Thumbing My Way through my iPod: Volume 1

I've long wanted to go through my whole iPod and write about the songs.  I think of it as a musical voyage of sorts.  It's easy to write about the really famous or popular or even good songs, but what about those weird deep cuts?  What about the songs you are embarrassed to have on your iPod?  Am I confident enough to include them?  You'd never know if I didn't.  Anyway, I love music and I want to write about it.  If you want to read, then here we are.  I'm going to go through my whole library and post about 500 words at a time.  I'm going to do my best to just write while the song plays.  We'll see how it goes.  If you like it, you should do the same.  It would be fun to read.

Pearl Jam - Acoustic #1

It's fitting to start this journey with Pearl Jam.  I'm a huge fan.  I have all their albums, singles, a whole mess of bootlegs and I've seen them live eight times.  This song is like a demo or something and off the Pearl Jam 20 soundtrack.  It's nice; one of those Eddie vocal chant type songs that he likes to do.  It reminds me more of his solo stuff and I can see why it never made an album.  I like it though.

Weezer - Across the Sea

I love Pinkerton.  I just love it.  I was Weezer-resistant in my younger days.  I have a friend who just loves Weezer and I think that petty competition made me want to dislike them.  I don't know how anyone can dislike Pinkerton.  It's probably the most fun album ever created.  Sure, their songs are somewhat whiny and often nonsense, but fun is fun.  This song is great.  It's whiny, but on topic.  The message is easy enough to relate to and the chorus is powerful.  I think I've liked maybe five Weezer songs since Pinkerton though.  It's a shame.

Stone Temple Pilots - Adhesive

Is it ok to like STP?  I can never remember.  It seems they are not as well-respected as some of their contemporaries, but I like them just fine.  Adhesive is not my favorite though.  It's a little swampy and slow.  It feels a bit disjointed and certainly isn't enough of a ballad to capture my prolonged attention.  I can't imagine ever thinking "I should listen to Adhesive." 

Red Hot Chili Peppers- The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie

That's a mouthful.  I told a friend of mine that I prefer Californication-era RHCP to their funky, loud early days.  He looked at me like he was my Dad and said, "Oh, Brad" as if I had told him I was thinking of growing a soul patch or something.  Anyway, I do like recent RHCP.  I even like their newest album, although I do miss John Frusciante's amazing guitar work/backup vocals.  This song is fun, but kind of silly.  I guess the premise is some sort of exotic dancer or something.  I never really understand lyrics.  It's part of my charm.

Blur - Advert

Blur is probably the strangest band that I enjoy.  I'm not a huge fan of British rock or British pop or whatever, but I do enjoy Blur.  This song sounds like most Blur songs.  There's some yelling, seemingly at me, and some fast guitar.  I have to admit, I enjoy Blur's ballads a bit more than their faster, harder songs.  In fact, you'll find that I prefer ballads in general, if you continue down this trip with me.