The Pink Bow is Crucial

I love a good mix-cd. I really do. I get asked for them often, and I love to make them. By make I mean choose the music, order the music, put it on the cd, and then package the cd. The pink bow is crucial- who doesn't want a bunch of pretty songs tied with a bow? This is my most recent mix, made for a friend:

1. Die Young- The Sweet Serenades (If you haven't seen the music video for this one, you need to remedy that. If there's a man in a giant heart-costume, you've found the right one)
2. Speed of Light- Joseph Arthur
3. Rainbow Warriors- CocoRosie
4. Stay Golden- Au Revoir Simone
5. The Man Who Told Everything- Doves
6. Sprawl (Flatland)- Arcade Fire
7. Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)- Arcade Fire
8. Cosmic Love- Florence + The Machine, recorded acoustic and live for RTE's Other Voices (This is, by far, my favorite version of this song, and believe me, it's a much-loved song. It doesn't have the range of the album version, and the first time I heard it, that bothered me a little. Listen again though- the restraint adds depth. I still love the album version, but this one is just better. What a sad song)
9. Flume- Bon Iver
10. Set the Fire to the Third Bar- Snow Patrol
11. Love Ridden- Fiona Apple (A lovely song for a broken heart)
12. Girl and the Sea- The Presets
13. Icarus- White Hinterland
14. A Cloak of Elvenkind- Marcy Playground
15. Stars- Warpaint
16. The Garden- Mirah
17. The Bleeding Heart Show- The New Pornographers
18. Bag of Bones- The Maccabees (I have a playlist on my iTunes called "Endings", which I can't really explain to anybody's satisfaction, but which makes a lot of sense to me. This song belongs there)

What is this mix good for? Nothing in particular. If I'm making a mix for someone who didn't request it, the music usually has more direction; Music to Cry To, Music for Mingling, Music for the Angsty Version of Yourself That Just Needs To Come Out Sometimes. Music for Sunny Days. Music for Driving in the Rain. Ya know.