Slightly melancholy, who knows why?

So fresh on the heels of the Spring Fever mix, here is another, slightly melancholy mix. I really don't know why, I just needed to express this inner unsettledness (SO not a word...) and this is what did it. I just feel better when I listen to this mix I call With a Heart Wide Open. There are hopeful, happy songs sprinkled throughout; Matt Nathanson, Over the Rhine, Eastmountainsouth, and even Donny Osmond, for heaven's sake. Additionally, my 5-month obsession every year, American Idol, now posts all performances on iTunes for downloading. I have shown remarkable restraint, but couldn't resist my favorite tattoo'd chick Carly Smithson - her Here You Come Again during Dolly Parton week was stellar, showing her range, control, and excellent pitch. And I really like David Cook and what he did with Mariah Carey's Always Be My Baby.

Some new folks this time: Entertainment Weekly had an article highlighting up and coming female singer/songwriters, 6 of which I had heard and purchased, 4 I had not. Throw in a couple free singles of the week, a new Weepies album, John Mayer (from which the title comes) and Donny Osmond (so sue me), and it's a mix:

With a Heart Wide Open
Wish I Could Forget - The Weepies
Say - John Mayer
Here You Come Again - Carly Smithson (American Idol)
Come On Get Higher - Matt Nathanson
Blue Skies - Jaymay
Impossible - Larkin Gayl
I'm On a Roll - Over the Rhine
It's Only Life - Kate Voegele
Best Days - Graham Colton
Worrisome Heart - Melody Gardot
Between the Lines - Sarah Bareilles
The Wrong Girl - Missy Higgins
Always Be My Baby - David Cook (American Idol)
Mercy - Duffy
Apologize - OneRepublic
Madly - Tristan Prettyman
All the Stars - Eastmountainsouth
Under the Blacklight - Rilo Kiley
Breeze On By - Donny Osmond

My habit is to find, listen, order and reorder new music, create the mix, send it out, and start again. So as my friends and family are just getting familiar with that set of songs, I've already moved on. My gestation period is around three weeks - could be sooner this time, thanks to new music from MB-C. Of course, there will need to be a summer mix for the teachers in early June, so I do have a deadline...

Spring - Finally!

The daffodils are in full sunny glory, the hyacinth have started to burst, and the sneezing has begun - spring is here again. Of course, this calls for a Spring Fever mix - sent across the country and distributed to all our favorite teachers for spring break (including my high school choir director!).

i'd say that i have
Spring Fever
27 Jennifers - Mike Doughty
Don't Stop Believin' - Petra Haden
My Moon My Man - Feist
Hotel Song - Regina Spektor
It Might As Well Be Spring - Cheryl Bentyne
Sky - Joshua Radin w/Ingrid Michaelson
Taylor, the Latte Boy - Kristen Chenoweth
The Way I Feel - Matt Wertz
New Soul - Yael Naim
Modern Nature - Sondre Lerche w/Lillian Samdal
When Did Your Heart Go Missing - Rooney
Tears Dry On Their Own - Amy Winehouse
Sing Along - Virginia Coalition
Eye in the Sky - Jonatha Brooke
For Shame of Doing Wrong - Ida
Falling Slowly - Glen Hansard & Markete Irglova
Running - No Doubt
Breakin' Up - Rilo Kiley
Music is My Hot, Hot Sex - CSS
Paradise - Ana Serrano van der Laan
It Looks Like Love - Josh Rouse

Earlier versions featured Adele, Jars of Clay and Sheryl Crow, but I just wasn't happy with the flow. Plus they were a bit gloomy for the springtime vibe. And I've loved the song "It Might as Well Be Spring," since I sang it in high school with Mr. Benson's Vocal Jazz, and it took awhile to find a version I really liked. Annalise loves "The Way I Feel," calling it the happy song - and I can't argue, not "...when everything inside of me is singin' out." And everyone sings along to "Taylor, the Latte Boy," including the staff at the downtown Starbucks.

Someone asked me this week who it is that I make these mixes for: although I have made special mixes for specific people, I make these for myself first and foremost. Last year I created a playlist called, "Songs With Which I Am Currently Obsessed," but that label applies to just about every mix I've ever made.

Outside my obsession with the perfect mixtape, I work part-time for the Downtown Walla Walla Foundation as Events & PR Manager. I worked for this downtown revitalization group fresh out of Whitman (shudder) 17 years ago, volunteered for them after the kids were born, and became interim manager two summers ago. For the last year, I've reduced my hours to part-time (I use the terms 'reduced' and 'part-time' very loosely), but still eat-sleep-drink-breathe downtown. There's really no place else I'd rather spend time in Walla Walla. Watch this space for photos and interesting updates.

Silly Love Songs

My annual Valentine compilation is completed, Silly Love Songs Volume 4. This year, I decided to create a companion piece, Anti-Love Songs; good music I am crazy about that has a decidedly cynical cast. Playlists for both follow.

I have numerous sources for new music. Pandora online continues to bring me wondrous music I must own immediately. I subscribe to a great magazine called Paste that comes with a lovely sampler CD featuring 20 or so new songs every issue. In the past year, only one sampler has not made it into heavy rotation. I am an iTunes slut, visiting twice daily and always clicking through the "Listeners Also Bought" section to see what artists I didn't even know I loved. Movie or TV show soundtracks also offer inspiration - I believe my first TV show soundtrack purchase was thirtysomething, purchased in 1991. That was followed quickly by Northern Exposure. I've been obsessive about this for a long time, people. Holy crap, I'm old.

Silly Love Songs Vol. 4
I Only Have Eyes for You - Martina Topley-Bird
Words - Shawn Colvin
You Mean Everything To Me - Shawn Mullins
You Dance - eastmountainsouth
Love Is Free - Sheryl Crow
It Had Better Be Tonight - Michael Buble
Closer To You - Brandi Carlile
Cruel to Be Kind - Nick Lowe
Fever - A Fine Frenzy
Crazy Love - U Michigan Amazin' Blue
Be Be Your Love - Rachael Yamagata
One Sure Thing - Toby Lightman
Always - Ben Taylor
Warm Whispers - Missy Higgins
Let My Love Open the Door - Sondre Lerche
To Know Love - Little Big Town
Many The Miles - Sara Bareilles
The Way I Feel - Matt Wertz

Anti-Love Songs
Die Alone - Ingrid Michaelson
Hearsay - Jonatha Brooke
Don't Come Around Here No More - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
Fury - Little Big Town
Thorn In My Side - Eurythmics
Peachy - Missy Higgins
Tempted - Squeeze
Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On) - Alison Krauss & Robert Plant
I Should've Known Better - Nickel Creek
My Sweet Song - Toby Lightman
Hole In My Pocket - Sam Phillips
Who's Cryin' Now - Journey
Where Does the Good Go - Tegan and Sara
Broken - Tift Merritt
Ghost of Goodbye - Ford Turrell

And the previous volumes of Silly Love Songs:
Silly Love Songs Vol. 3 (2007)
Let There Be Love - Chris Botti with Michael Buble
La Vie en Rose - Tony Bennett & kd lang
Edge of Love - Mindy Smith
Echoes - Dar Williams
Fidelity - Regina Spektor
Charmed Life - Diana Krall
Crazy Little Thing Called Love - Michael Buble
Lay All Your Love On Me - ABBA
I Found Love - The Free Design
It's De-Lovely - Robbie Williams
Fools in Love - Inara George
Colors - Amos Lee
Love is Strange - Everything But the Girl
True - Spandeaux Ballet
Now Three - Vienna Teng
When the Blue Hour Comes - Joan Osborne
What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life - Sting with Chris Botti

Silly Love Songs Vol. 2 (2006)
I've Got A Crush On You - Michael Buble
Play Me - Neil Diamond
Give Your Mama One Smile - Madeleine Peyroux
The Things We Do for Love - 10CC
Still In Love - U of Rochester Vocal Point
Same in Any Language - I Nine
Love Me Like A Man - Diana Krall
Gimme Some Lovin' - The Spencer Davis Group
One Moment More - Mindy Smith
Like Lovers Do - Heather Nova
Addicted to Love - Robert Palmer
Wear Your Love Like Heaven - Sara McLachlan
Those Sweet Words - Norah Jones
It Must Be Love - Rickie Lee Jones
Crazy Love - Aaron Neville
You Can't Hurry Love - Dixie Chicks
Found Love - Jimmy Reed
Wink and a Smile - Harry Connick, Jr.

Silly Love Songs
When You Say Nothing At All - Alison Krauss
True Companion - Marc Cohn
Feels Like Home - Bonnie Raitt
I Know You By Heart - Eva Cassidy
Power of Two - Indigo Girls
God Only Knows - Manhattan Transfer
Someone to Watch Over Me - Linda Ronstadt
When You are Old - Martina McBride
Come Rain or Come Shine - Ray Charles
At Last - Etta James
Where You Lead - Carole King
Have I Told You Lately - Van Morrison
Silly Love Songs - Paul McCartney

It's about time...

Finally, I am entering the world of blogging. Everyone I know has a blog, even my niece. So why this blog, and why now? Of all the hats that I wear - wife, mother, volunteer, downtown advocate, procrastinator, etc., my passion is music. Listening to music, finding new music, discovering forgotten music, and sharing it with everyone. Crafting mixes that have a theme, that flow together nicely, or simply allow me to share the music with which I am currently obsessed. After three people in the space of one week asked why I didn't have a blog, or suggested that I start one, it seemed the time was now. So here it is - Walla Walla Mama Music.

I have slightly eclectic tastes, and a variety of sources. I tend toward the singer/songwriter, like acoustic more than electric, but have a strong affinity for a really good pop song. The mixtape (as Micah insists on calling it) obsession began with a Christmas CD I made for a few friends and family in 1998, the year our son Benjamin was born, called Ben Jammin'. I made another the following year, and the distribution list expanded. But why stop with Christmas? Now there are mixes for Valentine's Day, Spring Fever, Summer Lovin', Fall Conferences, or when the mood strikes.

Here is the playlist from the latest mix:

The Cure for your Holiday Hangover
Dan Wilson - Breathless
AJ Roach - Devil May Dance
Pelle Carlberg - I Love You, Imbecile
Ani DiFranco - Both Hands (2007 version)
Hall & Oates - I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)
Stephanie's Id - Unmistakably Love
Over the Rhine - All I Need is Everything
Brandi Carlile - The Story (Live)
Dar Williams - So Close to My Heart
Amos Lee - Keep It Loose, Keep It Tight
Shawn Colvin - Anywhere You Go
Tori Amos - Cornflake Girl
Kate Nash - Foundations
Liam Finn - Second Chance
John Butler Trio - Better Than
Dick Prall - The Cornflakes Song
Rilo Kiley - Silver Lining
Anna Ternheim - I'll Follow You Tonight
Serena Ryder - Brand New Love
John Mayer - Dreamin' With a Broken Heart

If you have thoughts, have music to suggest, feel you must ridicule my choices, please let me know. OK, don't tell me if you ridicule my choices.