Does anyone have their own Mew ‘best of’ playlist? I ask because I like making playlists, and I often notice compilation albums bands will release. I personally found Eggs Are Funny to be pretty underwhelming, in all aspects. Certain tracks I expected to make it on a compilation album, like Apocalypso or Cartoons, didn’t make it, while underwhelming and forgettable tracks like Saliva or Eight Flew Over made it. And the Glass Handed Kites: one of Mew’s greatest albums out of the five that were released prior to Eggs Are Funny; if not, the greatest album out of the band, only featured two tracks. While I can understand why they would include few tracks due to relentless musical segues, it wasn’t that big of an issue, considering that a fair deal of the tracks can transition smoothly into another song without an awkward abrupt cut being noticeable. Plus, they could made edits to more of the songs on Kites, or at least have recorded new versions. Also, the tracklisting is kind of odd; plus Do You Love It as a new song, while solid, really had no place on the album.

This inspired me to create my own compilation album for Mew: what I think is their best work from an objective standpoint, with a little bit of subjectivity thrown into the mix (but mostly objectivity).

Here’s my tracklist:

Am I Wry? No
156
Snow Brigade
Chinaberry Tree
Why are You Looking Grave?
Introducing Palace Players
Wheels Over Me
My Complications
Behind the Drapes
Apocalypso
Special
The Zookeeper’s Boy
Cartoons and Macrame Wounds
Repeaterbeater
Rows
Silas the Magic Car
Louise Louisa
Comforting Sounds

(I’m sure I’ll have to update this after their new album hits, mainly because I feel like I’d have to include at least one or two songs from each album of an artist’s work)

I also have an extended version because compilation albums can often feel short, given how passionate I can be about the body of an artist’s work. But if I were to get someone into Mew and they wanted to hear a ‘greatest hits’ playlist or the like, that would be the one I feel would have the most depth, and best flow.

What do you guys think?