THE POP FILTER MIXTAPE

FOR SITTING COMPLETELY ALONE

Little Smoke – This Will Destroy You

Download | YouTube MP3 Converter

Sometimes, you want to be sitting completely alone: you get frustrated with the world around you and all of the idiots that you have to take on and you just need some fucking alone time. Other times, however, you find yourself accidentally alone: you have the night off, you called some people but no one’s hanging out and you have energy. Fortunately, however you found yourself completely alone, listening to this song will make your life better. It’s part ambient, part post-rock, part destroying. The song has dynamics, flow and most importantly it makes you feel things. There aren’t any stupid lyrics to get your head clouded so you get to be in your own head space and put your own visual stamp on the tapestry TWDY has created; it is their fucking gift to you. Plus, the song is over 12 minutes long, so at the very least it can kill some time, you sad sack piece of shit. – JRN

Adele – Someone Like You

Download | YouTube MP3 Converter

The first time I heard this song was on an airplane which was pretty much the worst thing ever. The melancholy piano, Adele’s voice cracking with emotion and the generically pain-filled lyrics struck me in a perfect storm of depression during hour three of boredom and forced introspection. It made me remember in excruciating detail anyone I ever lost and every time I fucked up and before long I was crying like a bitch. Which was super awkward because there was a line for the bathroom parked right next to my seat and I was completely busted by some sneering teen in a trucker hat as the weirdo crying on the plane.  Learn from my fail! This is the perfect song when you feel like being emo and pathetic all alone in your room.  Do not listen to it in your carpool, do not put it on at a party and for God’s sake do not add it to your vacation travel playlist.  - AS

The Silent Comedy- Gasoline

Download | YouTube MP3 Converter

Obviously this mix is going to lean towards the heavy side– It’s pretty rare you throw on dancey grooves while you sit in a darkened room, staring into nothing while killing a fifth of Tennessee Honey all by yourself. Should you happen to find yourself in such a mood, listening to someone letting the one they love die fits perfectly with the melancholy that tends to hang in the air of those situations. With the soft vocals and hauntingly intertwined guitar and violin melodies, this song paints a picture of someone in their last days, and embracing that. It doesn’t let you dwell on the tragedy of watching your lover die, but picks you up with as the tempo and mood rise in remembering the good times. Sitting alone doesn’t always have to be absolutely depressing, and sometimes it’s good to remember that while singing along. Just and try and feel upset after screaming “I am alright” over and over again, there’s no way you won’t feel more grounded than before the song started. I’d suggest putting this at the end of the mix after wallowing for 45 minutes or so. -MG

Nada Surf- Blonde on Blonde

Download | YouTube MP3 Converter

Firstly, it pains me that Nada Surf is not very well known, and what they are known for is the song “Popular” which is nothing like any of their other songs- which are quite melodic.  ”Blonde on Blonde” is referring to the Bob Dylan album, which the narrator sits alone and listens to for the purpose of making him forget all the shit he endures. He compares it to listening to a lullaby. I guess this makes it kind of meta, because Nada Surf is the band I would choose to sit by myself and listen to, my own lullaby. I got into Nada Surf when I was living in New York city, and would often listen to this on my discman (I know, right?) on my fifteen-block walk to my job. It was an interesting soundtrack for people watching and only highlighted the weird feelings of isolation one is apt to feel in a big city. -RJH

Semisonic- Closing Time

Download | YouTube MP3 Converter

Why listen to Closing Time by Semisonic sitting completely alone? Well, to start it’s because it’s slightly embarrassing and I don’t want anyone to hear me listening to it. And this comes embarrassment is on two levels. The first embarrassment comes from, well… just listen to the song and you’ll get what I mean. However, the second level of embarrassment comes at almost exactly a minute into the song once the “hook” hits, I can’t help but start to sing along. Singing from me, in any form, MUST be done alone and away from ANYONE else. Trust me. Also, I have a strange connection with this song which brings me back to a simpler time.-KM

Gaby Moreno and Vincent Jones – Parks and Recreation Theme Song

Download | YouTube MP3 Converter

The theme song from Parks and Recreation is a thirty second bit of wonder, written by two dudes in a contest for a $7500 prize. It evokes feelings of joy, melancholy, glee, happiness, and just a tinge of sadness, not just through the sounds of the strings juxtaposed with the percussion, but also the use of minor chords, particularly in the third movement, toward the twenty second mark. Pay careful attention to the…aw, fuck it. Believe it or not, I don’t know anything about music, and stole all of that from a review of the last Darkness album. Let’s be honest: if I’m alone, it’s because I can’t find any friends to hang out with me. If that’s the case, I have to turn to the only friends I have left: Leslie, Ron, Tom, Andy, April, Ann, and, to a much lesser extent, Jerry. And Parks and Rec is one of the few, if only, shows that no matter how many times I watch it, I won’t skip the theme song. Dum Dum. Dum Dum. Dum Dum. Dum Dum. Boo da di boo. Boo da di Boo. And so on. – RH

REM – Everybody Hurts

The video cannot be shown at the moment. Please try again later.

Sometimes it’s good to be alone.  You don’t have to entertain anyone, the TV remote is completely yours, and the bathroom is always available when you need it.  Other times it’s not so good and you just find yourself staring out into the night with a vacant look on your face wondering where it all went wrong.  For times like that, this is probably as good a song as any.  I’m sure everyone’s heard this song at some point, but it’s worth revisiting.  For one thing, the video was kind of unique and innovative in its day and it was the original “It Gets Better” type of video that anyone going through a tough time could relate to.  The simple melody combined with vocals that could only belong to Michael Stipe sets a sad mood.  But then, about two-thirds through the tempo picks up and the refrain “hold on” slowly works its way into your head and the lyric “you are not alone” reminds you that sadness and suffering is part of the human condition that we all have to go through at some point and no matter who you are, sometimes life just sucks.  It’s a good thing to remember when you’re dwelling in self-pity and the song actually seems to be somewhat uplifting and inspiring at the end.  OK, maybe not…but at least you still have the TV remote to yourself.  So cheer up and stop feeling so damned sorry for yourself, would ya? -BH