Project 2010: Day 4, Planes, Trains, and Trains

One of the random things that will make me like a song is if the music or the singer sounds like some sort of a train. Or a plane. The song that once again reminded me of that is "Airline To Heaven" which is off of the second Mermaid Avenue album by Wilco and Billy Bragg, which starts with drums and and guitar playing that sounds like a train. The sounds of a train just push the song forward in a really positive way. Actually for the first few seconds I thought it might be "Bowl Of Oranges" by Bright Eyes, which I also love, although in this version the train sound is a little bit more muffled.



Phish's "Scent Of A Mule" sounds as if a train is bearing down right on you, in my mind (no idea where these images are coming from...).



Of course, right after "Arline To Heaven" the Indigo Girls' "Airplane came on where they sing as if they were taking off. Again, I love it. So, that is my endorsement of the day: songs that sound like big transportation vehicles. Here's a list of what I listened to today:

Ahead Of The Curve - Monsters Of Folk
Ahhh Good Country - Animal Collective
Ain't Even Done With The Night - John Mellencamp
Ain't Got No Grass - Tribe
Ain't Got No Troubles - Panda Bear
Ain't It The Life - Foo Fighters
Ain't Talkin' - Bob Dylan
Ain't Wastin' Time No More - The Allman Brothers Band
Air - Hair (New Cast Recording)
Air Mattress - Conor Oberst
The Air Near My Fingers - The White Stripes
Air Raid Gtr - The Go! Team
Airbag - Radiohead
Airline To Heaven - Billy Bragg & Wilco
Airplane - Indigo Girls
Airplane - Rusted Root
Airport Song - Guster
Airport Surroundings - Loney, Dear
Airport Man - R.E.M.
Alinson, Crooked River - Sufjan Stevens
Alcohol - Barenaked Ladies
Alcohol - Saturday Looks Good To Me
Alfie - Lily Allen
Alice Childress - Ben Folds Five
Aliens Exist - Blink - 182
Alive - Pete Yorn

Back to listening to music....

Project 2010: Day 3 - January 3rd

Today I made some good progress on running down songs on my ipod. I got through all of the "Agains" and the "Afters."

Some thoughts:
I listened to three versions of Again I Go Unnoticed by Dashboard Confessional. My favorite is from "The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most" EP. It just pushes a little bit harder than the other two versions.

Listening to Aeroplane Blues, I wonder if it is in any way connected to Neutral Milk Hotel's "Aeroplane Over The Sea"? If it is, I am not quite sure how.

I really do love "Age Six Racer." It always reminds me of the very beginning of Fall when Summer is fading away. I have always been and still am a Summer kid. I live for it. Listening to the song right now, as it is freezing cold outside makes me wish that it was once again the kind of nice outside that draws you out and makes you want to walk around outside and have adventures. Oh well. Here's a version of a song that some kid attached a homemade video to.



This is what I listened to today:

Adia - Sarah McLachlan
Admit It!!! - Say Anything
Adon Olam - The Israeli Scouts
Adrift - Jack Johnson
The Adventure - Angels & Airwaves
Aeroplane Blues - The Black Keys
Africa Bamba - Santana
After Midnight - Eric Clapton
Afterglow - Kate York
Afterglow - Travis
Aftermath - R.E.M.
Aftermath USA - Drive-By Truckers
Again - The Few
Again & Again - The Bird & The Bee
Again and Again - Annie And The Beekeeper
Again I Go Unnoticed (X3) - Dashboard Confessional
Against The Wind - Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
Agbadza - Rusted Root
Age Of Consent - Grant-Lee Phillips
Age Six Racer - Dashboard Confessional
Ages Of You - R.E.M.
Aginst Th' Law - Billy Bragg & Wilco
Agoraphobia - Incubus
Ahead Of The Curve - Monsters Of Folk

Back to listening to music!

Project 2010 Day 2: January 2, 2010: A Contrarian's view on Grizzly Bear

So, in 2009 lots of people were talking about Grizzly Bear's Veckatimest as one of the best albums of the year. I personally think that it's a very pretty album, but I never thought it was all that engaging. "About Face" is a perfect example of this.



It's a very pretty song, to be sure, but I certainly wouldn't seek it out. In the background it's very nice, but I never really actively listen to it, or want it on when I'm driving, and I feel like most of the album is like that. On the other hand I will say that "Two Weeks" is a lot of fun, and also has a great/disturbing video that goes with it.



Some other observations: Every day so far I've been getting a weird 30 second intro or transition track. Yesterday it was A0001 by Thursday. Today it was "Action" by The Starting Line. "Action" actually transitioned really well into "Adam's Song." Weird. "Adam's Song" then ends wanting to go into "All the Small Things," but then doesn't because of the way I'm listening to everything.

Acid 8000 has a great sample of a song that I don't know that goes "If you don't make your booty move, your booty must be dead." I love it.

I also listened to two version of "About Mr. Brown," a song I don't particularly like because I was too lazy to get up and skip the second version.

I will definitely talk about Sufjan Stevens in a later post as he is my, as well as 1,000 other people's, indie crush.

"Across the Sea" is Weezer's most depraved song. I really hate it except for the part of me that really loves it. I could probably write a whole post on it, but instead you're getting my non-love of Grizzly Bear.

Of everything I listened to, I think "Add It Up" might be my favorite, confirming that inside, I am still 14 years old.

Here's a list of what I listened to today:

About Face - Grizzly Bear
About Mr. Brown - O.A.R.
About Mr. Brown (Live) - O.A.R.
Above Ground - Norah Jones
Abraham - Sufjan Stevens
Abram - Jose Gonzalez
The Absence of God - Rilo Kiley
Absolutely Sweet Marie - Bob Dylan
AC/DC Bag - Phish
Acapella - Kelis
Accelerate - R.E.M.
Accidental Death - Rilo Kiley
Ache For You - Ben Lee
Acid 8000 - Fatboy Slim
Across The Fields - 10,000 Maniacs
Across The Sea - Weezer
Act Nice And Gentle - The Black Keys
Act of the Apostle - Belle & Sebastian
Act Of the Apostle II - Belle & Sebastian
Action - The Starting Line
Adam's Song - Blink 182
Add It Up - Violent Femmes
Addicted - Simple Plan
Adding to the Noise - Switchfoot

Project 2010

The way I'm going to try and frame this blog is through my project for 2010, which is going to be to listen to all of the (6,236) songs on my iPod, alphabetically, by song. I figure this will give me a chance to blabber on about music that I really like, or that I used to like, or that I thought I would like.

With that said a couple of rules for myself:
1. I don't have to listen to a bunch of different versions of the same band playing the same song (like live versions, for example).
2. I do have to listen to different bands covering the same song.
3. So far, that's it.

We'll see if there are any glitches along the way. I figure I'll get this started after the 1st of the year.