My 2013 Soundtrack

Photo Credit: RJS Photos

Some of my taste in music is stable, and some of it changes over time.  When I listen to things, I tend to listen to them over and over.  And over.

In 2013, I listened to the radio more, and I learned a few new songs I liked.  I actually like a lot of Katy Perry, and I even like Miley Cyrus’s “Wrecking Ball,” much to my embarrassment.

On my 25 Most Played Playlist:

1. Hey, Pixies

2. Greedy Fly, Bush

3. How To Save A Life, The Fray

4. Hate Me, Blue October

5. Under My Thumb, The Rolling Stones

6. Promise, Eve 6

7. Blinded by Rainbows, The Rolling Stones

8. Waiting on the World To Change, John Mayer

9. Without You, Motley Crue

10. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, Taylor Swift

11. Clocks, Coldplay

12. Inside Out, Eve 6

13. Hold Me Up, Live

14. Where Is My Mind?, Yoav

15. November Rain, Guns N’ Roses

16. 1979, Smashing Pumpkins

17. 100 Years, Five For Fighting

18. Big Yellow Taxi, Counting Crows

19. Gives You Hell, The All-American Rejects

20. Glycerine, Bush

21. Independent Love Song, Scarlett O’

22. I Walk the Line, Johnny Cash

23. Standing On The Moon, Grateful Dead

24. Hurt, Nine Inch Nails

25. Stay, Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories

My Top 25 List changes somewhat from time to time, but this is actually a good representation.  Lisa Loeb, Nine Inch Nails, and Bush are ones I’ve liked from my college days.  I actually didn’t get into Eve 6 in the 90s; sometimes music gets stuck in my head for no apparent reason, and I have to hear it.  Or else.  I got Inside Out stuck in my head like that one day, and as a result, went out and bought a bunch of Eve 6 CDs.  The TV Guy introduced me to the Grateful Dead.  Of course I’d heard of them, but never really listened to them.

I got into Johnny Cash after watching “Walk the Line.”  I like a lot of his songs, but that one happens to be my favorite.  “Hey” and “Hold Me Up” are from one of my favorite movies: Zach and Miri Make a Porno.  “Where is My Mind?” is from Sucker Punch.  That whole soundtrack is awesome.  If you haven’t heard it, check it out on iTunes.  Or better yet, just watch the movie.  “Independent Love Song” is from “Bed of Roses,” another favorite movie of mine.  The Rolling Stones are just awesomesauce.  So there.  I had actually heard “1979” many times, but it never got into my head until I watched “Clerks II.”  Not one of my all time favorite movies, but the song has stuck with me since then.

The other songs on the list are just ones I’d heard here and there that I ended up putting into different playlists and then probably listening to on repeat until they made the list.

I also have two playlists for writing music (one all instrumental, the other not), “Moody Music,” “Stuff I forget I have,” and one I call “Favorites,” which is actually a list composed from a 25 Most Played Playlist on a different iPod.  If you follow that logic.

What do you call your playlists, and what’s on them?

Walk the Line

I love watching movies, even bad ones.  I tend not to like watching new movies, generally preferring to watch the same handful of movies over and over.  Every once in awhile, I watch a movie that makes my heart hurt.  It inspires me and makes me want to do all sort of creating things.  Walk the Line is one such movie.  I wasn’t a Johnny Cash fan before this movie, but I can guarantee that I’ll be listening to him a lot more often.  He wasn’t perfect, but he kept trying to do what he did best.

I loved this movie.  It essentially told the story of Johnny Cash’s life against the backdrop of his lasting love for his second wife, June Carter.  They both died before this movie came out, but according to IMDB, they approved Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon to play their parts.  Both actors learned to sing and play instruments for their roles, and I admire them for their performances.  It’s a great movie.  If you haven’t seen it, it may be time to rent it.