I have always been a lover of mix tapes. When cassettes started to become obsolete, I still enjoyed creating CDs with different songs that I loved all mixed together. I even received mix CDs from my fiancé when we started going out, which is how I was introduced to the majority of the music I listen to now. So when one of my friends had a status on facebook about making mix CDs for his friends I had to jump on the chance, and although his status said friends close by (which we are a good hour and a half away from each other) I was happy when he said he would mail me something. Receiving it in the mail a few days later, he requested that I write a review of what I thought about it. So here it is.

Title of album: Casey’s Awesome Mix of Awesome Stuff

Tracks:

1. Beats Antique – Skeleton Dance (remix)

2. Miike Snow – Devil’s Work

3. The National – Fake Empire

4. Frank Turner – Glory Hallelujah

5. The Wombats – Kill the Director

6. Hollerado – Reno Chunk

7. Hollerado – Americanaram

8. The Front Bottoms – Maps

9. System of a Down – Bounce

10. The Pixies – Debaser

11. Nine Inch Nails – Ghosts IV

12. Stabbing Westward – Save Yourself

13. Yeasayer – Wait for the Wintertime

14. Kidneythieves – Before I’m Dead

15. Everclear – Santa Monica (Watch the World Die)

16. Guided By Voices – Teenage FBI

17. Portugal the Man – People Say

18. An Horse – Dressed Sharply

19. Ben Folds Five – Army

20. Passion Pit – Take a Walk

21. The XX – Crystallized

22. Vitamin String Quartet – Take it Easy (Love Nothing) [Bright Eyes cover]

Listening through the first time I immediately was reminded about how much in common we have with music. We already knew we liked some of the same bands (such as dredg), and he had already introduced me to some other bands that I grew to love, for example, TV on the Radio. On the album, I already knew “Santa Monica” by Everclear and “Army” by Ben Folds Five. Although I’ve never heard the version of LAST TRACK before, I do have the Bright Eyes album that the song is on, so I was thinking of the words to it as I listened to the beautiful instrumental. System of a Down and Nine Inch Nails were also bands that weren’t foreign to my ears, but I had never heard those particular songs before.

Then, looking at the songs and bands I never heard of before, I immediately fell in love with The Wombats “Kill the Director”, Hollerado “Americanarama” and Passion Pit “Take a Walk”. All three songs have amazing music that makes me want to get up and dance (or at least jump around).

Beats Antique’s “Skeleton Dance (remix)” makes me think of background music you would hear in old Mickey Mouse or Tom and Jerry cartoons. Frank Turner is singing my anthem in his “Glory Hallelujah” when he says:

“I know you’re scared of dying man and I am too,
But just pretending it’s not happening isn’t gonna see us through,
If we accept that there’s an end game and we haven’t got much time,
Then in the here and now then we can try and do things right.
We’d be our own Salvation Army and together we’d believe
In all the wondrous things mere mortals can achieve”

Overall, I have only listened to the album a hand full of times so far, but I can guarantee that it will receive a lot more listening time in the upcoming days.

Grade: A+