So, you're wondering what I've been listening to lately? That's a harder question than "what are you reading right now?" According to my iTunes tracking information, here's what I've been listening to recently on my iPod and here at home (1/22/2004):
1. Jem - Finally Woken
2. Kraftwerk - Trans Europe Express
3. Thievery Corporation - DJ Kicks
4. Vision: The Music of Hildegard von Bingen
5. Röyksopp - Melody AM
6. New Order - Power Corruption & Lies
7. Julian Fane - Special Forces
8. Zap Mama - Ancestry in Progress
9. Gotan Project - La Revancha Del Tango
I noticed a new feature of the Music Store the last time I was logged in there. They have celebrity playlists available for a variety of genres. This idea I believe started at Wired Magazine. For a few years they've been featuring a "What's On Your iPod" bubble for various celebrities, musicians and guests with their top ten selections. My favorite list at iTunes so far, is King Britt's list. You can read his comments and purchase the songs from the store individually or as a full package.
Other celebrity Playlists that have my interest right are:
Bebel Gilberto
The Crystal Method
The Thievery Corporation
Herbie Hancock
If you don't have iTunes, it's not only a great music player for your home collection but a fantastic front end to the iTunes Music Store for Mac and Windows.
Download iTunes
The iTunes store clearly cannot expect to keep up with a lot of what I play out and several of my favorite mainstream labels are not partners at iTunes yet; however, there are plenty of non-electronic tracks that have left their mark on me over the years. Below, you can check out some of the music I'm enjoying when I'm not playing records:
1. Beth Orton - "Stolen Car"
It was the Everything But the Girl "Back to Mine" CD that introduced me to Beth Orton. Ben Watt produced her enchanting "The Stars All Seem To Weep" and "Stolen Car" is one of my favorite late night drive songs. It sits prominantly in my "Evening" playlist on my iPod.
2. Earth Wind & Fire - "September"
September is one of those songs that never seems to get old. I remember hearing it when I stayed up late listening to the radio. A few years ago I found it on vinyl and it remains one of my favorite records. Even though it was made in the 70s it has an "ahead of its time" house feel that keeps it inspiring.
3. Alison Krauss & Union Station - "When You Say Nothing At All"
Ashley and I danced to this song at our wedding. It's just always been our song. I couldn't explain why. But I can't help thinking about her whenever I hear it... and if she's not right there next to me, I miss her terribly.
4. Shannon - "Let The Music Play"
A real classic. This track remains one of my all time favorite dance tracks, new or old. I've never lost my mind on the dance floor for an 80s track like I do when Jon Doe dusts this one off for a hot old school set.
5. Nu Shooz - "I Can't Wait"
Another track that Jon Doe rocks with unique skill (and prefereably with double coppies) and another track that sorta dates me as a DJ. An enduring classic which is too slow for my sets but which is sure to put me on the floor anyway.
6. Sarah McLachlan - Possession (Rabbit in the Moon Remix)
When this track came out as a white label it was red hot in the clubs. The story goes that Sarah's label found out about it and tracked down Rabbit in the Moon. However, McLachlan liked the remix so much she exchanged the rights to it for not suing the duo. Rabbit in the Moon have put on some of the most memorable shows I've ever seen and their music buzzes with a unique and mysterious energy.
7. Eurythmics - "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)"
I dug this track out of my collection and started ending sets with it rolling over Kraftwerk's Tour de France instrumental. Two old tracks combined together to synergistic effect. Sweet Dreams really turned me on to new wave dance music and the synth sound in the 80s. A taste that I never lost.
8. Kraftwerk - "Tour de France"
The orginal 12" release of Tour de France featured the standard vocal version as well as the instrumental which blew kids minds in the movie Breakin'. It failed to make the soundtrack though... who knows why? The real gem on the original was a beats only remix that I started using to soup up Sweet Dreams. The original is still a classic though, but if you're looking to try the Sweet Dreams/Tour de France combo... you need the hard to find original release.
9. The Clash - "This is Radio Clash"
Even before Combat Rock, The Clash were helping to slowly move me from punk rock to dance club with grooving hits like this one. I remember that 40 minute bus ride to school with the Clash helping me speed through that last bit of unfinished homework very well.
10. Depeche Mode - "Master and Servant"
I think I own almost every single Depeche Mode put out until the Violator album. Forget "People are People" the best track on that album for the dance floor was "Master and Servant." I'm a closet DM fan. I loved them in high school, but lost my passion when I lived in Europe. I still get out some of my favorite 12" singles and relive all those concerts at Merriweather Post Pavilion.
11. Bebel Gilberto - "August Day (King Britt remix)"
A great combination of talents. Bebel Gilberto's album Tanto Tempo was fantasticly cool and the remix album was just as slick. Isobel Gilberto has worked with David Byrne and Deee-lite's Towa Tei in the past and despite her bossa nova sound has a great compatibility with remixers like Derrick Carter, Peter Kruder of Kruder and Dorfmeister, Ananda Project and of course King Britt. This track is one of Ashley's favorites and also makes its way into our late night driving collection.
12. Cocteau Twins - "Blue Bell Knoll"
I had this album with me on my first great pilgramage west. It was soothing to drive to at night but my perception of this track changed forever watching thunder clouds gather in a New Mexico late afternoon sky. If you listen to this track from teh beginning you can almost see the clouds gather and the first raindrops accellerate into a brief desert downpour. This song became seared into my personal mythology that same night in a delerious dream state brought on by exhaustion and hunger. I treasure it to this day.
13. Nitzer Ebb - "Murderous"
Nitzer Ebb would eventually dissapoint in the worst possible way, but while they were constructing dazzling and intense tracks like this one they had my full attention. In the 80s it was hard to find tracks that could punish a dancefloor with this kind of intensity and I snatched up every on eof them I could find. Nitzer Ebb made a brief cameo on Richie Hawtin's "Decks, FX and 909" with "Warsaw Ghetto."
14. Soul II Soul - "Back to Life"
"Back to Life" was a huge hit. I bought the single the day it came out knowing full well I would never be able to play it out. It was just too good to not have. It is instantly recognizable and a classic club hit from the late 80s / early 90s. It is also another reason I love when Jon Doe is in town. This song makes an appearance on the Rhythm & Muse II CD featured in W Hotels. When Ashley and I arrived in our room at the W Honolulu to begin our honeymoon, it was playing in our room's stereo. The perfect start!
15. Shriekback - "Hammerheads"
No list of favorite music, for me, would be complete without at least one track by Shriekback. While my favorite album from this fertile band will always be "Big Night Music", Hammerheads from the "Oil and Gold" album has everythign I love about this group ready to go. It's impossible to get a sense of the band's music from one song, but it's their lyrics that have always kept my attention. In my opinion they got a little dull after Go Bang, but the early stuff still thrills me.
16. Stevie Wonder - "Please Don't Go"
This track has literally kept Ashley and I together through some really tough times. While it pains me to remember some of the times it kept me sane, I am always happy that neither of us has left and that we've worked through all our pain and differences to get where we are now.
17. Nina Simone & Felix Da Housecat - "Sinnerman"
I'm a huge fan of Nina Simone's music and it was a dark day when she passed away earlier this year. I have been thrilled by the rejuvination of the Verve label's treasures over the past few years and this version of "Sinnerman" with Felix Da Housecat's influence is a shining example ofwhat happens when you fuse old and new. Of course Felix Da Housecat is hardly that new... his early tracks graced my tables as early as 1995.
18. Devo - "Whip It!"
Yep, not much to say about this one. Devo really made an impression on me back in 6th grade. Freedom Of Choice was one of the first cassette tape albums I ever purchased for myself.
19. IIO - "At The End"
This track blew me away the first time I heard it. It is not available at iTunes, but the single is available at amazon.com as an import. I have linked the song to thier record label, Made Records, which will let you listen to thier music for free. They have an album coming out soon as well... but I've been waiting for that for months now.
20. Röyksopp - "Remind Me"
I find it strange that Röyksopp hasn't made its way into the iTunes music store yet. However, the album (Melody AM) is available on amazon.com and almost all teh tracks have realaudio samples. Actually amazon is how I discovered them. It obviously pays to keep your recommendation criteria up to date there. :)
I tried to keep this list full of tracks that are easily available but so much of what I love is pretty obscure and I try to avoid the big 5 recording labels as much as possible because of their fascist copyright tactics. So, several of my most prized selections aren't here. Si Se, for example, is brilliant but signed to Luka Bop as is Zap Mama. As more of this site fills out, I'll be doing some reviews of albums that I've recently bought. Ashley and I are huge music collectors so we are always looking for new sounds.
