January 25th, 2007 | Category: ipod

On Monday we asked you to record a shuffle from your own iPods; lo and they arrived. Four so far. From [...]

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Over the years, tapes were replaced with mix CDs, and some of the more enterprising have also brought in zip discs and hard drives encoded with MP3s. You’d also see a fair number of ‘high concept’ mix packages, with more time spent on crafting sleeve covers and cases than on the assembly of the music itself.

But, all throughout, it was and still is, a fascinating annual reflection of whatever year’s zeitgeist passes through my social circle — mostly because it _is_ curated, and there is some effort to shape or mold the listening experience. The problem that I have with this effort of trying to maintain the primacy of the randomness is that it’s not at all reflective of how I really listen to my music collection. I skip stuff all the time. I have my own playlists for specific moods, and I randomize their contents because I still want to be pleasantly surprised, but I don’t trust fate enough to keep me entertained. There still needs to be a moderating hand.

7. Hallelujah – K.D. Lang – 49th Parallel

The 49th Parallel refers to the fact that this album is by Canadian Artists

2. I Walk The Line – Joaquin Phoenix – Walk the Line Soundtrack

3. Ring of Fire – Joaquin Phoenix – Walk the Line Soundtrack

4. Fearless Heart – Steve Earl – Ain’t Never Satisfied

5. Wayfaring Stranger – Eva Cassidy – Songbird

6. The Cuckold – Master & Commander Soundtrack

7. Hallelujah – K.D. Lang – 46th Parallel

Dang! I really tried – maybe it’s an easy for somebody whose ever seen digital sound recorded before but I couldn’t figure it out. Maybe I’ll try again later because I sure would love to make a little musical montage for you all. In the spirit of the experiment I just put my iPod on shuffle and wrote down the first 6 songs… well OK 7. I love that K.D. Lang version of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah so when it came up next I just had to tack it on. And just so you know what you are missing now it’s Red Elvis’s, Rocket Man. But, back to my initial random selection: it doesn’t seem very well shuffled with 2 Steve Earl songs and 2 Johnny Cash songs not sung by Johnny Cash right in a row. Joaquin Phoenix played Johnny Cash in the movie, Walk the Line, and performed JC’s music; hope that doesn’t seem too sacrilegious to any purists but I really like the covers. Three of my first 6 are from soundtracks so I guess it says I like movies and am a kind of Celtic folky… ah, but now it’s playing No Hay Problema by Pink Martini.