Articles

Been meaning to do this for years - here's an incomplete list of bands I've seen at least once. Good or absolutely shite, they all make the list. Bold type denotes artists that I've had the pleasure of seeing more than once.

A
Adem
The Airborne Toxic Event
Alabama 3
The Aliens
All About Eve
Lily Allen
Dot Allison
Alpha
Amusement Parks on Fire
Annuals
Arab Strap
Architecture in Helsinki
Arctic Monkeys
Arrested Development
Asian Dub Foundation
B
Badly Drawn Boy
Banco de Gaia
Basement Jaxx
Bat for Lashes
The Bays
The Beat
The Beastie Boys
The Beautiful South
Beck
Beep Beep
Belle and Sebastian
Ben Folds Five
Bent
The Besnard Lakes
Big Country
Black Kids
Blondie
Blur
The Bodines
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
The Boy Least Likely To
Billy Bragg
Brainiac
Bright Eyes
The Brilliant Corners
Broken Spindles
Ian Brown
Tim Burgess
Bernard Butler
C
Terry Callier
Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan
Carrie
Carter USM
Martin Carthy
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
Cast
Caterwaul
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
The Charlatans
The Charlottes
Chas N Dave
Cherry Ghost
The Cinematic Orchestra
Ross Clark & the Scarfs Go Missing
The Clerks
Clinic
The Close Lobsters
Coldcut
Coldplay
John Cooper Clarke
The Cooper Temple Clause
The Coral
Elvis Costello
Cousteau
Cranebuilders
Crazyhead
The Creatures
CUD
The Cure
D
The Darling Buds
The Datsuns
Death in Vegas
The Delgados
Delphic
Dodgy
Doves
Dreadzone
Dub Pistols
Durutti Column
Bob Dylan
E
Steve Earle
Echo and the Bunnymen
Echoboy
The Eighteenth Day of May
Elbow
Electrafixion
Electric Soft Parade
Electric Sound Of Joy
Embrace
F
Fairport Convention
Th' Faith Healers
Faithless
Faith No More
The Fall
Fields of the Nephilim
Five Thirty
The Flaming Lips
Florence & The Machine
Foo Fighters
Four Tet
The Free Association
Friendly Fires
Frightened Rabbit
Fun Loving Criminals
The Futureheads
G
Ganger
Gaye Bykers on Acid
Ghost Dance
Glasvegas
Global Communication
Godflesh
Goldrush
Gomez
Jose Gonzalez
Gorkys Zygotic Mynci
The Go! Team
Grand Drive
Grass-Show
The Grave Architects
Gravenhurst
Al Green
Green on Red
Groove Armada
Guillemots
Guns N' Roses
H
Nick Harper
Rolf Harris
The Heart-throbs
Kieran Hebden and Steve Reid
The Matthew Herbert Big Band
Kristin Hersh
The Hidden Cameras
Micah P. Hinson
Hole
Jools Holland
Holy Fuck
House of Brothers
The House of Love
The Housemartins
Howlin' Rain
The Hunters Club
I
I Am Kloot
Idlewild
Interpol
Iron And Wine
It Bites
J
The Jack Rubies
Matthew Jay
The Jesus and Mary Chain
Jesus Jones
Johnny Domino
Joolz
K
Keane
The Killers
David Kitt
Kula Shaker
L
Lambchop
Leatherface
Leaves
The Levellers
The Libertines
Loop
Low
Lowgold
Lush
M
The Magic Numbers
Magnolia Electric Co.
The Majesticons
Manic Street Preachers
Mansun
Maps
Marillion
Marion
J Mascis
Massive Attack
Mega City Four
The Memory Band
The Men They Couldn't Hang
Mercury Rev
MGMT
Mia Doi Todd
The Mighty Lemon Drops
The Mission
Modest Mouse
Mono
The Montrose Avenue
John Moore And The Expressway
Morrissey
The Motorcycle Boy
Bob Mould
Mudhoney
My Bloody Valentine
Ralph Myerz and the Jack Herren Band
Mylo
N
The National
The Necks
Ned's Atomic Dustbin
The New Folk Implosion
New Model Army
New Order
Joanna Newsom
Scout Niblett
Nirvana
Now It's Overhead
O
Oasis
Okkervil River
Ooberman
Orbital
Beth Orton
P
The Pale Saints
The Parkinsons
Pavement
Penthouse
Pitman
The Pixies
The Pogues
Emma Pollock
Polytechnic
Pond
Pop Will Eat Itself
Primal Scream
The Primitives
The Prodigy
The Prudes
Public Enemy
Pulp
Q
Finlay Quaye
Queens of the Stone Age
R
Radiohead
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry
Red Snapper
REM
Reverend and The Makers
Ride
Rival Schools
RJD2
Roots Manuva
Tim Rose
Run DMC
S
Saint Etienne
Saint Joan
Salvation
Samamidon
Ulrich Schnauss
Scott 4
DJ Scotch Egg
Mr Scruff
The Sea and Cake
Seafood
Shack
DJ Shadow
The Shins
Michelle Shocked
The Shortwave Set
Silver Sun
Simian
Six.by Seven
The Sleepy Jackson
Elliott Smith
The Smiths
Snuff
Sonic Youth
Soul II Soul
The Soup Dragons
Space
Spacemen 3
Sparklehorse
Spear of Destiny
Spin Spin The Dogs
Spiritualized
Spring Heel Jack
Starsailor
St. Germain
The Stills
The Stone Roses
The Streets
Joe Strummer
Subkicks
Sugar
The Sugarcubes
Sun Kil Moon
Swans
T
Tapes N Tapes
Teenage Fanclub
The Telescopes
Texas
That Petrol Emotion
Them Crooked Vultures
Richard Thompson
Throwing Muses
Glenn Tilbrook
Tindersticks
The Ting-Tings
Travis
Tricky
Tunng
Turin Brakes
The Twilight Sad
U
Ultrasound
Under Neath What
Underworld
V
The Verve
Voice of the Beehive
W
Martha Wainwright
The Walking Seeds
The Walkmen
The Waterboys
The Wedding Present
We Show Up On Radar
Whistler
White Lies
The White Stripes
Wilco
Robbie Williams
The Wisdom of Harry
Witness
The Wonder Stuff
World Domination Enterprises
The Wurzels
X
X-Press 2
Y
Yam Who
James Yorkston and The Athletes
Z
Zero 7
The Zutons

Wow, after like over a year, I finally found my last.fm password!!! LOL...

01. What's your favorite song by Neutral Milk Hotel?
"Two-Headed Boy, Part Two".

02. How did you get into Felt?
Kathrin put "All the People I Like Are Those That Are Dead" on a mixtape for me, and I fell hard for Lawrence.

03. Who is your favorite member in Orange Juice?
I'm probably contractually obliged to say Edwyn Collins, but I do have a soft spot for the songs by James Kirk.

04. What's your favorite lyric by The Magnetic Fields?
this is an unreasonably difficult question. actually, no:
"I could dress in black and read Camus / Smoke clove cigarettes and drink vermouth / Like I was seventeen, that would be a scream / But I Don't Want to Get Over You."

05. Have you ever seen Sufjan Stevens live?
yes, in fact!

06. What's your favorite album from The Shins?
Wincing the Night Away.

07. Do you own any merchandise from The National?
nothing, sadly. (not even a tote bag from Wicker Park.)

08. What is a good memory you have of The New Pornographers?
dancing around my room to "Graceland" while packing for college.

09. Is there a member of the same age as you in Belle and Sebastian?
hahaha, no. they are all much older.

10. When did you first get into The Shins?
2003, right after Chutes Too Narrow was released. I heard "New Slang" on the college radio station and it was downhill from there.

11. Who likes The Smiths along with you?
many, many people. on my last.fm friends list, primarily Kathrin.

12. Which song did you first hear from of Montreal?
"So Begins Our Alabee", on a Polyvinyl sampler.

13. What song made you fall in love with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah?
I believe it was "Upon This Tidal Wave of Young Blood", after some blog described it as "David Byrne fronting The Cure".

14. Which song do you not like by The Only Ones?
there are actually quite a few, shamefully, but my least favorite is probably "Deadly Nightshade".

15. Why do you like Morrissey?
what a question! his stunning voice (even at such an age), his splendid pop sensibilities, his terrific way around a witty, erudite lyric...

16. Where did you first hear Voxtrot?
oh, wow, I don't actually know. I think I heard "Mothers, Sisters, Daughters, and Wives" on a blog somewhere right after it came out, but I didn't really start to love them until I heard "The Start of Something".

17. How long were The Jesus and Mary Chain a band before you liked them?
haha. they were a band for sixteen years and weren't a band for three before I liked them.

18. Does Matthew Sweet have a song that gives you a bad memory?
well, yes. most of his songs are irrevocably linked to certain memories for me, but "Someone to Pull the Trigger" and "Life Without You" are the worst.

19. When did you get into The Cure?
the winter of sixth grade, when my brother burned a copy of Staring at the Sea: The Singles for me.

20. How long have you been into The Jesus and Mary Chain?
seven years.

21. If Jens Lekman had a concert 300 miles away, would you drive there to see them?
well, I can't drive. but if someone else were going, I would certainly consider it.

22. How many The Replacements albums do you own?
christ. nine, not counting bootlegs and unreleased compilations.

23. Do Vampire Weekend have a song that makes you cry?
hahaha, definitely not.

24. Do The Wedding Present have a song that makes you happy?
of course! especially "This Boy Can Wait".

25. Do Wilco have a song that makes you smile?
yes indeed. "Nothing'severgonnastandinmyway (Again)" is a guaranteed smile-maker.

26. What's the last song you've listened to of Guided by Voices?
"Twilight Campfighter".

27. Is there a song by Elvis Costello and the Attractions that you've listened to more than 30 times?
"(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes", though my statistics don't show it... that was mostly in seventh grade.

28. What is a song from Joanna Newsom that you've only listened to once?
"Three Little Babes". NEVER AGAIN.

29. Is there a song you are sick of hearing by Robyn Hitchcock and The Egyptians?
I am not really a fan of "The Fly".

30. What song got you into Echo and the Bunnymen?
"Bring on the Dancing Horses", once again via the local college station.

31. What is your favorite single by Bright Eyes?
single? probably "If The Brakeman Turns My Way".

32. If The Weakerthans hated you, what would you do?
I would be really upset, probably. and regret not seeing them when I could have in September, before I learned of this sad development.

33. What would you say if one of the members from R.E.M. asked you out?
um, accept, obviously!! I don't care that all of them are either over fifty or almost there (yes, Michael, this means you). we would be the May/December romance for the ages.

34. Would you care if Editors had a boyfriend/girlfriend?
of course. I demand that Tom Smith remain perpetually single.

35. Who has the best voice in The Posies?
I prefer Jon Auer's songs.

36. Do you think Elvis Costello and the Attractions are good looking?
haha, I was actually just talking about this today. yes.

37. How many times have you listened to your favorite song by Arcade Fire?
I have apparently only listened to "Intervention" 11 times. this might be wrong.

38. How many CDs do you own of Sparks?
I actually only own Kimono My House, but my mother has most everything else on vinyl.

39. Is there a song from Radiohead that makes you mad?
I don't think so.

40. Which member from Yo La Tengo do you want to see go solo?
I actually really like Dump, a.k.a. James McNew's side project. but I wouldn't want Ira and Georgia to split up.

41. What does your favorite song from The Velvet Underground remind you of?
"Sweet Jane" ... actually, reminds me of standing on the corner with a suitcase in my hand. hahaha. presumably because whenever I find myself in that situation, I start singing that song.

42. Did you hate Hüsker Dü at first?
no, I just thought they were really noisy. and Grant Hart was super cute. whatever, I was a twelve-year-old with priorities.

43. Does your best friend also listen to The Hold Steady?
haha, yes. although not without reservations. (no lyrics about Pringles cans, please.)

44. Do you think your parents would like The Broken West?
both my parents love them, actually.

45. Do Pixies have a song that makes you want to dance?
who doesn't dance to Debaser?

46. Have you ever seen Joy Division live?
yes. that time when I time-travelled.

47. Do you like The Broken West's name?
I guess so. I like it better than their previous name, "The Brokedown".

48. Is there someone in Paul Westerberg that you want to go out with?
this question is adorable. yes, I want to go out with the teenager in Paul Westerberg who wore his heart on his sleeve, rode his bike everywhere, and kissed girls under bridges on autumn nights, as described in "First Glimmer".

49. Do you know anyone that hates Shearwater?
I don't believe so.

50. Have you ever danced to a song from Sigur Rós?
it's probably happened.

Well, it had to be done, and it's a handy excuse to go back and listen to all of these again. Limiting myself to one release per artist and with apologies to
Lawrence English, Sylvain Chauveau, Black Dice, Jan Jelinek, Jasper TX, The Wrens, The Unicorns and all the others I either forgot or didn't have room for, here's one way of looking at my favourite records of the decade:


1. Stars of the Lid - The Tired Sounds Of... (2001)
I can't think of another album in my adult life that has influenced the music I listen to more than this one, and it's fitting that it was released at the beginning of a decade that for me personally was a discovery of ambient music. Together with its successor, ...And Their Refinement Of The Decline, this is where I go when I get paralysed by the agony of choice. Like a Rothko painting, it appears from a distance to be simplistic, but when you stand and stare for a long while, it turns out to be as detailed as your own imagination. A soundtrack to thought.


Stars of the Lid - Requiem For Dying Mothers, Part 1


2. William Basinski - The Disintegration Loops I-IV (2003)
From bohemian New York rooftops to drab and wintry Southwick chimney pots, but the spellbinding melancholic beauty of these records transcends circumstances and back stories. Condensation on windows, graffiti furtively scratched into plastic, long necklines and grids of railings. Just some of all possible worlds that exist in these loops.


An excerpt from William Basinski - D|P 1.1


3. Joanna Newsom - Ys (2006)
With courageously poetic and challengingly inventive lyrics set to the subtlest and most absorbing arrangements, Ys took a good few listens before you could stand back far enough to see the whole picture. I love the way her voice seems to have a different sound for almost every word on some stretches of this album, and I still find myself smiling at the wonderful rhymes, assonance and alliteration of the lyrics:

But walk a little faster
And don't look backwards
Your feast is to the East which lies a little past the pasture
When the blackbirds hear tea whistling, they rise and clap
And their applause caws the kettle black
And we can't have none of that!
Move along, Bear; there, there; that's that.
Monkey & Bear


4. Machinefabriek - Marijn (2006)
This spot could have gone to one of about a dozen or so of his releases (including the fantastic Ranonkel, Dauw, Box Music with Stephen Vitiello and Drawn with Soccer Committee , such has been the prolific and consistently brilliant nature of Rutger Zuyderfeldt's output over the last 6 or 7 years, but, after over 1600 plays according to my lastfm stats, I might as well give it to the one which started it all off for me, Marijn. The most interesting experimental musician working today.


Machinefabriek - Dauw (from the album Dauw)


5. Deaf Center - Pale Ravine (2005)
Although this wasn't itself on the Miasmah label, it was made by its founder, Erik Skodvin (a.k.a Svarte Greiner) and seemed to me to be the father of a succession of fantastic albums (for example, from Elegi, Rafael Anton Irisarri, Jacaszek and Gultskra Artikler) that bore the label's trademark mixture of elegaic beauty and sinister sonic debris.


Deaf Center - White Lake


6. The Fiery Furnaces - Blueberry Boat (2004)
One of the most ambitious, entertaining and defiantly individual bands of the decade's finest achievement, Blueberry Boat is an out-of-control splatter-gun attack of ideas, characters and melodies.


7. Ricardo Villalobos - Fabric 36 (2007)
Clicks, pops, sparks, beats, bangs, twangs, loops, hoots, snaps, whirls, claps, crackles, hisses, rips, taps, ticks, thumps, whacks, jumps, darts, dunks, barks, blinks, zips, bumps, rumbles and ripples. Earphone heaven from a Chilean genius.




8. Burial - Untrue (2007)
Darkly beautiful, like the glint of a knife.


9. Jacaszek - Treny (2008)
Electronics, samples. live strings and haunting soprano voices curl around one another in this heartbreaking album from last year.


Jacaszek - Zal


10. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion (2009)
This seems to be a divisive choice, but from where I am, a million miles away from the source and the chatter and the associations that surround the band, this completed a trio of flawless art-pop albums. It's kind of cool to hear a band who are into ideas like synthesis, harmony and family as well, a kind of.


Animal Collective - My Girls


11. David Thomas Broughton - David Thomas Broughton Vs. 7 Hertz (2007)


12. Tim Hecker - Harmony In Ultraviolet (2006)


13. Junior Boys - Last Exit (2004)


14. Keith Fullerton Whitman - Playthroughs (2002)


15. Autechre - Confield (2001)


16. Broadcast - Tender Buttons (2005)


17. Claro Intelecto - Neurofibro (2004)


18. Boards of Canada - Geogaddi (2002)


19. Chihei Hatakeyama - Minima Moralia (2006)


20. Library Tapes - Feelings For Something Lost (2006)


21. Alva Noto + Ryuichi Sakamoto - Vrioon (2002)


22. Goldmund - Corduroy Road (2005)


23. Half Man Half Biscuit - CSI:Ambleside (2008)


24. Max Richter - The Blue Notebooks (2004)


25. Songs: Ohia - Magnolia Electric Co. (2003)


26. Charalambides - A Vintage Burden (2006)


27. Panda Bear - Person Pitch (2007)


28. Gonzales - Solo Piano (2004)


29. The Books - Thought for Food (2002)


30. Natural Snow Buildings - Dance Of The Sun And The Moon (2006)


31. Fennesz - Endless Summer (2001)


32. Gas - Pop (2000)


33. Rameses III - Basilica (2008)


34. Lucien-N-Luciano - Blind Behaviour (2004)


35. Colleen - The Golden Morning Breaks (2005)


36. Akron/Family - Akron/Family (2005)


37. Menomena - Friend & Foe (2008)


38. Voices And Organs - Orphanage (2006)


39. Christopher Willits & Ryuichi Sakamoto - Ocean Fire (2008)


40. Robyn Hitchcock - Spooked (2004)


41. Pan American - Quiet City (2004)


42. Oren Ambarchi - Grapes From The Estate (2004)


43. Lichens - Omns (2007)


44. Rolan Vega - Documentary (2007)


45. Four Tet - Rounds (2003)


46. Gultskra Artikler - Kasha Iz Topora (2007)


47. Grouper - Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill (2008)


48. Boredoms - Vision Creation Newsun (2000)


49. Emeralds - What Happened (2009)


50. The Notwist - Neon Golden (2002)

I work at a comic book shop. My boss, Jason is a borderline conspiracy theorist who refuses to reveal his last name or age, but likes to tell me about how back in the day he was hip and saw bands like Black Flag and The Plasmatics. He'll also regrettably admit to at one point being into Gary Numan, Kraftwerk and other "simp shit" that he's supposedly forgotten after years and years of substance abuse.
When I work in the back storeroom I listen to music, and Jason usually has something odd to say about whatever's on. Despite not knowing his age, it's obvious he's grown a little crotchety over the years and the music I listen to "doesn't make any fucking sense" to him.

Here's a working list of some of the comments Jason's made about stuff I listen to. The last addition was on 12/02/09. New entries are in red.

• Alela Diane - "The world's going to end soon. You know that, right? This woman's music is proof of it. It doesn't make any sense that someone of this day and age would make music that sounds like that. She's playing some Civil War shit or something. The world moves in circles, and when civilizations start going backwards and retreating to the past, it's a sure sign that we're almost done for."
  
• Danzig - Invocation - "Are they just going to play that one chord the whole damn song? This sounds like the soundtrack to someone dying of starvation. You'd hear this if you saw some evil monks wondering around a dark wood on their way to some sort of bullshit devil ritual. Yeah...this one's a real upbeat number..."
  
• Descendents - Parents - "Are you listening to a recording of a cow groaning out in the wilderness?"
  
• Hellnation - Ride With Me - Mocking indiscernible rabid gibberish
  
• Joanna Newsom - "This sounds like Shirley Temple crossed with Gummo".
  
• Korova - My Vietnam - "What the hell is he so angry about?"
  
• Municipal Waste - "They can't really play that fast. That's not real."
  
• Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - The Weeping Song - "This song would be good if it wasn't so depressing that it made me want to kill myself."
  
• PJ Harvey - Down By The Water - "I'd like this song if it didn't make me feel like I was going to Hell."
  
• Rabies - Disease Core - "That sounds like a crazy man is getting beat with a blunt object."
  
• Reversal of Man - "That sounds like a woman screaming bloody murder running from an ax wielding maniac."
  
• Reversal of Man - I'm A New York Detective - "This is what it sounds like when you're being devoured by some otherworldly devil-beast."
  
• Sleep - Dragonaut - "This is one of the best songs ever written. It makes me want to cruise around on my bike and pick off stray cats."
  

Put your iTunes/Winamp/Windows Media Player/whatever on Shuffle and list the next thirty songs that come up. No cheating to make yourself look cool!


1. Videotape // Radiohead
2. Je Veux Te Voir // Yelle
3. Anthems for a Seventeen Year Old Girl // Broken Social Scene
4. Oh What a World // Rufus Wainwright
5. Service Bell // Grizzly Bear + Feist
6. K-Hole // CocoRosie
7. The Henney Buggy Band // Sufjan Stevens
8. Piazza, New York Catcher // belle & sebastien
9. Anyone Else But You // The Moldy Peaches
10. Elephant Gun // Beirut
11. Every Night I Die at Miyagis // Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti
12. Two Weeks // Grizzly Bear
13. Red Apples // Cat Power
14. Doctor Blind // Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton
15. Steak For Chicken // The Moldy Peaches
16. Dramamine // Modest Mouse
17. Kim & Jessie // M83
18. Peach, Plum, Pear // Joanna Newsom
19. Dark Undercoat // Emily Jane White
20. Casimir Pulaski Day // Sufjan Stevens
21. The Great Salt Lake // Band of Horses
22. White Winter Hymnal // Fleet Foxes
23. Imitosis // Andrew Bird
24. Saeglopur // Sigur Ros
25. Clam Crab Cockle Cowrie // Joanna Newsom
26. People as Places as People // Modest Mouse
27. Cato as a Pun // of Montreal
28. Blue Ridge Mountains // Fleet Foxes
29. Creep // Radiohead
30. Reckoner // Radiohead

QUESTIONS:

1. Which song do you prefer, ..1 or ..30?
+ 30. Videotape is a good song but Reckoner is like "cream your pants and then pass out" good.

2. Have you ever listened to ..12 continuously on repeat?
+ Yes.

3. What album is ..26 from?
+ "We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank". I might've got the wording wrong.

4. What do you think about the artist who did ..15?
+ They make good happy time music.

5. Is ..19 one of your favorite songs?
+ It was last year. Now whenever I listen to it, it reminds me of Christmas in Ohio. I think that's what prevents it from continuing to be one of my favorite songs.

6. Who does ..28 remind you of?
+ Nobody, really.

7. Does ..20 have better lyrics or music?
+ Lyrics. If that songs doesn't make you want to cry, you are a communist.

8. Do any of your friends like ..3?
+ Uh, I'm not sure. I'll have to go ask them, because they definitely exist shut up who says they don't.

9. Is ..23 from a movie soundtrack?
+ Nope don't think so.

10. Is ..18 overplayed on the radio?
+ Probably not.

11. What does ..21 remind you of?
+ Mormons. God they're everywhere.

12. Which do you prefer, ..5 or ..22?
+ Damn that's a hard call. At the moment I'd say 5 but it's close.

13. What album is ..17 from?
+ Saturdays = Youth.

14. When did you first hear ..19?
+ Last winter. Right before I went to spend Christmas in Cleveland. Oh that was a jolly time.

15. What genre is ..8?
+ Indie, I guess.

16. What is your favourite lyric from ...3?
+ "Used to be one of the rotten ones and I liked you for that"

17. What colour does ..4 remind you of?
+ Sepia. In a good way.

18. Have you ever blasted ..11 on your stereo?
+ Hell yes. There's no better way to show people how cool you are than to blast a song that features a guy yelling about placentas and dirty vaginas.

19. What genre is ..7?
+ I think Sufjan Stevens is his own genre.

20. Can you play ..13 on any instrument?
+ Definitely. I love to jam out on my cereal box prize kazoo.

21. What is your favorite lyric from ..30?
+ I'm not sure if that song even has lyrics. Actually that's not true I'm just too lazy to go look up what Thom Yorke is actually saying.

22. What is your favorite lyric from ..23?
+"As he went home at the end of the day
In this nature show that rages every day
It was then he heard his intuition say
We were all basically alone
Despite what all his studies had shown
That what's mistaken for closeness
Is just a case of mitosis"

23. Would you recommend ..24 to your friends?
+ Yes.

24. Is ..2 a good song to dance to?
+ Probably, if you're a person who is capable of and enjoys dancing.

25. Do you ever hear ..16 on the radio?
+ Nope.

26. Is ..22 more of a nighttime or daytime song?
+ Daytime. But only in fall or winter. Otherwise, night.

27. Does ..16 have any special meaning to you?
+ It's the song I would always put on before I threw up my last meal. Oh, the memories.

28. Do any of your friends like ..1?
+ Yes.

29. Is ..25 a fast or slow song?
+ Slow, mostly.

30. Is ..5 a happy or sad song?
+ Hm. Sort of more on the sad-ish side, I guess? But it makes me happy.

31. What is one of your favorite lyrics from ..9?
+ "Up up down down left right left right B A start
Just because we use cheats doesn't mean we're not smart"

32. Is ..14 better to listen to alone or with friends?
+ Alone. In the dark. While drinking profusely.

33. When did you first hear ..27?
+ Hm I don't know. Whenever the Hissing Fauna album came out.

34. Name 3 other songs by the artist who did ..29?
+ Sit Down Stand Up, There There, Karma Police

35. Do you know all the words to ..6?
+ Nope, I don't.

36. Does ..28 have better lyrics or music?
+ I think they're pretty evenly matched. Maybe slightly favored toward lyrics.

37. What album is ..10 from?
+ The Lon Gisland EP.

This from the HOTTEST FEMALE SONGS!!! Kind-off like Triple J's Hottest 100 of All-time early in the year but only female artists because there was very few women in Triple J's countdown. It's run by a new beer called Hummingbird and some pay TV channel (I don't know which one because I don't watch it). It's a cool idea and I found it so hard to cut it down just to ten in the end so I just made my own 100 tracks from my favourite female artists.


My Top Ten Votes
1. Portishead - Glory Box
2. Kate Bush - Cloudbusting
3. Sarah Blasko - {Explain}
4. Nina Simone - Sinnerman
5. Fiona Apple - Fast as You Can
6. Björk - Army Of Me
7. Cat Power - Cross Bones Style
8. Beth Orton - Stolen Car
9. PJ Harvey - This Is Love
10. Magic Dirt - Dirty Jeans

This was very, very, very, very hard (have I made it clear how hard this was?) But I picked songs which I could listen to on repeat which I have done in the past (not here on last.fm yet). Most tracks are from the 90's too (I grew-up in that decade, if you haven't all ready guessed). It seems like last.fm's journals are made up of long lists of songs so I've joined in again with my very, very long short list of songs that didn't make it into the top ten. These songs can be any thing that I love really It's from A to Z (well it's Y really, then V). It's selected from the list of tracks which are on their website but I've added a few of my own ones at the end. If you have no idea what I'm talking about go here and read all about it (there's only 4 days left to vote so hop too it).
http://www.hummingbird100.com/home

Aimee Mann - Save Me
Belinda Carlisle - Heaven Is A Place On Earth
Beth Orton - Galaxy Of Emptiness
Billie Holiday - Strange Fruit
Björk - Pagan Poetry
Björk - Violently Happy
Blondie - Union City Blue
Blondie - X Offender
Bobbie Gentry - Ode to Billy Joe
The Breeders - Cannonball
Cat Power - Living Proof
Carpenters - Close to You
Christina Aguilera - The Voice Within
Clare Bowditch - Lips Like Oranges
Cyndi Lauper - Time After Time
Dolly Parton - Jolene
Donna Summer - I Feel Love
Duffy - Syrup & Honey
Dusty Springfield - Breakfast In Bed
Eartha Kitt - I Want To Be Evil
Ella Fitzgerald - Black Coffee
Etta James - I'd Rather Go Blind
Fiona Apple - Never Is a Promise
Fiona Apple - Red Red Red
Gabriella Cilmi - Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Grace Jones - Pull Up To The Bumper
Janis Joplin - Tell Mama
Jessica Simpson - Angels
Jewel - Morning Song
Joan Baez - Suzanne
Joanna Newsom - The Book of Right-On
Joni Mitchell - Come in From the Cold
Kasey Chambers - Pony
Kate Bush - How to Be Invisible
Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights
Kylie Minogue - Slow
Loretta Lynn - Fist City
M.I.A - Pull Up The People
Madonna - What It Feels Like for a Girl
Marianne Faithfull - Something Better
Mazzy Star - Fade Into You
Nico - Femme Fatale
Nina Simone - Feeling Good
Patsy Cline - Life's Railway To Heaven
Patti Smith - Because the Night
Peggy Lee - Don't Smoke In Bed
PJ Harvey - C'mon Billy
PJ Harvey - Rid of Me
Portishead - Humming
Portishead - The Rip
The Pretenders - I Go to Sleep
The Pussycat Dolls - Stickwitu
Regina Spektor - Samson
Renee Geyer - I Scare Myself
Rihanna - Don't Stop The Music
Rihanna - Unfaithful
Sarah Blasko - No Turning Back
Sarah Blasko - Perfect Now
Sonic Youth - Kool Thing
The Seekers - 500 Miles
Tiffany - I Think We Are Alone Now
Tori Amos - A Sorta Fairytale
Tori Amos - Blood Roses
The Veronicas - 4ever
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Y Control
Yoko Ono - Walking on Thin Ice
Some tracks I think should be on the list but are not so I've added them here:
Alela Diane - White As Diamonds
The Audreys - Lay Me Down
Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man - Resolve
Charlotte Gainsbourg - IRM
Divinyls - Boys in Town
The Drones - Work For Me
Elizabeth Cotten - Freight Train
Emilíana Torrini - Heartstopper
Emmylou Harris - Every Grain of Sand
Gillian Welch - Everything is Free
Jane Birkin - My Secret
Jen Cloher & The Endless Sea - Better off Dancing
Jolie Holland - Old Fashioned Morphine
Jolie Holland - Mexico City
Karen Dalton - Are You Leaving for the Country
Karen Dalton - Down On The Street (Don't You Follow Me Down)
Lene Lovich - Bird Song
L7 - Shitlist
Martina Topley-Bird - Anything
Neko Case - Hold On, Hold On
The Paradise Motel - Bad Light
Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Down by the Riverside
The Triffids - Raining Pleasure
The White Stripes - In the Cold, Cold Night
Vashti Bunyan - Rainbow River

So that is it. It wasn't so hard really (but cutting it down to ten was). I've most likely missed something which I'll remember later and be kicking myself about but I'm pretty happy with this mix. It seems my favorite female singer songwriter is Beth Gibbons with my number 1 track in my top ten. Plus two more Portishead songs and one from Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man project album. If you don't know she wrote My Secret for Jane Birkin a few years ago too. That adds up to five tracks out of one hundred which is not many but more that anyone else.

Anyway what do you think??? I liked writing these journal entries but I do like reading you comments and It's also the only way I can tell if anyone has been reading or looking at them. Thanks and bye for now.

While the Fantasy Festival is fun 15 artists is too restricting so this is how it would really be.

Legends Stage

Lou Reed
Patti Smith
Joni Mitchell
Bob Dylan
Led Zeppelin
Neil Young
The Rolling Stones
The Beach Boys
The Doors
Billie Holiday
Nina Simone

Future Legends Stage

Sonic Youth
Tori Amos
Cat Power
Björk
Tegan and Sara
Radiohead
Bright Eyes
Death Cab for Cutie
Rufus Wainwright
Bat for Lashes
Neko Case
Beck
Amy Winehouse
PJ Harvey
Erykah Badu

New Weird America Stage

Vashti Bunyan
Devendra Banhart
Six Organs of Admittance
Joanna Newsom
CocoRosie
Iron & Wine
Antony and the Johnsons
Spleen
Born Heller
Animal Collective
Lightspeed Champion
My Brightest Diamond
Scout Niblett

D.A.N.C.E Stage

Donna Summer
Róisín Murphy
Patrick Wolf
M.I.A.
Justice
Basement Jaxx
Simian Mobile Disco
School of Seven Bells
Santigold
Calvin Harris
Tiësto
LCD Soundsystem

Banding Together (Band Stage)

Bloc Party
Kasabian
Blonde Redhead
Bon Iver
Grizzly Bear
Metric
Love
Final Fantasy
Joy Division
The Cardigans
The Decemberists
Bombay Bicycle Club
Sigur Rós
Camera Obscura
The Arcade Fire
The Fiery Furnaces
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Placebo
The 5,6,7,8's
CSS
Fleet Foxes
Florence + The Machine

One Lonely Girl (Female Solo Stage)

St. Vincent
Alela Diane
Lykke Li
Maria Taylor
Jill Scott
Martha Wainwright
Nerina Pallot
Françoise Hardy
Vienna Teng
Fiona Apple
Chrisette Michele
Norah Jones
Feist
Peaches
Camille
A Fine Frenzy
Regina Spektor

Never Forgotten Stage

Elliott Smith
Jeff Buckley
Laura Nyro
Nico
Aaliyah
Marvin Gaye
Jimi Hendrix
John Lennon