Mix CD: Mothers Know Best Vol. 1

I love being able to share music with my mom. Finally, after all these years of her looking at me and what I wear, say, or do as completely unnatural and alien, she's finally started to accept some aspects. Music seems to be the only one that I can really educate her on. I told her months ago that I was making her a mix cd, but I didn't tell her anything I was putting on it. She made three requests for songs: two specific Outkast songs, one Paul Oakenfold ditty, and anything Amos Lee. Now, let's look at these groups. Outkast is hip hop, Oakenfold techno, and Amos Lee folk (or adult contemporary, depending). How the hell was I suppose to make a mix cd with such a broad range? Well, that's what a mix cd is about — variety — and I was up for the challenge. I literally spent months working on the cd, adding and removing songs, reorganizing order, until finally I had something I felt she could relate to. And she does, she really likes the whole cd. But what made me laugh most was her first response: she was expecting more Oakenfold-esque music. I didn't respond to that; she said it during the first listening, not even the entire way through. Yeah, a dozen techno songs, then some rap and then, folk. Right. I knew the mix would grow on her. Most of it is stuff she's never heard and bands she would certainly gloss over at the store. But she's my mom, and I'm willing to commit to whatever measure of time it will take to expand her musical horizons beyond Enya and Simon & Garfunkle.

Mothers Know Best Vol. 1
Words to Live By - Office Space (movie audio clip)
Instanbul (Not Constantinople) - They Might Be Giants
Jaan Pehechaan Ho - Mohammed Rafi
Brazil - The Arcade Fire
Bottom of the Barrel - Amos Lee
Morning - Amos Lee
Island in the Sun - Weezer
Take Me Out - Franz Ferdinand
Float On - Modest Mouse
Weapon of Choice - Fatboy Slim
Ready Steady Go - Paul Oakenfold
Don't Phunk With My Heart - Black Eyed Peas
Hey Mama - Black Eyed Peas
Hey Ya - Outkast
Roses - Outkast
Teardrop - Massive Attack
Shake Break Bounce - The Chemical Brothers
Masters of the Universe - Juno Reactor
Tango - The Mask of Zorro (soundtrack)