Towards a General Theory of Everything: playlists

What It Is We're Doing Here

This is a place where I post anything my friends and I feel is relevant to the music we like. The kind of music in question can be seen pretty easily by checking out the playlists posted. I post a playlist every month and regular record reviews. By regular I mean 'when I get the chance'.

It is my sincere hope that any reviews or commentary you read here will not remind you at all of reviews you can read in Rolling Stone or Pitchfork or NME or any number of other professional music reviewers.

Why? Because for the most part, those reviews are just really, really boring and they kill the fun of music. No one (aside from guys who write those reviews) sits around with their friends and mentions how 'the deeply melodic tempo shifts emanating from the counter-intuitive and soulfully rhythmic jazz fusion guitar lifts us to incomparable ...'

Incomparable heights of bullshit, maybe. Not gonna happen here. (I didn't tell you this, but I still visit Pitchfork every day, but only for the articles, yeah.)

It would be a lie if I said there will be respect for a variety of musical tastes here, there will be no such thing. Some music, no matter how popular it is, just sucks. That doesn't mean this is a haven of indie rock snobbery by any means. There's plenty of well-regarded indie shit out there that is just fucking awful. Grizzly Bear, I'm pointing at you and nodding my head.

Really there are no limits to the kind of music we'll listen to, so anything goes. Forward on anything worthy that has not been discussed in enough detail.

If we miss something newsworthy or get something wrong, let us know. If you agree or disagree with an opinion here, let us know. It will not change said opinion, but you will probably feel better than if you kept it in. So go ahead.

How I Rate Music

When I post my thoughts on a record, I use the standard 1-5 stars format for a couple of reasons: 1) It works just as well as anything else and 2) Most people use an iPod, I rate my songs on my iPod, the iPod has a 1-5 star ratings system and therefore it's a common language to both of us.

Here is how I define my ratings:

5 Stars: Totally awesome. A great song. Permanent favorite. Think 'Fans' by Kings of Leon (before the hairstylists), 'Mahgeeta' by MMJ, 'Fight Test' by the Flaming Lips, that sort of thing. A rare rating, though.

4 Stars: Very good. I'll listen to this song again and again, I'm happy I bought it, I will refer to it in conversation as 'one of the songs I like on that album'.

3 Stars: Just OK. Nothing wrong here, it's just not that memorable and maybe if I listened to it three or four times I'd like it, but if it was really that good, I shouldn't have to, so that brings us full circle and therefore it is 'Just OK'.

2 Stars: Irritating. A bad song. This rating means something is really wrong here, and perhaps we should sit down.

1 Star: A sin against music. Why did you record this? Do you not have any friends who listened to this with you and said 'Wow, this is incredibly, incredibly bad'? This is the kind of song that totally pisses me off when I hear it.

A few songs almost automatically fall into 1 or 2 star category, in particular the trend gaining popularity with bands to once again put one minute snippets of music or horrible noise on an album. Spiritualized, I am talking to YOU. 'Harmony 6 (Glockenspiel)'? I mean, fuck you.

How I Make Playlists

Any 4 or 5 star song usually ends up on a monthly playlist. If an album is so good that it has more than three or four songs that warrant being added to a playlist (ie Windmill, Deer Tick), I'll space the songs out and put them on a subsequent month's playlist.

Playlists are generally 35 songs or so. Any more than that and you'll just never listen to some of them, any less and you'll just get bored because there's not enough music. I realize this makes no sense, I really just needed an arbitrary cutoff, so 35 it is.

Monday, December 8, 2008

Zeptember 2008 Playlist

I actually really don't like much Led Zeppelin, but Zeptember it is. Again, old playlists being posted now to make up for lost time.

Revelry - Kings of Leon
Plastic Pre-Flight Seats - Windmill
Liz the Hot Receptionist - Jesus H Christ
World Wide Suicide - Pearl Jam
Who Are Yu - Dr. Dog
Boarding Lounges - Windmill
100 Years - Dr. Dog
Writer's Minor Holiday - Calexico
Victor Jara's Hands - Calexico
Calling and Not Calling My Ex - Okkervil River
Singer Songwriter - Okkervil River
Forget It All - Dogs
Hit the Wall - Brendan Canning
Soldier On - Dogs
Crawl - Kings of Leon
I Shall Be Released - Wilco/Fleet Foxes
Uncovering the Old - Dr. Dog
Drop Me Off - Dr. Dog
Rock 'N' Roll Singer - Mark Kozelek
I'm With Her - Rhett Miller
I Want You - Kings of Leon
I'll Be Your Bird - M. Ward
Stepping Out Queen - Van Morrison
Big John Shaft - Belle & Sebastian
Get-Well-Cards - Conor Oberst
Souled Out - Conor Oberst
Newsflash - Windmill
I Will Dare - The Replacements
Fluorescent Lights - Windmill
From the Ritz to the Rubble - Arctic Monkeys
Hang On - Dr. Dog
Story of My Life - Social Distortion
My Friend - Dr. Dog
This Here Giraffe - Flaming Lips
Lost Coastlines - Okkervil River

August 2008 Playlist

I know August is way past over, but I'm going back and posting playlists one by one. I have them going back to 2004, but we're starting more recently because who cares about 2004 now?

Ghost of Tom Joad - Tom Morello/Bruce Springsteen
Look At Me - Black Kids
Around and Around - Mark Kozelek
Parties in the USA - Jonathan Richman
NYC Gone, Gone - Conor Oberst
Bang Your Drum - Wolf Parade
Help Help - Mates of State
Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division
Ain't It Strange - Dr. Dog
Magazines - The Hold Steady
I've Underestimated My Charm - Black Kids
Sequestered in Memphis - The Hold Steady
Now - Mates of State
Danny Callahan - Conor Oberst
Dig, Lazarus, Dig! - Nick Cave
Plasticine Plugs - Windmill
Always a Friend - Bruce Springsteen/Alejandro Escovedo
Fit - Windmill
Velvet Underground - Jonathan Richman
Chameleon - Brendan Canning
I Don't Want to Die - Conor Oberst
On a Bridge, By a Pub - Dogs
Turn Turn Turn - Bruce Springsteen/Roger McGuinn
The Rabbit, the Bat & the Reindeer - Dr. Dog
Racing - Windmill
The Girls Don't Care - Eef Barzelay
That Summer Feeling - Jonathan Richman
Could Be Worse - Eef Barzelay
I'm Making Eyes at You - Black Kids
Little Bird - Dr. Dog
Hurricane Jane - Black Kids
A Higher Power - Jonathan Richman
Slapped Actress - The Hold Steady

Towards a General Theory of Everything