Archive for playlist

I had these favorites…

{ December 30, 2008 @ 5:24 am } · { i'd like to get to know you, jillsentials, playlist }
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2008

So here are some fun stats for you in regards to me and the world of music in 2008:

1. I only purchased THREE albums this year. THREE. I thought it was two, then I realized there was another and yippee, I upped my count to THREE. If I thought about it, I would be depressed by this because for me it means that there were only 3 albums in a 365 day year that I thought were worth purchasing. They were:

– Harry Connick Jr: What A Night! A Christmas album
–Unplugged presents Julieta Venegas
–Erykah Badu : New Ameryka, Pt. 1:  4th World War

1a. I forgot about Shelby Lynne’s Just A Little Lovin’ and am contemplating that, so that could raise me to four.

2. I went to one show. Julieta Venegas in Los Angeles, unplugged. So I didn’t understand half the songs, but it was one of the best shows ever.

3. Coldplay failed to win me over as a fan.

4. MtV Tres, on the other hand, did. Spanish music videos are just so fun to watch.

Why I loved what I did in 2008, in no particular order:

4 Minutes (Madonna ft. Justin Timberlake and Timbaland): I am not a Madonna fan. I do love this song, though. It’s the horns, they somehow make it a hotter song. And the idea that if she’d gone with Timbaland on every track her latest album might have been a lot better.

Algun Dia (Julieta Venegas): Its my ringtone. No Kidding. It’s such a fun, upbeat tune for a song that’s really not so sweet sounding. It just makes me happy.

American Boy (Estelle): It’s got that laid back, Disco-esque, R&B sound I just love.

Breathe Me (Sia): I’m not normally an Sia fan, but this song just sucks me in every time. It’s also one of two songs that have the power to make me cry.

Chasing Pavements (Adelle): She reminds me of Dinah Washington. And Jill Scott. And Amy Winehouse. Bonus: it’s one of the best videos ever made.

Closer (Ne-Yo): Have you ever noticed how well the man dresses? I love this song because it’s catchy and it’s a throwback to classic Michael Jackson, which really isn’t a bad way to be. I think Ne-Yo is my R&B/Hip Hop guilty pleasure.

CrushCrushCrush (Paramore): I pay no attention to Paramore otherwise. This song just rocks. Bonus: it’s the song that sums up Twilight for me.

El Presente (Julieta Venegas): How did my love affair with Julieta Venegas begin, you wonder? It was 5:45 in the morning and I was flipping between MtV, MtV2, MtV Tres (3), VH1, VH1 Classics, VH1 Hits, VH1 Morning Mix, 3 BET channels, 1 Gospel channel, and 3 Country stations. I stop on MtV Tres because there’s this chick just getting down with an accordian and the crowd is going nuts. I stop to watch. My foot starts tapping, then my head starts bobbing…and I’m parked on MtV Tres waiting for the next time they play the video like I need a drug fix. I Google it. I listen to previews. I watch other videos from the same Unplugged session on YouTube. I buy the album. I see her live…and here we are in December and it’s been named my favorite album this year.

Elevator (Flo Rida): I love that it samples the Halloween movie theme song. And for the line: …Third floor, stuck on the hood rat…

Get Low (Flo Rida): I’m going to guess that Flo Rida, even though his album was decent enough, is the one hit wonder type. Which is kind of sad because the man has some serious flow, especially going in with this line: …That’s what I told her, her legs on my shoulder I knew it was ova, that Henny and Cola Got me like a Soldier…

Honey (Erykah Badu): I am and always have been a big Erykah Badu fan. She’s witty, she’s got a distinctive voice. She pulls off that laid-back, soulful R&B vibe I love so much. This was my 2nd favorite song this year after El Presente.

How I Could Just Kill A Man (Charlotte Sometimes): It’s simple. I identify.

Just Dance (Lady Gaga): It makes me want to do just that. Sometimes. Otherwise it reminds me of Ladytron.

Love Hangover (Kidz in the Hall ft. Estelle): It’s the Estelle chorus. Seriously.

Paper Planes (M.I.A.): Hey! I liked this song when it came out in August of 2007! But I didn’t put it on my best of 2007 list for whatever reason

See You Again (Miley Cyrus): I love this song and I don’t know why. I am not ashamed to a) play it, b) play it loudly, c) sing along, d) admit I love it.

Whatever You Like (T.I.): Another one of those songs I like so much because of the video. It’s the only T.I. song I like, really, and it’s because of the beat.

Wille and Laura Mae Jones (Shelby Lynee): I know this song. The Waylon Jennings version. The Dusty Springfield version. The version by the person who wrote it,  Tony Joe White. The Bettye Swann and Nancy Wilson versions. I always forget how good Shelby Lynne is. This song just hammers it home for me.

My top three of 2008:

1. El Presente
2. Honey
3. Wille and Laura Mae Jones

You can listen to it all by downloading it here.

And you? Share with me your faves of 2008.

50 favorite love songs?

{ December 1, 2008 @ 3:34 pm } · { playlist, swap challenges }
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Harder than I thought.

Another swap. This time 50 of my favorite love songs/ballads. I love that love songs can be in any form, from uptempo to slow dance songs to rap. I do wish, though, there were more love songs in the country category, but then, I do love me some heartbreak songs and where better to get those than country?

Anywhoo. 50 of my favorites. It was harder to put together than I thought.

Personal items:
1. Soft Shoulder by Ani diFranco is probably my most favorite song ever
2. Baby, It’s Cold Outside by Margaret Whiting and Johnny Mercer is, in my opinion, the only version of this song that should be allowed.
3. I always have to sing along to: Summer Wind by Michael Buble and It’s Alright With Me by Harry Connick Jr. (which I do exceptionally well might I add)
4. I don’t really like The Beatles but Two Of Us makes an appearance for sentimental reasons
5. Yes. Kick, Push by Lupe Fiasco is a love song. A boy and a girl. A boy and his skateboard. You can love your skateboard just as much as you love a person.
6. I’m On Fire by Bruce Springsteen and Me & U by Cassie are songs that make me think about sex.
7. Speaking of sex (gasp!), my mother wouldn’t let me listen to Teach Me Tonight by Dinah Washington as a kid because she thought it was too dirty.
8. If you think Blossom Dearie is cute, you should see her in person. A-freaking-dorable.
9. If you think Alison Krauss is cute, you should see her in person. A-freaking-dorable. And super friendly too.
10. I like to watch videos of Louis Prima and Keely Smith on YouTube because they were so sweet together.

Special note:
Because this was such a big mix I broke it up and uploaded it by section. Each section has the track listing but I’ve listed them 1-50 here.

Love x Infinity

1. The Best Thing For You Would Be Me (Diana Krall)
2. How Sweet It Is (James Taylor)
3. Slave To Love (Bryan Ferry)
4. Call Me When You Get This (Corinne Bailey Rae)
5. Crush (Dave Matthews Band)
6. Me & U (Cassie)
7. Mad About You (Hooverphonic)
8. I Get A Kick Out of You (Jamie Cullum)
9. Baby (Bebel Gilberto)
10. I Know I Know I Know (Teagan and Sara)
11. God Only Knows (The Beach Boys)
12. Lemon (U2)
13. L.O.V.E. (Nat King Cole)
14. Soft Shoulder (Ani diFranco)
15. Baby, It’s Cold Outside (Margaret Whiting and Johnny Mercer)
16. If I Were A Bell (Dinah Washington)
17. Sunny Road (Emiliana Torrini)
18. My Heart Stood Still (Chet Baker)
19. Everywhere (Michelle Branch)
20. I Love Being Here With You (Diana Krall)
21. When You Come Back Down (Nickel Creek)
22. At First Sight (Kylie Monogue)
23. Deed I Do (Blossom Dearie)
24. Lover, You Should’ve Come Over (Jeff Buckley)
25. Save Me (Aimee Mann)
26. With Plenty of Money and You (Count Bassie and Tony Bennett)
27. Coffee and TV (Blur)
28. It’s Alright With Me (Harry Connick Jr.)
29. Iris (Goo Goo Dolls)
30. Come To My Window (Melissa Etheridge)
31. Tea For Two (Louis Prima and Keely Smith)
32. Love Song (Sara Bareilles)
33. So Damned Beautiful (Polaroid)
34. Summer Wind (Michael Buble)
35. A Long Walk (Jill Scott)
36. Two of Us (The Beatles)
37. Under My Skin (Rachael Yamagata)
38. I Can’t Believe You’re In Love With Me (Frank Sinatra)
39. Kick, Push (Lupe Fiasco)
40. Teach Me Tonight (Dinah Washington)
41. Exactly Like You (Diana Krall)
42. Out of the Woods (Nickel Creek)
43. No Ordinary Love (Sade)
44. O.K. (Ani diFranco)
45. We Are In Love (Harry Connick Jr.)
46. Moonlight Saving Time (Blossom Dearie)
47. I’m On Fire (Bruce Springsteen)
48. Miracle (Josh Rouse)
49. I want You (Alana Davis)
50. Baby, Now That I’ve Found You (Alison Krauss and Union Station)

Love x Infinity Pt. 1
Love x Infinity Pt. 2
Love x Infinity Pts. 3 and 4

Oh. And it’s December. Which means I can start making my list of all my favorite 2008 songs. Yay!

My own Twilight Mix

{ November 10, 2008 @ 3:02 pm } · { playlist, swap challenges }
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I can’t imagine why that would be frustrating at all — just because someone refuses to tell you what they’re thinking, even if all the while they’re making cryptic little remarks specifically designed to keep you up at night wondering what they could possibly mean… now, why would that be frustrating?
Twilight, Chapter 5, p.90

The challenge was create a mix of all the songs that remind you of Twilight. Not exactly a difficult task. I left out one song because it seemed rather cliche to the idea: Paramore’s CrushCrushCrush. It was the song I kept running through my head while reading, but it seemed too obvious when putting this together.

I can think of maybe two people who haven’t read the series. I don’t know what it was — they weren’t the best books ever, but they somehow sucked me in and I HAD to find out what was going to happen next.

So here it is, songs that remind me of Twilight. Get it here.

P.S.

I’m feeling awfully disjointed so this entry sucks.

I don’t even want to know when it was I last posted…

{ November 4, 2008 @ 4:03 pm } · { news, playlist, swap challenges }
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Which is clearly just a figure of speech because I looked. It was October 8th. I have reasons. Mostly? I have had an “off” relationship with music. We broke up, as it were. I was in favor of quiet. Well, relative quiet. Windows open, allowing me to listen to cars go past, dogs breathe (and snore), cats play, and wind blow through the wind chimes outside my window. Also, there was something comforting in being able to hear the washer cycle through it’s 6 minute cycles every time a new load went in. The hum of the sewing machine, the low tone of a movie, the way keys click when you type.

Sometimes life makes music on it’s own.

Notable things, muscially:

Ludacris was on the Martha Stewart show. I love Martha (duh) and I love seeing Ludacris in different formats. It just amuses me because he manages to somehow smash that Rap star stereotype. Oh, and the man is a spiffy dresser.

The head of Deaf Jam records committed suicide in Atlanta on Saturday.

Christie’s is having an AWESOME music auction right now. Most notable is this, the Beastie Boys cover art. If you are wondering, yes, I’ve already put my bid page together and given it my handy Christie’s bidder person. (They do have an official title. I just can’t remember it.) I will be bidding on these two posters: New Order and The Clash/Sex Pistols.

MTV has started putting all their music video catalog online. Why can’t they just put them on tv instead of oh, I don’t know, all those reality tv shows? I mean they called themselves MUSIC television, yet MtV is where I go when I want to see poorly tattooed Asian midgets find love, try to guess who might be Paris Hilton’s BFF, and girls stick with their boyfriends even though their parents set them up on “dates” with better suitors. (Have you ever noticed the girls always stay with their boyfriends “because their parents hate them” and the boys always pick a new girlfriend on that show? It falls into my theory that boys are really sluts.)

Finally. I made a mix. I know, right?!? I’ve been off with music, but I had to make an End mix…and here it is if you’d like to give it a listen. It’s the companion mix to this one. I figured since I did falling in love, why not do breaking up?

Oh. And it’s election day. GO VOTE.

That is all.

I love this

{ October 8, 2008 @ 1:03 am } · { playlist }
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Mix challenge: Beginnings

{ October 3, 2008 @ 10:04 pm } · { playlist, swap challenges }
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The rules:

The theme of this swap is ‘Beginnings’. Make a mix of 10 – 20 songs that you think fit the theme. They could be songs about new beginnings, music that represents new phases in your life, songs from bands that are just beginning their careers, anything you want that you think fits the theme.

I went with love…and if you pay attention closely to my track listing, I think I’ve arranged them to follow the natural flow of, well, love.

Download it here. (You need the password: swapbot)

Jillsentials: Country

{ September 11, 2008 @ 12:11 am } · { jillsentials, playlist }
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Firstly. I think I’m so clever inventing the word “jillsentials”.

Secondly. I am making a set of mixes from every genre of music…songs I personally need in my collection. They’re also songs I think you should hear at least once, even if you don’t like that particular areas of music.

I am a firm believer that you should be willing, as a music listener/lover, to listen to everything at least once. You can’t say you don’t like it if you don’t try.

About my relationship with Country: It isn’t my favorite genre of music. Nor do I like it very much. But I do appreciate it for what it is. I like Country for one big reason: the sing-along quality it holds. Oh. And because you can do some pretty nifty fun dancing type things to Country…like the Two Step. (Which I haven’t done in a very long time but can in fact do.)

My sing-alongs in this mix:

-Folsom Prison Blues
-Tonight’s the Heartache’s On Me (The Dixie Chicks)
-There’s a Tear In My Beer (Hank Williams Jr.)
-Jolene (Dolly Parton)
-Pretty Paper (Willie Nelson) (Let it be known, the version on this mix is simply AWESOME)
-San Antonio Rose (Bob Wills)
-Does My Ring Hurt Your Finger? (Charley Pride) (Let it be known: this is probably my most favorite sing along song ever)

Even if you don’t like Country, at least give it a listen one time through. You never know, it might surprise you. And download it here.

You Say Hurricane, I say Hurri-CAN

{ September 3, 2008 @ 6:36 pm } · { playlist }
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Hurrican…it’s a lame joke on my part. There is an element of truth to it: Hurricanes can do many marvelous things. They can flood, they can destroy, they can drop the temp from 115 to 80 like it’s nobody’s business.

Water water everywhere lately, especially in the Hurricane zone. Norman, Oklahoma flooded a bit and I wondered how various friends and family were. New Orleans was in threat mode and this story pissed me off to no end. Seriously, what a slap in the face to the people of New Orleans that would have been had that happened. What a slap in the face that would have been to people like me, who love New Orleans, have fond childhood memories of it, and have done quite a bit to help rebuild it when the government didn’t seem concerned with it.

I like it when it rains. I like the smell. The way the sky looks. The way the water sounds. It’s relaxing. It’s calming and when it rains for days on end, I’m happy. I like the gloom and doom of grey skies and the roll of thunder that disrupts everything.

Give me a rainy day any day and give me these, my rainy day song companions.

Sad songs say so much…or something.

{ August 17, 2008 @ 2:20 am } · { playlist }
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No, no, I’m not sad. Quite the contrary. I have many reasons to be happy…I have just been thinking about the power of music. There are songs that make me want to dance (like Kylie Monogue’s “At First Sight”). There are songs that make me very very edgy and angry (like most everything in the Heavy Metal catalog). There are songs I have to sing along with, most notably being “Does My Ring Hurt Your Finger?” by Charley Pride. There are songs that make me think of sex, summer, candy, and my parents. On and on and on.

Then there are those songs, the ones I overlook by tuning them out but love nonetheless. In the right setting, they can be so powerful they can make me cry. They trigger a myriad of memories my mind doesn’t care to host and sometimes caught off guard they can come back in a flood. It doesn’t happen often, that triggered flood, but when it does somewhere in the back of my mind I am in awe of the power that music can hold over me.

It should be known that there is one song in this mix I cannot listen to. At all. I don’t have to be in a mood to cry…30 seconds of Tori Amos’ “Cloud On My Tongue” is all I need to lie my head down and sob as if I were a child. I hold no specific memories to it, it isn’t a song that means anything to me, but it is so incredibly sad to me that sobbing sessions ensue. It’s the most powerful song I know.

I’m not sad…I’m just pondering power. Download it here.

Just so you know, these will always be summer…xoxo, Summer

{ August 5, 2008 @ 5:21 pm } · { playlist }
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I was never a Summer time kind of girl. The heat can be nasty, the humidity is evil (who likes to start sweating when you get out of the shower), your electric bill sky-rockets, and my hair turns into one frizzy pile of curls that looks like it never gets taken care of.

I prefer cold weather. Days that get dark at 4:45 p.m., grey days, sleet, snow, ice, cold rain, breathe in the air when you exhale.

Summer isn’t bad, I just prefer Winter. And while I prefer the months that a majority of people loathe, there are always songs that pop up that remind me of Summer. No matter what time of year it is, no matter where I am, no matter how my hair looks, one of these songs pop up and I’m thinking about those dreaded months of June, July, and August. (And lets just face it, where I live, it’s hot all the way into November for the most part, prolonging my Summer hate.)

So here it is, my Summer wrapped up in song.

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