Hey kids! I know some of you have been waiting for this with baited breath so here it is. Unfortunately, Muxtape has decided that it won't accept any of the versions of my last two songs, so I've included YouTube links to these two in the interest of keeping the schedule of the mixes. So without further ado, here we go....


•Muxtape link: http://guitarslinger44.muxtape.com/
•Love Don't Live Here link: http://www.youtube.com/wa...re=related

•She Is Love link: http://www.youtube.com/wa...0abSyOcjk4



Guitarslinger44-“Top Down:Aural Caffeine For Your Mind”

I wanted to make a mix that you could play at a party, in the car, working out, etc. It’s versatile I think. There are a lot of songs that are uplifting, uptempo, and just meant to make you smile no matter what the context is. A lot of the tunes are personal favorites, so even if they don’t all lift you up, I hope you’ll at least feel like it’s a good mix. Overall, this is meant to be light, and to be taken at face value. As much as I like trying to guess the deeper meaning in mixes and songs, sometimes it’s nice to just be able to enjoy them for what they are. It’s funny because I haven’t made a mix in awhile and this kinda brought me back to it and made me remember how much fun it can be! Thanks Org!



Days Go By-Keith Urban
We all have those days when we think, “Is this REALLY all there is? Is this what it’s all about?” This tune captures that but offers a remedy as well, and is best played in a fast moving car with the windows open, hence the mix’s title.


Love Vibration-Josh Rouse
This is another one about not giving in to being a bastard. “Spread the Love Vibration…” It’s so easy to do and it makes you feel good. “Everybody’s scared of being lonely and abandoned, when you find someone who cares…to love and understand ya” Great lyrics with that 70’s singer/songwriter vibe and a fantastic sax solo at the end to bring everything into perspective.

Golden Days-The Damnwells
About breaking thru it all and then welcoming the “golden days” that follow. It’s a simple song and there’s a certain vibe to it that I can’t describe. It just lifts me up whenever I hear it and has some great background vocals to boot!

We Could Be So Happy-Adam James
One of my joints, it’s got a bittersweet thing going on but throws some of that out the window in favor of old school harmony and a fast tempo. If you’re going to have to convince someone that you’d be great together, you might as well have fun doing it! Oh, and I ROCK THE FUCK OUT on the guitar in this one! Yeah, that’s me, and I’m proud of it. Just thought you should know.

Night Birds-Ryan Adams
Sort of an interlude so you don’t get tired. Chosen for no other reason than the fact that it’s a great song. If the rest of the mix is the sun, then this song is the moon.

Money City Maniacs-Sloan
Little known in the States, Sloan is one of Canada’s best rock bands, and this tune is one of their finest. The riffs rock and the choruses are filled with harmonized what-did-they-just-say? vocals and while it can be hard to figure out 100% what the tune is about, it almost doesn’t seem to matter. It rocks so hard that it’s almost an afterthought.
This is another one to play while driving fast with the windows down and at top volume!

Love Don’t Live Here-Lady AntebellumSEE YOUTUBE LINK!
Just a flat out great tune by one of the best new bands in country music today. It’s cool because it’s not even so much a “fuck you” to the ex like most songs, but more a thought out statement saying, “Hey, move on, you had your chance,” with some great guitar work and harmonies behind it.

Golden-Jill Scott
If you can get thru this song without nodding your head or tapping your foot then you may want to get a defibrillator and give yourself a couple shocks. Great beat, great chord changes, great lyrics, and Jill sings the hell outta this one! If I worked out, this one would certainly be in the playlist. I’ve heard this song probably hundreds of times over the years and I’m still not sick of it somehow. I also love the acoustic piano and vocoder type vocals that come in near the end!

She Is Love-OasisSEE YOUTUBE LINK!
A great song about what it’s like to be in love. Everything’s perfect, the tempo, the arrangement and the melody is killer. It does a really cool building thing that comes to include handclaps and other things. Check out the organ parts about 2 minutes in! Noel sings this one too which is a bit of a switch and somehow gives it a little more sincerity.

Life Is A Highway-Rascal Flatts
It’s a cover the band did for the Cars soundtrack and normally covers pale in comparison to the original version but to me, this is one of the times when the cover is better. It’s also one of the times when the band actually ROCKS instead of going a more easy listening route. This one’s sort of a parting word in this mix…”Life is a highway….” you can go where you like and no one will stop you if you don’t let them. Pure candy! Hope y’all enjoyed this mix! -Guitarslinger44
[Edited 7/28/08 11:30am]

Listening!

Good job, Adam!

I'll give it a better listen oonce I get home.

Woohoo! As mentioned, I expected some Jazz because of your profile. I hadn't expected this! I love how everybody's mixes each have different genre's as a theme. Simply great! So far, I love the laid back, feel good mood!

Love your title as well!

Jill Scott, Oasis and Ryan Adams are the only names I have heard, so plenty of new stuff to digest!

Tripping on 'We could be so happy'! Summer is flowing from my speakers!

Sander said:

Thank you Sander! Especially for that last part!

Days Go By - Keith Urban

This is Nicole Kidman's guy, right? Well, he's definitely not known for his music here in Europe!
I LOVE this kind of music but I never know where to start! This music I totally associate with the USA, driving a car through the wide open. Oplifting, catchy, simply a good song!! I will be checking his music!
Funny thing is that he's kiwi....according to wikipedia!

Love Vibration - Josh Rouse

I am writing this upon 1st listen..... Another song like songs are meant to be, straight forward. I'm liking where this muxtape is going if it will keep going this way! This is great roadtripmusic! I see myself driving along the shore of Lake Tahoe!
I have no clue who Josh Rouse is! Lovin' it!

Golden Days - The Damnwells

Again, another band completely unknown to me, typical American music in the way that there is so much of it that we will never get over here..... Why? Because this music only works in the US, very well!!! Sofar, the first three songs could all be part of the Great American Songbook! I wish we had more music like this over here, it so makes me want to come to the States!

We Could Be So Happy - Adam James

Fun track, plain & simple and that's why it works!

Nightbirds - Ryan Adams

I'm so glad you've included Ryan Adams in your tape, it seems that he has to have a place among the others selected! I am a HUGE Ryan Adams fan, I truely believe he's one of the best of his generation! 'Night Birds' is simply beautiful.....if you can, go see this chap live!!

Money City Maniacs - Sloan

Fun track, easy to digest!

Golden - Jill Scott

Did not expect this, and to me it doesn't seem to fit in this tape.....but hey, it's not MY tape!
I never got on the neo-soul train, never got in to Scott, Angie Stone etc. I knew this track and I find it too repetitive, and therefore boring.

Life Is A Highway - Rascal Flatts

Fun little track, liked the original by Tom Cochrane better.....but only because of fond memories of the summer of '92. Cars was a fun movie though.....

Love Don't Live Here - Ladyantebellum

Love it! Love the voices and the harmonies, another typical American song!

She Is Love - Oasis

I used to be a fan, but I didn't know this track. It proves once & for all that Noel is the better singer and kick-ass songwriter.....too bad their ego's are always in their ways!


Cool mixtape, Adam! As you've noticed, I love the American vibe to it! There are no standout tracks to me, only Jill Scott seems misplaced, but that's the beauty of having different tastes!
[Edited 7/28/08 16:44pm]

I LOVE the tone of this disc! Without even realizing it, you made a meaningful mix

Days go by….better start living, start living, start living right now cuz days go by….

Step out into the world and love someone….

Let's go and get tangled in chains of golden days….

We could be so happy my love, we could be so good my dear….

We were supposed to rise above, but we sank into the ocean….

At the heart of the traveling band you have to understand, there's a driving need to hit the yellow line…

I've been doing fine without you, forgettin all the love we once knew. Girl, I aint the one who slammed that door…..

Living my life like it's Golden….

I don't know where you come from, I know I haven't got a clue. All I know is I'm in love with someone who loves me too….

Life Is a Highway, I want to ride it all night long. If you're going my way, I wanna drive it all night long…



To me, this isn't just a meaningless collections of songs. You can put an emphasis on the messages in the lyrics. Trust me, I'm a lyrics freak. Can't delve into music without that piece of it I really love the idea of being in a convertible with this mix, out in the sun and seemingly "going nowhere but we're arriving" (a lyric from a song on my mix! ) This mix has jubilation written all over it

Favorite Song - I was all over the place on this one Based on immediate impressions I wanted to go with Ryan Adams' "Night Birds". Now I know this song is kind of the antithesis of the "Feel Good" vibe you were going for but this song is simply stellar I think it is very effective in this mix.

I really like Sloan's Money City Maniacs. Simple yet driving guitar riff. And I loved Rascal Flatt's "Life is a Highway". This is the first time I've ever heard it all the way through. I've heard the chorus in commercials and stuff like that but never the full song. Love the philosophy of this song

For the favorite, I pick "We could be so happy" And I'm not saying this just to pander Before reading any of the discourse on the mixes, I listen to the mix first so that I am left with my own impressions intact and not a witness led on the stand

I had no idea this is a song you were involved in by virtue of the fact I listen first, read later. LOVE LOVE LOVE this song for it's innocent and direct approach. And how awesome that you got to share a piece of yourself in your mix! Probably the only person that will be able to lay that claim in this project I think this song would be the core of that driving experience, out in the sun with the hope of your world at your side

Great job!
[Edited 7/28/08 17:07pm]

PS - Are you Adam James or just his guitarist? This is the first time I'm learning anything about you and what you do!

abierman said:

I was just waiting for someone to start up

I think this song is perfect in this mix! Not just because I love Miss Scott but because of the message. Again, another philosophy that we could all benefit by living by. Live your life like it's golden. You are the only you that will ever exist!

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Why do you tell me to ? I posted my opinion and directly stated that this is not my tape! I just don't like Jill Scott.....and maybe I'm not such a lyric-buff so her lyrics do not immediately correspond to me.....maybe has to do with the fact that English is NOT my first language! I listen to the music, the sounds (both instruments & voices) first. To me, the song is boring & repetitive!
To you it fits perfect in this mix, to me it does not.....BFD!
[Edited 7/28/08 17:15pm]

abierman said:

You need to get over your serious fit! You know I only tell you STFU with the utmost emphasis on "F"

I go for message so I have no problem with the song in the mix She'll probably get mass hate so whatevs

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

I don't have a serious fit, damn it!!

I don't hate the song, it's just not my thing.... .....just wait till my mixtape gets on!

abierman said:

Well false god, wait til Mine!

I can't wait to listen Adam.

Stymie said:

And where were you on my thread?

Moonbeam said:

And where I Anxheimer!?!!

abierman said:

Thank you so much Abierman! It is kinda funny that after I listened to it again, I realized that it definitely DOES have an "American" type of vibe to it. I guess it's because I've been listening to and playing a lot of country music.It's also kinda funny that a few of the people on this mix AREN'T American!

Keith Urban is actually an Aussie, Sloan is from Canada, Oasis is English as you know, and Josh Rouse, while he's from Nashville originally lives in Spain.

As for Keith Urban, start with his "Be Here" album. It's the one this song comes from and it's a fantastic record from start to finish. Even the weaker songs are still really good!

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

This is one thing I Love about making mixes is that sometimes someone else finds something that you didn't see the first time around! Your post made me grin like a fool! And yes, I am Adam James. I wrote and played everything on "We Could Be So Happy" except for the drums, but that solo is one of my favorite recorded bits on the guitar!

Stymie said:

I hope you enjoy it Ivy!

guitarslinger44 said:

I guess reading signatures would help

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

I could have just been promoting the guy I was playing with. It's all good!

Moonbeam said:

I thought I posted to your thread? I loved your stuff!!!

Sander said:

Like Supa, I listen to the mix first and read after. When I wrote this, I hadn't read any of your liner notes!

Damn, that's cool!

That's interesting! I'm gonna have to try that with the next mix!

guitarslinger44 said:

I refuse to read any musings before listening Matter of fact, I don't even like knowing tracklists going in!

.
[Edited 7/29/08 12:12pm]

guitarslinger44 said:

I have one of those "Americana" type songs on my mix and this mix inspired me to listen to it with fresh ears. Can't wait for you to hear it And now I'm totally bummed that I won't be going to the ATL invasion I have an opportunity to move to LA next month and I have to take the opportunity. It would have been a blast to discuss music with you face to face! Next time

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Yeah, I heard tonight at our meeting that you weren't gonna be able to come to the ATL Invasion. I was bummed! I was looking forward to meeting you! BUt I'm very much looking forward to your mix!

guitarslinger44 said:

Meeting???!!! Are you in a witches coven?

I really am bummed but I must have my priorities

guitarslinger44 said:

As a side note, because of this mix I revisite my mix and was moved beyond anything I have ever felt by one of my songs. I felt my power completely. I will include my thoughts on it when submit my mix

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Yep! we meet up in the forest over a cauldron and make poison apples and shit. You and your priorities!


Man, my mix has been bumped down to page 2 already.