Listening: Smart Playlists

when i'm not listening to albums, i'm generally listening to one smart playlist on my itunes, i call it "Radio"

"Radio" is essentially a smart playlist aggregator with about 50 constantly rotating songs that has 10 different smart playlists feeding into it (see infra) ... while it may seem that it's a little heavy on "critic-based" lists, you'd be amazed at how much fantastic music gets funneled into this little thing, and i have a huge chunk of music that didn't get on these lists from my compilation and "no list" playlists

because all the feeder smart playlists are set up to only include songs that i haven't listened to in a certain amount of time (anywhere from 1 week to multiple months), once a song gets played it's kicked off the smart playlist and another gets immediately grabbed ... this way things are constantly refreshed with tunes that i haven't heard in a while

as an example, here are the next 10 songs that this "radio" playlist has queued up:

superchunk - "throwing things"
margot & the nuclear so and so's - "quiet as a mouse"
sam & dave - "when something is wrong with my baby"
the rolling stones - "it's not easy"
portishead - "pedestal"
phoenix - "long distance call"
soundgarden - "4th of july"
smashing pumpkins - "today"
serge gainsbourg - "melody"
joe morris - "lowe groovin'"

-------------

the smart playlists feeding into "Radio"

1) 5 star songs (last listened): a list of songs i've rated 5 stars sorted by the least recently played, right now i have 150 songs in this list, with the most recently listened-to at 7/12/07

2) 5 star songs (least listened): a list of songs i've rated 5 stars that i've listened to less than 5 times total, and haven't listened to in the last 1 week

3) 500 Best Albums of All Time (Rolling Stone): this is a smart playlist that grabs songs that i have not listened to in the last 4 weeks that are rated either 0 (not rated yet), 4, or 5 stars on a playlist i set up with every album i have on rolling stone's 500 best albums of all time list ... this gives the playlist some classic rock flavor

4) Best Albums of the 1970s: this smart playlist grabs songs that i haven't listened to in the last 4 weeks that are rated either 0, 4, or 5 stars from a playlist that has Pitchfork's 100 best albums of the 1970s

5) Best Albums of the 1980s: this smart playlist is the same as the last, while grabbing from a playlist that has Pitchfork's 100 best albums of the 1980s

6) Best Albums of the 1990s: same as the last, but for Pitchfork's 100 best albums of the 1990s

7) Best Albums of the 2000s: same as the last, but i've made individual playlists with my favorite 50 albums from every year of the aughts, and this playlist grabs from those lists

8) Best Compilations: same as the last, but this grabs from a playlist i set up with my favorite compilations (atlantic rhythm & blues; complete stax-volt singles; no thanks! the 70s punk rebellion; left of the dial: dispatches from the '80s underground; nuggets 1, 2, and children of nuggets; etc)

9) Best Songs of All Time (Rolling Stone): same as the last, but this grabs from a playlist that has Rolling Stone's best 500 songs of all time

10) 4 Star No List: this playlist grabs from all the music i've rated 4 stars that wouldn't have been included on the rest of these lists for whatever reason

Listening: Sonic Youth - "EVOL"

i have to admit -- i'm not a big sonic youth fan ... but their trio of albums -- starting with 1986's "EVOL", moving onto 1987's "Sister", and their undeniable 1988 masterpiece "Daydream Nation" -- are simply stunning works of art and encapsulate a pretty incredible creative run ... for some reason i've listened to "Sister" and "Daydream Nation" a few times recently, so i thought i'd give "EVOL" a spin this afternoon ... some things i noticed this time around: maybe it's just all the minor-key melodies, but i felt a distinct goth-rock vibe running through a lot of this album; also, there's some early industrial influences in here as well .... very impressive stuff, but i just tend to like poppier music

read more about "EVOL" here and here

Listening: Elvis Costello - "Get Happy!!"

i've been listening to tons of 50s/60s soul and r&b lately (thanks to the atlantic and stax box sets), and so, apparently, was elvis costello in 1979 ... like his sun records namesake, costello appropriates some of the best qualities of black pop music in creating "get happy!!" ... this album is a real tour-de-force: 20 quick-hitting tracks rush by in a lager-fueled 48 minutes, not leaving the listener with much time to catch their breath

read more about the album here, here, and here

Listening: The Apples in Stereo - "New Magnetic Wonder"

i was so excited about The Apples in Stereo's "New Magnetic Wonder" at the beginning of the year, and while i listen all the time to the lead-off track "Can You Feel It?", i haven't given the whole album a proper listen in a while ... i love the apples in stereo, they put out perfect power-pop albums with great psychedelic flourishes ... this album doesn't top some of their bests like "Tone Sole Evolution" and "Fun Trick Noisemaker," but it shows a veteran band that's comfortable in their own skin, which is becoming increasingly rare these days

RIYL: Islands, Of Montreal

Listening: Andrew Bird - "Armchair Apocrypha"

all too often i listen to an album once or twice, really enjoy it, and then shelve it ... i guess this is one of the main problems with having 10,000 albums on my hard drive ... anyway, i'm trying to make an effort to go back through my favorite albums of 2007 and give them some more spins

first up (my ipod playlists like alphabetical order), Andrew Bird's "Armchair Apocrypha" ... i love andrew bird's last two albums, and this one is just as good, if not better ... bird has taken such a weird path to his current indie stardom, going from frontman of flamboyant 90s swing-revivalists squirrel nut zippers to a baroque-folk troubadour

read more about the album here, here, and here

Listening: James Brown - "The Payback"

ok, i'm in full-on 70s mode now ... listening to another classic, James Brown's "The Payback" ... some fantastic funk on here, and soul brother number one really shows his range across the whole album ... read more here

Listening: Faust - "Faust IV"

this afternoon i'm indulging in some spaced-out krautrock with Faust's "Faust IV" ... it's one of my favorite 70s art-rock albums ... you can read more about it here and here