The Mix-Tape Ten: Mike Adams and Shane St. Clair

Today is a two-fer Tuesday (on Wednesday morning)! I'm giving you, not one, but 2 Mix-Tape 10s by some of the coolest dudes ever. That's like a Mix-Tape 20. So, get your CD-Rs together and get ready to impress all of your friends with your music skillz. First up we've got Mr. Mike Adams and then it's on to the unstoppable Shane St. Clair (of The Sin-St. Clair Family Band fame).

There are more than a few people who think Mike Adams might just be the coolest and most influential guy in the Midwest. I happen to fall in that group. Mike Adams is the frontman for the incredible Bloomington band husband&wife, 1/5 of the indie-rock supergroup Prayer Breakfast is a record producer for great bands like Rodeo Ruby Love, and even runs a great record label all while video taping utility board meetings and keeping it real with his wife Jessica and their two cats Two Socks and Peyton Manning. Mike graciously took some time out of his crazy schedule to do a mix-tape here and it's a dandy! Also, click here for a little instant gratification...


Songs I'm Totally Aping Right Now by Mike Adams

1. "I Go Blind" - 54-40 (54-40)

this song was popularized in the late 1990's by hootie and the blowfish. turns out, the original is even better! it's got a real roughness to it that the hit cover lacks, especially in the backing vocals. it's got a real early REM kind of feel to it...great song.

2. "Flaming Home" - Mount Eerie (Lost Wisdom)

it was hard to pick just one song off of this record because i think it's pretty fantastic from front to back, and i've probably listened to it 100 times in the last month. so, here's the "single". it really is a beautiful song.

3. "Time and Energy" - The Delicious (Postcard to My Sewing Circle)

this is the first record in about 4 years that i've listened to more than one time through in a row without changing cds in my car stereo. i love the harmonies in this song that kick in around 1:31. keeps me coming back.

4. "Majik" - Starflyer 59 (Dial M)

this is simultaneously jason martin's most personally revealing and most upbeat song ever. it's a funny combination for someone who's forte is writing songs that are both cryptic lyrically and melancholy musically. the juxtoposition between the sadness of the lyrics and the happiness of the music really speaks to a philosophy in this life that i can relate to. plus it's really catchy.

5. "Over My Head" - Fleetwood Mac (Fleetwood Mac)

this song is as smooth as silk. it just straight up makes me feel good, and that's why i like it. i've spent alot of time with this record on the bus this week.

6. "Unsafest Place" - The Hollows (Darlings of Naught)

this is another really beautiful song. the hook in the chorus gets me right in a spot that no other song in this world ever has. it's really exciting to me that such a thing can still happen, even to a mean old scrooge like me.

7. "Breaker" - Retribution Gospel Choir (Retribution Gospel Choir)

forget about fake-heavy songs. leave them in the dust and listen to this album.

8. "The Introducing" - Vollmar (Tell the Dirt- not pictured)

i had the pleasure of hearing this song in various stages through the creation of this particular recording. listen to the piano jam on at the end (it starts at 2:28). it's totally thrilling. and i mean every ounce of that word - thrilling.

9. "Me and My Arrow / The Game" - Harry Nilsson (The Point!)

i'm not much of a dancer. i think it's wierd and prehistoric. but, this song makes me want to jump up and boogie every time it comes on. this is not a joke to be funny. i'm dead serious.

10. "The Ecstacy (insomnia plus one)" - Elephant Micah (Embarassment of Riches)

this is another one of those records where i had a really hard time picking just one song for this mixtape. every single song on this record is as good as the one before it. i'd kill for this guitar tone... please, buy this record from the guy who made it.

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Shane St. Clair is a guy that shouldn't need an introduction because he is, hands-down, my favorite keyboard player ever. He also happens to be one of my best friends, and thankfully plays in the same band as I do! He is an burgeoning economist and is also incredibly adept at playing the drums, guitar, and bass. He is a true musician who can cross the often un-crossable borders of rock and jazz and pop and never falter a step. It's nothing for him to play a 4 hour set at a posh jazz spot and then play in a gritty dive bar the next night, heck, sometimes in the same night! Here he has graced us with his ultimate mix-tape.




My Ultimate Mix-Tape by Shane St. Clair

1. "Ce Matin La" by Air (off 1998's Moon Safari)

This is Moon Safari's opener - one of the best album openers that I've heard in a long while, so it's also my mix opener. It's difficult in my mind to put anything beyond Ce Matin La that matches its grandeur, and while the rest of Moon Safari falls short of it's opener, this mix does not.

2. "Lady Luck" by Richard Swift (off 2008's Ground Trouble Jaw EP)

Motown's back. This is a cut off Swift's latest EP, it's 100% free on his Myspace to download!

3. "In Particular" by Blonde Redhead (off 2000's Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons)

Bogart's in Cincinatti - early winter 2004. This unknown band (to me) opened up for the highly revered (at the time) Interpol during their Antics tour. For people who have seen Blonde Redhead, you know that they're not good openers, because more then likely their show trumps all, including the headliner; this was exactly the case that night.

4. "Fallout" by The Futureheads (off 2006's News and Tributes)

Post-punk from England. No one took their debut seriously (it was kind of a joke), but the band hit their stride on their sophomore try. I listen to this album a lot when it's cold out...here's a slice.

5. "Song for Zelbert Moore" by Martin Dosh (off 2002's Dosh)

This dude is the talented drummer/keyboard player/looper genius that's played on Andrew Bird's latest couple of albums. He makes his own music too!

6. "Good Kids Make Bad Grownups" by Ariel Pink (off 2004's The Doldrums)

this is lo-fi at it's smallest bitrate. 'Growing up isn't half as fun as growing down.'

7. "Crossing Lines" by The Sea and Cake (off 2007's Everybody)

This is Chicago band that's all about layers, texture, and drive. Also check out 'One Bedroom'.

8. "Sideways Down" by The Frames (off 2004's Burn the Maps)

Everyone now knows the singer from that one movie (google Glen Hansard), but check out his band and this particular album - brilliant from start to finish, you have my word.

9. "Cats Eyes" by The Guillemots (off 2006's From the Cliff's EP)

Okay the Guillemots are weird. But sometimes I think I've never heard more beautifully orchestrated music in my life.

10. "A Window" by The Radio Dept (off 2006's Pet Grief)

This is a band I got deep deep into last year, and they're virtually unknown (why?), they are champions of texture.