What It Is: A weekly mix tape posted on Mondays, created by the fans of Addicted to Vinyl, posted for all to enjoy!

Be A Part Of It: I want you to make me/us a mix CD. I want to hear the tunes that you are into, new or old. And I want to feature your mix on this site!

You can mail your CD to the following address:

Addicted to Vinyl
P.O. Box 771685
Lakewood, OH 44107

What To Include: Include track listing, album that the song comes from, song notes (if you want to) and any particular notes that you want to share about the mix. Save a digital copy of your notes that you can send me via email, so I don’t get carpal tunnel retyping them! Include a printed copy of the notes, and an email address that I can use to contact you for the digital version of the notes. For the real mix tape feel, feel free to hand write your song titles, draw artistic drawings on the “label,” etc – I can scan them in using my handy dandy color scanner. Go nuts!

And if you’re feeling particularly daring, give your mix a clever title!

What You’ll Get: I’ll feature your mixes and stories here on the site, and send you something cool from the Addicted to Vinyl prize closet, so please include your address (legibly please!) with your mix notes.

We’ve got some great submissions coming in so far, and I think I’ll probably feature the first reader mix here next Monday. I made four more mixes this past week (I think I’m kinda sucked in here..) and thought that I’d share another one of mine here, before we dig into some reader stuff next week. For this particular mix, I made a playlist with particular cuts that caught my ear as they came up on my Ipod. Once I had a good playlist worth of tunes, I re-sequenced the running order slightly, and had myself a new mix.

Halfway To The Distant Sun (download)

1. Matthew Sweet – “Time Machine” – Last year’s Sunshine Lies wasn’t quite the album I was hoping for from Matthew Sweet, although it was good to finally see him live when he came around to the Beachland. I’m looking forward to the release of Under The Covers vol. 2 on July 21st, and I also had the chance to snag a cool vinyl EP set from the first Sweet/Hoffs disc, during a recent visit to Music Saves.

2. Fountains of Wayne – “Baby, I’ve Changed” – If you haven’t said these words, chances are that you’ve thought ’em. The Fountains of Wayne compilation Out of State Plates is one of the greatest odds and sods compilations that you’ll ever come across, and is essential stuff for the FOW fan. While you’re at it, you’d do well to add their recent live DVD release to your collection as well!

3. Crowded House – “Distant Sun” – The Crowded House double live Farewell To The World CD set the alarm clock that woke up my long dormant love for Crowded House. I ended up re-buying the entire catalog of releases that I was lacking, during my recent Ann Arbor trip a couple of weeks back. “Distant Sun” is a song that oddly enough, comes off of the one Crowded House album that I kept through the years, Together Alone. I’m not sure how I missed it all of these years, but I heard it on Farewell, and it really struck a chord. I love the innocence of the lyrics, which can be appreciated by anyone that has spent any amount of time trying to figure out love.

Tell me all the things you would change
I don’t pretend to know what you want
when you come around and spin my top
time and again, time and again
No fire where I lit my spark
I am not afraid of the dark
Where your words devour my heart
and put me to shame, put me to shame

I missed seeing Crowded House during their reunion tour in support of Time On Earth, and I’m excited to see that they are at work on a follow-up album. For anyone that is looking to find out what Crowded House is all about, you won’t find a more perfect primer than Farewell To The World, which is everything that you need to know about Crowded House on two discs.

4. Bruce Hornsby and the Noisemakers – “Circus On The Moon” – From the Noisemakers Summer 2007 compilation that was distributed as a free download via BruceHornsby.Com a couple of years ago. I’ve been wishing for a Cleveland Noisemakers date for quite a few years now, and perhaps with a new album on the horizon from Bruce and the Noisemakers, we’ll get it. The original studio version of this song can be had on Halcyon Days, which is in my opinion, a very underrated Bruce disc.

5. Blue Rodeo – “Blue House” – From the Blue Road acoustic live CD/DVD release. As a fan of the Jim Cuddy side of Blue Rodeo, sometimes the Greg Keelor sung numbers take a little while longer to work their way into my music lovin’ heart. “Blue House” is a good example of one of those Blue Rodeo tunes that I didn’t quite get, until I got the chance to see it a few times on stage as the band toured behind Small Miracles. Blue Road didn’t look very compelling to me when I first saw the track listing, but after hearing it, I fell in love and the streak continues. The “streak” would be the complete catalog of Blue Rodeo releases – I’ve yet to meet one that I didn’t like.

6. Survivor – “The One That Really Matters” – The story of my love for the Eye Of The Tiger album is best saved for another day, and another blog post. For now, I’ll tell you how I first heard “The One That Really Matters.” We were living in New Mexico, and I was browsing through the stacks of vinyl at the local flea market, when I came across a white label promo 45 of “The One That Really Matters.” I liked the song title, and it was a song that I hadn’t heard by a band that I knew that I liked. This particular 25 cent purchase opened the door to my eventual love for the Eye Of The Tiger album. I know it looks like I just told the story that I said I wasn’t going to tell, but really, there is a whole ‘nother story yet to be told.

7. Rick Springfield – “Alyson” – Don’t laugh at me. Don’t judge me. I’ve actually had a Springfield post brewing, and haven’t had a chance to knock it out. I’ve always thought that this is one of the underrated songs in the Springfield catalog. And on a side note, I recently discovered that if you Twitter “just a little sexual tension, under the guise of love,” a lyric from “Alyson,” you too can lose followers. This one comes from the Living In Oz album.

8. Tom Petty – “One More Day, One More Night” – From the Echo disc, which is not one of my favorite discs from Petty. Sometimes those are the albums that have buried gems, and that was the case with “One More Day, One More Night” when it popped up on my Ipod.

9. Doobie Brothers – “South City Midnight Lady” – I was in a Borders a few years ago looking to pick up a Doobie Brothers greatest hits disc, to get a copy of “The Doctor.” I grabbed Greatest Hits, and behind Greatest Hits was Doobie’s Choice, a great companion to Greatest Hits, featuring a disc’s worth of the necessary album tracks, as selected by the Doobies. I saw “Another Park, Another Sunday,” which a co-worker at the radio station had introduced me to some time back, and knew that I had to take Doobie’s Choice home with my Greatest Hits purchase. Doobie’s Choice is one of my favorite albums to pull out when I’m in the mood to hear something good. And God knows, I’ve got plenty of choices to choose from in that category.

10. Sammy Hagar – “Halfway to Memphis” – This one caught my ear for the first time on Not 4 Sale, an album that came and went quickly when the label that put it out went belly-up shortly after release. Hagar gave this one a second life and reached a few more ears when he included it on Livin’ It Up.

11. Bruce Springsteen – “Gypsy Biker” – I wasn’t blown away with Springsteen’s Magic release, but he sold me on it, as he so often does, when I saw several dates on the Magic tour. “Gypsy Biker” was a definite highlight of the Magic tunes featured in the setlist throughout the tour.

12. Eels – “Sweet Lil’ Thing” – My love for E and the Eels has been briefly documented in various places on this site. blinking lights and other revelations was the great Eels album that I had been waiting to hear, after a couple of non-stellar efforts. Definitely looking forward to hearing the new album Hombre Lobo in June.

13. Liz Phair – “Rock Me” – Cleveland songwriter Nicholas Megalis and I were nerding out talking about everything from Kate Bush to The Kills to Liz Phair. He expressed his love for Exile (not bad, considering he’s barely 20,) and I asked him if he had heard the later period stuff from Liz, which I enjoy as well. He had, and was a fan, and from there we talked about 10 to 20 more bands and singer/songwriters before we called an end to the nerd session. A few days later, this one came up on my Ipod, from the self-titled Liz Phair release.

Have mercy.

14. Jenny Owen Youngs – “Secrets” – I’ll end this mix with a new cut from what will be in my top 5 favorite albums of the year, without a doubt. Transmitter Failure is the brand new album from Jenny Owen Youngs, and it is just as fantastic as the initial single “Led To The Sea” indicated that it could be. Transmitter Failure will be available in stores on May 26th, and it is begging for your ears to give it a listen. I can’t wait to see Jenny live here in Cleveland, hopefully soon! “Secrets” is the perfect song for anyone that’s ever found themselves trapped in a relationship wracked with constant jealousy. Pre-order the new album here.

Here is a video for “Clean Break,” another tune that you’ll find on Transmitter Failure:

Jenny Owen Youngs – Clean Break from Jenny Owen Youngs on Vimeo.

Enjoy the mix, and have a great week!