M3 Volume 11… Finally
UPDATE: The mp3 links are now working, so you can now download the songs individually. Please “right click > save target as” to directly download the files rather than streaming, as I’ve got a new host and now have to monitor my bandwith. Thanks for your cooperation and for bearing with us during our brief period of downtime last week. Regular updating will resume today with a complete day-by-day review of CMJ.
Good news, denizens of Good Weather For Airstrikes; my hard drive has been salvaged! My laptop itself is in shambles, but from its icy clutches I was able to pry M3 Volume 11 (hooray) and the rest of my schoolwork and mp3s, so feel free to commence rejoicing in the streets if you’re so inclined. And on that note, onto the big show:
[cover art adapted from photograph by Darien Lives]
Our hosting is almost all sorted out - I’ve uploaded M3 Volume 11 to my server using my FTP client but now I have the small issue of figuring out where those files are actually located (what the direct download links for the files are). However, rather than leaving you hanging yet another day, I’ve uploaded the entire thing to MediaFire so you can download it as a .zip file there while you wait for the individual song links to get posted. I’m working on the individual links now and they should be up by tomorrow at the latest, contact me on AIM (screen name = DerekDavies) if you’re experienced in the realm of FTP and think you might be able to help me out.
The prominent attributes of the songs on M3 V11 are their penchant for piano rock, the anthemic, and, um, Britishness. The first half of the mix is heavily piano-centric, with an anthemic streak characterizing tracks 2, 3 and 4, with 10 of the 14 artists on the mix calling the United Kingdom home. Spoon, Ben Folds and Jon Brion hold it down for the U, S and A, and the Stills represent for our Canadian neighbors to the North, but all three are the vast geographic minority on this one.
I generally write a sentence or two about each song on the mix, but I’ve found that those generally turn out just to be a bit of a redundancy-fest with me recycling the words “catchy”, “awesome”, “ethereal”, and “excellent” in equal parts. Thus, I’m just going to summarize the mix in general, pointing out a few of the highlights along the way. You’ve got your fair share of indie classics here, with Ben Folds and Spoon leading the way with “Army” and “The Way We Get By”, respectively. “The Day We Caught The Train” continues the anthemic streak with that “oh-whoa-la-dee-da” refrain and is actually my favorite song to come out of the entire mid-90’s Britpop explosion, though it didn’t see the same success in the US that Ocean Colour Scene contemporaries Blur and Oasis did. Seriously though, that refrain alone is enough to make Francis Scott Key jealous, and “Caught The Train” just might be the best song here. Elsewhere, Snowfight In The City Centre and Air Traffic hold it down just like you knew they would, and Jeremy Warmsley’s “Dirty Blue Jeans” is one of the absolute best tracks of the year. You should know that if you asked me in 2004 what the best song of that year was, I probably would have said Razorlight’s “Golden Touch” deserved the honor, and while my opinion’s not quite the same today, it’s still a phenomenal track and fits into the mix perfectly. Finally, you’ve got your obligatory Bloc Party appearance with “This Modern Love” and fellow VICErs the Stills close things out in flawless fashion with “Yesterday Never Tomorrows”.
This might be my favorite M3 yet, so get on it and download this hotness like your life depended on it. Or something.
NOTE: We’ve added some minor upgrades to the M3 system with M3 Volume 11. First of all, the album artwork is now 600 x 600 dpi and is available for download immediately below. Secondly, whereas all songs on the M3s were previously 160 kbps-quality, they’re now all at least 192 kbps or above, enhancing the listening experience for those of you audiophiles out there.
High Resolution Artwork: [Front Cover] [Back Cover]
Download: M3 Volume 11 [follow link]
M3 Volume 11:
01. “Just Abuse Me” - Air Traffic
02. “What We Did Wrong” - Duels
03. “The Day We Caught The Train” - Ocean Colour Scene
04. “The Way We Get By” - Spoon
05. “Never Even Told Me Her Name” - Air Traffic
06. “Army” - Ben Folds Five
07. “I Believe She’s Lying” - Jon Brion
08. “Dirty Blue Jeans” - Jeremy Warmsley
09. “Naive” - The Kooks
10. “Golden Touch” - Razorlight
11. “No Light Left” - Snowfight In The City Centre
12. “Chocolate” - Snow Patrol
13. “This Modern Love” - Bloc Party
14. “You Could Have Both” - The Long Blondes
15. “Yesterday Never Tomorrows” - The Stills