Facing the Music

Even after two years of using iTunes to play all my music, I’m still fascinated by it. I think I’m obsessed with stats and I really have no idea why, but there it is.

With that said, I delved into my iTunes and took a look at what the top 10 most played songs were. It’s interesting, I have over 5,000 songs on my iPod but over a third of them remain unplayed while other’s filter up to the top. So I’m going to indulge in a little self-reflection as nothing else in pop culture amuses or annoys me all that much today.

1. E-Pro, Beck, Guero
Guero is best album Beck has put out. It’s a great blend of Odelay, Mutations and Sea Change and I couldn’t stop playing it last summer. I always worry that I’ll get stuck in a musical bubble (and I do have a lot of mid-90s music) so I’m pleased to see more than half of the top 10 is from this decade.

2. Dead Disco, Metric, Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?
This album grabbed both Gill and I from the moment we heard it and wouldn't let go. Since then we’ve given it to friends and insisted others pick it up. I’m happy to see I’ve got a fair amount of Canadian music in the mix – Metric is from Toronto for those who don't know. Who says CanCon rules don’t work?

3. Rebellion (Lies), The Arcade Fire, Funeral
Best Canadian band currently recording. I’d heard a lot about them but not really given them a shot until the unlikely moment when I had to watch the Much Music Video Awards for work last year and their performance stole the show, even though most of the audience didn’t appear to know what the hell was going on. Get this album and rejoice.

4. The Slow Descent Into Alcoholism, The New Pornographers, Mass Romantic
Another great Canadian (Vancouver) band and they are the masters of the power pop song. I expect some tracks from their latest, Twin Cinema, to land in the upper ranks of my play list eventually.

5. Monster Mash, Bobby 'Boris' Pickett & The Crypt-Kickers
We really didn’t have many Halloween decorations this year, just an un-carved pumpkin, so I downloaded Monster Mash, put it on loop on the laptop and dolled out candy to the neighbourhood rug rats.

6. Breakaway, Kelly Clarkson, Breakaway
Damn, Kelly Clarkson? Oh right, Gill and I share the iPod. I'm surprised there’s no Dixie Chicks in this list.

7. Molly's Chambers, Kings Of Leon, Youth & Young Manhood
I was introduced to Kings of Leon through a TV commercial for a car. Not sure which car, but I went and found the song, than the album. I guess ads do work, just not always the way marketers hope.

8. Spirit In The Sky, Norman Greenbaum, The Event Soundtrack
I wouldn’t have thought I listened to this often but it is on the summer party mix so maybe the amateur DJs at our last party dialed it up a lot. They were handing this soundtrack out after a screening of Thom Fitzgerald’s film at the Toronto Film Festival three years ago.

9. Girls & Boys, Blur, Parklife
A classic Blur song. Though never as big as Oasis, they were by far the better of the bands during the ‘90s British Invasion. Enough of the Gorillaz, Damon, bring back Blur!

10. 6'1", Liz Phair, Exile in Guyville
The whole album is Liz at her angriest and I love every moment of it. Just once I’d like to see a Canadian or American Idol hopeful take on one of her songs, but I know it will never happen.