So, in a recent fit of insomnia, I made a Spanish conquest mixtape. Here’s a list of the songs and corresponding historical events.

  • Maritime Exploration: Another New World—Punch Brothers
  • Contact: The Island—The Decemberists 
  • European immigration: Led Zeppelin—Immigrant Song
  • African Immigration: Family Atlantica— El Negrero
  • Virgin Soil Epidemics: Idumea—Traditional
  • Mestizaje: North American Scum—LCD Soundsystem/Conquest—White Stripes
  • Hatuey: Après Moi—Regina Spektor
  • The Seige of Tenochtitlan: Death Is the Road to Awe—Clint Mansell
  • The Journey and Ordeal of Cabeza de Vaca: Wayfarin’ Stranger—Traditional
  • Cajamarca: M.I.A.—Paper Planes
  • Encomienda: Once in a Lifetime—Talking Heads
  • Missions: Gabriel’s Oboe—Ennio Morricone
  • Flight, Resistance, and Palenques: Pirate Jenny—Nina Simone
  • Potosi and worldwide inflation: C.R.E.A.M.—Wu Tang Clan
  • Looking Back: The Black Hawk War, or, How to Demolish an Entire Civilization and Still Feel Good About Yourself in the Morning…—Sufjan Stevens