How To Breathe Underwater.

So you are not going to believe this. Okay maybe you will.

I started this post on Valentine's day (which is why it will be published on 14th despite me finally getting around to finishing it on the 17!) but I only got to typing the tracklist before I had to get ready for work.

I didn't intend on it being a Valentine's day sort of post about the last playlist I made but it seemed fitting in a sense to put up the tracklist for Frogboots on the day of love.

Because I finally have a day off I figured I would finish what I started. But before I even turned on my computer and cracked my typing fingers I received some mail in front of my door. Snail Mail from Frogboots with an awesome Postcard, MixCd I have yet to listen to and a magical dinosaur envelope.

She sent it on Valentine's day. The same day I started putting up this playlist. I'm geeking out right now with excitement.

Oh where to begin....

My relationships with Frogboots goes way back. She is the first friend I made during this blogging experience. At 19 I was a very depressed, anxious and lonely girl. I started my blog because I had no one to talk too and felt utterly alone and quite miserable. Up until then I felt like my voice and experience did not matter at all.

When you're young you think that you are the only person who has ever felt the way you feel. That no one could possibly understand your pains of being a lonely introvert. That because you see the world differently, because you feel it differently does not mean that you are strange and invaluable.

I remember her first comment on my page, it was during a disastrous couple of days and I felt on the verge of breaking down completely. I was a sharp edge away from being committed or worse.

Out of nowhere she appeared just in time to let me know that while it is a long road to 'better' there is a road. A road for girls like me. She has been my voice of reason, smiles and sanity ever since. And while I am a private, sneaky girl with many hidden places (and identities) I have let Frogboots in to my life because she has proved to be a true friend.

I immediately gravitated to her kindness and honesty and spunk. We are cosmic twins whose experiences and views on life run the same course. And she is one of my greatest friends because of it. She knows me better than the people I see everyday. She has been on my cheering squad when I need the pep, a straight shooter when I need to hear it as it is, and a confidant when shit has hit the fan. We are cosmic twins, you and I. I value you more than site visits and facebook comments can justify. And I honestly couldn't imagine the journey without you. You have made the road worth traveling.

I mean it from the bottom of my heart.

How to Breathe Underwater was a organic experience to make because of my relationship with her. The songs came to me easily and I had to stop myself from making more than one mix for her. The title derives from my favorite collection of short stories by Julie Orringer. Everyone needs to read this collection even if I have to mail you my copy ( i will). The stories are beautiful, haunting and startling examinations of girls dealing with the complexity of adulthood.

They are about "innocent observers of a world wholly inexplicable at times...the weight of reality[pulling] characters ever upward, toward the light, and the acceptance of the frightening complexities of adulthood"



I knew then that this would be the title of her mix and the songs compiled would be sweeping, beautiful anthem of innocence and strength. I'd like to think of it as a soundtrack for the indie movie I have not yet penned. Where the ultra witty, nerdy, sweet girl doesn't always get her way but she gets a way. A way paved with good friends, boys whose hair needs ruffling and books galore. A movie where the path sometimes sucks and the pain does too but where there are gardens and dinosaurs and whales that make things better. Where magic and love are a heartbeat away:




1. Let's Go - Madi Diaz
2. Howl - Junip
3. Conversation 16 - The National
4. Love Lost - The Temper Trap
5. Vacationing People - Foreign Born
6. You Were Never There - Diego Garcia
7. In The Dirt - Sean Carey
8. Flowers - Anais Mitchell
9. Better Times - Beach House
10. The Great Estates - Freelance Whales
11. Blue Skies - Noah and the Whale
12. After the Storm - Mumford & Sons
13. The High Road - Broken Bells
14. Summer Holiday - Wild Nothing
15. July Flame - Laura Veirs
16. Washington - Sarah Harmer
17. I Want Belong to You - Katie Herzig
18. Take Care - Beach House



I listened to the finish product more than a few times and I am utterly smitten with the end result.



I had a fear that the mix would sound too sad or sullen, I didn't want it to be a downer of a listen. But overall each song fits so well with one another. I had to put a Mumford & Sons, Beach House and Broken Bell song on the play list because they have been stand out bands for me this year.



Some of the songs where new to me but fit so well I couldn't help but add them. I'd never heard of Sean Carey or Sarah Harmer until a couple of days before the mix was made. But surprisingly they are whimsical, lovely songs that added to the overall theme of 'surfacing' that I was going for.

'Take Care' by Beach House is my all time favorite single, which is why I wanted it to end this mix. I get a lot of free Cd's from work and hadn't realized I had this band in my Ipod until the song popped up in the shuffle. I can't explain how magical the lyrics are, especially because most of the song is composed of the singing lamenting "I'll take care of you". But it seemed the most fitting way to end a mix where previously the songs are about adventure, love, loss and finding your way back. It's about breaking the surfacing.



I feel so attached to this mix. Each song is special in its own way. I hope she (you) liked it as much as I enjoyed making it.



Mix Cd Extravaganza 2011 is now over. I'm grateful for everyone who participated. I received every one's mix in the mail and the songs are all beautiful and diverse. I look forward to next years exchange.



~Becks