[mix tape] Martin Starr Paints You a Mix
In our world, only two types of people exist:
1) Those who take the “Which Freaks & Geeks Character Are You?” quiz and pray for Bill Haverchuck; and
2) Those who have no idea who Bill Haverchuck is.
Needless to say, we prefer to hang out with the first type. We also suggest a change of weekend plans for anyone who falls into the second.
Which is to say, we almost peed in our pants when Martin Starr agreed to make a mix tape for us. (We definitely did a victory dance or two.)
You see, Bill Haverchuck may have sparked our initial respect for Martin but we’re also fans of Adventureland (available on iTunes as of yesterday! Awesome soundtrack as well!), Knocked Up, and Party Down. It’s almost like the weirder his characters get, the deeper our admiration grows.
In fact, we’re not sure any other actor could pull off some of the scenes from Party Down and still garner our empathy. (Insert: Any scene from “Sin Say Shun Awards After Party.”)
He even manages to make us believe that pipe-smoking, Russian literature majors can be nonpretentious.
Right. So, once Martin agreed to make a mix tape for us, we promised ourselves that we’d refrain from sounding like brown-nosers or stalkers in his introduction. Obviously, we failed. Horribly.
On behalf of nonpretentious, we’ll simply point out that it’s not our fault that we respect him as an artist. Whether his talent comes from nature, nurture, or something else entirely, Martin Starr knows how to entertain. When we see his name on a project, we’re pretty certain it will be worth our while. We eagerly await all of his future endeavors, including his writing debut and his art exhibit at the Met. (Hear that, Directors? Hear that, Distributors of American Storage? Hear that, Curators of the Met?) (Also, no spoilers for Good Dick, it’s at the top of our Netflix queue.)
We know Martin had a full schedule this summer. (What? Haven’t you heard of a telescope?) We’re grateful that he took the time to compile this playlist for us. We’re even more grateful that his playlist didn’t make us lose all respect for him.
And now a word from the maker of this mixtape:
The hardest part of putting together a selection of music you love is limiting it to less than 1,000,000 songs. Seriously. I love all different kinds of music, even country. But I’m talkin’ awesome country, like Johnny Cash. And I didn’t even throw in life changing artists like Zeppelin, Black Crowes, Dr. John, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Band, Styx, Van Morrison, Lou Reed, Queen, Herbie Hancock, or Jethro Tull (to name a few). I assume you already have all of them in your collection. If not, GET THEM ALL NOW. I may have to make another mixtape of my favorite songs of all time one day, although that sounds like the most difficult task ever. Till then, here’s what I’ve been listening to recently. If you don’t like some of them, it’s probably my poor taste shining through. If you don’t like a single song then you need to re-think why you’re on this planet. The following are songs/artists I’m listening to at this very moment. You and me… we’re bonding right now.
Oogum Boogum – Brenton Wood
Forest Whitaker – Brother Ali
Love Love Love – The Mountain Goats
Custom Concern – Modest Mouse
Dreams – Little Brother
With my Trumpet in my Hand – Common Rotation
Ice Dogs – Man Man
Stand Up – Flobots
The Sound – Human Highway
You and I – Ingrid Michaelson
On My Block – Scarface
Skinny Love - Bon Iver
Out the Door – Kate Micucci
Everyday – Vetiver
The Underdog – Spoon
Writing W/ Rifles – Queen Sheba (she’s a truly inspiring poet)
Carolina – Benjamin Gibbard
Treats – Novelists (great fun song, listen to it while you bake goodies)
5 Years Time – Noah and the Whale
You’ve Done it Again Virginia – The National (the version on Lit Up – EP)
Move On – Mike Doughty
The Girl is Mine – Michael Jackson
Doo Right – Man Man
Officially the count is 24 songs and I am really limiting myself. I haven’t even gotten to Lennon or Loudon Wainwright III, who haven’t made a single bad song. Well, thank you for listening or reading or whatever it is you’ve done here today. I wish you the best. All of you.
M.S.
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http://nonpretentious.com publishes mix tapes every Wednesday in its [mix tapes] column. Our goal is to create a digital version of trading mixes, sharing music, etc. AND also publicize the work of “common people” (i.e. not superstar celebs but celebs nonetheless) who are doing cool things around the globe.
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awesome mix, and now it has the image in my head of bill haverchuck cruising the streets listening to scarface.
I might be obsessed with Skinny Love by Bon Iver. I don’t even know what he’s saying, but I’m convinced it’s skinny and about love.
Sweet!
Scarface “My Block” is definitely one of the classics. “Smile music.”
We definitely bonded… in a non-creepy way. What’s your address? Just kidding… But, no seriously…
this is great. i agree with outlaw, scarface is so good
dude killer
Love the Scarface inclusion.
Well-realized and current, as always!
love the whole mix, but the addition of ‘the girl is mine’ just solidifies its legitimacy.
Sweet Mix. Some I’ve heard others, I’ll check out! Vetiver is fanastic. You should check out Dr.Dog, Devendra Banhart, or Deer Tick!
I heartily endorse this product and/or service. Mostly because it combines some stuff I already thought was quality with some stuff that’s working its way up there. Also, I’m surprise, and pleased, to see there isn’t any token Flaming Lips. Too long they have been unoriginally standard fare for ‘cool’ mixes. At least in my circles…
[...] I’ll let you know when it’s actually finished, and if Melissa still agrees to publish it. If she does, I will once again fall within the ranks of the great mixtape makers on the interwebs–even Martin Starr, who played the ever-amazing Bill Haverchuck on the short-lived but nontheless amazing show Freaks & Geeks, has a mixtape at NonPretentious. [...]
[...] be sure. I’m making an assumption. How about Martin Starr? Do you know him? He made a mixtape for this website. It’s pretty good, you should check it out. Just search for Martin Starr there in the search [...]
[...] to be the drummer for Superchunk and, recently, The Mountain Goats (who Martin Starr included in his nonpretentious mix tape). Wurster calls in as a variety of characters, usually from the fictional Newbridge, NJ. The best [...]
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