Do You Want Your Shirt Back?

Muahahaha. October's CD (Do You Want Your Shirt Back?) was released on two thousand and seven's Halloween and showed very little acknowledgment to the holiday. While this month's compilation lacked less attention than all other mixes it still triumphs with a more subtle approach. The CD is filled with songs that play easily while on a long drive and then find themselves playing in one's head rather than the songs that had popped out and demanded devotion upon the first listen that was seen on September's mix such as Acceptable In the 80s by Calvin Harris or Merry Happy by Kate Nash. The CD features a couple tracks from Radiohead's newest album, In Rainbows, and the head bopping single from Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip, The Beat That My Heart Skipped.

Tracklist as follows:

2. General Lafayette! You Are Not Alone - Ravens & Chimes  (lyrics) A strong track at first but after a few repetitions may loose its charm

3. Pop Music Is Not a Crime - Freezepop Possibly the most talentless song on the album but the message is too good to ignore... thusly it is not.

4. Bouncing Off Clouds - Tori Amos Tori Amos's recent album deserved attention long ago in August when the album was released yet for some reason none of the tracks were listened to till this month and her achievement is finally here recognized.

6. The Way I Am - Ingrid Michaelson Practically every CD compilation thus far has somehow included a track that has been featured on a commercial and this track is solely included to continue this pattern.

8. Valerie (featuring Amy Winehouse) - Mark Ronson Not a very strong track yet holds importance for some reason that can't quite be explained just yet.

9. Bodysnatchers - Radiohead The first Radiohead track to appear on the mix and definitely not the strongest.

10. White Shade - Lukestar For its emo nature it surpasses by its sophisticated formulaic superbness.

11. The General Specific - Band of Horses Catchy.

13. Hold It In - Jukebox the Ghost Great track that also would have been good following "Knots" by Pete & the Pirates "Hold It In" has been voted as a favorite by 1 user.

14. Die Alone - Ingrid Michaelson The message is great, her voice is beautiful and the music just makes it all so nice. "Die Alone" has been voted as a favorite by 1 user.

15. January - Ravens & Chimes It's not quite January but there is only two more CDs to go before ChipperDemon celebrates its half year compilation event to be held at the end of December.

17. All I Need - Radiohead Was originally intended to be a bonus track yet just fit as a regular one. It is definitely good enough.

The November CD will release November 28th.


Compilation Director: Jubilant Pillager
Cover Art: Smiling Satanist

Special thanks to The Huska Plantation Enterprises, OrangeCoat, Blond Ambition 2007 and Afloat for all of their support and contribution.

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"I had a pretty tough time limiting myself to just three favorites this time around. 1. Knots - Pete & the Pirates After falling head over heels for Pete & the Pirates' "Mr. Understanding" off the not-quite-January tracklist a while back, I trotted over to Earshot to pick up the full album, but no dice. Once I'm finished plowing through the ChipperDemon archives, I really do need to order this off Amazon or something. "Knots" isn't quite the giddy headbob that "Mr. Understanding" is, but its dancy post-punk is still pretty infectious, and I find myself digging it more and more with each listen. 2. General Lafayette! You Are Not Alone - Ravens & Chimes Understatedly and almost deceptively catchy. It's not as sharp as "Knots" but fits alongside it very nicely on this mix. At the very least, "General Lafayette! You Are Not Alone" deserves a nod for its brilliant title. 3. Pop Music Is Not a Crime - Freezepop This isn't my favorite Freezepop song, and the lyrics are admittedly pretty dumb. Still...! I keep getting skewered on those whale-sized synthpop hooks, especially once the choruses roll around, and I'm such a pop loser that I can't bicker with the title. That's two great song titles in a row. 4. Bouncing Off Clouds - Tori Amos I'll admit to not really thinking all that much of "Bouncing Off Clouds" the first time through, but I liked it quite a bit more with a second listen. Part of me thinks it'd benefit from either a tighter runtime or a little more variety (even with the pounding heartbeat of a kick drum in the bridge that's almost club-like), but I get the sense it'll grow on me more as it randomly pops up on my iPod. 5. Those Dancing Days - Those Dancing Days Bouncy, kinetic, and deliriously poppy, "Those Dancing Days" is absolutely my favorite track on this CD. That vintage-style organ that'd make the Dave Clark 5 jealous and the manic drumming embedded their stiletto heels deep in my head. 6. The Way I Am - Ingrid Michaelson I love the way the laid-back, jazzy groove melts with the handclaps, bongos and eggshakers, and playful vocals. C'mon, an upright bass /-AND-/ a nod to Rogaine? There's some level of genius toiling away here. "The Way I Am" is one of those rare songs that I really don't want to end, and as soon as it does, I feel compelled to immediately queue it up again. 7. The Beat That My Heart Skips - Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip Electronic-tinged quasifolk-rap? I'm a little embarrassed to admit how much I got into this. 8. Valerie (featuring Amy Winehouse) - Mark Ronson A very thoroughly convincing, soulful '60s girl-pop homage, and considering my tastes, that qualifies as a win. If you'd picked a random word, tacked "-ettes" or "-elles" onto the end, and told me that was the band behind this chart topper from '64, I probably would've gone along with it. 9. Bodysnatchers - Radiohead Believe it or not, despite that stint in college radio, I've never actually owned a Radiohead album or even listened to one from start to finish. There's probably some sort of membership card that's about to be snipped in half now. I really liked "Bodysnatchers", though, and there's a mighty hook lurking underneath the waves of feedback and dissonance. The mumbled vocals before the bridge and the swirling keys kind of got on my nerves with a third listen, though, not that they're all that big a part of the song in the first place. Hmmm. 10. White Shade - Lukestar The verdict's still out as to whether or not I like this one, but I'm kind of intrigued by the way the falsetto vocals make way for more of a B-52s-ish yelp in the choruses. 11. The General Specific - Band of Horses I can really picture this relaxed, kind of country-inflected number being belted out in a smoky club just before 1 AM with a few dozen people clapping along. I'm pretty sure that qualifies as a good thing. 12. Hitten - Those Dancing Days Eh. As much as I dug their other track, this one seems a little too ordinary. Even the synth sounds like it was dialed to "Preset 3" or something. 13. Hold It In - Jukebox the Ghost This is another band whose full length(s) I desperately need to pick up: the mantra may be "hold it in", but as a pop song, it's completely unrestrained. Just chipper, upbeat, and unabashedly, lush-green-grass-bright-blue-sky-beaming-smile-ishly poppy. It's squaring off against "Those Dancing Days" for the top spot. 14. Die Alone - Ingrid Michaelson An entirely different end of the spectrum than "The Way I Am" but even more marvelous. The vocals are just gorgeous, paired against the muted transistor radio instrumentation that opens the song, the forceful guitars, and the lilting, breezy chorus. 15. January - Ravens & Chimes That's strange. I really loved "January" the first time through -- the energy that propels it and especially the thunderingly distorted bass that drives the song -- but on a second listen, I'm not really sure what drew me in so much. The hiccupy vocals especially stand out as kind of a distraction. Oh well. Maybe it'll take a few more spins to shore up a firm opinion. Wait, did he sing "I'm not a ferrier"? If I'm not misunderstanding, although I almost certainly am, that's a pretty great line. 16. The Funeral - Band of Horses "The Funeral" lulled me into a false sense of security, leading me to expect the entirety of the song to be as haunting and somber as its title suggests. I love the way it lets the tension build and build before the release of its impassioned choruses, and the outro expands on that even more powerfully. 17. All I Need - Radiohead A compelling, haunting, and almost etherial drone that seems to demand more than a few listens to be fully appreciated. Even my third time through, I'm surprised it ends as quickly as it does; it seems as if there's so much more left to explore." posted by Adam on Thursday, April 9th, 2009 at 1:29 AM.

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