Monday 7 May 2012

Music Diary 2012 - Day 1

Day one of my efforts to track my music listening got off to an interesting start with the Bank Holiday meaning I wasn't following a normal routine. After spending most of the day before doing things I liked (watching Fulham, having a pub dinner, and seeing a band in the evening) Monday was all about the family. We'd agreed an early start (well 9:30 ish which is early for us) to head up to IKEA in Brent Cross and check out furniture for my eldest's birthday bedroom revamp.

An uneasy compromise led to us listening to Absolute Radio in the car on way to IKEA, which meant my music diary got off to the worst possible start. There are very few bands that I actively dislike but The Stereophonics are top of that list and "The Bartender & The Thief" probably my least favourite song of theirs. Things picked up with the Inspirals (I had a little sing-a-long to the chagrin of the rest of the car), and everyone enjoyed The Specials and Iggy Pop.
"The Bartender and the Thief" The Stereophonics
"Sex on fire" Kings of Leon
"This is how it feels" Inspiral Carpets
"Too Much Too Young" The Specials
"Lust for life" Iggy Pop
"We Are Young" Fun


After a fairly quick walk round IKEA, and the obligatory Swedish Meatballs and Mash for lunch we headed home to the sound of Absolute Radio again. A fairly uninspiring mix of tunes though I enjoyed the Biffy Clyro track and "How Soon Is Now" is probably my favourite Smiths tune. My two boys had a moment singing along to the Adele track (clearly both taking after me) and we ended with a bit of classic Radiohead. Which was nice.
"All Star" Smash mouth
"Everybody Changes" Keane
"Animal Nitrate" Suede
"Bubbles" Biffy Clyro
"Love is a Battlefield" Pat Benatar
"If you Tolerate This" Manic Street Preachers
"She Moves In Her Own Way" The Kooks
"How Soon Is Now?" The Smiths
"Rumour Has It" Adele
"Sweet Home Alabama" Lynyrd Skynyrd
"Man of Simple Pleasures" Kasabian
"Street Spirit" Radiohead


After a nice sit down and a cup of tea, Mrs Top Five took the boys out to the park and left me with a list of jobs to get on with. However, I'd been to see Trembling Bells play with Bonnie Prince Billy that night before at the Union Chapel and spent the first hour or so working out what songs they played. I ran through the whole of the new "Marble Downs" album and also their split "Duchess E.P." which also features songs played with tour support Muldoon's Picnic. Trembling Bells are one of my favourite bands right now and "The Marble Downs" a serious contender for my album of the year.
Trembling Bells & Bonnie Prince Billy - "The Marble Downs" album via Spotify
"I Made A Date (With An Open Vein)"
"I Can Tell You're Leaving"
"Ferrari In A Demolition Derby"
"Ain't Nothing Wrong With A Little Longing"
"Excursions Into Assonance"
"Everytime I Close My Eyes"
"Love Is A Velvet Noose"
"My Husband's Got No Courage"
"Riding"
"Lord Bless All"

Trembling Bells & Bonnie Prince Billy - "Duchess" E.P. via Spotify
"Duchess"
"Too Old To Die Young"
"I'll Be Looking Out For Me"
"Tincture Of Tears"

Trembling Bells & Muldoon's Picnic - "Duchess" E.P. via Spotify
"Bells Of Oxford"
"(There's Nothing Nobler Than) Yorkshire In October"
"Tuning Fork Of The Earth"
"Dancing On The Breath Of God
"


I then got cracking on the chore list and put my Spotify Local File catalogue on random shuffle. This threw up several tracks I've not played for a very long time.
"Great Grandfather" Thee Headcoats
"I Love You" V.V. Brown
"We'll Make A Lover Of You" Les Savy Fav
"Mean Monsoon" Dan Auerbach
"Little Thoughts" Bloc Party
"Big Black Baby Jesus of Today" Black Lips
"Instant Street" dEUS
"Tanzen Gehn" The Dirtbombs
"Ladyflash" The Go! Team
"I Am Catweasle" Luke Haines
"Rollin' Stone" Muddy Waters
"It's A Long Way Back" Ramones
"Stand Down" Art Brut
"Failure" Laura Marling
"Peter Gunn Theme" The Blues Brothers


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2 comments:

kit brown said...

I love that you have Muddy Waters and the Ramones on the same play list.

*must go play Ramones now*

Chopper said...

Thanks. It was a totally random shuffle though.

I often suspect that my iPod is sentient with it's occasionally brilliant choice of tunes but this was actually the first time I'd tried a "global" shuffle via Spotify and I was pleased with the results!