As part of a some minor retail therapy yesterday, which included three long sleeved T-shirts from the [as usual] boys' department (thankfully, despite my horrible diet combined with almost complete lack of running these past few months, and thus subsequent weight gain, I can still shop there. The patterns and colors there are always far more to my liking than either juniors or regular female department), as well as replacement earbuds suitable for running (see: lack of running mentioned before and my serious desire to get back on track, so to speak), and a copy of the soundtrack to Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. I'd been sampling the songs on amazon (and youtube, of course) and had already purchased the Vampire Weekend song, but I really wanted the CD because I wanted to listen to the whole thing end to end and also because--and this is all in my head, I admit--I still think music sounds better played off CD (and in turn, best off an LP) than through a digital file. Maybe because I tend to listen to digital music only on an MP3 player or my laptop, via ear buds, but I tend to listen to actual CDs in the car and/or in the house and I get a more visceral surround sound experience.
(Actually, as much I already had fallen in love with the Vampire Weekend song, I got a whole new level of enjoyment out of it listening to song on the CD and it very much led to my indulging in a little known and spectacularly geeky hobby of mine after what seems like ages, but that's a post for later in the week, I hope).
Of course, now the idea of playlists is even more prevalent in my head than usual, since I am quite often concocting lists for potential mix CDs, either for specific activities or for no good reason other than maybe a decent theme that's occurred to me, in my head anyway.
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The most often played list I have going for me is the one I listen to last thing as night, when I finally decide I possibly tired enough that I may actually be able to fall asleep. It's officially titled Mission: Insomnia and unofficially referred to as my 2008 Sucks (and that's why I can't sleep) playlist, as I mentioned before. About half the songs are old favorites, many of which have been used on mixes previously, but the rest are new (to me) sings which are, in a way, proving their longevity through their list, as I do update and cull and add to the list with fair regularity.
Here is the list as it stands tonight. Bolded sings are the new to me ones (as in new in the last 6 months).
1- Between the Bar (cover) - Scott Matthews/Holly Miranda
The song is definitely not new but this cover is. It's a bootleg one done by Scott Matthews (the Australian singer, not the British one) and Holly Miranda (of The Jealous Girlfriends and the lesser known Raven Mayhem). I really do not like Elliott Smith covers and this one is not what I would call great, but...something about it, mostly the chorus, is compelling enough that I haven't kicked it off the playlist. It does make me giggle a little inside, because Holly is a bit Elmer Fuddish with her "Rs", which is very obvious in a couple of lines, and Scott can be overly dramatic. Still, it stays.
2- Ghosts - Laura Mayerling
Obviously a new one. I hope she releases an official acoustic version that I can buy, because I do prefer that to the official version.
3- Hallelujah (cover) - Jeff Buckley
As a cover, this is definitely superior to Rufus Wainwright's or John Cale's. I'm sorry to say, though, that the total overplay of the song/various covers, in the last few years, had me completely saturated on it and I added it as an experiment to see if I could stand it being in a regular playlist. Given than I hit skip pretty much every time it comes up for play, I think the answer is no and I'm fairly sure this is not going to be around for much longer.
4- Needle in the Hay - Elliott Smith
I'd somehow forgotten about this much loved song of his until I remembered it for a recent POW selection. I've got the commercial version on the playlist, but I have at least three different live bootleg versions(although I am not sure exactly where two are) that are probably better, as are all live versions of his songs.
5- Sink to the Bottom - Fountains of Wayne
This is the very first FoW song I ever heard and it is still one my very favorites of theirs. I also will unashamedly admit that I heard it when they appeared on The Jenny McCarthy show on MTV, as her musical guests one episode. (As an aside, that show and Aeon Flux were the two shows I remember watching regularly on TV when I was in CT, along with Murder One. It's one of the things that kept me from drinking myself into oblivion on weeknights in that godforsaken, boring state)
6- Disarm (cover) Aimee Miriello
I'd been looking forward to her album, after I'd heard this. Unfortunately, it fell short of my expectation. Nevertheless, this is still one cover I like and intend to keep around for a while.
7- Ottoman - Vampire Weekend
I've already talked about this and I have more to say at length, in an upcoming post, so watch this space.
8- Invisible City - The Wallflowers
While I fully admit I succumbed to the Jakob Dylan/The Wallflowers' madness that engulfed a good number of people and bought their CD in very early '97, I also have to mention that I had, in fact, seen him and his band when they were touring with Toad the Wet Sprocket, and had kept an eye out for their next CD (their first one had already been released). I like this and Josephine best off the Bringing Down the House CD, and so does, incidentally, the kid! Jakob Dylan, by the way, had a solo CD out beginning of summer and I haven't had a chance to listen to it, other than a couple of tracks, but it even on the basis of those two songs, it shows promise.
Or maybe I am doomed to only like two songs off any album he puts out!
9- I'll Say I'm Sorry Now - Shawn Colvin
Here's another song that I came across watching a TV show at a particularly tiring (although NOT boring) point in my life. I had 12 weeks postpartum leave and it so happened that the kid's sleep pattern meant he would be conked out for sure from about 1PM-3PM each day...which coincided with nothing decent on TV except a show called Judging Amy. I ended up watching almost the entire series during those 12 weeks (it just so happened I started watching when they were about halfway through Season 1 and what with two episodes a day, five days a week I, it worked out well. I ended up taping the first 10 or 12 episodes I'd missed once they circled back when I went back to work.) I actually ended up rather liking the series, mostly because of Tyne Daly, whom I used to watch with my mom in Cagney and Lacey, and while the title character was infernally unlikable, the rest of the cast made up for it. (Not to mention the delightful eye candy that is Richard T. Jones.)
10- Elliott Smith - Angeles
The thing that always amazes me about his songs is that I could have listened to them thousands of times (and I probably have), but they never, ever sound stale. Genius.
11- Golden Brown - The Stranglers
As you can see, my love for this song has lasted over a quarter of a century. I think, if pressed to name the song that I'm likely to be another quarter century from now, it's this.
12- Fools in Love - Inara George
And yet another song that cam to me courtesy of a TV show (and, coincidentally, one that I started watching when the kid was born. Huh.) This was from when Grey's Anatomy was a ridiculously fun soap opera and not just ridiculous (i.e. Season Two) and had some amazing music and a music editor who was obviously delighted to highlight these often unknown artists. I used to check out his music blog for the show, where you could feel his enthusiasm for why he picked a particular song or band jump of the page at you, quite regularly, at least up to the point when I stopped watching the show (somewhere in the first two to three weeks of the third season, I think.) I just checked and it looks like the blog died around the same time I stopped watching and they just do a list of the songs and link to itunes, which is rather disappointing. Like the show is, now. (Although a couple of friends are urging me to give it another go this season.)
Okay, I am going to hit publish on this, but I know there are a couple more I am missing--so I'll be back.
Update: Note to self--please use spellcheck. Also, playlist is available; see below:
