the roots

The Dunce Cap: Week of Dec. 5, 2012

in: heavy rotation

The Dunce Cap, Vol. 50: Look so nice, standing by yourself. I don’t want to be with anybody else. (click on link to listen to mix via 8tracks or play above)

1. “Kate” – Ben Folds Five
2. “It’s Nice to Be Alive” – Ball Park Music
3. “The Concept” – Teenage Fanclub
4. “Teenage Queen” – Snowglobe
5. “Let the Distance Keep Us Together” – Bright Eyes (ft. Britt Daniel)
6. “Blue Ice” – Shout Out Louds
7. “Sex” – The 1975
8. “Kiss Me on the Bus” – The Replacements
9. “Hey Sandy” – Polaris
10. “Song for You” – Alexi Murdoch
11. “All I Want for Christmas is You” – Jimmy Fallon, Mariah Carey & The Roots

I realize I made this mix last month – last year, if we’re being technical – and simply forgot to blog about it. So, mostly, I’m just postin’ it here without much explanation. This is simply a collection of tunes I adore, including an awesome version of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” live from “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” and featuring a kids’ chorus. Truly festive.

As always, happy listening.

P.S. 8-bit Dikembe Mutombo? Genius.

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.