Day 25 - First 10 Shuffled Songs

Today we go inside the framework of my iPod (note: shuffle is being used on iTunes as it has a larger library) and see what happens when songs come on shuffle. No filter, though I will be refraining from posting any of the same artists if they pop up back to back, no filler. Let the music play. Click the song titles for links to the songs.

1. The Ink Spots - "I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire"

Despite being caught completely off guard by this song popping up first, I could not be any more pleased. While the song itself does not represent what I usually listen to while consuming music, the connection to Fallout 3, one of my favorite games, is both the reason it is on my iTunes and one of the reasons where my love is found. As a song this does make for some nice and easy listening. The world needs more crooners, and I need to listen to more music from The Ink Spots. Additionally, the Fallout 3 soundtrack has to be one of the best video game soundtracks ever assembled.

2. Miley Cyrus - "What's Not To Like"

That's more representative, certainly according to my last.fm account. This one comes from the soundtrack for Hannah Montana: The Movie, though as far as I know this song is performed under the Miley Cyrus name rather than the Hannah Montana pseudonym, which bodes well because the Hannah Montana name usually does not produce Miley's best music. To answer the song's title, there is a bit not to like about this one, especially when stacked up against the movie's iconic "The Climb" though I don't have the mind to complain about what is, at the very least, a damn fun song even if it does not highlight Miley's best musical talents. As a side note, this makes me two for two in songs from soundtracks rather than albums. I don't own that many soundtracks.

3. Atmosphere - "A Girl Named Hope"

Slug is a storyteller, which is odd because so many of his songs are so incredibly personal. This one certainly does not seem any less so, but taking these experiences and making them compelling narratives are what great writers create, and its certainly what Slug and many of his contemporaries are able to accomplish. This one is a nice, more melancholic, but allows Slug to showcase his signature flow. And those lyrics, they are packed with some wonderful images at the very end.

4. Bob Dylan - "Joey"

When you ask me who are the five greatest musicians of all time I will answer, quite easily: Dylan, Dylan, Dylan, Dylan, and Dylan. While this epic is not the lengthy song I would pick as my favorite Dylan tune, actually it wouldn't even make a shortlist, it displays some of the elements that make Desire a wonderful record, and of course the voice is infinitely iconic. Though I would not pick this as my favorite song, it does demonstrate Dylan's ability to carry a single thread throughout a song, perhaps acting as a modern day Milton or Homer. It's not as dreamy as I tend to go for in the Dylan I listen to, and it doesn't have the narrative pull of "Hurricane" or "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carrol" though the final few verses become damn fine listening, making for a somber conclusion that serves as a testament to Dylan's poetic proficiency.

5. Slim Thug ft. Lil Ray - "Strippers"

More hip-hop, this time braggadocio. No place does braggadocio than Houston, and though I don't listen to all that much Slim Thug, and even less Lil Ray, this song is not as generic as it should be, which is good. It has a chopped and screwed chorus, shout outs to forgotten acts, and a lot of patriarchal comments demeaning the fairer sex. That scene has been faltering for a while, in no small part because Chamillionaire and Magno have gone silent, but I have a large pair of nostalgia glasses that keep me checking back to see what will eventually, with any hope, recapture that charm.

6. The Beatles - "Not A Second Time"

So many songs and The Beatles are what the shuffle says, huh? A testament to how much library cleaning I do, this song showcases the Beach Boys-lite vibe that most Beatles songs come with such as harmonies, fluffy and hollow lyrics, and simplistic instrumentals. Yuck. I need to stop before I blow my obligatory white college male cred.

7. the Mountain Goats - "Masher"

Now that, that's more what I am looking for. John Darnielle is American's greatest living poet, plain and simple, and that even means that he is above Dylan. Songs that should serve as vignettes, brief glimpses, are fully formed beasts that are stunningly beautiful. This one, well we all lose control at times. Not my favorite song from this record, but a testament to the songwriting chops that Darnielle brings. Rhymes that are simplistic, but enough meathpor and repetition to make rhyme a secondary focus of the song. As it concludes you hear the guitar being strummed harder, the frustration building, the beauty popping. And all the world is swallowed.

8. the Mountain Goats - "Southwood Plantation Road" to be replaced with...
Atmosphere - "Commodities" to be replaced with...
Demi Lovato - "U Got Nothin' On Me"

For all intents and purposes the English major in me should detest this song because of the choice to replace "you" with "U," because you're better than that, Demi. This second record, I once wrote, is a damn fine piece of pop from what is easily the most talented singer Disney has ever produced. Not the highlight of the CD, it does still allow for enough alterations between highs and lows for Demi to excel. The shifts from verse to chorus are wonderful, the backup shouts work to enhance the albeit simplistic, theme of the song and enhance the emotion that Demi brings to all of her songs. And when it slows down, and the instruments become minimal, Demi shines.

9. The Beatles - "I've Just Seen A Face" (seriously!?!) to be replaced with...
Weezer - "Take Control"

There was a point where Weezer sort of faltered. Or at least that is what critics tell me, and while a few of their albums are not all completely solid from top to bottom there are still gems in each one waiting to be discovered until you catch up with their two most recent stunning records. This song is pretty middling, it does not let Rivers exist at his best from a lyrical perspective and is too instrumentally heavy for my tastes, but it's listenable, I suppose. Of all the Weezer I don't know why this one would have been drawn.

10. James Blake - "Lindisfarne II"

Is there a better way to end this post than with James Blake? This song is best when paired with the first part, though of the two parts this is the one I prefer. What I love about Blake is that, while his lyrics are minimal and he uses his voice a bit more like an instrument than anything else, I can understand the sound progression that he makes in a song and from track to track. I don't get instruments and musical theory, Blake makes it tangible. The bumps come in slow. They take over. Blake returns. I simply bathe in the sounds, the senses, the stimulation. So beautiful.

And that, very briefly, is a look inside the inner workings of my iTunes library. There is a commonly held conception that music represents a person, that they are defined by the music. Well if that is true then I hope you learned something about me. Let me know in the comments.

Thanks for reading.

Tomorrow's Topic: Goals

Rich