Stream, download, whatever: a mix featuring the best of Maine music in 2013

ArboreaThe biggest thing that I miss from the era of physical media is making a mix CD or tape.

Actually, I’ll be honest, I still do make mix CDs. Clearly, I’m aware of the fact that the CD is a dead medium. I’m just being willfully archaic. As Bobby Brown said, it’s my prerogative. My husband and I have around 600 vinyl records, too. Moving into a new place is a process.

I like choosing a selection of songs from various artists, and arranging them in an aesthetically pleasing order. Finding similarities in sound, in approach, in geographic origin, in subject matter, and stringing the songs together into a cohesive, even narrative whole that fits into slightly less than 80 minutes.

Yforgetforgetes, you can do that with a playlist on Spotify — I think so, anyway, since I’m holding out on embracing the cloud as the place where my music lives — but it’s just not the same as an actual CD, is it? Is it? Maybe it is, and I’m turning into one of those people that I can’t stand: someone that says things were better back in my day. Granted, we’re talking about something that less than ten years ago was the dominant technology, but that’s the world we live in, right? Ten years from now they’ll laugh at our comically retro smart phones and the fact that we don’t all have Google Glass or whatever weird technology is coming next. That’s just the way it goes.

The point of all this? Well, I made you a mix CD, Maine. I did it last year and I of course wanted to do it again this year, pulling together 20-odd songs from bands and contrappostoartists from Maine who put out an album or singles this year. I’d like to think it’s a good cross section of sounds and places in the state, from Bar Harbor to York, from hip hop to indie pop to folk to electronic. I’ve listened to a lot of music this year. Like, a lot a lot. I’d like to make it easy to share as much of it as I can with you, and give people from here and from away a way to get a quick taste of some of the music that came out in 2013. Take out some of the leg work. I come to you, not the other way round.

There are swears on some of these, so if that sort of thing is offensive to you, you can delete those tracks. Happy holidays, everybody, however you choose to celebrate them. See you in 2014!

Download the mp3 zip file of the BDN Best of Maine 2013 Compilation.

Emily Burnham

About Emily Burnham

Emily Burnham is a Maine native, UMaine graduate, proud Bangorian and a writer for the Bangor Daily News, where she's worked since 2004. She reports on everything from local bands to local food to all the cool things going on in the Greater Bangor area. In her quest for stories, she's seen countless concerts and plays, been lobster fishing, interviewed celebrities, hung out with water buffalo and played in a ukulele orchestra. She's interested in everything that happens in Maine.