dead” – Stars
10. “Fair” – Ben Folds Five

Hey, pals. This one’s actually pretty good! Happy April, my favorite month of the year for so many reasons. For instance, my 21st birthday is impending; the weather in Evanston was 80° and perfectly sunny; shit is feeling manageable. It’s one of those times when I want to wake up and do a little shimmy.

This mix is a mish-mash of songs catered to my mood: happy songs with a dark center. If you’re looking for nougat, maybe look elsewhere. Mmm. Nougat.

There’s not much else to say, not really – except love. Just love. In its most platonic and romantic forms, it’s what’s keeping me going. May your life be replete with love and lovers and loved ones.

Happy listening.

Michael: You’re just jumping right into this, huh?
Buster: That’s what you do when life hands you a chance to be with someone special. You just grab that brownish area by its points and you don’t let go no matter what your mom says.
– Arrested Development, “Key Decisions,” Ssn. 1, Ep. 4

The Dunce Cap: the birthday special edition!

in: heavy rotation

"I would like you to dance (birthday)."

[image courtesy of etsy]

You say it’s your birthday.

Today is my last day as a teenager. I am, in fact, 1.5 hours (30 minutes in home EST) from reaching my third decade of life. Excited? Definitely. And, for that, this week The Dunce Cap provides you with not one but two mixes.

This playlist is certainly a bit more focused and themed than most, and the tracks (particularly the last two) explore the juxtaposition between excitement and utter fear in reaching adulthood. I am the birthday girl!, and it’s certainly daunting to consider that, when prompted for my age, my response will now be a concise “TWENTY.”

So, in an ode to old(er) age and maturity and impending graduation, etc., I have compiled a list of songs about growing up happy. Really. It’s truly that simple. From the lightheartedness of Harlem Shakes to the enduring excellence of Patrick Stump (really), these are tracks of a moment, this moment, the moment of my 20th birthday. It’s been a whirlwind year of fisticuffs (only occasionally literally) and laughter, the charisma of a serial heartbreaker and realizing that I’m not, much to my chagrin, the same person I was when I was 16.

A toast to twenty, to a new year and the end of an era of youth. Terrifying, really. I suppose I’ll have to retire John Hughes and develop a deeper affinity for P.T. Anderson, and perhaps it’s about time I stop quoting J.K. Rowling and calling it art.

Happy birthday to me.

The Dunce Cap, special birthday edition: Long live Sunday seekers slack-jawed by the speakers.
(mix via 8tracks)

  1. “Birthday Girl” – The Roots
  2. “Sunlight” – Harlem Shakes
  3. “Yoo Hoo” – Imperial Teen
  4. “Walk on the Wild Side” – Lou Reed & the Velvet Underground
  5. “Blue Sky” – Hanson
  6. “Bicycles” – The Maccabees
  7. “Lump” – The Presidents of United States of America
  8. “Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe” – Okkervil River
  9. “Young Adult Friction” – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
  10. “I’m an Adult Now” – The Pursuit of Happiness

Happy listening.

(editor’s note) I have been told today is my “golden birthday,” as I am turning 20 on the 20th. This, I believe, calls for a super-special birthday celebration.

To a year of continued happiness.