As it turns out, every song on Mike Mix 11 is new to my site. I don’t know how this happened, but needless to say I have my work cut out for me.

So I guess I’ll start with the obvious: Mike Mix 11 features a ton of great music. And it starts out firing on all cylinders. After almost two minutes of quiet noodling, the first track, “Brother” by Annuals, explodes in a cacophony of guitars, drums, and violins. The next two songs keep the pedal to the floor. “Percussion Gun” by White Rabbits rides a thunderous drum beat while “Quiet Little Voices” by We Were Promised Jetpacks soars on a relentless guitar riff. It’s hard to imagine a more energetic start to a mix.

Following this fiery opening is a trilogy of fantastic songs. “Y’all Come Back Now” by Ten Kens is one hundred percent badass. “Available” by The National is the angriest, most bitter song the band’s ever recorded. And “Papillon” by The Twilight Singers is dark yet surprisingly upbeat.

The second half of Mike Mix 11 doesn’t quite pack the same punch as the first. But what it lacks in energy it makes up for with raw emotion. “Lies I’ve Told” by Yarn is completely devastating. So too is “Fool” by Cat Power, though for different reasons. In “Lies I’ve Told” the lyrics break your heart, whereas in “Fool” the instrumentation paints an overwhelmingly bleak picture. But the second half isn’t all doom and gloom, however. The mix closes on a relatively upbeat note with “Epilogue,” the soaring finale from Hospice by The Antlers.

As always, I highly recommend listening to Mike Mix 11 in the order presented below. Download the entire mix here or stream it using the player below! Enjoy!

Much like its older siblings, Mike Mix 10 is packed with tons of great music. And while I always recommend listening to the mix in its entirety, a few tracks stand above the rest.

The first is “Sublime” by The Twilight Singers. Drifting dangerously close to adult-contemporary, the song features sultry vocals, whiny guitars, and some unbelievably cheesy whispering during the bridge. In anyone else’s hands this song would be a train wreck, but The Twilight Singers make it sound heartfelt and sincere.

The second is “Trailer Trash” by Modest Mouse. Replete with depressing lyrics and fantastic guitar work, the song is vintage Modest Mouse. If you enjoyed “Broke” on Mike Mix 09, you’ll love “Trailer Trash.” Self-loathing never sounded so good.

And the third is “Love Vigilantes” by Iron & Wine. Originally recorded by New Order, the song tells the story of a soldier returning home after war. I would say more but I don’t want to give too much away. Just listen to the song. You’ll quickly discover why I love it so much.

But don’t forget there are 12 more songs on Mike Mix 10. I’ve written about a handful of them previously, but several are appearing on my site for the first time. There’s the sinister “DLZ,” the creepy-but-achingly-gorgeous “Borrowed Your Gun,” and the heartbreaking “Miss Me.” Listen to them all and let me know your favorites!

Download the entire mix here or stream it using the player below. Enjoy!

As my previous tweet hinted at, I’m priming Mike Mix 09 for release sometime next week. So check back soon. There’s going to be a lot of good stuff on it!

To hold you over until then, I’ve decided to post a song that I should’ve a long time ago. The track is “Wagon Wheel” by Old Crow Medicine Show. It’s a cover of an old Bob Dylan song called “Rock Me Mama” (though I don’t think Dylan ever officially released it). But that last sentence is irrelevant. Old Crow Medicine Show has made the song theirs.

And what a song it is. I don’t even know where to begin. Perhaps I should start with the obvious; the song makes me happy. It’s everything a summer anthem should be: upbeat, catchy, and fun. It also has everything a good country song should have: acoustic guitar, upright bass, banjo, and of course a fiddle.

But don’t let labels scare you. Even if you don’t like “country” music, I think you will like “Wagon Wheel.” It’s one of the best songs I’ve heard in a long time.

[mp3] Old Crow Medicine Show :: Wagon Wheel