M3 Volume 7… Available Now
[front cover design adapted from Our Thin Worn Skin]
For some context, M3 Volume 7 was conceived in mid-December on a snowy train ride to New York City, where I was to visit someone I was very much in love with at the time, and it’s conceivable these pleasant, wintry circumstances are reflected in the songs, but that’s up to you to decide. This is a mix of wonderful, sometimes epic, often twinkly songs guaranteed to put you in a happy mood. Centered on and built around the flawless progression that occurs between “The Predatory Wasp” and “Brand New Colony”, I feel like the mix embodies and reflects the pristine winter’s day on which it was conceived.
The first six songs on the album come grouped in sonic pairs, but manage to flow well together to lead to the mix’s second half. Up first is the “Scotland/twee” pair, featuring “White Collar Boy”, from established veterans of twee Belle & Sebastian, and “The Start of Something”, courtesy of much-buzzed-about up-and-comers Voxtrot. Next is a pair of beautiful songs from solo violinists Final Fantasy (”The CN Tower Is Dead”) and Andrew Bird (”Fake Palindromes”), followed by the final sonic pair, the “indie-country” grouping. The “indie-country” grouping features “With Arms Outstretched”, the most country-sounding song in Rilo Kiley’s catalogue, which foreshadowed the soulful country stylings of Jenny Lewis’ solo debut, as well as “Alright” by Sweden’s The Lost Patrol. “Alright” is an instantly familiar, unbelievably catchy gem from the relatively unheard of Lost Patrol, which, considering the band’s brand of blissful pop music, is ironically the side project of, Dennis Lyxzén, the former lead singer of hardcore-punk masterminds The Refused.
The second half of the album opens with Brendan Benson’s relentlessly twinkly “Cold Hands (Warm Heart)” and Death Cab’s beautiful “Marching Bands of Manhattan”, before Sufjan Stevens steals the show with his incredible acoustic rendition of “Chicago”, which was one of the best songs of 2005 and is only more pulchritudinous (I already used “beautiful” once in this sentence) when stripped down to it’s acoustic core. Next Bloc Party makes their standard appearance with “So Here We Are”, one of the slower, more moving tracks on Silent Alarm, which flows inexplicably well into Sigur Ros’ remarkable “Hoppipolla”, which embodies the pristine glaciality (not a real word!) of an icy winter more perfectly than any other song on this mix. Finally, Sufjan Stevens opens the final third of the album with “The Predatory Wasp”, the most moving and epic ballad on Illinois (an album full of moving and epic ballads), which moves into Stars’ “On Peak Hill”, a gem from Stars debut album (Nightsongs) that’s much less well-known but might actually be better than “Your Ex-Lover Is Dead” (yeah, I said it). Finally, German pop-masterminds The Notwist and the equally-incredible Postal Service close out the album on a decidedly electronic note, with “Consequence”, one of the more beautiful electronic ballads ever written, and a live version of “Brand New Colony”, which was recorded on KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic (see my full write-up of that session here, complete with un-downloadable MP3s!) and features all kind of new, though subtle, bells and whistles. I hope this is as enjoyable for everyone to listen to as it was for me to make. MP3s below, as always, the ((highly recommended)) is implied.
M3 Volume 7:
1. “White Collar Boy” - Belle & Sebastian
2. “The Start of Something” - Voxtrot
3. “The CN Tower Belongs To The Dead” - Final Fantasy
4. “Fake Palindromes” - Andrew Bird
5. “With Arms Outstretched” - Rilo Kiley
6. “Alright” - The Lost Patrol
7. “Cold Hands (Warm Heart)” - Brendan Benson
8. “Marching Bands of Manhattan” - Death Cab For Cutie
9. “Chicago” (Acoustic) - Sufjan Stevens
10. “So Here We Are” - Bloc Party
11. “Hoppipolla” - Sigur Ros
12. “The Predatory Wasp” - Sufjan Stevens
13. “On Peak Hill” - Stars
14. “Consequence” - The Notwist
15. “Brand New Colony” (Live on KCRW) - Postal Service
February 24th, 2006 at 3:13 am
downloads are not working for me, is everything up ok?
February 24th, 2006 at 3:16 am
they worked for me. Thanks Derek….the mix is a beautiful sountrack to the winter. I love Final Fantasy!
February 24th, 2006 at 4:06 am
not working for me
February 24th, 2006 at 7:18 am
not working
February 24th, 2006 at 9:31 am
Hi!
I just found your site, linked from Waxy to your Feist post… Remembered the site from back when you had your music vid post. Saw you were at the Satellite Ballroom for Feist and didn’t realize you were at UVA. I’m working in the Chemistry dept here right now (graduated May 05). And I’m insanely jealous that you got to see Sigur Ros in New York.
Robby
p.s. the downloads work for me too.
February 24th, 2006 at 10:32 am
I like that Stars song. Great Post. Downloads work for me to.
February 24th, 2006 at 4:48 pm
Hey - I’m relatively new to your blog but I LOVE this mix - its great.
February 24th, 2006 at 5:17 pm
The acoustic Sufjan captures the beauty of the words and his voice, the emotion of the song. Thanks for sharing.
February 24th, 2006 at 5:31 pm
hey thanks for the mix
it’s great
my fav. was cold hands warm heart
i also found this site from waxy
February 24th, 2006 at 5:34 pm
if you’re having trouble downloading the songs but ur quicktime plug in is working here’s the solution
on mozilla go to view
page style then click no style
right click somewhare away from the player
go to page info and under media click the azarchive thing and click save as
February 24th, 2006 at 5:36 pm
also works on firefox
February 25th, 2006 at 11:20 am
this is a really great mix. love the blog, keep up the awesome work
February 25th, 2006 at 1:13 pm
that postal service song is amazing!! does anyone know where i can find the rest of that session (if there was one)?? email at canadianidentity@hotmail.com please and thanx
February 25th, 2006 at 2:56 pm
Love the blog, love the mixes! Fantastic music.
February 25th, 2006 at 6:22 pm
Hey Guys , downloads work for me by Flashget
Thanks for ur great mix.
February 25th, 2006 at 7:18 pm
thank you.
these songs are enchanting, inspiring and refreshing.
i’m going to tell everyone about them!
February 25th, 2006 at 8:23 pm
Hey,
Great selection. Do any of you know how I can save these tracks onto my computer? I’m using an Apple.
February 26th, 2006 at 7:56 am
Fantastic mix! First time downloader of the M3 series.
Sufjan rocks my socks! lol Thanks for the compilation. 
February 26th, 2006 at 9:46 am
Beautiful selection!!!
February 27th, 2006 at 12:26 am
derek.
you are the honey nut to my cheerios.
February 27th, 2006 at 2:22 am
can’t download either and the mix looks great…
February 27th, 2006 at 10:37 pm
Nice mix, especially the Stars (:cough:).
(Your friend Austin tells me you had a ticket to the show and didn’t go! What is wrong with you?! You know what, I don’t think I can read your blog anyhore! Haha.)
February 27th, 2006 at 10:44 pm
!
February 27th, 2006 at 11:10 pm
Yes, that’s right. From now on, no more GWFA, only ATG. And if I ever hear of you skipping a Stars show again, I will have one of my many UVA friends hunt you down.
February 28th, 2006 at 12:02 am
That Lost Patrol song is ADDICTIVE. I need more of this band!! As usual, an amazing selection…I was already familiar with some of the songs (The Notwist, B&S, etc.), but put in this combination they’re even better and I’ve played this mix over and over again!
February 28th, 2006 at 12:39 pm
So Katherine, I hear you were lucky enough to see Stars at The Black Cat last Friday, and just to clarify I did not have a ticket to that show (read my full explanation over at All Things Go in response to Austin’s lies), and if I did I would never ever even fathom skipping it. I’m especially disheartened to read at your site that I missed their DC stop on what was there “last tour for a while”. Glad it was a great show though, not that I could imagine it wouldn’t be. As for what you said on your site about “Celebration Guns” being their most impressive lyrical piece, I agree that it’s up there, but I still think “Your Ex-Lover Is Dead” is Stars’ masterwork and the song that Stars were put on this earth to record, both from a lyrical and musical perspective. No other band currently in existence could possibly capture the heartbreak of a failed relationship from both perspectives of the partners better than Stars did in that song. Remarkable. Regarding M3V7 though, I’m just wondering if they played “On Peak Hill” at Black Cat. I’d absolutely die to see that live, they didn’t play it when I saw them open for Death Cab @ 9:30. But yeah, please don’t get your UVA friends to beat me up. That’d just be unpleasant.
March 1st, 2006 at 9:41 am
They did not play On Peak Hill, unfortunately. It would have been nice, but I was just hoping for “Tonight.”
March 1st, 2006 at 12:29 pm
Whoa… through my magical stalker-ish ways (i.e. facebook), I just realized you know Nancie Chao. She can be rather feisty; perhaps I should have her attack you?
September 19th, 2006 at 1:50 pm
Sigur Ros - Hoppippolla isn’t working for me, I really want to hear it, I’ve only heard the cover that We Are Scientists do of it.
September 20th, 2006 at 4:32 pm
exactly my problem…
September 20th, 2006 at 8:13 pm
Sigur Ros - Hoppippolla
Tantalizing, but unavailable.
*Sigh*
September 20th, 2006 at 8:55 pm
Everyone - I’ll fix Hoppipolla tonight, I must have forgotten to update the link by accident.
September 21st, 2006 at 5:54 pm
Everyone - I’ll fix Hoppipolla tonight, I must have forgotten to update the link by accident.
Derek, You are a prince among men.
Thank you. I look forward to hearing the piece.
September 25th, 2006 at 1:19 pm
I know you are a busy man. At least I suppose you are, and could therefore not find the time for Sigur Ros yet. No problem, dude!
September 25th, 2006 at 3:19 pm
Shit, every time I remember to re-upload “Hoppipolla” ezarchive is down or not working. I promise I haven’t completely forgot!