Ben’s Mix CD - Hi, My Name’s Ben

It was very difficult for me to put together this mix CD.  For starters, I like things to be organized, and, when I make a mix CD, I try to bring order to it.  I like to have a theme and arrange the songs so as to best portray that theme.  But… this mix CD has no theme and the songs are all in random order.

Why did I do that?  Because this mix CD is supposed to be a sort of representation of me, and I don’t really have a theme.  My life is sometimes out of order.  My tastes vary greatly, changing from day to day and spanning across many genres.

So you get this mix CD, featuring some of my favorite artists and music in no particular order because usually I’m playing my songs on random in iTunes anyhow.  It’s quite random, so beware!

1. “Return of Da Stomp” by Laromlab (Download or Stream)
I got this off of a Paste sampler CD, and couldn’t stop listening to it.  The beat is catchy, unique, and features multiple levels of instrumentation.  Play this sucker long enough, and you can’t help but feel happier… and a bit more like Mario.

2. “Scarf Dance” by Psalters (Download or Stream)
Psalters is by far my favorite crazy, Christian gypsy/hippy/tribal band out there, and I love the wild beats in Scarf Dance.

3. “Leviathan, Bound” by Shearwater (Download or Stream)
I first stumbled on Shearwater while browsing eMusic looking for something different and new.  I like this song even if it’s about a scene from the Discovery Channel.

4. “Sanctuary” by The Echoing Green (Download or Stream)
I like electronica, and The Echoing Green has some good stuff.  I especially love the thought of how Jesus defines “the line between human and divine.”  Cool line from the song.

5. “Firebreather” by Thrice (Download or Stream)
Ah, nothing like good ol’ heavy distortion and screaming.  It’s a song about courage, but you’d never guess that ’cause you can’t hear what they’re saying.  This is the kind of screamo I like, though.

6. “Kiss Your Feet” by John Mark McMillan (Download or Stream)
This is my favorite song by John Mark McMillan.  What a great line:  I dreamed I kissed your feet between the cigarette butts on the side of fourteenth street.  The heart and lyrics of this song are great!

7. “Buffalo Jump” by Dougie MacLean (Download or Stream)
There’s nothing quite so cool as a Scottish man singing a song about Native Americans while in the background an australian didgeridoo plays.  The mix of cultures grabbed my attention.  Check out Dougie MacLean’s work for some beautiful but simple acoustic guitar work.

8. “Hospital Beds” by Cold War Kids (Download or Stream)
This is the song that made me like Cold War Kids.  I don’t know exactly what’s going on in this hospital, but I keep listening to the song to find out the story behind it all.

9. “Sanctitatis” by Future of Forestry (Download or Stream)
This isn’t Future of Forestry’s best song out there, but it’s the one I played on repeat for about an hour while driving to Green Bay last year.  I love how they use an old Latin prayer.

10. “Scarecrow” by Skillet (Download or Stream)
Despite their not-so-blatant Christianity and sometimes even downright gloominess, I still really like Skillet.  This old song of theirs reminds me of my true calling to be a scarecrow.

11. “Chop Suey!” by System of a Down (Download or Stream)
When I first listened to this song, I thought it was by a Christian band.  Ha ha!  I don’t know what old Serj was intending, but he paints here a great picture of Jesus on the cross and mankind’s refusal to follow him.

12. “Glance” by Misty Edwards (Download or Stream)
Misty has songs I like better musically than this, but the message of this song always hits me hard.  I wish my heart would always be so passionate for God, but I’m still growing.

13. “The Building” by Mekons (Download or Stream)
Mekons has lots of great songs, and they’re all incredibly different, ranging from old school punk to folk to nearly tribal.  I like this one.  It’s hard to even classify it as a song, but the vocals are awesome… in their own way.  Just listen to it.  You’ll understand.

14. “On With the Show” by Destroy Nate Allen (Download or Stream)
This is probably my favorite Destroy Nate Allen song out there.  It’s fairly simple, but the story the song tells is quite deep and forces me to think whenever I listen to it.

15. “Wake Me Up” by Merchant Band (Download or Stream)
Merchant Band has a lot of stuff out there now, most of it pretty CCM-ish.  Though I’m not so anti-CCM as many out there, I like this song for its discordant feel and use of distortion in ways no other worship music uses it.

16. “Grace of God Go I” by Flogging Molly (Download or Stream)
There are other songs by Flogging Molly that I like better musically, but the tone and message of this song is great.  If not for God’s grace on me, I’d be a mess.

17. “Once Beautiful” by The Last Dance (Download or Stream)
I listened to this song during my 8.5 hour drive south from Michigan last summer.  This isn’t a “Christian” song (per se), but it always makes me think about how God makes us beautiful again.

18. “Send Your Rain” by Brenton Brown (Download or Stream)
This simple song always gets my heart focused on the one thing that really matters:  getting the rain of God’s presence in our lives, our communities, and our world.  We need his presence so badly and we don’t even know it…

19. “Tambourines” by Enter the Worship Circle (Download or Stream)
I like the simplicity of this song and also the unusual focus on the tambourine.  It’s not too often that a song’s main instrument is a tambourine.

Enjoy the downloads, and grab the whole thing here in one humongous zip file if you want!

Note: all MP3s will be removed after 2 weeks.