Happy Birthday to my sister!

Today is my older sister's birthday, so a shout out to her. I wish all of her favorite songs on the radio today. Appropriately, I gave her a CD, one which I haven't listened to yet but I can still heartily recommend: Your Love Never Fails by JesusCultureMusic. Another CD by the same people/group, We Cry Out, is my worship music of choice.

Other than that, I wanted to comment on the lack of a complete June playlist. I am allowing June to be swept under the carpet as the bland filling my May-July musical sandwich. May's playlist was on heavy rotation in both the car, and on the earphones. However, I blame Sasquatch for inspiring me to switch from a playlist to just a rotation of several new CDs for June.

So although there was no list, there was plenty of fine, fine music this month. I'm finishing out the month with the best thing I've found (musically that is) in a while, free playlists from magazines/websites. UrbanOutfitters.com puts out playlists of 20-23 songs every so often called LSTN and they are available for full download through iTunes or the site itself. Along with their annual music issue, Nylon magazine also had a summer playlist full of new gems, old classics, and a fair share of crappy techno. Most likely my July playlist will be the whittled down versions of these lists with a few of my current fav songs thrown in.

The summery run of weather, coupled with spending a bulk of my time with people aged 12-20 has influenced the genre's I've been listening to so expect lots of obscure/canadian type electro-rap-punk-pop duos with bizarre, intentionally misspelled names and no discernible rhythm. And for those July nights, I predict a lot of live stuff or acoustic guitar. The new M. Ward perhaps?

We shall see! I reserve the right to go wherever the summer wind takes me!

First Date Shuffle

I recently had a first date with a random person for which I had to drive into the city during rush hour. After listening to Bright Eyes' Cassadaga twice through, and in the spirit of spontaneity which was the theme of the whole experience, I let the shuffle on my iPod lend predictions for the evening. I was suprised at the accuracy and sense of humor my iPod had, so I will share the playlist with you now:

Bob Dylan- "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall" and yes, it was raining as I drove in...

Yes- "All Good People" which I took as a sign that I would not be meeting with a serial killer

Stereo Total- "Get Down Tonight" a classic cover, however, going into it I knew this prophecy would not be fulfilled...

Beatles- "What Goes On" a good questions for any first date...

Nada Surf- "Blackest Year"

Black Seeds "So True"

James Taylor "Sun on the Moon"

Erykah Badu- "On and On remix"

Nada Surf- "In the Mirror"

So not every title conveys the appropriateness or humor that each song held for me, but on closer listen, maybe you'll see why I was so pleased with iPod for its selections. I took the whole thing as a sign of good things to come.

The date was just ok, and I'm sure iPod would have comforted me appropriately had I given it the chance driving home. Next time I'm in this situation, I will be sure to do a post-date shuffle as well. I actually may incorporate iPod shuffle predictions into more of my life situations... we'll see...

Sneaky June

Here we are, over a week into June and I am still listening to an eclectic mix of May tunes and random CDs inspired by Memorial Day weekend at the Sasquatch Festival. No formal June playlist has been created as a result, but here's my preliminary thoughts based on what has been on heavy rotation in my car:

Santigold

Dark was the Night

Neko Case- Middle Cyclone

Mos Def- Quiet Dog

Just heard that last one on Pitchfork.com and haven't decided whether to spring for the whole album or not... we shall see, and more picks to come!

6/11 Update

Adding to the rough draft:

Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band: Difference is time and Nikorette