Sometimes I think my iPod is possessed by a nefarious artificial intelligence. It's got 1000 songs on it, but when I put it on shuffle it still manages to come up with a sequence of songs which I have a hard time believing is random. I find myself wondering if it's trying to make some sort of point or express a musical opinion.
Today, it brought me a tour through my musical past with glimpses of the punk era from the very start before punk was really identified as a movement to the last revival of punk in the 1990s, and just to prove that it was indeed random, it threw in the best versions of three of the most covered songs ever. And interesting retrospective and an enjoyable listen as well.
So once again, I put the iPod on shuffle and hit play, and this is what it came up with.
Midnight Special
Words and Music by Leadbelly
Performed by Credence Clearwater Revival
Arguably the best of CCR's covers of old blues songs, combining the evocative lyrics and catchy tune of Leadbelly's oft-recorded original with their clear, clean presentation for a result which is original. In the process it almost completely loses the sad, blues character of the original and becomes bizarrely upbeat, though it will always have a bit of an ominous feel for me because of its use in John Landis' American Werewolf in London. But all in all one of the most successful reimaginings of a blues classic into a rock classic 40 years later, and damned hard not to sing along with even now when the song is almost 70 years old.
Song #2
Rare Old Mountain Dew
Words by Edward Harrigan, Music by Phil O'Neill
Performed by The Pogues and The Dubliners
A classic Irish street ballad dating back at least to the early 19th century, redone by the best of the traditional Irish bands and the best of the Irish punk bands. They alternate verses and surprisingly Shane McGowan is almost comprehensible when he sings his parts. It's a cheery tune, not nearly as morose as it could be, lifted up by the silly repetition of "skiddery ai, dum dum diddle diddle ay" in the chorus, which would make any song hard to take seriously.
Article comments
1 - Mark Saleski
geezuz! i haven't thought of Wreckless Eric in decades. the only thing i've got with him on it is a live record (Live Stiffs) that came from one of those Stiff Records promotional tours. great stuff, even the incredibly sloppy show ender of "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll".
2 - Matthew T. Sussman
Sorry, Dave, you're the victim of my bubbling-over annoyance.
These. Music. Lists. Are. Pointless. And. Dumb.
I feel better now that I've said that.
3 - IgnatiusReilly
Yeah, Dave. You should deal with more substantive issues like sports predictions.
4 - Matthew T. Sussman
Ah, but all kinds of sports writers make predictions. No music writer talks about some arbitrary songs they've heard.
5 - Dave Nalle
Suss, the music lists aren't pointless and dumb, they're all about the links. They're a way to expose people to music they may not be familiar with or may have forgotten - as in Mark's case - and then they may go out and purchase the music and expand their music library and experience some joy as a result. They may not be great intellectual exercises, but I do at least research the history of the songs and provide factual information and a bit of trivia as well as my opinion.
Dave
6 - Matthew T. Sussman
But Dave, you're not the only one making random music lists. Now there's three of you. That's 2 or 3 too many.
But I got no problem with themed lists, like when Robert Burke does it. But "music" is such a wide open category to make a list out of. There has to be some kind of pattern throughout the course of a series of lists.
Why don't I make a list of 10 auctions I have seen on eBay? OK, now what if three people did the same thing but had different lists?
What if Chairman Kaga, each week on Iron Chef, said "OK guys, make some food!"
And I'm not arguing that it's not well written and researched, but even the most adept construction foreman will never fill the Grand Canyon if he doesn't have a plan to divide and conquer.
7 - Mark Saleski
ok, so we won't invite suss when we start listcritics.org
8 - Dave Nalle
Ah, but I have no interest in conquest or in filling the Grand Canyon. Random just happens to be the approach that works best for me in approaching the subject. It's a lot more fun for the writer to be given random sources of inspiration and then have to find meaning in them. You do want writers to have fuin don't you, Suss?
As for the themed lists, to me they seem artificial and constructed, and I bet that the authors miss rare musical gems they would never have thought of by using that approach. My approach to music is fairly random and the mix on my iPod is certainly not in a theme of any sort, so that seems like the natural way to approach the topic.
Dave
9 - Matthew T. Sussman
listcritics.org
I think VH1 has that domain reserved.
10 - NR Davis
The most enjoyable thing about BC for me is seeing people's playlists. Of course there is what you mentioned - the introduction or - usually - reintroduction of some bit of musical marvelousness and the ripple effect that comes from it. One suggestion from Ms. Ranson-Polizotti's Lists of the Moment can send me into hours of mixtaping (not having an iPod or anything similar or that kind of computer capability, I kick it old school with cassette tapes.) And thanks to you: your mention of Gilson Lavis and Jools Holland has set my mind running toward old Squeeze, which makes me think of the B-52s, which would work well with some cheesy pop-metal (maybe Billy Squier), which would work really well sequeing into some early-80s King Crimson...
I know what my plans are after the munchkin goes to bed...
11 - Mark Saleski
while i don't actually listen to music randomly (as in shuffle mode) i do appreciate random thoughts on it.
there's a book/website called "Found" that makes art out of found objects. same sorta thing.
12 - Matthew T. Sussman
Well I'd like to say I'll just be a good soldier and ride out this latest fad while you kids have fun, but I said that about reality TV back in 2001.
13 - NR Davis
latest fad? mixtaping has been going on for decades. i personally have communicated outside of professional writings almost solely through mixtapes since my high school stint, nearly 30 years ago. the iPod phenomenon we see today is merely a technological update. when the iPodders move on, the individually-created groupings of disparate songs will continue.
14 - Matthew T. Sussman
Nobody from this IP address said anything about mixtaping nor iPods, DJ NR. I'm talking about the phenomenon on this site of "hey guys, here's some songs I'm listening to."
If your Food For Thought column was just a casserole of "here's three recipes -- that have nothing to do with each other besides that they're in my kitchen -- that I'd like to share with you," do you think it would be remotely possible to follow it from week to week?
15 - Mark Saleski
how about "the songs i listened to with my ipod on shuffle while i watched a few ncaa games"?
16 - DJRadiohead
Suss, I understand what you are saying but Blogcritics is relecting what's going on "out there."
The iTunes music store is filled with suggested playlists of both themed and unthemed qualities. It is a very popular thing and it is being done throughout the 'net. I understand it might not be doing anything for you but the emergence of two or three of them on Blogcritics is not unrepresentative of a greater trend.
17 - Dave Nalle
Lord knows, listening to your iPod would be better than listening to the idiot commentary on the NCAA games.
As to what DJR said, the iPod has had an impact on how we view music and its presentation to a certain extent. Go back and read my first iPod article and there's a substantial discussion of this in addition to the music picks.
For what it's worth I do try to set my articles above a mere playlist by including some thematic overall observations. My first article was very strong on this. This one is a bit weak. The next one is going to have some discussion of the role of Kazaa and other P2P networks in warping our musical perceptions.
Dave
18 - Dave Nalle
And Suss, referring to #14 - 3 recipes is a meal.
Dave