ShuffleLog

Manhattan Blogger?

2007-03-07T11:51:00.000-05:00

Holy shit. Among the running of the Top Phrases Least Likely To Be Used To Describe Me:

John Ore, a blogger in Manhattan, devotes an entire blog to chronicling his iPod’s shuffles.

I was contacted late last week by Open Source, part of Public Radio International. Seems they'd done a show on the shuffle feature of the iPod, and in doing research, came across my little gem of a blog (I'm listed in the "Extra Credit Reading" section).

As a follow up to that program, Open Source ran a feature on the shuffle phenomena:

To find out, I plugged 'iPod,' 'shuffle,' and 'ghost in the machine' into Google Blog Search. That netted me a handful of bloggers who see methods in their shuffles’ madness (and some fans of the 'Ghost in the Machine' album by The Police). John Ore, a blogger in Manhattan, devotes an entire blog to chronicling his iPod’s shuffles. In his first post on ShuffleLog, he says that he has a hunch that his shuffled songs follow 'secret Contact-esque patterns.' I emailed him to ask what he meant.

I cracked off a few hastily-prepared responses to Julia's queries, since I was on the way out the door to dinner in Brooklyn, and they were planning on taping from 7-8pm that evening. My responses weren't the most measured, but they got the point across. Julia ended up running the feature and excerpting several of my responses.

But damn, check out the 100 or so comments to the original show, and the comments to the feature. There's some serious geekery in there, and it seems I didn't even come close to scratching the surface in my half-baked attempts to find patterns in the noise. But hey, I'm just a "blogger in Manhattan".

(Many thanks to Julia, by the way, for stumbling across ShuffleLog and asking for my insight for her feature.)

The search continues...

Poisoning the Well

2007-03-02T10:13:00.000-05:00

We haven't had an honest-to-goodness ShuffleLog since last year, I've been preoccupied by hockey, and I may have irreparably compromised this little experiment.

More trips to the record store and raiding of the corporate coffers led me to be listening to a lot of new music over the last few months. Some of it was also stuff I discovered that I had on my old 20GB iPod and hadn't really listened to that much (Rocket From The Crypt, for example). In all, several records worth of stuff was vying for my attention.

The problem was this: my old 20GB iPod sucks. The battery literally lasts for about a day, whether I use it or not. The battery drains while it's sitting there on my desk at work, and sometimes it just cold freezes up. So it's not very good as a portable device, as much as I dig the fact that it holds a ton of stuff.

(Side Note: I'll eventually kick down and get a new, larger-capacity iPod with video capabilities, especially when/if my bonus ship comes in. But with Apple's announcement of the iPhone, I'm sorta deer-in-the-headlights, and thinking of holding out for that, even though it's only really an 8GB device.)

One of the side effect constraints of the original ShuffleLog premise was that my iPod nano only holds 600 or so songs. In a closed environment, we'd get a pretty clean look at shuffle patterns. But, life would be boring without new music. And new music would be boring if I couldn't listen to it on the subway. Hence the dilemma: I need to swap stuff out of my nano in order to listen, say, to Bloc Party's new record, and in doing so, I screw up the delicate balance of the ShuffleLog. I'd already started poisoning the well, so I sort of went all out recently.

Not sure if I can catalog all of the stuff that got knocked off, but here's what came over:

Rocket From The Crypt, RTFC -- No nonsense rock'n'roll from a band that is in the same company as Afghan Whigs, Archers Of Loaf, Drive Like Jehu, Girls Against Boys, Rancid, Reverend Horton Heat, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Superchunk, The Supersuckers, and Urge Overkill. That's pretty good company.
Broadcast, The Noise Made By People -- A former co-worker walked into my office one day last year while I was listening to Stereolab, one of my favorites. She wrinkled her nose at it, claiming that Stereolab was just a knock-off of Broadcast. To prove it, she made me rip The Noise Made By People. And now, almost a year later, I found it hidden in iTunes, and decided to give it a shot. It's not bad, evokes Stereolab's organ-laced atmospherics -- after all, it was Stereolab who released Broadcast's singles in the late 1990s -- and the 1960s art-rock outfit The United States of America.
Bloc Party, A Weekend In The City -- OK, I've been waiting for Bloc Party's sophomore record ever since their single "Two More Years" came out last year. I absolutely love that single, and I'm a big fan of the first record Silent Alarm. Sure, they get a bad rap like the Arcade Fire do for often being the hipster flavor-of-the-month, but I don't give a shit. The second record took some listening to. It definitely grows on me, and is more nuanced than the first. Not sure there are tracks that are as addictive as "Two More Years" or "Eating Glass", but "Hunting For Witches" comes close. And there are certainly "prettier" songs on this record, like "I Still Remember" and "On". Can't wait to see them on March 30th.
Elliott Smith, Figure 8 -- My brother turned me onto the Portland-based singer-songwriter, and his 60s-influenced "Baroque pop" is rich and expansive. I really dig his stuff, and was disappointed to learn that he committed suicide in 2003.
The Soundtrack of Our Lives, Behind The Music -- Another brother recommendation, these guys immediately remind me of The Dandy Warhols. Except these guys are from Sweden.
Silversun Pickups, Carnavas -- I came across these guys browsing Live 105's best of 2006. What a find. Carnavas is an amazing record, top-to-bottom, evoking at times The Breeders and at other times the Smashing Pumpkins. "Waste It On", "Lazy Eye" and "Common Reactor" blow me away, and I've been listening to this record over and over for months. This is one of those records that you look back on and say, yep, that was my record of the year. Like Handsome Boy Modeling School's So, How's Your Girl? Except a totally different genre.
TV On The Radio, Return To Cookie Mountain -- Couldn't ingest a bunch of new music without including a New York band in the mix, so Brooklyn's TV On The Radio gets the nod. Good stuff, experimental and noisy.

With all of this new good stuff to listen to, I've been remiss in my ShuffleLog duties. The above alone represents 92 tracks. That's 13.14% of the even 700 tracks that now occupy my iPod (up significantly from the ~620 we started with). Statistically speaking -- and from a position of no authority at all -- we may have irreparably altered the experiment. But we'll see.

And with the release of a new AIR record, Pocket Symphony, and the new Arcade Fire, Neon Bible, I'm sure I'll have plenty of amateurish music review ramblings in store.

If You Like Old Time Hockey...

2007-01-10T14:45:00.000-05:00

...you'll probably hate this.

I've been busily cataloging my transition from Oakland beer-leaguer to New York beer-leaguer, playing ice hockey in Chelsea Piers' Division 6 for the Blue Bombers.

Enjoy.

Product Placement

2007-01-08T21:17:00.000-05:00

Oh, I almost forgot another new title that I picked up over Christmas: DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist's Product Placement DVD.

Yeah, I know the DVD came out in 2004, and the tour was in 2001. But with all of the iPod-twiddling of celebuDJs like DJ AM and Steve Fucking Aoki, it's refreshing to watch/hear two accomplished turntablists showcasing the art form of DJ'ing. The entire show -- which I saw live at the Fillmore in San Francisco in 2001 -- features DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist mixing nothing but 7" wax. Beyond the feat of manipulating the smaller-form 45s as a true DJ should -- you know, scratching and cross-fading -- the music they select is infectious, old-skool and hilarious, including a sweet rapstructional on "Cooking With Gas".

It was amazing live, it's amazing to listen to, and fun to watch as they compile footage from the Product Placement's tour stops in Tokyo, the UK, LA, San Francisco and NYC. Like Mix Master Mike, who's as entertaining to watch as he is to listen to, DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist actually perform as DJs, rather than head-bob mindlessly behind an iBook.

The DVD also comes with the companion CD, all for just $24.99. Discogs has a pretty good track listing of some of the amazing cuts featured during their 5-city tour.

Out With The Old, In With The New

2007-01-08T19:54:00.000-05:00

What does going home for the holidays mean? Well, of course, drinking and going to one of my favorite record stores, Criminal Records in the A-T-L.

Year end makes you wonder what releases that you missed along the way. I had my brother in tow, and armed with fragmented bits of recommendations from work, we made a run to Criminal. I was also thinking about some of the year-end lists, like Idolator's Jackin' Pop 2006 Survey. Like trying to cram in all of the movies before the Oscars, I needed to get current.

And what better excuse for being derelict of my ShuffleLog duties than to listen to some of the new gear.

Band of Horses, Everything All the Time -- I really like this one, and it's no surprise that "Funeral" is topping the 2006 lists. It's a terrific single, plenty haunting, and it stands out as a little more rocking than many of the other almost acoustic numbers. "The Great Salt Lake" is another epic.
Interpol, Turn On The Bright Lights -- My brother recommended this one, their first. I'd heard plenty of Interpol back in SF, most notably "Evil" from their second album. I dig this record, but it's too bad that I bought She Wants Revenge's eponymous record before this one, since it's too easy to draw comparisons between the two. Lots of Joy Division-esque brooding on both, although Interpol are a bit more melodic where She Wants Revenge can be more plodding and monotone.
NaS, Hip Hop Is Dead -- I'll admit that most of the current rap (not to be confused with hip hop) like 50 Cent, Ludacris, Jay-Z, etc. leaves me cold. And while the occasional catchy track emerges ("In Da Club"), typically I'll bypass it unless it's in a cool mashup. But NaS is definitely making a statement here, and it's a good one. Plenty of dropping "nigga", but you gotta give him props for berating current MCs, daring them to "name a Big Daddy Kane lyric", and having a track in which he vows to "Carry On Tradition".
At The Drive-In, Kaya EP -- I knew I had heard of these guys, since they released their last full-length record on the now-defunct Grand Royal label, which was started by the Beastie Boys. This short but sweet EP showcases some solid hardcore, and while I don't like their successor band (The Mars Volta), I can get into this EP.
Prince, 3121 -- Bought this for my mother, since we got her an iPod for Christmas. Gotta love that Prince still brings it with songs like "Black Sweat".

With that, I present the last ShuffleLog of 2006 (from a while back...it was scribbled on a piece of paper hastily as I got ready to go for a run, and it's been swimming around in my man-purse for a while). Enjoy!

ShuffleLog 13-December-06

The Postal Service, "Recycled Air" - Give Up
The Bravery, "Public Service Announcement" - The Bravery
The Bravery, "No Brakes" - The Bravery
Massive Attack , "Exchange" - Mezzanine
Morcheeba , "The Sea" - Big Calm
The Postal Service , "Sleeping In" - Give Up
Gabriel & Dresden , "Dub Horizon" - Bloom (Disk 1)
Atlas , "Compass Error" - GU024: Reykjavik
Foo Fighters, "In Your Honor" - In Your Honor (Disk 1)
Avatar, "Dub in Time" - GU024: Reykjavik
Arctic Monkeys, "Perhaps Vampires Is A Bit Strong But..." - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
The Lovemakers, "Is It Alright?" - Times of Romance

Holy cow, will you look at all of that symbolism?

Two from The Postal Service
Two from The Bravery
Two from GU024: Reykjavik
Two "Dub" songs
And a quad from The Lovemakers (also featured 5-Oct-06, 9-Oct-06, and 5-Dec-06)

Way to end the year with a bang.

ShuffleLog 6-Dec-06: Some New Stuff About the New Stuff

2006-12-11T16:19:00.000-05:00

Over the past few days, while neglecting my ShuffleLog duties, I've gotten around to sampling some of the new music that I picked up over Big Game weekend. My old 20 gig iPod has been a useful surrogate, allowing me to add 6 new albums to it without disturbing the delicate (and disturbing) ecosystem we have here for ShuffleLog.

What's the word on the new stuff?

Junior Boys, So This Is Goodbye -- Our expert editorial staff here are work claim that Junior Boys "remodel new romantic pop as etherealized neo-soul". All I know is that this record is amazing, ethereal, haunting, melodic and beautiful. Great moody pop stuff with fun synth hooks, they remind me of The Postal Service, which is a flattering comparison in my book.
Sufjan Stevens, Greetings From Michigan - The Great Lake State -- I first saw Sufjan Stevens perform live at the Beacon Theater this past August during a benefit for Dave Eggers' 826 Writing Project. He's an amazing singer/songwriter, and Greetings From Michigan is a beautiful, expansive sample of Americana folk. I really like this record, and listening to it provides a nice contrast to the daily grind while walking around New York.
Lady Sovereign, Public Warning -- I'd seen Lady Sovereign, contributor to the UK's alleged grime scene that includes The Streets, for free this summer at Summer Stage. I dug her style, but the venue and sound system didn't lend themselves to Lady S-O-V's machine-gun rapping or mockney accent, so most of the time she was undecipherable. Studio production makes her debut record, Public Warning, just awesome. She's got definite skills, and some laugh-out-loud funny rhymes ("I don't have the biggest breastes / But I write all of the bestest"), and a unique cadence and style that evokes Mike Skinner as well as reggae. Catchy and cheeky.
Gym Class Heroes, As Cruel As School Children -- My brother recommended these guys, who are a hip hop quartet that play all of their own instruments rather than rely on sampling. Sort of like the Beastie Boys on Check Your Head. They sound very tight, and their musical range is pretty impressive. As I'd said, some of the lyrics seemed a little cliche, and some of the subject matter just doesn't reach me, like "New Friend Request" exhorting someone to add them as a friend in MySpace.
Tenacious D, The Pick Of Destiny -- It's funny, because the original order of this list was random, representing what I picked up in the order it was found in the bag. But it's clear that the order -- kinda like ShuffleLog -- belies some inner pattern. For example, the quality of the record or my initial reaction to it. Here' Tenacious D's new effort is definitely at the bottom of the ladder. To be fair, I only listened to part of it as iTunes was ripping it, but what I heard was pretty unimpressive. Imagine some of the more pedetrian tracks on the debut Tenacious D record. Say, "Rock Your Socks", where the wit and creativity of Tenacious D yields to cliche. Well, imagine a whole record of this. That was my first impression of The Pick Of Destiny: sort of a tired concept that outlived its usefulness. I'll give it a few more shots, though.
DJ Shadow, The Outsider -- I was warned that the new DJ Shadow record was apparently one of the most annoying mixes a KALX DJ had ever heard. But I dig DJ Shadow, and had to check this out. Based on the first 5 or so tracks, I'm afraid that the unnamed KALX DJ may be right: a mix of styles, eras and genres that felt jarring rather than integrated. I'm definitely going to spend more time with this one.

That said, here's the second of the 20 gig iPod's ShuffleLogs. Some interesting tidbits in there, making me scratch my head and go back to my entire battery of music to see what I've been neglecting lately.

ShuffleLog 6-Dec-06

Ladytron, "Startup Chime" - Light & Magic
Deep Dish, "Part 1" - GU025: Toronto
Fingerfest Inc., "Autoporno" - GU021: Moscow
Fugazi, "Burning" - 13 Songs
ABBA, "One Night In Bangkok" - N/A
The Knuckleheads, "Turn That Fucking Music Up" - GU005: Tokyo
The Cult, "She Sells Sanctuary" - Love
Lyrics Born, "Hello Remix" - Same !@#$ Different Day

OK, no repeats, since it's a different iPod (albeit with somewhat of a superset of what's on the nano). But some interesting results: the predicatable representation of the Global Underground catalog, as well as Ladytron and Lyrics Born, repeat ShuffleLog participants.

But, oh, how cool is it to have an ABBA remix of Murray Head's "One Night In Bangkok"? I have no idea where I got that, by the way. Also, the perennial Cult track "She Sells Sanctuary", which inevitably reminds me of being drunk in my friend Tony's Volvo station wagon on the Bay Bridge late at night. Have I revealed too much?

ShuffleLog 5-Dec-06: Something Old, Something New

2006-12-06T10:24:00.000-05:00

I'd like to welcome another new guest ShuffleLogger: my old iPod.

During an action-packed weekend back in NorCal (read: 17 straight hours of drinking on Saturday), I got the chance to visit one of my favorite record stores on the planet: Amoeba Music on Telegraph in Berkeley. Always a chance to stock up on new stuff, despite the fact that I always forget what I want to buy the second I cross the threshhold.

Here's what the haul netted:

Junior Boys, So This Is Goodbye
Sufjan Stevens, Greetings From Michigan - The Great Lake State
Lady Sovereign, Public Warning
Gym Class Heroes, As Cruel As School Children
Tenacious D, The Pick Of Destiny
DJ Shadow, The Outsider

I haven't listened to any of this yet, except for Gym Class Heroes, who I failed to realize have a few tracks on the Snakes On A Plane soundtrack. Guess I should have bought that $5 pirated DVD on the 3 train a while back. As Cruel As School Children is a pretty cool record, although I've only given it one run-through. The mix if musical styles coupled with hip-hop is really fresh and catchy without being cliche. However, the lyrics on a few tracks seem to be pretty wack, especially "New Friend Request", which deals with the vagaries of asking some chick to add you to their Friends list on MySpace. Um, yeah.

After returning home, I immediately wanted to rip the new stuff and listen to it on the way to work. But the nano's 4GB was in no shape to accomodate 6 new records at once, and I didn't want a wholesale change in the music composition that's been powering ShuffleLog.

So I decided to trot out my old 2nd generation 20GB iPod. You know, the one with the crappy touch-sensitive buttons that don't "click", with the row of controls above the scrollwheel. Mine always seemed to freeze up and crap out when I lugged it on runs, and the battery life is shite. But damn, it's got 3147 songs on it, 5x what's on the nano.

And while I only got a chance to load Gym Class Heroes on the 20 gig, I lugged it out anyway to see what it would serve up as a ShuffleLog. After fumbling around trying to find the Shuffle setting that I'd never used on it before (it's buried in the menus, rather than its own option in the main menu), I finally got it to shuffle.

Here's what we got:

ShuffleLog 5-Dec-06

Chemical Brothers, "Leave Home" - Gone In 60 Seconds Soundtrack
The Lovemakers, "Is It Alright?" - Times of Romance
Oakland Faders, "Track 38" - Fader Nation Vol. 1

Outstanding. Drag out the old iPod, still get a friggin' Faders track. And a repeat, at that. As well as ShuffleLog darlings The Lovemakers (13 appearances in 276 tracks to date).

In the interest of full disclosure, there were also 3 other electronica tracks that came up on this ShuffleLog. But in its infinite wonkiness, the 20 gig rebooted itself while I was scrolling through the Now Playing list trying to capture the tracks. The 3 above are all I came away with.

Not surprising that some serious Global Underground would come up from the 20 gig. Courtesy of my buddy Sandy, I've got close to their entire back catalog ripped.

The mothership has spoken.

ShuffleLog 29-Nov-06: The New Skool

2006-12-05T16:43:00.000-05:00

Looks like the transfusion isn't getting rejected by the patient, to mix medical metaphors.

Oh, and I finally got a chance to do a non-beanie road test of my new Bose earbuds I've been assaulting you with so much lately. Results? A little disappointing.

I went for a run Wednesday night, knowing that I'd be abusing my body and soul over the weekend at Big Game. It was unseasonably warm, so no need for a knit cap or anything, just the Chinese knock-off Cal camo hat I bought on the street in Berkeley last year. This was the first real test of the earbuds on a run, and while they weren't nearly as shoddy as the stock iPod earbuds, they certainly didn't stay in my ears like I'd expected. I had to adjust them and re-seat them in my ears several times during my run, although the sound quality still came through above my gasping for air. I'm still using the S size silicone tips on the earbuds, so perhaps I need to try another one of the sizes that come with them (M or L). Also, I was wondering if moisture (read: sweat) would cause the silicone to become more slick and therefore more predisposed to dislodging. I'd long lost the spongy black things that the iPod earbuds ship with, but those at least seemed to resist moisture a bit.

Anyway, more testing to come. The upshot? Ever since I watched the end of the New York City Marathon (go, Latvia!), I seemed to have been moderately inspired: twice now I've increased my run by almost 50%, spontaneously, to almost 5.5 miles total from my typical 3.75 miles. Thrice around the Lower Loop.

ShuffleLog 29-Nov-06

Foo Fighters, "Times Like These " - One By One
Outkast, "Chronomentrophobia" - Idlewild
AIR, "All I Need" - Moon Safari
The Beastie Boys, "Gratitude" - The Sounds of Science (Disk 1)
Pixies, "Velouria" - Bossanova
Kasabian, "The Doberman" - Empire

ShuffleLog: now 66% new! Ever since I added some new stuff, ShuffleLog's been slowly breaking it in. Two from Kasabian's Empire, two from J5's Feedback, and now one from Outkast's Idlewild. Not the first time it happened -- when I added Massive Attack's 100th Window back before the rant, it promptly showed up.

I don't know if this is poisoning the experiment or not -- we're still getting plenty of repeats, and trifecas are becoming commonplace, indicating an uncanny affinity for the same stuff and therefore a pattern. But just you wait until next week.

ShuffleLog 28-Nov-06: Golf Clap

2006-12-05T16:30:00.000-05:00

Holy shit. We actually have a new CYHSY track? Not a repeat?

Wonderful. We've now played almost 70% of that record in less than 300 ShuffleLog tracks. First to 100% gets automatically removed from my iPod. Unless, of course, you just happen to annoy me for a while.

ShuffleLog 28-Nov-06

Nat Monday, "Waiting" - GU021: Moscow
Peter Murphy, "Cuts You Up (LP Version)" - Cuts You Up
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, "Clap Your Hands!" - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Danny Howells, "Fast Lane" - 24:7 (Disk 1)
Nouvelle Vague, "Love Will Tear Us Apart" - Perfecto Chills Vol. 3 (Disk 2)

Repeats bracketed by new appearances. Almost like the perfectly-spaced medley of new and used. I'll stick my head in the oven if I start tracking that.

Love that Peter Murphy track, by the way. Don't know what it is. Makes me nostalgic for my Bauhaus days, perhaps.

ShuffleLog 27-Nov-06: Tryptophan

2006-11-30T12:10:00.000-05:00

The first post-Thanksgiving holiday ShuffleLog is a lot less bloated than I was. Nice boy-girl-boy arrangement of first-time tracks v. repeats.

ShuffleLog 27-Nov-06

Jurassic 5, "Canto De Ossanha" - Feedback
The Streets, "Empty Cans" - A Grand Don't Come For Free
The Streets, "Irony Of It All" - Original Pirate Material
Bloc Party, "Banquet" - Silent Alarm
Danny Howells, "Honeyroot" - 24:7 (Disk 1)

That's 3 for the Streets "Empty Cans", keeping the rash of trifectas going.

Oh, and I just remembered that I forgot one other purge that occurred a few ShuffleLogs back: I nuked the Arctic Monkeys as well. Just didn't get this record, don't think much of it aside from the one track that got a lot of radio play in "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor". Somehow, this record climbed to the top of the British charts and broke first week sales records. I'm underwhelmed.

But then again, I don't get The Strokes or White Stripes either, so I may not exactly be the right demographic for the single biggest UK first week seller in history.

ShuffleLog 22-Nov-06: Early Leftovers

2006-11-29T09:41:00.000-05:00

Holy crow, will you look at all of that red? I haven't seen that much since Showdown at House of Blue Leaves.

ShuffleLog 22-Nov-06

Nouvelle Vague, "Love Will Tear Us Apart" - Perfecto Chills Vol. 3 (Disk 2)
The Beastie Boys, "Sabrosa" - The Sounds of Science (Disk 1)
paul hughes, "Lost" - Don’t Look Now (Disk 2)
Deep Dish, "In Love With A Friend" - Perfecto Chills Vol. 3 (Disk 2)
AIR, "Another Day" - Talkie Walkie
Morcheeba, "The Music That We Never Hear" - Big Calm
Deaf Center, "Walk" - Don't Look Now (Disk 2)
Gnarls Barkley, "Necromancer" - St. Elsewhere

Trifectas are getting more commonplace around here: that's 3 for Deaf Center's "Walk" and Nouvelle Vague's remix of "Love Will Tear Us Apart".

Now I'm kinda longing for the repeat clean sweep. It's almost as unattainable as a David Bowie track popping up (I assure you that there's one in there).

ShuffleLog 21-Nov-06: Road Test

2006-11-29T09:24:00.000-05:00

OK, so now that I'm shilling for Bose, thought I'd update you on these nifty little earbuds. Last night, I took 'em out for a spin. And while I confess that I was cheating a bit -- I was wearing an Oakland A's (traitors!) knit hat on my run because it was so friggin' cold, pulled low over my ears, and it may have helped keep the Bose earbuds more firmly in my ears.

That said, the sound quality on the run was amazing, but not so isolating that I couldn't perceive the taxis creeping up on me in the Park. I've played around with the different sized silicon tips, and settled on the S size for both ears at this point. Seem the most comfortable and stable while running or commuting.

My only observation is that the rubber coating the cords from the earbuds to the iPod is especially tactile. I don't get the sound transference Sandy does with his Shures, but the cords do tend to "grab" onto clothing, the strap of my bag, other people, etc. on my commute. Luckily, I haven't had the traumatizing yank of the earbuds out of my ears when they get tangled on a fellow commuter trying to catch their connection...yet.

ShuffleLog 21-Nov-06

The Beastie Boys, "Hey Fuck You" - To The 5 Boroughs
Tenacious D, "Dio" - Tenacious D
Way Out West, "Apollo" - Don't Look Now (Disk 1)
Gorillaz, "O Green World" - Demon Days
Jurassic 5, "Baby Please" - Feedback
Massive Attack, "Safe From Harm (Perfecto Mix)" - Perfecto Chills Vol. 3 (Disk 1)

Funny, because when I was listening to this ShuffleLog, I was almost convinced it was the home run of solid repeats...until I got to the new J5 track. The mind plays tricks.

That's also a triple (what's with the baseball analogies?) for the Perfecto Mix of Massive Attack's "Safe From Harm". I'm still on the lookout for our next quad.

ShuffleLog 20-Nov-06: And Now A Word From Our Sponsor

2006-11-21T14:49:00.000-05:00

Using the ill-gotten gains acquired at a craps table at Caesar's last week, I decided that the crappy iPod earbuds needed replacing. My chief complaints about the stock earbuds are the common ones: 1) they fit like shit, and fall out of my apparently odd-shaped ears when walking, jostling on the subway, or jogging; and 2) they don't do jack for noise isolation, and therefore have to be cranked up just to be heard on the subway, probably causing damage to my ears, and definitely causing damage to the earbuds. The resulting crackle in the earbuds just exacerbates the problem.

In what is probably the first (and likely not the last, if I ever need to learn English or get my GED while studying for my MBA) example of subway advertising working on me, I decided to check out the new Bose TriPort in-ear headphones. I'd seen the new ads on the subway, so since I was in the market for new earbuds (and not, say, a solution to hammertoe), I wanted to check them out. Previously, at the Apple Store on 5th Avenue, I'd been told the Shure E2C earbuds were da bomb. But the Bose earbuds were the same price at the Bose store on Columbus Circle, and I trust Bose's sound quality.

Having used these for a couple of days now, I'm pretty impressed. They provide the amazing, rich sound that Boze products are known for. As the guys at the Apple Store and Bose shop told me, the iPod earbuds suck at replicating deep tones like bass. They compensate with volume, resulting in blown earbuds, eardrums, and crackling bass. The Bose earbuds pick up and deliver bass tones incredibly well, and the overall clarity pulls subtle sounds out of the songs that you never knew existed.

The TriPort earbuds also come with 3 different sized silicon tips that you can interchange for the perfect fit in your ear. This serves three purposes: 1) it provides a more snug, stable fit; and 2) it channels the sound directly into your ear, isolating outside noise, requiring less volume and resultant ear damage. A bonus is that you can't hear any music as an outsider standing right next to me. As anyone who's ridden an elevator with some moron blasting their iPod knows, starting your day listening to vaguely loud static from the guy next to you sucks. Problem solved.

I haven't yet nailed the fit of these earbuds just right. The three sizes -- creatively S, M and L -- allow you to interchange one ear at a time. I think the S works best for my right ear, and I haven't decided on my left ear just yet, since all three feel like they wiggle loose after a while. Ironically, when I would run, I felt like I was constantly jamming the right earbud into my right ear. That's not the case here.

I'll update you on the fit after I take these for a first test run (pun intended). OK, enough product placement (Bose, still waiting on that check, thanks!), on to ShuffleLog.

ShuffleLog 20-Nov-06

Pixies, "Hey" - Doolittle
Stereolab, "Vocal Declosion" - Margerine Eclipse
The Lovemakers, "Prepare For The Fight (Dummies Club Mix Edit)" - Times of Romance
Anjo, "Sunrise" - GU003: Prague (Disk 2)
AIR, "Le Voyage de Penelope" - Moon Safari
Danny Howells, "Price" - 24:7 (Disk 1)

Hey, we almost made it without a repeat. And what a repeat it was: second repeat of a remix. That's so meta. Fitting send-off for their fellow East Bay melody makers. Even as the A's abandon them.

Point-Counterpoint: Excuses v. Assholes

2006-11-13T17:01:00.000-05:00

OK, so now that I'm all, like, caught up and shit, it's time for a deep breath before we soldier on.

So, what's been happening in the intervening 10 days since the last ShuffleLog? Oh, tons.

First of all, I've been toting my iPod around plenty. It's just that I recently acquired some new music, and dammit, I wanted to listen to it. As a result, I've done a little bit of shuffling around (pun intended), and we're now up to 636 tracks on the lil' sucker. Not statistically significant, mind you, although it is a 2.3% increase in the number of tracks.

So, who's in?

As I'd mentioned a little while back, I added Kasabian's new release Empire, along with The Shout Out Louds.
On a business trip to Amarillo, of all places, I picked up Jurassic 5's new record, Feedback.
A recent visit to Tower Records (soon to be R.I.P., sniff!) enabled me to take advantage of 30%-40% off CDs and movies. Part of the haul included a new Streets record, The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living, and Outkast's Idlewild.

OK, so who's out?

Ah, Oakland Faders, we hardly knew ye. But they popped off 20 tracks over their stay in the ShuffleLog 200, 16 of them unique, a full 40% of Fader Nation Vol. 1. But, alas, they took up too much space with 40 tracks, and frankly the short track length made for a jarring ShuffleLog experience. But a great record to listen to, top-to-bottom.

All of the new additions need to grow on me. Kasabian's Empire doesn't stand out like their eponymous debut did, and in just a couple of listens it sounds a little flat. I need to give it a few more tries.

The Jurassic 5 record -- their first in 4 years -- starts off with two strong tracks, "Back 4 You" and "Radio". And while it features (grrr...) The Dave Fucking Matthews Band, "Work It Out" is pretty catchy. There are a couple of throwaway tracks in between, but I've only listened to it twice.

Idlewild is another opus from Outkast, and shows promise with their signature blend of styles. It's also long, so the chances of me getting through the record on the subway or on a run are slim. Perhaps on the flight to -- fittingly! -- Atlanta for Christmas.

I was really looking forward to the new Streets record. It's pretty good, but lacks the continuity of storytelling that the first two, Original Pirate Material and A Grand Don't Come For Free, have. I also haven't found a Mike Skinner signature heart-rending track like "Dry Your Eyes", but I'll keep listening if you keep reading.

ShuffleLog 2-Nov-06: Let's Do The Timewarp Again!

2006-11-13T12:07:00.000-05:00

Hey, I've invented time travel. Either that, or I'm really just lazy.

Yep, lazy it is. So, here's a blast from the past.

ShuffleLog 2-Nov-06

Foo Fighters, "Everlong" - The Colour and the Shape

The Streets, "Same Old Thing" - Original Pirate Material

The Lovemakers, "Prepare For The Fight (Josh Harris' Prepare for the Club Mix)" - Prepare For The Fight - Single

Oakland Faders, "Track 35" - Fader Nation Vol. 1

Imogen Heap, "Just For Now" - Perfecto Chills Vol. 3 (Disk 2)

The Streets, "Empty Cans" - A Grand Don't Come For Free

U2 v. WOW, "Vertigo" - SixxMixx

So, um, yeah. It's been over 10 days since I've actually done a ShuffleLog. Sadly, I'm all caught up.

But the same patterns hold true, n'est-ce pas? I knew I'd jinx myself just thinking about how long it had been since an Oakland Faders track appeared, in effect conjuring them up out of the ether. If this holds, I need to hit the track. No, the real one.

And speaking of the track, we've hit the "Prepare For The Fight" trifecta: all three versions of this song have graced the storied halls of ShuffleLog. Not bad, it only took 237 tracks. And by the way, that trifecta is 1.3% of all ShuffleLog tracks.

Scrolling through my iPod, I realized that there's still a ton of stuff on there that hasn't even come close to playing. Casual analysis does show a certain "clumpiness" to ShuffleLog faves like The Oakland Faders and CYHSY, meaning that tracks from these artists tend to clump together by date, then take a breather before re-appearing.

A chart would be super here, but Excel isn't cooperating very well with the raw data (esp. if the same artist appears on the same day). I may screw around with this more to see if I can make it more visually appealing. Because Lord knows the actual raw data has tremendous, you know, appeal.

ShuffleLog 1-Nov-06: Back From The Dead

2006-11-10T15:30:00.000-05:00

Aiiight, homies, no excuses. Halloween, business travel, drained battery, dogs seeming to think they get Guest Rewards points for visiting the vet...none of that should get in the way of progress.

We've got a lot of catching up to do.

ShuffleLog 1-Nov-06

The Arcade Fire, "Crown of Love" - Funeral
Danny Howells, "The Black Dog & Black Sifichi" - 24:7 (Disk 1)
Massive Attack, "Safe From Harm (Perfecto Mix)" - Perfecto Chills Vol. 3 (Disk 1)
Arctic Monkeys, "Perhaps Vampire's A Bit Strong But..." - Whatever People Think I Am That Is What I Am Not

I can't even recall what made this one so short, but I suspect it was sweet timing on the commute. And it's funny, because I do recall that when I was listening to this, that these weren't repeats at all. So goes the mind, yanno?

ShuffleLog 30-Oct-06: BONUS: Take Two, They're Small

2006-10-30T22:48:00.000-05:00

A little penance for blowing it on Friday. A bonus ShuffleLog, and a wee 5 tracks long due to the rare well-timed trains on my commute this evening.

ShuffleLog 30-Oct-06

The Postal Service, "Such Great Heights" - Give Up
Michael Burns, "Forwards" - Bloom (Disk 1)
Shout Out Louds, "Hurry Up Let's Go" - Howl Howl Gaff Gaff
AIR, "Ce Matin-La" - Moon Safari
Bloc Party, "Like Eating Glass" - Silent Alarm

Back to the repeats. But those are quality repeats, significant singles from their respective albums. First entry for the Shout Out Louds, who I added to my iPod a week ago.

Like not talking to your pitcher when he's throwing a no-hitter, I don't want to jinx things and mention some conspicuous absenses of late.

We'll see how good the iPod is at reading my mind. Because it's the only thing reading this blog.

ShuffleLog 30-Oct-06: The Unlikely Repeat

2006-10-30T22:29:00.000-05:00

Here's something I thought had gone the way of the dodo: the repeat-less ShuffleLog.

It's been 19 days since we had a ShuffleLog with all virgin tracks. 79 tracks since then.

ShuffleLog 30-Oct-06

The Lovemakers, "Times of Romance" - Times of Romance
Danny Howells, "Sound In A Dark Room" - 24:7 (Disk 1)
The Lovemakers, "Falling Apart" - Times of Romance
2 Dollar Egg, "Implantant" - Don't Look Now (Disk 2)
Dosh, "Bring the Happiness" - Pure Trash
Bushy, "Don't Mind If I Do (Groove Armada 100 Club Mix)" - Perfecto Chills Vol. 3 (Disk 2)

Oh, and I'm sure that it's no coincidence that, the first ShuffleLog back from a break and extolling the virtues of a certain Oakland-based band, The Lovemakers score 33% of this virgin ShuffleLog.

Paging Dr. Freud.

The Day of Rest (And Forgetfulness)

2006-10-27T18:03:00.000-04:00

OK, so I'll come clean. I left my iPod in my other coat pocket this morning, and didn't realize it until I was well out the door. My bad.

So, instead of your regularly schedule ShuffleLog, I'll entreat our massive readership to submit their own logs.

Or, you can just listen to me blather on, trying to introduce the East Coast to The Lovemakers.

Write your name on the board, you're free to go.

ShuffleLog 25-Oct-06: She Wants A Superfecta

2006-10-26T22:27:00.000-04:00

Sweet! Good news: only one repeat this week...

ShuffleLog 25-Oct-06

She Wants Revenge, "Us" - She Wants Revenge
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, "Upon This Tidal Wave Of Young Blood" - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
She Wants Revenge, "Someone Must Get Hurt" - She Wants Revenge
She Wants Revenge, "She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not" - She Wants Revenge
Mechas, "Hot" - GU021: Moscow
The Lovemakers, "Hypnotised" - Times of Romance
Danny Howells, "Fast Lane" - 24:7 (Disk 1)

And that repeat just so happens to be a fucking superfecta. Yep, those lovelies from Brooklyn (by way of Connecticut College, where Jen's brother went to school with several members) have the first quad: "Upon This Tidal Wave Of Young Blood". 14 songs by CYHSY from a 12-track album, and four are the same song. Um, out of 214 total ShuffleLog tracks to date...that's 2%. For one track.

Random my ass. I swear to a diety-to-be-named-later that I hadn't heard of these guys until I heard "The Skin Of My Yellow Country Teeth" on Live105 in San Francisco. Um, notice that track hasn't come up yet?

Oh, and notice anything else peculiar? I swear I thought I had accidentally selected She Wants Revenge to play. I had to check. 3 of the first 4 song, and no repeats, from the eponymous She Wants Revenge album.

Random my ass.

ShuffleLog 24-Oct-06: Three the Hard Way

2006-10-26T21:14:00.000-04:00

So, why not the trifecta of trifectas?

ShuffleLog 24-Oct-06

Pixies, "No. 13 Baby" - Doolittle
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, "Blue Turning Grey" - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Stereolab, "Bop Scotch" - Margerine Eclipse
The Beastie Boys, "3 The Hard Way" - To The 5 Boroughs
Massive Attack, "Black Milk" - Mezzanine
Massive Attack, "Dissolved Girl" - Mezzanine
Pixies, "La La Love You" - Doolittle
Bloc Party, "Like Eating Glass" - Silent Alarm
Stereolab, "Flower Called Nowhere" - Dots and Loops
AIR, "All I Need" - Moon Safari

Hey, that's another three-fer: "Black Milk" goes up there with CYHSY's "Upon This Tidal Wave of Young Blood" and "Yewminyst" from GU024. The first Pixies repeat doubles their only song, until the 7th track that is, and doubles from Massive Attack and Stereolab. I should go to the track.

More repeats, more CYHSY. That's 13 tracks from CYHSY. The fucking album only has 12 tracks, and of the 13 we've heard, only 5 are unique (to be fair, 2 of the 13 I don't remember, but I know they were played). Enough, already. Chastising inanimate objects has worked for chasing the Oakland Faders, who thankfully haven't shown their skribbles in a week.

And we've had repeats for almost two weeks straight. The last ShuffleLog without a repeat? The 11th.

Get used to it.

ShuffleLog 23-Oct-06: The ShuffleLog 200

2006-10-24T22:38:00.000-04:00

Time to sponsor one of those cars that go round and round: we've hit 200 on this stretch.

Let's bust out the Cristal, fuck Jay-Z!

ShuffleLog 23-Oct-06

Gorillaz, "DARE" - Demon Days
Kasabian, "Shoot The Runner" - Empire
Morcheeba, "The Music That We Never Hear" - Big Calm
AIR, "Mike Mills" - Talkie Walkie
Paul Oakenfold, "Zoo York" - Perfecto Chills Vol. 3 (Disk 1)
Tenacious D, "City Hall" - Tenacious D
Celestial, "Harijan" - 24:7 (Disk 2)
Gorillaz, "O Green World" - Demon Days
Stereolab, "La Demure" - Margerine Eclipse
Nat Monday, "Waiting" - GU021: Moscow

So, I'd once again mucked with the experiment by adding two new records: Empire, Kasabian's sophomore record, and The Shout Out Louds debut Howl Howl Gaff Gaff, which my brother turned me onto last weeked while I was in the ATL for me mum's birthday. That brings our total track universe to 640 tracks. This doesn't really affect percentages much at all. But the presence of a track from Empire in the first ShuffleLog certainly raises an eyebrow, eh? That didn't even happen when I added 100th Window to my iPod a few weeks ago.

Other than that, we're showing consistent repeats. And I'm suspecting some "clumpiness" to the randomness. As in: repeats, bands, or albums seem to clump together over time. It's not as if we get a CYHSY song consistently, over time. They tend to clump together: 4 songs in 3 days (20-Sept to 22- Sept), then a song each on the 27th and 29th, nothing until 9-Oct, when there were two, and then two on 12-Oct. Clumpy.

If I can make Excel behave, we may need a graph. Oooooooh.

ShuffleLog 19-Oct-06: Does Size Matter?

2006-10-19T14:45:00.000-04:00

OK, it's one thing to mindlessly capture shuffled iPod tracks on a morning commute for a whole month (and by "one thing" I mean "pathetic"). But it's another entirely to do it for 4-and-a-half-friggin' hours straight.

But, do you have a spreadsheet? Boo-ya!

ShuffleLog 19-Oct-06

The Postal Service, "Recycled Air" - Give Up
Danny Howells, "Headman" - 24:7 (Disk 1)
Fugazi v. Destiny's Child, "Independent Room" - SixxMixx
Gorillaz, "Demon Days" - Demon Days
The Beastie Boys, "Country Mike's Theme" - The Sounds of Science (Disk 1)
Dosh, "Simple Exercises" - Pure Trash
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, "Upon This Tidal Wave Of Young Blood" - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Thoroughly unimpressive, with the exception of "Recycled Air", and the fact that there weren't any sub-1:00 Oakland Fader tracks. And yeah, for those of you paying attention, that's a friggin' trifecta for "Upon This Title Wave Of Young Blood", tying it with "Yewminyst" for the triple.

Clearly, it's how ya use it.

ShuffleLog 18-Oct-06: Behave, We Have Company

2006-10-18T13:24:00.000-04:00

In addition to your regularly scheduled ShuffleLoggery, I'm pleased to introduce Mamma, our first guest ShuffleLogger. I'm not sure that I'm qualified to actually introduce her, since I don't really even know her. But she seems to know Stephen over at Chant A Psalm, ostensibly from Tulane, so let's give her a shot. Plus, she's probably the only one reading this anyway.

No judgments, yo.

Mamma's ShuffleLog 18-Oct-06

U2, "Mothers Of The Disappeared"
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, "Refugee"
Hooters, "All You Zombies"
Elton John, "Don’t Let The Sun Go Down on Me"*
Carole King, "So Far Away"*
The Rolling Stones, "You Can’t Always Get What You Want"*
U2, "Desire"
Duke Ellington, "Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me"
Matchbox Twenty, "Long Day"
Huey Lewis & The News, "The Power of Love"*
New Edition, "She Gives Me A Bang"
The Specials, "Pressure Drop"
Talk Talk, "Talk Talk"
Queen, "Another One Bites The Dust"

* indicates that the song started playing, but she elected to skip through it.

So many places to take this one. But I'll let Mamma speak for herself.

ShuffleLog 18-Oct-06: The Hits

2006-10-18T10:06:00.000-04:00

First, let me get this out of the way: Happy Birthday, Mom! Not like she reads this, but just in case. You know, save myself a few days in Purgatory and all.

Onward. Interesting little false start this morning. But it was welcome. Started off gritting my teeth this morning anyway, after work ruined an otherwise lovely evening out with Jen and her bro for his birthday. Then, the 25-second "Walk" comes on first thing. Grrrr... Mercifully, my iPod brain-farted immediately, and just stopped playing, defaulting instead to the main menu. Wash, rinse, repeat, and I bring you a ShuffleLog chock full'o'goodies.

ShuffleLog 18-Oct-06

Deaf Center, "Walk" - Don't Look Now (Disk 2)
Way Out West, "Coming Home" - Don't Look Now (Disk 1)
Bloc Party, "Two More Years (Single Version)" - Two More Years - Single
Burufunk, "Global Communication" - GU024: Reykjavik
Tenacious D, "City Hall" - Tenacious D
Pixies, "No. 13 Baby" - Doolittle

OK, so ignore the pseudo-repeat for a second. This actually looks like a playlist that I'd concoct intentionally. "Coming Home" is a great electronica tune, memorable among sometimes background-noise trance. Same thing for "Global Communication": I'd stick it in a playlist to burn for folks anytime. It's got a great sample of dialog from the film Naked, where David Thewlis's character discusses "factual" events that portend the end of the world, leading into a sweet break beat. Note the triumphant return of GU024, a day after I consciously noticed its conspicuous absence.

Also, I'm no MisShapes zombie, but I dig Bloc Party. And say what you will, but Bloc Party's "Two More Years" is a terrific, addictive track that I've purposefully sought out on many occasions, whether standing around waiting for a plane, running, or putting together a playlist at home.

Aside from the 45 seconds of silence toward the end of "City Hall", this is an epic 8+ minute track that focuses on the destruction of modern government, rebuilding it in the image of Tenacious D, and the Machiavellian machinations that lead to their downfall. That's pretty ambitious for JB and KG.

And did I mention the Pixies? All I can say is finally. 186 tracks before we hit a track from Doolittle. Friggin' Christmas comes quicker.

ShuffleLog 17-Oct-06: Gosh, Dosh

2006-10-17T14:36:00.000-04:00

Maybe taking a break last Friday to mark the 1 month anniversary helped clear the baffles?

ShuffleLog 17-Oct-06

Oakland Faders, "Track 06" - Fader Nation Vol. 1
Gorillaz, "Kids With Guns" - Demon Days
Dosh, "Building a Strange Child" - Pure Trash
Dosh, "G Eye" - Pure Trash
Infusion, "Daylight Hours" - Perfecto Chills Vol. 3 (Disk 1)
Dosh, "I Think I'm Getting Married" - Pure Trash

Sure, a ShuffleLog without the Oakland Faders is like a day without sunshine. And Perfecto Chills Vol. 3 gets more play than Alyssa Jones (10 of 22 unique tracks, including 3 repeats).

But I don't think we've seen a ShuffleLog dominated like this: 50% of the tracks from Dosh's Pure Trash, a record that's got 12 tracks on it. Hell, Dosh only showed up two weeks ago for the first time, and only once more in the intervening days.

Hear that chirping sound? No, it's not this readerless blog. It's the 2 week absence of GU024. You hear that, Fader Nation Vol. 1?

Oh, and for all (2) of you who were wondering, I've confirmed that Smart Shuffle is set to Random, v. More Likely or Less Likely. So, there, you can get on with your lives.

ShuffleLog 16-Oct-06: The MCs And Some Repeats

2006-10-16T22:57:00.000-04:00

Wiping the slate clean, so to speak, with a 15-track marathon as I went for a run last night.

ShuffleLog 16-Oct-06

The Beastie Boys, "3 MC's & 1 DJ (Live Video Version)" - The Sounds of Science (Disk 1)

Gnarls Barkley, "Necromancer" - St. Elsewhere

Oakland Faders, "Track 13" - Fader Nation Vol. 1

The Postal Service, "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight" - Give Up

Themroc, "Gold Is Your Metal (Paper Faces Mix)" - Don't Look Now (Disk 2)

Oakland Faders, "Track 38" - Fader Nation Vol. 1

The Beastie Boys, "Pass The Mic" - The Sounds of Science (Disk 1)

Deaf Center, "Walk" - Don't Look Now (Disk 2)

The Beastie Boys, "Fight For Your Right" - The Sounds of Science (Disk 1)

The Bravery, "Swollen Summer" - The Bravery

Gorillaz, "Last Living Souls" - Demon Days

Arctic Monkeys, "Riot Van" - Whatever People…

Dynamite Hack, "Boyz In The Hood" - Take A Bite Outta Rhyme

Oakland Faders, "Track 15" - Fader Nation Vol. 1

Ladytron, "Beauty*2" - Perfecto Chills Vol. 3 (Disk 1)

Ch-ch-check it out: 3 Beastie Boys songs, 3 from the (grr...we're almost up to 50% on that record) Oakland Faders, including a 48-second gem (repeat). Oh, and the 25-Second "Walk" from Don't Look Now (Disk 2). Gee, thanks, that comes in really handy...when I'm friggin' going for a run in the Park.

Excellent standout, by the way, from one-hit wonder Dynamite Hack. Gotta love an acoustic version of "Boyz In The Hood", done by two white guys who sound like they're doing backup for Dave Matthews. Especially when they're melodically intoning:

She started talkin' shit, would'nt you know?
I reached back like a pimp and I slapped the ho'

But, see, that's the point.

ShuffleLog 12-Oct-06: The 1 Month Anniversary

2006-10-13T17:05:00.000-04:00

It's been 4 full weeks since this abomination reared its ugly head. What's one month, anyway? The paperclip anniversary?

ShuffleLog 12-Oct-06

Way Out West, "Absinthe Dreams" - Don't Look Now (Disk 1)
Duran Duran, "New Moon On Monday" - Seven and the Ragged Tiger
Lyrics Born, "Bad Dreams Interlude" - Same !@#$ Different Day
Bloc Party, "Price Of Gas" - Silent Alarm
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, "Upon This Tidal Wave Of Young Blood" - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
The Lovemakers, "Dance" - Times of Romance
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, "Details Of The War" - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

But after 4 full weeks of this nonsense, definite patterns have emerged.

Yeah, we've now played something like a full 75% of the CYHSY record, not including the two repeats.
Perfecto Chills Vol. 3 weighs in with a solid 50% of all of its tracks played thus far (11 of 22).
The Lovemakers Times of Romance clocks in with 46% (5 of 11 tracks)
The omnipresent Oakland Faders comes close: 14 out of a total 40 tracks (35%) on Fader Nation Vol. 1 (thank Christ), with only a single repeat. It just feels like a lot of repeats out of them.

But damn, are we gonna play an entire record before one Pixies track comes up?

If anyone friggin' reads this, I'm at a crossroads:

1) I may try to continue, uniterrupted, day-by-day, until I play 622 tracks, and see what the patterns are, or
2) I may move some stuff around and see how it poisons the experiment. For instance, get the Oakland Faders and CYHSY off of there, post haste.

Which will it be? Don't make me choose for myself.

ShuffleLog 11-Oct-06: Rollover

2006-10-13T16:52:00.000-04:00

I cheated just a little. Not like starting an unjust war on false pretenses. Just a little cheat.

I resumed playing the first track from the previous day. Is that so wrong?

ShuffleLog 11-Oct-06

Party Ben, "SixxMixx 94 - 071505" - SixxMixx
Bloc Party, "So Here We Are" - Silent Alarm
Fugazi v. Destiny's Child, "Independent Room" - SixxMixx
Dosh, "Simple Exercises" - Pure Trash

I'm not counting the 15-Jul-06 SixxMixx as a dupe. I was halfway through it from the previous day, and just let it ride. That's how I roll. But that's 4 SixxMixx tracks in 3 days, in 13 tracks. That's a whole lotta dimp.

Plus, damn, I feel a little dirty with Destiny's Child on my iPod, even though it's mashed up with Fugazi. Wait, that's dirtier.

ShuffleLog 10-Oct-06: SixxMixx'ing It Up

2006-10-13T16:41:00.000-04:00

So, get this. It's Friday the 13th. Almost exactly 1 month from the time that I began this little atrocity...

...and I didn't listen to jack shit on the way to work today.

Mostly because I friggin' forgot to. I mean, I had to take one of the mutts to the vet this morning (3rd time in a week, checkup for a fractured toe), so I was running late and all. No hangover. Nice, cool, crisp fall day in New York.

I mean, I just forgot. Huh.

Luckily, I've got some backlog to burn. Here, for example, was Tuesday's...

ShuffleLog 10-Oct-06

U2 v. Lyrics Born, "Callin' On Sunday" - SixxMixx
Foo Fighters, "Learn To Fly" - There Is Nothing Left To Lose
Palava, "Surrender (Your Love Breaks Mix)" - Don’t Look Now (Disk 2)
Party Ben, "SixxMixx 94 - 071505" - SixxMixx

Hey, lookee here. Remember all of that complaining about no SixxMixx entries yet? Nothing in 138 songs (22% of all songs on the iPod), despite regular airplay on my part for a while. Now we've got one single SixxMixx track, as well as the 15-Jul-05 30 minute show from Live105 that I downloaded (on my Mac, I've got like 15 of these).

That's why this one is a little short. I just let the bitch play.

ShuffleLog 9-Oct-06: Coming Up For AIR

2006-10-12T17:52:00.000-04:00

Hola, amigos. It's been a long time since I rapped at ya. But really, I'm feeling much better.

Back to business. Got a lot of time to make up. And for that, you get three for the price of one -- for a total of 25 tracks. Limit 2 per customer.

ShuffleLog 9-Oct-06 (Morning Commute)

The Postal Service, "We Will Become Silhouettes" - Give Up
16c+, "Gospel 2001" - GU003: Prague (Disk 2)
James, "Born of Frustration" - The Best of James
Foo Fighters, "Everlong" - The Colour and the Shape

So far so good. No repeats, short set (late morning commute due to vet appointment in the morning), new wild card entry from James.

Ever forward.

ShuffleLog 9-Oct-06 (Evening Commute)

Chaser, "Reach For It" - GU003: Prague (Disk 2)
The Beastie Boys, "Skills To Pay The Bills" - The Sounds of Science (Disk 1)
Oakland Faders, "Track 18" - Fader Nation Vol. 1
Morcheeba, "Bullet Proof" - Big Calm
The Streets, "Too Much Brandy" - Original Pirate Material
AIR, "La Femme D'Argent" - Moon Safari
The Lovemakers, "Is It Alright?" - Times of Romance
Gorillaz, "DARE" - Demon Days
Oakland Faders, "Track 35" - Fader Nation Vol. 1
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, "Upon This Tidal Wave Of Young Blood" - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Must've knocked something loose with the rant. First Morcheeba song. Up to this point, only one AIR song has appeared, and it was a repeat. Now we've got a new AIR song, and it's from Moon Safari.

The only repeat is a Lovemakers repeat. Not Oakland Faders, not CYHSY.

ShuffleLog 9-Oct-06 (Evening Run)

Deep Cover, "Deeper Inside (Original Mix)" - Tranceport 3

Deep Dish, "In Love With A Friend" - Perfecto Chills Vol. 3 (Disk 2)

Infusion, "Daylight Hours" - Perfecto Chills Vol. 3 (Disk 1)

Green Day v. Oasis v. Travis, "Boulevard of Broken Songs" - SixxMixx

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, "Gimme Some Salt" - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Louis XIV, "Finding Out True Love Is Blind" - Finding Out True Love Is Blind - Single

The Bravery, "An Honest Mistake" - The Bravery

AIR, "Run" - Talkie Walkie

AIR, "Another Day" - Talkie Walkie

Think Tank, "F.U.B.A.R." - Tranceport 3

The Darkness, "Black Shuck" - Permission To Land

This was 11 songs played while I went for a run in Central Park, and includes back-to-back Perfecto Chills Vol. 3 and back-to-back AIR. That's 3 AIR songs in 25 tracks (12%) compared to 2 AIR songs in 129 previous tracks before the 9th of October (1.6%).

Plus, it's kinda cool that "Run" was played. You know, while I was running.

ShuffleLog 6-Oct-06: The Rant

2006-10-06T10:52:00.000-04:00

We interrupt your regularly scheduled ShuffleLog to bring you the following rant.

I don't know if it's just me -- that the novelty is wearing off, that the novelty of the City is yeilding to frustration. The novelty of the subway, and gawking tourists, and cabs cutting you off in the crosswalk, and pushy self-absorbed idiots, and the Yankees, and the fact that I've called 911 three times in the three months that I've been here, and human shit in public (worse: that my dogs eventually find it)...maybe the honeymoon is over. But I'm not ranting about any of that.

Jen and I went to see Massive Attack at the Roseland Ballroom last night. I'd been looking forward to it for a while, this was the last of their three night run in New York, and Elizabeth Fraser was touring with them. Plus, we'd seen the Beastie Boys the previous night, so this was becoming a banner live music week in a City where there's always a ton of live music to see.

I think that I've seen more live music in the three months since I've been here than in the previous year in San Francisco. And it's run a pretty good gamut: national acts like Ani DiFranco outdoor at Summer Stage, local bands like Boss Tweed at Magnetic Field in Brooklyn, jazz legends at Iridium, DJs, turntablists, tabla masters, the Beasties at a fundraiser for animals. There's so much available during any given week, all of it so accessible.

And last night, I had one of the worst live music experiences. Ever.

An Open Letter To Everyone Involved In the 5-Oct-06 Massive Attack Show At The Roseland Ballroom

To the venue: Learn how to plan better. Clue #1? When there's a line 8 deep at the bar, you're losing money. My brother, who's in the business, taught me that. Although I do commend the guy who served us for being a professional about it. Oh, and when you've got a nice, big room with a massive stage and sound system, please use it. It improves the experience, and most importantly, it drowns out the legions of douchebags who can't shut the fuck up during a show (see below).

To the concert-going public: Please shut the fuck up. Seriously. Stop behaving as if the band is playing, TiVo'd, in your living room as background noise to your own private party. Stop behaving as if the band is an irrelevant sports team playing above the bar at your favorite Upper East Side meat market. Stop trying to have a meaningful conversation with your date in the middle of a fucking ballad. Stop text messaging. Stop screaming into your cell phone. Stop accepting comp tickets from your company/clients/drug dealer/pimp to see a band you don't care about, but are happy to yammer through all night. Better yet: stop fucking going to shows. Period.

To the B&T couple in front of us, at the railing: Shut the fuck up. There's a band playing, and you're missing a good show. Stop screeching in that grating, high-pitched voice, about nothing at all relevant. Stop trying to have a normal conversation, amplified because there's an inconsiderate band playing about 100 yards away. Better yet, make no attempt to whisper, or even try to yell in your addle-eyed companion's ear. There's a bar directly behind you: take your fucking insipid conversation over there. Or go home and try to convince yourself that, yeah, you really like Massive Attack, and not just because you've only heard "Angel" on the Snatch soundtrack. Really.

To the douchebag and douchbagette behind us on the right side: Shut the fuck up. We're actually on the floor now, dick, and there's a band playing. We're not back by the bar. Stop talking about nothing-fucking-at-all with some girl as if you were at the Olive Garden. Stop ignoring my glares back at you. You know, during a show, when someone looks back, away from the band, it's usually for a reason. No, I wasn't checking out the line at the bar, or scoping for the bathroom, or clocking some broad. I was looking at you. You know, the fucking H&M fashion victim screaming your conversation over the band. And when I tell you "Hey, you guys are missing a good show", your response is to shut the fuck up. "Am I bothering you?" only conveys the fact that you have no grasp on where you are, or your role in society. It also conveys the fact that sarcasm is lost on you.

To the twit on her cellphone sitting on the rail to our right: Shut the fuck up. Jesus Christ, Elizabeth Fraser is singing "Teardrop". It's a beautiful song, a soft song. Screaming "OHMYGODLISTENTOTHIS!" -- holding up your phone to whoever is unfortunate enough to be on the other end of the line so that they can listen to garbled distorted Elizabeth Fraser noise -- is a clear sign of bad breeding. For God's sake, your meat-head companion was shouting at you to shut the fuck up, severely limiting his prospects of getting into your panties. Oh, who are we kidding, you'll throw the donut anyway. But for the meathead's sake, let's pray that you're not like Paris Hilton at 19, answering your phone during uninspired sex: "OMG, no, I'm not doing anything, just fucking, and yeah, that one song was pretty good tonight, but I couldn't hear it very well because I was on the phone!" OMGSTFU.

To the couple to our left before the encore: Shut the fuck up. You started out OK. Jen and I had moved 4 times at this point. Aside from the lack of respect for personal space -- I know it's general admission and all, but there's a small studio apartment's space worth of room to your left, so why are you actually touching Jen and I? -- you looked into it. You were dancing, or at least swaying, to the music. But then some sort of infection gripped you. You probably picked it up from those assholes behind us, perhaps from sharing a Red Bull and vodka. Some sort of douchebaggery that made it impossible for you to resist having a full conversation while friggin' Horace Andy is signing, while Shara Nelson is singing! Christ, invade my personal space. But for the love of God, shut up!

To the dudes behind us, during the encore: Shut the fuck up. Are you serious? You're two guys at a Massive Attack show. You're fucking chatting with each other like you're scrapbooking over a bottle of Two Buck Chuck. This is not Murray Hill. The Yankees are not playing on a crappy flat panel TV while you drink Coors Light. For fuck's sake, I can hear you through "Intertia Creeps"! We retreated back here to get away from screechy, yammering chicks. Only to be rewarded with preening, yammering dicks. I can't believe I contemplated leaving the show before it was over. But you're pushing me there, fellas.

For the love of all that is holy, please, all of you, avoid going to live music venues. Please go back to whereever it is that you came from, play quarters, dabble in date rape, mindlessly produce verbal diarrhea about the finance industry or some shitty publication that you work for. Just don't go see live shows. Unless it's the donkey show in Tijuana. And then, by all means, volunteer.

Love, Clarence

ShuffleLog 5-Oct-06: Massive Repeat

2006-10-05T12:05:00.000-04:00

And the hits just keep a-comin'. Another ShuffleLog, another repeat. 119 songs in, and we've got 4 days in a row with repeaters. Also, a few nice surprises.

Interestingly enough, no Beastie Boys tracks, even after seeing them last night. Solid show, not their best, but the Beasties on a so-so night still get your body movin', rump shakin' slow and low. And for a great cause.

ShuffleLog 5-Oct-06

Oakland Faders, "Track 12" - Fader Nation Vol. 1
Paul Oakenfold, "Zoo York" - Perfecto Chills Vol. 3 (Disk 1)
Massive Attack, "Black Milk" - Mezzanine
Outkast, "Hey Ya" - Speakerboxx/The Love Below
The Lovemakers, "Is It Alright?" - Times of Romance
Dino Lenny, "I Feel Stero" - GU021: Moscow
Massive Attack, "A Prayer For England" - 100th Window

Two Massive Attack songs, which is the perfect buildup to the show at the Roseland Ballroom tonight. And the first repeat. Only 20 songs by Massive Attack on my iPod, yet they've quietly crept up to 8 songs already, with representation for the past three days straight.

Surprising appearance by Outkast. Speakerboxx/The Love Below is an epic 2-disk monstrosity, but this is the only Outkast track I transferred to the iPod. Cliche, overplayed, but I still like it.

Seriously, though, I'm gonna get the Oakland Faders off of the iPod for a while. Last song yesterday, first song today. That's 13 total, or a full 1/3 of Fader Nation Vol. 1. Still holding steady at 11% of all ShuffleLog tracks. I can only go so long with :30 tracks incongruously sandwiched between chills, beats, or rock'n'roll. Listening to it as one continuous mix works great. No so much on Shuffle Songs.

Predictions for tomorrow: "Yewminyst" quinella.

ShuffleLog 4-Oct-06: The Trifeca

2006-10-04T17:05:00.000-04:00

After a really annoying start -- two short tracks, including the friggin' "Outro" to Same !@#$ Different Day -- we get our first triple.

ShuffleLog ShuffleLog 4-Oct-06

Oakland Faders, "Track 26" - Fader Nation Vol. 1
Lyrics Born, "Outro" - Same !@#$ Different Day
Grayarea, "Yewminyst" - GU024: Reykjavik
Massive Attack, "Exchange" - Mezzanine
Bloc Party, "She's Hearing Voices" - Silent Alarm
Behrouz, "Looking For A Face" - Perfecto Chills Vol. 3 (Disk 1)
Oakland Faders, "Track 33" - Fader Nation Vol. 1

Sure, it's nice to get three tracks from Bay Area artists the morning after the A's took Game 1 of the ALDS. But seriously, "Outro"? Damn.

A triple? "Yewminyst" shows up not only three-friggin'-times, but two days in a row? It now represents 3 of 6 tracks played off of GU024. Of those 6, only three are unique anyway. Considering "Yewminyst" only has a .161% chance of showing up in the first place, it makes up 2.65% of all 113 ShuffleLog songs played to date. There are albums with 10+ tracks that haven't showed up nearly as frequently. Like Same !@#$ Different Day: 16 tracks, or 2.57% of all tracks on my iPod, but only two songs played.

By the way, sports fans, GU024 has 21 tracks on it.

Bonus ShuffleLog 3-Oct-04: ShuffleLog Turns 100

2006-10-04T16:43:00.000-04:00

Bonus ShuffleLog, since I commuted home alone (sniff!) yesterday. We hit the 100th song on this one: Stereolab, "Prisoner Of Mars". And two from Massive Attack, who we're seeing tomorrow night. Sadly, the entry from 100th Window was the 101st song. How cool would that have been?

Gotta love the B-Boys persistence, especially since Jen and I are seeing them tonight at the Rational Animal Gimmer Shelter benefit. VIP tickets. It's for the mutts.

ShuffleLog 3-Oct-06 (Part Deux)

Arctic Monkeys, "Still Take You Home" - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
The Beastie Boys, "Triple Trouble" - To The 5 Boroughs
Stereolab, "Prisoner Of Mars" - Dots and Loops
Massive Attack, "Future Proof" - 100th Window
The Streets, "Not Addicted" - A Grand Don't Come For Free
Foo Fighters, "No Way Back"- In Your Honor (Disk 1)
Massive Attack, "Mezzanine" - Mezzanine
The Darkness, "Givin' Up" - Permission To Land

So, my buddy Sandy emailed me yesterday, remarking on how these ShuffleLogs have been pretty loaded with tracks that I pimped from him. And it immediately struck me: someone else is reading this crap? Then, something else: all that GU024, Way Out West, and 24:7? I horked it from Sandy. To be fair, we exchanged music, but I came out on the better end, since he dumped his fastidiously collected Global Underground collection in my office one day.

And, once you observe the experiment, you actually affect it's outcome. There's not a single track in this ShuffleLog from a record appropriated from Sandy. Hasn't happened since 21-Sept-06. Almost two weeks ago.

Requests, anyone?

ShuffleLog 3-Oct-06: The Repeat Three-peat

2006-10-03T10:32:00.000-04:00

I think it's on to me.

ShuffleLog 3-Oct-06

Dosh, "Rock It To The Next Episode" - Pure Trash
Grayarea, "Yewminyst" - GU024: Reykjavik
Oakland Faders, "Track 20" - Fader Nation Vol. 1
The Beastie Boys, "Time To Build" - To The 5 Boroughs
Foo Fighters, "Free Me" - In Your Honor (Disk 1)
Louis XIV, "Finding Out True Love Is Blind" - Finding Out True Love Is Blind - Single
Way Out West, "Melt" - Don't Look Now (Disk 1)

Er, that's two repeats from GU024. In two days. Five tracks from that record, two of which are repeats. That's getting downright ridiculous.

So far, we're still under the 100 track mark - 97, to be exact - for ShuffleLog in just over two weeks. That's about 16% of the tracks on my iPod. Yet we're getting some serious regularity going. Three days in a row with a repeat. I wonder if it's just a Moebius Loop.

Yet today's ShuffleLog exibits a curious randomness to it: a flagrant repeat, some consistent repeating artists (Beastie Boys, Oakland Faders, Way Out West), and some brand-spanking new tracks just to keep me guessing (Loius XIV, Dosh).

Careful, there's a graph lurking somewhere.

ShuffleLog 2-Oct-06: It's ShuffleLogtober

2006-10-02T11:33:00.000-04:00

Having left my iPod sitting around un-charged all weekend, with the battery meter sounding the red klaxon of "Charge Me!", I was unsure if we'd even get a ShuffleLog off today, and instead I'd have to spend my commute listening for the next Overheard In New York candidate.

But I made it, just in time, with a short 6 track playlist.

ShuffleLog 2-Oct-06

HRK, "Loveworld (Ulrich Schnauss Instrumental Mix, with HRK)" - Don't Look Now (Disk 2)
Starkid, "Crayons" - GU024: Reykjavik
Stereolab, "Hillbilly Motobike" - Margerine Eclipse
The Streets, "Stay Positive" - Original Pirate Material
Gnarls Barkley, "Transformer" - St. Elsewhere
The Postal Service, "Such Great Heights" - Give Up

Another repeat? That's 5 so far, and this one is particularly annoying because "Crayons" is the track that leads into "Strawberry Fields", one of my favorite tracks of off GU024, and one of the most-listened-to.

Other than that, there's nothing terribly remarkable about today's ShuffleLog. Except for the fact that there isn't a friggin' new entry in the bunch: 5th entry (6%) from Don't Look Now; 4th entry (4%) from GU024, half of which are "Crayons"; 3rd entry from Stereolab (3%); 4th entry from The Streets (4%); 2nd entry from Gnarls Barkley (2%) and The Postal Service (2%).

Ooooh, and the funny thing is this: I had to manually reconstruct the ShuffleLog today, since the battery ran out when I got to work, preventing me from scrolling back through the tracklist. I know that I'm 90% right about the order, especially the first two and last two. But the middle two...

If I transpose the middle two tracks -- Stereolab and The Streets -- I get a sweet descending progression of frequency:

6% Don't Look Now
4% GU024
4% The Streets
3% Stereolab
2% Gnarls Barkley
2% The Postal Service

Now that would be somethin'.

ShuffleLog 29-Sept-06: We Have A Repeat, I Repeat, We Have A Repeat!

2006-09-29T14:37:00.000-04:00

Time to start checking the schedule for trains to AC.

Not one, not two, but three repeats today.

ShuffleLog 29-Sept-06

Bloc Party, "Helicopter" - Silent Alarm
Foo Fighters, "In Your Honor" - In Your Honor (Disk 1)
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, "Heavy Metal" - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
AIR, "Venus" - Talkie Walkie
The Beastie Boys, "Song For The Man" - The Sounds of Science (Disk 1)
Crazy Town vs. Steve Miller, "Tipsy Butterfly" - SixxMixx
The Streets, "Who Dares Wins" - Original Pirate Material
Subtonal, "Shibuya", 24:7 (Disk 2)

Geez, where to start?

Jen and I went to see Clap Your Hands Say Yeah at Rumsey Playfield in Central Park last night. The last song they played? "Heavy Metal". Which first showed up in this pathetic little project a week ago.
There's only been one other AIR song to grace our ShuffleLog presence. You guessed it: "Venus". That's lightning striking twice.
Nothing terribly noteworthy about "Shibuya", either musically, philosophically or ShuffleLogically. But the trifecta of repeats occurs three months from the last day that I spent in California before moving to New York.

Yeah, I got nothin'.

Remember, a song has a .161% chance of even being played. What are the odds that it is repeated? What are the odds that 3 out of 8 songs in a single day are repeats? There have been 84 songs played since I started this whole mess. 84 out of 622, 13.5% of all songs. So far, we've had 4 repeats and a single album hogging 11% of all ShuffleLog tracks (Fader Nation Vol. 1).

Dammit, why did I skip Calculus in high school?

ShuffleLog 28-Sept-06: Prepare For The ShuffleLog

2006-09-29T10:49:00.000-04:00

Check your tickets, race fans. We've experienced two out of three mixes of The Lovemakers "Prepare For The Fight" on ShuffleLog.

Technically, that doesn't count as a repeat. But it certainly is a wonder.

ShuffleLog 28-Sept-06

The Lovemakers, "Prepare For The Fight (Dummies Club Mix Edit)" - Times of Romance
The Beastie Boys, "Beastie Boys" - The Sounds of Science (Disk 1)
Bent, "An Ordinary Day" - 24:7 (Disk 2)
Tenacious D, "Exposivo" - Tenacious D
Gabriel & Dresden, "Dub Horizon" - Bloom (Disk 1)
Oakland Faders, "Track 08" - Fader Nation Vol. 1
The Streets, "Empty Cans" - A Grand Don't Come For Free

Like friends who don't seem to get the hint when I yawn, turn off the TV, and start brushing my teeth, the Oakland Faders just keep getting another beer from the fridge. Yeah, there are 40 tracks on Fader Nation Vol. 1 (6%), but they now comprise 12% of ShuffleLog tracks. They're running away with it, making even Perfecto Chills Vol. 3 look downright inconspicuous (9%).

Nice to see Gabriel & Dresden finally make an appearance with a track that used to get serious air time. Back when I owned a car.

ShuffleLog 27-Sept-06: Howdy, Y'all!

2006-09-27T23:49:00.000-04:00

A Special Edition ShuffleLog! Greetings from -- wait for it -- Amarillo, TX.

[cue sound of whatever sound a tumbleweed makes]

I opted not to Shuffle Songs for the flights to Dallas and Amarillo, and not for any scientific clean-room reasons (it's longer than my typical commute, will poison the sample, blah blah blah). Mostly because a) I was a little bored with Shuffle Songs, b) it can be a little distracting while reading, and unlike the business traveler cliche, I love using air travel to catch up on reading, not work, and c) I wanted to get familiar with Massive Attack's 100th Window before I see them in two weeks.

However, after eating a 16oz. bone-in ribeye at a surprisingly good BL Bistro in Amarillo the night we arrived, I decided that a run was in order. The hotel's "fitness center" (read: Nautilus machine and 3 treadmills) was being "remodeled" (read: repainted), so I resorted to braving the streets of Amarillo at 7:30 in the morning.

A 35 minute run was a decent approximation of my typical commute time as well, affording this Junior Einstein Chemistry Set experiment a notion of continuity.

ShuffleLog 27-Sept-06

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, "Blue Turning Grey" - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Starkid, "Crayons" - GU024: Reykjavik
Massive Attack, "Safe From Harm (Perfecto Mix)" - Perfecto Chills Vol. 3 (Disk 1)
Freek & Mac Zimms, "Submission" - GU003: Prague
Oakland Faders, "Track 15" - Fader Nation Vol. 1
Oakland Faders, "Track 03" - Fader Nation Vol. 1
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, "Promise" - Howl
The Bravery, "Rites of Spring" - The Bravery
Oakland Faders, "Track 19" - Fader Nation Vol.

Whoa. Is my iPod trying to keep me comfortable and safe in the wilds of Amarillo? Geez, yet another CYHSY song? Predictably accompanied by GU:024 and Perfecto Chills? And the most significant show of force from the Oakland Faders? On my run, I was actually exasperated by this. This, my only solace in the middle of friggin' Amarillo, Texas! Only The Bravery stands out, if nothing more than its first entree into the ShuffleLog.

More analysis and compilation to come, if nothing more than to soothe my soul. We never did get to the Cadillac Ranch.

ShuffleLog 25-Sept-06: We Have A Winner!

2006-09-26T10:03:00.000-04:00

It took 8 ShuffleLogs and 60 tracks, but we finally have it: the $150 Exacta, the $500 scratcher, the double-down on 11.

We have our first repeat. I bet it was the spreadsheet.

Drumroll, please...

ShuffleLog 25-Sept-06

Bloc Party, "Banquet" - Silent Alarm
Bradley, "Rush (Echo's Wave Dub)" - Tranceport 3
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, "Devil's Waitin'" - Howl
Eighty Mile Beach, "There Are No Right Angles Found In Nature" (Thievery Corporation Mix) - Perfecto Chills Vol. 3 (Disk 2)
The Streets, "What Is He Thinking" - A Grand Don't Come For Free
Oakland Faders, "Track 23" - Fader Nation Vol. 1
Danny Howells, "You Can't Go Home Again" - 24:7 (Disk 1)
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, "Howl" - Howl

Yawn. Damn, why couldn't it have been a Beastie Boys track? But still, getting a repeat outta Perfecto Chills, is almost anti-climactic, given its dominance of the ShuffleLog charts of late.

60 tracks. If Sean ever reads this, he'll have to help me determine the odds of a repeat. I mean, yeah, out of 622 tracks (I added Massive Attack's 100th Window over the weekend, all of 9 tracks, since I've got tickets to a Roseland Ballroom show in October), the odds are still .161% of any track coming up.

More analysis after the break. And by break, I mean a business trip to -- get this -- Amarillo, TX. Can't wait for the ShuffleLog for that trip.

ShuffleLog 22-Sept-06: Dorkier Than D&D

2006-09-25T22:09:00.000-04:00

Yep, it finally happened. Either out of boredom, laziness, or latent deep-seated geekiness, I dumped all of this in a spreadsheet. This allows me to:

Be efficient, easily capturing each ShuffleLog, rather than scribbling it on a Post-It note every day. And it's easier to look for trends when it's all in one damned place.
Be lazy, since repeat artists, tracks or albums can autofill via Excel magic.
Be the geek that I can be, including lame-ass pie charts on the distribution of tracks, album, or artist instances.

That, and the miracle of cut-and-paste:

ShuffleLog 22-Sept-06

Mara, "Coming Down" - GU021: Moscow
Oakland Faders, "Track 26 " - Fader Nation Vol. 1
Ladytron, "Beauty*2" - Perfecto Chills Vol. 3 (Disk 1)
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, "Heavy Metal " - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Nouvelle Vague, "Love Will Tear Us Apart" - Perfecto Chills Vol. 3 (Disk 2)
She Wants Revenge, "Red Flags and Long Nights" - She Wants Revenge
Way Out West, "Everyday" - Don't Look Now (Disk 1)
Tenacious D "Wonderboy" - Tenacious D
Way Out West, "Absinthe Dreams" - Don't Look Now (Disk 1)

That, and the miracle of my stupidity. Since I sorted the tracks, I blew it and screwed up the natural order in which they were originally played. OK, I can thankfully reconstruct the natural order of most of the past ShuffleLogs by virtue of this damn blog and it's previous postings. Good thing I'm a quick learner. But this one is reconstructed from memory.

And what does the power of Excel tell us now that we've been at this for over a week? That, among 52 tracks played through Friday, 22-Sept-06, there's very little that's random about Shuffle Songs:

Album Counts Through 22-Sept-06

Perfecto Chills Vol. 3 5
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah 4
Don't Look Now 4
Fader Nation Vol. 1 4
Tenacious D 4
24:7 (Disk 2) 2
Funeral 2
GU024: Reykjavik 2
Mezzanine 2
She Wants Revenge 2
Times of Romance 2
To The 5 Boroughs 2
17 others 1

Even though I was an English major, and was told there would be no math on this blog, even I can see that Perfecto Chills is getting disproportionate airplay. Sure, it's a 2-disk set, with 11 tracks per disk. But that's still only 3.6% of all tracks on my iPod right now (remember, it's 613 total). Yet Perfecto Chills represents almost 10% of all ShuffleLog tracks played since 14-Sept-06. Even more disturbing is Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, which has 12 tracks or 2% of all tracks on the iPod, yet represents 8% of ShuffleLog tracks.

Yeah, this difference seems like mice nuts, but it may belie something nefarious. I've only ever listened to CYHSY all the way through once, so it's not like the iPod's got huge play counts on it. I haven't rated any tracks on the record, and I only added it to my iPod within the last 2 months. Where's any SixxMixx track, which I played like mad over the past year? Bloc Party?

Never underestimate the power of my dorkiness to quantify this notion. Yes, Virginia, there might be a there there.

ShuffleLog 21-Sept-06: Like Life, Today's ShuffleLog Ends with "Friendship"

2006-09-22T15:21:00.000-04:00

Miraculous return of Tenacious D, suspicious return of CYHSY. The seeming ubiquity of Perfecto Chills and the Oakland Faders.

Now do you see what I mean when you see the remarkable lack of variety, even among 613 songs?

ShuffleLog 21-Sept-06

Oakland Faders, "Track 25" - Fader Nation Vol. 1 (It's actually pretty annoying listening to sub-1:00 tracks from DJ mixes like this. The transitions are more jarring than the stop at Houston St.)
Gorillaz, "White Light" - Demon Days
Stereolab, "...Sudden Stars..." - Margerine Eclipse
The Arcade Fire, "In the Backseat" - Funeral
Eighty Mile Beach, "There Are No Right Angles Found In Nature" (Thievery Corporation Mix), Perfecto Chills Vol. 3
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, "Let the Good Goddess Rust Away" - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Tenacious D, "Friendship" - Tenacious D

Any programmatic notion of preference -- Top 25 Most Played, user ratings -- clearly don't have much of a bearing here. Haven't heard a single Bloc Party song yet, and I was abusing that record for a while. First entry from the Gorillaz, another record I played a lot in recent past.

But still, we're racking up hit counts on Tenacious D., Perfecto Presents, and the Oakland Faders.

To the spreadsheet! (please, kill me for that)

ShuffleLog: Now with 100% More

2006-09-22T15:08:00.000-04:00

Like most marketing claims, this one's a bit specious. The truth be told, since I mostly commute in the evenings with Jen, I don't listen to music on the way home. Even though Jen's got a staunch refusal to talk on the subway.

But she had a work thing Wednesday evening, and I had to go home solo. The upshot is that there was more music. The downside being that I blew it, and didn't record the ShuffleLog after hockey, losing it yesterday morning.

But I do know this: there were two Clap Your Hands Say Yeah songs, one Beastie Boys song from To The 5 Boroughs, and "Pulse of Life" from Way Out West's Don't Look Now.

That's three in a row for The Beastie Boys...

After a week or so, I'm definitely going to chart and publish a Top 10, and drop some science on it with some real analysis. Because if every song's got a 1 in 613 chance of getting played (0.16%), then the first repeat is gonna be like hitting the lottery. Yeah, the cheap-ass $500 prize on a scratcher, but still, how many times have you hit that?

ShuffleLog 20-Sept-06: It's Two-fer...Wednesday...

2006-09-20T09:40:00.000-04:00

Had to finish yesterday's ShuffleLog this morning, since I left the damn list of tracks on my desk and couldn't remember them at home last night. So there you have it.

After all of that grousing about The Lovemakers and The Beastie Boys yesterday?

ShuffleLog 20-Sept-06

The Beastie Boys, "Pass The Mic" - The Sounds of Science (Disk 1)
The Lovemakers, "Prepare For The Fight" - Prepare For The Fight - Single
Foo Fighters, "There Goes My Hero" - The Colour and the Shape
The Postal Service, "Natural Anthem" - Give Up
Massive Attack, "Black Milk" - Mezzanine
She Wants Revenge, "Monologue" - She Wants Revenge

Spoooooooky. Top 10 Beasties song in my book, and the track by The Lovemakers that got airplay on Live 105 in San Francisco, which in turn, led me to see them live 3 times in 6 months. Yes, Lisa Light went to Stanfurd, but she was a friggin' marine biologist, so we forgive her.

And it looks like someone knows that I bought tickets to see Massive Attack yesterday. Oh, Hell, who am I kidding?

ShuffleLog 19-Sept-06: Mid-Day Blockbuster

2006-09-20T09:19:00.000-04:00

I had some high hopes for today's ShuffleLog. First, because I was heading to work around the terribly stress-free noontime commute hour (had a furniture delivery this morning, not a hangover). Second, well Hell, just look at the start of this thing...

ShuffleLog 19-Sept-06

Duran Duran, "The Reflex" - Seven and the Ragged Tiger (warning: their web site sucks)
Massive Attack, "Inertia Creeps" - Mezzanine (warning: their web site is almost unnavigable)
Oakland Faders, "Track 10" - Fader Nation Vol. 1 (Track 10 features a howling LL Cool J sample from "Mama Said Knock You Out")
Rakim, "Strong Island" - The Master

Strong start, to say the least. And then, when two of my favorite artists come up -- The Lovemakers and The Beastie Boys -- it all goes to Hell...

The Lovemakers, "We Should Be Taking Our Clothes Off" - Times of Romance
The Beastie Boys, "We Got The" - To The 5 Boroughs
Flipsyde, "Someday" - Single

Quite possibly two of the worst songs on their respective albums from The Lovemakers and The Beastie Boys. And that Flipside song, while a respectable effort outta Oakland, was a little disappointing after the confounding lyrics of "We Got The". Considering how much I dig -- and listen to -- those two artists, I'm surprised nothing more significant came up ("Root Down"? "Shake That Ass"? Hello?)

Of Note: Not a single electronic track, just when I declared that GU024 was going to make an appearance each and every day. No repeats or back-to-backs either.

The moral of this story? It's so much nicer to show up to work at 12:30pm (if you have to show up at all).

ShuffleLog 18-Sept-06: 3rd Time's a Charm

2006-09-18T13:25:00.000-04:00

What better way to start off the week than with...

ShuffleLog 18-Sept-06

Pet Shop Boys, "New York City Boy" - Nightlife

Yes, I'm the only straight guy who admits to liking the Pet Shop Boys.

Grayarea, "Yewminyst" - Global Underground 024: Reykjavik
Gnarls Barkley, "The Boogiemonster" - St. Elsewhere
Way Out West, "Fear" - Don't Look Now (Disk 1)

Short one this morning, since 1) I caught an express train and a connecting 1 train immediately, making the commute blissfully short, and 2) two of the tracks -- "Yewminyst" and "Fear" are longer electronica tracks of 8:41 and 7:37, respectively. That alone consumes over half of my commute.

Looks like GU024 is bucking to become the repeating darling of every damned ShuffleLog from here on out. But we've ended the back-to-back streak at 2 (Tenacious D and Perfecto Chills). Confounding. Perhaps my iPod was better rested than I was from this past weekend. 3 trips to Brooklyn will do that to ya.

ShuffleLog 15-Sept-06: 2 Is a Significant Sample Size, Right?

2006-09-15T09:17:00.000-04:00

OK, we're off to the races. First the ShuffleLog, then the esoteric commentary. I've also realized that I'm already inconsistent with the log format. Which is consistent for me.

ShuffleLog 15-Sept-06

AIR, "Venus" - Talkie Walkie
DJ Shadow, "Funky Skunk" (I actually skipped through this one, since it's a single hour+ track of a DJ Shadow mix. While that would make for a boring ShuffleLog, I usually skip through long tracks like that anyway when I'm not on a plane or something.)
Paul Van Dyk/Hemstock & Jennings, "Nothing But You (Tomekk mix)" - Perfecto Chills Vol. 3
Faithless/Dido, "One Step Too Far" - Perfecto Chills Vol. 3
Subtonal, "Shibuya" - 24:7
The Lovemakers, "Runaway" - Times of Romance
Avatar, "Dub In Time" - Global Underground 24: Reykjavik
Arcade Fire, "Crown of Love" - Funeral

Like William Black in Mallrats, let's take a step back and see if there's a schooner there.

What's with the dual Perfecto Chills tracks, back-to-back, like yesterday's back-to-Black?
Did AIR come up because yesterday's log included another atmospheric French band, Stereolab?
Another track from Danny Howells 24:7?
Yesterday I was asking about "Strawberry Fields" from GU24, and got a GU24 track today. Fishy.
While I dig The Lovemakers, "Runaway" isn't my favorite from that album, and gets less intentional play than other tracks like "Prepare For The Fight" and its various remixes, "Dance", "Shake That Ass", etc. iTunes counts that stuff.
Arcade Fire is the token BRMC from yesterday.

So far, it's looking like I'm averaging 7 tracks a commute. Out of 613, that's 1.1% of available songs to draw from on any given day.

Someone shoot me if this ends up in a spreadsheet. Discuss.

ShuffleLog Makes It All Go Away

2006-09-14T12:11:00.000-04:00

Hey kids. As a West Coast transplant to NYC, sent to invade and degrade the quality of life here in New York, it's natural that I start a blog. But it's not your typical navel-gazing with detailed descriptions of the contents of my dogs' poop. That's reserved for a separate blog entirely.

No, ShuffleLog is just some hair-brained idea I had while hungover on the subway to work. Since I'm simply not inspired enough in the morning to even select the music that's most appropriate for drowning out the teeming masses on the 1 train, I usually just set my iPod Nano to Shuffle Songs. I've got 613 songs in my iPod right now, so I figure that should keep me entertained for weeks.

But is there a ghost in the machine?

I started to notice some patterns. When I was actually paying attention, of course. Why was The Postal Service constantly coming up? Why was the same Lyrics Born song ("I Changed My Mind") always selected, when there are 16 tracks on that album (Same !@#$ Different Day)? Why wasn't "Strawberry Fields" from Global Underground: Reykjavik playing, which is among my Top 25 Most Played?

Now, there could be a load of logical reasons behind this. Namely, I was a little hungover. Or I was simply mis-remembering, transposing one Lyrics Born song for another. Or any number of iTunes algorithms were at play, including ratings I had selected (minimal), playlists I had created, or the frequency to which I listened to certain songs or artists.

So, let's put this to the test: are there secret Contact-esque patterns to Shuffle Songs on the iPod? More importantly, does anyone really care?

I'm going to post, with some undetermined frequency, the log of my iPod when I'm listening to it on shuffle on the way to work from the 72nd St. 1-2-3 station to Houston St. Usually 25 minutes worth of tunes. But trying in vain to remember or catalog the shuffled playlist en route starts to distract and defeat the purpose of listening to music on the way to work (enjoyment/boredom/distraction/avoidance of interaction with fellow passengers/aloofness). Luckily, I found a much easier solution: when I get to work, simply hitting the back ("|<<") button allows me to scroll through tracks that had been previously presented at random. ShuffleLog 14-Sept-06

Lyrics Born, "Can't Wait For Your Love"
Tenacious D, "Trubute"
Tenacious D, "Inward Singing"
Oakland Faders, "Track 06"
Laurent Garnier, "Sambou" (Danny Howells, 24:7, disk 2)
Stereolab, "Ticker-Tape of the Unconscious"
Black Rebel Mortorcycle Club, "Sympathetic Noose"

Apart from the back-to-back Tenacious D tracks, this doesn't tell me anything except that it's a typical random sampling of my musical tastes: hip-hop, turntableism, indy, trance, and Stereolab. Yes, I loaded up the iPod, and it reflects the music I like, but it's not a self-selected playlist. It doesn't represent a mood or theme or phase in my life. It's ostensibly random. Maybe it, standalone, doesn't tell me much about anything. But comparing it, over time, to dozens of other ShuffleLogs(tm) just might.

Who knows what will happen? Maybe (and this is a big if) someone will read this. In doing so, they may discover some music they're interested in. I'm going to invite folks to post their ShuffleLogs too. Perhaps I'll stick it all in a spreadsheet and have someone analyze it. But mostly this is just a goof, to see what happens.

Like I said, I was a little hungover.