Put your iPod/MP3 player/iTunes, etc. on shuffle/random and list the first ten songs that play and tell us something about them. Only rule: NO SKIPPING! That's right, if you have a Celine Dion song, or the soundtrack to High School Musical 2 on your MP3 player, we wanna know about it. So here's my list:
1. Copeland - You Have My Attention - Just a nice, beautiful love song. Yeah. But the good kind.
2. The Violet Burning - Low - Nice dark, emotional song from one of my all time favorite albums.
3. Sufjan Stevens - The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades is Out to Get Us! - Some nice Sufjan. 'nuff said.
4. The Smoking Popes - Don't Be Afraid - This is the live version from their show at Metro. These guys have really grown on me.
5. Pony Express - Middle Class Death Rock - ah yes...shall we gaze at our shoes?
6. Richard Buckner - Faithful Shooter - This guy's voice fits so well with the kind of music he writes and sings. I mean, you really believe every word he says.
7. The Police - Can't Stand Losing You - A classic from my much younger years.
8. Trent Dabbs - The Love Goes - one of my favorite singer/songwriters. Trent is part of the Ten out of Tenn tour which features a lot of great musicians.
9. Sixpence None the Richer - Amazing Grace (Give it Back) - this is one of the songs on their new My Dear Machine EP which you can download for free at Noisetrade.com.
10. MuteMath - Break the Same - still amazed at the live performance these guys do. You must check out their live DVD.
And...ten more for the road...
11. Julie Miller - Can't Cry Hard Enough
12. Rainer Maria - The Seven Sisters
13. Led Zeppelin - All of My Love
14. Glorybox - Gold Flake
15. Rich Creamy Paint - This Song
16. Kansas - Dust in the Wind
17. Hem - Dance With Me Now, Darling
18. Mark Heard - All Too Soon
19. Transition - The Issue
20. The Five Stairsteps - Ooh Child
Alrighty then. You're turn. Tell us what you're listening to.
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14 comments:
1. The Wallflowers - Three Ways
I haven't listened to this album in years! I caught the band on their Philly tour to support this album, the songs also sound great live.
2. Yo Yo Ma - Unaccompanied Cello Suite #2 in D Minor
This is a great collection for relaxing, writing, creativity... and Yo Yo Ma is amazing
3. Eliot Smith - Alameda
Not the most-recognized track from Either/Or, but it's a good one
4. Kelly Clarkson - Since U Been Gone
Oh no... guilty pleasure circa 2005... I have no excuse for this
5. Radiohead - House of Cards
Very glad to hear this after Kelly Clarkson. Every time I listen to In Rainbows I notice something new. This track has a haunting, alarmish sounding horn in the background.
6. Counting Crows - Perfect Blue Buildings
This was the first cd I ever bought myself... and I still love it
7. Bob Dylan - You're Gonna Quit Me
From one of Dylan's blues albums - it's a good one
8. Talking Heads - And She Was
Oh I love this song! Makes me wish it was time for Friday happy hour... 8 more hours or so...
9. Violent Femmes - American Music
I like American Music
10. Maximo Park - The Coast is Always Changing
Brit pop, art school band trying to hop on the Franz Ferdinand wave. They made a decent album, but I haven't heard much from them since
Happy Friday!
1. Fastball - The Way: One of those cheerful-sounding songs that's really much darker if you read the lyrics...
2. Video Killed the Radio Star - Presidents of the United States: Improves on the original, IMHO
3. Summer Rain - U2: Unreleased track that should've been released.
4. Goodbye, Goodnight - Jars of Clay: Songs like this make me wish Jars would put together an album of nothing but late-era Beatles covers.
5. Roberta - Billy Joel: One of his earlier tunes; back before they went and normalized everything, so the beginning's barely audible, while the end fuzzes out the speakers. Nice :)
6. Tempted - Sting: A live bootleg I picked up somewhere. Love it, except I think he flubs the whole "I fumble for the clock / alarmed by the seduction" lines.
7. Englishman In New York - Sting from the Chicago Sessions: Very nice acoustic version. In fact, I think it has a better feel & groove than the original.
8. Sell, Sell, Sell - Barenaked Ladies: I came to this album for "Pinch Me", stayed for this and "Helicopters". Brilliant social commentary, and how many rock songs effectively use harps anymore?
9. Come Sail Away - Styx: I still can't hear this song without thinking of Cartman. Dang.
10. Honky Tonk Blues - Huey Lewis & the News: Hm...Weakest song on Sports. Not that they don't do a decent job with it; just not my fave.
1. Bruce Springsteen - Better Days
From his "MTV Plugged" album. He brings in a gospel choir in the background, celebrating not the coming of heaven, but simply the arrival of "better days."
2. Sixpence None The Richer - Down And Out Of Time
Matt Slocum is a songwriting genius, is all I have to say.
3.Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Runnin' Down a Dream
This is what American rock and roll is.
4. White Shoes & The Couples C[something] - Tentang Cita
This is from a Paste sampler CD, and my iPod isn't showing the full group name. It's OK, because this song is girly as hell.
5. Hayden - Where & When
Again, I wouldn't have this song if not for the Paste samplers.
6. Radiohead - Faust Arp
How do they make songs that are so eccentric and yet so catchy?
7. Carly Simon - Let the River Run
This is a song Amanda downloaded, and I am appropriately ashamed to have it on my iPod. Although, apparently it's the theme song of the Staten Island Ferry, which I road daily for a couple years.
8. Tortoise - Swung from the Gutters
I like Tortoise. They're posed in the right place in relation to post-rock and atmospheric.
9. Bruce Springsteen - You'll be Comin' Down
Another good one from his "Magic" album.
10. Oasis - Wonderwall
This is one of the songs that I collect cover versions of.
11. Johnny Cash - Rose of My Heart
12. De La Soul - Ghetto Thang
13. Pearl Jam - Evacuation
14. De La Soul - Eye Know
15. Bob Dylan - Dignity
16. Sam Phillips - Tripping Over Gravity
17. Tortoise - Everglade
18. Janis Joplin - Summertime
19. Amy Grant - Lead Me On (Live)
20. Counting Crows - Washington Square
Some nice lists so far. Keep 'em coming!
Band of Horses—The Funeral:
This is interesting. We were talking about this song not all that long ago. It's incredible. It was also in a CSI Commercial. Ugh.
Modest Mouse—Steam Engenius:
Um, not one of their more memorable songs. I would really love to see them live but I hear that they are meh in person.
Traveling Wilburys—Tweeter and the Monkey Man:
I really freaking love this song. It's absolutely off the wall twisted. As a side note, is there a cooler collection of people than the members of the Wilburys? Also, is the name meant to be morbid? I've always wondered that.
Comedown—Bush:
I would argue that this album has held up quite well. I would also argue that this falls just behind "Semi-Charmed Life" on the list of the Top 10 happy-sounding songs that are really about drug addiction.
Senses Fail—Every Day is a Struggle:
I am probably the only person over 20 years old that owns this album. You have to remember, this use to be my aesthetic. I mean, I almost got an eyebrow bar.
Muse—Super Massive Black Hole:
This song was in a video game that I owned but I can't remember what. I think I've heard it roughly 150,906 times.
Desaparecidos—Greater Omaha:
I own this album, but I don't really know that I understand this band. At all. This song is about as accessible as it gets and, ummm…
Dave Matthews Band — Say Goodbye from Weekend on the Rocks:
Honestly, every time we do this, I'll probably get at least one DMB song (I've got the whole catalog). When I was younger I was a token (tokin') obsessed Dave fan. My obsession has since waned, but I still don't get all the hate they seen to receive these days. Don't hate them because their fans are annoying. Like it or not their music is significant and every member of the band is talented. Ever try to play Dave songs on the guitar? This song in particular is about a guy trying to con a female friend into the sack.
The Beatles—Elanor Rigby:
What a tight little song this is. The Beatles literally wrote perfect pop songs.
The Grateful Dead—One More Saturday Night:
I literally have nothing to say about this song.
OK, after a few interruptions I got thru my ten. Normally I would link to my last.fm profile but it's all jumbled up with iPod scrobbles. Whatevs, let's get to it:
1. Ingrid Michaelson - "Can't Help Falling in Love" from the Be OK album. An Elvis cover, yeah! I really like this album of b-sides and live stuff. This song was from a Daytrotter session.
2. Verbow - "Fan Club" from the Chronicles album. Does anyone else remember them? I got this album recently due to a Jason & Alison kick.
3. The Muppets - "Finale/The Magic Store" from The Muppet Show: Music, Mayhem and More 25th Anniversary album. If you know me at all you know that I love all things Muppet. This song features the great lyric life's not a movie / write your own ending / keep believing / keep pretending. Henson=the Man.
4. Conor Oberst - "Danny Callahan" from Conor Oberst solo album. This was a pleasant surprise. Took me a while to get into Bright Eyes but this album is very accessible.
5. Del Amitri - "Stone Cold Sober" from Hatful of Rain best-of collection. One of my all-time favorite bands. Strong lyrics and music that holds up well. A lot more to them besides "Roll to Me"!
6. Supertramp - "Child of Vision" from Breakfast in America. BinA is a required album. Enough said.
7. The Ataris - "The Boys of Summer" from So Long, Astoria. Cover song #2. I actually like the original. Probably the only Ataris song I have.
8. John Mayer - "Kid A" from the Bigger Than My Body single import (Australia). Cover song #3. Wow, I didn't even know I had this song! It's ok, he tries, he really does.
9. John Doe - "Pressing On" from the I'm Not There movie soundtrack. Cover song #4 (what the...) I like it, but not really familiar with the Dylan original.
10. Ben Lee - "Love Song" from Grandpaw Would. Less than a minute long, from the days before Ben Lee became a creepy post-indie has-been.
I'm gonna eat some lunch now.
Fair warning - these are songs from my recent "high school nostalgia ipod loading" (which has a fair bit of hair metal on it). I'm anxious to see what comes up:
1. Osker - Strangled:
This song reminds me of living at N. Shippen Place almost a decade ago, and events surrounding the beginning of my relationship with my (now) wife Jamie. I think this album was written by the singer when he was 17 or something crazy like that. Good aggressively poppy snotty punkish music, and surprisingly well-written for someone so young.
2. Sunny Day Real Estate - Grendel:
Wow, this takes me back. I used to lie on my floor at night and have this particular song on repeat with my eyes closed. Such a dreamy instrumental by one of the best bands ever.
3. The Sounds - Don't Want to Hurt You:
Excellent pop band with SUPER sexy vocals. Unfortunately, this song features the guitarist (or keyboardist, not sure) on vocals and he, without a doubt, makes this song the weakest on the record.
4. Jane's Addiction - Chip Away:
A total throwaway track on JA's first (also live) album. It just has Perry singing through his crazy live distorted delay processor and the rest of the band hitting coolers with drumsticks. Total end-of-album filler. Sad that with all the Jane's Addiction songs on this ipod, Chip Away had to rear its lame head.
5. Wilco - Please Be Patient With Me:
Wilco made it onto my ipod because I have been trying for years to find out why so many people love them so much, and I have left them on my ipod for quite a while now in hopes that they grow on me via shuffle, but I often end up skipping their tracks. This song sounds pretty beautiful though.
6. Tears For Fears - Mad World:
My wife will tell you that I am probably a little too into Tears For Fears for my own good. I prefer the songs sung by Roland, but this song is still really cool nonetheless.
7. Sunny Day Real Estate - The Days Were Golden:
I was among the fortunate to get into Sunny Day Real Estate before their first breakup, during the time after the release of their debut album Diary. Unfortunately for me, I never got the chance to see them live before said breakup. So when news of their reformation came, with the release of their third studio album How It Feels To Be Something On, you can bet I was anxiously awaiting the tour. What was awesome is that the first official show on that tour was in Philly, so huge bonus for me and my SDRE-lovin' friends. The only reason I am prefacing with all this history is because of how awesome it was when they played this particular song live. I think it was the last one in the set, and like the album version, William Goldsmith kept the drumbeat going long after the rest of the band set down their instruments. The feeling I had during the live version of this song was the feeling of one hugely satisfied SDRE fan.
8. Radiohead - Paranoid Android:
I had the previous-to-OK Computer Radiohead studio albums, and was definitely into their music, but I didn't truly become a fan of Radiohead until this album. Of course, this particular song pretty much was the trademark of their new sound - totally rocking, confusingly dynamic, and WAY awesome.
9. Nada Surf - See These Bones:
Another band that makes me think of my relationship with Jamie. This tune is off their most recent album, and just as beautiful and kick-ass as the rest of their efforts. Who would have thought that the band who had a hit with "Popular" would continue to outdo themselves and write even better and more poppy-artsy music with each new album?
10. Tears For Fears - Elemental:
Oh my god, this song rules so much. The album that contains this song has quite a few stinkers, but the whole underlying groove to this tune just blows me away every time I hear it. A perfect example of how beautifully good Roland Orzabal's vocals are.
Okay, so no hair metal made it into the first ten songs on shuffle. Maybe I'll do a second 10 songs after lunch just to see what pops up.
1. The Stokes - Barely Legal
Jeremy enjoys when I sing this song the way the singer sings it. I'm pretty much dead on.
2. Coldplay - Everything's Not Lost
GREAT song to sing/yell while in the car on a road trip. Gives me goosebumps.
3. FrouFrou - The Dumbing Down Of Love
Not the best song on the album...don't really listen to it.
4. Elliott Smith - Somebody I Used to Know
The man was just awesome.
5. Hot Hot Heat - Have A Good Sleep
Eh...not my favorite...
6. Elliott Smith - 2:45 In The Morning
Depressing, but I like when the drums kick in at the end.
7. Nada Surf - Deeper Well
Decent rocking tune. Not my favorite by them, but I don't skip it when it comes on.
8. Radiohead - Paranoid Android
What can I say other than "Good Stuff!!!". I think they got the title from Hitchhiker's Guide...
9. Postal Service - Clark Gable
I tend to skip over this one. Eh...
10. Elliott Smith - Bottle Up and Explode!
Dude has a lot of albums. Such a great song!!! They all are!!!
11. spoon - anything you want
12. snow patrol - you could be happy
13. radiohead - kid a
14. the shins - pam berry
15. hot hot heat - le le low
16. the stokes - the end has no end
17. keane - again and again
18. elliott smith (again!?!?) - georgia, georgia
19. elliott smith (HA!) - angel in the snow
20. Muse - plug in baby
1. Scud Mountain Boys - Cigarette Sandwich
One of many Joe Pernice projects. Haven't spent enough time with this record.
2. Screaming Trees - No One Knows
Can't escape Mark Lanegan's voice.
3. Centro-matic - Fidgeting Wildly
Great song of the band's debut. "kicking out the hi-fi jams"
4. New Power Generation - The Exodus Has Begun
Yeah, I'm a big Prince fan. Got a problem with that??
5. Jethro Tull - Pussy Willow
All hail the flute!
6. Fishbone - Skankin' to the Beat
So many good Fishbone songs...
7. PJ Harvey - The Mess We're In
Nice duet with thom yorke
8. Slobberbone - Springfield, Illinois
Probably the band I regret most not seeing live
9. Okkervil River - A Hand to take hold of the scene
Hmmm...aren't these past two bands both from texas?
10. Matthew Sweet - Winona
Saw him a the TLA back in 2001. Right up against the stage. Loudest show i've ever been to.
I hope no one minds me going for a round two. I had so much fun the first time.
The next 10 songs on my ipod are...
1. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Subterranean Homesick Blues:
This song, and album, go hand in hand with my skateboarding phase. Those of you who know me, think about how much of a klutz I am. Then, picture me on a skateboard. You got it!
2. Soundgarden - Spoonman:
Not the best song on Superunknown, but the album overall friggin' rules. I took a lot of notes on Matt Cameron's drumming style. Remember the movie Singles, and Matt Dillon's band Citizen Dick? One of their songs was "Spoonman" and Soundgarden thought it would be fun to actually write a song using that title and theme.
3. U2 - Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For:
U2. The Joshua Tree. 'Nuff Said.
4. Interpol - Hands Away:
Not my favorite Interpol song, but I absolutely love the band. They, like The National, make for good background music that motivates me to work.
5. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Walkin' On Down The Road:
haha a return to RHCP Uplift Mofo Party Plan so soon? Well, I don't have much more to say about this song that I didn't say for the other one. Except for this: Picture how much of a klutz I am. Now picture me on an 8' halfpipe.
6. Soundgarden - Rhinosaur:
Soundgarden made the album containing this song following Superunknown, without the aid of a producer, as in they produced it themselves. There are some good songs on Down On The Upside, but overall the album feels very disjointed.
7. Keane - This Is The Last Time:
Oh, Keane, please go back to making beautiful piano rock and fire whoever put you on your current path! What a pretty song. This is Keane to me - Angelic vocals over beautiful, driving, piano rock.
8. Beatles - All You Need Is Love:
Didn't really get into the Beatles until after our honeymoon. I never understood why so many people went so ga ga over them. But, I have a much greater appreciation for them now, and this song is awesome.
9. The Shins - Sleeping Lessons:
I was excited when this most recent album came out, and was surprised at the slight turn these guys took, especially apparent in how this song starts and then builds. Different for these guys, but an improvement (and I already really liked them). Now, if Keane could take a cue from these guys by changing their style and actually get better, we'd all be set! Oh and by the way, whatever Zach Braff says through Natalie Portman, The Shins will not change your life. But they are good!
10. Elliott Smith - White Lady Loves You More:
Finally, some Elliott Smith! Man, I wish he were still around. This song marks what originally drew me to Elliott Smith - stripped down song with just finger-picked guitar and vocals. I didn't even listen to much acoustic music before Elliott Smith, but there was no denying that HIS acoustic music was amazing.
It's Saturday morning; can I still play?
1.Bonus Track - Hank Green
Off the CD So Jokes which I just bought at the Tour de Nerdfighting event last Tuesday. Don't have any idea what any of those things I just said mean? Check out YouTube.com/Vlogbrothers for more info. I just got the CD and haven't listened to it yet, but this bonus track appears to be audio recorded at an early Tour de Nerdfighting event. Although when I look, it's only 6 minutes into a 15 minute track and has gone silent again....
2.No Eye Has Seen - Michael W. Smith
From the album Christmas. When I was in high school, I listened to a lot of MWS, but not anymore. This album, however, gets dozens of plays a year come Christmas time.
3.The Girl Next Door - Frank Sinatra
I don't know this particular song well, but I do really like Sinatra
4.Hey Ma - Cameron
This song is very catchy. In my iTunes, the album is listed as Karin's Bachelorette Party Mix.
5.Dazed and Confused - Led Zepplin
The problem with trying to say something about each of these songs is that I have lots of music in my library, but listen to mostly spoken word (podcasts and audiobooks), so I don't know many of the songs that well. I love the beat in this song, though.
6.Even Flow - Pearl Jam
After this, I'm just going to stop pretending that I have anything to say.
7.Paddle Out - Sublime
8.Coke and Pepsi and the Superbowl of 2001 - Lewis Black
Here's some of that spoken word I was talking about. If you've never listened to Lewis Black, you should fix that. The man is hilarious.
9.Wave - Frank Sinatra
10.I Got a Woman - Ray Charles
Give me this song over Gold Digger any day.
There's always time to play the Friday Music Game. Even if it is Saturday. It's like baseball...you can go into extra innings and go on and on and on...so keep on playing til the next game starts!
Okay, Ken. If you insist...
Jeremy Bentley's Nostalgia Pod - ROUND THREE!
1. Guns 'N' Roses - Coma:
Use Your Illusion I and II. I was so into these albums. This particular song is over 10 minutes long. I remember loving it when my favorite artists would make epic songs... the longer the better. Now, in my old age, I prefer a 2.5 - 4.5 minute song. With all the music that is out there today, I need something to grab my attention quickly and then leave me wanting for more. I think I will check off the Nostalgia box for this song as "listened" and skip ahead to song 2...
2. Sunny Day Real Estate - The Rising Tide:
SDRE... rules!!! This song... so good!!! This title track off of their final album reminded me a lot of the Cure, mainly for the guitar tones and general feel. Of course, I can't really compare SDRE with the Cure other than those elements of this particular song. If anyone is reading this and has never heard SDRE before, you absolutely NEED to get some in ya.
3. Jay Reatard - My Family:
Daniel French turned me onto this guy. The album still hasn't quite grown on me yet. The feel is very lo-fi, kind of late-70s punk rock, verging on new wave in some songs. This is a nice concise little song with a catchy chorus - only 1:45 long!
4. Frou Frou - Psychobabble:
I really really like Imogen Heap's voice, and this album by Frou Frou is my favorite of her offerings that I have heard thus far. This, like many songs on the album, are excellent for headphone listening. Such a great stereo soundscape.
5. Interpol - Evil:
I can't listen to this song without picturing the puppet in the video lip-syncing. And he is a creepy puppet. This video, and song, really kick a lot of rear though.
6. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Transcending Flesh:
My favorite two RHCP albums are Blood Sugar Sex Magik, and the album that this song is on... One Hot Minute. As a band, they finally nailed their sound with the former, and went into great experimental territory with the latter. Being a Jane's Addiction fan, I was excited to hear Dave Navarro's guitar treatment on this band's songs (even though John Frusciante is the best guitarist for RHCP). I was not disappointed - the guitars are overwhelmingly cool, but I could expect nothing less from Dave Navarro. He really made this album a fantastic album for the band, even though it was a huge break from their style. It made One Hot Minute sound like Jane's Addiction with Anthony Kiedis on vocals, but the distinctive styles of both Flea and Chad Smith still permeate.
7. Slaughter - Fly To The Angels:
Yes! Slaughter! This is the band that got me fully into hair metal. I was such a huge Slaughter fan, I had my room plastered with their posters, and I even devoted one half of one of my walls to a painting I did of all of their faces (never finished it, though. so for years, there was an unfinished painting of four dudes' heads with long hair taking up a large portion of a wall in my room). You can't deny that this song is a good single, though.
8. Coldplay - Low:
I just love Coldplay. Coldplay is without a doubt, a signature Jeremy and Jamie band. They define our relationship more than any other music group. So, needless to say, I love it when a Coldplay song comes on. I really like it in this song when the mallet percussion comes in after the first chorus. Reminds me of early U2...
9. Mack, The Coffee Man - Space
No nostalgia-loaded iPod would be complete without MTCM. Keith's voice is a bit rough (a bit? okay, maybe a lot) in this tune, but hey, these are the guys that defined my young music life. If you don't know why, then you don't know me haha. 'Nuff Said.
10. Squirrel Nut Zippers - Bad Businessman:
These guys did it right, when swing jazz came back onto the scene in the mid-to-late 90s. They implemented such a dirty Southern "hot" style, that felt a lot more like soulful improvisation than what all the other bands did. All other swing music that came out at this time was too "white" and clean, if that makes sense. SNZ's dirty, rowdy, speakeasy style of swing jazz has stuck with me long after the pathetic revival of the 90s, and all the horrible bands that came out at the time.
So apparently Jeremy has lots of free time on his hands. So why stop at three lists, dude? And by the way, I too have a Mack the Coffee Man song on my mp3 player. It's called "The Bomb" from that "We The Living" compilation. You gonna hook me up with more Mack?
Oh, and I was in that new Zap furniture store the other day and they have a Mack the Coffee Man sign. A little thing, but it was like $195 bucks or something. Can't afford that much for a cool retro sign.
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