Various Artists / Music from the OC: Mix 6

1. Float On - Goldspot
2. I Turn My Camera - Rock Kills Kid
3. Pretty Vacant - Lady Sovereign
4. California - Mates of State
5. Wasted - Pinback
6. Can't Get It out of My Head - John Paul White
7. Debaser - Rogue Wave
   
8. Hello Sunshine - Syd Matters
9. Smile Like You Mean It - Tally Hall
10. Come Into Our Room - The M's
11. The End's Not Near - Band of Horses
12. Into Dust - Ashtar Command

OK, yeah, maybe The OC isn't (or rather, wasn't) for everyone, but the music seems intended for a different audience to the show. This album is proof of that.

The subtitle of the album is "Covering Our Tracks", because all the songs are covered by indie artists (at times indier than those who sang the song originally). Yay puns!

I feel like such a teenager, sitting in my room listening to this album. Obviously I am a teenager, but it's got a very "I hate my life" vibe to it.

The sticker on the front of the case has a quote by the creator Josh Schwartz stating that "these a the happiest versions of some of angstiest songs ever written". He's talking bullshit. There are some happy songs (that sounds like such an awkward adjective to be using), but some are quite laid-back.

Pretty Vacant would be one of the happier songs, just 'cause it's kinda fun. Lady Sovereign's accent is quite cool, with the whole dropping letters thing (eg. 'pre'y').

The next track, California (the show's title song for those of you who may not know), is one of the calmer songs, especially when compared to the original.

Hello Sunshine has significance just because it was played the first time Seth saw Summer's breasts. ... and the second time. (the song's not bad either - again, chilled out)

Not to give too much away, but Smile Like You Mean It is very good. I don't think there's as much emotion in this song as The Killers' version, but its harmonies are well done. It has moments where it's sounds more pop-y, at other times it has a grander sound (like when the chimes kick in).

The Ends Not Here is, I can only assume, where the series finale took its name from. Interestingly enough, it's not the last track (instead it's Into Dust, which, from memory, is the final song played in the series). And again, we have another song to chill out to.

Favourite track? While sometimes I get a hankering to listen to Pretty Vacant or The End's Not Near, I'd say the best song of the album is Smile Like You Mean It. I would think it's the most well-known song, and Tally Hall do something quite different with it - and it works.

into dust...