Monday, March 17, 2008

iPod Roulette

Here we go for another round. I hit shuffle on my iPod, and list the first ten songs. Feel free to join in...post your results in the comments.

1. "Most of Me" - Mandy Moore
Okay...this isn't as bad as you may think it is. She has really come a long way since her bubble-gum teen-pop days. Is it fantastic? Oh no...not by a long shot. But it's very listenable, and even fairly enjoyable. In short, I don't love it, but I do like it.

2. "If You Want Me To" - Abra Moore
Two folkish-chick singers in a row? Well...I don't care. I love Abra Moore...and that's even before I found out her name came from a character in East of Eden. This song shows off her stunning arrangements and her gorgeous voice. LOVE this album.

3. "Clampdown" - The Clash
Here we go. This song is perfect to sing to while driving in your car with the windows rolled down. God bless The Clash.

4. "Child You're the Revolution" - Angie Aparo
This song is dark and creepy and beautiful and epically sing-a-longable. But I have to admit that I get a little creeped out when The Village of the Damned singers show up at the end. I can't listen to this entire song if I'm by myself...I'm dead serious.

5. "A Film Called (Pimp)" - Common
J Dilla's production on this song is fantastic (not like I'm surprised). For all of you people out there who don't like Common, let me explain something to you: he's not a rapper as much as he is a poet. Listen to his flow on this song, and keep that simple fact in mind. You'll be fine.

6. "Novacaine for the Soul (Live)" - Eels
This is their big hit...I know. I still like this song, and I love this band. Their live stuff is amazing...they completely reimagine their songs. They took this one back to some sort of beat poet-type vibe. Gotta love it.

7. "Stone on the Water" - Badly Drawn Boy
In his prime, Badly Drawn Boy is kind of like a slightly happier-sounding Elliott Smith. This song, off The Hour of the Bewilderbeast, shows that side of him perfectly. He has a tremendous knack for writing good pop songs. You can't teach stuff like that.

8. "Oh! Darling" - The Beatles
I absolutely LOVE this song. Every time I hear it, I think about McCartney talking about trying to get his voice right for this song. He wanted to make it sound like he had been singing at a rock show all night, yet he still feels the need to sing his heart out to his woman...his voice all scratchy and gone from singing and screaming lyrics all night. Lennon's response? "I always had the better rock voice. I should have sung this one." He may be right, but McCartney nailed the vocals and feel of this song.

9. "Time Has Told Me" - Nick Drake
I love Nick Drake, but I've come to hate the mythology surrounding him. I get the feeling that a lot of people who "love" Nick Drake don't really listen to his music...they just say they love him because it's sort of cool these days to say you love him. This song is haunting and sad and beautiful...in short, everything I love about Nick Drake. I love the piano in this song.

10. "Flying Upside Down" - Griffin House
I'm a big Griffin House fan; I like his music, and I love his voice. However, this album was (sadly) his weakest release. This song (like the majority of the album) isn't bad...it's just sort of there. There's nothing special about this song. I could listen to it or not, and it really wouldn't make any difference to me at all.

Your turn.

1 comment:

Fosterface said...

From Ben -

1. "Two of Us" The Beatles.
Never heard this song. Never listened to this album (Let It Be). The song's alright. It would be good for driving on the Bluegrass Parkway to Lexington, after a trip west. The sort of song that evokes memories of family trips.

2. "Moneymaker," Rilo Kiley.
I bought this cd (Under the Blacklight) a year ago for this song, and haven't listened to any other songs yet. It's one of those simple but irresistible songs. Jenny's "ahh, ahh, ahh!" provides one of the sexiest moments in music ever. And she repeats it about 12 times. Thank you.

3. "Fiddle Riddle," Frank Black.
What a silly song. I don't know why he included this one on Teenager of the Year, which is probably my favorite album of all time. Maybe he included it for the same reason I liked so much of Frank Black's early (up to Dog in the Sand) work: fusing humor with intelligent work, such as using the line "I'm Thalassocracy, and you're just Romanov" to say "you're a bossy jerk, and the world doesn't need bossy jerks," and just a minute earlier he's talking about how much he loves ye olde Atari. This song represents one of the low points of the album, which just means that I have to be in the right mood to enjoy it thoroughly, which I just did. Moving on...

4. "Loudmouth," Sonic Youth
A Ramones cover, I think, from one of the greatest live albums I've ever heard. That's right - Hold That Tiger. Their punk homages are lots of fun to listen to (Nic Fit, Beat of the Brat), and if you're feeling especially ambitious, you can try to understand the lyrics.

5. "Parachutes," Pearl Jam
Someone told me they got good again when this cd came out. I dunno - this song leaves no impression, good or bad.

6. "Moongirl," Stellastar
I only know their "My Coco" song from the EA Sports MLB 2004 game. This is an instrumental song. They incorporate just enough surf influence in their music to keep it interesting. Good for summer driving. Oh wait, it just lost momentum, oh, and now it's back for the "chorus."

7. "Electricity + Drums" Apparitions

Another cd I've yet to listen to that Cris and Dusty put on my iPod years ago. I don't like this one.

8. "Starting Now," Ingrid Michaelson

I'm starting to come around to her, now that I've listened to the cd a few times. I like her voice, but nothing's really that remarkable about this song. It sounds like she's about to build toward a particular musical moment, but it never comes. Or it does, but I'm disappointed.

9. "Washed Your Car," Cloud Cult.

A 2 minute gem from their 2005 Advice From the Happy Hippo album. The vocals are a bit Modest Mouse-ish, not because he sounds like Isaac Brock, but because you're not sure if you like it at first, but by the end of the track are convinced that, given the musical quality (which is great, by the way: tight and complex), his is just the right voice for the job.

10. "Following," the Bangles.

I need to do an iPod cleaning. Until now I aimed for a certain integrity to its contents, by which I mean no partial albums. But I can do without 23 year old snoozers like this one.