iTunes Shuffle 3/28/14

1. Dean Blunt - "Six"
2. The New Pornographers - "Go Places"
3. Tori Amos - "Leather"
4. Downcity Armory - "Cease The Wheels"
5. Katie Herzig - "Sadie's Song"
6. Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - "Janglin'"
7. Annuals - "Hot Night Hounds"
8. The Black Angels - "Bad Vibrations"
9. Vitalic - "La Rock 01"
10. José James - "Desire"

This mix has been very appropriate for my week. The Dean Blunt song isn't on Spotify, but it really should be listened to first (just below in Youtube form) to get the feeling for how this mix begins and what I've been listening to every morning this week. Launching into New Pornographers and Tori from there? Yes. Katie Herzig makes an appearance, the Annuals song is as lovely as all their music is, and the José James is some of the most gorgeous, sexy jazz I've heard in years.

iTunes Shuffle 3/21/14

1. Speedy Ortiz - "No Below"
2. Weekend - "Teal Kia" (demo)
3. Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials - "Natural Man"
4. Patty Griffin feat. Emmylou Harris - "Little Fire"
5. B.G. feat. Big Tymers & Hot Boys - "Bling Bling"
6. Jeff Buckley - "Jewel Box"
7. Sarah Vaughan - "Lover Man" (Jazzelicious Remix) (orig. Billie Holiday)
8. Big Star - "September Gurls"
9. Girls - "Heartbreaker"
10. Mark Ronson feat. Daniel Merriweather - "Stop Me" (The Smiths cover)

A nice eclectic mix that I ended up liking a lot more than I did when I first hit "shuffle." Speedy Ortiz may become one of my new favorite bands, as they sounds like Liz Phair and Pavement had a baby. The Weekend demo is just big and chaotic and pretty. Patty Griffin, Jeff Buckley and Big Star all are among my desert island artists, so those were welcome. And other things. What's not available on Spotify just below, then the playlist after that.

iTunes Shuffle 3/14/14

1. Sam Amidon - "Bright Sunny South" (trad., reworked by Sam Amidon)
2. Ben Folds Five - "Jackson Cannery"
3. Lady Gaga - "Scheiße"
4. Björk - "Verandi"
5. Deerhunter - "Microcastle"
6. Do Make Say Think - "Chinatown"
7. Bloodkin - "Drive Home September"
8. Robert Belfour - "Treat Me Right"
9. The Deep Dark Woods - "The Place I Left Behind"
10. Radical Face - "All Is Well (Goodbye, Goodbye)"

Lovely mix, start to finish. Highlights: Sam Amidon, Björk, The Deep Dark Woods, Radical Face. And of course, I always love Ben Folds.

iTunes Shuffle 3/7/14

1. Natural Child - "Ain't Gonna Stop"
2. Bruce Springsteen - "We Take Care Of Our Own"
3. Jimi Hendrix - "Angel"
4. Tori Amos - piano improvisation (childhood recording)
5. Pedro The Lion - "Almost There"
6. Future Of Forestry - "What Child Is This" (trad.)
7. Real Estate - "Black Lake"
8. Strand Of Oaks - "Kill Dragon"
9. Joy Division - "Twenty Four Hours"
10. Grinderman - "Mickey Mouse And The Goodbye Man"

One of my favorite random shuffles in a long time. Natural Child is good old Southern rock out of Nashville. That leads to one of Springsteen's newer classics and perhaps the most beautiful thing Jimi Hendrix ever did. Suddenly we have a minute of Tori playing piano when she was a teenager, because I'm a superfan, then a lovely one from Pedro The Lion. At that point, we pause for a Christmas song, and yes, it's March, but don't skip it, because it's a fantastic cover. Then Real Estate and Strand Of Oaks, both beautiful and putting Joy Division next to Nick Cave's Grinderman at the end is poetic. Start to finish, 37 minutes of wonderful music.