It’s my family’s tradition that when you celebrate a decade birthday, that’s how many gifts you receive. Which means that when I turned 50 last month, I had a nice little pile of presents waiting for me that morning. My wife really went above and beyond, and my presents included some great books, a childhood memento, several Criterion box sets, and best of all, my very own birthday compilation, titled The Jubilee of Opus.
In the months leading up to my birthday, Renae reached out to numerous friends, peers, and loved ones, and asked them to submit songs that reminded them of me or that they’d think I’d like. The resulting mix is eclectic, to say the least, and filled with equal parts nostalgia (some friends submitted shared favorites or songs that reminded them of our times together) and discovery (other friends submitted songs that were completely unfamiliar to me).
As an added bonus and delight, the compilation — all eight(!) discs of it — came in its own deluxe packaging courtesy of my friend Aaron, a talented designer and fellow music lover. He knows well my fondness for 4AD Records and the aesthetics of Vaughan Oliver and 23 Envelope/v23, as evidenced by the compilation’s packaging, typography, imagery, and delightful little details (see below).
The Jubilee of Opus was the 50th and final gift that I received, and after I opened it, Renae gave me a printout of the track listing, which I’ve included below, along with explanations from my friends as to why they submitted their particular songs. Some of the explanations, and the memories they include, are pretty personal, so I won’t share them here. Suffice to say, though, I was pretty emotional by the end, and I still get emotional whenever I read through them.
Disc 1
- “1995” - Starflyer 59
- “24 Turned 25” - Denison Witmer
- “Talk to the Lord” - Natalie Bergman
- “40” - U2
- “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence” - Ryuichi Sakamoto
- “The Carnival Is Over” - Dead Can Dance
- “Whip It” - Devo
- “Just Like Honey” - The Jesus and Mary Chain
- “Apocalypse” - Cigarettes After Sex
- “The Angelic Appearance” - vidnaObmana
- “What You Won’t Do for Love” - Bobby Caldwell
- “The Places, Our Regrets” - DJ Sabrina the Teenage DJ
- “Recomposed” - Max Richter
- “Boys Don’t Cry” - The Cure
- “Words” - Low
- “Intergalactic” - Beastie Boys
- “Just As Was Told” - Lift to Experience
Disc 2
- “Void” - The Mary Onettes
- “A Line You Can Cross” - Lansing Drieden
- “I Won’t Back Down” - Tom Petty
- “Mint Car” - The Cure
- “Before Redemption” - Gospel Gangstaz
- “Ain’t No Reason” - Brett Dennen
- “Blitzkrieg Bop” - Ramones
- “Love Hurts” - Nazareth
- “Psalm 115: 1” - Colin Buchanan
- “We Didn’t Start the Fire” - Billy Joel
- “Polyhymnal” - Makeup and Vanity Set
- “Shine Your Light on Me” - Natalie Bergman
- “Midnight City” - M83
- “Sugar for the Pill” - Slowdive
- “West End Girls” - Pet Shop Boys
- “Pride (In the Name of Love)” - U2
- “One More Time” - Daft Punk
- “Voyager” - Daft Punk
- “9 to 5” - Dolly Parton
- “Mercy Mercy Me” - Marvin Gaye
Disc 3
- “That’s Not My Name” - The Ting Tings
- “Riptide” - Vance Joy
- “The Littlest Birds” - The Be Good Tanyas
- “Pensive, Doubting, Fearful Heart” - Red Mountain Church
- “Jack and Jill, Pt. 2” - The Gray Havens
- “Deep Mist” - Milous
- “Another Point of View” - Wavy Lady
- “Don’t Dream It’s Over” - Sixpence None the Richer
- “The Prayer Cycle – A Choral Cycle in 9 Movements: I. Mercy”
- “The Prayer Cycle – A Choral Cycle in 9 Movements: VI. Innocence”
- “Oak Tree” - Desert Noises
- “Les copains d’abord” - Georges Brassens
- “Chan Chan” - Buena Vista Social Club
- “Lakmé: Viens, Mallika” - Francois-Xavier Roth, Les Siècles, Marianne Crebassa, and Sabine Devielhe
- “Until You” - AHI
- “Bless This Morning Year” - Helios
- “Tripoli” - Pinback
- “The Plan” - Built to Spill
Disc 4
- “Half Acres” - Louis Prince
- “Magazine” - Pedro the Lion
- “Way Back” - Manchester Orchestra
- “Cumbia del Olvido” - Nicola Cruz
- “Let Down” - Radiohead
- “Cerca De Ti” - Hermanos Gutiérrez
- “Curls” - Bibio
- “Two Fish and an Elephant” - Khruangbin
- “Keep Those Teardrops from Falling” - Natalie Bergman
- “Of Up and Coming Monarchs” - Pedro the Lion
- “I Never Wanted You” - Headphones
- “Torches Together” - mewithoutYou
- “Secret of the Easy Yoke” - Pedro the Lion
Disc 5
- “Petrichor” - Keaton Henson (feat. Ron Ford)
- “Agnus Dei” - Samuel Barber, VOCES8
- “Satisfied (Ambient Reprise)” - Catching Flies
- “The Moon Song” - beabadoobee, Oscar Lang
- “My God Has a Telephone” - The Flying Stars of Brooklyn NY, Aaron Frazer
- “Play It on My Radio” - Niki & the Dove
- “Glory Hallelujah, I’m Gonna Fly Home Soon” - Natalie Bergman
- “The Maker” - Willie Nelson
- “Pressure Machine – Abridged” - The Killers
- “anything” - Adrianne Lenker
- “Cello Suite no. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007: I.Prélude” - Johann Sebastian Bach, Yo-Yo Ma
- “40” (Live) - U2
- “See Her Out (That’s Just Life)” - Francis and the Lights
Disc 6
- “Airwalkers” - Scientific
- “Metropolis” - Scientific
- “People in Her Mind” - Poor Moon
- “Holiday” - Poor Moon
- “Pulling Me Down (Illusion)” - Poor Moon
- “Lorelai” - Fleet Foxes
- “If You Need To, Keep Time on Me” - Fleet Foxes
- “Mono Synth” - Joy Electric
- “The Hearttaker” - Starflyer 59
- “Fried Out Broken Girl” - Eric Matthew
- “Labor Saving Device” - Fine China
- “Over the Ocean” - Low
Disc 7
- “Roads” - Portishead
- “Dissolved Girl” - Massive Attack, Sarah Jay Hawley
- “Burn” - The Cure
- “No Body” - Kaeto
- “Heroes” - Peter Gabriel
- “Friends” Remaster - Led Zeppelin
- “Lips Like Sugar” - Echo and the Bunnymen
- “Tinsel Town in the Rain” - The Blue Nile
- “That Smiling Face” - Camouflage
- “Your Eyes” - Flock 14
- “Come Holy Spirit - Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus
Disc 8
- “Space Age Love Song” - A Flock of Seagulls
- “Don’t Change” - INXS
- “Magic” - The Cars
- “This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)” - Talking Heads
- “Earn Enough for Us” - XTC
- “Human Behaviour” - Björk
- “Big in Japan” - Tom Waits
- “White Riot” - The Clash
- “Rusholme Ruffians” - The Smiths
- “Disintegration” - The Cure
It’s a rare thing to have a tangible reminder of just how loved and known you are, and I’m both deeply humbled by, and deeply grateful to, everyone who participated in the birthday compilation, starting with my lovely wife. My life is blessed and immeasurably better for having each and every single one of them in it.