{"id":47600,"date":"2009-08-24T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-08-24T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/features\/mixtape-mondays-remembering-first-love\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T11:52:33","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T11:52:33","slug":"mixtape-mondays-remembering-first-love","status":"publish","type":"feature","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/features\/mixtape-mondays-remembering-first-love\/","title":{"rendered":"Mixtape Mondays: Remembering First Love"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

[Editor’s note: Cover images of albums previously reviewed on the DV have been linked to the review.]<\/i><\/p>\n

First love: it\u2019s one of those things, like death and taxes, that none of us are immune to. It\u2019s messy and fleeting, but it\u2019s enduring, too, carving out a slice of your heart in such a way that you can never be made whole again, not quite. Or, as author Joyce Carol Oates wrote in her 2002 novel I\u2019ll Take You There<\/i>, \u201cYour first love you\u2019ll never outlive. After that first love you will never love another in that way.\u201d <\/o:p><\/p>\n

It\u2019s more bittersweet than anything, though. There\u2019s the pure-eyed innocence of twining fingers together for the first time and the weighted-down, not-quite sadness of passing through old pictures, forgotten letters. There\u2019s the simple, incredible feeling of waking up wrapped in someone\u2019s arms, and the sense that they \u2013 and only they \u2013 can make the most mundane gestures incandescent and unparalleled. You are alive for the first time in that love. It almost always ends, but it\u2019s never really forgotten. Not quite. From longing ballads to guitars churning in a way that seems to mimic bodies colliding for the first time, these songs are meant to capture it all: the complicated, the lovely, the universal.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\"elliottsmith_newmoon_150\"<\/a><\/td>\n\n
\n

\u201cThirteen” \u2013 Elliott Smith<\/b><\/p>\n

Elliott Smith turns the Big Star tune into a breathy, gently plucked love song, infusing his version with a sense of lamentation that the breezier original bypassed. With just his imperfect, subdued vocals and an acoustic guitar fuzzily underpinning, Smith sings of school dances long gone, of adoring \u201cPaint It Black,\u201d and longing to be \u201can outlaw for your love,\u201d capturing all those precious moments of discovery and solidarity like butterfly wings, preserved and faded but lastingly beautiful.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\u00a0\"yeahyeahyeahs_fever\"<\/a> <\/td>\n\n
\n

“Maps” \u2013 Yeah Yeah Yeahs<\/b><\/o:p><\/p>\n

Simple and soaring, \u201cMaps\u201d strips away the Yeah Yeah Yeah\u2019s proclivity for glitter and throbbing dance beats to become one of their most resonant hits. Built around layers of swirling guitars, rising synths, and Karen O.\u2019s seductive delivery of the spare, evocative line \u201cWait \u2013they don\u2019t love you like I love you,\u201d this track is shimmering and painfully lovely, one of those moments where what is left unsaid is just as rich as the words in between.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n\n
\n

“Don\u2019t Take My Sunshine Away” \u2013 Sparklehorse<\/b><\/o:p><\/p>\n

Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse does bittersweet wonderfully, pairing rich, sunny harmonies and hazed-over instrumentation that unfolds languorously. His imagery \u2013 \u201cYour face is like watching flowers growing in fast motion\u201d \u2013 is as surreal as it is naturalistic, and there\u2019s a desperation underlying the sheer gorgeousness of this cut in Linkous\u2019s descriptions of dying stars and coldest winters, not to mention the repeated pleading of the song\u2019s title. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\u00a0\"boniver_emma_150\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/p>\n
\n

“For Emma” \u2013 Bon Iver<\/b><\/o:p><\/p>\n

The eponymous track of Bon Iver\u2019s revelatory, transcendent debut album, \u201cFor Emma\u201d is brimming with horns, harmonies, and a buoyancy that makes it a fitting closer. Justin Vernon masterfully blends lush instrumentation and exposed, bare-bone vocals and lyrics. When he sings, \u201cI toured the light \/ So many foreign roads, for Emma, forever ago,\u201d Vernon finishes off the album with a sense of clear-eyed resolve beyond the chilly haze of heartbreak, letting the bitterness melt away to hope and memories. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"ginblossoms_congratulations\"
<\/b><\/a> <\/td>\n		\n
\n

“As Long As It Matters” \u2013 Gin Blossoms<\/b><\/o:p><\/p>\n

Delightfully pop-rocky in a way that epitomizes the late \u201890s, \u201cAs Long As It Matters\u201d is nevertheless as affecting as it is palatable. With rich swirls of guitars and sparkling harmonies, the song is a lovely blend of mournful and hopeful (\u201cI\u2019ll be alright \/ As long as it matters \/ As long as you\u2019re here with me now\u201d), capturing perfectly the longing to seek refuge in a relationship as the world crashes down around you, even as that relationship is crumbling, too.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\u00a0\"painsofbeing_st_150\"<\/a> <\/td>\n<\/p>\n
\n

“Young Adult Friction” \u2013 The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart<\/b><\/o:p><\/p>\n

The best kind of pop combines style and substance, and The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart shows that talent in spades on their self-titled debut. \u201cYoung Adult Friction\u201d pulses along in a jittery flurry, the shimmering groove of the instrumentation belying the alternately tender and defiant lyrics that tell the tale of a musty library, a strained parting, and feelings not out of mind just yet. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\u00a0\"neutralmilkhotel_aeroplane_150\"<\/a> <\/td>\n\n
\n

“King Of Carrot Flowers Part 1” \u2013 Neutral Milk Hotel<\/b><\/o:p><\/p>\n

Neutral Milk Hotel (helmed by the incredible Jeff Mangum) is one of those truly indescribable, wonderful bands that have the ability to capture the most complicated of moods in the stroke of a single lyric. \u201cKing Of Carrot Flowers Part 1,\u201d which launches out their groundbreaking In The Aeroplane Over The Sea<\/i> in a strangely catchy rush of up-tempo guitars and Mangum\u2019s distinctive, breezy vocals, describes in silky, surreal lyrics precisely how it feels to disappear into someone else\u2019s body, escaping the peril of real life \u201cinto that secret place where no one dares to go.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\u00a0\"deathcab_trans\"<\/a> <\/td>\n\n
\n

“Transatlanticism” \u2013 Death Cab For Cutie<\/b><\/o:p><\/p>\n

Perhaps Death Cab For Cutie\u2019s most epic track, \u201cTransatlanticism\u201d (culled from the 2003 album of the same name) is nearly eight minutes of soul-tugging bliss, building from its bare, introductory piano chords to a crescendoing tide of sheer, gorgeous emotion as Ben Gibbard repeats over and over, \u201cI need you so much closer.\u201d Gibbard\u2019s proclamation becomes all the more urgent as it\u2019s nearly engulfed by the swelling instrumentation, exposing the ever-widening gulfs between lovers of both literal and figurative distance.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\u00a0\"smashingpumpkins_gh_150\"<\/a> <\/td>\n\n
\n

“Landslide” \u2013 Smashing Pumpkins<\/b><\/o:p><\/p>\n

Taking Fleetwood Mac\u2019s lovely original, Smashing Pumpkins spins their own emotive version of \u201cLandslide.\u201d With just acoustic guitar to subtly support Billy Corgan\u2019s gentle vocals, the lyrics become even more stirring: \u201cI\u2019ve been afraid of changing \/ \u2018Cause I\u2019ve built my life around you,\u201d Corgan sings, high and tender, and it\u2019s immediately wrenching, for who hasn\u2019t lost themselves in love or hungered for a way out \u2013 but not enough to leave? <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"plushgun_pins_150\"<\/a><\/td>\n\n
\n

“Let Me Kiss You Now (And I\u2019ll Fade Away)” \u2013 Plushgun<\/b><\/o:p><\/p>\n

For a dose of lightheartedness among all the ache and longing, look no further than Plushgun, who pile on ukuleles, joyous handclaps, and synths to create the jauntiest of kiss-offs. Moving stylishly through multiple tempo changes, Plushgun makes moving on seem stunningly carefree, letting the sentimental lyrics dissolve into a burst of synths and ba ba-da das. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Editor’s note: Cover images of albums previously reviewed on the DV have been linked to the review.] First love: it\u2019s one of those things, like death and taxes, that none of us are immune to. It\u2019s messy and fleeting, but it\u2019s enduring, too, carving out a slice of your heart in such a way that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":50552,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"feature_type":[32],"class_list":["post-47600","feature","type-feature","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","feature_type-feature"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature\/47600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/feature"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"feature_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature_type?post=47600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}