I'll Do The Driving (Day 153 & 154)

Day 153:

Guided By Voices - "Alien Lanes"
David Bowie - "Life On Mars"
Flight Of The Conchords - "Think About It, Think Think About It"
R.E.M. - "Until The Day Is Done"
Seu Jorge - "Starman"
Jack Johnson - "Broken"
Ben Kweller - "Living Life"
Radiohead - "Optimistic"
The National - "Squalor Victoria"
Tindersticks - "Nectar"
Here it is, the first-ever WILTOMWTWT double post. Since a busy Monday at work left me with no time for blogging, I could have just skipped the day altogether. But I figured I have the playlist so why not put it up anyway. Plus, it was a pretty good one and I specifically made a mental note right here about what I wanted to mention. This is an interesting 2-song block for me because for the longest time The National reminded me of another band - - but I couldn't remember their name! It was always on the tip of my tongue and I could even picture 2 of their album covers. You know how you can't remember something obvious and it drives you crazy. This was happening, big time. I even started Googling things like "The National sound like..." Funnily enough I found this on their own bio: "The National sound like no one so much as themselves: a meditative rumble that starts in the heart, gets caught in the brain, and resonates outward." But I was undaunted. Finally I had a spare minute and I thumbed through some CDs at home with the sole purpose of figuring this out. Voila! There in the 5th or 6th bin of CDs was The Tindersticks. I uploaded a few of their albums and upon review I can say that now I feel....they really do sound remarkably similar. Anyone else know both bands? It's uncanny. The low, baritone vocals. The dark, moody music punctuated by acoustic bass and violins. If you were just a casual fan of both, I'm telling you may not be able to tell them apart. So I figured I'd mention this on the blog at some point, but I never figured iPod would force the issue by playing them back-to-back. And, yes, a quick search on the web reveals The National is often mentioned as contemporaries of the Tindersticks. So I'm not crazy. (One commenter on The National's Take-Away Show even wrote: "I liked these guys better when they were called The Tindersticks." The comment is funny, but not nearly as funny as the commenter's name: Bucky Wunderlick.) All of this does not take away from my enjoyment of either of these bands. And The National's Alligator remains one of my favorite albums of 2005.
The Beatles - "It's All Too Much"
Sloan "Money City Maniacs"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 11
Total minutes of music (approx.): 45
Song with the most previous plays: "Think About It, Think Think About It" - 8
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 7
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: That was yesterday. Who can remember anything from yesterday?

Day 154:

Los Campesinos! - "Drop It Doe Eyes"
David Bowie - "Fill Your Heart"
Any observant readers notice why I pause here? Well, for the second straight day, a David Bowie song is the second song on the playlist. Weird. It kinda makes me wonder what other microtrends there could be on these "random" lists...
Fountains Of Wayne - "I'll Do The Driving"
Jim O'Rourke - "Through The Night Softly"
Pixies - "La La Love You"
John Doe - "Worried Brow"
Eleventh Dream Day - "Exit Right"
Radiohead - "Exit Music (For A Film)"
Speaking of micro trends, how about this little two-some: exit songs. Has the iPod gotten lazy? Has shuffling been replaced by simply playing the songs alphabetically. Actually, no. In fact, if you sort all the songs on my iPod alphabetically (a fun little exercise), the Fugazi song "Exit Only" actually appears sandwiched in between these two songs. And while I'm on the subject of My Music A to Z (I'll think of a snappier title when this becomes a book), what is the first song alphabetically on the iPod, you (ok, I) ask? Well, you'll be dissapointed because symbols come before letters so the Final Fantasy song emoticonically (did I just make up a word?) named "->" is first, and Pavement's "Zurich Is Stained" is last. Now you know.
Led Zeppelin - "How Many More Times"
The Dodos - "Fools"
Rilo Kiley - "Close Call"


And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 11
Total minutes of music (approx.): 53
Song with the most previous plays: "I'll Do The Driving" - 11
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 7
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: Well, it freaking poured today in NYC. After dropping off G, I made my way to the gym only to get drenched. (Some day I'll be adult enough to remember to bring an umbrella when it is so obviously going to rain.) I decided not to shuffle at the gym today, but instead listened to Perfect From Now On (I'm still obsessing over it), which actually made for decent workout music. I get so absorbed in that record it helps take the mind off the task at hand.