SUMMER COUNTRY 2012...fact of the matter is that I actually heard some decent modern country songs this year. Here's a list of the best of 'em. Especially like the Brandley Gilbert songs ("Kick It in the Sticks"). I'm as surprised as anyone that a track by Gloriana made the cut, but it's such a well produced, well written song that I can't resist.
ANTIQUE MUSIC BOX COLLECTION...a really cool compilation of actual music boxes from back in the days before electricity and radio when such contraptions were the chief musical entertainment in the home. I was hoping for jewel box stuff but this is great, too.
U24U...how clever is that title, eh? Basically a selection of my favorite U2 songs. I used to be a huge U2 fan back in the early 80s but my enthusiasm has waned somewhat in the intervening years. This list was an attempt to get the fire burning again.
AVERAGE JOES...this one is a hit or miss affair. It's pretty much just all the artists I could fine who record for the Average Joes label and it's subsidiaries. There's a lot of really hardcore shitkicker/cowboy rap (which is extremely popular with the younger rodeo competitors), modern honky tonk and other unconventional C&W based fare.
SIGUR ROS: 6/12/08 UPTOWN THEATER, KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI...the set list from the second Sigur Ros concert I attended, in order of performance. I should try to track down a list from the first and do the same with it.
MAHLER ABBADO +...the majority of this playlist is made up of Claudio Abbodo's interpretations of Gustav Mahler's 9 symphonies. Other conductors takes on the same material is also included.
ALL THINGS SIGUR ROS...even if the connection is ridiculously minute it's probably here. From Iceland? Here. Produced by a band member? Here. Played shows with Sigur Ros? Here. Side projects? Well that should be obvious, but this long list offers more variety than most people would probably want. Oh well...the Sigur Ros albums are included, too.
LILI KRAUSS: COMPLETE MOZART PIANO SONATAS...I don't generally make lists of one album but I wanted to keep this one available because it holds sentimental value for me. I heard it on classical radio when I was 11 or 12 years old. It's not that I'd heard other performances (obviously) but I could sense a quality to Krauss' playing that was appealing to me. I eventually acquired both volumes of the record and it was a very important portal into the world of Mozart and classical music in general.
HILLSONG...well, if you're in the mood for a butt load of Christian Praise & Worship music this list is for you. It's quality. I like to listen to it every once in a while. I kind of have an issue with them because they charge admission to their concerts and I don't think that's right. If you're going to do praise & worship it seems disingenuous, in the same unflattering category as the televangelist creeps on the religious satellite networks. The main reason I will still listen is because I love the way it sounds when a few thousand people sing together in a big auditorium.
CONNECTIONS...the idea for this list was to start with one particular artist, add two or three of their albums then click on the "Related Artists" link, pick one and add some of their records, repeating the entire cycle until the playlist reached the full capacity of what Spotify allows per list (right at 10,000 tracks, as it turns out). I deliberately began with a band I had heard of but not heard their music (Savoy Brown). It was surprising how the chain of "Related Artists" linked to so many different genres of music. Blues, as you might guess, classic rock and the like, but also modern acts like Low and Red House Painters. Relatively popular bands from the 80s. Listen and you'll see. However I did allow one diversion from the formula. I felt that soul/R&B wasn't getting enough space (having skipped James Brown on one of the turns) so I went ahead and seeded the list with Joe Tex and watched it take off into funk and 80s-era popular urban music. There is a VAST array of musicians and material here and it's not based around "the hits" so a lot of deep cuts dominate. Once again I reiterate, this is a LONG list. Shuffle play is a MUST if you want to get even a small taste of what is offered here. The list is in a constant state of change as well, as I weed out stuff that made it to "Related Artists" but don't make the cut with my own personal taste.
SCHMALTZE HEAVEN...a guilty pleasure of mine: elevator music aka. "beautiful music". Percy Faith, Montovani, 101 Strings Orchestra, Mystic Moods...a plethora of saccharine, sleep-inducing string music and "light music" for when you just don't feel like listening to another hour of Skinny Puppy.
MIKE OLDFIELD: THE FIRST FOUR ALBUMS..."Tubular Bells", "Hergest Ridge" & "Ommadawn" were three of the most influential albums I owned as a child. They gave me an appreciation for "long form" works, which in turn prepared me for symphonies and other classic structures. And they were (are) just damn good. As for "Incantations"...it wasn't until several years after it's release that I could get a copy of that one, and even then I had to buy it as an import. It is the last of the Oldfield "long form" works (unless you count the less than impressive "Amarok", the numerous reincarnations of "Tubular Bells" and the excellent "The Songs of Distant Earth" from much later in his career). "Incantations", in my opinion, doesn't rise to the level of it's predecessors but has it's moments nevertheless.
RAGA...a hefty collection of Indian Classical Music with emphasis on the sitar. Ravi Shankar is the obvious example. If you like this kind of thing you'll really love this playlist.
NEW TEST PSYCHE (GILLIGAN'S MIX)...a compilation of modern bands including Fleet Foxes, Band of Horses, M83 alongside of a couple of old warhorses ("New Test Leper" is likely the last REM song I every really liked). The obligatory Sigur Ros track is not neglected, It's only about 15 songs and sequenced to listen to in order. Even if you don't like the music you have to admit that the playlist name is pretty durned cool.
DIGITAL: JOY DIVISION'S BEST...as the title implies. Also sequenced to be heard in order.
BEST OF THE CLASH...IMO, of course, but I was there when the Clash first shot to the top and I watched their star descend so one would be wise to put stock in the variety and quality of my choices.
AVERAGE JOES...this one is a hit or miss affair. It's pretty much just all the artists I could fine who record for the Average Joes label and it's subsidiaries. There's a lot of really hardcore shitkicker/cowboy rap (which is extremely popular with the younger rodeo competitors), modern honky tonk and other unconventional C&W based fare.
SIGUR ROS: 6/12/08 UPTOWN THEATER, KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI...the set list from the second Sigur Ros concert I attended, in order of performance. I should try to track down a list from the first and do the same with it.
MAHLER ABBADO +...the majority of this playlist is made up of Claudio Abbodo's interpretations of Gustav Mahler's 9 symphonies. Other conductors takes on the same material is also included.
ALL THINGS SIGUR ROS...even if the connection is ridiculously minute it's probably here. From Iceland? Here. Produced by a band member? Here. Played shows with Sigur Ros? Here. Side projects? Well that should be obvious, but this long list offers more variety than most people would probably want. Oh well...the Sigur Ros albums are included, too.
LILI KRAUSS: COMPLETE MOZART PIANO SONATAS...I don't generally make lists of one album but I wanted to keep this one available because it holds sentimental value for me. I heard it on classical radio when I was 11 or 12 years old. It's not that I'd heard other performances (obviously) but I could sense a quality to Krauss' playing that was appealing to me. I eventually acquired both volumes of the record and it was a very important portal into the world of Mozart and classical music in general.
HILLSONG...well, if you're in the mood for a butt load of Christian Praise & Worship music this list is for you. It's quality. I like to listen to it every once in a while. I kind of have an issue with them because they charge admission to their concerts and I don't think that's right. If you're going to do praise & worship it seems disingenuous, in the same unflattering category as the televangelist creeps on the religious satellite networks. The main reason I will still listen is because I love the way it sounds when a few thousand people sing together in a big auditorium.
CONNECTIONS...the idea for this list was to start with one particular artist, add two or three of their albums then click on the "Related Artists" link, pick one and add some of their records, repeating the entire cycle until the playlist reached the full capacity of what Spotify allows per list (right at 10,000 tracks, as it turns out). I deliberately began with a band I had heard of but not heard their music (Savoy Brown). It was surprising how the chain of "Related Artists" linked to so many different genres of music. Blues, as you might guess, classic rock and the like, but also modern acts like Low and Red House Painters. Relatively popular bands from the 80s. Listen and you'll see. However I did allow one diversion from the formula. I felt that soul/R&B wasn't getting enough space (having skipped James Brown on one of the turns) so I went ahead and seeded the list with Joe Tex and watched it take off into funk and 80s-era popular urban music. There is a VAST array of musicians and material here and it's not based around "the hits" so a lot of deep cuts dominate. Once again I reiterate, this is a LONG list. Shuffle play is a MUST if you want to get even a small taste of what is offered here. The list is in a constant state of change as well, as I weed out stuff that made it to "Related Artists" but don't make the cut with my own personal taste.
SCHMALTZE HEAVEN...a guilty pleasure of mine: elevator music aka. "beautiful music". Percy Faith, Montovani, 101 Strings Orchestra, Mystic Moods...a plethora of saccharine, sleep-inducing string music and "light music" for when you just don't feel like listening to another hour of Skinny Puppy.
MIKE OLDFIELD: THE FIRST FOUR ALBUMS..."Tubular Bells", "Hergest Ridge" & "Ommadawn" were three of the most influential albums I owned as a child. They gave me an appreciation for "long form" works, which in turn prepared me for symphonies and other classic structures. And they were (are) just damn good. As for "Incantations"...it wasn't until several years after it's release that I could get a copy of that one, and even then I had to buy it as an import. It is the last of the Oldfield "long form" works (unless you count the less than impressive "Amarok", the numerous reincarnations of "Tubular Bells" and the excellent "The Songs of Distant Earth" from much later in his career). "Incantations", in my opinion, doesn't rise to the level of it's predecessors but has it's moments nevertheless.
RAGA...a hefty collection of Indian Classical Music with emphasis on the sitar. Ravi Shankar is the obvious example. If you like this kind of thing you'll really love this playlist.
NEW TEST PSYCHE (GILLIGAN'S MIX)...a compilation of modern bands including Fleet Foxes, Band of Horses, M83 alongside of a couple of old warhorses ("New Test Leper" is likely the last REM song I every really liked). The obligatory Sigur Ros track is not neglected, It's only about 15 songs and sequenced to listen to in order. Even if you don't like the music you have to admit that the playlist name is pretty durned cool.
DIGITAL: JOY DIVISION'S BEST...as the title implies. Also sequenced to be heard in order.
BEST OF THE CLASH...IMO, of course, but I was there when the Clash first shot to the top and I watched their star descend so one would be wise to put stock in the variety and quality of my choices.
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