Another Damned Blog

Running time: 70:43
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Every once in a while, a work of art appears that is inarguably excellent. No one, for example, can dispute the sheer quality of Michelangelo’s David, Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman, Beethoven’s Ninth, or Raiders of the Lost Ark. They might not be to your tastes, but you’d be hard pressed to contend that their creators didn’t (1) accomplish exactly what they set out to and (2) do a bang-up job of it in the process.

And every once in a while, you yourself may create something that is inarguably excellent. And if you’re me, it will have been a mix CD you made in 2001, which will lead to a lifetime of worrying about whether you peaked at age 25 and the cold and hollow realization that if in fact you did, the only thing you have to show for it is a mix CD.

Still, I’m awfully proud of this one, from the way Annie Lennox gently eases you in before Mef announces it’s on, to the seamless transitions between “Blue Lines” and “Dancing Lessons” and then OutKast and the Wu-Tang. Maybe it was living in the recent shadow of 9/11, or maybe it was the giant canister of neon-green weed a friend from my Toastmasters club gave me for free, but I don’t think I’ve ever put a set of songs together in a way that’s left me as satisfied as these do. This is when I first stepped on the scene.
—j

Tracklist

1. Annie Lennox - No More “I Love You’s”
2. Method Man - Release Yo’ Delf
3. U2 - Touch
4. Massive Attack - Blue Lines
5. Sinéad O’Connor - Dancing Lessons
6. The Pharcyde - Passing Me By
7. Tricky - Diss Never (Dig Up We History)
8. Suzanne Vega - Story of Isaac
9. OutKast - Millennium
10. Wu-Tang Clan - Hellz Wind Staff
11. Michael Penn - Macy Day Parade
12. Roni Size\Reprazent - Dirty Beats
13. Johnny Cash - I See a Darkness
14. The Roots - Without a Doubt
15. Cat Power - Naked If I Want To
16. PJ Harvey - We Float