Great Songs I Found Playlist

There must have been a period of four or five years where I was unable to do anything but listen to the music on the crappy popular music stations around here (North Bay Area). Either that or listen to songs I already had on my Ipod from years past. A very limited musical existence, to be sure. Recently, though, I've discovered a wealth of music mainly through two sources, Pandora and Itunes. I thought I'd share some of it with you, with links so you can try these songs out for yourself.. These are my favorites that I've found recently, even if the song isn't very new.

Phoenix - 1901, Lisztomania, If I Ever Feel Better
Metric - Help I'm Alive, Empty
Jets Overhead - Heading for Nowhere
Keane - Somewhere Only We Know
Death Cab for Cutie - Monday Morning, Cath...
The Kooks - Junk of the Heart (Happy)
Miike Snow - Song For No One
Stars - Dead Hearts
Sleigh Bells - Infinity Guitars
Kings of Leon - On Call, Knocked Up
Paramore - The Only Exception
MGMT - Time to Pretend, Kids
Pinback - Good to Sea
Silversun Pickups - Lazy Eye
The Temper Trap - Love Lost, Sweet Disposition
The Strokes - Reptilia, Take it or Leave it, Last Nite
Surfer Blood - Floating Vibes
Two Door Cinema Club - What You Know
The Whitest Boy Alive - Burning
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps
The Shins - Girl Sailor
We Became Actors - Knights of the Bright Side
The Xx - Intro
Peter Bjorn and John - Young Folks
Zero 7 - In the Waiting Line
Young the Giant - Garands

Ipod Playlist: Musical Achievement

Another playlist post. Today I decided to listen to my "Musical Achievement" playlist. This a very short list of songs that in my opinion rise above your typical rock/pop song in the manner that they are composed and executed. They are masterpieces of the rock 'n' roll genre. Every note tells a story and the stories are fantastic. Here is that list:

1. "Good Vibrations"; The Beach Boys
2. "Clocks"; Coldplay
3. "Layla"; Derek and the Dominoes
4. "Boys of Summer"; Don Henley
5. "Everlong"; Foo Fighters
6. "Bohemian Rhapsody"; Queen
7. "Baba O'Riley"; The Who
8. "Synchonicity II"; The Police
9. "In the End"; Linkin Park
10. "Little Wing"; Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble
11. "Just Like Heaven"; The Cure
12. "Riders on the Storm"; The Doors

Kyle's All Time Favorite Songs Ipod Playlist

I decided to give you a little commentary on each of these songs after I figured out how to copy the list from Itunes over here.

- Rain When I Die, Alice In Chains: Captures almost the full range of Layne Staley's voice. I call this the "height of their powers"
- Ain't No Sunshine, Bill Withers: A mood song that perfectly reflects the loneliness when you're away from the one you love
- More Than a Feeling, Boston: a perfectly rockin' song with heart
- The Story, Brandi Carlile: one of the most raw, emotional performances I've ever heard
- Seasons, Chris Cornell: I love the conversion of grunge into acoustic and the beauty of Chris Cornell's voice. My #1 all time favorite song
- Clocks, Coldplay: a song of epic proportions. Goes for everything and has that catchy piano hook you can't forget
- Sunshine of Your Love, Cream: Another "height of their powers song" from a fantastic band that didn't last long enough
- Dim, Dada: Super opening riff combined with gritty lyrics
- Layla, Derek, Eric Clapton & The Dominos: Was he in love with this woman? Pine for her? Horribly? There can be no doubt.
- The Boys of Summer, Don Henley: A perfectly crafted song that caught the essence of the era, but was completely original to this artist.
- Daniel, Elton John: Tugs at those heartstrings. Wonderfully written and suited perfectly to Elton's voice.
- Lay Down Sally, Eric Clapton: Makes me want to jump and dance
- Take a Picture, Filter: The imagery of this song, combined with the raw emotions in parts keep me coming back
- Everlong, Foo Fighters: A symphony of rock, every note is where it should be, which makes it significantly different from other songs of its genre
- Juke Box Hero, Foreigner: The perfect expression of every young rocker's story
- On Broadway, George Benson: This guy is extraordinary, his voice, his guitar and his performance sensibilities. I love what he does.
- Midnight Train To Georgia, Gladys Knight & The Pips: I love a deep female voice belting it out, Gladys is a treasure.
- Better Days, The Goo Goo Dolls: A song whose lyrical depth I think most people miss.
- Good Man, India.Arie: Father goes away to war and is killed. What happens to those left behind? They celebrate him and his life. A beautiful sentiment.
- We're Going To Be Friends, Jack Johnson: You can't help picture your own children or your childhood and smile or chuckle
- Flood, Jars of Clay: A religious song with a message we can all appreciate, put together beautifully.
- I Got A Name, Jim Croce: Has one of my favorite song lines of all time, "And I carry it with me like my daddy did, but I'm living the dream that he kept hid".
- Why Georgia, John Mayer: The imagery, the guitar, thoughts of the road and love lost.
- A Boy Named Sue, Johnny Cash: I absolutely love the sounds of the prisoners reacting to this song as they hear it for the first time. A classic of lyrical cleverness (thank you Shel Silverstein!)
- Lithium, Nirvana: That deep guitar riff is a Cobain trademark. A song that rocks, quietly but surely
- Try A Little Tenderness, Otis Redding: I can't hear this song without thinking of Otis' performance at Monterey Pop Festival where he wowed the hippies with his enthusiasm and gruffly beautiful voice.
- Slip Slidin' Away, Paul Simon: A childhood favorite of mine that I've been able to pass along to my own children.
- Solsbury Hill, Peter Gabriel: childhood drama and confusion with unforgettable melody and memorable hook
- Major Tom, Peter Schilling: Love the idea of the sequel song, in this case well crafted and fitted to its era. The rising "coming home" at the end always delivers for me.
- Can't Stand Losing You, The Police: Love the originality of the early Police songs, and hits on a consistent theme for Sting - haplessly lost love
- The Ghost In You, The Psychedelic Furs: memorable hook mixed with husky vocals
Bring it On Home to Me, Sam Cooke: If you don't believe in soul, listen to this song
- Julie Paradise, Screaming Trees: the gravelly voice mixed with the big grunge sound of Screaming Trees. I love this song but could recommend several others.
- Strong Enough, Sheryl Crow: vulnerability laid bare
- Little Wing, Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble: greatest instrumental performance ever. He may not have written this song, but Stevie mastered it
- Last Nite, The Strokes: my newest favorite band. I love a gravelly voice that still fits the music and the Strokes deliver the beat to match.
- Doin' Time, Sublime: Ah, don't you miss them? They could have been soooo great. Totally original, but with in a way that's accessible.
- Wild Horses, The Sundays: beautiful and haunting. An unexpected take on a very different song
- Hunger Strike, Temple of the Dog: A mixture of selflessness and starpower as two of the greatest voices in grunge got together to complement each other.
- In God's Country, U2: a song that could have been written for a patriotic collection of the United States - by Irishmen.
- Bad, U2: a crescendo of emotion that must be experienced, not just listened to.
- (This Song's Just) Six Words Long, Weird Al Yankovic: matched exactly with my criticism of the song it parodied
- Pinball Wizard, The Who: Pete Townshend's sense of how to make individual notes count is uncanny

These Songs should have been hits #GBE2

One of my favorite things to do, especially in summer when I have a little Itunes money to spend (someone always gives me Itunes money these days for my birthday, which is in July), is to come up with lists of songs. These can be playlists for my Ipod, or just lists of songs that fit some theme.

This summer my song list idea was framed as a question, "What if there was a song that under the right conditions could be a hit? How would one get the ball rolling to turn that song into a hit?" The way I figure it, one way that could happen is if a blogger, and I guess I can call myself that now, decided to start a poll where he asked his readers to start a discussion of songs that should have been hits and then seeded the discussion with his own set of potential hits. His readers and himself would then vote on and discuss all the songs that were brought up. Then maybe one of those songs would catch on and actually could become a hit. Or maybe it would be another song that one of his readers suggested (hint, hint!).

So, that's exactly what I'm going to do. Here is my starter list of songs I think should have or could have been hits, along with links to the song in Itunes so you can listen to snippets of them and get the idea.

1. "Dim" by Dada
2. "Seasons" by Chris Cornell
3. "For Celebrations Past" by Screaming Trees
4. "Donna Everywhere" by Too Much Joy

Now vote:

Which of these songs should have been a hit?

I will be monitoring the vote totals and also the comments and will rework this post and poll as other suggestions are made.

One Liners Ipod Playlist

So I had another idea for a playlist. This one is composed of the songs that I think have some of the hardest-hitting single lines or couplets in my entire inventory. I'm just getting started with this one, but here's what I've got so far:

I Hope You Dance, Leann Womack (this song was actually the inspiration for the entire list): "When you get the chance to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance"

I Got a Name, Jim Croce: "And I carry a name just like my Daddy did, but I'm living the dream that he kept hid"

Living on a Prayer, Bon Jovi: "Take my hand, we'll make it I swear"

Leader of the Band, Dan Fogelberg: "Papa I don't think I said 'I love you' near enough"

Better Days, Goo Goo Dolls: "'Cause I don't need boxed wrapped in strings and designer love and empty things, just a chance that maybe we'll find better days",
AND: "And the one poor child who saved this world and there's ten million more that probably could if we all just stopped and said a prayer for them"

Imagine, John Lennon: "You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will live as one."

Pride (in the Name of Love), U2: "They took your life, they could not take your Pride"

A Boy Named Sue, Johnny Cash: "You ought to thank me before I die for the gravel in your gut and the spit in your eye, 'cause I'm the son of a bitch that named you Sue"

Hurt, Nine Inch Nails: "I hurt myself today, to see if I still feel"

Fix You, Coldplay: "Lights will guide you home, and ignite your bones"

Our House, Crosby Stills & Nash: "Life used to be so hard, now everything is easy 'cause of you."

Good Man, India.Arie: "Your daddy lived for you and your daddy died for you and I'd do the same"

I'm going to keep looking for more, but not tonight.
Share on Facebook

Four Hour Party Playlist

Raquel asked me to put together a playlist that would last for four hours, which was the official length of the pool party/BBQ we had for my birthday in July. I started putting together the list and quickly found I had over 5 1/2 hours of great music, none of which I could easily pare from the list. So I didn't and we used it as is. Now I've been listening to nothing but that list ever since. It crosses eras and genres and you’ll find no consistent theme except that they’re all songs I like and they’re not too dark to dampen a party mood. Here is an excerpt from this weekend, in the order that they were played:

How Bizarre - OMC
Panama - Van Halen
Bring Me to Life - Evanescence
Song 2 - Blur
Funkytown - Lipps Inc
More than a Feeling - Boston
Take Your Time (Do it Right) – SOS Band
Can’t Buy Me Love – Beatles
Mirror in the Bathroom – English Beat
Sing Sing Sing (with a Swing) – James Horner (Swing Kids Soundtrack)
Born to be Wild – Steppenwolf
Pressure Zone – Beck
Hungry Like the Wolf – Duran Duran
Dim – Dada
A Boy Named Sue – Johnny Cash

Now here’s the rest of the playlist (in alphabetical order):
You Shook Me All Night Long – AC/DC
We Die Young – Alice in Chains
Tighten it Up, Pt 1 – Archie Bell and the Drells
Rock Lobster – B52’s
Hazy Shade of Winter – The Bangles
I Get Around – Beach Boys
There’s No Other Way – Blur
Pretty Pink Ribbon – Cake
Tell Me Something Good – Chaka Khan and Rufus
Tequila – The Champs
She’s a Bad Mamajama – Chris Carlton
San Francisco Days – Chris Isaak
Johnny B Goode – Chuck Berry
Should I Stay or Should I Go – The Clash
Clocks – Coldplay
Sunshine of Your Love – Cream
The Love Cats – The Cure
Take Five – Dave Brubeck
Smoke On the Water – Deep Purple
The Boys of Summer – Don Henley
Break on Through – The Doors
Save Tonight – Eagle Eye Cherry
Life in the Fast Lane – The Eagles
Lay Down Sally – Eric Clapton
Juke Box Hero – Foreigner
Relax – Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Hocus Pocus – Gary Hoey
Give Me the Night – George Benson
On Broadway – George Benson
I Heard it Through the Grapevine – Gladys Knight & the Pips
Crazy – Gnarls Barkley
Sweet Child O’ Mine – Guns ‘N’ Roses
Barracuda – Heart
Long Cool Woman (in a Black Dress) – The Hollies
Things Can Only Get Better – Howard Jones
It’s Your Thing – The Isley Brothers
Centerfold – J Geils Band
I Got the Feelin’ – James Brown
Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag – James Brown
Get Up Offa That Thing – James Brown
Curbside Prophet – Jason Mraz
I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll – Joan Jett & the Black Hearts
Lights – Journey
Behind These Hazel Eyes – Kelly Clarkson
Louie Louis – The Kingsmen
Just Dance – Lady Gaga
Rock and Roll – Led Zeppelin
D’Yer Mak’er – Led Zeppelin
Hangin’ by a Moment – Lifehouse
No New Tale to Tell – Love and Rockets
Billie Jean – Michael Jackson
Lithium – Nirvana
Dead Man’s Party – Oingo Boingo
Hey Ya! – Outkast
Crazy Train – Ozzy Ozbourne
Major Tom – Peter Schilling
Can’t Stand Losing You – The Police
1999 – Prince
Another One Bites the Dust – Queen
We Will Rock You – Queen
What I’d Say – Ray Charles
Super Freak – Rick James
Jessie’s Girl – Rick Springfield
Get Off of My Cloud – The Rolling Stones
Brown Sugar – The Rolling Stones
Hold On! I’m Comin’! – Sam and Dave
Wonderful World – Sam Cooke
Oye Como Va – Santana
Love Song – Sara Bareilles
Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight – Spinal Tap
Unglued – Stone Temple Pilots
Last Nite – The Strokes
Wipeout – The Surfaris
She Blinded Me with Science – Thomas Dolby
867-5309 (Jenny) – Tommy Tutone
She’s a Beauty – The Tubes
Vertigo – U2
Pride (In the Name of Love) – U2
You Really Got Me – Van Halen
Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love – Van Halen
Hot for Teacher – Van Halen
Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison
YMCA – The Village People
Don’t Stop the Music – Yarbrough & Peoples
Owner of a Lonely Heart – Yes
Good Lovin’ – Young Rascals
Share on Facebook