July 2010 Playlist

I spent about an hour and a half tonight just putting these songs in a particular order so that they ebbed and flowed like a proper playlist. I don’t always get the time to do that, but I feel like I should start noting when I do, just the same as when I let you know when some top 10 lists aren’t in any particular order versus when some are carefully orchestrated and decided upon. I’m pretty sure that the time and attention to these particular details that consume me may elude anyone who doesn’t actually sit and listen to each song in this exact order, which is probably everyone, if anyone’s even out there, but…hell….it’s been DULY NOTED.

I’d also like to clarify what is meant by a monthly playlist: I do them every month to time capsule what songs made themselves known to me in a given month. I may have blogged about them in a time before that month, just as I may blog about the songs in a future month, just as some songs may never be individually blogged about at all. There’s no exact formula connecting the monthly mixes to what’s happened on the blog, though they may at times reflect similarities. As a time capsule, I go to these playlists to (1) laugh about the bizarre extremes of decade and genre my head can jump around in a 30-day period; (2) observe myself: have I encountered a lot of new music this month? have I turned to my stash rather than seek out new music?, have I gone back to the classics?, what’s my pattern of listening?; (3) to review my moods of the month, as my song selections often act as diary entries; and (4) to provide my readers with playlists. I love and appreciate well-curated playlists, and maybe one day I’ll find readers out there that appreciate the same. I need to get this blog out there…

Okay, onto the playlist!:

1. Two Kites / Antônio Carlos Jobim – I freaking love this song. I know it’s cheesy as hell, but I so love it. Youtube only has live versions of it though, and I really love the studio version from his album Terra Brasilis better than anything live. I’m prone to hating live versions, I’ll admit. However, even though youtube.com didn’t provide me with the studio audio I wanted, I did find this amazing version of the song!:

2. Goldfinger / Shirley Bassey – I always sing the lyrics of this song to the melody of the next song. They are conjoined twins in the musical womb of my mind. <—that sentence is SICK!

3. Johnny Angel / Shelley Fabares – Always reminds me of high school show choir, which makes me sad and moody. I mostly don’t enjoy thinking about high school.

4. Ziggy Stardust (unplugged) / David Bowie – I have no idea where this track came from…my file says it’s track 15 on The Rise & Fall Of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars but even on the 30th Anniversary limited edition reissue, there is not a track 15….maybe it’s the demo? It’s definitely Bowie, this I know. Video link.

5. How Am I To Be / The Watson Twins – A cute track from Paste Magazine Sampler #44. Could certainly be used in a future Target ad, or covered by She & Him, though that would probably be TOO cute. Video link.

6. This Old Heart of Mine / Isley Brothers – This song was playing in the background of an episode of season 4 of HBO’s The Wire, and I was all like “WAIT! PAUSE IT! I KNOW THAT SONG!” I haven’t heard the song in a decade, had no idea it was the Isley Brothers, but of course knew all of the words by heart after all of those years.
7. Cake Parade / Georgie James – I bought this album, Places, for the song “Long Week” but soon had a breakthrough that “Cake Parade” was actually the best track on the album. I really love this album, the dichotomy between soft girl vocals that seem harmless and harsh, poetic lyrics, like these from “Cake Parade”: “The sun is gone, looks like a perfect day, / to put our soldiers in an early grave, / we can line them up and lay them on the lawn, / with all their purple hearts, / and badges of courage on.”
8. Blowin’ Away / Laura Nyro – A nice song, Dad inadvertently introduced it to me in college when he told me about George Harrison’s “Blowin’ Away” and I downloaded this similarly titled song out of curiosity.

9. You Dropped a Bomb on Me / Gap Band – Classic funk, fun to quote in a conversation. Try it! “You dropped a bomb on me, baby”. AMAZING MUSIC VIDEO ALERT!!!:

10. Fireflies / Owl City – Learned this song and artist because of watching this season of So You Think You Can Dance, but as per usual, I already owned the album. I have so much music I need to go through, and it kills me a little bit each time I find a song on my hard drive that I’ve theoretically had *this whole time* and could have been listening to for days, only I didn’t know it existed.

11. Hey, Western Union Man / Al Kooper – My post about the song “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy” from last week included tons of research about the band Blood, Sweat & Tears. That track did not include contributions by Al Kooper, but as I read the band (and eventually the man’s) wikipedia page, I came to understand that he was a very important figure in the music world. Naturally I searched for his name through my files, because more than likely I already owned music by him that I didn’t even know I had. Of course, I was right—-I had his album I Stand Alone, a very eclectic and collaborative 1968 album. This is my favorite track from the newly discovered album.

12. Mr. Pitiful / Matt Costa – Learned the song from an Apple iPhone commercial! Of course, already owned it (thanks, Cat!).

13. Scenes From An Italian Restaurant / Billy Joel – One of my all-time Billy joel favorites, blogged thoroughly about in late July.

14. Wild Night (f. Me’shell Ndegé Ocello) / John Mellencamp – My favorite J. Cougar M. song, blogged about extensively in July.

15. Everybody / Ingrid Michaelson – I enjoy this kind of album for road-tripping-on-sunny-days purposes, and it almost made the cut for our wedding road trip playlists, but it didn’t quite fit the majority of tastes that I knew would be receiving the mixes.

16. The Death of Me / City And Colour – I’ve had this album since October 2009, but hadn’t delved in past “Save Your Scissors”. My bad, because I really could have been enjoying this album for awhile if I hadn’t decided to shelve it so soon after buying it. I gotta spend more time listening to music—-lol. Or getting a job?
    
17. Wonderful / Annie Lennox – This song isn’t quite perfect to me, because I don’t like how slow and quiet it is between the choruses; the slow is TOO slow, the quiet is too quiet, and it is too much of a contrast when it gets awesome and loud and pumping. It just doesn’t work for me, but I want you to know about the song, because the chorus is really worthy of knowing and singing around the house. This song needs a remix. Every time I listen to this song, I don’t even remember how the slow parts go; they are so forgettable, whereas I can’t get the chorus out of my head!
18. Je ne regrette rien / Edit Piaf – I’ll give you a little tip on a great way to end a playlist: with an anthem. I already blogged this song to death, so I haven’t much more to say! Consider it highly recommended for the final slot on a playlist!