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Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums
A Perfect Circle
eMOTIVe
2004

♥: Making a mix is, uncontestably, an art form. All the songs have to bleed together in just the right ways; you can't shove peppy pop beside introspective goth. You are not creating a playlist for a party, which will inevitably consist of the same 100 songs safe for overlapping tastes. When you make a mix, you're creating a soundtrack -- maybe to a moment, or a mood; an experience or a quotation -- but whatever the inspiration might be, a mixtape has meaning, relevance -- direction.

While I frequently make seasonal playlists, mainly to keep track of songs I loved at particular times of year, I don't make a lot of mixes, per se -- at least, not for myself. It's a seriously labour-intensive procedure; I have many aborted attempts languishing in iTunes. But, one thing I do still do -- and still love to do -- is make mixes for other people.

Making a successful mix for another person is a tricky task, for a few reasons.
A) You want them to like it, so you need to know their music taste fairly well.
B) You want them to find new songs, so you need to diversify from what you already know they like, and find them similar stuff from your library.
C) You want them to be exposed to something new, so you need to carefully decide how "new" that can be (i.e. full-hog breakcore or gentler glitchpop?).
and D) You want your own taste to come through, because this is your music, and your identity is going to shine through, here. Especially for people with whom you haven't had endless conversations about music: your music choice is a public emblem, and you WILL be judged. You are what you listen to.

So whenever I make a dedicated mix, there are a few artists who almost always find their way onto it (I used to challenge myself to keep both Bowie and Placebo off the tracklisting), and there are a few songs that everyone who's received a mix from me now has. This is one of them.

"Counting Bodies..." is my staple dedicated-mixtape song. It's not that it's the song I would choose to represent my music taste if I could only pick one -- but it's the song I want other people hearing as that representation. As a mix of alt-rock, electronic, industrial chugging, raw lyrics and vocals, it encapsulates so much of what I've listened to throughout my life, and it does it well. It's absolutely rife with all the layers and layers and layers I find so integral to a fabulous song. It's weird, too, and that's also important: I love those rare, magic songs that are basically impossible to dance to, but so throbbingly good that you can't help but move your body. As all the synths start wailing weirdly around the 3:30 mark...no one could look sane when they're dancing to that. And good. You shouldn't look sane when you dance; not when you're really dancing.

This song finds its way onto my mixtapes because it fits in almost any tracklisting, yet it doesn't fit in anywhere. The mark of something truly exceptional. And, to add a cherry: not only is this a mixtape staple, it's an iPod staple. "Counting Bodies..." is the only song I put on my iPod when I got her, in October 2008, and STILL haven't taken off. It's always appropriate. It's always amazing. It always gives me pause. It always makes me want to share it.


(And how fucking amazing is 2:55?
GO BACK TO SLEEP.)