here comes a better version of me.

I spent the day doing many things. Grocery store (i bought cilantro!!). Laundry. Pharmacy (Hershey's Bar being the obvious highlight). Florist (flowers are pretty. and costly). Cozy's with Gilliane & Lily. Liquor Store. Academy Music (the thing i was gonna get for that person for that day was gone, dammit!). LOST (i was right, i was right, nyah nyah nyah). I've spent the last hour working on a mix for Gilliane's birthday... here's what made the cut, so if you're playing at home you can make your own Rickmix!

1. Brendan Benson: Cold Hands (Warm Heart) from The Alternative to Love
…this is from my choice for best album of 2005.You better recognize. Recently heard in a Ford commercial, oddly enough.
2. Aimee Mann: Nightmare Girl from Lost in Space: Special Edition
…it took no time for this song to grow on me, but I’ve only recently started to truly love it. I like it when I hear the line “I’m on a train to Brooklyn” when I’m on a train to Brooklyn. How meta.
3. Ash: Evil Eye from Meltdown
...sexy sexy tim. uh. can you say ROCK? and sexy.
4. Nellie McKay: Change the World from Get Away From Me
…what’s kind of cool is that if Lily or -e- had made this mix, they might have chosen two completely different songs and you could have come through with a totally different idea of what she sounds like. I guess I’m quirky, but I think that the memory of her singing “Change the World” and “Toto Dies” in concert is so strong that they were my immediate choices. i can't wait to hear her new album in January!!
5. Joan Armatrading: The Weakness in Me from Greatest Hits
…according to the top 25 played songs list on my itunes, this is the number one played song in my collection. possibly because this year i've listened to it on repeat play about a zillion times. music=therapy.
6. frente!: Explode from Marvin the Album
…one of my favorite albums of the mid-90s, it NEVER fails to make me happy.
7. The Magnetic Fields: The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side from 69 Love Songs
...Stephin Merritt is a bit of a genius.
8. Ryan Adams: New York, New York from Gold
...because we're like, THERE, man.
9. They Might Be Giants: Don’t Let’s Start from A User’s Guide to They Might Be Giants
…it was a tough call between this song and “The Little Birdhouse in Your Soul” but I don’t get around like you get around.
10. Talking Heads: Found a Job from Best of Talking Heads
…one of the songs by the Heads that I hadn’t heard at all before I got this collection & now possibly my favorite of theirs. did i mention what i want for my birthday? It's the Talking Heads box. there is no such thing as too much Talking Heads.
11. Dar Williams: As Cool as I Am from The Mortal City
...god i love this song. it really lifts me up- lyrically & musically.
12. Fiona Apple: Better Version of Me from Extraordinary Machine
…I can’t really listen to this album yet because it’s Fiona and i'm scared that cutting will be a certainty if i combine Fiona songs with the last year of my life, but this is one of two songs (along with "window") that I immediately connected to.
13. The Honeydogs: 10,000 Years from 10,000 Years
…Aimee Mann was talking about this album everywhere last year & it’s one of the most underrated discs ever, dammit. Um. But I don’t like the other stuff I've heard by them. Go figure, maybe i have a concept album fetish.
14. Travis: All I Want To Do Is Rock from Good Feeling
…before “why does it always rain on me?” they were quite happy, really.
15. Material Issue: Out Right Now from International Pop Overthrow
…okay this is an album that I cannot believe isn’t more appreciated. It’s from 1991, but to me it’s just as essential as like... NEVERMIND. YOU MUST LISTEN TO THIS ALBUM.
16. Kay Hanley: Satellite from Cherry Marmalade
…ex-Letters to Cleo singer’s solo album. I loved it.
17. Bic Runga: Close the Door, Put Out the Light
…a b-side that Lily found for me. My favorite singer at the moment. More than Aimee or Indigo Girls, even. Which is like… a BIG deal. New album next week from New Zealand!!
18. Bettye Lavette: How Am I Different from I’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise
…R&B singer who also covers Fiona Apple, Sinéad O’Connor on her album. I love her version of Aimee Mann's song, though.
19. Josh Joplin: Empire State from Jaywalker
…I can’t WAIT until I feel like I can hear this song and identify. Dammit, when will I be the luckiest boy in New York?!?
20. Nellie McKay: Toto Dies from Get Away From Me
...she made us sing along. i love her anyway, it's just the peer pressure i hate.
21. Blossom Dearie vs. Brazilian Girls: Just One of Those Things from Verve Remixed 3
…our original plan was to see Blossom play on my birthday- she plays weekly gigs at some place in the city & I’d love to see her- but she’s on hiatus till January!