Burn It: 'Songs to Fall Asleep to'

I spent the most part of the business day, that is 9 'til 5, not revising as I should be for my upcoming-'round-the-corner finals but instead coordinating a mass migration of my considerable MP3 collection from Windows Media Player to my new digital jukebox of choice, iTunes from Apple, the company that bought us the iMac and the iPod but who claim no involvement in the Eddie Murphy-Owen Wilson box office bomb, iSpy.

As I scrolled the 3545 songs in my collection (that's 10.3 days of continuous music), burning a CD for my sister "on the fly", as is an advantageous feature of iTunes, I imagined myself an artist, crafting a piece of work from the pieces of others. After all, burning a CD is in itself an art, like the mix-tape that came before it, which when done right could sustain a long distance relationship or bring a short distance one even closer.

In recognition of this art I have decided to present my masterpieces here in a series that I, and NME magazine from where I stole the idea, like to call Burn It. Of course, feel free to add your comments and suggestions to my tracklistings, which after all are compiled only from the music in my collection. But if you plan on taking my advice literally and actually "burn it", please do so only with the written permission of the artists involved. Without further ado and since I'm about to turn in myself I present to you the first collection in the Burn It series...

Night Night: Songs to Fall Asleep to (Total Time: 1:16:15)

1. 'Turn Out the Lamp Light' - George Benson I don't think jazz/soul crooner George Benson's intentions are for sleeping with this track but nevertheless, for ours the rich, floating arrangement has quite the lulling effect...before George makes his move.
2. 'Don't Leave the Light On Baby' - Belle & Sebastian Scottish Chamber Pop stars insist the light is turned right off, but from the opening line, "it's been a bloody stupid day", their intentions differ from Benson's pillow talk, and I can't think of a better lyric to summarize most of my days.
3. 'Come Away With Me' - Norah Jones Who has not heard this? Chosen for the lyric, "I want to wake up with the rain/Falling on a tin roof/While I'm safe there in your arms." I want the same, Norah.
4. 'Nightswimming' - R.E.M. R.E.M. lyrics have a way of conjuring memories in the listener that don't actually exist. Whenever I hear this I'm like, "ah...I remember that, by the lake, under the moon, yeah...", when the truth is I've never been skinny-dipping.
5. 'So Far Away' - Carole King A theme song for long distance lovers this is gorgeous, especially when the flute improvises into the fade at the end. And yeah Carole, so true - nobody stays in one place anymore.
6. 'Harvest Moon' - Neil Young I love this. So sweet and vulnerable. And a little bit country.
7. 'Simply Beautiful' - Al Green The sexiest song ever and a great start to the trilogy of bedroom tracks I've included. The sparse instrumentation and Green's really close vocal make up for the fact that there are almost no lyrics.
8. 'Lay, Lady, Lay' - Bob Dylan The fact that he already sounds like an old man, and it's increasingly difficult to remember a time when he wasn't, makes this a somewhat unsettling listen. If you can get past that, and the lyric "lay across my big brass bed", the lazy country-pop groove is pretty cool.
9. 'If I Should Die Tonight' - Marvin Gaye Many forget that Gaye's erotic concept album, Let's Get It On, is actually an homage to monogamy and this, its most sensitive moment, is a classic slow jam.
10. 'Lookin' for Another Pure Love' - Stevie Wonder I really love this, and the guitar solo courtesy of Jeff Beck is to die for. I've had it on loop before, just over and over...
11. 'If I Fall' - Aqualung The Aqualung CD will actually put you to sleep because it's pretty boring, but this is a good pick for a mix CD with that in mind.
12. 'Wonderwall' - Ryan Adams Everybody knows and loves the Oasis classic and so most people hate this stripped and slowed down version. I personally love it. It's haunting and understated, and the riff that loops and fades out the Oasis version is here just faintly echoed as a brilliant aide memoir of the original.
13. 'No Surprises' - Radiohead "No alarms and no surprises" sounds like a good night's sleep to me, and the lullaby-like xylophone driven track might induce just that. I think there should be more xylophones in pop songs.
14. 'Perfect Blue Buildings' - Counting Crows Don't listen to bearded Rasta man Adam Duritz when he sings, "help me stay awake", and instead drift off into the pretty melody, "a little oblivion".
15. 'Sparks' - Coldplay Chris Martin's falsetto is one of the best things about British music and here it works sparingly and in contrast to the verses sung in his lower register. Very simple but lovely.
16. 'The Blower's Daughter' - Damien Rice Imagine if Leonard Cohen could sing well...Damien Rice, the Irish folkster, has a knack for storytelling and although the stories themselves are sometimes unclear it's the details that grab you. On his magnificent debut, O, Rice moves from the living room intimacy of guitar/vocals to the orchestral grandeur of swelling strings in a heartbeat, with a closeness of production that sounds like they were recorded in the same room with you sat on a footstool in the corner. 'The Blower's Daughter' is my favourite, melancholy, optimistic, longing, it's almost magical and reason enough to buy his album.
17. 'Mothersbaugh's Canon' - Mark Mothersbaugh Two instrumental tracks from soundtracks close this mix-CD. This, from The Royal Tenenbaums, a poignant and atmospheric piece and...
18. 'I Love N.Y.E.' - Badly Drawn Boy You would probably be deep into the Land of Nod already listening to my mix-CD. If not, this graceful and dreamy instrumental should do the trick and is a perfect way to say goodnight. Thanks for listening.