What I Listened To On My Way To Work Today

My 25 Favorite Albums of 2011

2011-12-16T16:35:00.017-05:00

So I used to blog here. It was fun, and the truth is I've kind of been missing it. So I may start doing it again. Probably the same drill: music and musings. (Okay, don't hold your breath. I've also been meaning to finish that screenplay and write that book proposal and digitize my vinyl collection and clean the basement and, well, you get the idea.) In the meantime, here are my 25 favorite albums from the past 12 months. Without commentary. Baby steps, people.

1. Bon Iver - Bon Iver

2. Middle Brother - Middle Brother

3. The Rural Alberta Advantage - Departing

4. Deer Tick - Divine Providence

5. Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean

6. Destroyer - Kaputt

7. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

8. Wye Oak - Civilian

9. Jay-Z and Kanye West - Watch The Throne

10. The Black Keys - El Camino

11. Youth Lagoon - The Year of Hibernation

12. Eleventh Dream Day - Riot Now!

13. Real Estate - Days

14. Beirut - The Rip Tide

15. Wilco - The Whole Love

16. Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost

17. Wild Flag - Wild Flag

18. Yuck - Yuck

19. Deerhoof - Deerhoof vs. Evil

20. Tapes ‘N Tapes - Outside

21. Cults - Cults

22. J Mascis - Several Shades of Why

23. Josh T. Pearson - Last of the Country Gentlemen

24. The War on Drugs - Slave Ambient

25. My Morning Jacket - Circuital

Umm, hello...

2011-12-14T11:34:00.002-05:00

I know it's been a long time. But I'm going to post my Best Albums 2011 list here - - whether anybody reads it or not. Stay tuned.

In the meantime:

Photo Card

View the entire collection of cards.

The Best Albums of 2010 (So Far edition)

2010-06-18T13:49:00.001-04:00

The list is actually here.

I'm going to try this.

2010-06-17T10:51:00.001-04:00

A Tumblr.

Volume Rambler (Day 202)

2009-12-17T10:28:00.004-05:00

Sorry, just a tease today - - not a full account of what I listened to on my way to work today. (Although "Volume Rambler" by Oakley Hall was indeed one of the songs.) More importantly my list of favorite records released in 2009 is posted here. Thanks Comoprozac for the kick in the ass to do this and for posting it. Also, do yourself a favor and check out all the year end lists at his great blog. And have a great New Year.

GE

Maybe Maybe (Day 201...I guess)

2009-10-30T12:44:00.004-04:00

Coleman Hawkins - "Dinner For One Please, James"
Cat Power - "Metal Heart"
Pavement - "Maybe Maybe"
The Flaming Lips - "Waiting For Superman (Remix)"
The Beach Boys - "Caroline, No"
Josh Ritter - "Good Man"
Coldplay - "Sparks"
Death Cab For Cutie - "Passenger Seat"
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - "Cold Roses"
Hello... Hello... Is there anybody out there? I forgive anyone who deleted me from their reader, blitzed me from their bookmarks or even forcibly tried to forget I even exist. Six month gaps in blogging does not sit well with readers. What can I say? I got a little bored. I got a little busy. I got an iPhone? All are true and the iPhone was strangely the most detrimental thing to happen to this simple little blog. The new phone meant the iPod was history and all large chunk of music was added to the iPhone's 32GB of memory. The dream appeared to be complete: a singular device for communication and portable music consumption. And for the most part, it is a dream. I do still love that slick little device. BUT it doesn't sync to my work computer. Outdated OS + a tech department that can not be bribed = no easy way to get a list of what I listened to on my way to work today. Obviously, I could write the songs down as they play each morning. Except that extra step, the little bit of extra "work" proved to be just too much to handle in the a.m. But the desire was still there. I'd hear a song in the morning and think about how much I'd like to blog about how kick-ass it is...and then I'd just spend my free time reading real music blogs instead. Oh well. Then today, something so stupidly obvious happened it's almost too embarrassing to write. I realized that all I had to do was hit the back button in iTunes on the phone and I could see each song played since I started shuffling when I left the house. Duh. Double duh. Stupid, fucking duh. Not that difficult. Of course, I can't tell you the name of the song with the most previous plays (which was my easy blog title naming convention), but I'm sure you can live with that. So here we go again? Maybe. I'll try. Let's just see what happens. Anyway, how ya been...?

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 9
Total minutes of music (approx.): 35
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 6
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: Well, still taking the little girl to school every morning which is still the highlight of my day. And she'll be 4 next week! Crazy. There's been a lot of Halloween talk, obvs. Today she referred to the holiday in her own way which really does boil it down to its very essence: Candy Day. Happy Candy Day, y'all.

Trees Outside The Academy (Day 200)

2009-05-08T16:55:00.003-04:00

The Replacements - "Darlin' One"
Thurston Moore - "Trees Outside The Academy"
The National - "Watching You Well"
How's this for anticlimactic? The 200th post on WILTOMWTWT features three measly songs. Hey, think of it this way, considering my output a few weeks ago any post before leaving for the weekend is a small victory. Meanwhile I'm on a little National run these days. The Dark Was The Night compilation got me listening to them again (not that you need an excuse). But today I noticed I Am Fuel You Are Friends posted their set from the Radio City concert. It's awfully good, naturally. And good timing since a coworker was raving about the show and making me feel old/lame for having barely been aware of it and obviously not considering going. But I did get tickets to see Grizzly Bear later this month. Who says I'm a total loser? Seriously...who says that?

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 3
Total minutes of music (approx.): 12
Song with the most previous plays: "Trees Outside The Academy" - 4
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 6
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: I saw some dude try and pick up a girl at 8:22am outside the subway. That seems bold to me. I couldn't make out exactly what he said, but her response was "No. I'm sorry." As she walked away he muttered, "Yeah, I'm sorry too." My advice would be to wait until at least 9am.

Not Afraid To Die (Day 199)

2009-05-06T16:29:00.004-04:00

Tindersticks - "Tea Stain"
The Wedding Present - "Sucker"
The Wedding Present - "Go, Man, Go"
I must pause here to admire the statistical anomaly that just occurred. It's already rare enough for two songs by the same artist to appear on the shuffle on any given day. But here, two songs by the same artist played back to back - - and they're on the same album! (No, they're not back to back on the Mini Plus EP.) Does my iPod shuffle function need some lube? Maybe the poor device knows that as soon as the newest model of the iPhone is released (with, fingers crossed, at least 32 GB of memory) I'm kicking it to the curb.
Clap Your Hands And Say Yeah - "Goodbye To Mother And The Cove"
Bob Dylan - "Tombstone Blues" [alternate take]
Fleet Foxes - "Sun Giant" (live)
Serge Gainsbourg - "L'hotel particulier"
Dean & Britta - "White Horses"
Stan Getz - "Pennies From Heaven"
Iron & Wine - "Not Afraid To Die" (live)
Juliana Hatfield - "Shining On"
Not sure how Hatfield's latest wound up on my iPod. Honestly. I was a fan of the Blake Babies, and maybe her first album, but that's about it. I do follow her on Twitter, however. But, I think I might stop. Juliana Hatfield is a serious oversharer. And her Tweets are relentless! Look:

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 11
Total minutes of music (approx.): 41
Song with the most previous plays: "Not Afraid to Die" (live) - 8
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 6
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today:

Daughter: Can I get a granola bar?
Dad: Not today.
Daughter: Why not?
Dad: Because you already ate breakfast.
Daughter: But I didn't get one yesterday.
Dad: I know, you had breakfast yesterday too.
Daughter: Dad, let me make you a deal. I didn't get one yesterday and I won't get one today...so I can get one tomorrow.
Dad: What?
Daughter: If I don't get one for 2 days, then on the third day I can get a granola bar.
Dad: Are you still just three years old?

Heart Problems (Day 198)

2009-05-04T16:43:00.006-04:00

Prince - "Kiss"
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - "We Can't Help You"
Tokyo Police Club - "Sixties Remake"
Aimee Mann - "Phoenix"
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - "Heart Problems"
Short one today and not much to say, but I do want to keep the ball rolling. One update: Since this blog does occasionally dip into my baseball rooting interests I will acknowledge I'm clearly not happy with the 10-13 New York Mets. Sure the starting pitching sucks (I'm looking at you Oliver Perez) and the absolutely can not buy a hit with runners in scoring position, but there's still too much talent not to compete. Much of the NYC media/blogosphere is saying the team lacks a a killer instinct, as in the team has "heart problems." (See, I'm always bringing it back to the music, y'all!) I'm going to give them a pass for April: Still trying to figure out the new ballpark, WBC training/preparedness issues, etc. But it's now May 4. String together a few wins, will ya! I can't take another summer of over-priced, mediocre baseball. And no amount of Shake Shack burgers are going to make things right. Although, they can't hurt.

Food porn courtesy of Alaina B.'s Flickr page

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 5
Total minutes of music (approx.): 16
Song with the most previous plays: "Heart Problems" - 4
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 6
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: Rain sucks.

Don't Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder) [Day 197]

2009-05-01T15:50:00.003-04:00

Travis - "My Eyes"
Lily Allen - "Fuck You"
Oops. Not sure you were supposed to see that one. Yes it's a Lily Allen song. And it's from her second album. I can't even attribute it to falling for that 2007 summer-fun album with the single "Smile." Listen, the CD was laying around my office so I uploaded it, ok. I haven't really listened to it at all, but I do have to admit, I kinda like her. There's something about Lily. The way she just doesn't seem to take herself or pop stardom very seriously that is appealing. Unfortunately the song seems even way more over-produced than anything on her last album, but the kiss-off lyrics are cute and even positively political ("you say it's not okay to be gay, well I think you're just evil"). Also, her Twitter feed is kinda awesome. It's often about massive amounts of food she consumes (i.e. "at home, been through post,ignoring stack of bills. mum made me mac and cheese w/bacon bits and shortbread"). Take that Britney!
Conor Oberst - "Laura Laurent" (live)
The Beach Boys - "Don't Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)"
Jens Lekman - "A Man Walks Into A Bar"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 5
Total minutes of music (approx.): 23
Song with the most previous plays: "Don't Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)" - 6
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 5
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: Swine flu? That's nothing. My 3-year-old says there's a monster cat living under the street. Run for your lives!

23 Years Ago (Day 196)

2009-04-30T15:54:00.003-04:00

The Beatles - "Yellow Submarine" (1969)
Ry Cooder - "Christmas In Southgate" (2007)
Chin Up Chin Up - "Collide The Tide" (2004)
Y'all Is Fantasy Island - "The Walk Home" (2008)
Townes Van Zandt - "Standin'" (1972)
Paul Westerberg - "23 Years Ago" (2004)
Hüsker Dü - "What's Going On" (1984)
Umm, first of all...

No, seriously. It was nice to see my handful of blog pals immediately welcome me back. I hope I don't let you guys down like my iPod did this AM. The slim charge remaining only got me 2/3 of the way through this (awesome) Hüsker Dü song, and short of my office door. (Hey, there are ambient sounds in the city. Who knew?) Kind of a minor clunker of a playlist for my second day back, with a couple of those songs that just prove that 60GB is too much storage. Y'all Is Fantasy? That's got to be one of those blog-endorsed things I downloaded without much thought because really what the heck is it? It's 3:15 of ambient soundtrack music, that's what it is. And Chin Up Chin Up? Meh. Thank god for Townes Van Zandt. No, seriously, thank god for Townes Van Zandt. (I'd really like a T-shirt that says that.) Okay, so added bonus today. Notice I added the release date of each of the songs. I did this because I had a conversation with a friend this morning who told me he finally listened to and loved the Fleet Foxes (naturally). I'd recommended them because he'd been bemoaning the lack of good new music. He's one of those classic rock-loving dudes (not that there's anything wrong with that), who hasn't had the time/inclination/desire to seek out new music. But this got me wondering about the average age of the music I listen to. Unfortunately, this is a flawed statistic because as I've mentioned in this space before, most of the music on my iPod is newer, downloaded stuff, not the stacks of CDs and records I've been amassing since I was 12. But since this blog is really all about useless information, here you go. The average year of the songs on today's playlist is: 1993.

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 7
Total minutes of music (approx.): 27
Song with the most previous plays: "23 Years Ago" - 7
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 5
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: The sign on the muffins at the cafe this morning read: Fresh Baked. And, holy shit, my apple cinnamon muffin was still warm when I got to the office! Now that's truth in advertising.

Blossom (Day 195)

2009-04-29T17:13:00.002-04:00

The Beastie Boys - "Professor Booty"
Y'all Is Fantasy Island - "Army Card"
Wilco - "Someday Soon"
Interpol - "Pace Is The Trick"
Liz Phair - "Explain It To Me"
Wilco - "Kingsport Town" (live)
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - "Blossom"
Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins - "The Charging Sky"
Imperial Teen - "Everything"
Rilo Kiley - "A Better Son/Daughter"
Franz Ferdinand - "Twilight Omens"
I'm going to start back slow - - don't want to pull a muscle. Here's today's playlist. I'm going to renew my efforts to post what I listened to on my way to work each day. Other brilliant nuggets of wisdom to follow. Fingers crossed.

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 11
Total minutes of music (approx.): 44
Song with the most previous plays: "Blossom" - 10
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 7
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: I didn't see a single NYC commuter wearing a surgical mask.

I Started Something I Couldn't Finish (Day 194)

2009-04-01T16:28:00.004-04:00

KT Tunstall - "Other Side Of The World"
Cat Power - "Willie"
The Smiths - "I Started Something I Couldn't Finish"
Umm, I suppose that this could be the permanent subtitle of this blog - - sadly. But don't abandon me completely... Keep me on your reader. It may not be every day, but I will still continue to update this space. But can you blame me for being preoccupied? Digital world is so crazy, yo! So many distractions. (That's without even getting into the upcoming baseball season.) Look, I'm Twittering a bit. If you need a fix try following me there. (Please, I have, like, no followers.) Then there's this blip.fm thing I just discovered which can only be described as a music Twitter. (Whatever that means...) Anyone can sign on and become a DJ and suggest or "blip" songs to followers, or in this case, listeners. (I literally have no listeners, so please sign up. I'm "gemmanuel" over there.) Could be fun, no? And who knows, perhaps by the next time I blog (boy, that suddenly sounds antiquated) we could be conversing in a virtual world as avatars. What's that, you say? You can already do that...?

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 3
Total minutes of music (approx.): 14
Song with the most previous plays: "I Started Something I Couldn't Finish" - 7
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 5
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: Short playlist due to subway socializing. When will people ever learn I need to listen to music in the AM! (I kid, Scott, I kid.)

Silver Palomino (Day 193)

2009-03-20T15:53:00.003-04:00

Buena Vista Social Club - "Orgullecida"
Samantha Crain & The Midnight Shivers - "Rising Sun"
Don't worry, I've never heard of her either. I guess I downloaded some blog's 2008 compilation called HearYa: Earwood Vol. 1. I think some of the artists on there appealed to me (I'm pretty sure Port O'Brien was one of them). Naturally it just got sucked into the void of 12,509 songs. But you know what? Ms. Crain's got a real nice voice - - kinda Edie Brickell like ('member her?). I'm digging her laid-back folksy charm. Meanwhile, I always liked the band name construction of band leader & band name. Like: Bob Dylan & The Band (classic), or Ryan Adams & The Cardinals (recent). My all time favorite example: Bob Willis & His Texas Playboys. Yours?
Buena Vista Social Club - "Armor De Loca Juventud"
Bruce Springsteen - "Silver Palomino"
David Bowie - "Art Decade"
The Who - "I'm One"
Pavement - "The List Of Dorms"
Teenage Fanclub - "Guiding Star"
The Racounteurs - "Five On The Five"
Cut Chemist - "(My 1st) Big Break"
Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova - "Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy"
The Go-Betweens - "No Reason To Cry"
Pixies - "I Bleed"
Miles Davis - "Madness"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 14
Total minutes of music (approx.): 47
Song with the most previous plays: "Silver Palomino" - 8
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 8
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: Happy spring, NYC - - it snowed this morning! Look...

You can't really tell, but those were some huge-ass flakes coming down. K.C. loved it, naturally.

Crying Won't Help You Now (Day 192)

2009-03-13T16:24:00.003-04:00

Guided By Voices - "Always Crush Me"
The Starlight Mints - "Zillion Eyes"
The Raconterus - "Hands"
Flight Of The Conchords - "I'm Not Crying"
Josh Ritter - "Idaho"
Love - "Your Mind And We Belong Together"
Kind of a weird playlist today. I was sort of getting this feeling that I was listening to someone else's iPod, or my own bizarro iPod. Yes the artists were mostly familiar, but the shuffle definitely seemed to be leaning towards those lesser played tunes. Checking the stats at work confirmed it. In fact, 4 out today's 13 songs I was hearing for the first time ever (on the iPod). Meaning I dumped the songs on here and thanks mostly to frequent shuffling never had the chance to listen to them. This was the first first-timer, and I'm surprised because I've certainly got a lot of plays out of the Forever Changes CD at home. I always considered this album by Love and Arthur Lee to be an unsung 60s classic. To me it really sounds dated - - but in a good way. Sometimes you want that baroque, psychedelic sound that still reeks of cannabis. (Love fun fact: Evidently Neil Young was supposed to co-produce Forever Changes, but he got caught up in Buffalo Springfield commitments. Who knew?) Among the other virginal songs today: "Todo Mundo Pastou II" (Not surprising: It's really one of those tossed-off album closers that sounds like someone let the tape run too long, from the Brazilian band's 1972 album [with a name that just rolls off the tongue] E Seus Cometas No País Do Baurets); "La Bayamesa" (From the infamous Buena Vista Social Club album that I was in love with for a while, but only recently put on my iPod.) and "Blue Clouds" (Just another purdy song from the always underrated Ida.)
Os Mutantes - "Todo Mundo Pastou II"
Josh Rouse - "Life"
Giant Sand - "Lester Lampshade"
Ben Harper - "Crying Won't Help You Now"
Buena Vista Social Club - "La Bayamesa"
The Olivia Tremor Control - "California Demise Pt. 1"
Ida - "Blue Clouds"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 13
Total minutes of music (approx.): 40
Song with the most previous plays: "Idaho," "Crying Won't Help You Now" - 8
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 6
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: I have a problem. I had plenty of coffee at home (3-4 cups), but when I took my daughter for a muffin I had to order another cup...and then get one at work. I must be peeing pure caffeine.

The Hardest Part (Day 191)

2009-03-03T16:56:00.003-05:00

The Beastie Boys - "High Plains Drifter"
Guided By Voices - "How's My Drinking"
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - "The Hardest Part"
Pavement - "Summer Baby (7" Version)"
Thao & The Get Down, Stay Down - "Swimming Pools"
Jim James - "Bermuda Highway" (live)
Wilco - "Lookin' For A Lover" (live)
Jim Noir - "Key Of C"
Track Star - "Owen's Ghetto Punch"'
The Thorns - "Thorns"
M Ward - "Poison Cup"
The Forms - "Transmission"
Mercury Rev - "Opus 40"
Damien Rice - "Grey Room"
Stereolab - "Les Bon Bons Des Raisons"
The Sundays - "Summertime"
Hello, blogosphere. Hope you had a good week. I was in the San Francisco area visiting family...with the family. Did you see me? If so, why didn't you say 'hi'? No matter, we can still be friends. Nice, long playlist today which included a trip to the gym as well as work. And as I got to the office this song popped up. I have never mentioned The Sundays before because I only recently put them on my iPod. Not that I'm a huge fan, but I ripped it off a coworker's iTunes in one of those why-the-hell-not moments when I had some fond memory of their breezy early 90s hit "Here's Where The Story Ends." Well the strangest thing happened as this song played. Now I'm almost a 100% sure I've never heard it. I do believe I owned their debut album Reading, Writing and Arithmetic on some format, but I never bought any of their subsequent records. Yet this song gave me an almost immediate and palpable memory. I pictured myself on an airplane listening to this very song on headphones. Really, it was such a strong feeling that I'm pretty convinced it happened. The song is off the album Static & Silence from 1997, which I definitely did not own until 2 weeks ago. Was it a mix someone made for me? Maybe, but I doubt it. My only possible conclusion involves those horribly lame music channels they have on the plane. There's a chance out of boredom I could have put on one of the "alternative" channels to help me fall asleep. Wouldn't that be a trip if I heard this song one time in my life and now, perhaps 10 years later, could place exactly where I was when I did? Has anything like this ever happened to you? The most ironic part is that this song is not that memorable.

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 16
Total minutes of music (approx.): 56
Song with the most previous plays: "The Hardest Part" - 15
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 8
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: My daughter requested I hang out at school this morning before leaving her for 11 minutes. Not 10, not 12...11 minutes.

How Should It Be (Sha Sha) [Day 190]

2009-02-20T17:11:00.002-05:00

Bruce Springsteen - "Thunder Road" (live)
Weird little playlist today: Started out with this uber-recognizable ditty and then devolved into one of those, "Wait, is that...?" kind of scenarios for just about every other song. How about this song though? It may be on that nearly impossible list to ever tabulate: Best Songs Of All-Time. Do you think it's even possible to make you a Top 10 Favorite Songs list? I say no. Ten is just not fair. One hundred seems much more plausible - - but it would be so damn hard. So "Thunder Road" would clearly be on my Top 100 (maybe even Top 20)...as would Golden Earring's "Radar Love." There, I said it. So, back to "Thunder Road." This is the live version from the fairly recent Hammersmith Odeon, London '75 release. It's a great solo, piano version. And, seriously, what other song (or book or poem, for that matter) captures a feeling of trying to escape small-town despair and being on the precipice of freedom and romantic adventure better? The answer is no song.
Os Mutantes - "Balada do louco"
Yardbirds - "Little Games"
James - "Burn The Cat"
Ben Kweller - "How Should It Be (Sha Sha)"
The Hold Steady - "Navy Sheets"
John Vanderslice - "White Plains"
Feist - "Brandy Alexander"
Stephen Malkmus - "Troubbble"
The American Analog Set - "Jr"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 10
Total minutes of music (approx.): 36
Song with the most previous plays: "How Should It Be (Sha Sha)" - 12
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 6
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: My last trip to work for a week. Vacation next week. See ya!

Busted (Day 189)

2009-02-12T16:11:00.005-05:00

Vetiver - "Busted"
Yo La Tengo - "Daphnia"
Nirvana - "Lithium"
Here's my thought for the day. (And to be clear, you're lucky I have even a single thought. Sorry to slide into daddy blog mode again, but day 2 of the single parent experiment was a great big FAIL. Poor little A vomited all the contents of his baby stomach - - more than you'd probably imagine - - all over himself and his crib around 9:45pm. Occasional vomiting and much sleeplessness followed - - for him both, for me the latter. Now back to the program...) Is "produced" still a dirty word in music? I guess somewhere around the 90s lo-fi craze of Neutral Milk Hotel, Sebadoh, GBV etc., saying something sounded "produced" was almost akin to saying "it sucks monkey balls." Of course that was never really true. And this song just jumped out at me this morning as Exhibit A. Oh man, the production on "Lithium" sounds good: clean electric guitar riffs, pristine vocals, and the quiet spaces in between making room for the crashing chorus. Really this whole record was a thing of beauty in the production department. Of course all credit is due Butch Vig (who also twiddled the knobs on The Smashing Pumpkins' Gish.) According to Wikipedia, Vig "incorporated overdubs and vocal doubletracking, whereas Nirvana's previous album, Bleach (produced by Jack Endino) had a more 'lo-fi' sound. Kurt Cobain originally refused to double-track his vocals and guitars but Vig reportedly got him to comply by saying 'John Lennon double-tracked'." It also goes on to mention that Kurt later criticized the album's slickness, although that's a bitter pill to swallow considering the enormous success. Although we all know how ambivalent he was about that... Anyhow, I think the stigma is pretty much gone today, don't you? Bands like Grizzly Bear, Animal Collective and even Flaming Lips seem to pretty much craft their sound in the production end of things. Then again, I'm no expert. Least of all today.
TV On The Radio - "Shout Me Out"
Gnarls Barkley - "The Boogie Monster"
Bob Dylan - "Highway 61 Revisited"
Luna - "That's What You Always Say"
Whiskeytown - "Reasons To Lie"
Coldplay - "We Never Change"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 9
Total minutes of music (approx.): 38
Song with the most previous plays: "Busted" - 6
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 8
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: Windy!

Don't Go Down (Day 188)

2009-02-11T16:50:00.003-05:00

Silkworm - "Don't Make Plans This Friday"
Elliott Smith - "Don't Go Down"
The Beastie Boys - "High Plains Drifter"
Pinback - "Shag"
Son Volt - "Adrenaline and Heresy"
The Go-Betweens - "Born To A Family"
The National - "Beautiful Head"
The Polyphonic Spree - "Section 24 [The Fragile Army]"
Honestly, I was half asleep on my way to work today. ipodwidow is out of town so I'm doing single parent duty for a couple of nights. No biggie, but it's nice to share the load with someone else when a certain 10-month-old wakes up at 12:26 AM seemingly convinced in his still-developing brain that it's morning. It took an hour-and-a-half to change his mind. Anyway, this was the first song to kind of wake me out of my stupor. I never noticed until today how Bowie-like the Spree are. There's that exaggerated drama of art rock and even the vocals have a DB-like tinge. The drama is in spades too. Spare opening piano, followed by booming chorus and even theatrical bits like the sound of typing make this song a lot of fun.
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - "Firecracker" (live)
Thelonious Monk - "Well You Needn't"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 10
Total minutes of music (approx.): 47
Song with the most previous plays: "Don't Go Down" - 10
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 6
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: Some of the kids in my daughter's class apparently dictated to their teachers the story behind some pictures they'd drawn. My kids' was longer than the others. Sorry I couldn't get the actual picture in the frame too, but please note the monster's healthy alternative to eating other children.

FAIL (Day 187)

2009-02-04T17:03:00.008-05:00

Saw the Apple logo for a fleeting moment this morning - - and then the screen went blank. It wasn't even followed by the low battery icon. Could this be the last days of the iPod? Aww, wouldn't that be sad? Considering my phone is also on the brink of death, I just might have to get one device that combines both phone and iPod functionality. If only they made such a device. What? They do? Eureka!

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 0
Total minutes of music (approx.): 0
Song with the most previous plays: n/a
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): n/a
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: Okay, truth be told. The real reason I even bothered blogging today is because I wanted to post this sweet little photo I took with my phone this AM while walking the dog.

Guest Room (Day 186)

2009-02-03T16:42:00.005-05:00

Weezer - "Take Control"
The New Pornographers - "My Rights Versus Yours"
The Thrills - "Saturday Night"
Sparklehorse - "Return To Me"
Keane - "Try Again"
Dolorean - "Just Don't Leave Town"
We interrupt this quasi-music blog for a quasi-movie entry. Basically even though there are a plethora of good songs today on this gym-lengthened playlist, I just feel like I have to comment on the 1975 classic Jaws. What happened was, as I hit the treadmill and got set to do a little running to music, I did a little channel surfing on the machine first. Jaws was on, and I couldn't resist. I have probably seen this move nearly 100 times and it is still so insanely watchable it's borderline ridiculous. Although at 3 I was too young to see it in the theaters obviously, I can vividly remember my mother talking about her reaction to it. She was so scared that she had to get up and go to the lobby as soon as she heard even one bar of John Williams famous score. I got around to it on the ol' VCR (remember those). We were an early adopter in our house and this was definitely one of the first movies we owned. At first I too was scared for obvious reasons. The scene that always got me was when Brody and Hooper find the remains of Ben Gardner's fishing boat and Hoop goes down to inspect the hull only to find a bug-eyed and semi-decomposed head of Benny still lodged in the hatch. That's a run-of-the-mill shocker, but most of the fear comes from the dread - - heightened by the score, right mom? But there is so much more to this movie than cheap horror gags. Upon repeated viewings with my friend CB (and when I say repeated I mean dozens and dozens), it was the humor that stuck with us. This movie is freaking funny in parts. There is a slight moment that for some reason always cracked me up: After Quint squishes a beer can, the egghead Hooper crushes his coffee cup, mocking the old fisherman's machismo. Such a throwaway moment, but not only is it funny, it goes a long way towards developing the two opposing characters. It's seriously storytelling at its finest, and truth be told I (like millions of other kids) wanted to be Steven Spielberg when I grew up. Oh well. In case you've forgotten or - - egads! - - never seen it, behold one of the scenes I saw today while at the gym and how incredible both Richard Dreyfuss and Roy Scheider are - - even on dry land. Keep an eye on Scheider pouring the wine at about 2:12 and Dreyfuss' line about "letting in breathe." Classic.

Spoon - "Don't You Evah"
Vetiver - "Belles"
Jenny Lewis - "Jack Killed Mom"
Devendra Banhart - "Insect Eyes"
The National - "Guest Room"
Coleman Hawkins - "Spotlight"
The Beatles - "Yellow Submarine"
Weezer - "Keep Fishin'"
The Lemonheads - "Rule Of Three"
The Teen Kings - "An Empty Cup And A Boken Date"
Port O'Brien - "In Vino Veritas"
Thurston Moore - "Off Work"
Hüsker Dü - "Pride"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 22
Total minutes of music (approx.): 70
Song with the most previous plays: "Guest Room," "Return To Me" - 9
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 9
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: Yesterday, 50 degrees. Today, snowing. I give up.

When My Love Crosses Over (Day 185)

2009-01-30T17:21:00.002-05:00

Versus - "I Love The WB"
Franz Ferdinand - "Auf Achse"
Today's playlist felt even random-er than most. Lots of styles. Some bands I haven't heard in a while. Etc. And this track was a highlight. I'm kind of into Franz Ferdinand right now. I remember liking them when the rest of the world discovered them - - then dismissing them as one-hit wonders. But lo-and-behold (if that's even how you spell that), their new album is pretty darn good. It mixes Brit synth pop with some fuzzy rock and there's even a folky flourish at the end. Am I alone in my new-found Franz fetish?
Comets On Fire - "Dogwood Rust"
Smog - "Easily Led"
Taj Mahal - "Blind Boy Rag"
Annuals - "Mama"
My Morning Jacket - "I Will Sing You Songs" (live)
The National - "Slipping Husband"
John Hiatt - "When My Love Crosses Over"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 9
Total minutes of music (approx.): 42
Song with the most previous plays: "When My Love Crosses Over" - 9
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 7
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: Today's commute seemed oddly quiet. Are people fleeing the big city for quieter, CHEAPER, living situations? And can I come?

On The Sunny Side Of The Street (Day 184)

2009-01-29T16:55:00.003-05:00

Animal Collective - "Lion In A Coma"
Grizzly Bear - "Two Weeks" (live)
Animal Collective - "Banshee Beat"
I think I like Animal Collective's much ballyhooed album Merriweather Post Pavillion, but I'm still not sure how much. However today's two songs in close proximity definitely signal that the band is evolving in a good way. The former, from Pavillion, is still trademark AC - - electronic noise, cacophonous percussion, overlapping vocals. But it's also generally focused, concise and rhythmic. Whereas, "Banshee Beat" from 2005's Feels, is way more atmospheric and meandering. Change is good.
Devendra Banhart - "Dogs They Make Up The Dark"
Sufjan Stevens - "Holland"
Man, hearing this song today made me want a new Sufjan album. Where is it? Can't wait for the opus on my home state, New Jersey. I can just imagine what he'd do with the Turnpike, Pine Barrens, Thomas Edison, Jersey Devil, et al.
Dan Zanes - "On The Sunny Side Of The Street"
The Elected - "Don't Get Your Hopes Up"
Led Zeppelin - "Dazed And Confused"
Hmm. Not sure this Zep song has aged particularly well. (I won't mention this to my co-worker who actually just got "Zoso" and the other three symbols from IV tattooed on his bicep this week.) Other songs from the first album have stood up better, I think ("Good Times Bad Times," "How Many More Times"). This track just sounds a bit too grandiose, perhaps. It's hard not to think of a Jimmy Page "bow" solo...and then, naturally, Spinal Tap.

The Polyphonic Spree - "Section 24 [Fragile Army]"
Paul Westerberg - "Good Day"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 10
Total minutes of music (approx.): 44
Song with the most previous plays: "On The Sunny Side Of The Street" - 20
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 7
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: Actually, this happened yesterday. In honor of the late John Updike I read his 1960 New Yorker essay on Ted Williams last game, "Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu". Not only is it awesome (this may be common knowledge and I may be late to the party), but it also contains my new favorite sentence about what makes sports so great found in American literature.

Nevertheless, there will always lurk, around a corner in a pocket of our knowledge of the odds, an indefensible hope, and this was one of the times, which you now and then find in sports, when a density of expectation hangs in the air and plucks an event out of the future.

Plans (Day 183)

2009-01-27T16:53:00.006-05:00

Pixies - "Debaser" (live)
Zumpano - "Jeez-Louise"
A really nice long, list that encompassed a short trip to the gym and the commute to work. This particular song helped fuel part of my time on the treadmill (thanks power pop!), but also made my thoughts wander to an entirely different band: Frank Allison and the Odd Sox. If you lived in Ann Arbor in the late 80s or early 90s you know exactly who I'm talking about: Long hair, quirky, nasal voice, rocking backup band. Every once and a while I'll come across my vinyl copy of Monkey Business and it'll bring me right back to that chilly gem of a town in the Midwest. I had to find out what's up with Frank when I got to work today and it turns out he's had a bit of a wild ride: On the cusp of success, he lost his voice to something called spasmodic dysphonia. He was forced to put down the guitar for seven years and in the meantime he bought and operated a movie theater. Then, out of the blue, he got his young daughter a ukulele. She lost interest in the instrument, but he fiddled with it and eventually re-taught himself to sing - - and then he started recording again. Take that, Behind the Music! And good for you, Frank. Anyone else out there remember Frank Allison and The Odd Sox?

N.E.R.D. - "You Know What"
Deerhoof - "Giga Dance"
The Starlight Mints - "Pages"
The Books - "Take Time"
The Mountain Goats - "Diru Lipatti's Bones"
Bright Eyes - "Down A Rabbit Hole"
Superchunk - "Marquee"
Q-Tip - "Official"
Annuals - "Track 57"
Dolorean - "Morning Watch"
Grizzly Bear - "Plans"
The Rolling Stones - "Shake Your Hips"
Colin Meloy - "The Gymnast, High Above The Ground" (live)
Elvis Costello & The Attractions - "Sittin' And Thinkin'"
The Roots - "I Will Not Apologize"
Bod Dylan - "Who Killed Davey Moore?"
De La Soul - "Change In Speak"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 19
Total minutes of music (approx.): 64
Song with the most previous plays: "Plans," "Morning Watch" (tie) - 8
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 9
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: Devised recipe for beating cold with G - - roar like a lion at top volume.

Central Booking (Day 182)

2009-01-21T17:14:00.005-05:00

A.C. Newman - "Miracle Drug"
Devendra Banhart - "Chinese Children"
Devendra Banhart - "Queen Bee"
Fountains Of Wayne - "Janice's Party"
Kings Of Leon - "Razz"
Shuggie Otis - "Happy House"
Pavement - "The Hexx"
Yo La Tengo - "Stay Away From Heaven"
What do these two things have in common?

Umm, apparently this song. This Yo La Tengo instrumental on the Prisoners of Love compilation was evidently recorded for the soundtrack to the 2001 movie The Invisible Circus. Who knew? Although it looks like a cheesy Cameron Diaz rom-com, maybe the poster is deceiving. Per Wikipedia:

Phoebe O'Connor's California dreamin' days are done. Lost and confused in post-free love San Francisco, this headstrong flower child (played by Jordana Brewster) decides to unravel the mystery of her sister's (Cameron Diaz) suicide in Portugal. In her desperate search for answers, Phoebe is forced to face the past, as well as disturbing truths about her own future.

Okay, maybe it's not awful. I'd hope YLT would have at least read the script. If they did it for the Benjamin$ (which is also okay), it doesn't appear that it really paid off. Anyone see actually this movie?
Midlake - "You Never Arrived"
Los Lobos - "Is This All There Is?"
Bishop Allen - "Central Booking"
The Black Keys - "Black Door"
Devendra Banhart - "Insect Eyes"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 13
Total minutes of music (approx.): 46
Song with the most previous plays: "Central Booking" - 14
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 6
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: G and I agreed - - our faces turned into Popsicles.

Postcards From Italy (Day 181)

2009-01-20T15:37:00.006-05:00

Beck - "Youthless"
Bonnie "Prince" Billy - "A KIng At Night"
Blonde Redhead - "Untitled"
The White Stripes - "Icky Thump"
Iron & Wine - "On Your Wings"
Animal Collective - "Unsolved Mysteries"
It sounds like Animal Collective has made the first bid for best album of '09 - - if you believe the raves. I will remain steadfastly apprehensive. I am still a bit immune to their supposed charms. I like weird. I also like tuneful. I'm much happier when the two meet up and have coffee. That occasionally happens on this track from their 2007 album Strawberry Jam. (Much better than the celebrated Sung Tongs, if you ask me.) Hopefully this evolution means Merriweather Post Pavilion is something to get excited about. Anyone listen to it yet?
Belle & Sebastian - "Mayfly"
Billy Bragg & Wilco - "Stetson Kennedy"
Charles Mingus - "Pedal Point Blues"
Interpol - "Heinrich Maneuver"
Beirut - "Postcards From Italy"
Fuck, Italy. Here's your postcard from America. 1/20/09.

The Republic is alive and well. Wish you were here.

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 13
Total minutes of music (approx.): 45
Song with the most previous plays: "Postcards From Italy" - 15
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 7
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: I have a cold.

Waltzing Matilda (Day 180)

2009-01-16T17:12:00.002-05:00

Josh Ritter - "Next To The Last Romantic"
Times New Viking - "The Statue Pt. 1"
The National - "Squalor Victoria"
David Cross - "Certain Leaders in Government Look or Act Like Certain Pop Culture Refe"
Songs: Ohia - "The Black Crow"
Norah Jones - "Wake Me Up"
Townes Van Zandt - "Talkin' Karate Blues"
Silkworm - "Don't Make Plans This Friday"
Dan Zanes - "Waltzing Matilda"
The Polyphonic Spree - "Middle Of The Day"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 11
Total minutes of music (approx.): 38
Song with the most previous plays: "Waltzing Matilda" - 11
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 6
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: The condensation from my nose breath froze on the hair of my upper lip.

Starlings Of The Slipstream (Day 179)

2009-01-15T17:09:00.005-05:00

Colin Meloy - "On The Bus Mall" (live)
The Ponys - "We Shot The World"
Money Mark - "Black Butterfly"
Will there be a post in 2009 where I won't apologize about not posting. Yes! Starting now. The discussion is off the table. Just take what you can get, people. So what am I thinking about today? (Except for the fact that a mother fucking plane landed in the Hudson River this afternoon! Incidentally, this shot that a guy took on his cell phone should win a Pulitzer. It's amazing.) Anyway, the subject is this: I (heart) the iPhone. No, I don't have one. But iPodWidow does and it is a pretty damn cool machine. (I'm just going to keep stating the obvious here.) So, why don't I have one. Well: A) It's expensive. B) I have a perfectly good phone (a Samsung Blackjack). C) I have an iPod with 60GB. You see, 'C' is really what's holding me back. The iPhone would be the perfect device if it was a phone, browser and, at minimum, 60GB iPod. Well, at least that's what I used to think. Do I really need 60GB? The truth is my iPod only has 45.99GB of music on it right now, after nearly 3 years of loading shit onto it. And although it's fun to have so many songs at your disposal (especially for the purpose of this blog), there is obviously some fat to trim. No better example than this song where I pause right here. Not sure what I was expecting form Beastie Boys collaborator Money Mark's solo album, but it is a weird affair that I certainly don't need to tote around with me all the time, everyday. With a 32GB iPhone, I could still have a ton of songs (7,000 actually, or about 700 albums) and that super-sweet phone too. Don't be surprised to hear about an unfortunate accident happening to my cell phone one of these days...
My Morning Jacket - "Old Sept Blues"
Os Mutantes - "Senhor F"
Sebadoh - "Downmind"
Karen Dalton - "In A Station"
Micah P. Hinson - "Letter To Huntsville"
Spoon - "Small Stakes"
The Mountain Goats - "Your Belgian Things"
Vivian Girls - "I Believe In Nothing"
The Beastie Boys - "The Sounds Of Science"
Pavement - "Starlings Of The Slipstream"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 13
Total minutes of music (approx.): 42
Song with the most previous plays: "Letter To Huntsville", "Starlings Of The Slipstream" (tie) - 5
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 7
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: What's sweeter than a 3-year-old trying to catch snowflakes on her tongue?

Santa Ana Winds (Day 178)

2009-01-09T15:25:00.007-05:00

Dinosaur Jr - "This Is All I Came To Do"
Tobacco - "Little Pink Riding Hood"
Matthew Sweet & Susannah Hoffs - "Monday, Monday"
The Wedding Present - "Santa Ana Winds"
Full disclosure: This is Wednesday's playlist. I know, like my New Year's resolution to hit the gym, my promise to blog daily has already hit a snag. Wednesday and Thursday were hectic at work. (Layoffs didn't help. I'm fine, thanks for asking.) And then I left the iPod in the office! But rather than leave you hanging another day, here's something from the week even if it's not from "today". (It's shorter than usual due again to real-life conversation with my new commuting friend.) So, back to the music: This song comes from a 2008 album that could have at least made my honorable mentions list from the Best Albums of The Year post. But really my initial excitement about the record quickly waned. Still, good stuff. The title places this as a very L.A. record and the cover (a palm tree and neon lights) pretty much confirms it. But it dawned on me I realized I don't really know exactly what the Santa Ana winds are. Oh, Mr. Wikipedia....

The Santa Ana winds are strong, extremely dry offshore winds that characteristically sweep through in Southern California and northern Baja California in late fall into winter. They can range from hot to cold, depending on the prevailing temperatures in the source regions, the Great Basin and upper Mojave Desert. However, the winds are remembered most for the hot dry weather (often the hottest of the year) that they bring in the fall.

But, wait, there's more! These beloved winds have been featured in quite a bit of popular culture, especially music. I think this is kinda fascinating so I'm going to go ahead and show you the list collected on Wikipedia of mentions of the winds in popular song - - from this decade alone!

The song "Mansfield" from Elton John's 2001 album Songs from the West Coast mentions a "California moon" and contains the lyrics "The Santa Ana winds blew warm into your room".
Bad Religion mentions the winds a few times, using their nickname "murder winds", "St. Anne's skirts are billowing" and the line "The fans of Santa Ana are withering" in the song "Los Angeles Is Burning" from the 2004 album The Empire Strikes First. "When the hills of Los Angeles are burning/ Palm trees are candles in the murder winds/ So many lives are on the breeze/ Even the stars are ill at ease/ And Los Angeles is burning."
The song "Catch My Disease" (2005) by Ben Lee has the lyrics "She told me about the winds from Santa Ana/ And that's the way I like it."
Danish band Mew's song "The Zookeeper's Boy" from their 2005 album And the Glass Handed Kites refers to the winds in the lyric "Santa Ana winds bring seasickness."
Jason Mraz's unreleased "Silent Love Song" refers to the Santa Ana winds.

All that and this Wedding Present song isn't even on the list! But here's the best bit of arcane Santa Ana wind culture I learned in the last five minutes: In Cycle 11 of America's Next Top Model featured a shoot where contestants portrayed natural disasters. Contestant Analeigh Tipton portrayed the winds. Now you know.
Nada Surf - "Blonde On Blonde" (live)
Bill Evans - "All Of You (Take 3)"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 6
Total minutes of music (approx.): 28
Song with the most previous plays: "Santa Ana Winds", "All Of You (Take 3)" (tie) - 4
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 7
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: It (and I mean Wednesday) was a horrible rainy day and G and I missed the bus.

Young Pilgrim (Day 177)

2009-01-06T15:20:00.005-05:00

Cat Power - "Lived In Bars"
Marah - "Feather Boa"
Ida - "What Can I Do"
The New Pornographers - "July Jones"
The Flying Burrito Brothers - "Four Days Of Rain"
Robert Pollard - "Love Is Stronger Than Witchcraft"
Um, yeah. I super-sized the playlist. Actually a little side trip to the barber was the real reason for all these great songs. Not to mention a stop for a great cup of coffee at - - plug alert - - Joe The Art Of Coffee. I've been meaning to check out one of the locations of this NYC coffee chain which supposedly has some great joe. It's true. The apple walnut muffin is pretty good too. Also, love the name which is why I pause here because this Pollard song has my favorite song title on today's list. Pollard can definitely rock a song title - - almost as well as he twirls a mic. Unfortunately the actual song pales in comparison to the name. It's kind of a lackluster affair from the otherwise pretty strong solo record, From A Compound Eye.
Sebadoh - "Kath"
The Beatles - "Drive My Car"
Sparklehorse - "Heart Of Darkness"
Belle & Sebastian - "Beautiful"
R.E.M. - "World Leader Pretend" (live)
TV On The Radio - "Crying"
Seu Jorge - "Rebel Rebel"
Bob Dylan - "Talkin' Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues"
My Morning Jacket - "Rollin' Back"
Gnarls Barkley - "Crazy"
The Shins - "Young Pilgrim"
After getting pretty burnt out on this band (I'm look at you, Natalie Portman), I think I'm ready for a full-bore revival! This acoustic song from the great Chutes To Narrow sounded so sweet this morning. (And pretty much iced what I plan to listen to on the way home tonight.) Anybody know what's up the band? Wincing The Night Away is nearly two years old.
The Elected - "Fireflies In A Steel Mill"
Magnetic Fields - "Fido, Your Leash Is Too Long"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 19
Total minutes of music (approx.): 75
Song with the most previous plays: "Beautiful, "Young Pilgrims" (tie) - 12
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 9
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: It had to take 2 trains and 2 buses. I think the MTA should pay me.

A Night In Tunisia (Day 176)

2009-01-05T15:35:00.002-05:00

The Polyphonic Spree - "Have A Day/Celebratory"
Ry Cooder - "Los Chucos Suaves"
Bob Dylan & The Band - "Apple Suckling Tree"
My Bloody Valentine - "Touched"
Holly Golightly - "Headstart"
Dizzy Gillespie & Charlie Parker - "A Night In Tunisia" (live)
It's 2009, y'all! I'm rested, relaxed and ready to kick this blog back in high gear. But just not today, of course. Not that I won't list what I listened to on my way to work today, but I won't be starting off with some kind of Earth-shattering post thanks to a short, and less-than-sweet playlist. It was one of those morning where I rode the subway with another pre-school dad post drop-off, so plugging in was out of the question. In the absence of many songs, I will throw up an addendum to my last post featuring my favorite albums. I have two more that could have easily made that list. The first is one I just plain forgot until Comoprozac reminded me by picking it as his #3 album of the year - - Port O'Brien's All We Could Do Was Sing. CP was right, if you're not tapping your toes 0:38 into the first song, "I Woke Up Today," you have no pulse. The second album is one I just fell in love with over the New Year's break. I was perusing NPR's year-end music blogs and on the Top 10 Great Unknowns list I heard this: Blind Pilot's 3 Rounds And A Sound. Oh. My. It's a couple of dudes from Portland making some beautiful sounds. Check it out here.

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 6
Total minutes of music (approx.): 17
Song with the most previous plays: "A Night In Tunisia" - 7
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 5
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: My daughter walked the entire way to the bus stop this AM and then told me she can't wait to tell Mommy. Ditto.

All You Are Love (Day 175)

2008-12-23T11:06:00.013-05:00

Blonde Redhead - "Spring And By Summer Fall"
The Wrens - "Jake Fakes A Hug"
Whiskeytown - "Easy Hearts"
Pavement - "So Stark" (live)
Blonde Redhead - "My Impure Hair"
Johnny Cash - "One"
Guided By Voices - "Pimple Zoo"
Jens Lekman - "Someone To Share My Life With"
Nada Surf - "Treading Water"
Whiskeytown - "Not Home Anymore"
Vulgar Boatmen - "Margaret Says"
De La Soul - "I Can Do Anything (Delacratic)"
The Flatlanders - "All You Are Love"
Dolorean - "You Can't Win"
Elliott Smith - "A Passing Feeling"
Sufjan Stevens - "Oh God, Where Are You Now? (In Pickeral Lake? Pigeon? Marquette? Mackinaw?)"
Pavement - "Dancing With The Elders" (live)
Death Cab For Cutie - "Lowell, MA"
Elliott Smith - "Tomorrow Tomorrow"
X - "Come BAck To Me"
The Books - "Smells Like Content"
So much for my promise to at least throw up my daily playlist... It really was a busy month for me, but big thanks to anyone who's checked in only to see Day 174 sitting there like stale bread. Also thanks to some blog friends for keeping the concept alive with their own shuffle posts. In the meantime, you will be glad I haven't been posting the last couple of days, because these little anecdotes would be tinged with anger and vitriol. I have had back-to-back the two worst commutes in my 14 years living in NYC. Mysterious train stoppages and delays up the ying-yang. No matter what train I hopped on, it seemed to find itself behind a train having a police emergency, medical emergency or system malfunction. It's enough to squeeze the holiday cheer right out of an elf. Okay, I don't want to belabor it. I do want to get to my FAVORITE RECORDS OF THE YEAR before I am called into a meeting for get an urgent email or some other stupid work related thing happens. (But before that, quick comment on today's list: It's obviously Two-For-Tuesday! I don't think this has ever happened, double-plays from three different artists in one day. Interesting.) Okay, without further adieu, here is the list. (Note: This was really hard. There was a lot of good new music in 2008.)

1. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Umm... duh. This was their year. I like to feel that I get a little share of their glory too. I actually wrote about them on this blog way back in May - - before the full-length album came out. They first showed up on the shuffle on May 12 and I sang their praises on May 23 and guaranteed fans of My Morning Jacket would not be disappointed. But this debut album has even surpassed my own expectations. It's an evocative, timeless, haunting, inspiring piece of music that I have yet to even remotely tire of. I wonder where it will stand in 5 years? 15 years? I have a suspicion it may find its way on some kind of all-time list.

2. Little Joy - Little Joy
This one blindsided me. Released just a month ago, I knew nothing about it, but one blog post somewhere hooked me right away. And it's just a side project! For those who don't know, Little Joy is The Strokes Fabrizio Moretti, his girlfriend an L.A. singer/songwriter, and a Brazilian musician friend from the band Los Hermanos. They holed up in a house in Silver Lake and made a laid-back, breezy and great record that mixes 70s pop, bossa nova and the Velvets. And the name? It's actually the name of the group's local bar. Appropriate - - this should be standard issue on any good cocktail lounge's jukebox.

3. My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
At first I was freaked out like so many fans, but Evil Urges didn't take long to really grown on me and become one of the records I kept coming back to all year. Even "Highly Suspicious," a song so strange I first thought it had to be a joke, turned out to be my favorite driving song of the year. Is this blind devotion? Perhaps, but if a band is this good you just have to follow them wherever they go.

4. Department Of Eagles - In Ear Park
Another one that I never expected to like quite so much. Grizzly Bear's Daniel Rossen and buddy Fred Nicolaus have created an amazingly textured record that recalls Grizzly, but in many ways is much more listenable - - and pleasurable.

5. Vetiver - Things Of The Past
Can a covers-only record qualify as year's best. Why not? Especially when the songs and arrangements are this good. And since most of the covers are obscure anyway (the only song I knew was Townes Van Zandt's "Standin'" and I love this version), it might as well be a record of originals by one of the best modern folk bands out there. And FYI: There is nothing freaky about Vetiver's folk. Unless being awesome is freaky.

6. Deerhunter - Microcastle
How good is this record? So good that I think I've only listened to it 3 or 4 times and it still makes this list. It's worlds better than Bradford Cox's debut Cryptograms, with fuzzy guitars and dreamy pop in equal measure. It came out this year, but I'm going to be listening to this one a lot in '09.

7. Bonnie "Prince" Billy - Lie Down In The Light
As soon as I start to forget Will Oldham's genius I hear a new record of his and get blown away again. This one's pretty straightforward 70s-style country rock, mixed with (yes, Virginia, I'm going to steal a phrase from Pitchfork) "front-porch spontaneity." I wish I had a front porch.

8. Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst
Just when I think I'm out, he pulls me back in. Oberst is annoying. Like, Ryan Adams annoying. But I can't shake him. (Ryan either, for that matter.) At first this record didn't thrill me. And then one day "I Don't Want To Die (In A Hospital)" came up on the shuffle and all I could hear was his exuberance and his talent. It's a winning combination.

9. She & Him - Volume One
No, it's not just because Zooey Deschanel is so darn cute. It's because she and M Ward made a record that surpassed expectations and defied modernity. It wouldn't be out of place in a dusty bin in some off-the-beaten-path record store. But since those don't exist, I'm glad this album does.

10. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend, Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs (tie)
Yes, it's a cheat. But I wanted to get them both on the list. They actually contrast quite well. Vampire Weekend came on like a bat out of hell and Narrow Stairs just kinda hung around like a lingering cold. The shine is off Vampire's debut slightly, but I can't resists its charms. And this wasn't Death Cab's best (or second or third best), but it's still a very satisfying record that saw Ben Gibbard and Co. stretching themselves sonically.

*Honorable Mentions (that seriously barely missed the cut): The Raconteurs - Consolers Of The Lonely, Beach House - Devotion, Boston Spaceships - Brown Submarine, Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Cardinology, The Dodos - Visiter, Times New Viking - Rip It Off, Vivian Girls - Vivian Girls, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!

**And by the way...I changed my mind after my Mid-Year List. I now consider Bon Iver's For Emma, Forever Ago to be a 2007 record. It came out last year on an indie and was re-released in '08. If it were officially a 2008 release, it would be 1A on this list - - right behind Fleet Foxes. (Interesting how my faves changed, by the way...)

There it is. Pretty great stuff all. So, I will definitely not be posting again until after the new year. But believe me this time, I really will start blogging about What I Listened To On My Way To Work again in '09. Happy Holidays, all.

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 20
Total minutes of music (approx.): 110
Song with the most previous plays: "All You Are Love," "A Passing Feeling" (tie) - 8
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 7
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: I went to get my haircut, but had to abort! Commute was too long, and there were too many people waiting. I guess I'll have to start '09 as a long-haired hippy freak. Not really.

The Canals Of Our City (Day 174)

2008-12-05T16:02:00.003-05:00

Robert Pollard - "I Surrounded You Naked"
Ryan Adams - "Please Do Not Let Me Go"
Vetiver - "The Swimming Song"
Hello, Internets! I'm back-ish. Sorry to leave you (and you) wondering about what GE is listening to on his way to work all those days. It must have been awful. Is it Pavement? Some stupid jazz song? Etc. Maybe I was just too embarrassed to show my face after losing that bet with Comoprozac. Or maybe I ate so much on Thanksgiving I couldn't type. Or, gulp, maybe I was Bush-ed, a.k.a. downsized due to the fact that some moron(s) has been steering the national economic ship for eight years. Thankfully, none of the above. Still gainfully employed (fingers crossed) and just really busy. But today I actually have 5 minutes of downtime, and I've already read all there is to read about baseball's hot stove. (They should call it the lukewarm stove.) So, here ya go, a nice playlist from this AM. It's just in time - - I need to flex my blogging muscles before I unleash that all-important year-end list of favorite albums. Expect my list sometime before X-mas. In the meantime, here's a song from a strong contender to find it's way on there: Vetiver's Thing Of The Past. This collection of obscure covers is excellent from end-to-end - - breezy, 70s-flecked folk-pop. This particular track is a Loudon Wainwright cover from his 1973 album with a title you gotta love: Attempted Mustache.
fIREHOSE - "Honey, Please"
Bonnie "Prince" Billy - "After I Made Love To You"
Charlie Parker - "Mohawk"
Iron & Wine - "Innocent Bones"
Interpol - "Not Even Jail"
Magnolia Electric Co. - "Don't Fade On Me"
Calexico - "Nom De Plume"
Gnarls Barkley - "Go-Go Gadget Gospel"
Beirut - "The Canals Of Our City"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 12
Total minutes of music (approx.): 42
Song with the most previous plays: "Lion's Mane" - 9
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 7
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: Well, my daughter and I have kicked the muffin-a-day habit on the way to drop her at school. Today's breakfast snack du jour? A waffle. Today's question of a 3-year-old with an exponentially inquisitive mind du jour? Daddy, where did the butter go? You try and explain why a solid melts to a toddler...

Lion's Mane (Day 172 & 173)

2008-11-25T17:42:00.004-05:00

Note: It's tough. This is my busiest time of year at work and the blog is suffering. I don't want it to die. So, I'll do my best at least post the playlist. And more when I can. Bear with me, reader(s).

Day 172 (Monday)

Teenage Fanclub - "Chords Of Fame"
Rilo Kiley - "Does He Love You?"
The Cure - "The Walk"
Robert Pollard - "The Numbered Head"
Bodies Of Water - "Roar Roar Roar"
Iron & Wine - "Lion's Mane"
KT Tunstall - "Miniature Disaster"
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - "Harder Now That It's Over"
Bonnie "Prince" Billy - "After I Made Love To You"
Nick Drake - "Pink Moon"
Iron & Wine - "Teeth In The Glass"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 11
Total minutes of music (approx.): 39
Song with the most previous plays: "Lion's Mane" - 9
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 7
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: That was yesterday, who can remember?

Day 173 (Tuesday)

Yardbirds - "Drinking Muddy Water"
Superchunk - "Popular Music"
Girl Talk - "In Step"
The Flaming Lips - "The Wizard Turns On..."
Midlake - "Roscoe"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 5
Total minutes of music (approx.): 19
Song with the most previous plays: "Roscoe" - 5
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 7
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: I shared a train with another preschool dad.

Weather Report (Day 171)

2008-11-21T18:03:00.002-05:00

Maritime - "For Science Fiction"
Frank Black - "Wanderlust"
Modest Mouse - "Other People's Lives"
The Hold Steady - "Slapped Actress"
The Go-Betweens - "Born To A Family" (live)
Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs - "Cinnamon Girl"
Belle & Sebastian - "Seeing Other People"
Lily Allen - "Shame For You"
Dan Zanes - "Walkin' The Dog"
Neil Young - "Dance Dance Dance" (live)
Violent Femmes - "Waiting For The Bus"
Ray LaMontagne - "Three More Days"
Bon Iver - "Lump Sum"
Dan Zanes - "Weather Report"
Death Cab For Cutie - "Bixby Canyon Bridge"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 15
Total minutes of music (approx.): 58
Song with the most previous plays: "Weather Report" - 17
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 8
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: Got my free coffee.

No More Shoes (Day 170)

2008-11-20T16:07:00.002-05:00

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - "There Is A Kingdom"
Nada Surf - "Treading Water" (live)
The Wrens - "Jane Fakes A Hug"
Wilco - "Ever Fallen in Love"
Stephen Malkmus - "No More Shoes"
Jay Reatard - "You Mean Nothing To Me"
The Evens - "Get Even"
Charlie Louvin' - "Waitin For A Train"
Vetiver - "Farther On"
Okay, we're back. Sorry about yesterday's aborted post. To be honest, work is really busy this time of year and there may be a few more of those between now and New Year's then I'd like. In any case, if anybody's waiting with bated breath to know what I wanted to mention yesterday, here it is. (And apologies in advance because it's not that interesting, especially if you've been waiting 24 hours to read it.) Basically I was going to point out how incredibly, and uncannily, the Josh Ritter song "Rumors" (from yesterday's list) sounds like...wait for it...the Britney Spears song "Toxic." Don't ask how I might know this, but I actually thought John might be covering Brit. Trying to dig up some clips to prove this to you... You know what? It's not gonna happen. All the "Rumors" clips are live and all the Britney "Toxic" videos won't embed. Oh, well. I'll just ask you to do some homework and listen for yourself to see if I'm making any sense. In the meantime, an interesting list today. Anyone have any thoughts on Jay Reatard? I just recently uploaded the Matador Singles '08 album. He's one of those prolific dudes who appears to fart out a song a minute. It's all rough, lo-fi garage rock, but I think I like it.

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 9
Total minutes of music (approx.): 40
Song with the most previous plays: "No More Shoes," "Waitin For A Train" (tied) - 6
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 6
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: Tenth coffee card punch, baby! Next one's on the house.

Goodbye Caroline (Day 169)

2008-11-19T18:00:00.002-05:00

Aimee Mann - "Goodbye Caroline"
Joe Henry - "Best To Believe"
Guided By Voices - "A Good Flying Bird"
Gang Of Four - "Contract"
The Replacements - "Merry Go Round"
Tokyo Police Club - "Nature Of Experiment"
The Books - "A True Story Of A True Love"
The Hold Steady - "Same Knocks"
Mew - "An Envoy To The Open Field"
Josh Ritter - "Rumors"
I have something I want to point out here, but it will have to wait until tomorrow...
Sebadoh - "As The World Dies, The Eyes Of God Grow Bigger"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 11
Total minutes of music (approx.): 37
Song with the most previous plays: "Goodbye Caroline" - 12
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 7
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: The school drop-off is back.

Hopeless (Day 168)

2008-11-18T17:27:00.002-05:00

Ween - "Drifter In The Dark"
The Beatles - "She Said She Said"
Thelonious Monk - "Ba-Lue Bolivar Ba-Lues-Are"
Pernice Brothers - "Somerville"
M Ward - "Deep Dark Well"
The Postal Service - "This Place Is Prison"
Tokyo Police Club - "Nursery, Academy"
Meat Puppets - "Plateau"
Roy Orbison - "Communication Breakdown"
The Mountain Goats - "Tianchi Lake"
Beck - "Movie Theme"
Wilco - "Yesterday"
The Beatles - "Get Back"
Big day for the Beatles on today's list - - three appearances, including Jeff Tweedy's cover of "Yesterday." Funnily enough I was reading a review in the NY Times of Malcolm Gladwell's new book, Outliers, and The Beatles play a fairly significant role. First, let me just say that I have not read either of Mr. Gladwell's wildly successful books, The Tipping Point or Blink, although I'm fully aware of them and what they're about. But this book sounds, form the review, like it's a bit half-baked. Basically this book purports that success is due to a mix of talent and opportunity. Well, like, duh. The Beatles figure into his hypothesis and evidently he feels their success is due to the fact that they practiced their music by playing a lot in Hamburg, Germany. Now, I know a lot of dudes in their garages who would probably have to agree that a lot of practice is not going to equal success. The theory seems to downplay their genius. The Times reviewer even says such, and cites other rock successes as the Rolling Stones and The Beach Boys who were just as influential without all the "practice." Pass.
The Wrens - "Hopeless"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 14
Total minutes of music (approx.): 47
Song with the most previous plays: "Hopeless" - 14
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 7
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: It actually snowed a bit when I was walking to the train this AM...a week and a half before Thanksgiving. Hmm...

Soda (Day 167)

2008-11-17T17:36:00.002-05:00

Damien Rice - "The Animals Were Gone"
Roy Orbison - "You're Gonna Cry"
Busy day at work, and to be honest I'm still in a haze from a weekend dominated by a sick toddler. She's fine, but fever and a cough mean frequent waking up and, naturally, I had to spend a good amount of time sharing a kids-sized bed with her. My back is the thing mostly gonna cry. So, this makes the first appearance of velvet-voiced crooner Roy Orbison on WILTOMWTWT. A coworker had a copy of the recent box set - - which is an incredibly comprehensive 107 songs - - so I uploaded it. Apparently the guy sang more than "Pretty Woman." This track appeared on Roy's first album, Roy Orbison at the Rock House. The record was for Sun Records so it has that rockabilly style (actually Sun owner Sam Phillips wrote the song too). Nice shot of early R&R for the AM.
The Mountain Goats - "Sept. 15, 1983"
Bright Eyes - "Make A Plan To Love Me"
Dr. Dog - "From"
Dolorean - "You Don't Want To Know"
The Roots - "I Can't Help It"
Marah - "Soda"
The White Stripes - "Suzy Lee" (live)
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - "The Carny"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 10
Total minutes of music (approx.): 44
Song with the most previous plays: "Soda" - 9
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 6
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: I started thinking about lunch early. Why? I made an awesome meatloaf yesterday and it was nestled between two pieces of bread for lunch today. So good.

Fire It Up (Day 166)

2008-11-14T17:10:00.004-05:00

Brendan Benson - "Spit It Out"
Great playlist today. I was into it from this very first song. If you only know Benson (if at all) from his work with Jack Black and the Raconteurs, you're missing out. 2005's The Alternative to Love is a great power pop album. (Think Matthew Sweet's Girlfriend.) This song actually kicks off the CD, and it's just one of those toe-tappers that can't help but pump you up. (Kinda reminiscent of Dinosaur Jr.'s "Feel The Pain," by the way.) After dropping my daughter at school I have a 5-10 minute walk to the subway station and I was feeling a little Tony Manero strut coming on. I used all my energy to squelch it. No dice.

My Morning Jacket - "Smokin From Shootin"
Arctic Monkeys - "Perhaps Vampires Is A Bit Strong But..."
Modest Mouse - "Fire It Up"
Nina Simone - "Sunday in Savannah"
John Coltrane - "Locomotion"
Islands - "Where There's A Will There's A Whalebone"
Meat Puppets - "Climbing"
Okkervil River - "A Hand To Take Hold Of The Scene"
Neil Young - "Ambulance Blues"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 10
Total minutes of music (approx.): 48
Song with the most previous plays: "Fire It Up" - 11
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 9
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: A New York Times first today (I have to imagine) - - the description of a masturbating inflatable.

At Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night, AC/DC reminded a rabid crowd exactly what sort of band it is...the sort that, when playing “Whole Lotta Rosie,” about loving a woman of ample figure, inflates a gargantuan, nominally clothed doll that taps its foot in time with the beat and whose left hand works a circular motion below the waist.

Long live rock.

This Afternoon (Day 165)

2008-11-13T17:11:00.005-05:00

Coldplay - "Shiver"
Nirvana - "Polly" (demo)
The Shins - "Black Wave"
Wilco - "Lookin' For A Lover"
Vetiver - "Double"
Red House Painters - "Make Like Paper"
This was a rare 10-minute plus jam (12:03, actually) that didn't have me anxiously fingering the skip button during my morning commute. These long songs don't usually fit my mood in the AM, but today I really relaxed and enjoyed the full bredth of the jam. Of course, I thought it was Magnolia Electric Co. the whole time. Apologies to Mark Kozelek but this had the same rumbling Neil Young-esque guitar and plodding rhythm that Magnolia's Jason Molina has perfected. It's uncanny. Even their voices sound remarkably similar - - which I'd never realized before. (I guess you can say my taste is consistent.) But, while this was a pleasant 12 minutes for me, evidently those minutes were torturous for Mark's label, 4AD. According to Wikipedia, "4AD asked Kozelek to edit out the distorted guitar crunch that appears more than halfway though the song. When he refused, it became one of the reasons that Red House Painters and 4AD parted ways." Kinda surprising because I think of 4AD as having some experimental acts over the years. Their roster right now is actually pretty impressive: Bon Iver, M Ward, The Mountain Goats, Department of Eagles and Beirut. Did I miss anybody?
My Morning Jacket - "Golden"
Johnny Cash - "Let The Lower Lights Be Burning"
Death Cab For Cutie - "Long Division"
Joe Henry - "This Afternoon"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 10
Total minutes of music (approx.): 44
Song with the most previous plays: "This Afternoon" - 10
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 7
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: I got an inordinate amount of pleasure out of showing my daughter how to make devil horns with her fingers and yelling, "Rock and roll!"

Oh Asia (Day 164)

2008-11-12T17:23:00.008-05:00

Illinois - "Oh Asia" (live)
Nirvana - "Here She Comes Now"
Okay, want to feel old? Here's the baby from the Nevermind album cover (released in 1991).

The now 17-year-old Spencer Elden recently recreated the famous shot. MTV has a story on the guy, whose parents got just $200 bucks for the famous photo shoot. The best part of the article: Elden told [MTV] that being the Nirvana baby has its perks. He references it when trying to pick up ladies, he said: "I have to use stupid pickup lines like, 'You want to see my p---s ... again?'"
[Update: The original, in case you misplaced your copy...]

The Black Keys - "Remember When (Side B)"
Arctic Monkeys - "When The Sun Goes Down"
Elvis Presley - "Just Because"
The Roots - "The Show"
Stars - "The Beginning After The End"
The Clash - "Hate & War"
The Velvet Underground - "I'll Be Your Mirror"
Tortoise - "Blackjack"
Sonic Youth - "Eric's Trip"
Iron & Wine - "White Tooth Man"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 12
Total minutes of music (approx.): 39
Song with the most previous plays: "Oh Asia" - 7
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 7
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: I had no idea, until I got to work, that it's the anniversary or Exploding Whale Day! Take a look.

Pack Up Your Sorrows (Day 163)

2008-11-11T17:04:00.002-05:00

Common - "The Corner"
David Bowie - "Speed Of Life"
Bob Dylan & The Band - "Open The Door, Homer"
Yo La Tengo - "You Can Have It All"
Built To Spill - "Don't Try"
Johnny Cash & June Carter - "Pack Up Your Sorrows"
Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - "The Drum Thunder Suite"
New Radiant Storm King - "The Opposing Engineer (Sleeps Alone)"
Funny that this song came 'round the shuffle because my friends and I were just talking about it. Basically, I always liked the woefully underrated indie band New Radiant Storm King. Then I discovered about 8 years ago a coworker-turned-good-friend actually went to college (I think it was college) with one of the guys in the band and knows him well. Well, recently the band (or more specifically my friend's friend) came up and AJS immediately informed us that New Radiant Storm King recorded a split single with his fave band, Guided By Voices. Not only that, the indie lure goes that Bob Pollard actually wrote "I Am A Scientist" after repeated listens to this very song. Eureka! What does all this mean? My friends are geeks.
Thom Yorke - "Harrowdown Hill"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 9
Total minutes of music (approx.): 36
Song with the most previous plays: "Pack Up Your Sorrows" - 6
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 7
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: Tried to picture Mets manager Jerry Manuel as he played golf at a charity tournament in California yesterday dressed - - as the Times describes it - - "in a light yellow, light weight sweater, slacks and a beige fedora." What, no photo?

Waitin' On A Sunny Day (Day 162)

2008-11-10T17:09:00.002-05:00

Bruce Springsteen - "Waitin' On A Sunny Day"
Broken Social Scene - "Her Disappearing Theme"
Blonde Redhead - "Publisher"
Bonnie "Prince" Billy - "The Way"
Os Mutantes - "Le Premier Bonheur Du Jour"
I promised to kick this blog back in gear, and look what I cough up on a Monday. I know, I know, but it's not my fault - - exactly. After drop-off today, I rode the subway most of the way with another parent in G's class. It seemed a bit rude to excuse myself from the conversation and plug in. It's too bad because I actually uploaded some new music over the weekend and was anxious to see if anything came up. Guess we'll both just have to wait.

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 5
Total minutes of music (approx.): 25
Song with the most previous plays: "Waitin' On A Sunny Day" - 9
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 4 (for lenght)
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: It's book fair at pre-school this week. The first book G zeroed in on today was a Wow! Wow! Wubzy! sticker book. Can any parent clue me in to just how nefarious this particular cartoon is? It comes on at 6am, so let's just say I haven't given it my full, undivided attention.

Green To Gold (Day 161)

2008-11-07T18:05:00.003-05:00

Tindersticks - "The Not Knowing"
Air - "Space Maker"
Leonard Cohen - "Stories Of The Street"
The Beatles - "Eleanor Rigby"
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - "Let It Ride" (live)
Minutemen - "The Big Blast For Youth"
Track Star - "Green To Gold"
Mark Mothersbaugh - "We Call Them Pirates Out Here"
Os Mutantes - "Le Premier Bonheur Du Jour"
David Bowie - "The Beauty & The Beast"
The Fall - "Fiery Jack"
I'll do better next week - - I promise.

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 11
Total minutes of music (approx.): 40
Song with the most previous plays: "Green To Gold" - 8
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 8
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: Tried to teach my daughter the days of the week. Was moderately successful.

The Chimbley Sweep (Day 160)

2008-11-06T17:00:00.003-05:00

Bob Dylan - "Tombstone Blues"
The Decemberists - "The Chimbley Sweep"
Radiohead - "Morning Bell/Amnesiac"
Sufjan Stevens - "The Avalanche"
Bob Dylan - "Bob Dylan's Dream"
Superchunk - "Indoor Living"
Sloan - "Everything You've Done Wrong"
I'm not going to lie to you: I've still got the fever. I thought I could return to my regularly scheduled program, but it's apparently not true. It was at this point in today's playlist that I managed to regain consciousness - - that is consciousness lost due to the Times special section on election results. What brought me back was the opening of this song from my favorite Sloan record, One Chord to Another. It's a straight-up Chicago-style horn attack. Imagine if Chicago was from Canada...and cool. This would definitely have been one of their hits. Sorry, that's all I got the. The fever will wear off eventually. I think.
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - "Trains"
The White Stripes - "Suzy Lee" (live)

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 9
Total minutes of music (approx.): 38
Song with the most previous plays: "The Chimbley Sweep" - 13
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 8
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: I bought coffee. I drink coffee at home. And I drink coffee at work. I drink too much coffee.

On The Table (Day 159)

2008-11-05T14:36:00.003-05:00

Magnolia Electric Co. - "Nashville Moon"
TV On The Radio - "Things You Can Do"
A.C. Newman - "On The Table"
Sonny Rollins - "You Are My Lucky Star"
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - "Withering Heights"
The Thrills - "Our Wasted Lives"
Pixies - "Where Is My Mind?" (live)
Coleman Hawkins - "Little Girl Blue"
Kings Of Convenience - "Failure"
Travis - "Closer"
The Silos - "She Lives Up The Street"
Grandaddy - "I Don't Want To Record Anymore"
Vetiver - "On A Nerve"
Wow. I'm not sure I really heard any of these songs this morning. All I could do was stare at my morning paper and grin. There's plenty of time to obsess about What I Listened To On My Way To Work, but today I just want to leave you with this.

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 13
Total minutes of music (approx.): 49
Song with the most previous plays: "On The Table" - 12
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 6
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: Even coffee tastes better...

Anyotherway (Day 158)

2008-11-04T16:15:00.007-05:00

Bruce Springsteen - "4th Of July, Asbury Park" (live)
The Beatles - "One After 909"
Bon Iver - "Re: Stacks"
Joe Henry - "Shut Me Up"
Holly Golightly - "Anyotherway"
Tony Scherr - "The Good Life"
Oakley Hall - "Best Of Luck"
Well, it's finally here. Not much else anyone can think/talk about today and I'm no exception. Today's playlist for Election Day...not too much hidden meaning, I think. Sure, Bruce Springsteen kicked off the list - - and we all know who he's supporting. I suppose that could be a good sign. There was also something apropos about that achingly, beautiful Bon Iver song "Re: Stacks." Like most of his songs, the meaning is cryptic, but the tone feels like it projects pain and rebirth. And I especially like the line, "Everything that happens is from now on." Again, vaguely apropos. So, naturally, I voted today before work. My wife, 2 kids and dog all headed to our polling place, which is just up the block, at around 7:45. (Cute story: Before we left, I told my daughter - - who turns 3 today! - - that we were going to vote. To which se replied, "Are you picking a rocket ship or a peach store?" Huh? First, I worried she was still suffering from post-Halloween, post-birthday party sugar overload. Then I remembered: In school she and her classmates got to decide what to do with a big cardboard box the teachers brought in. The choice was rocket ship or peach store and, yup, the kids "voted." Rocket ship won. I think she actually wanted to make the box into a castle - - that's learning the true meaning of democracy the hard way. I explained what we were voting for, mostly to quizzical stares. But I did manage to get her to say, "Barack the vote!" a few times.) Sure enough, the polling place was packed. The line snaked around the inside of the school cafeteria, and there were by far more people than I've ever seen in my voting life. This in one of the bluest of blue states. All told, we waited about 45 minutes. When I finally got to the booth I asked my little girl to come in with me. She didn't want to at first because she was preoccupied with drawing using some markers the daughter of another voter brought. But, I insisted. I really wanted to share this with her. Once we got behind the curtain, she got into it. After I chose my candidate she gleefully helped pull the lever that records the vote. And I got chills. Best of luck, indeed.

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 7
Total minutes of music (approx.): 33
Song with the most previous plays: "Anyotherway" - 8
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 7
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: I didn't get one of those "I Voted" stickers. Bummer.

Running With Your Eyes Closed (Day 157)

2008-11-03T18:40:00.003-05:00

Weezer - "Holiday"
Mojave 3 - "Running With Your Eyes Closed"
Animal Collective - "Chores"
Flight Of The Conchords - "Boom"
Camera Obscura - "Country Mike"
The Aracade Fire - "Poupee de Cire" (live)
The Sea And The Cake - "Darkest Night"
No Age - "Miner"
Pavement - "Sue Me Jack"
Outkast - "Spaghetti Junction"
The Killers - "All These Things That I've Done"
The Silos - "All Falls Away"
Just one word today: vote.

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 12
Total minutes of music (approx.): 48
Song with the most previous plays: "Running With Your Eyes Closed," "Country Mike," "All Falls Away" (tie) - 7
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 6
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: I think I found a new, better subway route to take after I drop G off at school. Who says CHANGE isn't possible.

Haunt You Every Day (Day 156)

2008-10-30T16:53:00.008-04:00

The Wrens - "6"
The Wrens - "Crawling"
A couple a days ago I was pointing out some microtrends on the list. Well, check this out. Two songs back-to-back, by the same artist - - from the same album. Yet, another WILTOMWTWTT first. Now isn't that why the handful of you keep coming back? It's either that or you're looking for a sleep aid, right?
Bright Eyes - "From A Balance Beam"
Bill Evans - "All Of Your" (take 2)
Weezer - "Haunt You Every Day"
Kind of an appropriate Song With The Most Previous Plays the day before Halloween, no? Actually I'm taking off tomorrow to enjoy the day with my little girl (turning 3 next week) and her littler brother. So now that she's fully aware of the holiday, we've obviously been talking about it for a while. When we first started asking her what she wanted to be for Halloween a few weeks ago she would answer, "A scary mask." Now, it's not that we're raising some sort of future fan of Fangoria (although you never know), it was just that she happened to be reading this really weird, and very random, book before bed called Rafi & Rosi: Carnival! It's about frog siblings in Puerto Rico and their adventures during the annual Carnival. But in one story the brother dresses up like a vejigante, which apparently is a clown-like figure that's supposed to scare off evil spirits. Here's what they look like (source):

Kinda cool, but kinda freaky, right? Not only that, but she said she wanted to dress up like a scary mask, AND SCARE HER FRIENDS. Gee, thanks Rafi and Rosi. This didn't seem like such a good idea. So we took that book back to the library and tried to gently suggest other costumes. Like a ladybug (she's already got that costume and often wears it around the house just for kicks) or a princess (plenty of that gear lying around too). Finally she settled on a cat - - probably not looking much further than our cat, Henry, who was likely knocking stuff off of the shelves in her room. (Yes, he could be the devil - - sans costume.) It will be simple. Tail. Ears. A little face paint. But, I'm worried. These things are always a gametime decision, and even getting her to try on the pants with the tail safety pinned to them the other night was almost impossible. They came right off and she declared she wasn't wearing them. Hmm. One thing I am pretty sure of will happen on Halloween, she's going to have a lollipop. She told me that this morning as we were leaving for school...and on the walk...and on the bus...and at school.
Gnarls Barkley - "Transformer"
The Replacements - "Merry Go Round"
The Rolling Stones - "Happy"
Josh Ritter - "Bone Of Song"
The New Year - "Gasoline"
Neutral Milk Hotel - "You've Passed"
The New Pornographers - "The Slow Descent Into Alcoholism"
Husker Du - "Whatever"
The Go-Betweens - "Black Mule"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 14
Total minutes of music (approx.): 55
Song with the most previous plays: "Haunt You Every Day" - 9
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 8
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: Fourteen songs says it all - - sucky commute. The trains were ridiculously slow and everyone was packed in like sardines. By the way, that's my ass, buddy. Yeah, you know who you are.

Just Drums (Day 155)

2008-10-29T15:13:00.008-04:00

Modest Mouse - "Satin In A Coffin"
Stars - "The Night Starts Here"
The Decemberists - "Odalisque"
Tapes 'n Tapes - "Just Drums"
The Fall - "New Puritan"
I think I just found the coolest new website. For those of us who grew up on MTV - - when they actually played videos - - the demise of that once great source of music left a void. Sure, blogs are cool but couch surfing and coming across the video for "Fish Heads" was waaay cooler. So who among us hasn't wished there was an archive of all those great videos? Well, sometimes dreams really do come true. MTV, with little to no fanfare apparently, has created a new site that does just that. And, it's as good as you'd hope. At MTV Music you can watch all the classics like "Thriller" (long version!), "Hot For Teacher," "We're Not Gonna Take It," et al, but there's also tons of stuff that you know never really ran on MTV. Pavement's "Gold Soundz"? No way! The Pixies' "Monkey Gone To Heaven"? Okay, maybe once on 120 Minutes. Now you can find it all. The site also works really well with easy searches and x-referencing, etc. I was using today's playlist to really test just how much cool shit might be hidden on there and sure enough, there's a video of The Fall's cover of The Kinks' classic "Victoria." Not random enough for you? See what you can find. (Look, you can embed the stuff too.)

The Fall |MTV Music

Beck - "Missing"
Elliott Smith - "A Fond Farewell"
Pavement - "It's A Hectic World"
Her Space Holiday - "The Luxury Of Loneliness"
Damien Rice - "The Blower's Daughter"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 10
Total minutes of music (approx.): 40
Song with the most previous plays: "Just Drums," "The Blower's Daughter" (tie) - 12
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 7
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: Forget to get my "coffee card" punched. There goes another $0.19, right out the window.

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

2008-10-28T16:18:00.008-04:00

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.

Waitin' For A Superman (Day 152)

2008-10-24T17:18:00.003-04:00

Jack Johnson - "Wrong Turn"
The Clash - "Koka Kola"
Death Cab For Cutie - "The New Year"
Jeff Tweedy - "A Magazine Called Sunset" (live)
Kings Of Convenience - "Leaning Against The Wall"
The Killers - Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine"
Mose Allison - "Stand By"
I pause here to highlight two artists on today's playlist that have a connection that you probably didn't realize. Yes, Mose Allison and...(anyone?)...The Clash! Like two peas in a pod: The literate jazz pianist with the honey-flecked voice and the seminal British punk rock band. Well, not exactly. But The Clash did cover a Mose Allison tune on Sandanista! - - "Look Here." Mose actually gets a lot of love from the rockers. Elvis Costello and The Who have also covered him...and Frank Black actually claims the Pixies' "Allison" is about Mose. And you thought it was about a chick...
The Flaming Lips - "Waiting For A Superman" (remix)
Belle & Sebastian - "I Fought In A War"
Coleman Hawkins - "In A Mellow Tone" (mono)
Holly Golightly - "Snake Eyed"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 11
Total minutes of music (approx.): 41
Song with the most previous plays: "Waitin' For A Superman" - 8
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 7
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: Talk about strange bedfellows: An intersting Op-Ed piece in the Times is authored by Billy Beane, Newt Gingrich and John Kerry! It actually proposes that we use the small-market team model, and its reliance on stats, Beane and his A's have perfected to help deal with health care costs.

And then there was this. Word.

Put Me On Top (Day 151)

2008-10-23T17:01:00.003-04:00

Neil Young - "Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)"
I consider myself a pretty big Neil Young fan. And I always knew this song was about Neil's feelings of becoming obsolete in the era of punk and New Wave, but I never knew the specific story. It's pretty interesting, so allow me to crib it from Wikipedia.

The song "Hey, Hey, My, My..." and the title phrase of the album, "rust never sleeps" on which it was featured sprang from Young's encounters with Devo and in particular Mark Mothersbaugh. Devo was asked by Young in 1977 to participate in the creating of his film Human Highway. A scene in the film shows Young playing the song in its entirety with Devo, who clearly want little to do with anything "radio-friendly". ( Of note is Mothersbaugh changing "Johnny Rotten" to "Johnny Spud" ) Also, the famous line, "It's better to burn out than it is to rust" is credited to Young's friend Jeff Blackburn of The Ducks.

Some reviewers viewed Young's career as skidding after the release of American Stars 'N Bars and Comes a Time. With the explosion of punk in 1977, some punks felt that Young and his contemporaries were dinosaurs, and that such artists now seemed too content to rest on their laurels and release halfhearted material. Young worried that these punks were right. The death of Elvis Presley that same year seemed to sound a death knell for rock, as The Clash gleefully cried, "No Elvis, Beatles or The Rolling Stones in 1977!," in the song 1977.

From Young's fear of becoming obsolete sprang an appreciation of the punk ethic, and the song was born, initially an acoustic lament that became "My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)". Upon embarking on a tour with his backing band Crazy Horse, the song took on new life in a rock arrangement, punctuated by Young's guitar solos that would go on to inspire players of the proto-grunge scene, including Sonic Youth, The Meat Puppets, Pixies and Dinosaur Jr. - who in turn begat Nirvana.

It's a pretty interesting irony that his fear of obsolescence led to him becoming a progenitor of a new new movement. Incidentally I saw Young on the tour that on which Social Distortion and Sonic Youth opened up for him and, well, let's just say most of his fans didn't exactly embrace the lineage.
The Beatles - "Your Mother Should Know"
Willie Nelson - "When I Was Young And Grandma Wasn't Old"
Kings Of Leon - "My Party" (live)
Beirut - "St. Apollonia"
Joy Division - "Passover"
The Flying Burrito Brothers - "High Fashion Queen"
Aimee Mann - "Put Me On Top"
Uncle Tupelo - "Graveyard Shift"
The Beatles - "Good Day Sunshine"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 10
Total minutes of music (approx.): 34
Song with the most previous plays: "Put Me On Top" - 7
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 7
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: The coffee cake muffin obsession continues.

Sunshine And Clouds (And Everything Proud) [Day 150]

2008-10-22T14:52:00.005-04:00

Radiohead - "The Amazing Sounds Of Orgy"
Ry Cooder - "Cardboard Avenue"
My Bloody Valentine - "Soon"
Talking Heads - "Tentative Decisions"
A real grab bag today with songs and artists (Holly Golightly?) that I don't think have ever shown up here before. But the one song that stands out for me is this one right here. What a cool freaking band the Talking Heads were. (Can I get a witness?) All that nervous energy, disjointed temp, and later, Afro-Caribbean beats. All in a nerdy, new wave package. The only one of their albums I happen to have on my iPod is their first (Talking Heads '77), which is cool because it is such an original debut (right, Tapes 'n Tapes?). And this is one of the songs that is a bit lost on the album with "Uh - Oh, Love Comes To Town" and "Psycho Killer," but I really like it. David Byrne in his best robotic voice starts off by sing-talking the lyrics: "Now that I can release my tension, let me make clear my best intention. Girls ask can I define decision. Boys ask can I describe their function." And then there's a march like drum roll and then the song is off in another direction completely. It works so well because the song is as indecisive as the lyrics ("Decide! Decide! Make up your mind!") The Talking Heads were also the first band that made me fully realize the intersection of music and fine art. Part of the reason was their art house sensibilities and the other was this book that I had called "What The Songs Look Like," that featured artists' interpretations of their songs (drawings, puppets, you name it). It was very cool, and to be honest I have no idea where that book went. Too bad. I would love to see the artist's interpretation of this song. In the meantime, how about a picture of the band? I found it on a very cool website that I came across recently which features a lot of great images and ephemera from years gone by. Check it out.

Sleater-Kinney - "Steep Air"
Holly Golightly - "A Length Of Pipe"
Clap Your Hands And Say Yeah - "Sunshine And Clouds (And Everything Proud)"
Jim O'Rourke - "Eureka"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 8
Total minutes of music (approx.): 35
Song with the most previous plays: "Sunshine And Clouds (And Everything Proud)" - 15
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 6
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: I'm getting pumped for the World Series. Not nearly as pumped as fans in Tampa Bay, however.

My predcition (hope): Rays in 7.

I Will Dream (Day 149)

2008-10-21T16:48:00.004-04:00

Wilco - "Magazine Called Sunset"
She & Him - "I Was Made For You"
Son Volt - "Methamphetamine"
Emmylou Harris - "I Will Dream"
Hüsker Dü - "Reoccurring Dreams"
Here's one that tested the "rules" of this blog. Really there's one "rule" - - shuffle and don't skip. Well, after a great start to today's playist (special nod by the way to the She & Him song "I Was Made For You," what a cool little tune that approximates a 50s-era girl group song), here comes "Reoccurring Dreams." Now, I appreciate Zen Arcade on many levels. It really is the missing link between punk and alternative rock. You can almost hear where music is going in the next 10 years and picture Paul Westerberg rising from the primordial ooze. I mean any album with "Never Talking To You Again" and "Indecision Time" is a special record. But, that doesn't mean I really want to hear all 14 minutes of "Reoccurring Dreams" on my way to work. I mean intellectually it's very cool: an epic instrumental, almost space-age jam, that closes a sprawling concept album - - by a punk band! (I bet this song made Wayne Coyen, hanging out somewhere in Oklahoma, sit up and take notice.) But by minute 6 of the song, I have to confess, I was fingering the iPod ever so lightly. What if I just pressed skip? I could even blog that I listened to the song. Maybe I would blog about how annoying it was. No one would ever know!
Elliott Smith - "Between The Bars"
Maritime - "Human Beings"
The Velvet Underground - "The Gift"
The Elected - "Not Going Home"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 9
Total minutes of music (approx.): 48
Song with the most previous plays: "I Will Dream" - 10
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 5
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: Just, ya know, making my way through the "ground zero of anti-America."

No Juice (Day 148)

2008-10-20T17:06:00.003-04:00

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 0
Total minutes of music (approx.): 0
Song with the most previous plays: n/a
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): n/a
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: Um, you can probably guess it - - the iPod battery was dead. And the ambient sounds of my commute were not helping the situation. Mostly I listened to the train conductor announce further delays due to a "stuck door on the train ahead of us." Happy Monday!

Long Legs (Day 147)

2008-10-17T14:55:00.018-04:00

*It's Friday, and I'm in the mood for something different. So, here's today's little Internet art project/experiment. I'm going to let the vast Intrawebs comment on today's songs - - visually. I will simply type each song name, word for word, into the Yahoo! Image Search engine and post the very first photo that comes up. This may be my big shot at meme-dom? We'll see...

Elvis Costello - "Go Away"

This one is awesome. (Source.)

The Magic Numbers - "Long Legs"

Literal, but fortunately not too dirty. (Source.)

Karl Blau - "The Dark, Magic Sea"

Evocative. (Source.)

Spoon - "Eddie's Ragga"

The only real dud here. It was bound to happen, but I'm glad the actual cover of the album one of the songs is from only came up once. (Source.)

Billy Bragg & Wilco - "Joe Dimaggio Done It Again"

Again, very literal. But oh-so-sweet. (Source.)

Yo La Tengo - "Story Of Jazz"

Not what I would have expected. The caption reads: "After dessert, we went to a nearby place called Jazz Story. It's not quite a jazz club, because they play more 1960s classic rock than jazz, but the mood is mellow and the decor is interesting. These things were mounted on the walls -- I guess they are metal dies for casting plastic things like cassette tapes and shampoo bottles.They have styrofoam packaging cushions on the ceiling too." (Source.)

Kings Of Leon - "Razz"

Thirsty? (Source.)

The Mountain Goats - "First Few Desperate Hours"

Amazing. The best image and somehow perfect for the song too. Cheers, Flickr user c300! (Source.)

Travis - "Luv"

I was worried that one of these would lead to a less-than-PG image - - and I had a right to be. This is the 2nd photo that came up after searching for "Luv." The first was indeed NSFW, but actually kinda tasteful. See for yourself here. In the meantime, this works - - in a Duran Duran album cover kind of way. (Source.)

Final Fantasy - "I'm Afraid Of Japan"

This doesn't look like anything to be afraid of. (Source.)

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 10
Total minutes of music (approx.): 40
Song with the most previous plays: "Long Legs" - 14
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 6
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: The weather is gloriously seasonally appropriate.

The Center Of The World (Day 146)

2008-10-16T17:29:00.006-04:00

Pavement - ~~"Reagan's Dead"~~"Box Elder" (live)
This one is a bit of a mystery. Today's first song starts out as a messy jam and I can clearly identify Stephen Malkmus' voice over the noodling. No problem, it's clearly a live Pavement tune, probably from one of the recent reissues. In a few minutes, after saying "ready to freak out" over and over, Malkmus calls out "Box Elder" and the band launches into that very song. (A cool rendition, by the way.) So what's so mysterious you ask. Well, I'll tell you: When I get to work and go over the playlist, iTunes says this song is called...wait for it..."Reagan's Dead." Huh? Was that the name of the jam before the song proper? I look at the track listing for Wowee Zowee: Sordid Sentinels Edition (the album that this mystery track is from) and there's no such thing as "Reagan's Dead," but there is a live version of "Box Elder" (recorded live on Australian radio in July 1994). So how did this song come to be called "Reagan's Dead" on my iPod? Did I mix it up with another Pavement song. (As much as I love them, so many of the band's song titles, even some of my favorite songs, are still unknown to me.) I search. Nope. There is no song called "Reagan's Dead" by Pavement. In fact the only "Reagan's Dead" I can find in the universe is by punk noisemakers the Primma Donnas off their only album, Drugs, Sex & Discotheques. I don't even own this album. Seriously, WTF. Time to get Robert Stack on the case. I have a theory, and it's political. It's the day after the last presidential debate of 2008 and this song mysteriously comes up on the playlist with this mysterious name. I hope it means what I think it means and Reagan is just a proper noun that can also be spelled G.O.P.

Lucinda Williams - "Still I Long For Your Kiss"
Jeff Tweedy - "Not For The Season" (live)
Rilo Kiley - "Smoke Detector"
My Morning Jacket - "Xmas Curtain"
Sufjan Stevens - "Holland"
The Lemonheads - "Poughkeepsie"
Bright Eyes - "Center Of The World"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 8
Total minutes of music (approx.): 33
Song with the most previous plays: "The Center Of The World," "Holland" (tie) - 10
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 7
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: This is what I learned before work today. You can't take a nearly 3-year-old girl who was ravaged by mosquitoes at the playground and has about 15 bites on her face and hands to pre-school. They turn you right around and make you go to the doctor for a note that reads: "Not contagious." Sure I got to work an hour late, but on the bright side, she's not contagious.

Miss Patsy (Day 145)

2008-10-15T15:44:00.003-04:00

Thelonious Monk - "Off Minor" (take 5)
The Arcade Fire - "Intervention"
The Beastie Boys - "High Plains Drifter"
Aimee Mann - "I Could Hurt You Now"
Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - "Come Rain Or Come Shine"
Richard Thomspon - "Miss Patsy"
The Beatles - "Baby You're A Rich Man"
Lee Morgan - "Gary's Notebook"
It's jazz day at WILTOMWTWT! Funny how weeks will go by and I won't hear a single jazz tune and then - - voila - - three very solid ones. I spent a little time trying to figure out exactly what percentage of the 11,298 songs on my iPod are jazz. Unfortunately the 'genre' label is the only one I don't really stay on top of. I'm pretty anal about having the right track name, artist and album and keeping things organized but the genre label seems superfluous. I mean it's pretty meaningless in real life let alone in the iTunes library. BUT, right about now it would help me get some idea of the rock/jazz ratio. I soldiered on anyway and spent a few minutes moving all the songs with a jazz genre tag (for the record, this includes jazz, bop, hard bop, cool/West Coast jazz, big band swing and jazz vocals), as well as any other I could quickly ID into a "JAZZ" playlist. The total? Only 390 songs! I'm shocked. I actually thought there were more. That's just 3.45% of all the music. Which makes the odds of today's 3-play, well, even greater. (Be happy I figured out this percentage, beyond that I'll need math back-up.) Conclusion? Must add more jazz. (If you have suggestions, please leave 'em. Clearly, I like most bop...) Meanwhile, it never ceases to amaze me how incredibly crazy the lives of most of these 50s and 60s era jazz artists are. I was really digging this Lee Morgan tune so I headed over to Wikipedia to find out a litte more about his background. Lo and behold, it could be a freaking movie-of-the-week. Check it out.

By 1965, Morgan's addiction had returned, and (according to Nat Hentoff's book, Jazz Masters of the 50s) Blakey felt he was unable to use him anymore. Billy Hart says that things deteriorated to the point where Morgan was sleeping on pool tables, and didn't even have a horn, let alone a working band. He borrowed a horn for the recording of Night of the Cookers, in which he sat in with Freddie Hubbard's band at a live gig in New York. The recording captures some of Morgan's weakest playing. Helen More, who became his girlfriend and later his common-law wife, helped Morgan clean up his act. He eventually put together a working band and re-established himself.

(...)

Lee Morgan was shot by Helen More following an argument between sets at Slug's, a popular New York City jazz club. According to an interview with drummer Billy Hart, Morgan had gotten into a dispute with a drug dealer, after buying a large amount of cocaine. He called More and asked her to bring his gun to him at the club. More showed up, and spotted him with another woman, who Morgan was planning to leave More for. An argument erupted, and Morgan kicked More out of the club. When she returned to retrieve her coat (which she had forgotten), Morgan got into a scuffle with her, and the gun went off. An ambulance was late in showing up, and Morgan bled to death. More was judged to be insane at the time of the shooting.

There are conflicting reports of the shooting. According to the biography "DelightfuLee: The Life and Music of Lee Morgan" by Jeffery McMillan, More -- who had nursed Morgan back from heroin addiction and was a stabilizing force for Lee for the previous five or so years -- was a very jealous woman. Morgan had wanted to start a relationship with another woman and was trying to leave Helen More. Helen went down to Slugs on that fateful night and argued with Morgan because the woman was at the club. Lee forcefully removed More from Slugs. She returned to the club shortly after and pulled her gun. Morgan taunted her to shoot him. As he approached the bandstand for the third set, Helen More delivered a single fatal shot to Morgan's chest. He bled to death en route to the hospital.

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 8
Total minutes of music (approx.): 37
Song with the most previous plays: "Miss Patsy" - 10
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 7
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: The tanking economy is ruining my commute. Okay, not exactly, but allow me to be shallow and unfeeling for a moment. Due to budget cuts, naturally, the New York Times has folded the Sports section into the Business section. How annoying! Gone is the glorious color on the front page of the section. And now the combined Business/Sports is cumbersome and unwieldy. Uggh.

Ragged Wood (Day 144)

2008-10-14T16:51:00.004-04:00

Radiohead - "Nude"
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - "The Kindness Of Strangers"
The Jayhawks - "Madman"
New Radiant Storm King - "Phonecall II"
Steve Earle - "Down Here Below"
Joe Henry - "King's Highway"
Fleet Foxes - "Ragged Wood"
If it was earlier in the day, I might write 15,000 words about my love for Fleet Foxes. But it's late, so just I'll let the number of previous plays speak for me (see below). I definitely haven't tired of the best album of 2008 yet. On a very related note, here is a clip of two Swedish girls performing "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song" in the woods. It's pretty great.

The Mountain Goats - "Song For Dennis Brown"
Stereolab - "Captain Easychord"
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - "Dark Wave"
The Hold Steady - "Stevie Nix"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 11
Total minutes of music (approx.): 47
Song with the most previous plays: "Ragged Wood" - 20
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 8
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: Time for an admission: I'm addicted to Rachel Maddow. I don't think I'll be able to quit her until the election is over. Even then, who knows? A choice clip from last night.

The Blower's Daughter (Day 143)

2008-10-13T16:51:00.003-04:00

Tom Waits - "Lord I've Been Changed"
Bright Eyes - "Road To Joy"
I'm back. Miss me? Took off Friday for family obligations, but all is well. So today's topic of the day: The Big Break. You know what I'm talking about - - that moment in a good song when the music switches direction 180 degrees for maximum effect. Am I describing this correctly (sorry, I'm no musicologist)? In this particular song there is a very cool Big Break. It's extra special because it's alluded to by the singer - - in this case, Conor Oberst. (Think Bruce Springsteen counting down before the band switches gear mid-song.) The music builds and about 2/3 of the way through the song, Oberst sings these very autobiographical words: "Well, I could have been a famous singer if I had someone else's voice // But failures always sounded better // Let's fuck it up boys, make some noise!" And then the band goes on to, in fact, fuck it up, launching a cacophonous jam - - ergo, The Big Break. I really like this moment. Now, I want to list five other Big Breaks, but I'm having a bit of a brain freeze right now. One that I did come up with is sort of the exact opposite of the "Road To Joy." On Steppenwolf's rock classic, "Magic Carpet Ride," the band slides into a jam towards the end of the song and just as they seem to lose all focus and the whole thing will just peter out, there's a Big Break and the vocals and melody come crashing back. It's like this tiny, triumphant moment that can't help but get you pumped up. Anyone else out there have any idea what I'm talking about or should I adjust my meds? Please, tell me your favorite Big Break(s), if you have one. In the meantime, I'll try to come up with some other examples.
The Wrens - "It's Not Getting Any Good"
Damien Rice - "The Blower's Daughter"
Superchunk - "Watery Hands"
Pixies - "Bone Machine" (live)
Illinois - "What Can I Do For You?"
Miles Davis & John Coltrane - "Sid's Ahead"
Air - "One Hell Of A Party"
The Postal Service - "We Will Become Silhouettes"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 10
Total minutes of music (approx.): 47
Song with the most previous plays: "The Blower's Daughter" - 11
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 6
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: It dawned on me that most people have the day off. Lucky bastards.

Happy (Day 142)

2008-10-09T17:35:00.003-04:00

The Replacements - "Skyway"
Midlake - "Some Of Them Are Superstitious"
Today's thought comes from the "He Said / She Said" file. In other words, interesting observations about men and women that probably are so cliched they belong on a sitcom, but yet still seem to ring true. Specifically, how does your lady friend or guy friend listen to music? It is my experience that women seem to have what I will call a "singles approach," while guys are more AOR or "album oriented." For example, when ipodwidow likes a song, she plays it...to death! We will listen to that song and only that song, on repeat, until she no longer wants to listen to anything. It's not that she doesn't have good taste, because she does, but it's very focused. I bring this up here, not because "Some Of Them Are Superstitious" is one of those songs, but rather because this song reminds me of another thing about ipodwidow's consumption of music. (This one I think may be particular to her.) Whenever she hears a piece of music it almost always reminds her of something else. We'll be listening to a song and she'll say, for example, "Oh, that sounds exactly like Sufjan Stevens." Now there may be similarities, but I don't always make such an immediate connection the way she does. This song made me think of this because this time I did actually think that the melody of this song sounded a lot like "Neon Bible" by The Arcade Fire. Anyone else want to chime in on the differences between the ways men and women listen to music? While your thinking about it, I'll go make up the couch for sleeping tonight...
DJ Shadow - "What Does Your Soul Look Like (Part 1-Blue Sky Revisit) / Transmission 3"
The Frames - "Happy"
David Bowie - "Fame"
The Olivia Tremor Control - "King Of Claws"
Bob Marley & The Wailers - "The Heathen"
Teenage Fanclub - "Don't Need A Drum"
Bob Dylan - "Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again" (alternate take)
Bishop Allen - "Penitentiary Bound"
Joao Gilberto & Stan Getz - "Girl From Impanema"

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: "Happy" - 13
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 7
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: No school today.

Business Time (Day 141)

2008-10-08T17:22:00.002-04:00

The Wedding Present - "Model, Actress, Whatever..."
The Fiery Furnaces - "I'm In No Mood"
Coleman Hawkins - "Like Someone In Love"
Flight Of The Conchords - "Business Time"
Back with another short, but solid playlist today. A little too much, err, business to attend to today at work, so I'm going to have to leave the commentary to my 2 readers. (Hey, where are my 2 readers!?) By the way you know when I'm down to my socks it's business time, that's why they call them business socks...

Wilco - "I'm A Wheel"
Belle & Sebastian - "A Century Of Fakers"
Johnny Cash - "Two Timing Woman"
Pavement - "We Dance"
Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs - "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 9
Total minutes of music (approx.): 32
Song with the most previous plays: "Business Time" - 8
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 8
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: Am I the only one that keeps replaying the "That One" moment over in their head and thinking WTF!

Upon This Tidal Wave Of Young Blood (Day 140)

2008-10-07T17:02:00.003-04:00

The Decembrists - "Apology Song"
Neil Young - "Cortez The Killer" (live)
Earlimart - "Bloody Nose"
Jeff Tweedy - "The Ruling Class" (live)
Bruce Springsteen - "Mansion On The Hill"
Josh Rouse - "God, Please Let Me Go Back"
The Beatles - "Your Mother Should Know"
Okay, you happy now? It's a nice long playlist to chew over. So, what happened? Did aliens abduct me on the way to work and double my commute. Nope, but something just as unlikely - - I went to the gym! Schedule permitting, this could become a Tuesday thing. It's a win-win for all of us. More songs on the blog... and rock hard abs. I think I mentioned this the one other time I went to the gym in the past 140 weekdays, but here it goes again: it's tough to shuffle while you work out. Not all music makes you want to do that extra set. And, of course, this group of songs started in a very mellow fashion. In fact every song leading up to this Beatles tune would make much more sense in a coffee house than a house of pain like the gym. But, I was into it. I was able to focus on the job at hand, and the music, and it was a pretty nice run of songs that seemed to go particularly well together. The highlights? Well, Earlimart was a very pleasant surprise. Haven't spent a ton of time with this lush California pop band, and at first I was pretty convinced it was actually Mojave 3. But in addition to the male vocals, there's also some fine female pipes harmonizing along with him. I'm gonna have to dig in at a later date. Then there was this really good Jeff Tweedy song recorded at the Letters To Santa Barbara benefit. "Ruling Class" imagines that Jesus Christ as a drug and surfing addict. Very funny. And the whole thing culminated in this jaunty little Beatles tune from Magical Mystery Tour - - an album I realized during my cool down stretching that I don't know very well, minus the hits "Penny Lane," "All You Need Is Love," etc. It's also just then that I realized, who needs breakneck beats and wailing vocals? I was actually sweating to the oldies.

The Clash - "Rockers Galore" (live)
Outkast - "Slum Beautiful"
Sonny Rollins - "Funky Hotel Blues"
Clap Your Hands And Say Yeah - "Upon This Tidal Wave Of Young Blood"
Pixies - "The Holiday Song" (live)
Cat Power - "Willie"
Gomez - "How We Operate"
Modest Mouse - "Steam Engenius"
Death Cab For Cutie - "Company Calls (Epilogue)"
Destroyer - "Canadian Lover/Falcon's Escape"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 17
Total minutes of music (approx.): 71
Song with the most previous plays: "Upon This Tidal Wave Of Young Blood" - 9
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 8
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: My daughter and I ran into one of her classmates on the bus. I suggested we should rechristen it the "party bus" and they ran with it. Two kids began to yell "party bus, party bus" at the top of their lungs. I bet the other commuters really enjoyed that.

The Bunker (Day 139)

2008-10-06T16:42:00.008-04:00

Money Mark - "Radiate Nothing"
The Velvet Underground - "Lady Godiva's Operation"
Nirvana - "Blew"
Bob Dylan - "Ballad Of A Think Man" (live)
TV On The Radio - "Dancing Choose"
I'm on record as saying that I just don't get TV On The Radio. Well, I might be flip-flopping. The new CD Dear Science has recently been uploaded to my iPod. (Yes, this begs the question: Why would a CD by a band you don't like be on your iPod, ass? First of all, be nice. Secondly - - true story - - I found it in the "break room" at work in a pile where people leave junk they're trying to get rid of. What was I suppose to do? Not take it?) So it's on there, but I've actually never listened to it. But today, this song pops up on the shuffle. Me like. I've scanned a few reviews, so I'm aware that the album is a) being well received, and b) something of a departure for the band, sound-wise. Well, if this song is any indication, they've definitely lightened up. "Dancing Choose" has a funky electronic back beat and is kinda reminiscent of R.E.M's "It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)." And here's the other thing, I think it's speaking directly to the current shitstorm of a world we're living in. It's a bit vague, but what do you think?

though he expresses some confusion
bout his part in the plan,
and he can't understand
that he's not in command;
the decisions underwritten
by the cash in his hand
bought a sweater for
his weimaraner too

My take is that the problems are mostly beyond our control... and yet we continue to spend and consume like there's nothing going on. Not true in my household - - I still don't have the HD TV I've craved for over a year. Fiscal responsibility, people! And, finally, since I've gone a tad political here, I have to share this: The coolest Obama endorsement ever.
Beirut - "The Bunker"
Tortoise & Bonnie "Prince" Billy - "It's Expected I'm Gone"
Beck - "Cellphone's Dead"
Silkworm - "White Lightning"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 9
Total minutes of music (approx.): 38
Song with the most previous plays: "Beirut"- 9
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 7
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: When I dropped my not-quite-three-year-old at school this morning the usual "Please stay 5 minutes, daddy" was replaced by "You can go to work now, daddy." That hurts.

I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor (Day 138)

2008-10-03T17:03:00.008-04:00

M Ward & My Morning Jacket - "Rollercoaster" (live)
Weezer - "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations On A Shaker Hymn)"
A song from the newest Weezer album has popped up two days in a row. So they've gone ahead and titled another record anonymously- - again. This time it's subtitled [Red Album] so as not to be confused with [Blue Album] of "Buddy Holly" fame or [Green Album] with "Hash Pipe." But I'm not going to talk about their lazy album naming. (Although, damn, that IS lazy.) More importantly: Do I still like Weezer? Good question. I think I put this on here out of reflex, not really thinking about how much I like or even dislike what the band has done over the past few years. I think the logic goes as such: these guys are usually good for some good, fun pop hooks which, no matter what, are new to me. So, why not? Well, that blank check may have just been cashed. What is up with this piece of junk song? If it were Flight of the Conchords or Tenacious D, it may be funny. But I don't see the irony of this "Bohemian Rhapsody" meets Bloodhound Gang thing they have going on. It's pretty annoying - - and I even like goofy Weezer. (In fact, I was known to play "Beverly Hills" from the last album waaay too much.) Am I just the last person to be over Weezer? Are they already so uncool, that even writing this blog entry shows just how tragically uncool I am? Not that I'm trying to be cool or not cool, I mean, I'm a dad. I'm just wondering what the real taste-makers out there think. I won't dare consult Pitchfork on this one. I think I can guess what they think.
Arctic Monkeys - "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor"
Funny that this would follow Weezer, because Arctic Monkeys may be a younger, British version. Good-time, hook-laden rock. I fell for this song whenever it came out (2006?). And I still like it.
Modest Mouse - "Ocean Breathes Salty"
Tom Petty - "The Golden Rose"
Rufus Wainwright - "Grey Gardens"
Eleventh Dream Day - "The Blindside"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 7
Total minutes of music (approx.): 38
Song with the most previous plays: "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor"- 16
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 6
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: Well, it's over. And the New York Times editorial board basically summed up exactly how I feel. Here is their opinion of last night's "debate." It's two big excerpts, but I believe it's worth reading in it's entirety.

We cannot recall when there were lower expectations for a candidate than the ones that preceded Sarah Palin’s appearance in Thursday night’s vice-presidential debate with Joseph Biden. After a series of stumbling interviews that raised serious doubts even among conservatives about her fitness to serve as vice president, Ms. Palin had to do little more than say one or two sensible things and avoid an election-defining gaffe.

By that standard, but only by that standard, the governor of Alaska did well. But Ms. Palin never really got beyond her talking points in 90 minutes, mostly repeating clichés and tired attack lines and energetically refusing to answer far too many questions.

Senator Biden did well, avoiding one of his own infamous gaffes, while showing a clear grasp of the big picture and the details. He left Ms. Palin way behind on most issues, especially foreign policy and national security, where she just seemed lost. It was in those moments that her lack of experience — two terms as mayor of a tiny Anchorage suburb and less than two years as governor — was most painfully evident.
...
Ms. Palin’s primary tactic was simply to repeat the same thing over and over: John McCain is a maverick. So is she. To stay on that course, she had to indulge in some wildly circular logic: America does not want another Washington insider. They want Mr. McCain (who has been in Congress for nearly 26 years). Ms. Palin condemned Wall Street greed and said she and Mr. McCain would “demand” strict oversight. In virtually the next breath, she said government should “get out of the way” of American business.

There were occasional, disturbing flashes of the old, pre-campaign Sarah Palin. Asked about the causes of global warming, Ms. Palin suggested that man had some role — but she wasn’t saying how much.

In the end, the debate did not change the essential truth of Ms. Palin’s candidacy: Mr. McCain made a wildly irresponsible choice that shattered the image he created for himself as the honest, seasoned, experienced man of principle and judgment. It was either an act of incredible cynicism or appallingly bad judgment.

Mariposa Ole (Day 137)

2008-10-02T17:24:00.002-04:00

Interpol - "Pace Is The Trick"
Del McCourty & Steve Earle - "Long, Lonesome Highway Blues"
Dan Zanes - "Mariposa Ole"
Dolorean - "Still Here With Me"
The New Year - "Alter Ego"
Galaxie 500 - "Ceremony"
R.E.M. - "Finest Worksong" (live)
Weezer - "The Spider"
Man, the day flew by today. Sorry no commentary to augment this already meager playlist. More tomorrow...I hope.

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 8
Total minutes of music (approx.): 35
Song with the most previous plays: "Mariposa Ole"- 11
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 5
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: Why does the "back of the bus" have some sort of inherit appeal? My daughter is loving it.

This Is Not What You Had Planned (Day 136)

2008-10-01T17:13:00.003-04:00

The Thermals - "Back To The Sea"
Nirvana - "Here She Comes Now"
Red House Painters - "Long Distance Runaround"
Wow. What a couple of great covers back-to-back. I know it's on the With The Lights Out compilation, but I don't know much more about the Nirvana cover of the Velvet Underground classic. I'll be back... Okay, so it's from a 1991 split-single that they put out with The Melvins (who did "Venus in Furs"). The opening guitar riff is vey un-Kurt. In fact, at first, I thought it was Dean Wareham and that this was Luna. Not surprising, I suppose, since Luna is often described as VU-sounding. The vocals gave it away, naturally. And then right on the heels of that tune, a very cool Yes cover by Mark Kozelek's slowcore band. Love it. As a rule, I think the world needs more Yes covers. For all their self-indulgent bullshit, I always get excited when I hear the occasional Yes tune. Even songs off Tormato. (Did I write that?)
My Morning Jacket - "Gideon" (live)
Pavement - "Box Elder"
The Wrens - "This Is Not What You Had Planned"
The Starlight Mints - "Brass Digger"
Stars - "My Favourite Book"
Nada Serf - "Ice Box"
My Morning Jacket - "The Bear"
Regina Spector - "Begin To Hope"
Paul Westerber - "Anyway's All Right"
Palace Music - "Old Jerusalem"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 13
Total minutes of music (approx.): 52
Song with the most previous plays: "This Is Not What You Had Planned"- 8
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 7
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: No school today. Bummer, I miss my tiny commute-mate.

Gulf Shores (Day 135)

2008-09-30T15:20:00.004-04:00

Dexter Gordon - "Modal Mood"
The Rolling Stones - "Sway"
Bonnie "Prince" Billy - "Gulf Shores"
Today's super-sized list is due to a detour for a haircut before work. And today's SWTMTPP was a highlight. I'm a huge fan of Will Oldham in all his incarnations and Greatest Palace Music is by far his most accessible record. Love the idea that he basically made a covers album with Nashville session musicians - - of his own songs! The songs are definitely given a shine, and since this came out pre-music blog mania (2004) - - or at least before I was reading music blogs - - I kinda wondered what the blogosphere thought about a record that I can see getting its share of criticism. Where should I start? How about the arbiters of cool themselves, PItchfork? Yup just as I suspected:

It's perhaps the most entertaining and thought-provoking album released so far this year. And one of the worst.

There's more:

The enjoyment it doles out is entirely extramusical, deriving from its packaging, its contributors, Nashville history, Oldham's interviews pertaining to it, its place in his discography, and his intent, whatever that may have been. Greatest Palace Music is almost uniformly tedious, uneventful, dispassionate, and overambitious when it comes to multi-tracking, and underambitious when it comes to arrangements and instrumentation.

But, that's not even the worst part:

By making this album, it feels as if Oldham is scorning me, a longtime fan, personally. It's ceaselessly mediocre, and it actually physically hurts me to know that Oldham has backpedaled, knowingly and irrationally, against his own genius.

Don't flatter yourself, buddy. I press on for a more sober, less holier-than-thou review. Here's something from a blog called False 45th:

This album is a wonderful combination of Bonnie "Prince" Billy's best songs and that beautiful sweeping studio sound that made Nashville famous. I hate the crap that gets passed for pop country these days but I have a soft spot for that older Nashville sound which BPB wrapped his catalog in for this album.

Okay, so it's not as eloquent but I concur with the sentiment. And for the record, this didn't start out to be a bash Pitchfork post, but, hey, if the shoe fits...
Wilco - "A Shot In The Arm"
Liz Phair - "Shatter"
The Delgados - "Now And Forever"
Emmylou Harris - "Plastir d'Amour"
The Flatlanders - "Now It's Now Again"
M Ward - "Chinese Translation"
Grandaddy - "Campershell Dreams"
Miles Davis - "Freedom Jazz Dance"
Johnny Cash - "Flesh & Blood"
My Mourning Jacket - "O Is The One That's Real" (live)
Outkast - "Xplosion"
The Beatles - "All You Need Is Love"
Creedence Clearwater Revival - "Travelin' Band"
The Delgados - "Girls Of Valour"
So, that makes two tracks today by this heretofore barely played group The Delgados. Scottish pop band, fairly enjoyable...whatever. This is mean. The iPod is being mean. It clearly knows that the Mets first baseman is one Carlos DELGADO. I'm not ready!

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 18
Total minutes of music (approx.): 64
Song with the most previous plays: "Gulf Shores" - 8
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 6
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: The refreshing menthol-y smelling hot towel at the end of the haircut...man, that's nice.

The Bagman's Gambit (Day 134)

2008-09-29T17:23:00.003-04:00

The Decembrists - "The Bagman's Gambit"
Thelonious Monk - "Ruby, My Dear (take 2)"
Reigning Sound - "Wait And See"
Calexico / Iron & Wine - "Burn That Broken Bed"
Prince - "I Would Die 4 U" (live)
Bruce Springsteen - "Born To Run" (live)
Echo And The Bunnymen - "An Eternity Turns"
Neil Young - "Comes A Time"
I tried to will a Built to Spill song today, but my iPod-ESP was not working. (Must be the cold I'm suffering from.) In any event, the BTS song would have given me a chance to talk about the highlight of my weekend (non-family related, naturally). Since BTS didn't come around, I'll use Neil as a proxy -- because Doug Martsch and Co. do a rip-roaring "Cortez The Killer." So, yes, it's hard to believe this weekend had a highlight given that-thing-which-I-can-not-even-mention, but it did. I saw Built to Spill on Friday night. Photographic proof:

You want a review? Okay, here's a quickie: Holy fucking shit. Now, I have always been a huge fan of the 1996 album Perfect From Now On, but to see it performed in its entirety, in all its sonic brilliance and in all the intensity that Martsch delivers live - - I was downright moved. I think the album may have just cracked the all-time Top 10. Okay that's a nearly impossible list to make, but I will say Top 25 - - confidently. And to top it off, Dinosaur Jr. opened - - the reunited Dinosaur Jr. I'm not sure I've seen a band rock harder in the past few years. Amazing.
Ween - "A Tear For Eddie"
Bright Eyes - "Stray Dog Freedom"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 10
Total minutes of music (approx.): 44
Song with the most previous plays: "The Bagman's Gambit" - 8
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 6
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: No sports section today - - baseball is dead to me.

Creature Fear (Day 133)

2008-09-26T15:28:00.009-04:00

Bob Mould - "Dreaming, I Am"
Albert Hammond, Jr. - "Bright Young Thing"
I'll say it: Albert Hammond Jr.'s solo music...way better than The Strokes. I, for one, hated The Strokes when they first broke. All that hype and I would listen to their music and think, That's It? The music sounded like garage rock-lite, to me, and Julian Casablancas voice sounded as if he was trying oh-so-hard to sound bored, disaffected, drunk and ultimately cool. But, on their later albums I started to come around a bit and found myself actually listening to 2006's First Impressions of Earth quite a bit. I think once the hype faded, I could enjoy them just for their music and I really like FOE's "Razorblade" quite a bit. (Incidentally, does anyone else hear the melody of Barry Manilow's "Mandy" when they listen to that song??) But none of it prepared me for AH Jr's debut, which is a great pop record - - all sunny hooks and golden grooves. I hear his second solo album, Como Te Llama, is a bit more Strokes-ian. Too bad.
Pavement - "Recorder Grot"
The Rolling Stones - "Stray Cat Blues"
Oakley Hall - "Free Radicals Lament"
Bon Iver - "Creature Fear"
X - "Present"
Outkast - "Flip Flop Rock"
Sloan - "Never Seeing The Ground For The Sky"
Sonny Rollins - "There Will Never Be Another You"
Cansei de Ser Sexy - "Meeting Paris Hilton"

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: "Creature Fear" - 9
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 7
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: Sorry, still obsessing about the baseball. After a huge win last night, the Mets remain tied with Milwaukee for the Wild Card and ONE game behind the Phillies for the division. Three more games over the weekend should determine the outcome (weather permitting) of this most-tumultuous season. Some choice images from yesterday:

Prickly Thron, But Sweetly Worn (Day 132)

2008-09-25T16:46:00.004-04:00

Tindersticks - "Piano Song"
Brightblack Morning Light - "Fry Bread"
David Bowie - "Ziggy Stardust"
Margot & The Nuclear So and So's - "Vampires In A Blue Dress"
I was digging this song this AM. But I don't know the band too well, except that they're one of those 8-or-so-piece pop collectives led by one musical protege. In this case his name is Richard Edwards - - and he's kinda like what I would imagine would result if Conor Oberst and Sufjan Stevens had a lovechild. Weird. And the band name? Fantastic. Made even better after I just read this moment that it comes from the Gwyneth Paltrow character, Margot, in Wes Anderson's Royal Tennebaums. Time for a gratuitous clip!

Eleventh Dream Day - "The Blindside"
The Kinks - "You Make It All Worthwhile --> Ordinary People --> Everybody's A Star" (live)
The White Stripes - "Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn"
Serge Gainsbourg - "Ballade de Melody Nelson"
More fun with names! This song comes from the Serge Gainsbourg album actually called Histoire de Melody Nelson. So, I don't speak French, or have a masterly knowledge of the career of Gainsbourg, so the identity of Melody has alluded me. A famous French debutante? Poet? Laundress? Take it away, Monsieur Wikipedia:

Melody Nelson is the fictional subject of a concept album, Histoire de Melody Nelson, by French musician Serge Gainsbourg.

Similar in concept to, if not based on, the infamous Vladimir Nabokov novel Lolita, the plot of the album concerns the protagonist's brief relationship with a teenage English girl named Melody Nelson, who he meets when his Rolls-Royce collides with her bicycle. They begin a passionate but short love affair, which ends when Melody dies in a plane crash.

She may have also been a topless ventriloquist. See album cover, below.

The Beastie Boys - "The Biz Vs. The Nuge"
The Walkmen - "Mucho Mungo/Mt. Elga"
Son Volt - "Medicine Hat" (live)
The Beatles - "Good Day Sunshine"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 12
Total minutes of music (approx.): 41
Song with the most previous plays: "Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn," "Fry Bread" - 6
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 7
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: What a difference a day makes: I. Hate. Baseball.

Ostriches & Chirping (Day 131)

2008-09-24T12:53:00.006-04:00

The Rolling Stones - "Brown Sugar"
It's never bad to kick-start your day with Mick and Co. Meanwhile, I've just been watching bits of the "unreleased" documentary Cocksucker Blues. Anybody ever see this? It chronicles the band's 1972 American tour, and it is seriously raw. It's literally a bunch of disconnected scenes featuring sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. And while that may all sound awesome, there is also an undercurrent of sadness and loneliness of this debauched life on the road. The band ultimately blocked the film's release (watch and you'll have a pretty good idea of why), but is been bootlegged for a long time and it's online - - naturally. There are clips on YouTube, but this site strings them together so you can watch it in its entirety. (By the way, another really good playlist today. I think I'm on a roll.)
The New Pornographers - "Breakin' The Law"
Yo La Tengo - "The Whole Of The Law"
The Beastie Boys - "14th St. Break"
Pavement - "Baptist Blacktick"
Ryan Adams - "Oh My Sweet Carolina"
Yo La Tengo - "The Summer"
Elliott Smith - "Ostriches & Chirping"
M Ward - "Seashell Tale"
Palace Brothers - "Pushkin"
Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova - "The Hill"
The Flying Burrito Brothers - "Hand To Mouth"
101ers - "Silent Telephone"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 13
Total minutes of music (approx.): 40
Song with the most previous plays: "Ostriches & Chirping" - 7
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 8
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: Still re-living the bittersweet experience of attending my last regular season (a guy can hope) game at Shea Stadium last night. It was a good game, and maybe it will point the team in the right direction for the final five games. My co-conspirator thinks this shot he took warrants posting on the blog. And I agree.

Shea goodbye...

Walking Stick (Day 130)

2008-09-23T15:53:00.006-04:00

Wilco - "My Darling"
What a difference a day makes. Maybe it was just my mood, but today's playlist was so solid it felt like there was no way it could truly be random. The songs were all great and they flowed seamlessly. Kicking it off was this very Beatle-esque Wilco tune from Summer Teeth.
Deadboy And Elephant - "Walking Stick"
Who knew this band, which normally hits you over the head like any good garage band, actually has a more mellow moment? This is it...and another nice song to start my morning.
Belle & Sebastian - "To Be Myself Completely"
While it's Stuart Murdoch's band, this is a nice vocal turn by Stevie Jackson that revs things up a little bit in that swinging B&S way.
Low - "Walk Into The Sea"
Can a song be mellow and rock at the same time? Yes, says Low - - again and again.
Dirty Three - "Hope"
The highlight of today's set by far. It could be that I haven't really listened to this Australian trio in a while, but it really was great to hear this AM. If you don't know Dirty Three, they're pretty unique. A guitarist, drummer and violinist create these really cool, and mostly mournful-sounding instrumentals, which, although downbeat, seem to pick me up. Horse Stories from 1996 is a great album to start with... if you're interested.
Sufjan Stevens - "They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back From The Dead!! Ahhhh!"
Great song from Come On Feel The Illionoise, it has a kind of disco feel. Seriously. Anybody else hear the similarities with Go To Heaven era Grateful Dead? Oh wait, did I just write that?
Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova - "If You Want Me"
Yes, I liked the movie. Yes, I like the songs. How can you not?
Devendra Banhart - "Heard Somebody Say"
Say what you will about Devendra (and I too have described him as annoying), but this is a pretty beautiful song. And that line "I heard somebody say // that the war ended today // but everybody knows it's going still," is a ripped-from-the-headlines heartbreaker.
Pavement - "Frontwards" (live)
This is the one song that didn't seem to fit in stylistically with the rest of today's set, but you know what? It doesn't matter, because it's "Frontwards"! By Pavement. One. Of. The. Best. Songs. Ever.

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 9
Total minutes of music (approx.): 33
Song with the most previous plays: "Waling Stick" - 8
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 8
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: Okay, if you love baseball (like me!) and arcane baseball stories (me too!), do yourself a favor and read this article from today's NY Times. Need some incentive to click that link. Okay, here's one graph:

On the afternoon of Oct. 8, an enormous crowd engulfed the Polo Grounds, willing to do anything to see a game that would decide the pennant. They teetered along Coogan’s Bluff above the ballpark; climbed up on the grandstand roof; perched on the elevated train viaduct out past left field. One man fell to his death from the el; another fell from a telegraph pole and broke his neck. A wedge of fans broke through a wooden fence into the outfield and had to be pushed back by mounted police. Later, they tried setting the fence on fire.

Notion (Day 129)

2008-09-22T17:09:00.002-04:00

Lou Reed - "Good Evening , Mr. Waldheim"
Belle & Sebastian - "The Wrong Girl"
Coleman Hawkins - "Spotlite"
Beirut - "Interlude" (live)
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - "Hold On To Yourself"
Karl Blau - "Notion"
Sleater- Kinney - "Entertain"
Jack Johnson - "Jungle Gym"
M Ward - "So Much Water"
Not a lot to share today. Another big meh from me for today's playlist. Are these shorter playlists ruining the flow? We'll see. Maybe I need some fresh blood. A few artists that have piqued my interest after surfing the music blog circuit of late: The New Year, Horse Feathers, new Jenny Lewis, new Okervill River. Anything else I should be checking out?

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 9
Total minutes of music (approx.): 35
Song with the most previous plays: "Notion" - 8
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 5
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: I feel compelled to reveal the truth about the coffee cake muffin my daughter gets every day on the way to the bus for school: She takes a few minuscule bites, I eat it on the subway. This, combined with a total of exactly 0 hours in the gym per week, is not going to be good...

See The Light (Day 128)

2008-09-19T15:44:00.003-04:00

Tortoise - "A Survey"
Sparklehorse - "See The Light"
Galaxie 500 - "Blue Thunder"
R.E.M. - "Strange Currencies" (live)
The Books - "Bonanza"
Rilo Kiley - "Accidental Death"
Bob Dylan - "Ballad Of A Thin Man" (live)
The Flaming Lips - "There You Are - Jesus Song No. 7"
I was not loving today's playlist at all. I'd just dropped my daughter at school, and was a bit stressed out due to her clinginess and reluctance for me to leave. (It was only her fifth day, so separation anxiety is obviously going to linger, but still...) That first song often sets the tone for a day's music and the Tortoise tune above left me bored and certainly didn't help get my mind off our morning. From there I continued to underwhelmed... and then there was this song - - it flat-out irritated me. Now, I'm an admitted late adopter of The Flaming Lips (Yoshimi), so the early stuff like this song off of 1990's In A Priest Driven Ambulance is relatively new to me. So when I heard this mellow ballad featuring Wayne Coyne and an acoustic guitar intercut with some other loud, squalling song, I assumed it was just part of their "art." But, oh, how annoying! Back and forth, like a skipping record it alternated between these two completely dissimilar songs. This isn't art, I screamed (in my head), this is crap! Yeah, so, only now, going over the playlist, did it dawn on me that that might not have been the song, but actually some iPod glitch causing this strange cross-pollination of tunes. I found the same song online, and, sure enough, it's really just supposed to be that pleasant acoustic jam. The file is just corrupted. How annoying is that?
The Who - "The Real Me"
Nada Surf - "Treading Water" (live)

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 10
Total minutes of music (approx.): 39
Song with the most previous plays: "See The Light" - 8
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 3
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: I haven't really mentioned the Mets. Mostly because I don't know what to say. They are hanging on to a playoff spot, their sanity and fans' loyalty by a thread. I'm sure come Monday I'll have more to share - - be it joy or pain.

Yes, Jose. I'm talking to you.

Civil Disobedience (Day 127)

2008-09-18T16:04:00.003-04:00

DJ Shadow - "Giving Up The Ghost"
X - "Turn My Head"
Camper Van Beethoven - "Civil Disobedience"
This song from Camper Van Beethoven's 2004 reunion album New Roman Times, is a good one. But it doesn't really sound like CVB to me. In fact, every time I hear it, I think it's actually a Cracker tune. It's got David Lowery's unmistakable voice, but the straight-ahead rock sound doesn't echo the ska/punk weirdness that made Camper Van Beethoven so unique. But, whatever the name of the band, I do like the results. And even though I've heard this song quite a bit (12 times by iTunes' calculations), I wasn't really sure about its shadowy message of disobedience. A quick check of allmusic reveals that New Roman Times is a "a loosely connected semi-rock opera telling the story of a Texas teenager who joins the military after a 9/11-like event, becomes disillusioned, and joins an anti-government militia..." Huh, you don't say? This revelation sort of highlights the way I listen to music. I admit, lyrics tend to wash over me. I feel guilty about it, but sometimes they become background to the music. It's doubly strange because I think of myself as a literary person, so you'd think I'd be more attune to the words. There are exceptions, naturally, and this blog has actually forced me listen harder to lyrics because they can be a real source of inspiration. But somehow they still remain second-class citizens next to the music. Does anyone else feel this way?
Danielson - "Cast It At The Setting Sail"
Paul Westerberg - "My Dad"
Tom Waits - "All The Tome"
Miles Davis - "Pee Wee"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 7
Total minutes of music (approx.): 34
Song with the most previous plays: "Civil Disobedience" - 12
*How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 7
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: Well... since I sent so much time blogging about my dog K.C.'s little incident yesterday, I figured I'd snap a pic of her this morning so anyone interested can see her "new" ear. My poor Franken-pooch.

*Back by popular demand. Okay, one person demanded, but you have to reward loyal readers. Thanks, Sarah.

Diggin' A Grave (Day 126)

2008-09-17T15:35:00.008-04:00

Wolf Parade - "Bang Your Drum"
Albert Hammond, Jr. - "Scared"
Gang Of Four - "5.45"
Micah P. Hinson - "Diggin' A Grave"
Ry Cooder - "Green Dog"
This one goes out to my dog, K.C. (Note: How weird that I mentioned I wanted to tell a dog story, and a dog song pops up on the shuffle?) She's not green, but she certainly felt a gentle shade of pea walking home from the vet last night with me, still under the effects of anaesthesia. Oh, right, and with only half of her right ear. Poor girl. It was a rough day for all of us yesterday, worst for her. Basically I take her to the park every morning for a little exercise. She roams around off leash - - which is perfectly legal before 9 a.m. She does have a bit of a dominant personality and is no stranger to letting other dogs know who's boss - - especially those stupid little ones. (She's a 65 pound uber-mutt. Part lab, part shepherd, part whatever else.) What brings out the worst in her (and a lot of dogs for that matter) is meeting up with another dog on a leash when she's off leash (or vice versa). So...we both spy a dog across the way who is about K.C.'s size, but on a leash. K.C. crouches down and does her I'm-going-to-give-that-dog-a-piece-of-my-mind pose. This happens often, but K.C. usually barks at the other dog and moves on. This time they got into. First K.C. barked, but then the other dog practically jumped out of its skin, barking and jawing in K.C.'s face. I called her and she almost immediately came - - but the damage was done. As we walked away, I glanced down at her and saw a lot of blood on her ear. The tip was partially torn off and dangling. I spun around to tell the other dog's owner that her dog bit mine, but she immediately started yelling at me about keeping my dog on leash etc. At this point, I was really most concerned with getting K.C. home and then to the vet, so I didn't have the wherewithal to argue with her. (For the record: I think the "fault" in this situation was with both dogs. Yes, K.C. shouldn't have run up and started barking at that dog. But I know, from having her for 5 1/2 years that this is just what she does and she is not violent or menacing. In fact usually she wants to play - - albeit a little rough. And, she's not the one who did the biting! ipodwidow, naturally, blames me and thinks I should never let K.C. near another dog on leash...) We did go to the vet, but not before she shook her bloody head so many times that I wound up looking like the killer in a slasher flick. Sadly the piece of ear could not be saved and they had to snip it off and suture her up. (You don't want to know who much that cost.) I guess it adds character...but look how cute she was. Sorry, K.C. is.

Radiohead - "Dollars & Cents"
Pavement - "Saganaw"
Rufus Wainwright - "In My Arms"
Mercury Rev - "Opus 40"
Weezer - "Automatic"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 10
Total minutes of music (approx.): 40
Song with the most previous plays: "Diggin' A Grave" - 8
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: Day 2 of taking my daughter to school, and she's found her favorite part of our trip: coffee cake muffin!

Sunny Old Sun (Day 125)

2008-09-16T17:08:00.004-04:00

Dan Zanes - "Sunny Old Sun"
Oh man, what a freaking morning. Something horrible and something great happened - - all before I go to work! And unfortunately I don't have time to give either story justice. The gist of the bad: My dog got bitten (or is it bit?) by another dog. She's fine, but let's just say one ear will always be a little shorter than the other. The gist of the good: Took my daughter to her second-ever day of school. Which was great, and less traumatizing for either of us than I thought. (One programming note: The WILTOMWTWT playlists will probably be a bit shorter from now on. The plan is for me to take her to school every day - - which I'm totally looking forward to. But that also means we have to walk to a city bus and then ride about 10 minutes to her school. After dropping her off, I'll be near a different subway line that gets me to work faster than normal. Less music, but think of all the Kids Say The Darndest Things-type blog material!)
The Beatles - "If I Needed Someone"
The Rolling Stones - "Prodigal Son"
Lucinda Williams - "Out Of Touch" (live)
Television - "Marquee Moon"
Mercury Rev - "Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp"
Coleman Hawkins - "April In Paris"
Weezer - "Troublemaker"
The Black Keys - "Remember When"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 9
Total minutes of music (approx.): 35
Song with the most previous plays: "Sunny Old Sun" - 7
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: See above.

Sugarcoated (Day 124)

2008-09-15T16:52:00.004-04:00

Richard Thompson - "Cressida"
Cansei De Ser Sexy - "Off The Hook"
Rivers Cuomo - "Superfriend"
Sonic Youth - "Fire Engine Dream"
Aimee Mann - "Sugarcoated"
The White Stripes - "Hand Springs"
My Morning Jacket - "Run Thru" (live)
It's not that MMJ is Pink Floyd-like, really. But, there is an instrumental stretch in "Run Thru," especially live, where the low-rumble of the guitar and the tom-tom drum churns along hypnotically, punctuated by the occasional cymbal crash that does feel eerily reminiscent of that great jam, "Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun" (Live at Pompeii version, obviously). Why am I making this random - - although I think pretty apt - - comparison? To pay tribute to Richard Wright, obviously. The Floyd founding member and keyboard player died today at the age of 65. Sadly, there is no Pink Floyd on my iPod, and admittedly I haven't listened to a lot of their music in the past, oh, 15 years. But, rewind to to the late 80s and you'd find my high school book bag painted with a Floyd montage (thanks, Bernie!) and plenty of late-night Floyd listening parties with, err, buds. Their is no denying the mystic powers of prog rock and psychedelia on a young mind. And this news made me nostalgic and a bit hungry for some PF. The stuff that I have listened to a bit over the years is probably the less commercial early Floyd that didn't get the life sucked out of it by classic rock radio: Ummagumma, Meddle, Atom Heart Mother, etc. (Actually "One Of These Days" on Meddle is probably an all-time great instrumental, and you can thank Mr. Wright for some searing keyboard.) Here's the video for "Set The Controls...," from Pompeii. Look for Wright (and some oh-so-70s special effects at 5:04).

The Beatles - "Let It Be"
The Apples In Stereo - "Can You Feel It?"
Takka Takka - "The Native Astronaut Grows Restless"
Dinosaur Jr. - "It's Me"
Ryan Adams - "Night Birds"
My Morning Jacket - "Donate" (live)

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 12
Total minutes of music (approx.): 58
Song with the most previous plays: "Sugarcoated" - 6
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: Jeez, not to make it death day at WILTOMWTWT, but I did have to sadly read about the tragic suicide of David Foster Wallace too. In addition to his fiction, be sure to check out his non-fiction reporting, including this great piece on the luxury cruise industry (subscription required, sorry). Also, for laughs, read this.

The El (Day 123)

2008-09-12T13:42:00.007-04:00

The Replacements - "Talent Show"
Midlake - "Some Of Them Are Superstitious"
The American Analog Set - "The Postman"
Versus - "I'll Be You"
Rhett Miller - "The El"
The Fiery Furnaces - "Though Let's Be Fair"
Neko Case - "I Missed The Point"
Giant Sand - "Mope-A-Long"
Miles Davis - "Pinocchio" (alternate take)
Nice to hear some jazz pop up in the morning again. Although there's a fair amount on the iPod, it feels like it's been hiding. This laid-back tune is from Miles' 1968 album Nefertiti. It's actually one of his last acoustic records before the influence of rock acts like Jimi Hendrix and Sly and the Family led him to add guitars and keyboards to the mix - - a period I appreciate less than his early bop. But the real thing I want to talk about here is Pinocchio, as in the children's story. Anybody read this recently? Holy shit, it's nuts! Forget the Disney version with the puppet whose nose grows if he tells a lie, that's barely the half of it. Carlo Collodi's original story reads like a bad acid trip. I can't even remember all the details, because its been a few months since my daughter was into reading it at bedtime. But this is really no children's story. There are feuding woodworkers, death, rogue thieves, charlatans, fighting, mutant donkeys, a flesh-eating fisherman, killer sharks and more. It's dark!

Forget this:

Think this:

Ween - Candi
Silkworm - "Drunk"
Prince - "Head"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 12
Total minutes of music (approx.): 51
Song with the most previous plays: "The El" - 14
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: Nothing like taking the subway to work in NYC the day after 9/11 and seeing about 8 cops with assault rifles and bomb sniffing dogs get on the same train as you. I tried to get a photo, but it didn't work out. You can almost make out some fuzzy cops in the middle. In any case, it's still kind of a cool shot - - in an abstract way. (Oh, and attention Karl Rove: If these cops are just part of your plan to scare Americans into voting with their frayed nerves instead of their brain, it ain't gonna work! I hope.)

Guest Room (Day 122)

2008-09-11T16:49:00.004-04:00

Frank Black - "Golden Shore"
The Raconteurs - "Top Yourself"
Clem Snide - "Joan Jett Of Arc"
Johnny Cash - "Gentle On My Mind"
Interpol - "All Fired Up"
Belle & Sebastian - "Don't Leave The Light On Baby"
Stereolab - "Double Rocker"
The Clash - "Clash City Rockers"
Stereolab - "Rainbo Conversation"
There were definitely some new titles on today's playlist. In fact, the average number of previous plays for all the songs I listened to was: 2.27. Wow, that's some fresh meat. Making rare appearances were: Interpol, Clem Snide, and Stereolab - - which showed up not one, but two times. Strangely, on paper this British band doesn't seem like something I'd like: Electronic, dance beats, Marxist philosophy sung in French, etc. And yet the sum of its parts is a kitschy and groovy thing all its own. It took the live show to hook me. They opened for Yo La Tengo at NYC's Tramps in 1996, and what sounds repetitive and drone-like at times on record, becomes a very cool, almost trance-like, experience live. I tend to think of them as the electronic version of My Bloody Valentine, in that they transcend repetition to create something organic and cool. Or something. The band's high water mark was probably the album Emperor Tomato Ketchup which came out that same year that I saw them live. Your Stereolab fun fact o' the day: ETK is named after a 1971 avant garde Japanese film. Meanwhile, in confirming the date of the show, I came across one person's review of Yo La Tengo's performance that was trapped on some list-serve archived on the Web. (Translation: This was pre-blog, people.) Anyway, it's cool to read a fan's first impressions of a show that I was probably too drunk to properly remember. (Sorry for the weird formatting.)

 stretched out a lot...several new numbers at least as abstract as most of
_Painful_. They opened quietly with "Superstar-Watcher" then blasted into a
cover of Wire's "Too Late" (from _Chairs Missing_). They did a few from
_Painful_, including frenzied organ meltdowns on "Sudden Organ" and "Big Day
Coming" and a great version of "Double Dare." Only "Satellite" and an
utterly brilliant version on "Five-Cornered Drone (Crispy Duck)" from _May I
Sing With Me_. They encored with "I Threw It All Away" and "I Heard Her Call
My Name" (!!!), which at least matched the VU version in freakout intensity.
In fact, they were doing a lot of the freakout/feedback stuff that night

My Morning Jacket - "I Think I'm Going To Hell" (live)
The National - "Guest Room"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 11
Total minutes of music (approx.): 46
Song with the most previous plays: "Guest Room" - 4
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 6
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: I felt about 14 pounds lighter than yesterday.

Daddy Day Care (Day 121)

2008-09-10T15:14:00.004-04:00

Yup, that's me. Along with my 5-and-a-half-month-old son. And we're both on the way to work! Perhaps you've heard: it's not easy for two working parents to raise two kids. (Good luck, CP!) My best advice is you have to roll with it. So today, due to scheduling issues, my youngest got to take the trip to the office with me. And after ipodwidow finished her work appointment, she came and picked him up. He was only at my office for an hour or so, but It was a lot of fun. (Fun fact for dads: Women in your office will drop whatever they're doing and come hang out with you and your baby. Not too shabby.) But even though he slept in the Moby Wrap baby carrier the whole way in, listening to my iPod, and not the deep, restful breathing of my still infant son, seemed wrong. When we got to the office, he was his happy, smiling self and I played a little music to stimulate those young ears. To be honest, I haven't been pushing music on him the way I did his sister at his age. Mostly because he's much more mellow and doesn't need constant rocking, singing and aural stimulation to get him to go to sleep. Still I should probably make more of an effort. The Bruce Springsteen Seeger Sessions album always seems like a good starter kit. I love the big folk band sound, and the renditions of the classics (many recorded by Pete Seeger) are informal and inviting - - for kids and adults. The little man cooed and giggled in my lap, while I checked some emails...
Bruce Springsteen - "Old Dan Tucker"
Bruce Springsteen - "Jesse James"
Bruce Springsteen - "Mrs. McGrath"
Bruce Springsteen - "O Mary Don't You Weep"
Bruce Springsteen - "John Henry"
Bruce Springsteen - "Erie Canal"
Bruce Springsteen - "Jacob's Ladder"
Bruce Springsteen - "My Old Kentucky Home"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 0
Total minutes of music (approx.): 0
Song with the most previous plays: n/a
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): n/a
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: A very small child was attached to my chest.

Hard To Love A Man (Day 120)

2008-09-09T16:26:00.006-04:00

Kings Of Convenience - "Toxic Girl"
Wilco - "Heavy Metal Drummer" (live)
Pete Yorn - "Ez"
Mose Allison - "I Don't Worry About A Thing"
The Fratellis - "Henrietta"
Gary Louris - "Omaha Nights"
Taj Mahal - "Keep Your Hands Off Her"
Magnolia Electric Co. - "Hard To Love A Man"
Conor Oberst - "Moab"
The Thorns - "Runaway Feeling"
I thought this was a pretty great playlist today, especially this stretch from Gary Louris to The Throns that made me think Cosmic American Music is alive and well. Gram Parsons, of course, came up with that term to refer to his own brand of country and folk mixed with gospel and soul. He was specifically referring to the covers of the R&B classics "Do Right Woman" and "The Dark End of the Street" that appeared on the 1969 Flying Burrito Brothers album The Gilded Palace of Sin, but I like the term as a stand-in for Americana. I mean, look closely at these 5 songs: Gary Louris is a granddad of the alt country movement as a founding member of The Jayhawks. (New album, btw, is good, not great.) Taj Mahal is best known for the blues mixed with African beats and this song is from an album released (remarkably) the same year as The Gilded Palace of Sin. So while Parsons and Co. were twang-ing up the soul, he was funk-ing up the blues. The Magnolia Electric Co. song from the great 2005 album What Comes After The Blues is straight out of the tradition of Neil Young and Crazy Horse (I know he's Canadian, roll with it people), slow, plodding, countri-fied. Conor Oberst's new album seems to have stripped away a lot of the artifice of Bright Eyes in a good way and feels a lot like a latter day Flying Burrito Brothers record. His backing band on the record is even called Mystic Valley Band - - sounds cosmic to me. The final song in this set-within-a-set is from a band that I really trashed a while back. But somehow coming on the heels of these other tunes, it was like dessert. The harmonies and the lush acoustic strumming are syrupy sweet, but suddenly I was seeing what the band (Matthew Sweet, et al) was aiming for: an American Traveling Wilburys. All of these songs are not exactly of the same genre, but they are pretty damn close. And I think they are all firmly rooted in the same tradition that probably wouldn't mind being referred to as Cosmic American Music. Thanks, Gram.

Broken Social Scene - "Handjobs For The Holidays"
The Rolling Stones - "Emotional Rescue"
Weezer - "The Other Way"
Sloan - "I've Gotta Try"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 14
Total minutes of music (approx.): 49
Song with the most previous plays: "Hard To Love A Man" - 8
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 8
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: ipodwidow took the front section of my NY Times, so I didn't have the pleasure of reading about (apologies to Huey Lewis) this new drug until I got to work. Say hello to Salvia divinorum, and then just say "no" - - of course.

Coupla Easy Things (Day 119)

2008-09-08T16:21:00.002-04:00

The Walkmen - "The Rat"
The Clash - "I Fought The Law"
O'Death - "Ground Stump"
The Arcade Fire - "Neighborhood #4 (7 Kettles)"
Dixie Chicks - "So Hard"
The Roots - "I Can't Help It"
The Kinks - "Sitting By The Riverside"
I think a song off of The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society also played last week, and both then and now I made a mental note of how nicely these tunes have aged. I think a large part of it has to do with the popularity of folkie, pastoral music right now. I mean Fleet Foxes (of which I can, seriously, not get enough) are sorting of doing the same thing thematically on their debut as the Kinks 1968 album which was conceived as an homage to British hamlet life. Today, anything goes, but you can imagine in 1968 that this record would have been met with a lot of blank stares. The other big Brit bands were putting out songs like "Jumpin' Jack Flash," "Hey Jude" and "Magic Bus," while Ray Davies was singing about the bucolic landscape in "Animal Farm" or singing about just sitting by the riverside, literally, in this song. Man, I said it before, and I'll say it again: The Kinks are so damn underrated. And, just because, here's some guy playing the song on the ukulele.

Joe Strummer And The Mescaleros - "Mega Bottle Ride"
Pixies - "Isla De Encanta" (live)
Gnarls Barkley - "Storm Coming"
Rivers Cuomo - "Ooh"
Son Volt - "Driving The View"
Coleman Hawkins - "You Met Miss Jones"
Bishop Allen - "Coupla Easy Things"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 14
Total minutes of music (approx.): 47
Song with the most previous plays: "Coupla Easy Things" - 9
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 7
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: Forgot to grab my NY Times from the front stoop this morning. Desperate for reading material, I found an old copy of Cook's Illustrated in my bag. This worked out quite well, because now I know how to improve herbed roast chicken. Let me just say the secret of total flavor infusion lies in three simple steps: butterfly, press and score.