One of the things that I love most about music (and art in general, I guess) is that everyone appreciates it in their own way. Ten people can have the same favorite song, album or band and love them for completely different reasons. Be it lyrics, rhythm, melody, harmony, style or something else, people are drawn to different elements.

I realized long ago that harmony is king for me. As much as I love all of the other elements that go into music, great harmony (vocal or instrumental) is like nothing else.

One of the highlights of the 2008 concert season was catching Fleet Foxes play at the Treasure Island Festival. They took the side stage halfway through the second day and, with heavy wind from the bay at their backs, dove into flawless four-part a capella harmony. Not only were these guys performing a capella to thousands of San Francisco hipsters, but they made it look both easy and cool.

Fleet Foxes’ performance inspired me to put together a mix that put great (vocal) harmony on display. I tried to represent harmony in a lot of different ways, from the obvious to less known, from folk to bluegrass to rock, and from new to old. In doing so, I was forced to leave out some that I would have liked to include (Beatles, Big Star, Paul Simon, etc.), but I think it makes for an enjoyable listen – hope you do too.

All Together Now (A Harmony Mix)

1. Fleet Foxes – “Sun Giant”
2. The Zombies – “Time of the Season”
3. Dennis Wilson – “River Song”
4. My Morning Jacket – “Golden”
5. Elliott Smith – “Because”
6. Bon Iver – “Flume”
7. Jenny Lewis – “Acid Tongue”
8. Band of Horses – “Plans”
9. The Eagles – “Seven Bridges Road” [Live]
10. The Mamas and the Papas – “California Dreamin’ “
11. Martha Reeves & The Vandellas – “Dancing in the Street”
12. The Beach Boys – “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”
13. The Thrills – “Big Sur”
14. Belle & Sebastian – “Step Into My Office, Baby”
15. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – “Helplessly Hoping”
16. Sufjan Stevens – “The Avalanche”
17. Matthew Sweet – “Girlfriend”
18. Steve Miller Band – “Jet Airliner”
19. Queen – “Somebody to Love”
20. The Byrds – “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There is a Season)”
21. Bluegrass Album Band – “The Model Church”
22. David Grisman – “So Long”

You can also download the whole mix as zip file: All Together Now – A Harmony Mix. To import the songs as an ordered playlist, go to iTunes, click on File > Library > Import Playlist… and select the .txt file in the mix folder.