iPOD roulette

Legendary rock journalist Lester Bangs once said that “you don’t choose your music, it chooses you”, basically you might go out and buy/download/steal (delete where applicable) a whole rack of bands and artists music but over a short space of time you will subconsciously whittle it down to a handful of favourites, ones that get chosen by you over the others even though when asked the standard boring ‘getting to know you’ loaded question's like “so, what kind of music do you like?” you will most probably answer like a hipster robot “oh, everything really” when in fact you are in fact full of it. Nobody likes EVERYTHING, you might try and impress everyone with your music knowledge and highly eclectic tastes and rattle off some obscure Japanese girl band from 68’ but when faced with a wall of CD’s around a friends house you’re more than likely going to reach for something familiar and pleasing rather than ‘challenging’ and ‘envelope pushing’.

In the world of playlists and iPods you can keep and carry part (if not all) of your whole record collection with you at all times and although you obviously like the music you have lovingly added to your treasure trove of sonic wonderment you’ll find that when on the random shuffle option you probably actually like 1 out of every 6 songs that pops up. I am currently re-evaluating my playlists and trying to spring clean the weak from the chaff. Playing the noble game of iPod roulette I will ‘shuffle’ then if I don’t immediately think ‘tune!’ it’s deleted (well un-ticked, I’m not Stalin!)

Ok, let the games begin. (YES are keepers - NO are heading to bin)

- Post Break Up Sex – The Vaccines – YES!
- Gates of Eden – Bob Dylan – YES!
- Two of Us – The Beatles – YES!
- Cotton Fields – The Beach Boys – NO!!…Al Jardin whining version of Leadbelly song, probably added as Brian Wilson produced

Right first hurdle, next…

- Tumbling Dice – The Rolling Stones - YES!
- Oh! You Pretty Things – David Bowie – YES!
- Hope I’m Around – Todd Rundgren – YES! YES!
- Down the Highway – Bob Dylan – NO! , it isn’t all gold in them hills, and this track from the 3 star at best Freewheelin’ album is one that I could live without.

Next bunch…

- Mr Brightside – The Killers – NO! *Dropkicks into the pit of despair*
- Tough Lover – Etta Jamse – YES!
- I Should Have Known Better – The Beatles – YES!
- Monkey Man – Toots & The Maytals – YES BREDRIN!
- Sweet N Sour – The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – YES!
- Young Blood Blues – Hurray For The Riff Raff – NO! Breezy Does IT…
- At The Chime Of A City Clock – Nick Drake – YES!
- Faust Arp – Radiohead – YES!
- Boom Boom – John Lee Hooker – YES! Haw haw haw haw
- How Could I Be Such a Fool? – Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention – YES!
- Dropping Bombs On The Whitehouse – Brian Jonestown Massacre – YES! A bit of BJM to blow away the cobwebs....

Last lot (this could go on a while)

- Chills – Papercuts – NO! *delete*
- Finale – Funeral Party – NO!
- Hotpants – The Natives – YES! A welcome blast from the past
- Desire – Anna Calvi – YES!, should have won Mercury Prize Award this year…bleedin’ robbed.
- Act Naturally – The Beatles YES!-NO!-YES!-NO!...best just leave it and move on…
- Kokomo – The Beach Boys – NO!! GONE FOREVER!
- Standing Next to You – The Last Shadow Puppets – YES!
- Try Me – James Brown

And finally, cos this is getting worrying that I actually hate some of my own musical tastes...

Last song *deep breath*

- River Deep Mountain High – Ike & Tina Turner – YES!... oh uncle Phil you’ve never turned on me…


In the immortal words of Art Attacks Neil Buchanan - "try it yourselves"