Catching a tube...

I'd like to say that I went surfing today - but alas, that'll have to wait a few weeks at least. Instead, I jumped on the tube at Highgate with my Aunt and accompanied her the majority of the way to Waterloo... it would have been rude to slip on the Shures, so we read the Grauniad together.

However, I was wondering around town for a while, browsing until my hair appointment, so it got me thinking about shopping muzak again.

Topman is (apparently) where the fashionistas go to score some cheap chic. So I popped in for a look. I've been searching for some jeans for a while (although I did pick up a pair of paperdenim&cloth jeams from Selfridges' sale for only £27, so I probably don't need any more just at the moment...) and went to look at Topman's Denim not Denim range. It was actually a little disappointing, and although I still have a slight T-shirt fetish, I wasn't even tempted to buy anything at all...

Anyway - muzak to shop by (or should that be "Muzak by which to shop"):

I don't know what it is about Fischerspooner, but it always seems just right for a bit of window-shopping, or leche-vitrine as the French would say. So Odessey it was...

Another freaky Friday...

Crumbs... it's amazing how many tracks you can listen to when a) you get your head down, and b) you have about five hours on a train... as is my wont at the moment, the iPod's still on Shuffle.

However, I'm beginning to find that I'm increasingly tempted to skip tracks to find something I actually want to listen to... which is annoying. So I may have to go back to selected playlists instead...

• Brakes on - Air - 10,000 Hz Legend
• Change down - Bonobo - Dial "M" for Monkey
• Trash - Suede - Coming up
• Ambulence - Blur - Think Tank
• Inside you - the Wonder Stuff - Hup
• State we're in - the Chemical Brothers - Come With Us
• Very - Moby - Hotel
• White whisper - Deep Forest - Deep Forest
• Blind - the House of Love - House of Love
• Cemetary party - Air - the Virgin Suicides
• A number of microphones - Propellerheads - Decksandrumsandrockandroll
• Song to the siren - the Chemical Brothers - Exit Planet Dust
• Phoebus Apollo - Carl Cox - Technohedz
• The 13th - the Cure - the 13th (single)
• Shoalin satellite - Theivery Corporation - DJ Kicks
• Close to me - the Cure - Greatest Hits
• Bulgarian melody - Deep Forest - Boheme
• Weathered stone - Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works
• After the flesh - My Life with the Thrill Kill Cult - the Crow
• Firestarter - the Prodigy - the Fat of the Land
• Country house - Blur - Best Album in the World Ever

[actually - there were quite a few other songs in there, but I kept nodding off on the train...]

• Glass onion - the Beatles - White Album
• Give it away - Zero 7 - Simple Things
• Beautiful - Moby - Hotel
• Suite 4 (Allemande) - Yo-Yo Ma - the Cello Suites
• Sleep alone - Moby - 18
• Live as you dream - Beth Orton - Trailer Park
• Matrix Reloaded suite - Don Davis - the Matrix Reloaded
• Come on, let's go - Broadcast - the Noise made by People
• Jumbo (Jedi's sugar hit mix) - Underworld - Jumbo
• Flash (radio edit) - BBE - Flash
• Don Giovanni (a cenar teo m'invitasti) - Colin Davis
• Beyond the pale - the Mission - Children

The rest of the way home was spent watching Die Another Day. I think I got extra surf-geek points for recognising the waves in the opening sequence as being Jaws in Hawaii...

Lucky Thursday

The continuing story of the iPod shuffle...

• Pela janela (through the window) – Thievery Corporation – The Cosmic Game
• Lonely girls – Suede – a New Morning
• Cloning technology - ?
• III. Cello concerto in B Minor – Dvorak – Pierre Fournier
• People in the city –Air – 10,000 Hz Legend
• Bruch Kol nidrei Op. 47 – Jacqueline du Pre
• On the way to the club – Blur – Think Tank
• Tears – Django Reinhardt – King of the Gypsies
• To the end – Blur – Parklife
• Belfast – Orbital – Orbital

Stopped at Tamworth for no apparent reason. Didn’t see any escaped pigs. Ne’er mind…

• Is it really so strange? – the Smiths – Louder then Bombs
• Southern rain – the Tears – Refugees
• Plainsong – the Cure – Disintegration
• Bach cello suite No. 2 in D minor BWW 1008 – Jacqueline du Pre
• Higher than a skyscraper – Hybrid – Higher than a skyscraper

Virgin Trains’ bacon rolls – not bad; apparently freshly made (although if you ask for the bacon “well done / crispy” it arrives in a very similar state to the regular version). Shame their coffee is so poor…

New shuffle

• Atlantis (Way Out West club mix) – Section X – Atlantis
• Turn turn turn – the Byrds – Empire Classic Movie Soundtracks
• It’s a man’s, man’s world – James Brown – Live in…
• Mistaken tourist – Minotaur Shock – Maritime
• Were div werit alle min (Carmina Burana) – Carl Orff – Berlin Radio Symphony
• I will – the Beatles – the Beatles (White Album)
• Change (7” radio edit) – the Lightning Seeds – Change [I’ve never really liked this song since the footie programme stole it]
• The end of the world – the Cure – the End of the World
• Saffron – Eastern Lane – Festival 04
• The private psychedelic reel – the Chemical Brothers – Singles 93-03
• See you when you’re 40 – Dido – Life for Rent

[bizarrely, this is the first time in ten months that a Dido song has been played on my iPod. However, you can’t travel anywhere in North London without hearing at least one of her songs. It spreads even further than that… she was even playing on the speakers outside the Apple store in Arlington, Virginia when I was there in June. Bloomin’ Dido…]

• Halcyon (original) – Chicane – Cream Ibiza Arrivals
• Where shall I turn? – Kruder & Dorfmeister – the K&D Sessions
• Spellbound – Tango – DJ Kicks (Kruder & Dorfmeister) [well, what are the chances – and don’t get me started on all that variance from the mean stuff. Which reminds me, must check out this week’s Bad Science article in the Grauniad]
• Tsunami (Cornelius remix) – Manic Street Preachers – Forever Delayed: the remixes
• T.N.T. for the brain (Radio edit) – Enigma – T.N.T. for the Brain

Arrived into Euston a little delayed and was immediately ushered out of the station - another security alert cleared the whole building. Nothing on the news, so assume it was a false alarm...

Frontline bowling

A continuation of the shuffle from yesterday takes me deeper into my musical past. There was obviously a "golden period" of music somewhere between 1993 and about 1996, as the majority of these tracks seem to come from that era... [alternatively, it may just be that my musical tastes are desperately bad...]

• Shine on (Radiant edit) - Degrees of Motion - Shine On
• Long time coming - the Delays - Long Time Coming
• Le soleil est pres de moi - Air - Premiers Symptomes
• Until then - Braodcast - the Noise Made by People
• Personal Jesus (Pump mix) - Depeche Mode - Remixes 81-04
• Inside my mind (blue skies) (Elephant remix) - Groove Armada - the Remixes
• Govinda - Kula Shaker - K
• Wendy time - the Cure - Wish
• Modern boys - Suede - Sci-fi Lullabies
• Pounds & Penze (Flatner's Deutschemark mix) - Corvin Dalek - Mixmag presents...
• Vitamin - Kraftwerk - Minimum-Maximum
• The Kiss - the Cure - Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me
• Creep - TLC - Back to Mine: Underworld
• Flying (E.T. The Extraterrestrial) - John Williams - Ultimate Soundtracks
• Insomnia (Armand's European vacation mix) - Faithless - Reverence
• The continuing story of Bungalow Bill - the Beatles - The Beatles (the White Album)
• Afro-central - Leftfield - Leftism
• Say my name (Hindsight afterlife remix) - Zee - Say My Name
• Toxygene (Way Out West Begbie mix) - the Orb - Toxygene
• Rays of the rising sun (Dekkard & Dane's mach mix) - Mozaic - Rays of the Rising Sun
• Lion rip (Single mix) - the Duke Spirit - Cuts across the Land
• Come together - the Beatles - Abbey Road
• The 13th (Killer bee mix) - the Cure - the 13th

Interesting facts: the Cure make up 4.95% of my 3,234 tracks; the Beatles only 1.95%.

Another shuffle through the ages...

Crumbs. Looking back on the day's soundtrack can be a daunting (and revealing) experience. Did I really listen to that many tracks?

• Blow me away - Submarine - Skindiving
• Breathing in fumes (Single version) - Depeche Mode - Remixes 81-04
• Julee Cruise - Falling - The Orb: Back to Mine
• Speedway - the Prodigy - Music for the Jilted Generation
• Sunday (the day before my birthday) - Moby - 18
• Autobahn - Kraftwerk - Maximum-Minimum (Live)
• Nice - Duran Duran - Astronaut
• Dominion (Bonkers break beat mix) - Way Out West - Dominion
• You never give me your money - the Beatles - Abbey Road
• Bleachin - Bleachin' - Ministry of Sound presents...
• Nightvision - Daft Punk - Discovery
• Get yourself high - the Chemical Brothers - Singles 93-03
• Cut - the Cure - Wish
• Catch the breeze - Slowdive - Just for a Day
• Stardust - Menswear - Best Album... in the World Ever
• Livin' free - Small World - DJ Kicks (Kruder Dorfmeister)
• Sarabande (Bach Cello suite No 1 in G Major) - Jaqueline du Pre
• Cresta la wave - Alpinestars - Ministry of Sound presents...
• Allegretto graziosa (Brahms Symphony No 2 Op 73) - Milan Symphony Orchestra
• Der neugierige (Schubert D795) - Dietrich Fischer
• Delta Mk II - the Orb - Toxygene
• Dinosaurs (Jon Kennedy mix) - Bonobo - One Offs, Remixes...
• 2 twigs - Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works...
• III Cello concerto in A Minor (Saint Saens) - Pierre Fournier
  

Tuesday Tears

The day began early, as usual, with the first Norf-bound train out of Euston. I was watching the excellent Billabong Odyssey for a while and then tuned-out with the Tears and a bit of Mylo...

I was also trying out my modified flexi-fit Triple Flange Sleeves for my new Shure E4C's... I cut the smallest flange off them last night, so I guess they're actually Double Flange Sleeves now...

• the Tears - Here come the Tears
• Galaxie 500 - Fourth of July [I don't know why, but I suddenly needed to hear that brilliant opening line: "I wrote a poem on a dog biscuit - even the dog refused to look at it..." Perhaps it was a reaction to Brett / Bernard's lyrics?]
• Mylo - Destroy Rock'n'Roll

After that, it was a relatively easy ride into work, and straight into a series of meetings. Sometimes I wish I could put a little Internal (or should that be External?) Soundtrack on during meetings - it'd probably do wonders for productivity and decision-making. A little hard trance might get some of the slower ones off on the right foot...

What is the ideal reading music?

Like the rest of the adult (and child) world, I am currently reading the latest Harry Potter book*... but I'm struggling to find the perfect accompaniment: should it be something classical? Or maybe something chilled / ambient?

Whatever the real answer, I slipped on some classic MBV** and struggled to ignore the decidedly bizarre refences to "snogging":

• Soon
• Glider
• Don't ask why
• Off your face
• To here knows when
• Swallow
• Honey power
• Moon song
  

*Harry Potter and the Half-baked Plot
**My Bloody Valentine: Glider and Tremelo EPs

Saturday / Sunday drifting...

I've always had a problem with boats...

So it was no surprise that, having spent the best part of a day on board, I started to feel a little unwell. It may have been due to the amount of time I spent below decks playing heads-up poker with a fellow crew-mate, rather than up on deck, but there we are...

I thought I'd listen to something quite up-lifting, and caught up on a few oldie-but-goodie tracks I'd downloaded from iTunes a few days before:

• Ten little girls - Curve - the Way of Curve
• Coast is clear - Curve - the Way of Curve
• Die like a dog - Curve - the Way of Curve
  
• Horror head (remix) - Curve - the Way of Curve
  
• Fait accompli - Curve - the Way of Curve
• I feel love - Curve - the Way of Curve

Curve were a fantastic band, whose first EP, Blindfold (1991 if I remember rightly), contained four killer tracks: the aforementioned Ten little girls; I speak your every word; Blindfold; and No escape from heaven. I was particularly disappointed to see that neither of the latter two tracks made in onto their 1990-2004 compliation - the Way of Curve. But there we are. The Peel Session of the same year was also brilliant (I recorded it off the radio, late at night, and it's still sat somewhere in a box in the loft - probably on the same tape as the classic Orb sessions...)

Blindfold was, I think, my favourite track. I even remember the NME review of the time, which was pretty glowing of both Toni Halliday (who went on to record the awesome Original with Leftfield) and Dean Garcia, which pointed out that Toni could "rap" too:

"in a conversation talking of nothing we were drinking sweet wine comforting our one and only in our single business we have become jealous satisfied with our desolation wrapped in our vivid dreams I remember the two days that mean alot to me I remember the two days where every hour was a day every minute was a lifetime where the ocean was a sea and you dragged me into the mountains on a flimsy guarantee the stronger the man the stronger the woman if it ended now would you be willing I've given you everything I've given you nothing I used to think of angels but that's all gone I used to dream of love and kisses wanting to belong but I'd tear around the corners blindfolded to the world I used to think that candyfloss was only made for girls see how it feels for me do you believe in me? Hard-headed sense of failure in a narrow mind I never used to think about the hurt I left behind but now it falls upon me like winter snow now I turn the same corners when there's no place left to go the stronger the man the stronger the woman if it ended now would you be willing do you believe in me? this is my own private hour see how it feels for me this is my own private hour could you love me? could you love me? could you love me? could you love me?"

Actually, all this talk of Curve reminds me of another band I followed at the time - Cranes. I saw them twice - once at the Camden Underground and once supporting the Cure at the Olympia Grand Hall. How time flies...

Tiefschwartz Friday

So... Tiefschwartz's new album is variously described as electronica, electro-rock, bleep house or just plane odd.

Luckily, my entire music library appears to be well-stocked with similarly badged music, so they fit right in.

Damage, featuring Tracey Thorn from Everything but the girl, is a pleasant-enough tune, and will (I expect) be the next single, following on from Wait and see, featuring Chikinki...

Well worth a listen, but not quite as good as I expected. Certainly not as dark as I'd hoped, and a little too boppy at times, it's a pretty good album. I'd hoped they might have built on some of the darker stuff, but there we are (three and a half out of five)

Another oh-so-ordinary morning...

Yet another exciting day, that required a playlist just as banal. Hence the following 'list that pulls together a few faves, as well as a random attempt to inject some life into my day.

Not sure it worked, but it did get me through to the middle of the afternoon...

• No ordinary morning – Chicane – Behind the Sun
• On Her Majesty’s Secret Service – Propellerheads / David Arnold – On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
• Positive tension – Bloc Party – Silent Alarm
• Quark – Empirion – Advanced Technology
• Running battle – Kasabian – Kasabian
• Sandstorm (JS16 remix) – Darude – Sandstorm
• The heart’s filthy lesson (Bowie mix) – David Bowie – Hallo Spaceboy (single)
• Utopia – Goldfrapp – Felt Mountain
• Venus in furs – the Velvet Underground – the Velvet Underground
• Watching me fall – the Cure – Bloodflowers

Wednesday's numbers

Numbers, numbers, numbers...

• 3.2 (Bedrock Ambient mix) – Humate – Humate 3.1.1998
• 4 AM – Submarine – Skin Diving
• 6 / 8 War – Leftfield – Rhythm and Stealth
• 7 – Moby – Play
• 9pm [Till I come] (Sequential One 1999 remix) – ATB – Ministry Presents
• 19-2000 (Soulchild remix) – Gorillaz – Gorillaz (Expanded Edition)
• 21^st Century poem – Leftfield – Leftism
• 32^nd Floor – the House of Love – the House of Love
• 39 – the Cure – Bloodflowers
• 49 percent – Royskopp – the Understanding
• 125 West 3^rd Street – Menswear – Q (Assorted)
• 1985 – Manic Street Preachers - Lifeblood

Tuesday evening...

Continuing on from the reverse alphabetical playlist... here's H-A...

• Helicopter – Bloc Party – Silent Alarm
• Gouge away – the Pixies – Doolittle
• Flutter – Bonobo – Dial ‘M’ for Monkey
• Evergreen – Submarine – Skin Diving
• Dooms Night (Timo Mass mix) – Azzido da Bass –
• Chime live – Orbital – Orbital 01
• Break and enter – the Prodigy – Music for the Jilted Generation
• Aerodynamic – Daft Punk – Discovery

If it's Tuesday I must be on a train...

Following on from yesterday's dip into the murky world of lift muzak (I was listening to Royskopp most of the way home on the bus), I drew up a quick A-Z of my musical tastes as the basis for this playlist...

But rather than start at the beginning, I tried a reverse alphabetical approach. It was only when I got to the end that I realised that I'd forgotten to add a song beginning with the letter "Z"...

Part one: Y-I

You love us - Manic Street Preachers - Generation Terrorists
White love (radio edit) - One Dove - One Dove (Morning Dove)
Vavoom! - Man with No Name - Earth moving the Sun
Under the influence (mix 2) - the Chemical Brothers - Singles 93-03
The order of death - Public Image Ltd. - This is what you want
She bangs the drums - the Stone Roses - the Stone Roses
Radio ass kiss - the Wonder Stuff - Hup
Piggies - the Beatles - the Beatles ("the White Album")
Ordinary world - Aurora - Ordinary World single
Nitrogen part 1 - Juno Reactor - Back to Mine (the Orb)
Milk (the wicked mix) - Garbage - Milk CD single
Lucretia my reflection - the Sisters of Mercy - A Slight Case of Overbombing
Kill city (bonus track) - Hybrid - Live Angle
Jesus Christ - Empirion - Advanced Technology
If everybody looked the same - Groove Armada - Best of Groove Armada

Obviously, had I wanted to put a "Z" in there, I would have gone with Zeros and ones (Aphex Twin deconstruction) - Jesus Jones - 26 Mixes for Cash...

Monday morning

It's been a good news / bad news sort of morning.

On the upside, my new Shure E4c earphones arrived and are currently being "burned in" (yeah, I didn't know you had to burn 'em in either, but apparently you do...). They look great, sound great, fit great, but have given me a slight headache.

On the downside, I purchased a track last night from iTunes in an attempt to win the grand prize for downloading the 500 millionth song. I bought the DFA Version of the Chemical Brothers' new single, Boxer. However, this was purchased at 14:42 last night (UK time). A full two minutes before the winner scooped 10 mini iPods, 10,000 free songs and all the other stuff...

Ne'er mind.

And so to this morning's listening pleasure. First off, it was a bit of retro-electro (or relectro as I like to call it) from German trans-meisters, Kraftwerk:

• The robots - Kraftwerk - Minimum-Maximum
• Electro kardiogramm - Kraftwerk - Minimum-Maximum
• Aero dynamik - Kraftwerk - Minimum-Maximum
• Music non-stop - Kraftwerk - Minimum-Maximum

In retrospect, it probably wasn't the best music to listen to while trying to read the new Harry Potter "novel", but there we are.

This was swiftly followed by another dip into the new album from Roskopp, the Understanding.

Lazy Sunday afternoon...

Sunday [the playlist continues from the previous day]



It was far too hot on the train, and, to be honest, I fell asleep almost immediately. I don't remember the tracks marked with an asterix at all... but they're included for completeness' sake:

• Hankie - Aphex Twin
• Pearl's girl (short) - Underworld*
• 7 - Moby*
• Mission not impossible - Al-Pha-X*
• Sweet lullaby (Apollo 44o mix) - Deep Forest
• Verdi - Maro Picotto*
• Two tribes (Fluke's Magimix instrumental) - Frankie goes to Hollywood
• Papua New Guinea (7" orginal) - Future Sound of London*
  
• Altamont super-highway - Apollo 440*
• Red dust - Zero 7*
• Sparks - Royskopp*
• Picnic by the motorway - Suede*
• King of the castle (Bronx dogs mix) - Wamdue Project

These tracks were actually on the way home in a cab - too hot for the tube tonight.

• Piku - the Chemical Brothers
• Mklvfkwr - Moby
• Apart - the Cure

As promised, I did do a bit of Googling for an answer to how "random" the Apple Shuffle algorithm is... but haven't got very far yet. In the meantime, here's the Wikipedia entry...

Saturday sun

Saturday morning and I'm travelling on the tube down to Liverpool Street station to catch an eastbound train into darkest Essex...

I'd downloaded a few tracks from iTunes just before leaving the house, so played the majority of those:

Goldfrapp's Wonderful Electric (Live in London) EP

• Strict machine
• Train
• Tiptoe
• Lovely head
  

But as I got onto the train out to Essex, it was back to randomly chosen tracks from the iPod's ludicrously un-random Shuffle feature:

• Release the pressure (Release 4) - Leftfield
• Lion in the hall - Monkey Mafia
• Hotel intro - Moby
• Red hill mining town - U2
• Breakdown - Suede
• Mr Brightside - the Killers
• Pulsate (HMC remix) - Rob Little
• Just say yes - the Cure
• Galaxy bounce - the Chemical Brothers
• Jets - Blur [again?]
• Sweet chorus - Django Reinhardt
• What about love - Faithless

I'm a little confused about how to test the "random-ness" of the Shuffle-ing. Perhaps I'll have a quick Google and see whether the interWeb has any good ideas...

Freaky Friday

I was feeling exceptionally lazy (and carrying a heavy bag) so took a taxi across town today - hence no playlist. However, I needed to shut myself off from the world, and therefore slipped on something suitably stirring to carry me through the morning:

Carmina Burana - Orff [well, the first fifteen or twenty minutes of it, before I became too distracted by the thought of Helen Mirren in Excalibur]

Following that little mistake, I really needed to get my head down, and Hybrid's Wider Angle seemed the ideal album to keep be buzzing through 'til lunch. Every track, from the stirring strings on the Opening Credits, through Julee Cruise's awesome vocals on If I survive, to the breakbeat strings on Snyper and the Russian Federal Orchestra on Finished Symphony - the entire album is majestic. Just the thing for an internal soundtrack - and probably one of the best examples in my library...

Anyway, on the way back home (having watched a bootleg copy of Kung Fu Hustle) I once again gave into Steve Jobs' Apple-Mindlink (TM) technology... it's actually beginning to worry me that there appears to be such a high level of synchronicity in these 'lists. What secret code has Jobs built into the iPod?

• Friday I'm in love (Acoustic mix) - The Cure [it's a Friday afternoon]
  
• Luck shield - Minataur Shock [who remixed a song by...]
  
• Always new depths - Bloc Party
• Lamentations - Handel's Messiah [first night of the Proms, anyone?]
• Never win - Fischerspooner
• Movement - LCD Soundsystem [just as we were pulling back into Euston...]

I know it's easy to read meaning into random occurrences - it's not like I'm not an avid reader / fan / serial quoter of Ben Goldacre's Bad Science in the Guardian) and I'm actually vaguely statistically-literate... but there we are.

Thursday (2)

Another day, another shuffle...

• The Saint - Orbital
• Andromeda - Chicane
• Flutter - Bonobo
• Edge 6 - Sabres of Paradise
• Sonata for cello and piano in A Major, Fantasia (Molto Lento) (Jacqueline du Pre) - Franck
• Toxygene (Kris Needs up for a fortnight mix) - The Orb
• Bullet in the gun - (Saturday mix) - Planet Perfecto
• Jets - Blur
• Come what may (Original Film Version) - Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman
• Homeward Angel - Moby
• Chicago (DJ Dan & Terry Mullan bongarella dub) - Groove Armada
• Never let me down (Split mix) - Depeche Mode
• Furious Angels - Rob Dougan

The cello sonata exposes a fatal flaw in iTunes, of course. It's completely unable to cope with classical music... but then again. Who listens to Franck anyway?

Thursday (1)

Thursday

I needed something to get me in the mood this morning, so started with a great track
from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Maps). I was looking for something to get me out of the
hotel room and onto the street – and into the glorious sunshine – so added a few
summery tracks to keep me occupied as I traipse across the city.

• Maps – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
• Eple – Royskopp
• Why does my heart feel so bad (Red Jerry’s String & Breaks mix) – Moby
• A kick in the teeth – Fischerspooner

By a strange quirk of fate - and more by luck than judgement - the final bars
finished just as I got through the door. Nothing like some random synchronicity to
kickstart your day...

A bit of background: I have a 40gig 4G iPod, which currently has 3,179 songs on it
(or approx. 14.5gig of music). I used to have a pair of Sony MDR-NC11 Noise
Cancelling Headphones, which are perfect for buses, tubes and planes, but have
finally given up. My third pair broke a few weeks ago - just as I got off the plane
at Heathrow - which was lucky - and I've sent them back to Sony. All three pairs
have had the same fault - the right earbud keeps cutting out. It's either a loose
wire or connection, I think. But whe you spend £100 on a pair of earphones, you
expect them to last longer than a few months...

So I've got a temporary replacement (the slightly cheaper Sony MDR-EX71SLs in black) and have
invested in a pair of Shure E4c 'phones. Which should be winging their way across
the Atlantic as we speak / type / read...

Oh... I usually add an extra song onto the playlist, as contingency. If I were to be
delayed, grab a coffee, take another route, or just walk more slowly, there's the
chance the 'list would end before I arrive at the office... this track rarely gets
used - but obviously plays an important role in ensuring that my little OCD [aren't
all iPod owners obsessive compulsive?]. So I'd like to propose a new name for these
lost, lonely, little tracks that sit patiently at the end of playlists - the "river"
track - after the poker term [late night poker keeps me sane while working in the
hotel]

Today's River was One perfect sunrise (the Radio edit) by Orbital. It might just be
the perfect song with which to have begun the day... but there we are.

Black Wednesday

It’s only a short walk to the office, so I’d hardly even managed to get through this little 'list of classic remixes / covers before I arrived. However, I still had time to pay homage to one of Manchester's best and most-loved bands:

• Blue Monday ’88 - New Order
• The Walk (Everything Remix) – The Cure
• Personal Jesus (Pump Mix) – Depeche Mode
• Mary (Mylo Mix) – Scissor Sisters

But I had a load of work to do at my desk, so quietly plugged in my earphones and spent most of the day bopping to a little internal soundtrack I like to call Black Wednesday. It releived the tedium somewhat, but reminded me that even the 4G iPod batteries sometimes leave a little to be desired:

• Raining again – Moby [well, it is Manchester…]
• Barry can’t do flat tops – Cities of Foam
• Satyam Shivam Sundaram – The Thievery Corporation
• Spanish air - Slowdive
• I’m waiting for the man – The Velvet Underground
• Chant of a poor man (Mighty Quark Remix) – Leftfield
• London loves – Blur
• Noches en vela (Pt. 2) – Nitin Sawhney
• 19-2000 (Soulchild Remix) – Gorillaz
• Bad boyfriend – Garbage
• Mindfields (Headrock Dub) – The Prodigy
• Tulips (Peel Session) – Bloc Party
• In my arms (Remix) – Mylo
• Lion rip (Single mix) – The Duke Spirit
• Thrills – LCD Soundsystem
• Vigo bay – Minotaur Shock
• Trans Europe Express – Kraftwerk
• Mr Brightside (Thin White Duke Dub mix)
• Tristesse globale – Royskopp
• Noctuary (Live version) - Bonobo

Tuesday's Child

As I was waiting at the station this morning, a guy in scruffy camo jacket and jeans approached me, asking for a light (I didn’t have one). “What do you do?” he asked, noting my pinstriped suit and tie, “You a brief?”

I said I was a consultant. “Financial services?” he continued. “I give you £20 and you turn it into £50?”

If only it were that simple.

“They won’t give me the job I want. I want a bank job – one with no alarms or guards.” I laughed nervously.

“Seriously, I did one in Amsterdam and got eight years…”

Moving swiftly on, it was a working day so I pulled up a few electro-esque tracks and settled down to write a report or two:

• Smile like you mean it (Fischerspooner Remix) - The Killers
• Cutt off – Kasabian
• Train – Goldfrapp
• Mega C – Fischerspooner
• Just let go (This White Duke Remix) – Fischerspooner
• God is a DJ (Monster Mix) - Faithless
• Believe (Extended Version) – The Chemical Brothers

Too much Fischerspooner in there – but I needed something inherently cheesy and slightly risqué to carry me through the first part of my day…

That little 'list only took me through to Milton Keynes – which is never a good place to be without an internal soundtrack – so I snuck the iPod on to Shuffle and let fate decide. I should point out that I have nearly 4,000 songs on my iPod, including a lot of stuff I’d rather forget – but sometimes the patented Apple-Mindlink™ technology deployed through the Machine-Man Interface Device (or “earphones”) works like a dream:

• Towers of Dub (Original Mix) – The Orb
• In between days (Shivver mix) – The Cure
• Vavoom – Man With No Name
• Amoeba – The Future Sound of London
• L.S.F. – Kasabian
• Great things – Echobelly
• Every valley shall be exalted (Messiah) – George Frederic Handel [as I was passing through the picture-squew Trent Valley]
• Teleport – Man With No Name
• Overdrive (Original Mix) – DJ Sandy vs House Trap [look, I told you there was stuff I’d rather forget]
• Who put the bom in the bom bom diddleye bom – Bentlay Rhythm Ace
• Walk away – Sisters of Mercy [at Stoke-on-Trent station – am I being sent a message?]
• Just like heaven (Acoustic Version) – The Cure
• Fireworks – Moby
• Shiva – Fields of the Nephilim
• Beyond the pale – The Mission
• Live – The Kleptones
• Fall out of love (Hybrid’s Charging Piano Mix) – Hybrid
• Catch – The Cure
• Win your love – The Duke Spirit
• Into the deep – Kula Shaker [just pulling into Manchester Piccadilly station]

20 songs, four duds, marks out of ten: eight.

Monday's Soundtrack

On the way to work I decided it was a Cure day, and flicked through my albums to Bloodflowers. The bus journey (a number 43 by the way) took about 40-odd minutes, so I only managed to listen to the first seven and a half tracks:

• Out of this world
• Watching me fall
• Where the birds always sing
• Maybe someday
• Last day of Summer
• There is no if...
• Loudest sound
• 39 (about 4.04 minutes into the track)

So on the way back, I listened to the rest of the album and then created a quick "B Sides" playlist, made up from odds and sods in the Cure's back catolog:

• Bloodflowers
• A foolish arrangement
• Babble
• Waiting
• A Forest (live in France)
• Burn
  

It took a little longer than I thought to get back, so halfwau up the Archway Road, I dipped into Royskopp's new album, The Understanding. I only managed to work through the first three tracks but was pleasantly surprised...

• Triumphant
• Only this moment
• 49 percent