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Monday, March 31, 2008
For today's experiment in aleatoric mp3 blogging, I'm going to be posting in REAL TIME. This means that everything I'm writing about will occur within the same time frame during which the writing occurs. Like, right now, I'm sitting at my desk, or rather kind of perched (I have a weird habit of perching in my chair when I write), it's raining outside, I just reached up a straightened a stack of CDs so that it's flush with the corner of the desk, I can hear a bird singing intermittently and rainwater washing through the gutters.
I'm writing in REAL TIME because to do otherwise would compromise the experiment, which pertains to my relationship with my iPod's shuffle function. You see, I've gotten into the habit of putting my iPod on shuffle while I drink my coffee in the morning. Only recently have I realized that in doing this, I've started to view my iPod shuffle as kind of magical, part lottery, part oracle. I count on it to offer me the song that I absolutely need to hear, and when it doesn't, this seems to bode ill. Right now, Hot Chip's "Ready for the Floor" is the song that I have to hear at least once per day (and usually, twice in a row), and while I could always dial it up myself, it's somehow more satisfying when my iPod chooses it from the - hold on, let me get it out - from the 8,965 songs it contains.
When I spin the wheel of fate and "Ready for the Floor" comes up, I feel like it's gonna be a good day. Likewise, sometimes my iPod shuffle will produce nothing I want to hear, which usually signals a bad day (this makes sense - when music isn't turning me on at all, it's likely that I'm having a bad day already). On particularly bad or good days, I find that my shuffle seems to be trying to tell me something - some warning or premonition - and this is when my iPod becomes something oracular, mp3s cast into a shallow pool like bird bones.
Today - in REAL TIME - we're going to put my iPod on shuffle, listen to the first five songs that come up, and think about what they might mean through an oracular lens. I'm pledging to you right now - no re-shuffles, no omissions. I hope this doesn't wind up embarrassing for me.
*crosses fingers* noKennyChesneynoKennyChesneynoKennyChesney...
Actually, hold up - I'm realizing that we're going to have to impose a few conditions for this to work. They are as follows:
1. Sometimes, shuffle gets lazy and places two songs from the same album in close proximity. Since Moistworks never posts two songs from the same album in one day, if this should occur, the second song from the same album will be skipped, and the one following it will take its place.
2. A great deal of music on my iPod is watermarked or otherwise copy-protected. If I share this music, the FCC will send ninjas to my house to shove jewel cases under my fingernails. Any watermarked songs that come up in the shuffle will be skipped.
3. After doing Moistworks for a couple years, I've posted an awful lot of songs, and there is a chance that something I've already posted will come up in the shuffle. As this experiment does not wish to compromise end-user satisfaction with the Moistworks brand, these songs, too, will be skipped.
4. I'm torn as to the question of whether to omit skits and short interludes. I was going to say yes, but these things are often important in the oracular sense, and so I think we'll allow them.
OK! That's all settled. Let's get down to the experiment. I'm pressing the shuffle button... now.
GET OUT THE STATE
Spoon
Soft Effects EP
Matador : 1997
[Buy It]
Hmmm...this is a sweet song, although bitchin' fuzz guitar isn't exactly what I'm after first thing in the morning. Listening to Spoon also makes me feel a distant twinge of anxiety now - I was lukewarm on their most recent album, which everyone else seemed to love, and while I think about half the songs on it are really good, I never came around on the other half, which I thought cheesy and overcooked. Whenever I fall drastically away from consensus like that, I wonder if my taste is malfunctioning or something. This wasn't a divisive album, it was roundly adored. Whatever, though - as an oracle, this is spot on, as getting out of the state is something that occupies my mind more and more often lately. "I've been waiting here for so long / And I'm on the curb with everyone." I have to be careful about listening to songs like this in the morning - nothing can pull me out of the moment, all day, like thinking about where I'm going instead of where I am.
RAINBOWARRIORS
Cocorosie
The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn
Touch and Go : 2007
[Buy It]
Aw, I love this song. The lyrics are ridiculous but supremely oracular; they actually sound like pronouncements from Delphi at times. Again, though, this is a dangerous morning-song for me on days when I have a lot of work to do. If I was doing my normal morning reading-and-shuffling thing instead of this post, I'd probably be reading my Carlos Castaneda book while I listened to this, a combination bound to abstract me to the point where writing about music would be impossible. Music like this can pull me out of the routine order of the day, which is a great place to be, but is not conducive to getting "stuff" done. Right now, hearing it, I'm getting that feeling of, "well, maybe I could just finish this post tomorrow, plug the guitar into the sampler and drone out for awhile right now." This transaction is what I call "losing the thread," and while it's probably more like finding one, it's not the thread I need to find to produce work and make money. Better move on quickly.
THE MORE YOU IGNORE ME THE CLOSER I GET
Morrissey
Greatest Hits
Decca : 2008
[Buy It]
I'll be honest - by this point, I'd normally be rapidly scanning through my shuffled queue, looking for some nice rap or techno. Or maybe I'd give up on shuffle entirely and put on some ambient music. This song might hold my attention for a couple minutes on a bright spring day, but today it's gray and chilly and wet. It hits my ears with a clunk - it's fine, but I've never particularly loved it, and it has no real traction in my life at this moment: happily partnered up, the situation Morrissey describes seems very remote to me. I feel a little betrayed by my iPod right now, a little let down - iPod, don't you know me at all? After all these years?
DON'T WANNA BE ALONE
Devin the Dude
Waitin' to Inhale
Rap-a-Lot : 2007
[Buy It]
Two things happen in rapid succession here - I get excited that it's a Devin the Dude song; I'm disappointed that it's this one. This soppy R&B jam plays fine in the context of the album, but doesn't do much on its own. It seems a logical follow-up to the Morrissey song, and, as such, I can't really identify with it right now. But wait a minute - is there a message here? A lesson? Should I be preparing to be alone? Is that what you're saying, iPod? Can't say I like where this is going. Let's see if things look up with number five.
FROM BLACK TO BLUE
Yo La Tengo
And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out
Matador : 2000
[Buy It]
Oh, goddamn it.Labels: brian, ipod
posted by Brian
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