Hopefully we'll be able to find some more gigs to fill the gap, but the summer won't be the same without our trip to Glade...
Thursday 13 May 2010
Wednesday 5 May 2010
Smart Playlists
I've blogged before about my troubles choosing music to listen to on my very short journey to The Day Job, so I decided to try something new: smart playlists.
iTunes users will be aware of Smart Playlists, I'm sure - they are iTunes' way of sorting music into lists based on certain rules. I've used them in the past to catalog my music in different ways - a playlist of all low bitrate MP3s (so I can dig out the CDs and re-rip them), a playlist of anything that falls into any one of several genres of music (usually things I don't want to listen to, so I can deselect them for syncing to my iPod) - but mostly for collation or informational purposes, rather than listening to them.
Whilst rummaging through my iTunes library, I discovered the vast numbers of songs on there that I have simply never listened to. Ever. Of course, a lot of these are ripped from CDs that I definitely have listened to at some point in the past, but not all of them.
It's maybe a flaw of digital music collections that the lack of physical product means there is no proper 'flicking through' your collection. Yes, with cover flow you can 'see' the albums as you scroll past, but that's not the same as pulling it out of the CD rack, checking the back for track listings, a particular song catching your eye, or the artwork calling out memories from way back... Maybe this is me being a touch nostalgic, but you get the idea.
So anyway, I created a new Smart Playlist called 'Things I've never listened to' which, funnily enough, contains everything with a play count of less than 1. And this is what I've been listening on my journeys to and from work these days.
For reasons unknown to me, the playlist is sorted alphabetically by album title. Maybe this was the order I was sorting my iTunes library in when I created it? Anyway, when it first started, it contained over 3,500 songs. 3,500? That's a lot of unheard music!
And so I started wading my way through it. This started months ago, and two weeks ago I got below the 3,000 songs marker.
So what musical delights has this adventure thrown up? Well, I'm still working through 'C' at the moment (in fact, I was listening to Morcheeba's 'Charango' this morning), so here is a roll call of some of the highlights, and frankly bizarre-lights of the 'Things I've never listened to' playlist so far:
A is for:
All Over the World: The very best of ELO (ELO) - I'm pretty sure this belongs to the missus...
Several of the Another Late Night series of compilations.
Attica Blues (Attica Blues) - classic old Mo'Wax album - really glad I re-found this
B is for:
11 Back To Mine albums - absolutely love these compilations. Have discovered loads of other artists through this series.
Bandwagonesque (Teenage Fanclub) - I used to have this on cassette!
Lots of 'Best of...' albums, including Bob James, Blur, Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, De La Soul, James and The Small Faces!
Beverly Hills Cop Soundtrack - yeah, pretty sure this isn't mine either...
Blue Lines (Massive Attack) - this definitely falls into the category of 'overplayed CD, underplayed mp3s'
6 remixes of Boombastic (Shaggy) - actually, I seem to remember buying this...
Brixton (Pearl Jam) - a double CD bootleg from the Versus tour. Barely audible bass on the recording, but still awesome.
The Burdens of Being Upright (Tracy Bonham) - I went to a Skunk Anansie gig once just to see Tracy Bonham play. Great harmonies here.
C is for:
Cafe Del Mar volumes 1-9. No idea why I stopped at nine, nor why I've never listened to them on my iPod. Love these - Cafe Del Mar is a massive influence on my more downtempo writing, both the place and these compilations. Really interesting to listen to them all in order and hear the whole 'chill-out' sound develop year by year...
And that's us all up to date. Will keep you posted if this whole process turns up any more gems or howlers!
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