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Do the Shuffle
Posted at 4:10 PM on June 18, 2007
by Jacquie Fuller
(11 Comments)
The Onion AV Club has this little thing they do, called "Random Rules." Basically, they get someone famous to put their mp3 player on shuffle, see what comes up, and comment on the songs. And because I am just that egomaniacal, I always find myself fantasizing about the day I'm famous and they ask me to shuffle. Well, I'm done waiting. Here are the first five songs that show up on my player on shuffle (she holds her breath and hopes nothing embarassing shows up):
"Nu Bruises," Superchunk
Not my favorite song on Indoor Living, but I like the album overall. It was the last Superchunk record before Mac McCaughan lost me with that weird falsetto business.
"Window Over the Bay," Vashti Bunyan
I listen to Vashti when I need to feel like the world is an okay place.
"You Singled Me Out," The Mendoza Line
Poppy band from Brooklyn I've always kind of dug. Think they might be disbanded.
"On Parade," Electrelane
First Electrelane song I ever heard. I was living in New Mexico when I bought this album. I was totally won over by the "hoo hoo"s.
"Waiting for the Moon to Rise," Belle & Sebastian
I love the spooky, wistful, retro feel of this song. It makes me wish I were a mod girl in 1960s London, with awesome hair and go-go boots, zooming around on a scooter. One of my favorite B&S tunes.
I've always thought you could tell a lot about a person via this exercise--kind of like examining what's in a person's shopping cart. That said--your turn! What's on your mp3 player? Put it on shuffle and give us the first five songs that show up. And no forwarding to cooler, less incriminating tracks--that's cheating!
Comments (11)
It also means that Jacquie actually has the entirety of Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant on her player. I only have the 2-3 good songs on mine, but I need to be choosy due to my measly 4GB of space. Alright, I'll play:
"Come Back from San Francisco" - The Magnetic Fields
A nice little track, but in the lower tier of the 69 love songs (in my opinion, anyway; lots of people really dig this song, for some reason).
"1963" - New Order
Bernard Sumner wrote this song about a conspiracy theory he once heard about the JFK assassination. Apparently, Jackie Kennedy was the assassin's actual target, so JFK could run off with Marilyn Monroe. (A cursory check of the basic biographical details of Monroe's life debunks this theory, though...) Hence the title and the unforgettable chorus, "Johnny...don't point that gun at me!"
"Pull Shapes" - The Pipettes
Even if we never hear from the band again (and I doubt we ever will), this song deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as the Crystals' "Then He Kissed Me" and the Go-Go's' "Our Lips Are Sealed" -- it's that good.
"So Alive" - Ryan Adams
Rock N Roll was a massively underrated album.
"Discotheque" - U2
Pop was a massively underrated album.
I don't have shuffle on my MP3 player, so I'm shuffling from my RealPlayer.
Don't Break The Heart - Amy Rigby
I found this at the library and learned that it had been covered by John Flansburgh's "Mono Puff" side project.
No One Fell Asleep Alone - The Handsome Family
Gothic alt country. I love the marriage of sweet country tunes with very dark and sometimes disturbing lyrics.
Mother's Little Helper - Polyphonic Size
One of the ultimate covers of this song. Done by a Belgian electonic duo in the early 80's. Cheesy drum machine and synthesizers topped with a monotone vocal. Sweet!
I'm A Little Dinosaur - Jonathan Richman
Who doesn't love JoJo?
Nothing Matters When We're Dancing - Magnetic Fields
One of my favorites from 69 Love Songs. "Be we in Paris or in Lansing... Nothing matters when we're dancing."
Just to prove that people with way less discriminating taste read your blog as well, I'll play the game:
"Differently the Same," Donavon Frankenreiter. I was interviewing a local business owner who lent me two CDs by this guy. Very mellow and, dare I say, Jack Johnson-ish.
"Cold Hard Bitch," Jet. I really thought they were going to make something of themselves. Love this song - very rock and roll.
Oh God, here comes the embarrassing stuff . . .
"Gator Country," Molly Hatchet. I'm a redneck, what can I say? They're local boys.
"Haitian Divorce," Steely Dan. One of the few songs by SD about which I'm pretty sure I know what's going on.
"Fire," The Jimi Hendrix Experience. I went through a huge sixties-seventies obsession in high school; just getting to know the music of Jimi Hendrix makes all the Doors albums I also bought worth it.
Not as bad as I thought - I was worried that Justin Timberlake song would pop up. Oops.
What do you mean "less discriminating taste," Jen? I'll have you know that Steve Seel and I were just discussing the virtues of Steely Dan the other day! And I've got Justified on my iPod, too, as well as more Beyonce than you can shake a stick at.
Mac, "1963" is a great song. In high school--which was a long, long time ago--I bought the 45 of "True Faith." I recall that "1963" was on the B-side. I played the heck out of it. Feels like a good fit for Wheat's recent post, except it wasn't my first! But that song brings up a lot of memories for me, none of them having to do with JFK!
"A Sound Awake" - Idaho Nice song but not one of my favorites from this album "3 Sheets to the Wind"
"Sweet and Low" - Fugazi I love this album (In on the Killtaker) and song... Fugazi wrote (write?) some of the best grooves around.
"One Hundred Years From Now" - The Byrds I actually just got this recently so i'm not super familiar with it yet. but it sounds great so far...
"Get Higher" - Seam I miss Seam.
"2 Cord Song" - Whale I always thought this band should've gotten more props than they did.. They blended beats and loud guitars and sweet girl vocals/full band shouts better than almost anyone. and check out their sweet cover of Darling Nikki!
I don't have an iPod (yet!) so I shuffled the last 3 mixes I made that I have saved on my work computer. Here's the result:
Everything Is - Neutral Milk Hotel
Love, love, love this song. The melody, the fuzzy guitars, the crazy intro.
Gold Lion - The Yeah Yeah Yeahs
This song rawks. Period.
Dandy Warhols TV Theme Song - The Dandy Warhols
This is the very first Dandy Warhol's song I ever heard, from a "Doc Martens" mix CD. It my ears perk up at first listen. A totally silly, infectious song that still makes me chair dance.
Stupidly Happy - XTC
Such a sunny, happy song, coming from a dark, cynical Andy Partridge! Musta been written in a weak moment.
This Year - The Mountain Goats
The tune is wonderfully upbeat, in total contrast to the story behind the song. I suspect I relate to this song more personally than I would like.
Great game, Jacquie!
Marginal Over by Wilderness - An OK little song with a prominent guitar drone leading the way. Lead singer James Johnson is John Lydon's vocal doppelganger.
I'm So Green by Can - We need to be playing Can on the radio more often!
Up From the South by The Budos Band - I love this Afrobeat revival that shows no signs of letting up. Budos Band, Chicago Afrobeat Project, Nomo. It's all good. Fela is dead; long live Fela!
Wheels by The Flying Burrito Brothers - Perfect front porch music.
Blue Veins by The Raconteurs - The Led Zep backmasking thing gives me the chills!
Tony, I'd love to hear more "Can" on the Current.
Dude, you have the power to make it happen!
We Ragazzi - Forever Surrender 2 U
Man, where are these guys now?
Fishbone - Party At Ground Zero
Just a fun feel-good tune that I forgot I even had!
Sam Champion - Company Dance
You just gotta love a band named after a weather man!
I got an email last week that said these guys were in Cincy and missed me.. so sweet.
The Soundtrack Of Our Lives - Bigtime
An awesome Swedish band! This album, Origin Volume 1, has a much more slickly produced sound than their previous stuff, but I really enjoyed it.
Catherine Wheel - Waydown
I love-love-love this band! Do yourself a favor and seek out the Rob Dickinson solo album, Fresh Wine For The Horses, it's amazing.
Aw, Barb, you're eliciting such fond memories! Fishbone always takes me right back to my crazy 80s college days.
Catherine Wheel produced some wonderful tunes (although Black Metallic will always be my fave). I'll check out some samples from the solo release on line. Thanks for the suggestion!
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