The Monday Shuffle

Even though I label this blog as "comic books and popular culture," let's be honest: I mostly talk about comics. I rarely talk about books, I even more rarely talk about television or movies, and I never seem to talk about music. All of that stuff is extremely important to me, and I have opinions on all of those things, but I don't seem to feel the need to blog about them as often as I blog about comics.

So here's my small attempt to make up for the lack of music blogging by playing that game we all know and love: The iPod Shuffle! Here are the rules, for those of you who don't know. You set your iPod to "shuffle," list the ten songs that pop up (IN ORDER and WITHOUT SELF-CENSORSHIP--that embarassing stuff that pops up is part of the fun), and then you comment. That's it. By the way, I really have nothing intelligent to say about music, but I do have 1018 songs on my iPod for some reason. Here's what popped up:

1. Vetiver, "Be Kind to Me" This is a hipster song from The Believer 25th Issue Compilation. I'm not a big fan of this track, but I am a BIG, BIG fan of The Believer. It's my favorite magazine, definitely. I read it immediately upon receipt each month. Subscribe!

2. Albert Hammond, Jr., "Well...All Right" I like this solo album a lot. This guy is from The Strokes, if you don't know, and his solo tracks, like this one, have a smooth-groove goin' on. If you like teddy bears and polyester shirts, you'll like this song. If you don't like that stuff, you should still listen to this guy's album. It's good.

3. Fiona Apple, "Criminal" The Mark Romanek music video for this song is amazing. He's apparently preparing to direct a Tom Hanks thriller and a Benecio Del Toro-as-a-werewolf movie. I'll see those. Romanek knows what he's doing. But why am I talking about the video? It's supposed to be about the music. Fiona Apple? She's pretty great too, right? Especially her first album.

4. Zero 7, "Left Behind" This is one of those songs that I have no memory of acquiring, yet here it is. I must have downloaded it off Salon.com. That's my guess. It sounds like something they'd have on their site. It's a cool tune. Mellow like teddy bears and polyester, of course.

5. Craig Wedren, "Night is Over" I have no idea where this one came from, either, and it's another teddy bear. This track actually reminds me of something that could have played at the roller rink during "couples skate." Only it's more hipster-tastic. I shouldn't make fun of this song, because it's another good one. 5 for 5 so far, even with that weak start--and "Be Kind to Me" wasn't THAT bad of a song.

6. The White Stripes, "Expecting" Yeah! White Blood Cells-era White Stripes. Finally, some pounding on the drums and guitar action. Not a teddy bear. More like a laser-equipped python. Badass. And, yeah, 6 for 6. No real stinkers, yet. I must have good taste.

7. The Flaming Lips, "Are You a Hypnotist?" Listening to the Flaming Lips always feels like swimming in pineapple Jello. And this track is no exception. I like pineapple Jello a lot, actually. Another winner.

8. Velvet Underground, "I'll Be Your Mirror" This one has Nico on vocals, as far as I know. Where the hell did I get this one from? I don't know, but it's pretty great too. If yesterday was a movie, this song would have fit perfectly over the "putting-the-kids-to-bed" montage.

9. The Clash, "Clampdown" This is the first song on the list that I've owned on vinyl and mp3. It's The Clash! They were the soundtrack of my teenage years more than any other band. I'm sure I'm not the only one who would say that. What a great song this is. I miss my mid-80s army surplus clothes when I listen to this stuff.

10. Beck, "Where It's At" If The Clash was the soundtrack of my teenage years, Beck was the soundtrack of the driving-back-and-forth-to-work-the-year-after-college-graduation period. I listened to this album a lot. And I still do, when the mood (or the iPod shuffle mode) strikes.

That first song was the weakest in the bunch, but this was a pretty incredible sequence of songs. I love Monday Shuffles!

(P.S. The first bad song I hit was at #39, off the Clash tribute album--it was Silverchair's terrible rendition of "London's Burning." Ugh. Silverchair. Bad stuff.)