iTunes Shuffle 9/26/14

1. Sebadoh - "Rebound"
2. Alison Krauss and Union Station - "Bonita And Bill Butler"
3. A.Dd+ - "Can't Come Down"
4. David Wilcox - "Fearless Love"
5. Frightened Rabbit - "Backyard Skulls"
6. Does It Offend You, Yeah? - "We Are Rockstars"
7. Garth Brooks - "Rodeo"
8. Annuals - "Around Your Neck"
9. Robin Pecknold - "Where Is My Wild Rose?" (Chris Thompson cover)
10. Tori Amos - "Raining Blood" (Slayer cover)

I enjoy these mixes more and more every week. I love, love, love the first two songs. And then straight into hip-hop with A.Dd+. Of course, David Wilcox is one of my all time favorite artists. He is just a brilliant, brilliant man that far too few people have heard. The Robin Pecknold is a beautiful cover of a beautiful song. The Tori Amos is a dark, weird Slayer cover that, somehow, exists. If you've never heard it, listen to the original first and then see what Tori did with it.

And of course, I'm not ashamed to admit I love me some Garth Brooks. Of course, his music isn't streaming anywhere online, because, for somebody who requires cowriters for pretty much every song he releases, Garth is astonishingly prideful and shortsighted when it comes to digital distribution of his music. He doesn't want it online because his albums are apparently such masterpieces, woven together lovingly like tapestries, that they must be consumed whole. I find it funny because Garth Brooks, songwriting genius that he believes himself to be, is like this, but somehow Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen manage to be okay with their fans listening to their music however they choose. Real songwriters understand that once you write a song, or a record, that that's the beginning of a conversation with the people who are listening. Great songwriters, when asked what a song is about, respond, "what does it mean to you?" Because that's how art works.

But not for Garth. We're not getting his great artistic point unless we listen to "Papa Loved Mama" directly followed by a mediocre Billy Joel cover.

#rantover

Enjoy the music. The YouTube video below actually is Garth's recording of "Rodeo," but it's apparently managed to slip by his people because it also has other sounds in it. It'll get taken down eventually.

iTunes Shuffle 9/19/14

1. Kristoffer Ragnstam - "Sorry For Being The Man Of 1000 Questions"
2. Amos Lee - "Colors"
3. Radiohead - "All I Need"
4. Matthew Mayfield - "Cold Winds"
5. Miike Snow - "Paddling Out" (Jacques lu Cont remix)
6. Banjo Or Freakout - "Mr. No"
7. Fountains Of Wayne - "Richie And Ruben"
8. Pink Floyd - "The Happiest Days Of Our Lives"
9. Sans Gras - "Easy On Me"
10. Kurt Vile - "Society Is My Friend"

Even with 30,000 songs in your iTunes and counting, sometimes repeats happen. The Kurt Vile song was on this shuffle two weeks ago. Fine, we'll live with it for another week. The Kristoffer Ragnstam and Radiohead songs have also appeared in earlier shuffles.

Regardless, OOH, this mix is good. Amos Lee sets the tone, and Radiohead picks it up with a song of desperate longing. "All I Need" would have really resonated with me a couple years ago. It still does, but now more in an "Oh, I remember what that's like" kind of way. The incredible, incredible Matthew Mayfield song continues the same vibe. One of the best songs I've heard this year. Then things pick up a bit with Miike Snow, followed by the epic, huge Banjo Or Freakout song.

Etc. Just listen.

iTunes Shuffle 9/12/14

1. Wilco - "Born Alone"
2. Letting Up Despite Great Faults - "Teenage Tide"
3. Rllrbll - "Coffee With Donnie"
4. Bobby Bare Jr. "But I Do"
5. Olive - "You're Not Alone"
6. The Wedding Present - "Brassneck"
7. Destiny's Child - "Lose My Breath"
8. The Buzzcocks - "Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've?)"
9. Rhye - "Open"
10. Maserati - "Synchronicity IV"

Here's a weird mix fer ya. Hope you like British post-punk from the 80's, and also Destiny's child. I really love the Bobby Bare Jr., the Wilco and the Rhye.

And hurray, they're all on Spotify so you just can let it play.

iTunes Shuffle 9/5/14

1. Tarrega: Mazurka No. 1 in G Minor: Adelita (Rita Honti, classical guitar)
2. The Boxer Rebellion - "Keep Moving"
3. Garrison Starr - "In The Silence"
4. Primitive Radio Gods - "Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand"
5. Matt Pond - "Pillar Of Salt"
6. Jeff Buckley - "What Will You Say" (live Theatre de Fourvière, Lyon, France, July 4, 1995)
7. Kurt Vile - "Society Is My Friend"
8. Blues Traveler - "Fallible"
9. Wilco - "One Sunday Morning (Song For Jane Smiley's Boyfriend)"
10. Guided By Voices - "The Unsinkable Fats Domino"

Quite a mix. Comes in quietly with a classical guitar solo, but the Boxer Rebellion song is epic and beautiful. Brand new music from Garrison Starr follows (one of my favorite people -- period) and then the classic from Primitive Radio Gods. Matt Pond, Jeff Buckley, Kurt Vile = three of the best songwriters I can think of. Another visit to my teenage years with Blues Traveler, one of my favorites from Wilco, and we end with Guided By Voices.

Yeah, this is an incredibly solid mix, something I really enjoyed listening to every morning this week.

The Matt Pond song is not on Spotify, but do not be lazy. It's absolutely incredible. A retelling of the story of Lot's wife, from her perspective.