08 August, 2007

Apropos of Nothing - Stewart's Music

I'm a bit shocked by how long this has taken me to do...

Wait! Back up... context on this wanky indulgence:

Before going away to shoot in the Okanagan I filled up two MP3 players with music. The first, a convenient and (key word!) little iPod Nano. I filled it with a selection of my absolute favourite songs of all time - a nice little audio oasis for when I needed it. Somewhere in the second week I needed to wash some clothes (for the record it was my second laundry of the trip)... when they came out of the dryer - there was my Nano... TOO SMALL TO HAVE NOTICED in the bottom of some cargo shorts pocket. It was nice and clean, it even took a charge again - once, and then died forever. Boo hoo.

The second player was a cheap-o 512mb player which I filled up with somgs that I specially selected as "Stewart's Music." I actually took quite a bit of time in selecting the songs, and there was a lot of criteria - much of which I've forgotten.
I can say this:
I think I nixed any song over four minutes.
I spent no effort in trying to pick songs with lyrical content that had any relation to the film - which doesn't mean there aren't song which could be construed as relating to the film. ("Is She Really Going OUt with Him?" springs to mind among several.) It's pretty inevitable when you consider the number of songs out there that are about unrequited love or disenfranchisement.

It has always struck me as odd that in an otherwise balanced mix (within a certain range) that there are not only FOUR Husker Du songs (The Clash is the only other band with four songs.) two of which are covers, but there are two covers of Husker Du songs played by other bands. I'm not even much of a Husker Du fan!
There are also a number of songs on here which also would have qualified as 'all-time favourite' for inclusion on the other player ("London Calling" for example.) but were disqualified as I already included them on the smaller player.

Musically there's some unity to the songs - it's kind of hard not to see that, but there's also some range. Dust Brothers and The Animals are worlds apart. Dead Can Dance and Anthrax? Not even close. Black Sabbath and Billy Bragg... you get the idea.
When I was feeling like I was lost and out of character I'd often turn to the music for inspiration. Sometimes the feel of the music itself led me somewhere - though that was usually the easiest course and not the most interesting. Other times it was the lyrics, which as I had tired to ignore that when programming the player, was often very random and interesting and often served up the occasional thought that was simultaneously obvious in retrospect and provided more depth than the surface-skimming I'd been stuck with.

In any case, it has been close to two months since we wrapped and I really wish I'd had the time to refresh the music in the player by now... though I haven't. But it is now time. I'm really starting to tire of this mix. But for posterity I'll leave the track listing here, perhaps there's a cool discovery for someone else out there:

(One last disclaimer: Don't ask me to explain the occassionally alphabetical nature - I haven't got a clue why I put it on in that order, or why any given artist's songs are all clumped together (with the inexplicable exception of Bootsauce), not shuffled - I just did it this way, that's all.)

101ers - 5 Star Rock 'n' Roll Petrol
Age of Electric - I Don't Mind
Age of Electric - Remote Control
Alice in Chains - Them Bones
Alice in Chains - Would?
Alien Ant Farm - Smooth Criminal
The Animals - We Gotta Get Out of this Place
Anthrax - I'm the Man
Urge Overkill - Never Known a Girl Like You Before
The Flaming Lips - Buggin'
Art of Dying - Get Through This
The Trashmen - Surfin' Bird
The Ataris - I'll Remember You
Trebel Charger - American Psycho
The Winstons - Amen Brother
Modern English - I Melt With You
XTC - The Mayor of Simpleton
The Violent Femmes - Blister in the Sun
The Violent Femmes - Kiss Off
Tool - Lost Keys
Tin Machine - Baby Universal
Tin Machine - Sacrifice Yourself
The Replacements - Attitude
The Replacements - I Hate Music
Porno for Pyros - Tahitian Moon
Porno for Pyros - Pets
Blur - Song 2
Bootsauce - Scratching the Whole
Mollie's Revenge - Humble
Mollie's Revenge - I Wanna Be
Ministry - TV II
The Monks - Johnny B. Rotten
The Monks - I Ain't Getting Any
The Monks - Nice Legs Shame About the Face
Primus - Jerry was a Race Car Driver
Sam Roberts - This is How I Live
Screaming Blue Messiahs - I Wanna Be a Flintstone
Rollmop - Motra Diem
Rollmop - Picture Perfect
The Sex Pistols - Holidays in the Sun
The Sex Pistols - Liar
Sonic Youth - Lights Out
Split Enz - Hard Act to Follow
Split Enz - What's the Matter with You?
Split Enz - I Got You
Sponge - Go Speed Racer Go
Sons of Freedom - You're No Good
Sons of Freedom - Super Cool Wagon
The Strokes - Hard to Explain
The Stooges - Cock in My Pocket
The Stooges - Down on the Street
The Subways - Rock & Roll Queen
The Subways - In Love
The Subways - With You
Public Image Ltd. - Seattle
Public Image Ltd. - Public Image
Pulp - We Are the Boys
Three Doors Down - Kryptonite
Mother Love Bone - This is Shangri-La
Nerf Herder - Sorry
The Ramones - I Want to Be Sedated
The Ramones - Blitzkrieg Bop
The Ravonettes - That Great Love Sound
The Ravonettes - Untamed Girls
Midnight Oil - Read About it
Midnight Oil - I Don't Wanna Be the One
Manic Street Preachers - Suicide is Painless
The Meat Puppets - Lake of Fire
Pluto - Black Lipstick
MC5 - Kick Out the Jams (Live)
Jane's Addiction - Standing in the Shower Thinking
Jane's Addiction - My Time
Jane's Addiciton - Been Caught Stealing
Lenny Kravitz - Are You Gonna Go My Way?
Kula Shaker - Hush
Les Dales Hawerchuk - Dale Hawerchuk
Les Dales Hawerchuk - Abuse de Moe
Les Dales Hawerchuk - Mais Ou est Donc Carnior?
Husker Cu - Sunshine Superman
Husker Du - Love is All Around
Husker Du - New Day Rising
Husker Du - Never Talking to You Again
The Headstones - Unsound
The Headstones - Fuck You
The Headstones - When Something Stands for Nothing
Harry Gregson-Williams - Training Montage
Harry Gregson-Williams - Spygame Theme
Gordon Downie - We're Hardcore
Gob - Oh! Ellen
Gob - Give Up the Grudge
Gob - I Hear You Calling
Goldfinger - Is She Really Going Out with Him?
Frank Black and the Catholics - Jaina Blues
Frank Black and the Catholics - Western Star
Frank Black - Old Black Dawning
Frank Black - Brackish Boy
Ex-Models - We Can't Put it into Words
Faith No More - From Out of Nowhere
Faith No More - Be Aggressive
Faith No More - Easy
The Faces - Ooh-La-La
Evanescence - Heart Shaped Box
Evanescence - Everybody's Fool
Evanescence - Going Under
The Eels - Souljacker Pt. 1
The Eels - That's Not Really Funny
The Eels - Mr. E's Beautiful Blues
Eagles of Death Metal - I Only Want You
Eagles of Death Metal - You Keep Talkin'
Eagles of Death Metal - SanBerdoo Sunburn
The Clash - Should I Stay or Should I go?
The Clash - London Calling
The Clash - Rudie Can't Fail
The Clash - Death or Glory
Bootsauce - Masterstroke
Catherine Wheel - Don't Wanna Know if You are Lonely
Catherine Wheel - Show Me Mary
Collective Soul - Gel
The Cult - Wildflower
The Cult - Rain
Devo - Through Being Cool
Concrete Blonde - Days and Days
Cypress Hill - Insane in the Membrane
Dead Can Dance - Ocean
Dead Can Dance - African Journey
Dead Kennedys Anarchy for Sale
Dead Kennedys - Too Drunk to Fuck
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Nature Boy
The Offspring - Next to You
The Offspring - Nothing from Something
Panic! At the Disco - The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide is Press Coverage
Panic! At the Disco - Time to Dance
Papa Roach - Last Resort
Papa Roach - Scars
Paul Westerberg - Waiting for Somebody
Paul Westerberg - Someone I Once Knew
Lou Reed - The Raven
The Dropkcik Murphys - Dirty Water (Live)
The Dropkick Murphys - For Boston
The Dropkick Murphys - The Wild Rover
The Dead Milkmen - Punk Rock Girl
Comeback Kid - Wake the Dead
The Buzzcocks - Ever Fallen in Love?
The Beastie Boys - Intergalactic
The Beastie Boys - Sabotage
Chalk Circle - This Mourning
Billy Bragg - A New England
Billy Squier - Everybody Wants You
Billy Talent - Standing in the Rain
The Black Halos - Some Things Never Fall
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Love Burns
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Black Flag - Rise Above
Dust Brothers - Corporate World
Ming Tea - Daddy Wasn't There
American H-Fi - The Art of Losing
The Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor

- Kennedy