Today is my 23rd birthday. I had a little free time this week, so I thought I might like to update the mix I made for my 21st birthday: “Songs No One Should Grow Up Without”.

The lose concept is that I didn’t really have anyone introducing me to cool music when I was a young kid, so I thought I’d make a CD of great songs that I would make sure that my (nonexistant) younger sibling or (as yet nonexistant) child was exposed to. I’d cut out great stuff that is impossible to go through life without hearing (the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, the Who) and stick to stuff that’s both mindblowing and entirely likely to pass under your radar until someone introduces it to you.

Where applicable I’ve discussed how I came to find/enjoy some of these songs, so I invite you to do the same. Let me know what’d make your list or feel free to share any stories that pop up when listening to these 46 songs below.

Enjoy!

My 23rd Birthday Mix :: “46 Songs No One Should Grow Up Without”

MP3: Beastie Boys – Shake Your Rump
I was first introduced to the Beastie Boys in high school when I picked up a used copy of Ill Communication at a yard sale to raise money for some club or group. I can’t honestly say I spent much time with it, but it’s how I became a singles fan of the Beastie Boys. Then, shortly before graduating college, my co-worker introduced me to Paul’s Boutique. I spent the rest of that year listening to it again and again and again. Now that record is one with which my familiarity rivals Sgt. Pepper’s or Ziggy Stardust.

MP3: Big Star – Thirteen
Maybe the best song that’s only known by people who really dig music. Big Star are one of the best American pop bands and “Thirteen” is their greatest contribution to the world of music. Plus it’d be a great song to hear when you’re going through a lot of the awkwardness that comes with youth. I first heard it years ago through Wilco’s cover, but wish I would have known about it when I was… you guessed it, thirteen. Young love, awkward rebelliousness — it’s all here.

MP3: David Bowie – Moonage Daydream
Bowie. Ziggy. I can’t really imagine my life without him, or that album. I don’t remember how I first heard Bowie, but I remember when I first got Ziggy Stardust. As a freshman in college, I picked that record up around the time that I bought my iPod. The two were a vicious combination that left me strolling around campus with the sounds of a space age moon man ripping through my brain. From there I moved to Hunky Dory, and on to Aladdin Sane, and Low before shooting off all scattershot. I’m still picking new records up, but progress is slow as I can’t stop revisiting the old ones long enough to let the new sink in. Ask me what the best record of all time is and I’m likely to tell you it’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.

MP3: Billy Bragg – A New England
I was introduced to Billy Bragg after wandering headfirst into his collaboration with Wilco somewhere around my 18th birthday. I didn’t explore him further until a ways later, but I was instantly glad I did. Besides being a classic, “New England” is something I think most confused kids can identify with. Plus the bit about wishing on space hardware is just unbeatably funny.

MP3: Buzzcocks – Everybody’s Happy Nowadays
I originally had “Ever Fallen in Love” on this mix during the 21st birthday version, but I switched it for the 23rd. The reason? I don’t think you can make it through much of your life without running into “Ever Fallen In Love.” It’s in all sorts of movies and TV shows. However, “Everybody’s Happy Nowadays” is a little less known, just as catchy and would appeal to every teenager I’ve ever known.

MP3: John Cale – Big White Cloud
John Cale’s “Big White Cloud” is the song I want to play right before my death (“Hoppipolla” is the song I want to play right after my death). The only thing more staggering than the sweeping grandeur of this song is the fact that it’s not held in as high esteem as half the singles by The Band. I consider the fact that you aren’t handed a copy of Paris 1919 or Vintage Violence on your college move-in day one of the system’s greatest failures.

MP3: Nick Cave – Papa Won’t Leave You, Henry
Nick Cave probably can’t be properly appreciated until you’ve got a bit of life experience under your belt, but that’s no reason you can’t be introduced at a fairly young age. “Papa Won’t Leave You, Henry” is one of his best and most cinematic songs. It’s one that bowls me over with each listen, which is pretty much the norm for his discography.

MP3: Leonard Cohen – So Long, Marianne
Most of these songs are meant to appeal to a younger version of me — they’re weird, yet appealing on first listen. Leonard Cohen’s “So Long, Marianne” is meant to appeal to that youngster, but also impart a bit of wisdom. Like Bob Dylan, Cohen’s songs carry with them a weight that’s more comforting than oppressive. So grow up, young friend, but grow up wise.

MP3: Echo and the Bunnymen – Lips Like Sugar
Echo and the Bunnymen are a group that I definitely picked up from my co-workers. I snagged a few records from the store and studied them like I was preparing for an exam. Then, quite surprisingly, I got to see them this year at SXSW. And man, if you think these songs sound great on record — go hear them live. I had “Lips Like Sugar” in my head for weeks after that show.

M4A: Brian Eno – The True Wheel
I think Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy was a random download for me during my first year of college. I remember I kept revisiting the first half of the album so long that it wasn’t until some months later that I would get around to listening to what would become my favorite Eno tune. He’s a genius, and this is just one of many, many reasons why.

MP3: The Flaming Lips – Turn It On
Transmissions From The Satellite Heart was probably the second Flaming Lips album I ever had, after Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. I remember initially being drawn to “She Don’t Use Jelly,” but rediscovering “Turn it On” after a trip back to my parent’s house four years ago. This song hits like a fuzzed out joybomb and will forever be one of my favorites.

MP3: Funkadelic – Hit It And Quit It
I can’t lie to you folks. The first place I heard Funkadelic’s superfantastic song “Hit It and Quit It” was when My Morning Jacket covered it at last year’s Bonnaroo. Their cover is fantastic, but the original is where the power is. Maggot Brain is a great record and “Hit It and Quit It” is the clear apex.

MP3: Gang of Four – Damaged Goods
I wish there were a more glamorous story behind this one. We got a used copy of Entertainment! in the store and I thought “hmm… I’ve never really listened to Gang of Four.” I’d heard this song on Youtube and liked it, so I gave it a shot. If you’re ever bored, pick up a copy of NME and circle all the bands that owe their sound to the influence Entertainment. You’ll be out of ink before you’re done with the index.

MP3: The Jam – Going Underground
The Jam were a slow accumulation for me. I think I heard this song first, bought Sound Affects and moved on from there. “Going Underground” makes me wonder how the Jam aren’t played on all kinds of radio stations. You just can’t play this song for someone and be met with anything other than a request to play it again.

MP3: The Kinks – The Village Green Preservation Society
Scratch the whole teenage thing here. My kids will know this song from birth onward. I’m sure a compelling case could be made for blaming most violence in the world on people not having listening to enough Village Green Preservation Society.

MP3: Les Savy Fav – The Sweat Descends
I have no idea when or how I first came to hear Les Savy Fav’s “The Sweat Descends,” but I do know it was the first Les Savy Fav song I had ever heard. I believe it was probably very early into college and I seem to remember that it lead me straight to being a fan of McLusky. Not too shabby. But five years later the chorus still does grips my guts like no other song I’ve ever heard. It’s this mindblowing union of the power and buildup of hardcore punk and the melody and hook of pop music. The result is a chorus that I usually want to sing and always want to shout.

MP3: The La’s – Callin’ All
My friend Kristine put this on a mix for me just when I was starting my “devour all music” phase late into high school. I was sure they were Kinks contemporaries or Beatles buddies, but no. The La’s were just some kids in the late ’80s who made some compelling, mindblowing music.

MP3: The Magnetic Fields – I Don’t Believe You
If I included many more contemporary bands, I’d have to give a nod to my good friend Cory. He’s dragged me kicking and screaming into some of the weirder of my favorite bands (The Unicorns). Around age 17, Cory played “I Thought You Were My Boyfriend” for me and his sister. She found it funny, but I thought it was too weird. Not a short while later, I was cautiously dipping my foot into the pool of Stephin Merritt. Mid-college I had jumped in and now I’ve happily drowned.

MP3: Paul McCartney – Monkberry Moon Delight
I’m sort of bending a rule here, but I won’t tell if you don’t. Paul McCartney is a major component of the hardest-to-avoid band in the world and is pretty much the most successful musician ever. Now, even with all that, it’s still pretty easy to go through your life without being that familiar with his solo career aside from a few singles. So with the logic that allowed me to shoehorn Paul Simon in here, I’m including Paul McCartney as well. “Monkberry Moon Delight” isn’t my favorite solo song of his, but it’s such a forward-thinking, weirdo song that I had to include it. The guy’s a genius and one of my all-time favorite musicians.

MP3: MC5 – Ramblin’ Rose
When I first heard the MC5’s classic live album Kick Out the Jams it was like a light cleared up a few areas in my musical history knowledge. Suddenly so much of the direction of rock music made sense. It’s a straight-on rocket of a record that packs more of a punch than most of the concerts I’ve attended in my life.

MP3: Mudhoney – Touch Me I’m Sick
Love Nirvana and the first third of the 90s? Then you better love Mudhoney. I can’t remember exactly how I came to be introduced to Mudhoney, but I know that most of my familiarity with them came from about a little more than a year ago when we were rockin’ them pretty hard at CD Central. I picked up Superfuzz Bigmuff and wished I could have seen them live in ‘89.

MP3: Neutral Milk Hotel – In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
I think I’m the only person in the world who got into Neutral Milk Hotel through the Apples in Stereo. Shortly after arriving at college I started getting back into the Apples in Stereo and reading up on them (it was then that I realized I lived in the same town as Robert). Somewhere along the line I read that Neutral Milk Hotel’s In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is one of the best records of the 90s. And now having spend half a decade with it, I feel like I can finally say that it absolutely is. The fact that this record continues to sell more copies each year than most new releases isn’t some kind of group hysteria amongst music nerds; this record is just a nearly-lost gem that we’re lucky enough to have clung tight to.

MP3: Harry Nilsson – Sail Away
This is the only cover included on this list. Harry Nilsson is easily one of my favorite musicians and it’s just about impossible for me to select just one song of his for this mix. I went with “Sail Away” over any number of others because it’s a great vocal performance and a stirring song. Really though I’m tempted to just put all of Nilsson Schmilsson or Pandemonium Shadow Show & Aerial Ballet on this list. Truthfully I’d rather listen to either album than most any of the songs on here; but fair is fair.

That’s the first 23 songs… The last 23 are after the jump.

MP3: The Pixies – Debaser
The Pixies. Ah, where to start? I discovered them after going backwards from Weezer and fell in love with Surfer Rosa. Since then I’ve grown to see them as one of the most important bands in my musical development. Few albums will light the fire of musical hunger as much as those by the Pixies, and few will keep it burning as as long or as brightly as the same.

MP3: R.E.M. – Radio Free Europe
If I’m being completely honest, the first two bands I listened to were probably the Beatles and R.E.M. My parents were fans, what with their being in Georgia during the mid ’80s, so I grew up with cassettes of Automatic for the People and Monster in my back pocket. However, it wasn’t until I went to college that I fell in love with one of the classic college-rock songs: R.E.M’s “Radio Free Europe.” It, along with some Flaming Lips songs, would feature prominently on a mix of songs that I would consider great representatives of what kind of music I love.

MP3: Radiohead – Paranoid Android
I remember grabbing “Paranoid Android” off some early filesharing network because it reminded me of Marvin from the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I played it over and over again, nearly wearing the zeros and ones off the MP3. From there I moved chronologically through Radiohead’s catalogue. Once I hit OK Computer, I knew I was home. Radiohead are my favorite band and their show at Bonnaroo 2006 is my favorite show I’ve seen. I don’t know any better way to put it than this: when I woke up from my skiing accident I had a concussion and partial amnesia. The first thing I asked my roommate was “Is Radiohead still the best band on Earth?”

MP3: The Replacements – Androgynous
I originally had “Gary’s Got a Boner” on here, but dropped it in favor of “Androgynous.” I feel like the mix is heavy on rock and could benefit from the soft touch of this tune. Plus it’s got a great moral at the heart of it that improve the world to have drilled into our population at a young age: don’t judge people, just love. So take the world’s scorn (you’ll get it at some point in your life no matter what) and take comfort in knowing that you aren’t alone. Oh, and the song is fantastic as well. That helps a lot too.

MP3: Jonathan Richman – Roadrunner
When I saw Bishop Allen for the first time, they soundchecked with “Roadrunner.” I know I’d heard it previously, but that was the first time that I fully realized what a killer song it is. I don’t think I’ve ever made a driving mix that didn’t feature this song. In fact, I’m just as sure as that as I am that I’ve never been able to listen to it at least three times in a row on those mixes. It’s so simple, but still so perfect.

MP3: The Rocky Horror Picture Show – The Time Warp
The first glimpse of Rocky Horror I ever caught were when I was young and my dad watched it on VH1 in our living room. It was the part where Frank freezes Janet, Brad and Dr. Scott’s feet/socks/wheels to the floor. I was quite scared and promptly left the room. Years later I would randomly download this song and fall headfirst into a world more crazy that I could ever imagine. At 18 or so I would attend my first “showing” — my best friend’s parents back yard with a sheet and a projector. As a sophomore in college I went to my first proper show and I’ve gone ever chance I’ve ever had since. In fact, I’m going this Saturday. I kid you not when I say that the Rocky Horror soundtrack would be surprisingly high on my list of desert island albums.

MP3: The Roots – Here I Come
Before I heard it in Hancock, before it was the entrance music for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, “Here I Come” was just one of the galvanizing hip hop songs I’ve ever heard. It’s completely badass, from the opening drums on through every last lyric. If you were to wring this song out, it would drip red bull, scenes from Dog Day Afternoon and passages from Ralph Ellison’s “Invisible Man.”

MP3: Sam & Dave – Hold On, I’m Coming
This mix is really light on R&B and funk, but only because I grew up on the stuff so I have very little reason to time capsule it for other youngsters, incorrectly assuming that they’ll be fed it anyway. Not so. I was extremely lucky to grow up schooled in Otis Redding and James Brown rather than Top 40. And while it occasionally made for an embarrassing moments in college when my friends/girlfriend/whoever would realize I had never heard some of the biggest songs of our youth, it was all worth it when I remembered how much joy artists like Sam and Dave gave me growing up. “Hold On, I’m Coming” has been one of my favorite songs since I was in middle school and will undoubtedly continue to be until they’re putting flowers on my grave. Plus, it was written by Isaac Hayes, so I’m glad I could sneak that bad mutha in here somehow.

MP3: Sigur Ros – Hoppipolla
If, when I die, there is a montage of my life or some kind of grand revelation of the secrets of the universe waiting for me, I have no doubt in my mind that Sigur Ros’ “Hoppipolla” will be playing during it. This song carries a weight and packs an emotional punch usually reserved for major life events. When listening closely to this song I will occasionally react with similar emotions as if I was looking at a photo album of old friends — even though I have no idea what Sigur Ros are saying. Congratulations, Sigur Ros, you’ve learned to play my heart like an instrument. Please don’t misuse that knowledge…

MP3: Paul Simon – Mother and Child Reunion
I had bought Graceland a ways back, but it wasn’t until I went on a date with a girl who had a serious love of Paul Simon that I put it in heavy rotation. Shortly afterward I grabbed Paul Simon’s self-titled and fell in an even deeper love. My favorite Paul Simon song always rotates, but “Mother and Child Reunion” is one that I’ll always love.

MP3: The Smiths – Ask
One of my oldest friends, Isaac, used to have impeccable taste in music. The Smiths? Radiohead? The Flaming Lips? He was into all that before we could drive. How was this possible? Why through his musically-hip older brother. And while I found the Smiths a bit whiney upon first listen, I didn’t have anyone nice enough to shove them down my throat. It’s a real shame that I didn’t pick up on them until my freshman year in college; no one knows how to appreciate over-emoting like a teenager.

MP3: T. Rex – Jeepster
I heard this one day a few years ago while waiting to catch a studio session on KEXP. From the very second the guitar entered, I was hooked. Marc Bolan is a curly-haired musical god in my book. I have a tshirt of the Slider album cover and I can always tell who else digs Bolan when I wear it. Mostly because they’re the ones who come up and frantically want to talk about him, but I will occasionally get Fight Club-esque knowing glances. Being a fan of T Rex is almost like being in a cult, but we’re way less likely to all die at the end.

MP3: Talking Heads – This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)
As a child, I remember two songs my dad would crank the radio for: Peter Gabriel’s “Shock the Monkey” and the Talking Heads’ “Burning Down the House.” I can’t say I really took to either when I was a kid (but I did like Prince’s soundtrack to Batman, which he also hooked me on), but at least one translated into a lifelong love. My freshman year of college, I pretty much exploded into the Heads. I bought Stop Making Sense and any record I could get my hands on. And while “This Must Be The Place” wasn’t an immediate grabber, I’ve come to realize over the years that it’s one of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard.

MP3: Television – See No Evil
I downloaded this at the end of my sophomore year. I’ve heard people say that Marquee Moon requires multiple listens to really get into, but I was slack-jawed and wide-eyed by the riff in “See No Evil” alone. To get an idea for how much I’ve grown to love that album and this band, for one moment I considered skipping Bonnaroo to fly up to New York and see Television play in the park. I didn’t, and I’m glad I didn’t. But I thought about it for a second.

MP3: Tom Waits – I Don’t Wanna Grow Up
Tom Waits is pretty much a genius. “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up” appears on the first listen to be ripped straight from a children’s book, but really the message here isn’t for kids. The only people who can really gain any wisdom from this song are the ones who should have already learned everything it has to teach. If you haven’t yet learned to play nice, relax and love then it’s too late for even Tom Waits to help you.

MP3: The Velvet Underground – Rock and Roll
This isn’t my favorite VU song, but it so closely aligns with the theme of this mix that I had to use it. There’s really no better way to put it than by saying that “her life was changed by rock and roll.” And as David Bowie pointed out, pretty much everyone who picks up a Velvet Underground record will go on to pick up a guitar and start a band.

MP3: The Violent Femmes – Add it Up
At this point in American culture, I think we’re born with the riff from “Blister in the Sun” ingrained in our memories. But as for exploring the Femmes any more? That’s a move that few seem to make. I think their self-titled record was one of the first that I downloaded in high school. I played it on and off, but it wasn’t until just before I graduated that it really grabbed me. The lyrics — especially in “Add it Up” — are so wonderfully selfish and juvenile that there’s a part of everyone that can identify with them.

MP3: Wilco – I Am Trying to Break Your Heart
My first time listening to Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, “I am Trying to Break Your Heart” stood out as a disjointed clunker that was really impossible to get through. I mean, just a confusing mess of a song. But somewhere along the next year I realized that it wasn’t impenetrable. No, as a matter of fact it seemed to be one of the best songs of the decade. “IATTBYH” is a rare song where everything from the chord progression, lyrics, melody, production and every single band member is doing exactly what they should be doing. And while it’s a great song on record, it’s consistently one of the greatest songs to hear live.

MP3: Hank Williams Sr. – Lost Highway
I actually first heard this song through Mixmas. Bishop Allen picked the theme of songs about streets and there it was. Since then I’ve had it in heavy rotation (especially when I drive through Nashville). It’s a sad reminder of how great country music u sed to be.

MP3: Wire – Ex Lion Tamer
Thank Mixmas for this one. My good friend Kathryn Sanders gave me a backup mixmas submission two years ago in case I ran out. I didn’t wind up needing it, but it did introduce me to Wire. I picked up 154 and wasn’t as in love, but Pink Flag will always do it for me.

MP3: Wu-Tang Clan – Da Mystery Of Chessboxin’
“Da Mystery of Chessboxin’” just might be my favorite hip hop song. Every verse is as solid as steel and it’s got the greatest introduction in the world: ODB setting up Ghostface Killah. After his perfect verses, Ol Dirty Bastard lines up the whole Clan and introduces us to the fresh face of the Ghost. Face. Killaaaaaahhhhhh!

MP3: XTC – Are You Receiving Me?
There’s only so many times you can see a band cited as an influence by your favorite bands before you listen to them. It seemed like every band I enjoyed was crediting or being compared to XTC, so last year I finally gave them a spin. And I spun. And I’m still spinning.

MP3: The Zombies – Care of Cell 44
“Feels so good, you’re coming home soon!” I believe you could walk into any music lover’s home, shout that lyric and become fast friends. There’s a reason for that. The Zombies are a fantastic, perfect band, and “Care of Cell 44″ is the same. Odessey and Oracle is the stuff of dreams, both for musicians and anyone with ears. I’ll probably give a copy of the expanded version to my kids on their second birthday (they’ll have had a year to soak up Sgt. Pepper’s and Pet Sounds).