I got a shock this week, whilst in my usual blurry eyed state fumbling for a playlist on my iPod that will while away the hour of the daily commute. There, sitting innocently as if in the hope I might not notice, was a new playlist, called ‘party’, which I had certainly not created. I had plugged my iPod into iTunes the night before and can only assume that iTunes, fancying itself to be a bit of a DJ had decided to compile this playlist and add it to my iPod all by itself. So…I played it, and the verdict….well pretty good. So good in fact, I decided to write a whole blog about each song in the list!

So you can experience the wonder of this playlist yourself I have recreated it on blip.fm: http://blip.fm/invite/keri

Song #1: Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm by the Crash Test Dummies

Wow, what sort of party kick-starts the night with this song? An iTunes party, that’s what sort. iTunes obviously feels the need to inject some deep resonating vocals into the evening – the lead singer sure has a low voice – lower than the guiness-world-record for limbo dancing, it’s that low.

Song #2: All My Life by the Foo Fighters

Ah, this is more like it, a tune to get you jumping around. With this as only the 2nd song on the playlist this is surely going to be a good night.

Song #3: Spin Spin Sugar by the Sneaker Pimps

ooo, good tune. May even go so far as to call it a TUNE. However it is slightly marred in my mind because whenever I hear it I am taken right back to my particle physics lectures at uni in which we covered spin-spin interactions between electrons. Physics does have a tendancy to ruin a song.

Song #4: Yellow by Coldplay

Hmmm, I am starting to wonder if  iTunes is stuck in the era of late 90’s/early noughties Indiepop. Then again, it is more likely to be a reflection of the collection of songs on my iPod I guess. Clever mix though – gets the crowd dancing with Foo Fighter and spin-spin interactions, then lets them have a bit of beer break with Yellow. Don’t want to wear them out too early on

Song #5: Crosstown Traffic by Jimi Hendrix

Nice. Has increased credibility and moved out of the 90’s/early noughties era in one swoop. This song always reminds me of the film Withnail and I, which in turn reminds me of annual cottage holidays I went on with a group of old school mates in which we would banish ourselves to a cottage in the middle of nowhere with no means of escape and wait and see what happens. A bit like Big Brother but with no cameras. Or gay people. This inevitibly lead to us trying to communicate with the surrounding sheep. Therefore, Jimi Hendrix makes me think of sheep. Funny thing, the mind.

Song #6: I Predict a Riot by the Kaiser Chiefs

DJ is working the crowd up again I see. What more can I say, except POGO! Oh, and I’m going to see the Kaiser Cheifs play in March too – whoop!

Song #7: Numb by Linkin Park

This song reminds me of the time I went to a party and said something along the lines of ‘I bought the Linkin Park album the other day, and was surprised to find that I actually liked it’ which I instantly thought was a really really stupid thing to say because why would I buy an album only to be surprised that I liked it??! However, there was one good thing to come out of the party: this photo of me apparently holding a star taken by my friend Mike’s brother, Russel:

Song #8: Inspector Gadget theme tune

awesome – Numb followed by Inspector Gadget!! Is iTunes a genius? Let’s just ignore the question ‘why do you have the Inspector Gadget theme tune on your iPod Keri???’ for the time being shall we? Personally I can’t see how any music collection could be complete without it.

Song #9: Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana

Wow, Numb followed by Inspector Gadget and then Smells like Teen Spirit. iTunes must either be an utter genius, or completely mad. This song takes me right back to my student days. Nirvana had long since split, but it this song was one of the staple union tunes of a friday night, and I imagine it probably still is. You had to go to the cool underground part of the union to hear it, away from the Abba and Boney M stuff going on in the main union above.

Song #10: Talk Like That by the Presets

This song will always take me back to Sydney, wherever I am in the world. Have the Presets made it over to the motherland yet? If not, why not.

Song #11: Stairway to Heaven by Rodrigos e Gabriella

erm, ok. A little accoustic guitar in the middle of our playlist. I think I see what iTunes is doing – built us up to a frenzy there with Insepctor Gadget, and worried there’s going to be mass coronary embolims with such excitment has decided the party needs to come down again.  I went to see these guys play at the Guildford festival, just a week after I discovered them. I decided to see if they were playing any UK gigs and was amazed to find out they would be playing 15min down the road from me the next week!

Song #12: Baker Street by the Foo Fighters

I’ve been to see these guys too. Thing I remember most is that Dave Grohl has a habit of standing with his feet close together, whilst playing guitar and swinging his hips from side to side whilst bent over to sing into the mic. It looked funny.

Song #13: Standing in the Way of Control by Gossip

Ah Beth, and your habit of taking your clothes off. If anyone doesn’t know what I’m talking about here she is in all her glory: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P86b3ghuA0k&feature=related

Song #14: Tied up Too Tight by Hard-Fi

I’m sure they stole the start of this song from a version of Tetris on the N64. Was a good version of Tetris too, you had to complete levels in order to  unlock ancient buildings from around the world. I got the sphnyx and and colloseum. Informative AND addictive, that is what you need a good game. Couldn’t find this song on Blip.fm, so you can’t hear it, sorry.

Song #15:  Bandages by Hot Hot Heat

I got this song on one of Jim’s infamous xmas compilation albums (see the link to the Angriest Man in Crouch End on the right).  Reminds me of the time I invited him and some friends round for dinner at my new place, and as a housewarming gift they bought me some ENORMOUS wine glasses which unfortunately resulted in me getting very very drunk and having a horrendous hangover the next day. I miss those wine glasses. They are currently in my parents’ loft. 

Sing #16: Somebody Told Me by the Killers

They’re American, yet oh so English. Funny, but I just noticed iTunes has manged to pick pretty much the iconic tune that each of these bands is most well known for. Starting to make me wonder if in fact I did make this playlist after all. But na, there’s song’s in here which I just would never think to add, like Baker Street. Must have been iTunes.

Song #17: Numb by Linkin Park

Haven’t we heard this before? Oh the disappointment. You know when you meet some crazy old guy at a bar, and despite your most desperate must-not-make-eye-contact-with-crazy-guy efforts lest he should pick on you, he inievtably makes a bee-line for you and starts his drunken ramblings. After some amusing anecdotes and words of wisdom you start to feel guilty about your initial impression that he is just the local drunken nut, and start to think: ‘This man is wise. This man has lived. Listen, and you may learn’. Only, after another 2 anecdotes  he starts to re-tell one he told you just ten minutes previous. Doh, the ultimate mistake, he has repeated himself completely unawares – sure sign of complete and utter madness. Well – this is what iTunes has done to us now. It was a toss-up between genius and madness with the whole Insepctor Gadget to Nirvana thing – but now with the reption of Numb our suspicious are confirmed. I’m afraid iTunes is a song short of a playlist.

Song #18: Baggy Trousers by Madness

Wow, it’s almost as if  iTunes is trying to tell us something by picking a song from Madness at this very moment. It is saying ‘yes, I am a nut job, so what’. We have little option but to ride out the rest of this playlist, with a sympathetic ear as if to say ‘yes dear, whatever dear, you poor poor thing you.’ 

Song #19: Australia by Manic Street Preachers

Another reference to manic ranting – and perhaps another hidden message. Australia….hang on, that’s where I am. Is this a reference to me?  Is iTunes sending me a personal warning? Getting.Slightly.Paranoid.

Song #20: The Riverboat Song by Ocean Colour Scene

Well, there’s nothing mad or Australian about this. Perhaps I can relax. No hidden meanings here surely. This used to be the theme tune to TFI friday, when Chris Evans was still cool. Perhaps iTunes is merly reflecting the madness one feels as you approach the end of the working week and finally….TFI friday! The repetition of Numb is in f clever analogy of the repetitivness of the daily routine. iTunes, all is not lost….

Song #21: Don’t Hold Back by the Potbelleez

This song was played constatly when I arrived in Australia. Over and over and over again. It will remind me more of Sydney than even the Presets. Good tune…..for the first 1000 times. And good remixed too….at least for the first 20,000,000 remixes. Getting just a teeny bit annoying now though.

Song#22: Have a Nice Day by the Stereophonics

Ah, this is a nice song. Nice lyrics – can’t help but feel good listening to this. I saw them live last year, and they were awesome. This song reminds me of 2nd year at uni when I lived with Lisa, Duncan, Jeff and Chris. Gav also lived in Lisa’s room and Dave was the bloke on the sofa. We had three cars between five of us, and Duncan’s 4×4 outshone the other two. We all used to pile into it to go to uni, and this song would ALWAYS play, and we would all sing along. Then amuse ourselves that five students were turning up for lectures in a 4×4. And now Duncan has come to live in Sydney – he arrived last week! No 4×4 though

Song #23: Creep by Radiohead

So this is the grand finale. After all that emotion and worry and paranoia iTunes now decides to make us all depressed. Party goers are now reduced to sobbing into their half empty mugs of warm beer, ‘I’m a creep – it’s soooo true *sob* I just don’t belong anywhere’. Perfect end to the night I’d say.

So there we have it. I hope to try out this playlist at a party sometime soon