Shooflypie

This is the second shuffle I've done today. I tried something new for the first one - using a Spotify playlist I've been adding to since the start of the year of every song or album I chose to play. It was up over 300 songs over more than 20 albums and at least as many single songs. I used shuffle mode for the playlist...and got 5 songs from one album, 3 from another, and 2 from a third. Not what I was looking for, so I scrapped it. I'll have to go back to the drawing board with ways of incorporating Spotify into the Shuffle every week. Alternatively, I may just aim for 450 of these and call it done for a while, maybe combined with trying to make more playlists again. We'll see. For now, let's get to the second version of today's ten... 1. Fleeting One/First Aid Kit (7) - last played on 12/26/15 2. It Was A Beautiful Car/M. Ward (8) - last played on 5/22/16 3. Think For Yourself/The Beatles (5) - last played on 3/9/16 4. Beautiful Beat/Nada Surf (9) - l...

HEAVY ROTATION #26 I've been meaning to get to a Heavy Rotation for a couple weeks now and just haven't managed it. I'm a little past the prime period I listened to these albums, which was probably mid-July to mid-August, but I did play them quite a bit during that time and wanted to talk about them. Jason Isbell/Something More Than Free - I was very excited for this album to come out. For starters, Isbell's previous album, Southeastern , was one of my favorite albums of 2013 (maybe even #1?). Secondly, the two songs that came out before the album's release, "24 Frames" and the title track, were great. Finally, all the early reviews were extremely positive. The good news is that I was not disappointed in the least; in fact, this album will probably make my top ten for the year. Take "24 Frames," for instance: "You thought God was an architect, now you know/He's something like a pipe bomb ready to blow/And everything you built that...

This was a small year for me as far as new music went. I only got 42 albums, which is most likely my lowest total in a decade or more. It's not that I didn't want new music but I just didn't pick up as much. Thanks to podcasts, though, I heard a lot of music and have a list a mile long of things to get. I also didn't listen to many albums as much as I normally would after getting them. It's not that I disliked them, per se. It was just an atypical music year for me. Even so, it's hard for me to not do a Top Ten list in this category, which means you get one... 1. Wilco/The Whole Love - Really, how could this not be my favorite album? I've liked the last 2 albums but I love this one. It has a stunning opener, a long engaging closer, and in between it's full of great songwriting and tons of John Stirratt's bass. 2. Sloan/The Double Cross - Speaking of bands I love, the tenth album by this still under-the-radar Canadian power-pop band is really re...

It's time once again to check in with what I've been listening to the most over the past few weeks... Band of Horses/Cease To Begin - Cooler temperatures and changing leaves put me in the mood for this band and the mood stayed when the weather turned warmer again. There is a nice convergence in the epic mood-setting of this band as you are driving down a road where colorful leaves are piling up in the bright sunshine. No one is ever gonna love you more than I do, indeed. Band of Horses/Infinite Arms - One BoH album lead to another, in this case their excellent effort from last year. This album is absolutely one of my 2010 favorites and probably is my favorite Band of Horses album at this point, which is saying something. This is such a strong batch of songs. I'm quite excited to hear they are working on the follow-up. A.A. Bondy/When the Devil's Loose - Not quite sure why I dipped back into this album, though it's possible it's the fact I haven't ye...