So as some of you may know, I’ve recently been dealing with a pretty rough breakup. I’ll spare you the details, but let’s just say that I’ve spent a lot of time over the last three months taking long melancholy-fueled walks and trying to reassert that my life has, y’know, meaning and purpose and all that malarkey. It was, and is, a difficult time, but it was mitigated by one constant companion/distraction: a playlist chock full of some of the most achingly heartbroken pop songs ever committed to MP3. This playlist, simply titled the breakup mix, was subjected to constant edits, gaining and losing tracks every day. At one point, it was over six hours long; a week later, it was a mere 41 minutes. One day, it was just David Byrne’s “Glass, Concrete & Stone” twelve times in a row (that was a baaad week, mind). It became my goal, nay, mydestiny to compile the perfect breakup mix, one that didn’t just mirror my anguish, but that of anyone that has ever had to deal with watching a relationship fall apart. I wanted it to function not as a narrative or a distillation of my feelings, but as a kind of universal reliquary of bad vibes and sad songs. I wanted to make The Breakup Mix, relevant to anyone who has ever lost anything.

So, yeah, I was going a little crazy.

Nevertheless, it’s three months later, some of the smoke has cleared, and I’m left with Coming Down, a two-disc celebration of sadness. It isn’t a particularly cool or clever compilation; there’s no rare grooves, obscure Postpunk semihits or weird covers. I’m pretty certain I’m not the first person to put “It’s Too Late” of “Nothing Compares 2 U” on a breakup mix. It is, however, pretty thematically and aesthetically diverse, to the extent that I doubt anybody’s gonna like every single song here. Again, that isn’t really the point, rather, it’s more important to me that there’s one song on here for everyone, one track that clicks with them, that makes their souls ache and their hands reach for the Scotch. And, if you can’t relate to any of the songs on this mix, well, then you’re either a sociopath or some kind of zen robot thing and, in that case, I salute you. Enjoy. Oh, and scroll down for liner notes and track listings and download links and stuff.

Download Disc One

Download Disc Two

Disc 1: For No One

1. Glass, Concrete & Stone – David Byrne

2. It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue – Van Morrison

3. Guess I’m Doing Fine – Beck

4. No Children – The Mountain Goats

5. The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore – The Walker Brothers

6. These Days – Nico

7. Katy Song – Red House Painters

8. It’s Too Late – Carole King

9. Alone Again (Naturally) – Gilbert O’Sullivan

10. Book of Stories – The Drums

11. Happy When It Rains – The Jesus & Mary Chain

12. Don’t Answer Me – The Alan Parsons Project

13. 1992 – Blur

14. The Chain – Fleetwood Mac

!5. You Don’t Have To Cry – Crosby, Stills & Nash

16. For No One – The Beatles

17. I Speak Because I Can – Laura Marling

18. A New England – Billy Bragg

19. Coming Down – Dum Dum Girls

Disc 2: When Love Breaks Down 

1. Love Will Tear Us Apart – Joy Division

2. Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf) – The Pixies

3. 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover – Paul Simon

4. Damaged Goods – Gang of Four

5. Cheerleader – St. Vincent

6. Ready to Start – The Arcade Fire

7. Face in the Crowd – Cat’s Eyes

8. I Think I Need A New Heart – The Magnetic Fields

9. I’ll Cry Alone – The Flamin’ Groovies

10. Don’t Believe Anything I Say – Graham Coxon

11. Pale Shelter – Tears For Fears

12. Nothing Compares 2 U – Sinead O’Connor

13. When Love Breaks Down – Prefab Sprout

14. Ceremony – New Order

15. Nostalgia – The Long Blondes

16. Never Here – Elastica

17. Wicked Little Town – Tommy Gnosis

18. Lady Grinning Soul – David Bowie

19. You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go – Bob Dylan

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