1. “Straight to Hell,” The Clash

2. “You Sexy Thing,” Hot Chocolate

3. “Victime de la Mode,” MC Solaar

4. “The Beat Goes On,” Buddy Rich & Cathy Rich

5. “On the Road to Find Out,” Cat Stevens

6. “Skinny Love,” Bon Iver

7. “Iron Man,” The Cardigans

8. “Paper Planes,” M.I.A.

Note: Project playlist submitted by new contributor and old friend, Jill Stoddard. Thank you, Jilly.

I liked it so much, and it’s a goldmine for real voices, to say the least, that I had to check out Zach’s site, zachblume.com. Take a look, and you’ll see it says, “There are many things to do here,” which is a very modest statement on his part. Smart, creative, well-designed, literary, artistic, and collaborative: it’s got it all. And there are many things to do there, yes, indeed.

Thank you, Zach. Totally inspiring.

And please, if anyone wants to recommend a new site, particularly those that are, like these two, inspired/created by teenagers, let me know. I’ll gladly share the information.

Happy New Year,

Courtney

Zoë Annesley-Harris

1. “One More Cup Of Coffee,” Bob Dylan
2. “Resurrection Fern,” Iron & Wine
3. “I Don’t Live In A Dream,” Jackie Greene
4. “Where My Baby Might Be,” Wood Brothers
5. “Society,” Eddie Vedder
6. “Those Dancing Days Are Gone,” Carla Bruni
7. “Fool’s Gold,” Ryan Adams
8. “One More Cup of Coffee,” White Stripes

Note: Playlist created by Miss Kate, and I’m sorry, Kate, the Roger McGuinn and Calexico isn’t on YouTube. Hope White Stripes is all right—it’s a great playlist, thank you.

“Circustown USA (2),” by Miss Kate

Note: Kate posted this image on the project’s Flickr pool yesterday, and as soon as I saw it, right away, I wanted to know what the story was, who the girl was, and I started thinking about possibly using the picture for a post this week, trying to write to it, until I was stopped, cold, reading the caption:

“My cousin Alison took me to this creepy, abandoned old Circustown USA place outside of Butler. I guess it closed in the 60’s or so because it used to be a kind of zoo, and then one day a monkey attacked a boy and they had to close it down. Anyway, it’s way overgrown and rusty and shitty and sort of totally awesome.”

I can’t beat that, not a chance. On the bright side, I’ve been laughing all day, thinking about the monkey attack, and frankly, I might have to use that. Somehow, some way . . . because that’s just too damn good. Kate, you’ve got vision, but you’ve also got one of hell of a voice. Thank you very much for sharing both, C.E.

1. “In the Backseat,” Arcade Fire
2. “Clear Day,” Hope Sandoval & The Warm Intentions
3. “I Saw the Sun,” Slowdive
4. “Photograph,” Mick Harvey
5. “Make You Mine,” Best Coast
6. “Down This Road,” Woods
7. “For Your Lover, Give Some Time,” Richard Hawley
8. “In the Backseat,” Rachel Ferguson

Note: YouTube link here.

1. “Karma Police,” Radiohead

2. “Numb,” Portishead

3. “Someone to Watch Over Me,” Blossom Dearie

4. “Anthem For a 17 Year Old Girl,” Broken Social Scene

5. “What I See,” Dirty Projectors

6. “St. Petersburg,” Supergrass

7. “Love Love Love,” The Mountain Goats

8. “Karma Police,” Flunk

Note: Multi-talented contributor Sarah and I made this as a musical welcome wagon for the wonderful Laurence Philomeme. Goofy, yes. Very. Better that than taking ourselves too seriously here, mais non?

Note: Music selected by guest artist/DJ/collaborator Michael Bailey-Gates.

1. “Creep,” Radiohead
2. “You,” Switchfoot
3. “Sleep Tonight,” Stars
4. “On Peak Hill,” Stars
5. “Life Effect,” Stars
6. “Paper Bag,” Fiona Apple
7. “Calendar Girl – Stars
8. “Creep,” Anberlin

Note: Playlist submitted on November 26, 2009. Sarah, you’re a natural, and I hope you submit many more playlists. Also, you’re a serious contender for best title, because the addition of, “The kid has a ghost, man,” that was so unexpected, and it’s going to stay with me for some time to come, I know.

Thank you so much. Also, I’m so sorry, but for some reason, MIXPOD’s skipping lots of tracks, pretty much every playlist. I’ve now tried four different versions of “Creep,” and it won’t play! But I’ll keep trying. And in the meantime, I’ve added a Damien Rice cover, which does play.

Oh, wait, wait, Sarah. Listen, I’ve added four different versions of Radiohead’s “Creep,” and the Damien Rice cover, and not one of those five is playing. That’s some serious ghost in the machine, don’t you think? Seriously. Strange, no?

C.E.