Author: Steel Wagstaff

  • Shake That Thang [Disc #1]

    Shake That Thang [Disc #1]

    This is the first of two ‘Shake That Thang’ danceable mixtapes I made for Laurel a few years back. A bunch of songs from this first disc were missing from Spotify, and the order got all scrambled up, but it’s still pretty fun. Enjoy!

  • Essay on Lorine Niedecker for Edge Effects

    Essay on Lorine Niedecker for Edge Effects

    A few weeks ago, I was invited to write a short essay for the Edge Effects blog. If you’re not already familiar with it, Edge Effects is an outstanding blog run by CHE [the Center for Culture, History, and Environment], a group that belongs to the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, which I’ve been…

  • Chant avec une nouvelle langue [Disc #2]

    Chant avec une nouvelle langue [Disc #2]

    Here’s the second of two foreign-language music discs I made for Laurel a few years ago. Some songs were missing from Spotify’s library, but it’s still a pretty grooving mix, I’d say. Enjoy!

  • Chant avec une nouvelle langue [Disc #1]

    Chant avec une nouvelle langue [Disc #1]

    Here’s the first of two foreign-language music discs I made for Laurel a few years back. As you might guess, a bunch of songs were missing from Spotify’s library, but it’s still a pretty fun listen (coming it at just under an hour). Enjoy!

  • Discs for Laurel: Hipz Hop #3

    Discs for Laurel: Hipz Hop #3

    Here’s the third of the Hipz Hop discs I made for Laurel a few years ago. Spotify is missing three tracks: Chances R’s “Anarchy in the UK” (after Kapten Rod), Linton Kwesi Johnson’s “If I Woz A Top Natch Poet” (after Baths), and Rahzel’s “Godfather of Noize” (last track in the mix).

  • Discs for Laurel: Hipz Hop #2

    Discs for Laurel: Hipz Hop #2

    Here’s the second of the Hipz Hops mixtapes I made for Laurel a few years back. Spotify is missing two songs, “Fist Full of Strife” by Blacklisted Individuals (2nd song), and “White Privilege” by Macklemore (after “Kool On”):

  • Discs for Laurel: Hipz Hop #1

    Discs for Laurel: Hipz Hop #1

    Along with the previous 4 discs, I made three discs with some flavor of hip-hop. I called them the Hipz Hop mixes. Here’s the first one: The only song Spotify didn’t have in their library was Jurassic 5’s “What’s Golden,” which appeared between “Nigeria What?” and “Paper Planes.”

  • Discs for Laurel #4

    Discs for Laurel #4

    Here’s the fourth disc I made for Laurel to listen to while driving around for her job a few years back: Joanna Newsom’s “Easy” wasn’t in Spotify’s library, but it came between “Human Thing” and “Suckas Don’t Respect It” on the original disc.

  • Discs for Laurel #3

    Discs for Laurel #3

    Here’s the third disc I made for Laurel to listen to while driving around for her job a few years back: A few songs Spotify didn’t have in their library: Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s cover of “The World’s Greatest” and Frakkur’s “7” appeared after “Neighborhood #4” and before “One Day”, and Seasick Steve’s “Walking Man” was…

  • Discs for Laurel #2

    Discs for Laurel #2

    Here’s the second of a set of several discs I made for Laurel several years ago for her to listen to while driving. There was a song that Spotify doesn’t have in their library. It’s a great tune by a Ghanaian group, but I don’t remember the group’s name of the song title, so it’s…

  • Discs for Laurel #1

    Discs for Laurel #1

    Sometime after Laurel and I got together, I realized that she spent a fair amount of her time in her car for her job, and that her car had a CD player. So I made her a set of CD mixes for when she was driving around. Here’s the first of these discs: A few…

  • Mixtapes for Laurel: SONG

    Mixtapes for Laurel: SONG

    When Laurel and I first began dating, we made each other a series of mixtapes, not the most original idea, but it was an important part of our getting to know each other. For me, I decided to make a series of four discs BULL WORK BIRD SONG that were both a play on Laurel’s…

  • Mixtapes for Laurel: BIRD

    Mixtapes for Laurel: BIRD

    When Laurel and I first began dating, we made each other a series of mixtapes, not the most original idea, but it was an important part of our getting to know each other. For me, I decided to make a series of four discs BULL WORK BIRD SONG that were both a play on Laurel’s…

  • Mixtapes for Laurel: WORK

    Mixtapes for Laurel: WORK

    When Laurel and I first began dating, we made each other a series of mixtapes, not the most original idea, but it was an important part of our getting to know each other. For me, I decided to make a series of four discs BULL WORK BIRD SONG that were both a play on Laurel’s…

  • Mixtapes for Laurel: BULL

    Mixtapes for Laurel: BULL

    When Laurel and I first began dating, we made each other a series of mixtapes–not the most original idea, but it was an important part of our getting to know each other. For me, I decided to make a series of four discs BULL WORK BIRD SONG that were both a play on Laurel’s last…

  • Cedar Dance Parties & Lullabies [Round 3]

    Cedar Dance Parties & Lullabies [Round 3]

    Our little man is almost a year old now (incredible!). We’ve continued our tradition of daily dance parties, and he’s at the point where he can do a bit of shaking and jiving on his own, which is both hilarious and heartwarming. It’s the best, really, having a tiny dancer in your family. My wife sent…

  • 75 Songs [Best of January & February 2015]

    75 Songs [Best of January & February 2015]

    Here are 75 songs I listened to and liked in January and February of 2015. Cold months in Wisconsin, they were, but still some nice music in there for me, though not a ton of variety. I really liked the newest Clap Your Hands Say Yeah record Only Run, as well as Hurray for the…

  • Mixtapes for Camille: 2010

    Mixtapes for Camille: 2010

    Here the last of the 21 mixtapes I made for my sister as a Christmas present in 2010 (each one with only music released during each year of her life). Joanna Newsom’s “Does Not Suffice” appeared on the original disc between “Truth” and “Cold War,” but Spotify doesn’t have the song available in their library. Enjoy!

  • Mixtapes for Camille: 2009

    Mixtapes for Camille: 2009

    Here’s the 2009 mixtape I made for my sister. The second song was Nouvelle Vague’s cover of “Blister in the Sun,” which Spotify doesn’t have available in the US. Enjoy!

  • Mixtapes for Camille: 2008

    Mixtapes for Camille: 2008

    Here’s the 2008 mixtape I made for my sister. Frakkur’s “7” and Glasvegas’ “Go Square Go” appeared between “Halfway Home” and “The Hunter’s Star” and Seasick Steve’s “Walkin’ Man” appeared just before “Song to Bobby” on the original disc, but Spotify doesn’t have those songs. Enjoy!