The December Mixtape
More or less each month, I make up a mix CD with a wide range of music picks. Melded together to flow through moods. Hip Hop. R&B. Rock. Retro. Rap. Old Skool. And usually a surprise, shocker or song that everyone hates but me just to keep it fresh.

I try to be "of the moment" and reflect what is hot and what I am into personally at the time. Sometimes that is a unique retro vibe or high school nostalgia phase, so with the more bizzare choices bear that in mind. But mostly I am after what is new. In fact, I don't exactly have a favorite type of music, except for "new."

This month more from U2 and Eminem's latest, another Pharrell and Snoop collaboration and the debut from Lindsay Lohan, which is mediocre but required listening for the curious, especially since we now live in Lohan nation. Underground rock from Arcade Fire and Nine Black Alps is here to temper the saccharine R&B of Ashanti, Ja Rule and Lil' John with Usher. Nas starts a street "War" with a standout track from his double CD masterpiece Street's Disciple . The remixes from Depeche Mode, Linkin Park and Deepsky are closer to mash-ups, with help from classic rockers America, Jay-Z's "Encore" and Allison Goldfrapp's angelic vocals.

1. Deepsky - Ventura Highway (Deepsky's Blizzard in L.A.)
2. Linkin Park/Jay-Z - Numb/Encore
3. Depeche Mode - Halo (Remix with Goldfrapp)
4. Medeski, Martin & Wood - Anonymous Skulls
5. Ratatat - Seventeen
6. Snoop Dogg - Let's Get Blown
7. Eminem - Ass Like That
8. Nas - War
9. Gwen Stefani - What You Waiting For
10. Lindsay Lohan - Rumors
11. Ashanti - Only You
12. U2 - Sometimes You Can't Make it on Your Own
13. Chemical Brothers - Galvanize
14. Simple Plan - Welcome to My Life
15. Jimmy Eat World - Pain
16. Sex Pistols - No Feelings
17. Handsome Boy Modeling School - The Hours (feat. Chino Moreno, El-P, Cage)
18. Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
19. Nine Black Alps - Not Everyone
20. Ja Rule - Wonderful (feat. R. Kelly, Ashanti)
21. Lil' John w/ Usher - Lovers and Friends