Kiss! Kiss! Bang! Bang! (The James Bond Mix)

James Bond has long been one of my favorite film heroes. Growing up I would watch and rewatch my favorite Bond films (mostly taped on VHS from TBS “15 Days of 007” marathons) and although the franchise’s quality is pretty hit-or-miss, I’ll always have a particular fondness for the suave secret agent.

The latest Bond film Skyfall opens today, and I’ve been anticipating it way more than usual due to the amazing cast (Javier Bardem is an inspired villain choice) and director Sam Mendes (of American Beauty / Road to Perdition fame). In honor of the new film, I’ve made the Kiss! Kiss! Bang! Bang! mix (which is what international folk call James Bond movies, as well as an awesome Robert Downey Jr film). Download the tracks below and click here to listen on Spotify.

MP3 Chromatics –  Kill For Love
MP3 PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
MP3 The Wrens – Faster Gun
MP3 Pulp – I Spy
MP3 Simon & Garfunkel – Roving Gambler
MP3 U2  – Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
MP3 Franz Ferdinand – I’m Your Villain
MP3 Camera Obscura – James
MP3 Clive Tanaka y Su Orquestra – International Heartbreaker
MP3 The Roots – Pussy Galore
MP3 Florence and the Machine – Kiss With A Fist
MP3 Lupe Fiasco – Go Go Gadget Flow
MP3 David Bowie – Always Crashing In The Same Car
MP3 The Raveonettes – Bang!

Spotify Mix: Kiss! Kiss! Bang! Bang! (The James Bond Mix)

The iPhone 5 Ringtones Mix

As you may know, today is the official iPhone 5 release day and yes, I’m one of those dorks that got up in the middle of the night and waited in line to get my hands on the phone early, deal with it. In honor of the new device (which I’m completely loving, by the way, iOS6 Maps aside), I’ve made a mix of 18 tracks that make great ringtones, which you can download below for your own shiny new iPhone 5 (or your old, outdated iPhone 4S).

What makes a great ringtone track you say? Well, usually I gravitate towards upbeat songs with an ultra-catchy intro (although sometimes I prefer to use another part of the song, as I’ve noted below). To make it super-easy for you, I’ve included a tutorial on how to turn MP3s into Ringtones using just iTunes. Download the mix below and see the tutorial after the jump.

MP3 Phoenix – Consolation Prizes (intro)
MP3 M83 – Midnight City (intro)
MP3 Frank Ocean – Pyramids (begin at 1:12 when the electro synths come in)
MP3 New Order – Age of Consent (intro)
MP3 Jens Lekman – A Sweet Summer’s Night On Hammer Hill (intro)
MP3 Cut Copy – Feel The Love (intro)
MP3 Feist – Mushaboom (begin at chorus)
MP3 Cat Stevens – Here Comes By Baby (intro)
MP3 Kanye West – All Of The Lights (intro)
MP3 Curtis Mayfield – Move On Up (intro)
MP3 Beach House – Lazuli (begin at the “oh ohs” at :34)
MP3 Hot Chip – Boy From School (intro)
MP3 David Bowie – Sound and Vision (intro)
MP3 The Knife – Heartbeats (begin at drum fill at :42)
MP3 The Cure – In Between Days (intro)
MP3 M.I.A. – Bad Girls (intro or “chain hits my chest”)
MP3 Iggy & The Stooges – Search and Destroy (intro)
MP3 Daft Punk – Digital Love (begin at keyboard solo at 3:32)

Leave your favorite ringtone songs in the comments!

Autumn (Or What It Feels Like To Fall) Vol. 3

After the record-breaking hot and humid summer we just had, Autumn and the cooler temperatures that come with it, is a most welcome change. Who doesn’t love pulling out their sweaters and scarfs, admiring the lovely shades of reds and yellows, and the smell of the bonfires and apple cider in the air? With the changing trees and temperatures, the music I most associate with the season is different too, focusing on the wistful, laid-back and mostly acoustic songs that wrap around you like a warm sweater. As we always do at Music For Ants, we’re proving a new mix of songs for you put on while you’re walking across the quad with leaves crunching under your feet or drinking your hot Pumpkin Spice Latte on the way to work in the morning. Download below or listen at Spotify. Enjoy!

MP3 A.C. Newman – I’m Not Talking
MP3 The Tallest Man On Earth – Little Brother
MP3 Memoryhouse – Heirloom
MP3 Father John Misty – Only Son Of The Ladies Man
MP3 The National – Exile Villify
MP3 Air Review – America’s Son
MP3 DIIV – Earthboy
MP3 Sharon Van Etten – Leonard
MP3 The Helio Sequence – October
MP3 Grizzly Bear – Gun-Shy
MP3 Wild Nothing – Through The Grass
MP3 Andrew Bird – Lusitania
MP3 Evans The Death – Letter Of Complaint
MP3 Sun Kil Moon – Among The Leaves
MP3 Bowerbirds – In The Yard
MP3 Band of Horses – Slow Cruel Hands Of Time
MP3 TW Walsh – Natural Causes
MP3 First Aid Kit – King of the World
MP3 The Walkmen – Song For Leigh
MP3 M. Ward – There’s A Key
MP3 Sarah Mary Chadwick – Fools Like Me
MP3 Farewell J.R. – A Thought, A Mind
MP3 Wilco – Rising Red Lung
MP3 The Mynabirds – Greatest Revenge

Download the full mix here: AutumnMix-Vol3.zip (177.99 MB)
Spotify Playlist: Autumn (Or What It Feels Like To Fall) Vol. 3

Best Albums of 2012 (so far) + Songs Mix

photo via cubagallery

We’ve hit the halfway point for 2012 and that can only mean it’s time for our annual mid-year recap of the best albums of the year so far. Looking through my list of favorite albums, I’ve noticed a surprising dominance of guitar-oriented rock and folk music and a general lack of electronica (with Grimes, Hot Chip and Chromatics being the exceptions). I’ve listed the albums below with a sample track from each and (new this year!) I’ve added my 30 favorite songs of the year, which you can listen to in a handy-dandy Spotify playlist. So without further ado, these are the best albums (and songs) released in 2012 so far.

Best Albums of 2012 (so far)

First Aid Kit – The Lion’s Roar (January 24, Witchita)
MP3 The Lion’s Roar

 

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Hospitality – Hospitality (January 31, Merge)
MP3 Friends of Friends

 

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Shearwater – Animal Joy (February 14, Sub Pop)
MP3 You As You Were

 

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Grimes – Visions (February 21, 4AD)
MP3 Genesis

 

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Andrew Bird – Break It Yourself (March 6, Mom + Pop)
MP3 Eyeoneye

 

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Bowerbirds – The Clearing (March 6, Dead Oceans)
MP3 Tuck The Darkness In

 

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Kindness – World, You Need A Change Of Mind (March 20, Casablanca)
MP3 House

 

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Chromatics – Kill For Love (Mar 28, Soundcloud)
MP3 Kill For Love

 

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Allo, Darlin – Europe (April 17, Slumberland)
MP3 Capricornia

 

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Moonface – with Siinai: Heartbreaking Bravery (April 17, Jagjagwar)
MP3 Teary Eyes and Bloody Lips

 

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Spiritualized – Sweet Heart, Sweet Light (April 17, Fat Possum)
MP3 Hey Jane

 

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Beach House – Bloom (May 15, Sub Pop)
MP3 Myth

 

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Sigur Rós – Valtari (May 29, XL)
MP3 Ekki mukk

 

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Japandroids – Celebration Rock (May 29, Polyvinyl)
MP3 The House That Heaven Built

 

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Hot Chip – In Our Heads (June 12, Domino)
MP3 Night And Day

 

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Honorable Mentions:
Cloud Nothings
Sharon Van Etten
Alabama Shakes
of Montreal
Tallest Man On Earth
Fanfarlo
Porcelain Raft
Sun Kil Moon

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Best Songs of 2012 (so far) Mix

Click here to listen via Spotify Playlist. Click below to view the tracklist.

[spoiler intro=”View Tracklist”]

Alabama Shakes – Be Mine
Allo, Darlin’ – Capricornia
Andrew Bird – Danse Carribe
Beach House – Lazuli
Best Coast – Up All Night
Bobby Womack – Please Forgive My Heart
Bowerbirds – Tuck The Darkness In
Chairlift – I Belong In Your Arms
Chromatics – Kill For Love*
Cloud Nothings – Wasted Days
Eternal Summers – Millions*
Father John Misty – Nancy From Now On
First Aid Kit – EmmyLou
Grimes – Oblivion
Grizzly Bear – Sleeping Ute
Here We Go Magic – How Do I Know
Hospitality – Eighth Avenue
Hot Chip – Don’t Deny Your Heart
Japandroids – The House That Heaven Built
Kindness – SEOD
Moonface – Teary Eyes and Bloody Lips
of Montreal – Dour Percentage
Porcelain Raft – Unless You Speak From The Heart
Sharon Van Etten – Serpents
Shearwater – You As You Were
The Shins – Simple Song
Sigur Ros – Varúð
Spiritualized – So Long You Pretty Thing
Tallest Man On Earth – 1904
The Walkmen – We Can’t Be Beat

*unavailable on Spotify[/spoiler]

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Leave your favorite albums / songs in the comments. Thanks for reading!

 

Summer (Or What It Sounds Like) Vol. 3

(photo by gege.gatt)

After taking its sweet time last year, summer has struck back with a vengeance. At least here in the midwest, 90+ degree temperatures and clear, sunny skies are quickly becoming the norm. Of course, with summertime not only comes trips to the beach and increased slushie sales but exuberant, feel-good summer jams. As is our tradition here at Music For Ants, we’re providing a mix to soundtrack some of your 2012 summer memories. Download below or listen at Spotify. Enjoy!

MP3 Japandroids – The House That Heaven Built
MP3 Hospitality – All Day Today
MP3 GROUPLOVE – Naked Kids
MP3 Yellow Ostrich – Marathon Runner
MP3 Summer Heart – I Wanna Go
MP3 Eternal Summers – Millions
MP3 Beach House – Wild
MP3 Fanfarlo – Tightrope
MP3 Chairlift – I Belong In Your Arms
MP3 Of Monsters and Men – Little Talks
MP3 Last Days of 1984 – River’s Edge
MP3 Tennis – High Road
MP3 Niki & The Dove – Tomorrow
MP3 Xylos – Summerlong
MP3 Here We Go Magic – How Do I Know
MP3 Bear In Heaven – Kiss Me Crazy
MP3 Allo Darlin’ – Capricornia
MP3 Sleigh Bells – End of the Line
MP3 Kindness – Gee Up
MP3 TV Girl – It Evaporates
MP3 La Sera – I’m Alone
MP3 Canyons – When I See You Again
MP3 Jack White – Hip (Eponymous) Poor Boy
MP3 Sophia Knapp – Glasses High
MP3 Best Coast – Up All Night

Download the full mix here: SummerMix-Vol3.zip (134.2 MB)
Spotify Playlist: Summer (Or What It Sounds Like) Vol. 3

The Kids Are Alright (Children's Choir Mix)

Whether it’s Radiohead, Justice or Kanye West, lots of artists have used children’s choirs in their music and it can have the effect of sounding uplifting, cute, anthemic or just plain creepy. The Langley Schools Music Project album, Innocence & Despair showed that’s even possible to maintain the concept for an entire album and still be fascinating. Sigur Rós are the latest to use a children’s choir in their gorgeous track “Varúð” (translation: “Caution”) from their upcoming sixth LP, Valtari, and it inspired me to make a mix of some of my favorite uses of singing kids. Download below or listen to (most of) the mix at Spotify.

MP3 Radiohead – 15 Step
MP3 Gorillaz – Dirty Harry
MP3 Kanye West – We Don’t Care
MP3 The Smiths – Panic
MP3 Sigur Rós – Varúð
MP3 John Lennon – Happy Christmas (War Is Over)
MP3 Passion Pit – Little Secrets
MP3 The Wombats – Let’s Dance to Joy Division
MP3 The Decemberists – The Hazards of Love 3 (Revenge!)
MP3 Justice – D.A.N.C.E.
MP3 The Langley Schools Music Project – Space Oddity
MP3 Fun. – All Alright
MP3 Pink Floyd – Another Brick In The Wall (Part 1)
MP3 Jay-Z – Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)
MP3 Karen O and the Kids – All Is Love

Spotify Mix: The Kids Are Alright (Children’s Choir Mix)

Cover Songs (that are included on a proper album) Mix

Most of the time when an artist covers a song, they’ll release it as a single, b-side, EP, live performance, or as a part of a compilation or covers album. On the rare occasion though, artists will include a cover in the tracklisting of one of their proper albums, which usually signifies that they’ve put more thought into the cover version or have given it their own unique interpretation.

M. Ward is kind-of the apotheosis of this, including one or two covers on all his albums (including the just-released A Wasteland Companion) but this year I’ve also seen covers make it onto LPs for Chromatics and Kindness. I’ve made a mix of these particular breed of cover songs below, limiting myself to just tracks from the last decade-or-so. Download the mix below or listen to the Spotify Mix (which includes the original tracks). Let me know in the comments if you have any favorites that I missed!

MP3 M. Ward – Sweetheart (Daniel Johnston)
MP3 James Blake – Limit To Your Love (Feist)
MP3 Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins – Handle With Care (Traveling Wilburys)
MP3 Jose Gonzalez – Heartbeats (The Knife)
MP3 Chromatics – Into The Black (Neil Young)
MP3 Feist – Sea Lion Woman (Nina Simone)
MP3 Gnarls Barkley – Gone Daddy Gone (Violette Femmes
MP3 Luna – Sweet Child O’ Mine (Guns N’ Roses)
MP3 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. – We Almost Lost Detroit (Gil Scott-Heron)
MP3 Okkervil River – Black Sheep Boy (Tim Hardin)
MP3 Local Natives – Warning Sign (Talking Heads)
MP3 The White Stripes – I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself (Dusty Springfield)
MP3 Muse – Feeling Good (Nina Simone)
MP3 Cee-Lo Green – No One’s Gonna Love You (Band of Horses)
MP3 Kindness – Swinging Party (The Replacements)

Spotify Mix: Cover Songs (that are included on a proper LP) Mix (+ originals)

This Is Just A Meta Mix On A Blog

Inspired by the return of one of my favorite TV shows, the hyper self-aware Community (whose Abed could be considered the patron saint of meta-humor) and the self-referring “Simple Song” on the new Shins album out this week, I’ve made a mix of my favorite meta-referencing songs. By this I mean songs that specifically reference themselves in the lyrics (stuff like “it goes like this, the fourth, the fifth”, “take it to the chorus” and “Second verse, same as the first verse” are out). I chose 20 of my favorite self-referencing songs for this mix, of which you can download / read each meta lyric below or listen to the mix on Spotify. If you can think of any good ones I missed, let me know in the comments. Cool. Cool cool cool.

MP3 The Shins – Simple Song

Well this is just a simple song / To say what you’ve done

MP3 Belle & Sebastian –  This Is Just A Modern Rock Song

This is just a modern rock song / This is just a tender affair / I count “three, four” and then we start to slow / Because a song has got to stop somewhere

MP3 David Bowie – Five Years

I think I saw you in an ice-cream parlour / Drinking milk shakes cold and long / Smiling and waving and looking so fine / Don’t think you knew you were in this song

MP3 Pulp – Something Changed

I wrote this song two hours before we met / I didn’t know your name or what you looked like yet

MP3 Carly Simon – You’re So Vain

You’re so vain / You probably think this song is about you

MP3 Wilco – Someone Else’s Song

I know it sounds like someone else’s song / From a long time ago

MP3 The Beatles – Only A Northern Song

If you’re listening to this song / You may think the chords are wrong / But they’re not / We just wrote them like that

MP3 Coldplay – Yellow

I came along / I wrote a song for you / And all the things you do / And it was called Yellow

MP3 Neil Young – Borrowed Tune

I’m singin’ this borrowed tune / I took from the Rolling Stones / Alone in this empty room / Too wasted to write my own

MP3 The Magic Numbers – This Is A Song

This is a song / and these are the words

MP3 Steely Dan – Deacon Blues

I cried when I wrote this song / Sue me if I play too long

MP3 Billy Bragg – A New England

I was twenty-one years when I wrote this song / I’m twenty two now but I won’t be long

MP3 The Postal Service – Such Great Heights

And when you scan the radio / I hope this song will guide you home

MP3 Leonard Cohen – Bird on a Wire

But I swear by this song / By all I have done wrong / I’ll make it up to you

MP3 Islands – This Is Not A Song

If this is just a song / then why do I find it so hard to move on

MP3 Okkervil River – Get Big

And once we get to the end of this song / then another will begin

MP3 The Magnetic Fields – I Think I Need A New Heart

‘Cause it all comes out wrong / Unless I put it in a song / So the radio plays / “I Think I Need a New Heart” / Just for you

MP3 Ted Leo & The Pharmacists – Hearts of Oak

I was whistling a new song to myself  / And it went, it went something like this one

MP3 Elton John – Your Song

My gift is my song / And this one’s for you

MP3 Weezer – Across The Sea

I’ve got your letter / You’ve got my song

Spotify Playlist: This Is Just A Meta Mix On Spotify

Leap Day Mix (Real life is for March!)

Happy Leap Day, everyone! As you all know, leap day is the extra special bonus day we get every four years at the end of February, and where (as 30 Rock shows us) the gilled & mustachioed Leap Day William emerges from his home at the bottom of the Mariana Trench to trade children’s tears for candy. It was, of course, immortalized in the Jim Carrey film Leap Dave Williams (which is showing all day today on the USA network), where uptight lawyer Dave Williams turns into the real Leap Day William after an ice fishing trip gone awry (classic line: “I definitely don’t have gills, I mean nothing!”). In between wearing yellow and blue, eating rhubarb, and singing Leap Day carols, I’ve made this mix for you to enjoy. Remember, nothing counts against you on Leap Day, so feel free to go crazy, real life is for March.

MP3 +/- (Plus Minus) – Leap Year
MP3 The Smiths – William, It Was Really Nothing
MP3  My Morning Jacket – One Big Holiday
MP3 ELO – Mr. Blue Sky
MP3 Twin Shadow – Yellow Balloon
MP3 Prince – Let’s Go Crazy
MP3 John Maus – Quantum Leap
MP3 The Thermals – At The Bottom of the Sea
MP3 Stevie Wonder – Joy Inside My Tears
MP3 The Raveonettes – You Want The Candy
MP3 What Made Milwaukee Famous – Around The Gills
MP3 The New Amsterdams – Four More Years
MP3 The The – This Is The Day

Spotify Playlist: Leap Day Mix (Real life is for March!)

What A Fun Saxy Time For You

The saxophone has gotten a bad reputation in modern music. It often conjures up tongue-in-cheek appreciation or outright disdain; the sax has almost totally lost the essence of cool it once possessed. But, unbeknownst to them, many artists in 2011 are working to revive the maligned instrument. From sweeping crescendos to accents of personality, we’ve picked a handful of songs from the past year that we think are providing the saxophone as much-needed resurgence. Download the tracks below and listen to the extended mix on Spotify and as always, feel free to mention any songs you think we missed, or talk about how much sax sucks, in the comments.

MP3 Destroyer – Downtown

Rather than try and rehabilitate the instrument’s image, Dan Bejar fully embraces the corny, smooth jazz qualities of the saxophone. Except in his hands those things that seem annoying end up as strengths; the sax runs on “Downtown” add touches of color that give the song character. With “Downtown” and the rest of Kaputt, Bejar laid the groundwork for how the sax would be perceived in 2011.

MP3 Fleet Foxes – The Shrine/An Argument

Fleet Foxes opted to use the saxophone in the same manner many artists do these days: to create cacophony. When you want a listener to feel things are completely falling apart, there are few instruments better capable at communicating this than a wild sax running around with its head cut off. It’s notable that this use of the instrument has become the norm, as people have shied away from some of its inherently goofy aspects.

MP3 M83 – Midnight City

What do you do when you need to make an already massive song even bigger? Add saxophone! That’s exactly what Anthony Gonzales did to give “Midnight City” the final push it needed to achieve transcendent ecstasy. It’s a tactic that hasn’t been used much since the 80s, but Gonzales proves that it’s still just as effective today as it was then.

MP3 Iron & Wine – Big Burned Hand

The saxophone on “Big Burned Hand” doesn’t sound odd or out of place in context. In fact, Sam Beam uses it very effectively to form the swinging backbone of the song. What’s surprising is that he used the instrument at all. Hearing a sax as the basis for an Iron & Wine song is jarring at first, but by the end of “Big Burned Hand” you realize it’s just another tool in Beam’s shed.

MP3 Lady Gaga – The Edge of Glory

It’s not just the bands we all know and love that had a hand in reviving the saxophone this year; mainstream pop helped keep the instrument in the minds of the masses. “Edge of Glory” harkens back to that same time as “Midnight City”, but unlike that song the sax here serves as decoration; it’s merely filler during the breakdown. It reminds us that at one time, the instrument was so prevalent that nearly every song on the radio contained a seemingly mandatory sax solo, whether it needed one or not.

MP3 The Rapture – How Deep Is Your Love?

The Rapture find a middle ground between “The Edge of Glory” and “Midnight City” on “How Deep Is Your Love”. The band is no stranger to the saxophone, it’s been all over their records from the start. Which is why the instrument sounds so at home here. It’s not there for showmanship or as an ironic reference to past styles, The Rapture use it as they would any other instrument. It’s merely another part of their dance arsenal.

MP3 Bon Iver – Beth/Rest

We’re not here to talk about what everyone thinks of “Beth/Rest”. It’s maybe the most controversial song of the year, and that’s a discussion for another day. But, like it or hate it, you have to agree that without the saxophone the climax of the song wouldn’t be nearly as powerful. It’s not necessarily powerful in itself, but as a topper to the 35 or so minutes that precedes it, that magical instrument pushes things over the edge and provides the cherry on top of maybe the best album of the year.

MP3 Colin Stetson – The Stars in His Head

Our logical endpoint. Where others this year used saxophone as a means to an end, Stetson is redefining the way we think about the instrument. He created one of the best albums of the year using a tool that often gets relegated to ironic sidelines, wringing sounds out of the instrument that conjure up wholly new possibilities.

Spotify Playlist: What A Fun Saxy Time For You (w/ bonus sax songs!)