Critique My Playlist

[Millie]

I thought it would be fun to have a thread where people can post their playlists for specific purposes (i.e., a driving playlist, or a gaming playlist, or a rainy-day playlist, etc.) and have them critiqued and commented on by the group. The purpose of this playlist critique is not to deride or criticize each other's lists -- rather, it's about commenting on the lists, suggesting possible additions based on what you can tell about the user's musical tastes, recommending re-orderings, etc.

I suppose I'll start off with the playlist I created yesterday evening for my drive to work this morning (it's a long commute!). So here goes.

MILLIE'S MORNING DRIVE PLAYLIST

1. A Tribe Called Quest - "Award Tour"
2. Beck - "Loser"
3. Beck - "Intro to Where It's At"
4. Beck - "Where It's At"
5. Wilco - "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart"
6. Radiohead - "No Surprises"
7. Rilo Kiley - "Science vs. Romance"
8. Rilo Kiley - "Under the Blacklight"
9. Jimi Hendrix - "Foxey Lady"
10. Rilo Kiley - "The Moneymaker"
11. Feist - "1 2 3 4"
12. Arcade Fire - "Neon Bible"
13. Modest Mouse - "Ocean Breathes Salty"
14. Pavement - "Shady Lane"
15. Bright Eyes - "Let's Not Shit Ourselves"
16. Bright Eyes - "Bowl of Oranges"
17. The Cars - "Shake it Up"
18. David Bowie - "The Man Who Sold the World"
19. Islands - "Don't Call me Whitney, Bobby"
20. Amy Winehouse - "You Know I'm No Good"
21. The White Stripes - "Icky Thump"
22. George Clinton - "One Nation Under a Groove"
23. Stevie Wonder - "Higher Ground"
24. Wu-Tang Clan - "Bring da Ruckus"

To provide some insight into my listmaking: the goal here was to find roughly 20-25 songs that flowed interestingly into one another and which, when taken as a whole, had a progression from mellow to sexy to downbeat to upbeat to funky. I think I accomplished this goal, more or less. I could stand to add a few tracks, because despite the length of the list, it's over remarkably quickly. I'm not sure I'm enamored with having two Bright Eyes tracks in a row, especially given the 10-minute length of "Let's Not Shit Ourselves." Ten minutes of that, plus five minutes of "Oranges," is a lot of Bright Eyes to listen to in such a short timespan!

In many cases I tried to link underlying melodies or instrumentation together. Examples would be the melodic similarity between "I Am Trying...," "No Surprises," and "Science vs. Romance." If there's a moment in my playlist where I think I've bordered on brilliance, it's right here.

So let me have it. What are your thoughts?

[Ham n Cheese]

You must be a morning person because most of those songs are way to mellow to be played in the morning for me. Personally I'd want more variety. Great choice of Islands song by the way. I'd probably throw a new Wilco song on there to follow or lead into I am trying to break your heart (you are my face or impossible germany for example, mellow as shit but also upbeat and just overall badass for driving). Both songs end well like you mentioned, especially impossible germany

Can't stand that Modest Mouse song, would probably go with Cowboy Dan for a morning drive or even Custom Concern to make you feel even more like you're working for the man Like most of the bands you posted (ignoring Amy Winehouse, but you're a girl as far as I know so it's understandable), and would probably sub a few songs, but you clearly have a thing for older Beck haha (would have to hit up black tambourine and maybe e-pro myself since I've heard those 3 about 50000 times and even hit the radio here). Oh and I also hate Neon Bible so points off for that

Also, move closer to work ffs. Jesus that's like 90 minutes of music.

B-

edit: another 'new' wilco song I would consider adding would be "hate it here"

[Millie]

Originally Posted by Ham n Cheese

You must be a morning person because most of those songs are way to mellow to be played in the morning for me. Personally I'd want more variety. Great choice of Islands song by the way. I'd probably throw a new Wilco song on there to follow or lead into I am trying to break your heart (you are my face or impossible germany for example, mellow as shit but also upbeat and just overall badass for driving). Both songs end well like you mentioned, especially impossible germany

Can't stand that Modest Mouse song, would probably go with Cowboy Dan for a morning drive or even Custom Concern to make you feel even more like you're working for the man Like most of the bands you posted (ignoring Amy Winehouse, but you're a girl as far as I know so it's understandable), and would probably sub a few songs, but you clearly have a thing for older Beck haha (would have to hit up black tambourine and maybe e-pro myself since I've heard those 3 about 50000 times and even hit the radio here). Oh and I also hate Neon Bible so points off for that

Also, move closer to work ffs. Jesus that's like 90 minutes of music.

B-

edit: another 'new' wilco song I would consider adding would be "hate it here"

Ouch! Harsh grader, I see. But you know your stuff better than I do, most likely, so I'll take a passing grade as something to be somewhat proud of.

To address some of your concerns:

- I LOVE older Beck. Beck's old stuff was my favorite back in high school, and I lost touch with it for awhile, and recently rediscovered it. Love it. Love, love, love. How can you not love a song that begins with the lyric "In the time of chimpanzees, I was a monkey?"

- I wouldn't mind adding some more Wilco, but I absolutely love "I Am Trying..." and pretty much feature it in almost every playlist I make. It's probably the one song that crops up more than any other in all my playlists. This song is, like, oh my God. This song.

- Step off Amy Winehouse! I really like her album. Sue me! Also, you ain't seen nothin' yet if you want girly. I have some playlists that are 25% Rilo / 25% Fiona Apple / 25% Pretenders / 25% misc. bitch rock. I do draw the line at Veruca Salt, though. I'm not a lesbian.

- I like that Modest Mouse song, but I agree that it probably doesn't "work" as well as I'd originally hoped in the context of this mix.

- I'm not the biggest Neon Bible fan in the world, but I'm making a concerted effort to give it a chance. It's no Funeral by any means, but I really want to like it. I find "Neon Bible" the most tolerable of the tracks off the album to date. So this was more of an "I'm trying it out" track.

Thank you for the feedback, though! If you want to post a list of your own, I can't profess to be a total expert, but I'd love to give it a look-through.

[Duppin]

I know, like, four of those songs.

I am so out of touch with modern music it's scary. I pretty much don't listen to anything newer than the 70s/80s with a few exceptions.

[brekk]

Millie,
Good mix, definately impressive the amount of effort, and thought you put into it. Ive never been overly concerned with the flow of playlists.


My mix for when I'm flying helicopters in Battlefield Vietnam some techno'ish some more rock'ish. Green Day doesn't really fit but the guitar effects Boulevard sound a lot like a helicopter.

Note: No specific order I use forward/back often to find just the right song for that moment.

Overseer - Slayed
Overseer - Basstrap
Overseer - Horndog
Overseer - Velocity Shift
Overseer - Meteorology
Overseer - Aquaplane
Beastie Boys - Body Movin' [Fatboy Slim Remix]
Prodigy - Smack My Bitch Up
Prodigy - Firestarter
Prodigy - Breathe
Fatboy Slim - Weapon of Choice
Rage Against The Machine - Guerrila Radio
The Offspring - Never Gonna Find Me
Sum 41 - Fat Lip
Green Day - Boulevard of Broken Dreams
The Offspring - Orginal Prankster
The Vines - Ride
The Vines - Get Free
Fatboy Slim - The Rockafeller Skank
Nikkfurie de La Caution - Thé à la menthe

[Ronne]

Driving music? Counterstrike, Live at Destruction from Feb 07. You'll get there faster than you ever have before.

[Millie]

Originally Posted by brekk

Millie,
Good mix, definately impressive the amount of effort, and thought you put into it. Ive never been overly concerned with the flow of playlists.

Thank you!

As for your playlist, I would add "Sabotage" if you're a Beasties fan. That seems somewhat appropriate in tone and even, to some degree, subject matter if you're going to be flying around in a helicopter in Vietnam. Also, given your tastes as presented in this playlist, what about anything by At the Drive-In? Or Rage Against the Machine?

I definitely agree with "Smack My Bitch Up," because ever since I once watched a video clip of someone running around pwning stormtroopers in Jedi Knight to that song, I've used it in a lot of my gaming playlists. Particularly FPS games.

[Kilivek2.0]

not enough Ace of Base.

[Millie]

Originally Posted by Ham n Cheese

You must be a morning person because most of those songs are way to mellow to be played in the morning for me.

I should add that I need mellow songs on the drive to and from work; otherwise my blood pressure would shoot through the roof in all the traffic.

[Ham n Cheese]

Originally Posted by Millie

Ouch! Harsh grader

Haha I doubt I could make that great of a playlist. I thought a B- was a pretty good grade. I'm just not that into Rilo Kiley or old Beck I guess, but must give major props for Wilco and Islands. My music mood changes so much I'd probably be tired of a mix so soon. I mainly stick with albums and then move onto another.

[Millie]

Originally Posted by Ham n Cheese

Haha I doubt I could make that great of a playlist. I thought a B- was a pretty good grade. I'm just not that into Rilo Kiley or old Beck I guess, but must give major props for Wilco and Islands. My music mood changes so much I'd probably be tired of a mix so soon. I mainly stick with albums and then move onto another.

I get tired of mixes pretty quickly, so I cycle through them and/or remake them all the time. But mainly I love mixes because at least 10% of my day is spent commuting, and since I'm commuting in heavy traffic, I can't afford to be shuffling through my iPod manually or looking for songs on the go. So it helps to have a hands-free mix ready to go.

I also like burning mixes to CDs to keep around for others or to bring to parties and whatnot. Also, maybe this is the extremely mild OCD in me, but I really enjoy the act of making/selecting mixes. A lot of thought goes into each song in the mix and its juxtaposition with the other songs. It's a very meditative process for me.

[Dinthug]

Here's what my Deezer play list looks like. Just started getting back into rock, was wondering what you guys would suggest with what I have already? Looking for any good songs I missed with the bands I already have or other bands that have a similar sound.

[Dinthug]

One more, most of the stuff at the bottom is iffy, just went through 90s top rock music and added stuff that sounded familiar

sorry for the hi-jack, probably should've started my own thread

[Ham n Cheese]

Here's what I would do for a semi-modern "mellow" morning playlist on the fly. At least songs I would heavily consider when making a mellow mix

Boards of Canada - Olson
Boards of Canada - Everything You do is a balloon
Boards of Canada - Music is Math
Great Lake Swimmers - Your Rocky Spine
Band of Horses - Marry Song
Wilco - You are my face
Wilco - Impossible Germany
Beirut - Nantes
Grizzly Bear - On a Neck, In a spit
Grizzly Bear - Central and Remote
Kevin Drew - Gang Bang Suicide
Owen - Bad News
Thom Yorke - Black Swan
Belle & Sebastian - Don't leave the light on baby
Animal Collective - Loch Raven
Nine Inch Nails - Zero-Sum
Mogwai - I Know you are, but what am I?
The Radio Dept - I wanted you to feel the same
m83 - Sister (part 2)
m83 - Coloring the Void
Interpol - The Lighthouse

[Millie]

Originally Posted by Dinthug

Here's what my Deezer play list looks like. Just started getting back into rock, was wondering what you guys would suggest with what I have already? Looking for any good songs I missed with the bands I already have or other bands that have a similar sound.

Generally speaking, I've discovered a ton of great music by looking into the influences behind bands I like. Especially when I discover that a song I've liked for all my life is actually a cover. In that instance, I'll go back and discover the original, which often leads to a fuller appreciation of that original artist.

Stevie Wonder is a great example of someone you might discover by reverse-engineering the Chili Peppers. Or pretty much any modern rock/funk band, for that matter. Stevie Wonder is quite possibly the most influential American musician of the last 50 years (excluding Dylan). His influence can be felt in almost every modern rock and pop song, and he's been covered or sampled in so many things that it's impossible to keep track of them all.

I find the whole reverse-engineering influences process to be both enlightening and broadening. You end up discovering new musicians and genres you never would have considered if you'd stuck within your comfort zone.

To give you an example from your list, the song "The Man Who Sold the World" by Nirvana is an admittedly great song, but it's also a cover of the David Bowie version. Look into Bowie. He's not for everyone, and he gets really weird at times, but weird in a fantastic way.