Victor's Ultimate Mega Mix '18

Things tend to slow down as one gets older including the time it takes from getting mixes on your birthday (mid May) to actually putting together the yearly best of Mega Mix (early August).

On the plus side though, this isn't even the longest delay in putting out a Mega Mix. Just two years ago it took me until late August to get my post out. The worst of "Meh"-ga Mix came out in early September! So really I'm doing better than the spry young me of two years ago. Not too shabby.

This year's list on 8Tracks will literally be 8 tracks. The musical harvest was a little thin this year. I'm blaming it on Brexit, increased US trade tariffs, and of course those darn millennials. Still, while the quantity has lowered the quality still remains high.

Once again my friends' familiarity with my mix tastes (which I'm sure is influenced in no small part from my years of putting out these critical lists) make it harder and harder to make these cuts. It's something I say pretty much every year, but it is quite true.

I also just wanted to quickly note that I am a little bit surprised that 8Tracks is still around. When I saw all the restrictions and limitations they put on the site last year, it seemed to signal a MoviePass-esque death spiral into bankruptcy and oblivion. I'm glad that it (and I) are still here in 2018.

Let's pump up the jams!

Victor's Ultimate Mega Mix '18 from VictorSellsOut on 8tracks Radio.

Victor's Ultimate Birthday "Meh"-ga Mix '17

You probably thought I forgot about posting the follow up "worst of" mix tracks. Well, the jokes on you, I was merely procrastinating on posting the follow up!

I've obviously gotten real lazy when it comes to this blog but perhaps a part of the reason for my procrastination on this post was that these tracks weren't all that lousy and subconsciously I was feeling bad for calling them out.

I have to admit there aren't any true stinkers on here. My friends have been getting me these mixes for a while now and they usually know a dud when they see it. However, mix ranking is ultimately a zero sum game and for a top list there has to be a bottom list.

Perhaps down the line I will mellow with age and just eliminate this list entirely. Until then here are this year's bottom 7 songs plus a bonus track of a hit song I genuinely hate to fill out the minimum track count (hint: it's not another Ray Stevens track but it is a country crossover hit).

Unleash hell!

Victor's Ultimate Birthday "Meh"-ga Mix '17 from VictorSellsOut on 8tracks Radio.

Victor's Ultimate Mega Mix '17

Well, it looks like we've finally gotten to the point in the life of this blog were I only post 2 or 3 traditional entries a year. It seems to be going along the same life cycle as my other older blogs. I predict that eventually even those minimal entries will peter out (or the sun will run out of fuel and collapse into a black hole taking our entire solar system with it, whichever comes first) and this blog will finally go silent.

However, until that day we still have the yearly Mega Mix posts!

What can I say about this year's slate of mixes? It's another round of quality curated personal musical experiences. Having had birthday mixes made by essentially the same crew of friends for almost a decade now; it's obvious they have gotten pretty good at knowing what I like. Though I guess if there was any kind of complaint it would be that perhaps they know me too well and there are less experimental song choices. Consistency between mixes has been at an all time high lately which makes it hard to make the hard cuts for this list (and especially the bad list which I will still release later). Sure it's a more enjoyable listen overall but the appearance of true memorable,monumental stinkers are a rare sight. But really this is a minor, minor, pseudo-complaint. 

On a side note, it looks like 8tracks has made a bunch of bad changes to the service, most prominent being the addition of a 1 hour cap on free listening per week for users not signed to their monthly subscription service. LAME. I understand that running a streaming music service is expensive and they're trying to turn a profit, but man this is not going to keep a lot of the current users from leaving. I thought about it, but I still haven't found one that keeps the same mixtape set up. 

Oh, I also wanted to mention that this year's compilation was posted way quicker (a little over a month from receipt of the mixes) compared to last year where I didn't get these post out until late August/early September. So there's at least one part of my life that's not in decline with age!

Hit the music!

Victor's Ultimate Mega Mix '17 from VictorSellsOut on 8tracks Radio.

 

Victor's Ultimate Birthday "Meh"-ga Mix '16

Summer's coming to an end, the days are getting shorter, the kids are going back to school. Soon all the leaves will start dying. Then winter will descend upon us, as unrelenting and inevitable as our own mortality.

So why not burn this fucker down with the ass end of birthday mix haul from back in May (remember way back when summer was starting and the world was full of hope and promise).

The dark side of the Mega Mix with 7 songs that I decided where not quite bangers, plus a bonus shit track to fit the minimum (fun fact: possibly my least favorite song to top the Billboard charts).

Happy Labor Day Weekend All!

Victor's Ultimate Birthday "Meh"-ga Mix '16 from VictorSellsOut on 8tracks Radio.

Victor's Ultimate Mega Mix '16

"Better late than never" has always been a prominent philosophy in my life. Sure, your paper's gonna get docked half a grade but hey, what are you gonna do, take the zero?

Just when you thought the yearly Mega Mix was done, just another youthful affectation from my twenties that failed to make it all the way up through my thirties; here it comes hobbling in three months late.

While I am only now getting around to posting it, I did finalize the list about a month ago so I do wonder if it is no longer accurate. There is always the chance that my tastes have totally changed since then. A surprising amount of stuff can happen in a month after all.

While I don't think my fondness for novelty story songs have waned much in the past month, you'll have to treat the below 14 tracks as more of a snapshot from a younger, less world wise, early 32 Victor as opposed to the elder mid early 32 Victor. Though, frankly for those who know me I don't think there will be that many surprises.

Let us journey back to early summer:

Victor's Ultimate Mega Mix '16 from VictorSellsOut on 8tracks Radio.

Victor's Ultimate Birthday "Meh"-ga Mix '15

It's been a week since the 2015 edition of the Mega Mix dropped so as tradition dictates, here come the misses. As I write this post up during the waning hours of a delightful three day weekend, I find the timing to be utterly appropriate. We had our highs, we had our fun but now it's time to experience the other side of the coin.

It's probably a good thing right? For there to be light you need darkness? You can't have the sweet without the sour or something like that? I didn't see it, but I think that's the lesson of "Inside Out"? I mean, the message can't be that you can't let the joy part of your brain run your whole life right?

Half baked pseudo-philosophical questions aside, I do want to point out that it's kind of an honor to be chosen for the "Meh"-ga Mix. They'll be remembered years down the line over another generally pleasant but ultimately unnotable track. At the very least, they are interesting; and for me it's always better to be interesting than just plain fine.

One note about this year's mix. Since I only take two tracks per original mix given to me, plus just one track from the theme mix I got, I found myself with only seven tracks. Since 8tracks requires a minimum of eight tracks (imagine that?), I threw in Ray Stevens' chart topping 1974 hit "The Streak"; one of the my least favorite songs I can remember (which is odd since I usually love ridiculous songs from the 70s).

Roll the ugliness...

Victor's Ultimate Birthday "Meh"-ga Mix '15 from VictorSellsOut on 8tracks Radio.

      

Victor's Ultimate Mega Mix '15

Happy New Year everybody!

Seriously, I can't believe this is first post of the year on this once bustling blog. You know things are bad here when my ancient livejournal until now had more posts on the year (1 to 0). In my defense I've actually been crazy busy this year with getting a proper adult job and all, but I have to admit there's some laziness involved. There's always some laziness involved.

In any case, the old VSO is back, at least to belatedly celebrate my birthday.

Yes, it is indeed that time again when I shine the spotlight on the standout tracks that I've culled from my yearly birthday mixes. On the whole 31 was a slightly underwhelming haul, quantity-wise, not quality wise. The final tally was three official mixes plus a bonus theme mix. Hey we're all getting older and getting busier right? Plus, I am and most of my friend are now coming into our early 30s, which apparently is the time when we stop listening to new music and become our parents.

Given that depressing bit of news, I think it's more critical than ever that we continue to maintain healthy mix making habits well into our music taste calcifying thirties and beyond. It doesn't even have to be new music in the sense of contemporary music, any kind of exposure to music you haven't heard before is probably good for the soul.  It is only through the regular practice of pondering, seeking, and exploring new music to compile and gift to a friend do we keep that passion for novel music alive. We keep the fire burning as we burn our mixes.

Additionally, what's good for the mixer is just as good for the mixee. The time around my birthday is when I get exposed to most of the new music for the year. Seeing as how busy this year's been going it may well be the only time.

So thank you to all my friends who give me mixes and let me craft mixes with them. You keep me young (although not in any kind of physical sort of way, I'm still falling apart day by day).

Mixes away!

Oh and before you think I'm getting soft. The "misses" will be following shortly.

Victor's Ultimate Birthday "Meh"-ga Mix '14

I know, I know. You've been jamming out non-stop all this week to the blissful tunes of this year's edition of the Mega Mix and the last thing you want is the harsh buzzkill of the Ultimate Birthday "Meh"-ga Mix. Well, listen up joy boy, life is all about the highs and the lows, the sweets and the sours, the season 4 Simpsons and the season 24 Simpsons. It'd be against the laws of nature to just have the hits, one has to recognize the misses.

As much as this year was the most difficult yet in terms of picking the top four songs, it was even harder picking the bottom two. After three previous years of mix making, my friends are getting annoying good at this business. The overall quality improves every year and picking the duds is becoming increasingly a game of inches. At this rate I may have to give some consideration to dropping the category all together (although one or two tracks still usually come along each year to renew my commitment to this mix). Perhaps one day there will be a haul of mixes where the task of culling the worst would be too difficult to attempt, but until then enjoy the blah.

Victor's Ultimate Mega Mix '14

It's been just over a month since that bleak day in May when I turned thirty. I am still waiting on that wisdom and insight stuff that supposedly comes with old age. In the meantime I have an assortment of birthday mixes to keep me entertained.

I know I say it pretty much every year, but this year's haul of five mixes have been the strongest group yet. I don't know, maybe it's because of the milestone year, but I felt that my friends really put in an extra effort here. Great job everyone; though this is setting up the mixes for my 31st birthday to be quite underwhelming (I guess the silver-lining would be a really strong class of "worst of" mix songs). Bonus kudos to everyone for not kicking a sad man when he's down and loading up the mixes with depressing tracks about aging. I know I definitely would have if the roles were reversed (and I most likely will for your milestone birthday mixes; I even keep a running stockpile of those kinds of songs to use on all birthday mixes).

Before I get to the big reveal I just wanted to note a few interesting observations about the mixes this year; actually these sort of coincidences happen every year but I never bother to make a note of them. In the case of tracks repeated across multiple mixes, the simultaneous track of the year award goes to "Move That Dope" by Future featuring Pharrell, Pusha T, and Casino. I really did enjoy this fantastic piece of coke rap and it fell just shy of making the top four in both mixes. Another song appeared twice but under two different versions. The original 1982 version of "Mama Used to Say" by Junior made it to one mix while a 2009 cover by the group Jupiter made it to another. I enjoyed both versions (it really is a sneaky good birthday song) and it was hard cutting both of them from their respective top 4s. Finally, I had two different songs by Chance the Rapper on two different mixes. My quick review on him is, interesting style and lyrics and hip-hop is all the richer for having a unique artist like him, but I find his voice fairly irritating.

Speaking of irritating, remember to keep an eye out for the "worst of" mix in the next few days.

Victor's Ultimate Birthday "Meh"-ga Mix '13

You heard the best, now hear the rest! Yes, unfortunately, it is once again time to break out Victor's Ultimate Birthday "Meh"-ga Mix for 2013. I suppose one positive that can be drawn from this year's batch is that it's only 8 as opposed to the usual 10. I thought about upping the quota to three tracks per mix but that would have been needlessly critical.

Every year when I put together the "worst of" I struggle to really make a consistent determination between memorable terribleness and the forgettable mediocrity. Is it better to be a fiasco than just boring? It's a tough distinction; a distinction made even tougher when the mixes don't contain glaring examples of either kind. Sure every once in a while there'll be a track that just does not jibe with me at all and it's an easy call (difficult post-punk is often a strong bet). However, most of the time the cuts are tough. I mean by the inflexible cruel rules of the "Meh"-ga Mix it is impossible to have a perfect mix. Even if I loved every song two tracks have to be sacrificed in the name of parity.

Harsh, but we all know we look forward to it every year.

Victor's Ultimate Birthday Mega Mix '13

Just when you had all but given up hope after it didn't arrive at the start of June, Victor's Ultimate Birthday Mega Mix finally returns for 2013! Various factors came together to cause the extra long release delay this year including a late birthday party, a certain tardy mix contributor (for privacy sake, let's call her "Lisa B."...No that's too obvious..uuh let's say "L. Berlin"), and of course the 17 year return of the cicadas. Additionally this year's edition will be a bit shorter, exactly 1/5th to be exact, since one of my usual contributing friends was unavailable.

So there you have it, longer wait with less content, thanks Obama!

Seriously though, this was another solid batch of tunes. In fact, the selection process was the most difficult for me yet. This either means the quality has gone up across the board or that I've started to become less choosy in my old age. Still, thanks to everyone that participated. Making a good mix is a time intensive task and I am always appreciative when someone takes that time to make one for me. The period after my birthday where I get all these new tracks to listen through as I commute to the office is one of the real highlights of my year (I had to break out the old portable CD player this time since I commute by public transportation now). I hope to see another round of mixes next year from you guys and anyone else who wants to throw their disc in the ring.

Oh and in case you thought I was getting soft and sentimental in my old age, the 2013 edition of the "worst of" mix will become arriving soon enough.

Victor's Ultimate Birthday "Meh"-ga Mix '12

Now that we've had our fun doling out birthday mix CD cheers, it's time to move on to the jeers. As much as the top twenty Mega Mix is on its way to becoming a tradition, so is the dreaded bottom ten "Meh"-ga Mix. Believe me, I take far more joy in evaluating and selecting my favorite tracks than panning out the bottom percentile. The decisions become a lot more difficult and the whole thing probably takes me twice as long as the former (but since I'm only making half as may selections, I guess it actually takes the same amount of time then).

Despite the difficulty, I still feel it's necessary and that people are curious to see the results. I've always preferred reading negative and the "Jeers" over the "Cheers" in TV Guide. In addition it's another excuse to put together another mix compilation; can't pass up that kind of opportunity. As to the mix, I do wonder if it is actually better for a song to be selected for the bottom compilation than just be the solid majority songs that aren't good or bad enough for either mix compilation. After all, I remember the tracks of last year's worst of mix far better than all the superior songs that avoided relegation. Is it preferable to be memorably notorious than forgettably solid?

It's something to ponder while listening to these personally "blah" tracks.

Victor's Ultimate Birthday Meh-ga Mix '12 from VictorSellsOut on 8tracks.

Victor's Ultimate Birthday Mega Mix '12

The first of June has comes around again, which can only mean one thing (well aside from International Children's Day): it's the release of the 2012 edition of "Victor's Ultimate Birthday Mega Mix"! Now, my personal rule is that it takes at least three successful years before I dub anything a legitimate "tradition" so I won't go as far as to call this one as such. However with another successful turnout of five mix CDs it would appear that VUBMM Day is well on it's way to becoming a cherished international holiday and essential fixture of summer (of course this is all also based on the assumption that I will keep on living for years to come).

Once again, I would like to formally thank everyone who acknowledged my birthday last month from the emptiest of casual Facebook shout outs to those who hung around with me to my sleepiest/drunkest of moments. Special thanks go out to the mix makers as none of this would have been possible without your contributions. If anyone else would like to be considered next year, all you need is a mix (and perhaps a tolerance for harsh criticism).

Once again, as for my listening process, all the mixes were carefully evaluated on an individual basis via my car stereo over multiple weeks and countless miles of commuting on the New Jersey Turnpike.

Victor's Ultimate Birthday Megamix '12 from VictorSellsOut on 8tracks.

And don't forget, the fun continues tomorrow with the release of the 2012 edition of the "worst of" mix!

Victor's Ultimate Birthday "Meh"-ga Mix '11

I hope everyone out there enjoyed or is still enjoying all the standout tracks of my personal best of birthday mixes compilation from yesterday. For me it was as fun to list as it was to listen. However, it is an undeniable truth that a standout track cannot exist without other lesser tracks for it to stand in front of. While I, for one, will be the first to admit that almost every time I make a mix I can't help but think that it's my most greatest mix yet with every song a home run (now this may be the case, I have only received limited feedback about my mixes over the years), such masterpieces are extremely rare if even existent. So, in the spirit of equal time and comprehensive coverage that have always defined this blog (that and my mild obsession with making 8track mixes right now) I've decided to compile a smaller 10 track supplemental mix comprised of what I consider the 2 weakest tracks off of my 5 birthday mix CDs.

I just want to preface that none of these selected tracks were objectively terrible. I didn't go through any deep critical analysis or anything, just personal first blush impressions; songs I recalled just not having positive reactions to (actually if you want to get all deep about it, maybe the weakest songs should be the enjoyable middle of the curve songs that are neither memorably positive or memorably negative). Also, note that since I was working with a 2 song quota for each mix, even an absolutely flawless mix would have had to give up 2, or if one is viewing it the other way, even the worse mix only had to give up 2 (I'm not going to say whether either was the case). Finally for the mix authors and for folks who may want to make mixes for me in the future, these selections should have no influence on future mixes you make for me. If I singled out a certain artist, or genre, or sound, etc. do not hesitate to put that same artist, genre, sound, etc. on a mix in the future. Mix free and unfettered, I would rather be challenged than pandered to...well maybe a little pandering is nice (however if you're going to put on any song over 6 minutes, you better be confident in it, I do acknowledge a slight bias against them):

Victor's Ultimate Birthday Mega Mix '11

I just want to start off with a grand formal final thank you to everyone who acknowledged my birthday last month from those who actually brought me gifts or hung around with me until the wee hours at the bar to those Facebook friends who I have never met nor talked to but still manage to post a birthday greeting on my wall every year like clockwork and everyone in between (don't think I didn't forget you, automatic emails from internet sites I've registered with). If I had to spend a whole day being reminded of the depressing, immutable truth of my mortality I guess there were worse ways to have spent it.

One of the most notable things about this year's birthday was the unexpected motherlode of birthday mix CDs I received. In my largest haul yet, I got five fully loaded CD-Rs comprising of over 120 songs and individual artists (although there were two Ash songs, the only repeat artist throughout). Fortunately I had just recently started a job that involved about a one hour driving commute (personally, I believe driving on a highway is the single most ideal position for listening to music) round trip so it all oddly serendipitous. So after finally making my way through all the CDs, getting around to uploading them, and giving them a week or two of perspective I decided to make a 20 track compilation mix of my own to share with everyone featuring my top 4 selections from the 5 mixes.

Now these are by no means the most definitive of rankings. All of this is basically based on first impressions and maybe further listens down the line my tastes will change. However until then, just in time for summer, it's Victor's Ultimate Birthday Mega Mix '11 (a note on ordering: I tried to stay true to the original track orderings of the mixes; surprisingly there were only a few overlaps):

Now while you're enjoying the sweet tunes good reader ponder a question that I as a long time mix enthusiast have often pondered while listening to and making mixes: who is the mix reflecting? If you're making a mix for someone is it a reflection of yourself, the mix maker, with your tastes, personality, and preferences being represented in the music and arrangement that the listener is interpreting? Or is the individual receiving the mix finding something out about themselves from listening to a mix made specifically for them? Or is the mix you are making a reflection of what you think the mix listener's reflection of you is? This line of thinking can basically go on forever like one of those infinite recursion effects. I think the answer (as with all such questions with unsatisfying answers) lies somewhere in between. It's one of the enduring charms of the mix, both sides are getting perspectives on each other by uniquely interpreting the same list of songs (at least with a well crafted mix that someone actually put the work into, if you're going to dump 20 random songs together without any context or meaning you might as well be a psychopath mimicking human emotions and empathy).