Dave Caolo

Beautiful cover design with enough references to satisfy any Kubrick fan. No time for the ‘ol in-out now, dear. I’ve got some music to listen to.

Shawn Blanc published an article on iTunes 8′s Genius feature. Not everyone likes it, but I sure do, and that’s because it accommodates the way I listen to music.

I don’t sort music by album, artist or rating. I sort music by mood. Specifically, I listen to music that compliments or enhances my mood. Until now, that’s meant lot of skipping around or compiling time-consuming playlists. With Genius enabled, I simply select a representative song and click a button. iTunes (or my iPhone) does the rest.

For example, I listen to mellow music while I’m working. One of my favorite tracks is Björk’s Vökuró, and the playlist that Genius created* for me based upon it is great: Portishead, Boards of Canada, Thievery Corporation, Radiohead.

Conversely, the Genius playlist I started with Van Halen’s Panama is just as good: Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Smashing Pumpkins, The Cult. As Shawn mentions, it gets better as more people use it. I’ve also noticed that results are better with large iTunes libraries.

Michael Mistretta complained that Genius “…will simply be used to sell you more music.” Perhaps, but that’s not what I’ve gotten out of it. Truthfully, I think Complete My Album is more of a cash grab.

I was glad to see Shawn’s article, because I think Genius gets less press than it deserves. It’s a huge feature.

*Here’s that playlist in iTunes as an iMix (I don’t make anything off of it).

I just spent the last half hour watching Depeche Mode videos on MTV Music, the new online collection of music videos. Love it.

And I don’t care what year it is. I will love this song until the day I die.

Love it.

[Via Coudal]

Just sitting back trying to recapure

a little of the glory of

but times slips away, leaves you with nothin mister but

boring stories of glory days

-Bruce Springsteen

Imagine this scenario: You’re in the car on a warm, cloudless day. You’re flipping through the radio stations, rejecting one lousy track after another. Disappointed, you keep clicking until OH MY GOD I LOVE THIS SONG! You put the windows down, step on the gas a little harder and sing at the top of your lungs.

And if anyone saw you, you would die.

The song that has inspired such an outburst is universally reviled. Your friends would shake their heads and cluck their tongues at this spectacle. But you don’t care. You love that song. In fact, you’ve got a bunch of songs on this list — those you won’t admit to loving without a great deal of embarrassment. Don’t feel badly, I’ve got that list, too.

And here it is.

Pump Your Blood

Perhaps you’re a young’n who doesn’t remember Happy Days (or a misanthrope who disliked the show, in which case you can stop reading my blog right now). The rest of us know that Episode#142, “Potsie Quits School,” features the song Pump Your Blood, which Potsie wrote to help him pass an anatomy exam. When he achieves a perfect score, the professor accuses him of cheating. Potsie vindicates himself by singing the song and dancing around the classroom. You know, what any college kid would do.

It’s the catchiest song you’ll ever hear, and it’ll be in your head for the rest of the day. You’re welcome.

When I was in college, one of the local bands would occasionally play this song (depending on how much they had to drink). Greatest. Band. Ever.

The Rainbow Connection – Paul Williams

I’ve got an excuse for this one. When my 1st born was brand new, this was the song I would sing to her to calm her down and lull her to sleep.

OK, that’s BS. I liked this song well before I had kids.

It’s sweet and innocent, and makes me think of Kermit the frog sitting on a a felt log in a felt swamp somewhere in the world of public television. Paul Williams, who wrote the song for The Muppet Movie, said

“…how do we show that [Kermit is] a thinking frog, and that he has an introspective soul, and all that good stuff? We looked at his environment, and his environment is water and air – and light. And it just seemed like it would be a place where he would see a rainbow. But we also wanted to show that he would be on this spiritual path, examining life, and the meaning of life … I also like the fact that it starts out with the negative: ‘Rainbows are only illusions, rainbows have nothing to hide.’ So the song actually starts out as if he’s going to pooh-pooh the whole idea, and then it turns: ‘So we’ve been told, and some choose to believe it. I know they’re wrong, wait and see.’ And again, he doesn’t have the answer: ‘Someday we’ll find it.’”

Love it.

Joy To The World – Three Dog Night

This one has got a story.

In 1987 BC (Before Children), I was a drummer. I spent every summer of my high school years attending a music camp at my local college. It was extremely fun, great for my playing and gawking at cute violinists and cellists (as a teenage boy, my interestes were limited).

Every year, we got to do one rock song. Competition among the percussion section to be the one to play set on the rock song was fierce. My third year, I won. Joy To The World was that year’s song, and I was elated to play it.

Imagine it with a full orchestra — brass, woodwinds, strings, percussion, everyone. The conductor was kind enough to give the guy on set free reign during the rock song (or perhaps experience taught him that we’d ignore his direction in that situation anyway), which was awesome.  Ah, the good old days, when I played my drums every single day and could eat an entire bag of Doritos and not gain a pound.

Long Train Runnin’ – The Doobie Brothers

Another story.

The summer between my senior year of high school and my freshman year at Berklee College of Music was, well, busy. I was preparing to move to Boston and say goodbye to my friends, including my former music teacher.

The teacher I had in high school was fantastic, and the two of us became friends outside of school. During the day she led our music theory classes, orchestra and jazz band rehearsal. In the afternoon, she taught my private piano lessons and told me jokes she couldn’t share in the halls of Bishop Hannan Catholic High School. We attended district and state orchestra and band together. She was a great musician and a great friend.

One afternoon, she flattered me by asking me to sit in with the group of musicians she played with. I was nervous — these guys were good. I arrived and sat  down to play (any drummers out there will know how weird it is to sit behind someone else’s set. Disorienting and uncomfortable), and the guitarist asked, “Do you know Long Train Runnin?” The real answer was “No.” What I said was, “I think so. Um, just start playing and I’ll jump in.”

I had a vague picture of the arrangement from absent-mindly hearng the song on the radio, but somehow it worked. We burned through the song. Then we played it again. I could see my former instructor beaming (that’s my student!), the guitarist burning through extended solos and everyone having fun.

I didn’t give a tinker’s cuss about The Doobies before that moment. Today, I crank that song to 11 whenever I hear it (see qoute at the top of this post). I love it.

Baby Got Back – Sir Mix A Lot

No story. It’s a song about big butts. That got radio play. Lots of it. What’s not to like?

Spill the Wine – War

The fact that the singer refers to himself as “…a noble-fared, long-haired leaping gnome” is worth the price of admission.

So there’s my list. Honorable mention goes to

• Anything by The Sundays. Yes, I’m a woman.
• Vogue by Madonna.
• Ordinary Miracle by Sarah McLachlan.
• I’m Not In Love by 10cc
• Low Rider by War

Did you compose your list? Let me know and I’ll link it here.

Other brave souls

1. Dave at Living In The Now
2. Lisa Hoover