Sterfish's Personal Mixes: Oddity

[You know, it seems like every time I do a series of posts, there is always an incredibly large gap between each installment. Sorry about that.]

Even though I have a lot of CD reviews left to write, I somehow got the urge to make a new mix for myself. I called this one “Oddity” because, well, the selection of songs is a bit strange. You'll see what I mean in this installment of Sterfish's Personal Mixes:

1. Hikaru Utada - “Passion (Opening Version)” from Kingdom Hearts II: I loved the opening to the original Kingdom Hearts and I love this one too.

2. Yoko Kanno & Maaya Sakamoto - “Trust Me” from 23 ni Ongaku (The Other Side Of Midnight OST): I really like the nice, moody feel to this song. You might just see it in the next Sterfish Shares post.

3. Girl Talk - “Bounce That”: You know how good DJ's often combine numerous songs of different types together in a mix? Well, imagine if a DJ did that in a single song and you get what Girl Talk does. You can download this song from Girl Talk's website.

4. The Avalanches - “Electricity (Single Version)”: This version of “Electricity” is somewhat different from the one on Since I Left You. It feels more like a conventional song and I don't mean that in a bad way.

5. J. Dilla - “Lightworks”: This is one of four songs from J. Dilla's Donuts album that I put on this mix. That album has really grown on me. When I finish my other reviews, I plan to write a really nice review of Donuts that also deals with my thoughts on J. Dilla.

6. GiR2007 - “Pancakes (With Sound Effects)”: This is the soundtrack to a fun little animated short that can be seen on YouTube. This can be downloaded from the creator's website.

7. Yoko Kanno - “Flashback Waltz” from Kamikaze Girls: Why is this on here? I love the creepy, cool way the strings warp in it. Yeah, I'm strange.

8. Tigarah - “Girl Fight”: Take one part M.I.A., one part crunk, and a whole lot of Japanese and you get Tigarah. This song is surprisingly good. Check out her website to listen to more.

9. Raconteurs vs. Nelly Furtado - “Steady As She Goes/Promiscuous (A-Trak Remix)”: There are good mashups and bad mashups. This one is a good one. A very good one, in my opinion. I found this on RAPINJUSTICE.

10. Wolfmother - “Woman (Avalances Millstream Remix)”: The Avalanches make this song damn near unrecognizable for those who have actually heard the original. Also found on RAPINJUSTICE.

11. Yoko Kanno & Gabriela Robin - “Pepper Stretch” from 23 ni Ongaku: Love the mood here and the way Gabriela Robin's unintelligible vocals make it sound good. This will be a Sterfish Share on Sunday too.

12. J. Dilla - “Mash”: The second track from Donuts. I had the piano part of this song in my head for days.

13. Scala & Kolacny Brothers - “Heartbeats (Originally Performed By The Knife)”: Quiet, soft, and a little unusual.

14. [eM] - “Day At The Academy” from Enchanted Arms: My song of the moment.

15. BoA - “Duvet” from Serial Experiments Lain: The opening from that anime. In case you're wondering, this is a group and not the person you probably think it is.

16. Hard 'n' Phirm - “Rodeohead”: After hearing that bluegrass version of “Gin And Juice” on one of the mixes Jim sent me, I never though I'd hear another bluegrass song that silly and appealing. In this medley of Radiohead songs, I apparently have.

17. J. Dilla - “Hi.”: Song number three from Donuts. This is actually the beat to Ghostface Killah's “Beauty Jackson.”

18. Polyphonic Spree - “Light And Day”: You've heard this song. It's the “follow the day and reach for the sun” song that used to be everywhere.

19. Tomoko Tane - “Message #9” from Gasaraki: The opening and ending themes to Gasaraki remain among my favorite anime OP/ED songs.

20. J. Dilla - “Time: The Donut Of The Heart”: Final song from Donuts and also the beat to “Can't Stop This” by The Roots, the song where they also paid tribute to the late producer.

21. Yoko Kanno - “Honey You” from Kamikaze Girls: Gotta love the retro sound of this song.

22. [eM] - “Reborn (Instrumental)” from Enchanted Arms: A solid piece of techno from the RPG.

23. Hikaru Utada - “Passion (After The Battle)” from Kingdom Hearts II: Why not end sort of where we began?

The total running time of this mix is 75:14

Thus ends the long-delayed second installment of Sterfish's Personal Mixes. I'll do another one eventually (with one of my older mixes) but for now, I must go back into the cave and listen to more CDs.