Playlist: Marcelined

In a brave new world of MP3 players and single-song purchases and YouTube, it seems kind of silly to think about mixtapes, but my car has a six-CD player in the deck, and I will play those infinitely if not provoked. I name them weird things to embrace whatever period of time I'm feeling (previous playlist names include "Time Turned," "Champagne Sippin'," and "A Strange Undoing"), and the songs are a mélange of old beloveds, new flings, and things I found on my hard drive that seemed to transition well. My taste in music is eclectic--I've never had anybody listen to one of my playlists straight-through without some moment of bemusement. It's fun!

The CDs I use are 80 minutes long and LightScribe-enabled; I usually print fanart on the disc. This one is the latest, named after Marceline, Vampire Queen of my heart. It is filled with emotions, but primarily defiance.

1. "Gimme Sympathy," Metric My friend Alissa recommended this one, to listen to somewhere between making guacamole and dancing, because you can't not. Alissa is SMART.
   
   
2. "Beast," Nico Vega My Bioshock: Infinite-obsessed friends got me into this song. It is a great bit of empowered rage; I love it.
   
   
3. "So Fast, So Maybe," k.flay I stumbled across this song almost a year ago, while I was wandering around YouTube looking for new female MCs to download. I could listen to "So Fast, So Maybe" on infinite loop. Apparently this got played on Girls; I do not love it less, despite that.
   
   
4. "Luv 2 Luv U (Remix ft. Shaunta M)," Timbaland & Magoo I have a very specific memory of listening to this song at the beach, while I was in high school. We were at Corona del Mar for a church thing. It was blinding-bright that afternoon, but cool enough that I was still wearing a T-shirt and my grandfather's old army jacket over my swimsuit. I think I was with Kevin and Eli and Pam? That was a good day.
   
   
5. "Paper Planes (Remix ft. Bun B & Rich Boy)," M.I.A. I saw M.I.A. at Vegoose in 2007. This was the only song of hers I knew. It was a super-fun set--she called the crowd onto the stage, and then had to send them off halfway through the song because the stage couldn't take the pressure.
   
   
6. "Do It With a Rockstar," Amanda Palmer & The Grand Theft Orchestra I bought Amanda Palmer's latest album for the sake of one song, so randomly I add other tracks to my playlists and see if they fit. This one is kind of weird (like all her stuff), but somewhere in the middle of it, it gets wonderful.
   
   
7. "Cowboy Casanova," Carrie Underwood Carrie Underwood's songs make me want to walk around and punch dudes. But, like, playfully? They're all framed in the aftermath of heartbreak, but they're never woe-is-me. I don't know why anybody bothers with Taylor Swift when Carrie Underwood exists.
   
   
8. "Take It Off," The Donnas Oh, wow, The Donnas. Greensilver did a spectacular multifandom vid set to this song, filled with kickass women being awesome and bold. It's the way to live.
   
   
9. "Stupid Girls," Pink Women hating women is a problem, but I'm really fascinated by the critique that's happening in the song and in the video (perhaps not exactly the same critique in both). We do horrible things to each other and ourselves.
   
   
10. "Bones," MS MR This was in HBO's Game of Thrones S3 trailer. They do good work--the songs are evocative and spooky, but always crazily fitting. Dig up the bones but leave the soul alone.
    
    
11. "Stronger Than Dirt," Tom McRae I could only find this song as a Heroes vid on YouTube. Distracting! In any case, I spent a year attending every single one of Tom's performances in Los Angeles (along with my friends, Dani and Rohini). This isn't the flashiest of his songs, nor is it even one of my top five favorites, but every time I listen to it, I end up turning it up and wrapping it around me. It's beautiful.
    
    
12. "Pause the Tragic Ending," Rachael Yamagata Rachael Yamagata is just wonderful. Her stuff is always just, like, three heartbeats too fast to be torch songs.
    
    
13. "Sleep To Dream," Fiona Apple The slow simmer to this song is always, always building up to the breath right before and don't forget the blame. It's searing.
    
    
14. "If Not You Then Who," spazzkid The first time I listened to this song, I started crying right around the four-minute mark. I don't know why.
    
    
15. "I Was A Fool," Tegan and Sara Meanwhile, this song should inspire some epic emo, and yet I end up smiling through the whole thing.
    
    
16. "Q.U.E.E.N. (ft. Erykah Badu)," Janelle Monae Jeff brought the latest Janelle Monae to my attention. It is just...oh, wow. I cannot wait for her next album. CANNOT. WAIT.
    
    
17. "Get Lucky (ft. Pharrell Williams)," Daft Punk Who wouldn't dance to this forever?

I'm particularly happy about this playlist. I have danced up the street to it. I have sung at the top of my lungs in the car with the windows down. I grin randomly. It is spectacular and summery.