This mix will be less about songs about a subject and more about songs that provoke something in you—a memory or a feeling, for the most part.

Some of these topics were interpreted fairly liberally. So, here was my mix.

1. a song from the first record/8-track/cassette/cd you ever bought: “Time to Chill” (DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince)
2. a song in a language you don’t speak/know: “Coco” (Brisa Roché)
3. the song that has the most plays in your music library: “(We Wear) Capes” (Uncle Monsterface)
4. a song that others might be surprised to know that you love: “MMMBop” (Hanson)
5. a song you feel guilty owning: “Crucified” (Army of Lovers)
6. a great song for gettin’ it on: “Voodoo-U” (Lords of Acid)
7. a great dance song: “Groove is in the Heart” (Deee-Lite)
8. a silly song: “Double Dutch Bus” (Frankie Smith)
9. a song that expresses how you feel better than you can: “Movin’ On” (Maros)
10. a song to which you know all the words (bonus points if you get your inner diva on when you sing along): “I Love Myself Today” (Bif Naked)
11. a song you’d put on your desert island mix: “You Make My Dreams” (Hall & Oates)
12. a song about nice weather: “First of May” (Jonathan Coulton)
13. a song that instantly transports you to another place or time: “Fit as a Fiddle” (Annette Hanshaw)
14. a song that you find soothing: “The Shining” (Badly Drawn Boy)
15. a song that helped you get over a broken heart: “Last Goodbye” (Jeff Buckley)
16. a song you thought you would hate, but you don’t: “Friends in Low Places” (Garth Brooks)
17. a song about (one of) your philosophies in life: “Freewill” (Rush)
18. a song you would cover in a heartbeat if you were a rockstar: “Gravel” (Ani DiFranco)

Also, I bet there will be some confusion as to what constitutes road trip music. A lot of the lists I see out there have songs about cars or driving on them. They’re strong songs (not generally suitable for ambient listening). They’re the kind of songs that are okay on your computer speakers or your iPod, but they fuckin’ rip it on a proper stereo or a set of car speakers. Sometimes, they’re songs that are good for singing along. Stuff that passes the time and keeps people happy. I think a great description of this kind of music is “care-free, feel good songs.” So work with that.

So, here was my mix.

1. “Back In Black” (AC/DC)
2. “Ace of Spades” (Motörhead)
3. “No One Knows” (Queens of the Stone Age)
4. “Edge of Seventeen” (Stevie Nicks)
5. “Eye of the Tiger” (Survivor)
6. “Fell On Black Days” (Soundgarden)
7. “Pour Some Sugar On Me” (Def Leppard)
8. “You Give Love A Bad Name” (Bon Jovi)
9. “Immigrant Song” (Led Zeppelin)
10. “Baba O’Riley” (the Who)
11. “Sympathy For The Devil” (Rolling Stones)
12. “Bad Moon Rising” (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
13. “Let It Ride” (Bachman-Turner Overdrive)
14. “Carry On Wayward Son” (Kansas)
15. “Freewill” (Rush)
16. “Burnin’ For You” (Blue Öyster Cult)
17. “Heat of the Moment” (Asia)
18. “Don’t Stop Believin’” (Journey)

Basically, there will be a list of approximately 25 different topics/ideas, and you have to fill a CD with songs that fit as many of those topics/ideas as you can.

Some of these topics were interpreted fairly liberally. So, here was my mix.

1. Cat: “Cat People” (Schaffer the Darklord)
2. Sea Creatures: “Sigmund and the Seamonsters” (Tripping Daisy)
3. Wood: “When You Touched Me in That Special Place” (the Whomping Willows)
4. Historical Figure: “The Shot Heard ‘Round the World” (Ween)
5. Coffee: “The Human Hosepipe” (Harry and the Potters)
6. Car: “At the Stars” (Better Than Ezra)
7. High School: “San Dimas High School Football Rules” (the Ataris)
8. Vampires: “Santa Carla Twilight” (Tiger Army)
9. “That’s what she said”: “Keep It Real (Represent My Nuts)” (Nursehella)
10. Baked Good(s): “Along Comes Mary” (Bloodhound Gang)
11. Not Human: “Underground Mutant Prairie Dogs from Hell” (Uncle Monsterface)
12. Farm Animals: “When I Was on Top of You” (from Cannibal! the Musical)
13. Robots: “Android Boy (Reboot)” (Lima Research Society.)
14. Sleeping: “Whompy Stole My Pillow” (Justin Finch-Fletchley and the Sugar Quills)
15. Philadelphia: “I-76″ (G. Love and Special Sauce)
16. Adult Beverage: “Dive Down” (Schaffer the Darklord)
17. Revenge: “Knife Fight” (Lemon Demon ft. Marty Allen)
18. Religion: “Backslider” (the Toadies)
19. Instrumental: “Dance of the Dream Man” (from Twin Peaks)
20. College: “Post-collegiate Shuffle” (the Grammar Club)
21. Blanket: “First of May” (Jonathan Coulton)
22. Bacon: “Bacon” (Harry and the Potters)

The theme for the first swap will be what I call the Quintessential Now. You make a mix of all the songs that you just can’t get enough of right now. The songs that you really, really love at this very moment in time/your life. They don’t have to be new or old or anything in particular—if you’re rockin’ out to it, include it.

So, here was my mix. Everything I’ve been playing on repeat over the last month-ish.

1. “Bit Pop” (Shael Riley) from Toybox
2. “Toxic” (Uncle Monsterface) from Jokey Jingles
3. “Pr0n S0ng” (MC Frontalot) from Nerdcore Rising
4. “Kid Gloves” (Voxtrot) from Voxtrot
5. “They Say I’m a Bad Boy” (Draco and the Malfoys) from Party Like You’re Evil!
6. “We Used to Vacation” (Cold War Kids) from Daytrotter Session
7. “Giant Moth – The Beauty Of Things” (Lima Research Society.) from Don’t Give Up Don’t Get Down
8. “Bank Holiday” (The Grammar Club) from Bremelanotide
9. “Heads Up, Hearts Down” (I Fight Dragons) from Cool Is Just A Number EP
10. “I’m Sorry (But Your Princess is in Another Castle)” (Uncle Monsterface) from Nintendode: Songs for the Big N
11. “Pipe Dreams” (MadHatter) from 8Bit Bullshit
12. “Life’s So Hard” (Marc With A C) from Life’s So Hard
13. “A Man’s Gotta Do” (Dr. Horrible, Captain Hammer, Penny) from Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
14. “Cream and Bastards Rise” (Harvey Danger) from Little by Little
15. “Heart Tits” (The Grammar Club) from Bremelanotide
16. “Derockracy” (Uncle Monsterface) from Letter Green (I Love You)
17. “Honeydukes” (Justin Finch-Fletchley and the Sugar Quills) from Justin Finch-Fletchley and the Sugar Quills
18. “Wear Wolf Fever” (Math the Band) from Math the Band Banned the Math
19. “Dare to Be Stupid” (mc chris & Modd Jobs) from Nerdcore Undercover
20. “Craig’s List” (Schaffer the Darklord) from Mark of the Beast
21. “Roll The Dice” (Sinister Six) from Invasion Of The Mic Snatchers
22. “tip eht fo mottob” (Shael Riley and The Double Ice Backfire) from Songs From The Pit