One great thing about iPods and iTunes is the way you can use them to objectively analyse what music you like (other music solutions might have similar functionality). As iTunes will list how many times you have listened to a track, your actual listening preferences are laid bare. You might like to say that you spend your time listening to Tibetan necro-jazz, but iTunes makes plain that you are really listening to the greatest hits of Hanson on endless repeat. The iTunes play counts will of course bias towards the kind of music you like to listen to when away from a proper music player, but this serves to point out how much listening is done on the move.
That was all by way of introduction. This Christmas I am using iTunes smart playlists to generate rules-based compilation CDs which I will then give to people who have similar discs to give back. I will burn up copies of the following three discs:
1. New Favourites
This will have the most played tracks I have added to iTunes in the last 12 months.
2. All-Time Favourites
This will have the tracks on iTunes that I have played the most since the dawn of time.
3. Forgotten Favourites
This sadface disc will have the most played tracks not listened to in the last year. What went wrong with these tunes?
Random factors will determine who gets which disc.
Do you want to play this game? If you do, make sure to enclose a tracklisting with your CD.
Previous iPod favourites:
Favourite Tunes (as of 21/12/2006)
iPod Top Ten (as of 4/5/2006)
iPod Top Ten
Showing posts with label iPod. Show all posts
Showing posts with label iPod. Show all posts
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Furcht und Elend in der DDR
Alert readers may have noticed a slight change in my recent post about my most played tracks on iTunes. Evidently I burned up the disc and wrote the piece without actually listening to the tunes, and discovered retrospectively that the 'Jugendliebe' track that begins it is a surprisingly effecting piece of nicey fluff. I had mistaken it for 'Wie Ein Stern' by Frank Schöbel, which is a pretty bad DDR goes Eurovision style tune. Still, I was pleased to hear it this morning when seeing the film Das Leben Der Anderen, where it plays while two of the characters are in an awful pub.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Favourite Tunes (as of 21/12/2006)
Join me, gentle reader, as I bomb through what iTunes feels are MY FAVOURITE TUNES EVER. I compiled this list to make a Random Santa present. If you want, you can compare them with previous iTunes top tens: iPod Top Ten (as of 4/5/2006) & iPod Top Ten
So, in reverse order:
TWENTY ONE Ute Freudenberg & Elefant 'Jugendliebe' (from Das Beste Aus Der DDR)
Slightly forgettable, perhaps, but it is the kind of thing I like to listen to on the way to Krautschule. The acoustic guitar line is nice, and I enjoy the "ha-ha" bit in the middle.
TWENTY Shakira 'Suerte' (from 'Wherever, Whenever' single)
I love you Shakira! Truly you are the flower of Colombian womanhood.
NINETEEN Dresden-Sextett 'Am Einem Tag In September' (from Amiga-a-go-go Vol 2.)
This is that DDR psych cover of 'She's Not There'. I may have mentioned this before, but I don't know if I have made fully clear how awesome it is.
EIGHTEEN Kate Bush 'Suspended in Gaffa' (from The Dreaming)
It is astonishing to think that only a couple of years ago had I never heard this song, one that shows off wonderfully Bush's range and songwriting capability.
SEVENTEEN Dexy's Midnight Runners 'I Couldn't Help It If I Tried' (from Searching For The Young Soul Rebels)
It was probably this song showing up on a magazine compilation that convinced me of the amazing majesty of the Dexy's.
SIXTEEN Electrelane 'Gone Darker' (from Axes)
The train song. Feel the power of the train.
FIFTEEN Ladytron 'True Mathematics' (from Light & Magic)
The opener to that album, which is probably why it pips so many of the other tracks therefrom here. It has that endearing robotic beat one loves about the Tron.
FOURTEEN Asha Bhosle & Chorus 'Dum Maro Dum' (from Beginner's Guide to Bollywood)
This has a crazy Hare Krishna style chorus, and comes from some film called Hare Rama Hare Krishna.
THIRTEEN Asha Bhosle 'Yeh Mera Dil Yaar Ka Diwana' (from Beginner's Guide to Bollywood)
This song is a psych-disco-funk explosion. Someone asked me who Asha Bhosle was the other day, and I said "the most famous Indian singer in the world". I felt a bit like a know-all.
TWELVE Joe Meek 'I Hear A New World' (from I Hear A New World)
Meek produces some geezer singing about how he hears a new world, with backing vocals by squeaky voiced aliens.
ELEVEN Shakira 'Wherever, Whenever'
Imagine if she was at your feet.
TEN Ladytron 'Seventeen'
There is something great about songs where the lyrics just repeat the same slightly sinister phrases over and over, especially when accompanied by a brutalist electropop backing.
NINE The Fall 'Totally Wired' (from 50,000 Fall Fans Can't Be Wrong)
HI DERE I R TOTALLY TEH WIRED
EIGHT Oktoberklub 'Was Wollen Wir Trinken' (from Das Beste)
Oktoberklub were this regime approved folk-rock outfit in the DDR. Their main lyricist was some senior enough figure in the apparatus, and wrote lyrics for most Ost-Rock bands under a variety of pseudonyms. My beloved maintains that this song uses an old Breton folk tune. The lyrics are new - the usual staring into a bright socialist future stuff. I like it, but a capitalist friend revealed himself to be a true son of the manse by rejecting its forward thinking tones on a recent visit to Carwash Mansions.
SEVEN Sandow 'Born In The GDR' (from Das Beste Aus Der DDR)
I think this was written after the Wall came down. It is an elegy to a lost country.
SIX Berluc 'Hallo Erde – Hier Ist Alpha' (from Das Beste Aus Der DDR)
Berluc seem to have been East German spacerockers. In this track they salute Sigismund Jahn, the first German cosmonaut.
FIVE Talking Heads 'Born Under Punches' (from Remain In Light)
The first track on an album I have been listening to a lot lately. You probably know this song. I had my interest in Remain In Light spiked big time by the description of its recording in Rip It Up And Start Again.
FOUR Roxy Music 'Do The Strand' (from For Your Pleasure)
I wonder sometimes if music might perhaps have peaked with the first three Roxy albums.
THREE Aktuelle Kamera 'A-Musik' (from Das Beste Aus Der DDR)
The East German TV news music.
TWO Public Image Limited 'Public Image' (from Public Image)
PiL's storming first single.
ONE Oktoberklub 'Sag Mir Wo Du Stehst' (from Das Beste and Das Beste Aus Der DDR)
My Favourite Song In The World! In this one Oktoberklub informally ask you where you stand – are you going forwards or back, are you with us or with them? You must choose, brother, you must choose. It is a wonderfully uplifting tune, with very cheery lyrics, so long as you forget they are about drumming up compliance with a nasty dictatorship.
So yeah, this is available as a CD-R to anyone weird enough to want it. I would be interested in hearing what iTunes or its equivalent thinks are YOUR most liked tunes. If you have a blog, post this information there and leave a comment here linking to it.
So, in reverse order:
TWENTY ONE Ute Freudenberg & Elefant 'Jugendliebe' (from Das Beste Aus Der DDR)
Slightly forgettable, perhaps, but it is the kind of thing I like to listen to on the way to Krautschule. The acoustic guitar line is nice, and I enjoy the "ha-ha" bit in the middle.
TWENTY Shakira 'Suerte' (from 'Wherever, Whenever' single)
I love you Shakira! Truly you are the flower of Colombian womanhood.
NINETEEN Dresden-Sextett 'Am Einem Tag In September' (from Amiga-a-go-go Vol 2.)
This is that DDR psych cover of 'She's Not There'. I may have mentioned this before, but I don't know if I have made fully clear how awesome it is.
EIGHTEEN Kate Bush 'Suspended in Gaffa' (from The Dreaming)It is astonishing to think that only a couple of years ago had I never heard this song, one that shows off wonderfully Bush's range and songwriting capability.
SEVENTEEN Dexy's Midnight Runners 'I Couldn't Help It If I Tried' (from Searching For The Young Soul Rebels)
It was probably this song showing up on a magazine compilation that convinced me of the amazing majesty of the Dexy's.
SIXTEEN Electrelane 'Gone Darker' (from Axes)
The train song. Feel the power of the train.
FIFTEEN Ladytron 'True Mathematics' (from Light & Magic)The opener to that album, which is probably why it pips so many of the other tracks therefrom here. It has that endearing robotic beat one loves about the Tron.
FOURTEEN Asha Bhosle & Chorus 'Dum Maro Dum' (from Beginner's Guide to Bollywood)
This has a crazy Hare Krishna style chorus, and comes from some film called Hare Rama Hare Krishna.
THIRTEEN Asha Bhosle 'Yeh Mera Dil Yaar Ka Diwana' (from Beginner's Guide to Bollywood)
This song is a psych-disco-funk explosion. Someone asked me who Asha Bhosle was the other day, and I said "the most famous Indian singer in the world". I felt a bit like a know-all.
TWELVE Joe Meek 'I Hear A New World' (from I Hear A New World)Meek produces some geezer singing about how he hears a new world, with backing vocals by squeaky voiced aliens.
ELEVEN Shakira 'Wherever, Whenever'
Imagine if she was at your feet.
TEN Ladytron 'Seventeen'
There is something great about songs where the lyrics just repeat the same slightly sinister phrases over and over, especially when accompanied by a brutalist electropop backing.
NINE The Fall 'Totally Wired' (from 50,000 Fall Fans Can't Be Wrong) HI DERE I R TOTALLY TEH WIRED
EIGHT Oktoberklub 'Was Wollen Wir Trinken' (from Das Beste)
Oktoberklub were this regime approved folk-rock outfit in the DDR. Their main lyricist was some senior enough figure in the apparatus, and wrote lyrics for most Ost-Rock bands under a variety of pseudonyms. My beloved maintains that this song uses an old Breton folk tune. The lyrics are new - the usual staring into a bright socialist future stuff. I like it, but a capitalist friend revealed himself to be a true son of the manse by rejecting its forward thinking tones on a recent visit to Carwash Mansions.
SEVEN Sandow 'Born In The GDR' (from Das Beste Aus Der DDR)I think this was written after the Wall came down. It is an elegy to a lost country.
SIX Berluc 'Hallo Erde – Hier Ist Alpha' (from Das Beste Aus Der DDR)
Berluc seem to have been East German spacerockers. In this track they salute Sigismund Jahn, the first German cosmonaut.
FIVE Talking Heads 'Born Under Punches' (from Remain In Light)
The first track on an album I have been listening to a lot lately. You probably know this song. I had my interest in Remain In Light spiked big time by the description of its recording in Rip It Up And Start Again.
FOUR Roxy Music 'Do The Strand' (from For Your Pleasure)
I wonder sometimes if music might perhaps have peaked with the first three Roxy albums.
THREE Aktuelle Kamera 'A-Musik' (from Das Beste Aus Der DDR)
The East German TV news music.
TWO Public Image Limited 'Public Image' (from Public Image)
PiL's storming first single.
ONE Oktoberklub 'Sag Mir Wo Du Stehst' (from Das Beste and Das Beste Aus Der DDR)My Favourite Song In The World! In this one Oktoberklub informally ask you where you stand – are you going forwards or back, are you with us or with them? You must choose, brother, you must choose. It is a wonderfully uplifting tune, with very cheery lyrics, so long as you forget they are about drumming up compliance with a nasty dictatorship.
So yeah, this is available as a CD-R to anyone weird enough to want it. I would be interested in hearing what iTunes or its equivalent thinks are YOUR most liked tunes. If you have a blog, post this information there and leave a comment here linking to it.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
When iTunes attacks
I'm listening to iTunes on shuffle while I write. Something weird is happening with it... it seems to be playing two tracks at once - the main shuffle track, and some strange dark ambient tune (probably one of the quieter (((((SUNN-O)))). It sounds deadly, like an instant film soundtrack.
Does anyone know how I can make it do this again?
Does anyone know how I can make it do this again?
Sunday, June 04, 2006
iPod Top Ten (as of 4/5/2006)
I've done this previously. Then my iPod crashed and I got a new computer. Now I am doing it again.
1. Philip Glass & The Kronos Quartet ‘Journey to Inn’ (from Glass: Dracula) – 7 times (last played 19/4/2006)
2. A-Musik ‘Aktuelle Kamera’ (from Das Beste Aus Der DDR) – 7 times (last played 29/3/2006)
3. Electrelane ‘The Partisan’ (from Axes) – 6 times (last played 15/4/2006)
4. M.I.A. ‘Pull Up The People’ (from Arular) – 6 times (last played 3/5/2006)
5. Popol Vuh ‘Aguirre I (Lacrime Di Rei)’ (from Aguirre (orig. soundtrack)) – 6 times (last played 19/4/2006)
6. Joe Meek ‘I Hear A New World (I hear a new world (I head a new world))’ (from I Hear A New World) – 5 times (last played 4/5/2006)
7. The Doors ‘Break On Through’ (from the untitled first album by The Doors) – 5 times (last played 4/5/2006)
8. Oktoberklub ‘Sag Mir Wo Du Stehst’ (from Das Beste aus der DDR) – 5 times (last played 29/4/2006)
9. Tangerine Dream ‘Birth Of Liquid Pleijades’ (from Zeit) – 5 times (last played 22/4/2006)
10. Electrelane ‘One, Two, Three, Lots’ (from Axes) – 5 times (last played 18/4/2006)
11. Oktoberklub ‘Sag Mir Wo Du Stehst’ (from Das Beste von Oktoberklub) – 5 times (last played 15/4/2006)
12. Electrelane ‘Atom’s Tomb’ (from Axes) – 5 times (last played 13/4/2006)
13. Electrelane ‘Gone Darker’ (from Axes) – 5 times (last played 8/4/2006)
So what can we say about this? Obviously, I have been feeling the Electrelane love since I got Axes. Poor Oktoberklub suffer from having their song on two different albums. I typically listen to DDR music while on my way to German class, hence the frequent appearance to this folk-pop masterpiece. ‘Aktuelle Kamera’ is more the introduction to the East German news than actual music, and shows up here for similar reasons. M.I.A. is both brilliant and favoured by randomness, and the Glass, Popul Vuh, and Tangerine Dream tracks are there as soundtracks to scary roleplaying games. The one big surprise has to be the Doors track… not that it is anything other than brilliant, I’m just surprised I’ve listened to it so much. I think it must be having it on the same playlist of my favourite tunes that the Joe Meek track is on that does it, yes yes.
It's interesting to see the East German news music and 'Sag Mir Wo Du Stehst' have stormed back into the charts, while others have dropped out. Much of this is down to my not having ripped all the same stuff onto the new computer (or copied over the stuff from the old one). Time will tell whether Shakira reclaims her rightful place.
1. Philip Glass & The Kronos Quartet ‘Journey to Inn’ (from Glass: Dracula) – 7 times (last played 19/4/2006)
2. A-Musik ‘Aktuelle Kamera’ (from Das Beste Aus Der DDR) – 7 times (last played 29/3/2006)
3. Electrelane ‘The Partisan’ (from Axes) – 6 times (last played 15/4/2006)
4. M.I.A. ‘Pull Up The People’ (from Arular) – 6 times (last played 3/5/2006)
5. Popol Vuh ‘Aguirre I (Lacrime Di Rei)’ (from Aguirre (orig. soundtrack)) – 6 times (last played 19/4/2006)
6. Joe Meek ‘I Hear A New World (I hear a new world (I head a new world))’ (from I Hear A New World) – 5 times (last played 4/5/2006)
7. The Doors ‘Break On Through’ (from the untitled first album by The Doors) – 5 times (last played 4/5/2006)
8. Oktoberklub ‘Sag Mir Wo Du Stehst’ (from Das Beste aus der DDR) – 5 times (last played 29/4/2006)
9. Tangerine Dream ‘Birth Of Liquid Pleijades’ (from Zeit) – 5 times (last played 22/4/2006)
10. Electrelane ‘One, Two, Three, Lots’ (from Axes) – 5 times (last played 18/4/2006)
11. Oktoberklub ‘Sag Mir Wo Du Stehst’ (from Das Beste von Oktoberklub) – 5 times (last played 15/4/2006)
12. Electrelane ‘Atom’s Tomb’ (from Axes) – 5 times (last played 13/4/2006)
13. Electrelane ‘Gone Darker’ (from Axes) – 5 times (last played 8/4/2006)
So what can we say about this? Obviously, I have been feeling the Electrelane love since I got Axes. Poor Oktoberklub suffer from having their song on two different albums. I typically listen to DDR music while on my way to German class, hence the frequent appearance to this folk-pop masterpiece. ‘Aktuelle Kamera’ is more the introduction to the East German news than actual music, and shows up here for similar reasons. M.I.A. is both brilliant and favoured by randomness, and the Glass, Popul Vuh, and Tangerine Dream tracks are there as soundtracks to scary roleplaying games. The one big surprise has to be the Doors track… not that it is anything other than brilliant, I’m just surprised I’ve listened to it so much. I think it must be having it on the same playlist of my favourite tunes that the Joe Meek track is on that does it, yes yes.
It's interesting to see the East German news music and 'Sag Mir Wo Du Stehst' have stormed back into the charts, while others have dropped out. Much of this is down to my not having ripped all the same stuff onto the new computer (or copied over the stuff from the old one). Time will tell whether Shakira reclaims her rightful place.
Sunday, November 13, 2005
iPod Top Ten
Before my iPod crashed, these were my most played tunes:
12. 'Der Volkspolizist' by Uschi und Der Kinderchor Des 'Etkar-Andre-Ensembles' 8 plays
12. 'Mocca-Milch.Eisbar' by Thomas Natshinski & Gruppe - 8 plays
12. 'Sag Mir Wo Du Stehst' by Oktoberklub - 8 plays
12. 'Born To Lose' by Johnny Thunders And The Heartbreakers - 8 plays
12. '... It's A Moral Issue' by Baader Meinhof - 8 plays
12. 'Meet Me At The Airport' by Baader Meinhof - 8 plays
6. 'Daft Punk Is Playing At My House' by LCD Soundsystem - 9 plays
6. 'Baader Meinhof' by Baader Meinhof - 9 plays
4. 'Suerte' by Shakira - 11 plays
4. 'Losing My Edge' by LCD Soundsystem - 11 plays
2. 'Whenever Wherever' by Shakira - 12 plays
1. 'Aktuelle Kamera' by Musik [aka the East German TV news music] - 14 plays
12. 'Der Volkspolizist' by Uschi und Der Kinderchor Des 'Etkar-Andre-Ensembles' 8 plays
12. 'Mocca-Milch.Eisbar' by Thomas Natshinski & Gruppe - 8 plays
12. 'Sag Mir Wo Du Stehst' by Oktoberklub - 8 plays
12. 'Born To Lose' by Johnny Thunders And The Heartbreakers - 8 plays
12. '... It's A Moral Issue' by Baader Meinhof - 8 plays
12. 'Meet Me At The Airport' by Baader Meinhof - 8 plays
6. 'Daft Punk Is Playing At My House' by LCD Soundsystem - 9 plays
6. 'Baader Meinhof' by Baader Meinhof - 9 plays
4. 'Suerte' by Shakira - 11 plays
4. 'Losing My Edge' by LCD Soundsystem - 11 plays
2. 'Whenever Wherever' by Shakira - 12 plays
1. 'Aktuelle Kamera' by Musik [aka the East German TV news music] - 14 plays
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