the first 10 songs played by winamp/i-tunes/ipod when on shuffle

10 tunes courtesy of itunes dj (when did it change from party shuffle?)

my dying bride - the sexuality of bereavement

what a downer of a track to start with. it's a song from the 'turn loose the swans' era that never made the cut for that particular album, and thankfully so as it would have been the weakest track by some margin. it's MDB-by numbers - a bit too meandering and grim for the sake of being grim. but the liberal use of violin (which was a defining element of MDB's sound during this era) is a welcome touch.

guided by voices - surgical focus

this is a terrific song in the right context, but it's probably not what i felt like being served up just now (too playful and tuneful as a follow-up to MDB?). i'm still buzzing to the vocal delivery as always, and love how RP glides from verse to bridge to chorus in one lofty fell swoop, like the shifts in the song are passages for one long, extended thought.

the police - driven to tears

it's a slick, poised and well-paced song that i always enjoy hearing. the refrain is catchy in spite of itself and the vocals benefit from being understated and low-key. not sure if i'm sold on the guitar solo, which sounds vaguely tacked-on.

alice in chains - put you down

one of the more lightweight numbers from 'facelift'. it's plenty catchy and AIC would probably never be this energetic again, but it does feel like it's the product of a band pandering to convention by churning out the requisite "fast, upbeat song" rather than being wholly focused on homogenising its unique strengths across an entire album. these issues would be rectified on 'dirt', which is totally uncompromising and more consistently representative of a band that had well and truly found its calling.

wilco - hotel arizona

this is my favourite song from 'being there'. it's a perfectly balanced fusion of the introspective moodiness of the album's quieter numbers and the more spirited, angular drive of the louder rock-focused ones. really like how the song closes too.

darkthrone - en as i dype skogen

about as primal and unalloyed as musical expression, of any kind, can get. when i'm truly feeling the mood of a song like this, i don't want to be distracted from it.

tears for fears - everybody wants to rule the world

this song is quite tastefully put together and avoids the laboured schmaltz you get on songs like 'shout' (which would have been decent if the chorus wasn't repeated a billion times over). it works by virtue of its subtlety - never lapsing into overt-preachiness, offering something elegant and restrained for the casual listener, while dog-whistling a deeper, more elaborate message to those consciously seeking poignancy.

tim buckley - the healing festival

ok, here we have a song that i never want to hear if i'm not in the mood for it. when i'm feeling it, it's phenomenal. right now i'm tempted to skip.

gang of four - glass

this song jumps around a lot, taunting the listener with urgent semi-grooves before venturing off on sharp detours, chopping things up dramatically. i think i might have overlooked this tune a bit in the past and will pay more attention to it in the future.

depeche mode - behind the wheel

used to find it unnerving, but these days i can't get past the stiffly layered synths and mock-spookiness of it all. i think the song's about drugs and stems from personal experience, but it all sounds surprisingly distant and third-person.

depeche mode - behind the wheel

used to find it unnerving, but these days i can't get past the stiffly layered synths and mock-spookiness of it all. i think the song's about drugs and stems from personal experience, but it all sounds surprisingly distant and third-person.

This one sounds much better on the 7 inch remix IMO.

Vance or Towers - Do Whatever We Want
The Alley Cats - Black Haired Girl
The Velvet Underground - Temptation Inside Your Heart
Bob Dylan - In the Garden
Terry Callier - Dancing Girl
Benny Goodman - Mean to Me
Oscar Peterson - But Not for Me
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson - Corners
Dome - Cancel Your Order
Sonic Youth - Malibu Gas Station

Focus - Dusk & Blackdown
Bad Penny - Big Black
Adventures in Success - Will Powers
Brasil '07 - Medications
Fat Old Sun - Pink Floyd
Raw Shanks a Million - White Rainbow
The Terrace - Linus Loves
Rock and Roll - Edan
Always - Bent
Dingered and Rothered - Betty Botox

Caribou-Odessa
Arcade Fire-(Antichrist Television Blues)
Okkervil River-Plus Ones
Tom Waits-Little Drop of Poison
Mastodon-Island
Modest Mouse-3rd Planet
Radiohead-Sail to the Moon
Sleater-Kinney-What's Mine is Yours
Iron & Wine-Boy with a Coin
Junior Boys-When No One Cares
Nirvana-In Bloom

Again from my (now quite extensive) Spotify playlists rather than iPod, but rather random all the same.

The Specials: Rat Race
Grandaddy: The Crystal Lake
Utopia: Everybody Else Is Wrong
(And then, bloody Spotify played me a fucking bloody Josh Groban ad! But that bloody doesn't count! )
Mamas & The Papas: California Dreamin'
Depeche Mode: The Love Thieves
Annie: Anthonio
Human League: The Things That Dreams Are Made Of
Yes: To Be Over
Paul Simon: Born in Puerto Rico
Time After Time - Cyndi Lauper

Dazz Band - let it whip
Les Fleurs De Lys - reflections of charlie brown
Royspop - summer nights
Villa Gombao Inc - welcome
Gonzos - church key
Kurtis Blow - the breaks
Modern Unreal & Pat Appleton - good for me
Capt. Beefheart- flower pot
Mike Flower Pops - venus as a boy
Benny Sings - get there

Ray Charles - don't set me free

people clown on geir a bit much, given that's a pretty solid ten songs he's come up with (& on shuffle, even)

Time to play this game again:

Coldplay: Trouble
Moody Blues: Watching and Waiting
Supertramp: The Logical Song
Mike Oldfield: Platinum Part 2
Sugababes: Red Dress
Chicago: Questions 67 and 68
Roxette: Church Of Your Heart
Eurythmics: Thorn In My Side
Fad Gadget: Collapsing New People
Pink Floyd: Matilda Mother

the boo radleys - if you want it, take it
colourbox - sleepwalker
wire - the queen of ur and the king of um
kraftwerk - metropolis
suicide - las vegas man (live)
goodie mob - see you when i see you
oval - do while
four tet - pockets
colourbox - breakdown - original 12"
aaliyah - choosey lover (old school/new school)

surprised to see two songs from the colourbox best-of, that's the only cd of theirs i have!

Carla Bley, "Wrong Key Donkey"
Fanny, "Regular Guy"
Manfred Mann's Earth Band, "California Coastline"
Black Oak Arkansas, "Fever in My Mind"
Noah Howard, "Queen Anne"
Steve Miller Band, "Blue Odyssey"
Butthole Surfers, "Suicide"
Jericoh Jones, "Man In The Crowd"
Soft Boys, "Way Way Hep Uh Hole"
Art Ensemble of Chicago, "Variations Sur Un Theme De Monteverdi"

damn, #11 was Roxanne Shante, "Roxanne's Revenge"

(Also in there: "Glum 1", just a recording of me screwin around on a virtual synth.)

The Jesus Lizard - Chrome
Ennio Morricone - L'Carico
The JB's - You Can Have Watergate, Just Give Me Some Bucks
Bjork - Army of Me
The New Year - Stranger to Kindness
McClusky - There Ain't No Fool In Ferguson
Buzzcocks - Nothing Left
Fugazi - Nice New Outfit
Drunkdriver - Choking Hazard
The Zulus - Too Much

Good way to start the day.

max b - goon music
suckdog - murdering monsters
chelsea wolfe - gold
shock treatment OST - little black dress
siouxsie & the banshees - voodoo dolly
lungfish - you did not exist (live)
lizzy mercier descloux - wawa
tyler, the creator - her
the hook - you need people
carla bley & paul haines - ginger and david theme

Can an iPod be set up to take your ratings of the songs (the one to five stars it lets you can assign to each song) into account when set on shuffle? Or does it do this already?

tom waits - union square
the rolling stones - stop breaking down
the xyz affair - ideals
christopher o'riley - the tourist
ida maria - oh my god
tune-yards - killa
the a-sides - sidewalk chalk
blossom dearie - they say it's spring
the cardigans - lovefool
the polyphonic spree - section 21 (together we're heavy)

wildly unrepresentative, but a pretty enjoyable batch of tunes

electrik red - friend lover
talking heads - born under punches
curren$y & wiz khalifa - s.d.l.
los campesinos - all your kayfabe friends
clipse - bodysnatchers
the exploding hearts - throwaway style
cut copy - hearts on fire (aeroplane remix)
wiz khalifa - the kid frankie
prodigy - 7th heaven
destiny's child - temptation

dunno how it ended up on two wiz khalifa songs

Johnnie Ray - 'Such A Night'
Kraftwerk - 'Mitternacht'
The Four Pennies - 'Juliet'
The Stooges - 'Little Doll'
Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band - 'Bill's Corpse'
rent - 'Attack Ships'
Rod Stewart - 'Maggie May'
Michael Jackson - 'Get On The Floor'
Creedence Clearwater Revival - 'Bad Moon Rising'
glomag - 'Disco Nostromo'

Shackleton - Hypno Angel
Radiohead - A Wolf at the Door
Madvillain - Money Folder
Aphex Twin - Polynomial-C
Horace Andy - Ain't No Sunshine
The Ocean - Catharsis of a Heretic
DJ Shadow - Changeling (Transmission 1)
Captain Beefheart - Semi-Multicolored Caucasian
Outkast - Synthesiser
Blame - Music Take You

crystal castles - doe deer
gayngs - the walker
saint etienne - 7 ways 2 love (alternate)
cansei de ser sexy - music is my hot hot sex
califone - polish girls
tangoterje - i get lifted
sleater-kinney - im not waiting
wavves - green eyes
silver jews - buckingham rabbit
e-40 - born in the struggle

lol @ this sampling

Keane: My Shadow
New Order: 5 8 6
Billy Ocean: Carribean Queen
Stereophonics: Local Boy In The Photograph
The Temptations: Just My Imagination
Coldplay: Politik
Elton John: Your Song
Alphaville: Forever Young
Orbital: Dwr Budr
ABC: Vanity Kills

swans - the final sacrifice
lcd soundsystem - freak out/starry eyes
this mortal coil - the lacemaker
devo - (i can't get no) satisfaction
the microphones - eyes for volume
yoko ono - walking on thin ice (walked across the lake mix)
lull - [untitled 14th track from Moments]
love and rockets - use me
beastie boys - time for livin'
cabaret voltaire - a minute is a life time

the cure: let's go to bed
heavenly: c is the heavenly option
brendon benson: pleasure seeker
blondie: i'm gonna <3 u too
system of a down: violent pornography
the smiths: cemetery gates
yaz: in my room
huggy bear: dissthentic penetration
futureheads: carnival kids
the clash: straight to hell

ODB - Shimmy Shimmy Ya
Orbital - Halcyon
Lil B - Theater
Mike Ink - Paroles (Autechre Repoles)
Autechre - Teartear
Royce da 5'9" - Psycho (Skit)
Smegma - En Vout
Mayhem - Anti
Demdike Stare - Trapped Dervish
Kevin Drumm & Daniel Menche - Gauntlet

Iris Dement - Mom & Dad's Waltz
R.E.M - Undertow
How to Dress Well - Can't See My Own Face
Thin White Rope - If Those Tears
Girls vs. Boys - Bulletproof Cupid
Codeine - 3 Angels
The Cure - Homesick
The Go-Betweens - Spirit of a Vampire
Earth - Geometry of Murder
Rod Stewart - Mandolin Wind

E-40 - I Love My Momma
Lena Katina - Belochka
Coven - Dignitaries Of Hell
Hole - Credit In The Straight World
Monika Brodka - Krzyżówka Dnia
Miranda! - Perfecta
Dusty Springfield - You Don't Have To Say You Love Me
Virus - Nepogoda
Peter Fox - Stadtaffe
Mylene Farmer - Bleu Noir

the jesus and mary chain - never understand (alternate)
brian eno - burning airlines give you so much more
woods - born to lose
the dead c - glass hole pit
low - your poison
milton babbit - philomel
m.i.a. - born free
orchestral manoeuvres in the dark - architecture and morality
new order - subculture
cocteau twins - ella megalast burls forever

bone awl - lindow man
jorge ben - se segura malandro
bee gees - jive talkin'
free clinic - drunktank
kurt vile - inside lookin out
novos baianos - misterio do planeta
pussy galore - asshole
neil young - everbody's alone
david bowie - eight line poem
the body - falling

in office all weekend, with only limited, 4K song ipod for company. shuffle:

• ariel pink -- can't hear my eyes
• dexy's midnight runners -- the teams that meet in caffs
• joey gilmore -- somebody done took my baby and gone
• emeralds -- now you see me
• olivia newton-john & what's his name -- suddenly
• the verve -- this time
• tinariwen -- imidiwan afrik temdam
• the bug -- angry
• lucy rodgers -- play a little longer
• the congos -- nicodemus
• ali farka toure -- savane

spotify on local shuffle

nas - surviving the times
death grips - guillotine
jack e chocolate - pavaroty
ponytail - g shock
gaseneta - live
kain - nubian ii
paulo bagunca - mensaqeiro
yob - silence of heaven
mr scruff - kalimba
johnny moped - vd boiler