Sunday Shuffle #199

Today is 10/10/10 and to celebrate I'm going to do what I always do and write down the first 10 songs from shuffle mode on my iTunes. 10!

1. Faust Arp/Radiohead (2)

2. Lowdown/Tom Waits (1)

3. Reach Out/Sloan (3)

4. Pride of the Yankees/Patterson Hood (3)

5. I Wanna Know Girls/Portastatic (1) - an acoustic version

6. Better Things/Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings (8)

7. Most People Are DJs/The Hold Steady (1)

8. The Lady Vanishes/White Rabbits (2)

9. Rabbit/The Essex Green (2)

10. Angela/Jarvis Cocker (3)

Sunday Shuffle #198

I'm off to a later start than usual today because I was up late. Why? I drove down to Indy last night to see The National with my friend Trevor and some of his friends. It was a great show (more on it later) and great to finally meet Trevor face to face. It's also a football Sunday and I have stuff to do for English, so let's get to the music...

1. My World/The Thermals (2)

2. You Won't Let Me Down Again/Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan (7)

3. Who Makes Your Money/Spoon (5)

4. I Felt the Chill Before the Winter Came/Elvis Costello (2)

5. Dark as Days/Army Navy (2)

6. An Imagined Affair/Elbow (1)

7. Unison Falling Into Harmony/Great Lake Swimmers (2)

8. Runaway/The National (13) - perfect!

9. In My Younger Days/Eels (1)

10. Tuberculoids Arrive In Hop/Ted Leo & The Pharmacists (11)

Sunday Shuffle #197

I didn't get much done on my weekend to-do list yesterday and I want to watch football today even though my Bears don't play until tomorrow night, so we'd better jump right into the music...

1. The Trouble With River Cities/Pela (1)

2. Take Good Care of the Poor Boy/Sloan (2)

3. Don't Say A Word (Hot Chicken #2)/Yo La Tengo (1)

4. Bandits/Midlake (1)

5. Fat/Archers of Loaf (1)

6. Bunny Ain't No Kind Of Rider/Of Montreal (2)

7. Someone I Can Be True With/Sloan (1)

8. Trash Talk/Reigning Sound (1)

9. Wild West Love Song/Marah (1)

10. Saints/Army Navy (3)

Sunday Shuffle #196

I have lots to do today and that doesn't include all the football I want to watch. I also have a couple posts I want to get to this week and ideas for more but we'll see what happens. For now, let's get right to today's ten...

1. June's Foreign Spell/Spoon (1)

2. Something for You/Pernice Brothers (9)

3. Broken Window/Arcade Fire (1)

4. Into the Open/Heartless Bastards (1)

5. Production City/The Whigs (1)

6. Cast Iron/Superchunk (6)

7. Sonnet 46/Roman Candle (3)

8. Blind/TV On The Radio (2)

9. Whenever We Finish/Two Hours Traffic (1)

10. When We Were Alive/The Thermals (4)

Sunday Shuffle #195

Today is the first Sunday of the 2010 NFL season and I can't wait. While I do love baseball, I also love football...and my White Sox are pretty much done for as far as the playoffs go this year. I don't necessarily have high hopes for the Bears but we'll see. I also love music, so let's get to some...

1. Straight Shooter/Reigning Sound (2)

2. Take Good Care of the Poor Boy/Sloan (1)

3. And Your Bird Can Sing/The Beatles (2)

4. Weary Arms/Crooked Fingers (3)

5. Twin Peaks/Surfer Blood (6)

6. Backseat Sweetheart/Two Hours Traffic (1)

7. Market Girl/Headlights (2)

8. the most important words (ps 80:5)/The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers (4)

9. It Ain't No Fun to Me/Al Green (4)

10. Re: Stacks/Bon Iver (1)

Heavy Rotation #12

It's almost mid-September and time to take a look at what I've been listening to the last few weeks...

Isobell Campbell & Mark Lanegan/Hawk - How have I ignored this combination before now? Wow. The sweetness of Campbell's voice paired with the weariness of Lanegan's is a winning combination on songs like the torchy "Come Undone" and the driving "You Won't Let Me Down Again," which also features a great little guitar solo from former Smashing Pumpkin James Iha.

Delta Spirit/History From Below - The song taking up the most headspace the past few days has been "Bushwick Blues" but the rest of the album is just as entertaining in its mix of folk and rock and solid lyrics. This is my first time with this band as well.

My Morning Jacket/Evil Urges - I don't know that I ever really embraced this album when it came out. I loved Z, which was my introduction to the group, and this one...I don't know. I liked songs for sure but the whole feel just felt off. However, I'm rediscovering it now and liking it more than I ever thought I did. I think we'll get a new one next year too.

The National/Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers - I grabbed this from eMusic a couple years ago and played it a few times. For some reason, it didn't scratch the same itch as Boxer or Alligator. Lately? Hell yeah. I think it was the version of "Lucky You" from their Daytrotter session a few years back that made me go back to it. Thanks, Daytrotter! Of course, the fact I'm seeing them three weeks from tonight might have helped too.

Superchunk/No Pocky For Kitty and Superchunk/On The Mouth - These are the remastered versions put out a few weeks ago. I'd never heard these albums - a fact I will probably talk about after Majesty Shredding is released on Tuesday. Until then, suffice it to say I'm enjoying them and "Throwing Things" is one of my new favorite songs.

Tokyo Police Club/Champ - Unlike a lot of people on the internet, I was a big fan of TPC's debut album, Elephant Shell. A big fan of all their work, really, so I was eager for this record to come out. It felt a little off to me after the first listen or two but I've finally plugged into it and can't get the songs out of my head. It still feels like they're an unappreciated band these days. Maybe that's what happens when you have early music blogger mythic status?

Sunday Shuffle #194

It's been a busy week, which explains the lack of posts this week. I had intentions but you know how that goes. Hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend!

1. If A Song Could Be President/Over The Rhine (3)

2. I'm So Glad She Ain't Never Comin' Back/Cracker (1)

3. Embassy Row/Pavement (4)

4. A Sentence Of Sorts In Kongsvinger/Of Montreal (1)

5. Cue The Elephants/Bishop Allen (1)

6. Strange Overtones/David Byrne & Brian Eno (4)

7. Farewell To the Pressure Kids/Broken Social Scene Presents: Kevin Drew (1)

8. Don't Come Back/Mary Weiss (2)

9. Black Hole/Gentleman Jesse (3)

10. Here Comes the Phantom/The Clientele (1)