i may be a bird in a cage but at least it's your cage

I've been making what I call a Christmas mix -- that is, not holiday songs but a mix made at the holidays -- since 1997; first they were tapes, then for a few years cds, and finally, in the digital age, the last five years have been downloadable zip files, and this year is no exception. These are songs -- primarily but not necessarily released in 2009 -- that meant something to me this year, for various reasons, and they are for you. The whole shebang is available as a zip file [here] (90MB, .zip). (I didn't upload the tracks individually this year; sorry! I just ran out of time.)

Happy holidays, happy 2009, happy music sharing -- whatever floats your boat. This is from me to you. 2009 was basically a year of one step forward, two enormous punches in the face back, but despite all that, I was pretty fucking happy. So.

1. [The Duke & the King -- "If You Ever Get Famous"] if you ever get famous, don't forget about me
   
   
2. [AA Bondy -- "Among The Pines"] and every time i leave the south/a word it stumbles from my mouth/amen, amen
   
   
3. [Fall Out Boy -- "Disloyal Order Of Water Buffaloes"] so boycott love/detox just to retox
   
   
4. [Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit -- "Good"] i can't make myself be good/i wish i could
   
   
5. [The Whitlams -- "I Was Alive"] the night i met you, you were a fucking disgrace/tripping over people, falling flat on your face/i thought i'd dance with you ‘cause you wouldn’t remember/a year ago now yeah that was the end of december
   
   
6. [The Old Ceremony -- "Til My Voice Is Gone"] and i will sing my tune until my voice is gone
   
   
7. [Frightened Rabbit -- "My Backwards Walk"] i'm working on my faults and cracks/filling in the blanks and gaps/and when i write them out they don't make sense/i need you to pencil in the rest
   
   
8. [Great Lake Swimmers -- "Still"] i'm still loaded and waiting with anticipation to fly/i'm still studying the patterns in the night sky
   
   
9. [Sea Wolf -- "I Made A Resolution"] well i woke up this morning/and i made a resolution/i said "never going to sing another sad song again."
   
   
10. [Micah Schnabel -- "Throwing Rocks At the Sun"] i'd like to stay until your party is over/til the drinks and the girls are all done/but i stayed up too late in every town and every state/and i've thrown all my rocks at the sun
    
    
11. [M. Ward -- "Stars Of Leo"] so i tried to surround myself with real love/you know, the kind that make them wheels go 'round/i get so low i need a little pick-me-up/i get so high i need a bring-me-down
    
    
12. [Lost In The Trees -- "Love On My Side"] i got love songs, i got songs that make you cry
    
    
13. [the Avett Brothers -- "Kick Drum Heart" my my heart like a kick drum
    
    
14. [Red Collar -- "Used Guitars"] i used to reach for stars/now i sell these used guitars
    
    
15. [Jones Street Station -- "Front Door"] leave the front door 'cause i'm comin' over with stories to tell
    
    
16. [John Paul Keith & the One Four Fives -- "Rock And Roll Will Break Your Heart" but rock and roll will break your heart
    
    
17. [Slobberbone -- "Back"] when i find my way back, no one will deny/how much i care for them and how hard that i've tried/when i find my way back, you will know it by and by/that all the hype was justified

If you haven't commented in a while and you download this, now is a good time to say hi to me. I'm just saying.