I've Eaten a Lot of Stickers

Annoyingly, Charlie Day's random rules in The Onion does not reveal anything that embarrassing. Even the Queen tune. So, to humiliate myself, here's mine for today, while sat in the Admirals Club lounge at Heathrow and trying to recover from a fairly dreadful night's sleep on the plane.

1. Where'd You Go? - Jamie Lidell. My love affair with the Lidell is officially over - the last concert I went to was fairly pants, and now it turns out he's not going to do any of the things that made him a cut above everyone else - the mixing, the sampling, the screwing things around and making them interesting. Shame. But I still love the first album, and the first couple of concerts of his that we went to were genuinely wonderful.
   
2. Azaleadalen - Junip. So, this is Jose Gonzalez's other band - not that I've really been that into Jose Gonzalez prior to hearing this stuff - but I like it. It's definitely got a feel of the Steve Masons about it, but with less electronic and more Spanish-guitarry influence. But what would I know? I really don't listen to this sort of music very much, and therefore it hampers my description no end.
3. 1 Thing - Amerie. God, I love this song - absolutely love it. There is a definite snobbery among a lot of my friends with whom, otherwise, I share a great deal of taste, over rnb-style pop. But I have a great deal of time for female-led rnb, it seems (my itunes is full of the stuff, Aaliyah and MJB particularly), and I absolutely love this - the harmonies are so pretty, and clash so well with the drums, and the stop-start harshness of the guitar & bass that are barely present. Sweet.
4. Your Flesh Is So Nice - Jeff Buckley. I like this because it's so playful despite being so overtly sexual, and playful is not necessarily something you associate with Jeff Buckley, despite his clear joy in playing with his voice.
5. Only the Truth - The Last Shadow Puppets. I can't help feeling I should like this more than I do - it's got some Bacharach/Morricone stylings with Alex Turner's great voice, and I do enjoy it when it's on, but I rarely reach for it, I have to say.
   
6. Tally of Souls - The Invisible. I thought I was really going to love The Invisible - a more accessible, less pretentious TV on the Radio. And I still love London Girl (and, slightly embarrassingly, it's my ringtone). But another one where I've been underwhelmed, although I do think they're making interesting music and I like his voice a lot.
   
7. Braindead (with Justin Warfield) - Bomb the Bass. This is from Clear which, I believe, came out in 1995. Holy cow. I loved this album - one of the first straight dance albums I'd ever bought. In fact, it's still got an awful lot to recommend about it - Bug Powder Dust is a classic, and, among others, Empire - featuring Sinead O'Connor and Benjamin Zephaniah - is one of my favourite final tracks of all time. And this somewhat tangentially reminds me to update my iPod with the K&D sessions, which features not one but two versions of Bug Powder Dust.
8. Wait for Me - Jamie Lidell. See #1 on this list.
9. Happy Endings - Pulp. I love, love, love, love Pulp. That is all.
10. Paper Doll - PM Dawn. So, I thought I was the only person in the world who remembered PM Dawn, let alone owned the records. Then, much to my excitement and TOH's unchecked amusement, we were in a bar near home and PM Dawn's greatest hits came on - and I could remember far too many of the words to maintain any semblance of cool
    

Sunday Selection: What next?

So, the World Cup is nearly at a close. It is certainly going to leave a void in my life. So this random list is in honour of that great competition's closing, based on I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself, as covered by The White Stripes.

1. Is This It? by The Strokes (I've listened to the Strokes more in the past two weeks than I think I have in my entire life - I'm going through a phase, it seems)
2. Electioneering by Radiohead.
3. Here Comes Your Man by The Pixies. It is just awesome. That is all.
4. Devil's Haircut by Beck. I had a moment a few weeks ago at physio where I heard Where It's At on the radio, and I realised that I did not own Odelay, except on an old tape somewhere. So I remedied that with haste.
5. Dirty Harry by Gorillaz.
6. The World Has Turned by Weezer. I really truly had forgotten how much I love this album, but a spate of articles about how hot Rivers Cuomo was (I didn't really share the fascination) then spurred me to revisit the record - it's great.
7. Slow Hands by Interpol. Saw them at the Creators' Project a few weeks ago and although we only caught the end of the set, magically this was one of those. This album was the part of the perma-soundtrack of my first year of law school.
8. So Says I by The Shins.
9. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots by The Flaming Lips.
10. Boys Don't Cry by The Cure.
    

Random Generator: Big Effing Deal

To celebrate Joe Biden's words this week, passing healthcare (despite its flaws) was a big deal.* Thus, from Something Good Can Work by Two Door Cinema Club:

1. Dudun Dun - Para One
2. Xtatic Truth - Crystal Fighters
3. Up All Night - French Horn Rebellion
4. Beeper - The Count & Sinden (nothing like a bit of speed garage to celebrate health insurance reform!)
5. Miss It So Much - Royksopp
6. Shame on Me - Amanda Blank
7. Hard Times - Patrick Wolf
8. Dance Till Dawn - Heartsrevolution
9. Luckier - Shazam
10. Sucker Pin - Modeselektor
    

* And yes, I stole this theme, wholesale, from feministe.

Begone Dull Care

Work has been, frankly, horrible of late in terms of hours. I have friends who are much worse off, it must be said, and yes, I'm grateful for the job and being busy, blah blah blah.

When I did not feel grateful: Last night, when I could have been happily bopping away at the Junior Boys concert.* So doing a randomgenerator based on the song of theirs I fell in love with first, In the Morning.

1. Someone Great - LCD Soundsystem. Genius.
2. Fancy Footwork - Chromeo. I know they're well dodgy in terms of lyrics, but I just love Chromeo.
   
3. Destroy Everything You Can - Ladytron. I always think I should like Ladytron and never really get overexcited about them. This comes from a friend's compilation, and I think I will try. I like this.
4. Over and Over (Maurice Fulton Remix) - Hot Chip. I just can't take to them. Tune underlying = great, often, but his voice is just so frigging annoying. This, however, is excellent because his voice is barely on it, it emphasizes the sweet bassline, and it's on the rather fabulous Spank Rock's Fabric Live, which I love.
5. Don't Stop - Brazilian Girls. We saw them in concert last year, which was a bit of an odd experience. They were very dreamy and soft, and then the tempo increased at the end, but by then we weren't really that engaged. But since then, I've enjoyed their music a lot more.
   
6. Waters of Nazereth - Justice. I somehow didn't get my act together to see them. I regret this, particularly as they are, apparently, ludicrously hot.
7. Earth Intruders - Bjork. Bjollocks has grown on me, it has to be said. I loved the Sugarcubes, loved her first album, then Oh So Quiet drove me mad and I lost interest. Now I think that her albums provide some of the best working music - phenomenal instrumentals, and I think Volta is one of the best she's made.
8. Hustler - Simian Mobile Disco. Again from the Spank Rock Fabric Live. Awesome. I love that whole album anyway.
9. Cherry Blossom Girl - Air. Not one of my favourites of theirs, it must be said. Irritating.
10. Flip Ya Lid - Nightmares on Wax. Nightmares on Wax are responsible for two of my favourite albums of the last 15 years - Carboot Soul and Smokers Delight (despite the lack of punctuation). Their later stuff is nowhere near as good, but still, more listenable than Hot Chip, so there you go.
    

* Except, it turns out, no I couldn't - their equipment broke and they didn't even make it through three songs... silver linings and all that. Except my friend was, with some luck, going to get me on the guestlist for Franz Ferdinand, so I did also miss that...

Sunday Selection: Pre-Emptive Strike

I'm at work, it's late on Saturday, and although I'm not desperately sorry for myself (I'm doing something quite exciting - hold back the laughter, please), I am going to be here all tomorrow and, so, I'm starting Genius with something bemoaning the grind and working for The Man: The Magnificent Seven by The Clash. This song has become my go-to for jukeboxes, making me extremely predictable (my other obligatory tune being Roxanne), but I can't help it - love it so. I also love the Clash for their sheer variety of sounds, influences, and progression. I know we're not supposed to like the later stuff but tough - I do.

1. A Forest - The Cure.
2. Pale Shelter - Tears for Fears.
3. Monkey Gone to Heaven - Pixies.
4. Wordy Rappinghood - Jacques Lu Cont.
5. Town Called Malice - The Jam.
6. Fool's Gold - The Stone Roses.
7. The Killing Moon - Echo & The Bunnymen
8. Girls & Boys - Blur
9. Johnny Come Home - The Fine Young Cannibals
10. House of Jealous Lovers - The Rapture.

And a mighty fine playlist it is, too!

Sunday Selector: The Rueful Version

Yes, I am rueful, because my head hurts like mad from not enough sleep and too much booze for a recently detoxed young lady. I don't have the strength to type up stuff about the songs today, but I'm feeling the need for mellowness and ease, so I'm starting with One Night Stand by The Aloof. Not exactly the situation I'm in, but a reflection of making bad choices involving alcohol. Awesome.

1. Day One - Deadly Avenger.
2. Spellbound - Rae & Christian.
   
3. Offshore - Chicane
4. Little Fluffy Clouds - The Orb.
5. Stars - Dubstar.
6. Cups - Underworld.
7. Since I Left You - The Avalanches
8. The Weekend Starts Here - Fatboy Slim
9. Protection - Massive Attack.
10. Belfast - Orbital.

Any mix that has both Belfast and protection is guaranteed to make me feel better about the world.

Sunday Selection: The Thursday Late/Pre-Emptive SF Version

So, I didn't do one last Sunday on the way back from DC, but today, in San Francisco, looking over the bay, was struck by a shameful, but true, longing for Chris Isaak's Can't Do a Thing (to Stop Me), from his San Francisco Days album. So that's the start of Genius...

1. Love Comes Quickly - The Pet Shop Boys. I downloaded Discography, their greatest hits, about six months ago after a real yen to hear them again. This is one of my favourite ones although, to be fair, I love almost every single equally, other than West End Girls and Rent, which are my all-time faves. I just love the line "It may seem romantic/but that's no defence." His voice is so compelling, in such a weird way.
   
2. Who's That Girl - Eurythmics. Thanks to my mother, I know almost every Eurhythmics song ever. Unlike some of our other 80s, more naff stuff that I know off by heart but am embarrassed to be so familiar with (Queen, Simply Red, basically), I utterly love them and have no shame in proclaiming that. This song is miraculous - the way it switches from this soft, cheesy sounding song, to the more strident, demanding bit, and then she changes again to the beseeching "Who's that girl?" over choppy synths and beats. Her voice is spectacular, and I think extremely understated - no frills, no warbles except used sparingly. It blends so well with the synthesisers, it's remarkable.
   
3. Everybody Here Wants You - Jeff Buckley. One of my desert island discs because it is so utterly, utterly perfect: longing, pretty, and the sparse instrumentation lets his voice soar and honestly always send chills down my spine.
   
4. Before Today - Everything But the Girl. Generally, I found their stuff pretty drippy, but I love this album, Mirrorball. It's the one dance album they did, inspired by Missing. It's wonderful for running to, so long as you're running outside. I used to run to this all the time over Blackheath during my masters. This is the opening track, and just brings back such clear memories of running down the hill into the village. When my knees worked. Sigh.
   
5. Hit - The Sugarcubes. I love this - the jangly guitars, the crazy little Icelandic man screeching incomprehensible madness over the break in the middle. The best bit, of course, is Bjork lamenting her falling in love - alternately upbraiding the object of her affections for doing this to her, and describing in detail exactly the effect of this undesired obsession.
   
6. Badge - Cream. Fine, but not exactly exciting, and I think Boston definitely borrowed part of the guitar from this for More Than a Feeling.
   
7. I Wanna Be Adored - The Stone Roses. The beginning build up to this is magnificent and, thank goodness, the rest of the song doesn't let it down. I didn't get why everyone was so into this album for such a long time, but then, for a long time I didn't get anything Manchester-sounding - this, the Smiths, New Order, Electronic, and then all of a sudden it happened. It may have been an Oasis-inspired awakening, but it had to happen somehow, better late than never, right?
   
8. Skin Trade - Duran Duran. DD are my favourite 80s band - barring # 10 here and Culture Club - and I just fricking love this song. It's them trying to be all slinky, and utterly ridiculous, but I love it. It really shows the versatility of SLB's unbelievable voice. For all the ridiculousness of the decade, DD show us how awesome that silliness could be, but that often hides how fab they were.
   
9. Getting Away With It - Electronic. This is ace - the combination of Neil Tennant, Johnny Marr and Barney Sumner was bizarrely a supergroup that actually worked. This is my favourite song off that album.
   
10. Head over Heels - Tears for Fears. TFF were my favourite, favourite band of the 80s. Full stop. I had videos, all the songs, and when I was 6 I was convinced I was going to marry the bass player, Curt Smith. I'd not listened to them for ages until Donnie Darko came out and people were going on about Mad World, and then I realised they were actually referring to the TFF song, just not their version. That reignited my interest, and I now listen to them quite a lot, but particularly this song, which I think is brilliant. I love the use of this in Donnie Darko in the first high school scene, it just fits wonderfully. But they were everything that's silly but kind of cool about the 80s - took themselves far too seriously, it seemed, but good pop tunes.
    

Sunday Selector: Terminally Tardy Tuesday Version

This is unsurprising, but I was busy trying to get everything ready for a guitar hero monster session at our place on Sunday featuring the talents (ahem) of the mighty Bootleg and our groupies.

It was... interesting. Anyway, no Sunday Selector or, indeed, Monday - farting around trying to get work done and get house ready for our disappearing for two weeks, essentially - DC for work, CA for more work but in a sunnier setting (if all that stupid rain disappears).

I also managed to almost complete my reinstalling of my iTunes library with all the stuff I thought I'd deleted but somehow managed to find. It's taken forever, but... there is still stuff missing, but that's from my pod, rather than the library, and I've also now got to delete the duplicates (have 2 or 3 copies of most songs, don't ask me how). So this Genius is, hopefully, a more complete genius. And in honour of finally getting back some of the music I've been missing dreadfully, this starts with Slow by Kylie Minogue.

1. Justify My Love - Madonna. Genuinely one of my favourite Madonna songs ever. I know it's her "trying to be sexy," but in this case it really works - she looks spectacular in the video, which can't be ignored when you hear the song, but I love the song as well. The beat (sampled from Public Enemy) works, and I just love the line "You put this in me. So now what? So now what?"
   
2. Number 1 - Goldfrapp. I adore her voice, and I love the album this is from (Supernature), but this is not my favourite from the album, although I like the reverbing bass, almost like a too loud sound in a club. I just think the melody of the synth over the top is not great. I do like their more folksy stuff, but this throbbing disco is also a lot of fun.
   
3. Erase/Rewind - The Cardigans. My favourite song by them full stop, I reckon. Her voice is spectacular - I think I failed to appreciate it at the time they were big because it seemed bland and too easy for her, but now I just realise how pretty, nuanced and remarkably perfect it is.
   
4. Girls & Boys - Blur. Oh SWEET this is the live version - which comes from the Mile End gig, which I attended. Many, many years ago. I was gutted to not be able to go to the reunion gigs in the UK this summer, but actually I now think it's a good idea not to - just to keep perfect the memories like this.
   
5. I'm a Slave 4 U - Britney Spears. This is the Neptunes at the height of their powers - using the best aspects of Britney's voice (yes, there are some), and all the typical Neptunes touches that are genius.
   
6. Lovelight - Robbie Williams (Soulwax Ravelight Dub). Yeah, there's not much Robbie in this. Which is probably a good thing.
   
7. The Real Thing - Gwen Stefani. Meh. There are a couple of good songs on this album, and even then I prefer the Franz Ferdinand cover of What You Waiting For?
   
8. Come into My World - Kylie. I didn't like this when it first came out, but I absolutely love it now. The woman is a genius. I don't know what happened, but my inner pop goddess appears to have emerged...
   
9. If - Janet Jackson. I love this. Janet Jackson singing about fantasizing and masturbating over some unnamed, unobtainable person. Brilliant.
   
10. Listen Up! - The Gossip. This was the first Gossip song I ever heard, and I utterly fell in love with her voice. But what drew me in are the basics - bass, cowbell, and not much more. They just let the beat and Beth's voice steal the show. It's still my favourite on this album.
    

Sunday Selector: The Monday Edition

Yesterday was a blur of activity. Well, not really. I watched West Ham v. Man Utd., then I went to a baby shower, bookclub and watched (after several fumbling attempts to utilize modern technology) two further episodes of Battlestar Galactica, my newest obsession. Goddamn it's tense. Essentially, it was not as relaxing a Sunday afternoon as it should have been. I was also recovering from a very late night out in BK watching Little Boots on Friday (my well-documented obsession of late).

So I wasn't sure what to go with for a starter for ten. Genius is still refusing to acknowledge Little Boots' presence. Two of my favourite songs of recent times got played at the club - the Aeroplane remix of Paris (originally Friendly Fires) and William's Blood by Grace Jones, but Genius doesn't deign to allow them a go either. So, in honour of a great night out (and great food although TERRIBLE drinks at Relish, first) we were going to go with Shove It by Santogold. But, of course, Genius doesn't like that either. It really is annoying that so many songs just don't work.

Right, inspired by one of my favourite concerts ever in BK, and her amazing performance last night (and I do mean the outfits), it's Bamboo Banga by MIA.

1. Fancy Footwork - Chromeo. I've heard this called "Stripper Music," and I sort of get it. Still, it makes me shake my arse, it cannot be denied. Although Bona Fide Lovin' is the one that worms inside my brain like almost nothing else. I have great memories of bopping around Pasadena to this album last spring break.
   
2. Earth Intruders - Bjork. I find her equally annoying and yet compelling to listen to. I can see why people loathe her as I listen to her, but the music, particularly the later, crunchier and more abstract stuff that has so much more electro and heavy drums and bass... it's brilliant.
3. DVNO - Justice. This whole album is pretty special, and has really grown on me (although the weird kid-singing ones are still slightly annoying), but this definitely makes a case for my favourite. What the hell it means, I have no idea.
   
4. Hustler - Simian Mobile Disco. This copy is actually from the Spank Rock Fabric Live (which is one of my favourites). I love the way they mix it in with big euphoric trance and then that sludgy bassline comes in, and then the euphoric comes over the top.
   
5. Touch It/Technologic - Daft Punk. This is from Alive 2007, one of the albums that confirms in my mind that 2007 was one of the best years for music that I can remember (1994 being another GENIUS one). The particular genius of this is that I loathe Discovery, the second Daft Punk album, yet this manages on each track to mix a song from the amazing Homework with a song from Discovery and it just works.
6. In the Morning - Junior Boys. Somehow I missed Junior Boys first time around, but again it's that crunchy bassline and I love the vocals so much. It really reminds me of someone else... can't work it out. But will do.
7. Don't Stop - Brazilian Girls. I went to a rather interesting concert of theirs that took far, far too long to get going. But the singer being highly preggers and wandering around in a body stocking was pretty awesome.
8. Galang - M.I.A. This was responsible for the most amazing bit of her concerts at Terminal 5 last year (or whenever it was). That "ya ya hey" bit - spinetingling. And everyone goes mad. Shame it was on those stupid car ads.
9. Hearts on Fire - Cut Copy. I downloaded this but haven't really listened to it yet - I think I bought it just because it was $5 on amazon's end of year sale, and heard various good (albeit generic) things about it. It's ok. Meh.
10. Sad Sad City - Ghostland Observatory. This is by far my favourite of their tunes. Funny how Genius does manage to find that sort of stuff... maybe it's not that bad after all. Then I remember how many songs it won't let me start a playlist with - LCD Soundsystem? Really, Genius? But I do love this. I'm so torn. Gah.
    

Sunday Selection: It's Just This One Ting...

Just got Ting Tings tickets for March, so in honour of that, a Genius playlist from That's Not My Name... It's silly, but it has a feeling of the Kills about it, and we bopped around to this a lot in South Africa last year.

1. Black & Gold - Sam Sparro. Goddamn I still love this song. I've been playing it tons for about a year, now (my 13th most played track of the past twelve months, according to last.fm) and I still think it's utterly gorgeous every time.
2. Warwick Avenue - Duffy. Of the rash of the Wino-clones, she is my favourite because I think her voice is the most interesting, with her Dusty Springfield-esque tones. Live, she is not - barely moves. But lovely voice. This album was the biggest-selling last year in Britain. Weird - I mean, it's fine, I like it, but in comparison to the Wino, not really up there. Mercy, of course, is genius.
3. Singin' in the Rain - Mint Royale. I hate this. Hate this. What is the point? It's such a gorgeous original, and I loathed the stupid car advert for which this was used, when they piss around with Gene Kelly. I love that film so much, and this is just pointless.
4. Wow - Kylie. I really do love me some Kylie. #15 on my listens for the last 12 months, bizarrely. Above Springsteen, Daft Punk, the Pixies... allsorts. Weird.
5. Ready for the Floor - Hot Chip (Too Many DJs remix). I know everyone loves hot chip, and I know that the Little Boots stuff I really love is produced by one of them. I have friends who yell at me about this. I do like the music, the production, it's just that guy's voice that irritates the crap out of me. I can't help it. Yet it's not that different from your man from underworld, Karl Hyde, but it's just so annoying.
6. Fluorescent Adolescent - Arctic Monkeys. This is TOH's favourite from the album, and it's one of mine too. I too think he has a remarkable gift for lyrics - seemingly very youthful in terms of energy, wit, yet sort of old before his time, jaded. It's an odd mix, but his voice really does lend itself to that mixture.
7. Electric Feel - MGMT. This is by far my favourite from that album. It's a grower, definitely - I didn't get the fuss at first, but it's increasingly growing on me. Like the Fleet Foxes album. Bon Iver I like, but remain still rather untouched by it.
   
8. Please Don't Stop the Music - Rihanna. I think Genius is mad - but indeed, has a touch of genius to put this all together. I do love Rihanna, and sampling one of my favourite Jacko songs of all time - Wanna Be Startin' Something - works absolutely brilliantly here, just as in that Mint Royale song it seems gimmicky and unnecessary.
9. Naive - The Kooks. They seem to engender a tremendous amount of hatred in British music critic circles, but I quite like this song. I just like that line "I know she knows that I'm not fond of asking."
10. Fans - Kings of Leon. I went through a period of really loving them - around Aha Shake Heartbreak - but haven't really listened to them for a long time. A lot of my friends are nuts for them, so I feel like I'm missing out on something. I should get back into them.
    

Sunday Selector: Guitar Hero Edition

So, I finally got Guitar Hero. Tragic, but true. And, of course, dear reader, I am utterly obsessed with it. Actually, "obsessed" doesn't do it justice.

There is no Jimi Hendrix on Guitar Hero. You can do Paint it, Black, but again, Genius cannot apparently deal with that (really? The effing Stones? How rubbish IS this program?). Nonetheless, I was in the mood for some serious guitar music, and so I listened to that on the way home from football and thought, who better to start off a genius top ten? So here it is - the Guitar Hero edition stemming from All Along the Watchtower.

1. White Room - Cream. I love this song, although in my mind, nothing ever beats Sunshine of Your Love which you can do on Guitar Hero, and is by far my favourite thing to play on it. And really is the best thing they ever did - sexy, genius guitar and fab. But I do love this, too.
   
2. Somebody to Love - Jefferson Airplane. Oh, how Grace Slick rocked. I'm sort of named in homage to her, if not entirely after her. Rocking. If only they could have seen "They Built This City." That's tragic.
3. Gimme Shelter - The Rolling Stones. I've been trying to work out what my favourite Stones song is, and I just can't. Under My Thumb is bizarrely, sadistically sexy; Paint It, Black is hypnotic and a wonderful description of a disturbed individual; You Can't Always Get What You Want is just fab. But if I'm in the mood for overwrought, haunting, dramatic and sexy, Gimme Shelter always wins. I just love that beginning, as the layers of sound and the volume build up.
4. About a Girl - Nirvana (MTV unplugged version). The more I think about it and listen to them, the more I am amazed at just how great Nirvana were. I took them for granted, I think, and still do, but the melodies are spectacular and they just seemed to meld the Pixies' gift for melodies and songs with Sonic Youth's sensibilities on dischordant songs.
   
5. Evil Ways - Santana. He's cheesy, but I still really enjoy it. The guitar is too smooth to really get to me - I know he's extremely gifted, but it's almost loungey to me - I prefer something a bit rougher. But, like I say, I still enjoy it, and this is much closer to the sort of stuff I like - more latin sounding.
   
6. Old Man - Neil Young. I absolutely, 100% fricking LOVE this Neil Young album - it's from Harvest, and although I tolerate his other stuff, I just really love this whole album - it's amazing from start to finish. Theatrical in some places (There's a World), political (Alabama, Are You Ready for the Country?) and just plain weird in others (A Man Needs a Maid). This is just lovely - the guitar is so pretty and folksy, and the chorus and its harmonies suck you in so that it's really, really hard to not sing it.
7. A Town Called Malice - The Jam. The start is so nicked from You Can't Hurry Love, but it's so exuberant, and I love the way that it takes a motown sound to talk politics. This is definitely one of my favourite Jam songs.
8. Highway Star - Deep Purple. I definitely prefer the more hippiefied Deep Purple - Hush, Smoke Along the Water. This is a bit too headbanging without anything else going on.
   
9. Voodoo Child - Jimi Hendrix. Sweet!
10. Roxanne - The Police. This remains in my top 5 songs of all time. I just love it. I know, I know, it's The Police. But how could you resist those pleas to her, the way his voices gets strangled with the emotion? And I fricking love the backing to this - the guitar is just genius. I just don't understand how someone couldn't love this song. It is, also, my karaoke song, but that's a whole other, truly terrifying story.
    

Sunday Selector

This is what I'm now going to call my random rules posts. Those observant readers will gather that I plan to do this on Sundays, particularly when I am at work. Because I hate being at work on Sundays. But the same thing applies: ten songs at random from the Pod of i.

What this list cannot feature are the new bands with whom I am obsessed. I have started using myspace again because I can access these bands before the stuff is released, and it is fantastically useful. Not least because I read columsn raving about Lady Gaga and listened and didn't like it, whereas am still utterly obsessed after many listens to Little Boots (who I am going to see on Feb 6 which makes me very happy), The Invisible (how could I not love London Girl?) and Grand National (I really have been unable to stop listening and will be doing some purchasing tonight), plus an honourable mention to La Roux, whose site is slightly annoying but I like the tunes.

1. The Party - Justice. Not my favourite from the album, and the vocals really do remind me of a cross between Avenue D and Hustler by Simian Mobile Disco (also touring, cannot wait to see them in April). But I like the bassline when it gets started...
2. The Pills Won't Help You Know - The Chemical Brothers. Hmm, I'm not too keen on this or, indeed, this whole album. I have quite a few friends who really got into it, and loved it live, but I'm just not sure about it. Nothing they do can ever, for me, compete with Life is Sweet, which is one of my favourite songs ever, and the whole first and second albums, really. But it's still pretty good, and some of the songs from the previous album wormed their way into my heads so that I do really like them.
3. 21st Century Life - Sam Sparro. This was from an album from 2008 that I really did enjoy, seeing as it sort of covered the same territory as Multiply by Jamie Lidell and Jim was disappointing in its straight-up soul (even though I did quite like it). Nothing on the Sam Sparro stood up to the glories of Black and Gold, but it is definitely enjoyable.
   
4. Public Enemy - A Tribe Called Quest. This is from the first album, which is the one I've probably listened to the least. My big loves are Midnight Marauders and The Low-End Theory. But the Tribe is the Tribe, and I can basically listen to Q-Tip rap anything, such is my love for him. When people claim Lil Wayne is the greatest rapper alive it really does astound me when you have smarter, funnier and better ones in abundance.
5. The Update - The Beastie Boys. I really still like Ill Communication, although the first half really is superior to the second. Apparently they're releasing a special twentieth anniversary edition of Paul's Boutique, which means that it's a scarily long time that they've been making music. I think they really have lost it, but they produced a succession of albums - Paul's Boutique, Ill Communication and Hello, Nasty - that I love. Particularly once they dropped the homophobia and the general misogyny from the early stuff, although Girls is a genius song. Can't help but stomp around to it.
6. Tonight - Richard Hawley. I love, love, love this song. Cole's Corner, the album it's from, is utterly gorgeous from start to end, but this is one of three songs (the others being Coles Corner and The Ocean) that are truly special. The longing, misery and melancholy resonate throughout these songs and elevate them above anything else he's done. The hairs on my neck stand up every time I hear the guitar on this.
   
7. Bryn - Vampire Weekend. This album was so highly rated last year, and I do like it - it's good to play when you have people over, and I've heard it most at other people's houses. But I find I rarely listen to it on my own, which I think tells me something about how much I really like it.
8. Hometown Waltz - Rufus Wainwright. I love Rufus so, and this album, Want Two, is my favourite of his - the range of the music, and the sheer wondrousness of The Art Teacher and The Gay Messiah make it for me. His lyrics make me laugh and somehow infuse situations with humour, longing and wistfulness as well as sharp and harsh critiques, like this of Ontario.
   
9. Cigarettes and Coffee - Otis Redding. Who on earth doesn't love Otis? Seriously? The man is a genius, and this is glorious, like basically everything he ever did. The production is gorgeous, the emotion in his voice that isn't overwrought but just pitched right... sigh.
10. Jupiter (The Planet Suite) - Holst. During the last year of law school I started listening to classic music far more, as I found I am much more productive with that than pop music, and it was also a change from the electronic music (and MC Solaar) that I have been using to work to since I was 18. This is a result of that... Not my favourite at all, but not too intrusive.

Random Rules: The Dumb Dumb Dumb Dumb Dumb Generation

I've been meaning to try out the genius function on the new iTunes, but not got round to it really, and now I don't want to use it to generate this list as I've managed to erase half my tunes and am in the process of trying to reconstitute my library. Hmm, not having so much luck with the music these days. Anyhoo, it's Thursday, I'm bored, so here we go with a fuller iPod than last time...

1. The Universal - Blur. Oh, how I loved Blur. Passionately, madly, obsessively in the way that only a teenager can. I think if you've really, really, really loved a band it becomes slightly weird to be this older person who doesn't keep up with everything that's happening, who doesn't embrace that kind of love again, and who doesn't know the words to every song that a band could feasibly play at a concert. But I felt the flame reignite at news that Blur have been considering reforming - possibly with ALL the members... sigh sigh sigh. SO overexcited. I also utterly love this gently swaying song, with its lush sound, strings and brass. Sigh. I also recently rediscovered The Great Escape - it's nowhere near as bad as everyone leads you to believe. It just happens to be a somewhat dull filling when sandwiched between Parklife and Blur. Although Modern Life Is Rubbish still holds the dearest place in my heart.
   
2. Nothing Lasts - The Hacker. From a 2 Many DJs compilation. Fudgy fuzzy baseline, sounds pretty decent.
3. She's The One - Bruce Springsteen. I love me some of the Boss. I think Nebraska is my favourite album - so bleak and beautiful - but I love the power pop of Born in the USA - I can't help it. This is from Born to Run, which is less compelling for me, but I remain immensely overexcited about the prospect of Bruce at the Super Bowl.
   
4. William's Blood - Grace Jones. This is wonderful. It comes from her new album, Hurricane, and is just gorgeous. Her voice sounds incredible, the production is spinetingling. Someone on the guardian music podcast described it as a seemless transition from the groove-based dance she did in the 1980s to now, and I think that was incredibly accurate. I am definitely purchasing this whole album.
5. Putting on the Ritz - The Dizzy Club. Dudes doing covers of standards. Awesome and loungey and somehow very Christmassy.
6. Wordy Rappinghood - Chicks on Speed. This is from the Spank Rock Fabric Live album. I really think that's an excellent series of albums. I know, I know, we're supposed to own all these things individually and not buy compilation albums, man. I hate that - it fundamentally disses the art of DJing - you like the way it all melds together, and that someone else puts effort to putting these things in this order and mixes them this way. And if it inspires you to buy the underlying records, great. But quite often the DJ has chosen the best bits or best mixes, and you end up disappointed...
   
7. Babe Ruth - The Mexican. Kind of sounds like a weird deep purpley version of Grace Slick. Like it!
8. Afrika Shox - Leftfield. Off the admittedly not awesome Rhythm & Stealth album. Although I fricking love Dusted, the tune with Roots Manuva. But I do love the way it really pays homage to the Bambaataa pioneered sound.
9. High Rise - Orbital. This really, really, really reminds me of typing furiously in the computer room at college. I'm a last-minute kind of person, clearly, so I would faff and maybe write a bit of an essay, but then about 4 hours before it was due I'd just rewrite the whole thing from scratch. And as I didn't have a computer, I'd do it in the computer room, listening to this album. Ever since it's been a go-to album for that kind of stressful output.
   
10. Born Loser - Kyza. I reckon this might be the best British hip hop album since the awesome Awfully Deep. This isn't one of my favourite tracks, but it's still great.
    

Random Rules: The Wiped Out Generation

The week before last we had a bit of an excitable dance party at wine club. I am now a wholehearted supporter of the dance party concept, despite it being inextricably linked with the horror that is the latter seasons of Grey's Anatomy. It's a brilliant idea - you don't have to pay $14 for a drink, no cover, and you get to hear the tunes you want to hear. Sweet.

Unfortunately, after the highs came the lows - it buggered up my iPod sufficiently that it whirred, creaked, and had to be restored by the kindly folks at the apple store. From 75gb of music, I had none. Ulp. Not the first time that it's happened, so the sheer horror was not quite what it could have been. And you know what? It's been liberating. I am starting afresh, and I don't have to put on all the things that were on before that I felt I ought to listen to but never do. I've got about 6gb on there at the mo. So here, courtesy of the shuffle function, is a random ten:

1. Treasures - Thievery Corporation. This was one of the first albums I put back on the 'Pod. Very excited about their tour in the new year to support their new album. This album (The Mirror Conspiracy) takes me back to the year of my MSc - just moved back to London, living in Blackheath, and listening to this. A lot. This album also reminds me of our first trip to NYC, where we saw them and were stunned by how great they were live - much more upbeat and danceable. It was excellent.
2. Multiply (Herbert's Hoedown Bump Instrumental) - Jamie Lidell. I have been disappointed with the new Jamie Lidell, I cannot lie. It's fine - but I loved the first one so much. Particularly, I loved all the remixes that he released on Multiply Additions. What I also love about that album is that we discovered it completely by accident - Tower Records by Lincoln Center was closing down, and selling off all its cds. We got in there, and didn't really find anything for the first ten minutes, were ready to leave, and then one of TOH or I - can't remember - spotted something we liked in the dance section. So decided to give it a more thorough look - and found this, several 2ManyDJs remixes, Stanton Warriors stuff, just tons of unexpected things that are highly expensive normally, as dance music tends to be. Brilliant. So it just makes me happy that a) I like the album and b) we discovered it by chance - just as I did with Jamie in general, as it was waking up at 2 in the morning that I first heard him on XFm back home...
3. Samba Triste - Jackie & Roy. This, unsurprisingly, is off yet another Thievery Corporation compilation (Sounds from the Verve Hi-Fi). Yes, I'm lazy, but their blend of Latin and Indian influences is just great for working to, produces some of my favourite albums, and so I'm always interested in what they're listening to, and nicking it.
4. Chocolate - Kylie. Ahem. I have a deep and abiding love for Body Language, the album that this is from. It all started with Slow, which I think is a genuinely genius piece of sultry pop music, and the video is shot at the outdoor pool at Montjuic in Barcelona, which always makes me happy. It led to a love of all recent Kylie, but not this song oddly enough, which is one of my least favourite from the album. And this reminds me that I want to download a brilliant cover version of Slow that I'd heard ages ago and was played before the start of The Kills show a couple of weeks ago. And that reminds me that I need to put The Kills on my iPod. Weird that I've not, as they're my most listened to band of the last 12 months...
5. The Meeting Place - The Last Shadow Puppets. This is one of those albums that I just haven't listened to enough, given how much everyone raves about it and the fact that I do think Alex Turner is a genius. What, you might ask, is it doing on my iPod when I said I'd put my favourites on it? Well, I started by going through my albums in alphabetic order, and as it's called The Age of the Understatement, that makes sense, non? Very Burt Bacharach, which is a pretty good thing in my book.
6. Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough - Michael Jackson. It's just genius. Reminds me also that I was having dance parties in 1997 in my first year of uni - three of us were dancing around like nutters to this and got caught by another friend. Looked rather stupid. Oops.
7. Some Girls Are Bigger than Others - The Smiths. I am not an enormous fan of The Smiths, and this was another alphabetical choice - it's a best-of compilation, showing again my lukewarm commitment to them. But occasionally one of their tunes will come on and it's just the most perfect thing ever, and there are enough of them that do that that makes me think I do quite like them after all.
8. Necromancing - Gnarls Barkley. Another highly anticipated album that was a bit pants this year, but this first one is still pretty damned good. Although I think I prefer ... Is the Soul Machine by Cee-lo Green, which was another random impulse purchase that turned out rather fantastically well.
9. Meeting Paris Hilton - Cansei de Ser Sexy. Holy cow, this list is full of bands who made great albums in the past and pants ones this year.
10. My Iron Lung - Radiohead. I've come round to the later albums, particularly Kid A and Amnesiac, as they are phenomenal to work to. They are just so much more courageous than bands such as Oasis, who continue to make limp versions of albums they made twelve years ago. Persistence with them makes them listenable, too, even if I'm not going to be humming the tunes as on The Bends or OK, Computer. That's not everything... although I'm one of the people who was a bit more lukewarm about In Rainbows, but I'm sure it'll grow on me - it also provides an excellent backdrop for document review.

Random Generator: The Serious Procrastination Edition

1. Otha Fish - The Pharcyde. It's odd how the general west/east coast divide splits me evenly, really, between the two. For I do love the Wu Tang, and some Jay-Z. And I couldn't give a monkey's for mucho of the West Coast gangsta/heavy nonsense. But I love me some laidback, more lyrically interesting stuff like the Pharcyde or Jurassic 5. I particularly like the Pharcyde because when they talk about sex, it's comical, and they talk about love, break ups, like in this, without expressing the need to humiliate / beat / generally do violence upon women in general. Plus, who couldn't love a song with the line "A manwich is a meal"?
   
2. Fuck Knows Blud - Jehst. Jehst produced one unbelievable tune that I absolutely bloody love, called Under The Weather, which is on one of DJ risco's fab mixes that he did us. I haven't listened to this, and while the rapping does have that slightly weird accent that many British rappers adopt, it's distinctive and pretty sweet.
   
3. Waters of Nazareth - Justice. One of my favourite albums of last year, this hasn't been one of my favourite tunes thus far, but listening to it now it's got a lot of the stuff I quite like about earlier Daft Punk (such as Rollin' & Scratchin') - harsher sounding, rougher, but with a good disco sensibility underneath. Love it.
4. Save a Prayer - Duran Duran. Oh, how I love Duran Duran. Awesome pop, ridiculous videos, stupidly self-important, but Simon Le Bon's voice really is a thing of rare beauty, in my opinion. Only highlighted by some horrendous eurodance version a couple of years ago. PLUS Arctic Monkeys reference it in Teddy Picker - what more do you need?
5. Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos - Public Enemy. Is Chuck D guilty of that horror teenage girls are accused of - having a less "talented" friend (Flava Flav) around to show how wonderful he is? Just a question. This song is possibly one of my favourites by Public Enemy, only enhanced by the bizarro Tricky cover version. I also love the fact that the production is so sparse - yes, it was of the time, but it allows him to speak and be heard - it never overshadows him. I fear that these days, it'd be all about samples that tried to compete with him. Which would not be good.*
6. Summertime - Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince. This remains my favourite explicitly-summer-based (i.e. in the title) song of all time, despite strong competition from the Isley Brothers. Love love love it. Even if he is now bff with Tom Cruise.
   
7. This Is How It Feels - The Inspiral Carpets. For a brief period, I loved them - and this is one of my favourites, although personally, I think the duet with Mark E. Smith (I Want You) is the best thing they ever did.
8. A Little Deeper - Ms. Dynamite. Honestly, I listen to nothing on this album except for Dy-Na-Mit-Ee, which I think is genuinely genius, and occasionally It Takes More. She has such a great, smoky, slightly roughened voice, and I think it's really underused on this album. Given that this album was up against Original Pirate Material AND Run Come Save Me, it is really rather ridiculous it won, I think, given that the depth of those and the real lack of depth of this.
9. Tick - Yeah Yeah Yeahs. A good friend of mine loathes the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, which I did at first, but this album (Fever to Tell) was MY album in the first year I came to law school, and really reminds me of walking to lectures in the mornings, and just being overwhelmed with being in NYC. I think lots of people who move here have a "NYC" album (often Interpol's latest, apparently), and this is mine. Plus, I absolutely love the video for this.**
10. There She Goes - The La's. I've never been a big fan of the "Liverpool" sound - I like bits of the Coral, but didn't think the La's were all that. Having said that, this is so sweet and summery, I love it. And that Sixpence None The Richer cover was genuinely horrific, showed up the quality of his voice, and I really think a Christian rock band should probably not cover songs if they're about heroin addiction.
    

* He is going to be featured in a guardian special on the greatest lyricists of all time, soon, which I am looking forward to greatly. Must get the parentals to save me a copy.
** I looked for an online source, but couldn't find one anywhere. Dammit!

Random Rules: April '08

1. Reign Dub - Dual Tones. This version, at least, is from my Thievery Corporation DJ Kicks album. It remains my favourite of the DJ Kicks, which is probably also my favourite of this sort of compilation (although I like Back to Mine a lot, too). Unlike some snobs, I see no problem with collecting what your favourite people are listening to, and exploring music that way - how is it different from getting a tracklist from a DJ set? Or are you just supposed to know? I have been and still am a music snob in certain ways, but that seems pointless to me. I buy basically everything Thievery Corporation do, as either DJs or their own music, because it's all fabulous. This album is also absolutely awesome to work to. Which is what I'm ostensibly doing while writing this post.
   
2. Looking for Love - Karen Ramirez. Embarrassingly, I just love this song. It's soppy and silly, but it's just so sweet. It's an Everything But The Girl Song, but I love this version - her voice is so delicate, and somehow the production seems to capture the wonderment of falling love - it just makes me happy through its sheer loveliness.
   
3. Feo - Fito & Fitipaldis. I think this is one of the cds that my dear friend Larra gave me when I left Costa Rica. We had talked repeatedly about my ignorance about Spanish-language music - other than another embarrassing like for Alejandro Sanz (if you admit to that over the age of 16 in Spain they think you're an idiot). So she did a really sweet thing and gave me a wallet of cds of Spanish language. And generally, I like them. Generally, but I don't listen to them enough.
4. Top Hat - The Dizzy Club. I love this song - it's from one of my favourite films of all time - also called Top Hat. I prefer the Fred Astaire version, it has to be said, but I don't mind this one at all.
5. The Twelfth of Never - Nina Simone. Her voice is just a wonderful instrument, and that she fought so hard for civil rights, and was an activist, makes so many of today's infantile stars, those that just want to be famous so they can have a big house and get free stuff just seem... pointless. But you knew that already. And I shouldn't rail against them too much - I do have a weird loathing for Bono, after all.
6. Got To Be Me - H20. Well, here's another from a DJ collection - this one Another Late Night by Rae & Christian. I bought this not because of the collection, but because Blazing the Crop by Rae & Christian is one of my all-time favourite DJ mixes, if not my favourite. This I listen to less, but I still like it a lot.
7. Hey Mama - Kanye West. I'm never sure how I feel about rappers thanking their mothers, particularly if they speak about other women with utterly foul mouths and seem to have no problem with the depiction of women as money-grabbing whorish sex objects. I just wonder how much their mothers are proud of those lyrics, or those videos? How much respect for women and the work that mothers do are in those? Still, Kanye's not exactly a bad offender, so it's not about him. I don't mind this song but it's not exactly my favourite of his tunes.
8. A Girl Like You - Aaliyah. I was not a big fan of Aaliyah in her earlier years, basically because I was going through my indie purist phase, when I didn't like R&B or Hip Hop at all (other than Public Enemy, natch). What I failed to appreciate was the way her delicate, sweet voice was such a perfect match for heavier production; it just floats over the top, and raises what might otherwise be mediocre songs to much greater heights. She was such a good foil for missy eliot & timbaland - it's weird to remember that that's how Missy got her big break. This is typical - sweet and soulful.
   
9. Don't Die Just Yet - David Holmes. As I suspected, I had David Holmes last month, too. So you should read that entry.
10. Montego Bay Spleen - St. Germain. I did not use to be a fan of all things Frenchy-jazzy-housey until TOH converted me. This is off one of his favourite ever albums (Tourist), and although it's not my favourite track, it's grand. That honour goes to Rose Rouge, which once we heard at the roller disco in Central Park - it was such a great moment to see the crazy skaters and this fabulous song together, a bizarre mismatch and yet perfect. Sort of like NYC, really.

AND NOW - I TAG YOU PEOPLE! Portax, Xopo, WUB, Mrs. Devo - generate your tunes, randomly!

Random Generator: Mar '08

Well, this was supposed to be a thoughtful post about race, given that I have seen a million different articles that are interesting, provocative and sad. Instead, I'm going to point you to them and instead write about something far more suited to my shallow talents - random generator!

1. I Want Your Love - Kelis. My love for Kelis diminished after reading her enlightened take on feminism (and yes, she reframed the term, but too late. Seriously, lady, just say YES I am and then say WHY).
2. Assault on Babylon - Thievery Corporation. Love it, love it. Just love everything about TC - I just wish they'd come back for live stuff - the concert I went to the first time I was in NYC was one of the best things I've ever seen.
3. Rodney Yates - David Holmes. How apt, having just watched the start of Ocean's Eleven last night, and also talking about that first trip to NYC - we listened to this non-stop in the apartment we rented. Weird how an album can capture both Las Vegas and New York so well, and come from an Irishman. I love that about music, its ability to transcend where you come from.
4. Red Velvet - OutKast. Outkast I have tons of, should listen to more - it's like Prince doing Hip Hop - both in terms of inventiveness and sound and on all albums, not just The Love Below / Speakerboxxx, but this, Stankonia, too - yet I don't, not enough, anyway. Stupid. But I like this.
   
5. On the Block - R.A. The Ruggedman. I quite like R.A. the Ruggedman, who can't quite seem to get over the success of Eminem as being the preeminent white rapper, poor dear. A couple of tunes on this album (Die, Rugged Man, Die) are excellent. Still, not desperately overexcited about him.
6. To the Sky - Maps. Recommended by a friend, painfully not yet listened to, but I like this. I think I shall try more. Dancey, electronica-influenced rock of a type that I am not yet sick of.
   
7. Acid Lab - Alex Reece. I've been getting back into my old school DnB, and jungle and this is from one of my favourite albums of the period, So Far.
   
8. Star Me Kitten - R.E.M. Hot damn, remember when the release of a new R.E.M. album was a big deal? Does anyone buy their albums anymore? They have a new one out, and I heard a single (on the guardian's music weekly podcast reviews section), and it was so... underwhelming. Same old, same old. Yet I loved this album. I saw them live on my 16th birthday - although I'd chosen that gig because Blur were supporting. I ate a very disgustingly melted Whole Nut from the machine at the tube station on the way home. It was a good day.
9. Pump Me Up - Trouble Funk. Off a compilation. I do like me some funk occasionally. And this is funky. When you listen to it it's utterly recognisable, because it's been sampled a great number of times by early 80s hip hop.
   
10. Sleep Well Tonight (live) - Gene. I used to love Gene, dammit, their melodramatic posturings and Smiths-lite angst-ridden tunes (and Martin Rossiter's wonderful floppy hair) playing to my teenaged heart. Still, their first album (and this song in particular) still frequent my iPod, and I love it.
    

Random Generator: Feb 08

If my utter blogging and podcasting heroines at Pandagon insist, I'll oblige:

1) Gronlandic Edit - Of Montreal. The vocals remind me of Clor, in turn of things along the Buggles lines, but the bassline is much funkier and dancetastic (that's a word, isn't it?). The vocals could veer Hot Chip-ish, with which I would have real problems... I don't know quite why I loathe Hot Chip so, everyone tells me they're awesome, but I remain unconvinced. But it's one of those arch songs, with clever harmonies, that lots of people like and I can take in small doses - the bass definitely saves it. I could dance to this in the right mood. And there's no higher praise than me shaking my tail.

2) Newme - Jamie Lidell. Can I tell you just how overfricking excited I am about Jim, Jamie Lidell's new album? I may burst. A few days ago he announced the first single (which I will listen to as soon as my ten songs are up). He's playing in May & June over here - dates not yet finalised - and I may burst again. This is actually possibly one of my least favourite songs on the album, but live sounds awesome - his habits of looping and pissing around with the songs means that things like this, The City, they just make more sense.

3) Born in the U.S.A. - Bruce Springsteen. I love the Boss. Not much else to say. A mate of mine had a seminar with Bruce Springsteen once, where Bruce had done the reading, and had to raise his hand to answer questions and put forward his viewpoint like the students. I was quite drunk when she told me this, and I thought it was appropriate to keep yelling "The Boss does not have to raise his hand when he wants to speak." Yep, I did. I also jumped on a booth and sang Roxanne to the bar. It was one of those nights.

4) Jacqueline - Franz Ferdinand. I've been listening to the second album a bit more, and I really like it; I'd forgotten it took me a while to like this one. But the second one is really clever, pretty and interesting. This song reminds me of driving through France to Spain when TOH and I had to collect all my stuff from Barcelona to move home. We borrowed a car from a family member, took the ferry to France (Dieppe? Le Havre? I can't remember!). Then we drove out, and once we were on the road with directions safely followed, we decided to put this cd on the radio, and it really was the start of the journey. We listened to the album going across this utterly beautiful, enormous suspension bridge in the middle of nowhere. This should go on those driving albums - along with Layla, Born to Be Wild, that sort of thing.

5) Chaos - U.N.K.L.E. Remember when James Lavelle could do no wrong? Now look at him! (click on artists, and he's the guy with the stringy long hair.) What happened? I hate it when my teenage crushes start to... well, have hair like that. This album wasn't that good, and this was not one of the best songs on it. I wonder why I even have it.

6) Demarre Le Chauve - Pepe Bradock. This comes from a wicked collection, Beats & Pieces, put together (I think) by L'il Louis Vega. I still haven't been to his sets at Cielo. I suck. Maybe later this semester...

7) Run - Air. I've not listened to Talkie Walkie much, but I think I should, and just try and approach it differently from Moon Safari. The comparisons are unfair, because they're just not trying to do the same thing here, so I think I've not been mentally with it to give it a fair go.

8) Diamonds and Pearls - Prince. I, like the rest of the US, went through a Prince renaissance after the Super Bowl performance last year. Because it was AWESOME and I had forgotten how much I loved him. This is such a ridiculous song - the middle 8 with the very late 80s / early 90s guitar solo. But it works, basically because it's Prince.

9) The Blast - Talib Kweli. I love this tune. The beat, the gentleness of it, the old school feel, the way it seems to shimmer. The Gil Scott-Heron bit at the end doesn't harm it, either. Kweli is consistently excellent. Love it.

10) I Wanna Grow up to Be a Politician - Utterly perfect timing what with the primaries... brilliant to end on!

Cross-posted to Last.Fm.