Blog

Here I am, once again. Today my profile turns 3 years old. It's been a decently big year for listening. I reached the big 50,000 tracks played, which was exciting. I finally got my songs per day average to 50, after it hovering in the 40s for a long time. Of course, then it dropped drastically over the summer when I didn't listen to much of anything. But now I'm going big again. So, let's see where my charts are.

They Might Be Giants 3,673
The Beatles 3,441
Mike Oldfield 1,843
Gorillaz 1,772
Fountains of Wayne 1,356
Queen 1,206
Dong Bang Shin Ki 1,107
The Alan Parsons Project 1,062
The Killers 1,003
Michelle Branch 982
Vanessa Carlton 883
Yoshihisa Hirano and Hideki Taniuchi 832
Simon & Garfunkel 826
Coldplay 782
Paul McCartney 778
Beck 773
KT Tunstall 773
The Presidents of the United States of America 762
Blur 727
Gabriel Mann 681
The Beach Boys 656
Elton John 650
Geri X 645
"Weird Al" Yankovic 629
Donovan 614
Billy Joel 538
tvxq 530
John Williams 460
The Rocket Summer 434
The Offspring 433
Daft Punk 428
Sean Lennon 416
The Cranberries 395
Michael Jackson 385
Scissor Sisters 355
Mannheim Steamroller 349
The Brian Setzer Orchestra 338
Imogen Heap 320
John Linnell 305
Mono Puff 287
Koji Kondo 277
Koji Kondo, Yoshiko Kawamoto 272
Creedence Clearwater Revival 268
Herman's Hermits 250
Bow Wow Wow 245
Cirque du Soleil 242
super smash bros. brawl 239
The B-52's 238
Paul McCartney & Wings 238
O-Zone 236

So, there you have them. My charts as of today, though more music is playing on my iPod right now, which will undoubtedly cause this to be out of date by the time I publish it. So, who was big this year? Who's on the rise, who's falling, and who stayed the same?

Well, first off, TMBG asserted their place as first quite dominantly, as opposed to when they and The Beatles were neck and neck. The Beatles still got 1,000+ plays though, so they were not neglected. Gorillaz also had another solid year. Fountains of Wayne had a big year, and rose up a few spots, not a small feat for someone in the top 10 of my charts. Queen moved up as well.

The two biggest new additions are The Offspring and Daft Punk. While they were both in my charts a year ago, their presence was negligible. Now, they both have 400+ plays. Both are amazing. Daft Punk's Discovery is my album of the year, without a doubt.

PUSA also moved up a good bit, and deservedly so, as they were not receiving enough attention in the past from me. The Beach Boys and Billy Joel also made some moves. Nice

Bow Wow Wow rocketed up, since I finally listened to the music of theirs I had besides I Want Candy, and realized I liked it. Yay. Also, a welcome to the B-52's, who are fun times.

So, who is making big moves outside of my top 50? Well, Owl City will probably be there soon enough. It seems I can't get enough of it. Also, Yui is fun. Nice mellow j-pop-rock is fun. Men At Work and Colin Hay are looking at making their moves into the charts soon. Oh, also Susumu Hirasawa, with the soundtrack to Paprika, has made his presence felt. No doubt about it, some of these artists will be in my charts next year. O-Zone is on the way out, as is the SSB:Brawl soundtrack. Herman's Hermits just doesn't have what it takes to really compete with any real competition either, given the small number of their songs I have. But only time will tell.

That's it for now. My charts are pretty nice. They've settled somewhat into what they'll sort of look like for the predictable future. The top 10 won't change too much, the next 20 may shift around, but will have most of the same members. But things aren't so defined that they can't move at all, and that's why watching the charts is still fun. I'll see you in a year!

Because I love this sort of thing, let's face it...

'First, make a list of your overall top-20 artists. Then, for each of these artists, add the 8 most similar artists to your list. Delete any duplicates, add up the number of entries on your list and this will give you some idea of how eclectic your listening habits are. A score of 9 represents an extremely unvaried musical taste while a 160 represents an extremely varied one.'

1. Bob Dylan
-1- Bob Dylan and The Band
-2- Neil Young
-3- The Band
-4- Woody Guthrie
-5- Leonard Cohen
-6- Donovan
-7- Joan Baez
-8- Neil Young & Crazy Horse

2. The Beatles
-1- John Lennon
-2- George Harrison
-3- Paul McCartney
-4- Ringo Starr
-5- Paul McCartney & Wings
-6- The Who
-7- Wings
-8- The Rolling Stones

3. Belle and Sebastian
-1- Camera Obscura
-2- God Help The Girl
-3- The Magnetic Fields
-4- The Boy Least Likely To
-5- Jens Lekman
-6- of Montreal
-7-The Gentle Waves
-8- The Shins

4. Joan Baez
-1- Peter, Paul & Mary
-2- Judy Collins
-3- Pete Seeger
-4- Phil Ochs
-5- Bob Dylan
-6- Joni Mitchell
- Woody Guthrie
-7- Arlo Guthrie

5. Vienna Teng
-1- Charlotte Martin
-2- Corrinne May
-3- Rachael Sage
-4- Dar Williams
-5- Sarah Slean
-6- Rachael Yamagata
-7- Thea Gilmore
-8- Sarah Fimm

6. Leonard Cohen
Bob Dylan
-1- Tom Waits
-2- Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
-3- Lou Reed
Neil Young
Joan Baez
-4- Nick Drake
-5- Tim Buckley

7. Jim Croce
-1- Harry Chapin
-2- James Taylor
-3- Dan Fogelberg
-4- John Denver
-5- Gordon Lightfoot
-6- Don McLean
-7- Jackson Browne
-8- Bob Seeger

8. John Denver
-1- Jim Croce
-2- Kenny Rogers
Dan Fogelberg
Gordon Lightfoot
Peter, Paul & Mary
-3- Anne Murray
-4- Neil Diamond
James Taylor

9. Over the Rhine
-1- Waterdeep
-2- The Violet Burning
-3- Sandra McCracken
-4- Hem
-5- Derek Webb
-6- The Innocence Mission
-7- The Choir
-8- The Choir

*An aside: I still don't understand why all of OtR's linked bands are Christian, as some of their songs are about sex and none that I have heard have obvious religious messages, they do not mention god during concerts, and they say nothing about Christianity on their website. Still looking for some insight here...

10. Flogging Molly
-1- Dropkick Murphys
-2- The Real McKenzies
-3- The Tossers
-4- The Pogues
-5- The Mahones
-6- The Bloody Irish Boys
-7- Blood or Whiskey
-8- The Dubliners

11. The Shins
-1- Death Cab for Cutie
-2- Band of Horses
-3- The Decemberists
-4- Vampire Weekend
-5- Rogue Wave
-6- The Postal Service
-7- Ra Ra Riot
-8- Fleet Foxes

12. The Traveling Wilburys
George Harrison
-1- Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
-2- Tom Petty
Ringo Starr
-3- Jeff Lynne
-4- Electric Light Orchestra
-5- Mudcrutch
-6- Roy Orbison

13. Brandi Carlile
-1- Indigo Girls
-2- Patty Griffin
-3- Ingrid Michaelson
-4- Catie Curtis
-5- Missy Higgins
-6- Melissa Ferrick
-7- Rosie Thomas
Rachael Yamagata

14. Jewel
-1- Sarah McLachlan
-2- Sheryl Crow
-3- Lisa Loeb
-4- Heather Nova
-5- Paula Cole
-6- Alanis Morissette
-7- Natalie Merchant
-8- Anna Nalick

15. Ingrid Michaelson
-1- Meiko
-2- Sara Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson
-3- Sara Bareilles
-4- Priscilla Ahn
-5- Jenny Owen Youngs
-6- Erin McCarley
-7- Greg Laswell
-8- A Fine Frenzy

16. Feist
-1- Broken Social Scene
-2- Kings of Convenience
-3- Cat Power
-4- Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton
-5- Stars
-6- She & Him
-7-Metric
-8-Rilo Kiley

17. Alanis Morissette
-1- Tori Amos
Sheryl Crow
-2- Jewel
-3- Natalis Imbruglia
Sarah McLachlan
-4- The Cranberries
-5- Meredith Brooks
-6- Fiona Apple

18. Ludovico Einaudi
-1- Roberto Cacciapaglia
-2- Giovannia Allevi
-3- Wim Mertens
-4- Max Richter
-5- Michael Nyman
-6- Fabrizio Paterlini
-7- David Nevue
-8- Dustin O'Halloran

19. Modest Mouse
-1- Ugly Casanova
-2- Built to Spill
-3- Wolf Parade
-4- Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
-5- Neutral Milk Hotel
Death Cab for Cutie
-6- The Flaming Lips
-7- Bright Eyes

138... not bad. Also, this is meaningless, like your life. :) Luckily, it has enabled me to find a few artists I wish to explore further.

El Radio Fantastique: Stories For Little Atoms (opening band for Mark Burgess at the Rockit Room, SF 2 Sept)
Nick Cave: The Death Of Bunny Munro (book)
Christopher Guest, Michael McKean & Harry Shearer: Unwigged & Unplugged (live DVD)
Various artists: Rough Trade Shops, Post Punk Vol. 1 (2CD)
Leonard Bernstein: The Final Concert (Britten's Four Sea Interludes, Beethoven's Symphony No. 7)
L'Arc~en~Ciel: Ectomorphed Works
Perez Prado: 15 Grandes Exitos
Paul McCartney & Wings: Wings Over America (3LP)
David Bowie: Strangers When We Meet (Target (!) comp)
The Who: My Generation (SACD)
Cheap Trick: Budokan II
Steve Kilbey: Painkiller
Foetus: Null
Various artists: Palermo Shooting (soundtrack to Wim Wenders latest film, w/two new Grinderman tracks)
Jacques Brel: Quand On N'A Que L'Amour (3CD box)
Various artists: Abbey Road Now! (Mojo magazine covers comp)
KOTOKO: daily-daily Dream (CD+DVD single)
angela: Land Ho! (CD+DVD)
Chiaki Ishikawa: Own Write (DVD)
Aya Hirano: Music Clip Collection Vol. 1 (DVD)
The Beatles Mono Box (MONO!)
Emerson, Lake & Palmer: Tarkus
The Fall: I Am Kurious Oranj
Pere Ubu: The Modern Dance
XTC: BBC Radio 1 Live In Concert
Roger Waters: Flickering Flame
You've Got Foetus on Your Breath: Ache
Foetus in Excelsis Corruptus Deluxe: Male (2CD live)
The Jim Carroll Band: Catholic Boy (RIP Jim)
Paul McCartney: Wingspan (2CD)
Big Star: #1 Record / Radio City (SACD)
Big Star: Feel (Alternate Version) / Mod Lang (Unissued Single Mix) (7")
Joy Division: Love Will Tear Us Apart (2009 7" on Cleopatra - not sure what this is, was hoping it was the original alternate 7" version but I have my doubts....)
Section 25: Always Now
The Who: Meaty Beaty Big And Bouncy
Various artists: When Pigs Fly: Songs You Never Thought You'd Hear (bizarre covers project with artists doing songs in opposition to their known style, including The Box Tops doing "Call Me" (Blondie), Don Ho "Shock The Monkey" (Peter Gabriel), Billy Preston "Girls On Film" (Duran Duran), among others)
The Beatles: Live At The BBC (2CD)
Crowsdell: Dreamette
Dolly Parton: Halos & Horns
Emerson, Lake & Palmer: Brain Salad Surgery (2CD+SACD Deluxe Edition)
Soundtrack: Bagdad Cafe
Big Star: Keep An Eye On The Sky (4CD box)
Various: The Secret Policeman's Balls (3DVD - this includes Pete Townshend's acoustic performance of "Won't Get Fooled Again" which I've always loved)
Black Sabbath: Sabotage [2009 remaster]
Emerson, Lake & Palmer: PIctures At An Exhibition [2008 2CD Deluxe Edition]
Emerson, Lake & Palmer: Welcome Back My Friends To The Show That Never Ends [2009 2CD Deluxe Edition]
Emerson, Lake & Palmer: Works Volumes 1 & 2 [2009 3CD Deluxe Edition]
Sandie Shaw: Cool About You - The BBC Sessions 1984 / 1988

Alice Cooper - Greatest Hits
The Animals - THE BEST OF THE ANIMALS
Bachman-Turner Overdrive - Best of B.T.O.
The Beach Boys - Endless Summer
The Beatles - Introducing the Beatles
The Beatles - A Hard Day's Night
The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
The Beatles - The Beatles (The White Album)
The Beatles - Abbey Road
Billy Joel - The Stranger
Bob Dylan - Street Legal
Boston - Don't Look Back
Carpenters - Close To You
David Bowie - Let's Dance
David Bowie - Never Let Me Down
Donovan - Donovan's Greatest Hits
Donovan - The Hurdy Gurdy Man
Donovan - Sunshine Superman
Electric Light Orchestra - A New World Record
Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Elton John - Greatest Hits
Eric Clapton - Backless
Eric Clapton - No Reason to Cry
Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
Foghat - Fool for the City
The Guess Who - Born In Canada
The Hollies - He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother
Janis Joplin - Pearl
Jefferson Starship - Modern Times
John Lennon - Double Fantasy
John Lennon - Shaved Fish
John Mellencamp - Scarecrow
Journey - Escape
Kansas - The Best of Kansas
The Kinks - Low Budget
The Kinks - State of Confusion
Leonard Bernstein - West Side Story
Panic at the Disco - Pretty. Odd.
Paul & Linda McCartney - Ram
Paul McCartney - Wingspan - Hits And History
Paul McCartney & Wings - Back to the Egg
Paul McCartney & Wings - Red Rose Speedway
Paul McCartney & Wings - Venus and Mars
Pink Floyd - A Collection of Great Dance Songs
The Police - Synchronicity
The Police - Zenyatta Mondatta
Queen - The Game
Queen - Greatest Hits
Queen - News Of The World
Ramones - Ramones Mania
REO Speedwagon - Hi Infidelity
Ringo Starr - Goodnight Vienna
Simon & Garfunkel - Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme
Simon & Garfunkel - Simon And Garfunkel's Greatest Hits
Small Faces - First Step
Supertramp - Breakfast in America
Sweet - Desolation Boulevard
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Damn the Torpedoes
Various Artists - Grease

1. How did you get into 29?
John Coltrane Many records of his lying around the house, and through Miles Davis' First Quintet.

2. What was the first song you ever heard by 22?
The Jimi Hendrix Experience All Along The Watchtower

3. How many albums by 13 do you own?
Marvin Gaye About 3 or 4

4. What is your favourite song by 15?
Bob Dylan and The Band Tears Of Rage or Orange Juice Blues (although recorded later without Bob)

5. What is your favourite song by 5?
The Rolling Stones Gimme Shelter

6. Is there a song by 6 that makes you happy?
Ennio Morricone I don't know

7. What is your favourite song by 10?
Neil Young The Needle & The Damage Done

8. What is a good memory you have involving 30?
B.C. Williamson Many, seeing as I made him up and wrote the majority of his songs! =)

9. Is there a song by 19 that makes you happy?
George Harrison My Sweet Lord

10. How many times have you seen 25 live?
The Beach Boys Never

11. What is the first song you ever heard by 23?
Chuck Berry School Days

12. What is your favourite album by 11?
B.B. King Live At The Regal... the best blues album maybe

13. Who is a favourite member of 1?
The Beatles It has to be John

14. Have you ever seen 14 live?
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young I will in a few weeks

15. What is a good memory involving 27?
James Brown I don't know... just listening to his music qualifies

16. What is your favourite song by 16?
Neil Young & Crazy Horse Hey Hey, My My or Down By The River

17. What is your favourite album by 18?
John Lennon Imagine, though I'd like to hear Plastic Ono Band soon

18. What is your favourite song by 21?
Simon & Garfunkel Scarborough Fair/Canticle

19. What is the first song you ever heard by 26?
Randy Newman Love Story

20. What is your favourite album by 2?
Bob Dylan Highway 61 Revisited

21. What is you favourite song by 3?
Miles Davis So What

22. What is you favourite song by 8?
John Barry Don't really listen to him anymore... can't recall

23. How many times have you seen 17 live?
Muddy Waters Never did

24. What is the worst song by 12?
Paul McCartney & Wings Quite a few of them

25. What was the first song you ever heard by 28?
Stevie Wonder Probably Sir Duke or Superstition

26. What is you favourite album by 7?
Sly & The Family Stone Definitely There's A Riot Goin' On

27. What is your favourite song by 24?
Crosby, Stills & Nash Suite: Judy Blue Eyes

28. Is there a song by 9 that makes you happy?
David Arnold Listened to him only a while ago, not interested any more

29. What is your favourite album by 4?
The Band Music From Big Pink

30. How many albums do you own by 20?
Albert King Just the one, King Of The Blues Guitar

'First, make a list of your overall top-20 artists. Then, for each of these artists, add the 8 most similar artists to your list. Delete any duplicates, add up the number of entries on your list and this will give you some idea of how eclectic your listening habits are. A score of 9 represents an extremely unvaried musical taste while a 160 represents an extremely varied one.'

1. Arctic Monkeys
2. The Strokes
3. The Vines
4. The Beatles
5. The Presets
6. The Cure
7. The Last Shadow Puppets
8. Modest Mouse
9. Maxïmo Park
10. Kings of Leon
11. Muse
12. Bloc Party
13. Lily Allen
14. The Fratellis
15. Angus & Julia Stone
16. The Pigeon Detectives
17. Interpol
18. Bob Dylan
19. The Kills
20. Klaxons

1. The Last Shadow Puppets
2. The Rascals
3. The Strokes
4. Milburn
5. The Kooks
6. Franz Ferdinand
7. Albert Hammond, Jr.
8. Arctic Monkeys
9. Little Joy
10. The Libertines
11. Kings of Leon
12. Jet
13. The Hives
14. Black Rebel Motorcycle
15. Nine Black Alps
16. Dirty Pretty Things
17. John Lennon
18. Paul McCartney
19. George Harrison
20. Ringo Starr
21. Paul McCartney & Wings
22. The Who
23. Pnau
24. Cut Copy
25. Midnight Juggernauts
26. Van She
27. Grafton Primary
28. Muscles
29. The Glove
30. Siouxsie and the Banshees
31. Bauhaus
32. Joy Division
33. New Order
34. Echo & The Bunnymen
35. The Little Flames
36. Ugly Casanova
37. Built to Spill
38. Wolf Parade
39. The Flaming Lips
40. Death Cab for Cutie
41. Neutral Milk Hotel
42. Oh No! Oh My!
43. Voxtrot
44. Ra Ra Riot
45. Rogue Wave
46. The Spinto Band
47. Throw Me the Statue
48. The Rakes
49. The Futureheads
50. The Pigeon Detectives
51. The Wombats
52. Art Brut
53. We Are Scientists
54. Razorlight
55. Cold War Kids
56. Bloc Party
57. The Killers
58. Placebo
59. Radiohead
60. Kasabian
61. Kaiser Chiefs
62. Foals
63. Pin Me Down
64. Editors
65. The Maccabees
66. Mystery Jets
67. The Cribs
68. Lady GaGa
69. Kate Nash
70. Girls Aloud
71. Katy Perry
72. The Saturdays
73. Sugababes
74. Josh Pyke
75. Lior
76. Sarah Blasko
77. Bob Evans
78. Holly Throsby
79. Clare Bowditch and The Feeding Set
80. The Wombats
81. The Enemy
82. The Courteeners
83. Little Man Tate
84. The Rifles
85. She Wants Revenge
86. Elefant
87. The National
88. Bob Dylan and The Band
89. Neil Young
90. The Band
91. Leonard Cohen
92. Woody Guthrie
93. Joan Baez
94. Yeah Yeah Yeahs
95. The Raveonettes
96. Blood Red Shoes
97. The Duke Spirit
98. Black Rebel Motorcycle
99. The Dead Weather
100. Shitdisco
101. Late of the Pier
102. Hadouken!
103. Does It Offend You, Yeah?
104. Crystal Castles
105. New Young Pony Club


105.... not too bad :)

Thought it was about time I wrote a journal... anyway...

The idea is to go to the page of your number one artist, and follow the link of it's number one similar artist, then repeating that for this artist and so on, noting down each artist as you go. Do this until you've got to 50 artists. If you get any repeats, just go to the second similar artist or the nearest one that you haven't already had.

Starting with:

1. The Beatles
2. John Lennon
3. George Harrison (seeing a pattern here)
4. Paul McCartney
5. Paul McCartney & Wings
6. Paul & Linda McCartney (lol)
7. Wings
8. Ringo Starr
9. John Lennon & Yoko Ono
10. Yoko Ono
11. Nico
12. The Velvet Underground
13. Lou Reed
14. Lou Reed & John Cale
15. John Cale (hmmmm)
16. Brian Eno & John Cale
17. Brian Eno
18. Harold Budd/Brian Eno
19. Harold Budd
20. John Foxx & Harold Budd
21. Robin Guthrie & Harold Budd
22. Robin Guthrie
23. Cocteau Twins
24. This Mortal Coil (I stopped recognizing the names around here)
25. The Hope Blister
26. Dif Juz
27. The Wolfgang Press
28. Colourbox
29. Ultra Vivid Scene
30. Pale Saints
31. Chapterhouse
32. Ride
33. Slowdive
34. My Bloody Valentine
35. The Jesus and Mary Chain
36. Spacemen 3
37. Spiritualized
38. Spectrum
39. Sonic Boom
40. The Telescopes
41. Loop
42. Flying Saucer Attack
43. Bardo Pond
44. Hash Jar Tempo
45. Roy Montgomery
46. Dadamah
47. Dissolve
48. Magnog
49. Amp
50. Windy & Carl

So... wtf.

Instructions: Put your favorite music player on shuffle (Party Shuffle on iTunes) and fill in the names of the songs in the order they show up. Or you could pick your own songs, but that’s not as much fun. ;)

My friends see me as: Never Wanted To Dance by Mindless Self Indulgence

My make-out song is: Dressed To Kill by New Found Glory

My day will be like: We Intertwined by The Hush Sound

I’ll have a good day if I can just hear: Rest by Green Day

Next time I’m in front of a crowd, I’ll say: Over and Over by Three Days Grace

My message to the world has always been: Stop and Say You Love Me by Evans Blue

Somewhere in my wedding vows, I will include: Nobody Puts Baby In The Corner by Fall Out Boy

My best friend is like: The Living Dead by Phantom Planet

My alter-ego is: Lips Of An Angel by Hinder

Right now, I feel: She's a Handsome Woman by Panic at the Disco

My innermost desire is: Chokechain by 3OH!3

What makes me happy is: Seventeen Forever by Metro Station

My birth was like: The Science of Selling Yourself Short by Less Than Jake

My theme song: Stolen by Dashboard Confessional

My deepest secret is: 99 Red Balloons by Goldfinger

If I reached the top of Mount Everest, what I would scream: Time won't let me go (acoustic) by The Bravery

My favorite thing to do is: Rescued by Jack's Mannequin

The story of my life is: I Like What You Say by Nada Surf

At my funeral they’ll play: Sway by The Kooks

When I’m drunk I say: Down Boy by Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Behind my back, my friends think I’m: Soco Amaretto Lime by Brand New

If I got lost on a desert island, I would yell: The One I'm Waiting For by Relient K

When I’m in the shower, I sing: Fat Lip by Sum 41

My love of life was inspired by the song: Wheels by Cake

Highschool was like: Take A Drink by Quietdrive

My family is described by the song: Listen to What the Man Said by Paul McCartney & Wings

How will you die? We Are All on Drugs by Weezer

To cheer myself up I: Skeleton Suit by Birdmonster