Category: Compilation (Ipod Fridays)

Part 3 of Ruby Trax will have to wait. S-WC has an important few words to offer up:-

Ipod Friday – The Result

I guess that in the end Billy Bragg was right. I tried to mix pop and politics and ending up asking myself what the use is. The message was completely irrelevant. Partly because I didn’t give people the set list and by mistake stuck the ipod playlist on ‘shuffle’ instead of just play. So I wasted time trying to find cover versions by bands starting with ‘Y’.

Still the music went down well. In parts. I put a piece of paper on everyone’s desk with the question on it and that was that. They tried. Some obviously guessed. Philippa – one of the mumsy types put this “there are 38 all of them apart from Blue Monday and Yazoo are cover versions”.

Others, didn’t even try – One of the cool kids put “I don’t care, is it 6”.

My hipster boss got worryingly close, “27, and I love the Vaccines cover version and the Rolling Stones one” (I think he meant the Concretes version of Miss You).

David the Northern Soul guy won the Mars Bar – he said 24 – he was closest – I think he was using Shazam or Google though, still he made the effort and that’s what matters. He did ask for a copy of every song on the set list though as he thought it was the best selection (since his).

I guess what was good is that it did stimulate debate and some reaction. The Eels cover version of Get Ur Freak On provoked laughter. The Radiohead one started a lengthy debate as to who was most depressing Thom Yorke or Morrissey, which soon descended into a ‘Who is the Biggest Twat’ Argument Thom or Morrissey (Morrissey won on both questions by the way) and the Flaming Lips version of Can’t Get You Out of My Head was according to James, the token gay guy, ‘one of the worst things his ears have ever heard’, for what its worth I sort of agree with him. But almost certainly not for the same reasons I imagine.

This week on Friday we have Kelly, she has already told me she is doing back to back Usher, Maroon 5 and Prince. Luckily I have a prearranged meeting in Torquay to go to.  Torquay on a Friday morning is not much fun, but compared to three hours of Maroon 5 and Usher, its like a weekend at Keira Knightly’s house.

For those still wondering – there were 25 cover versions in the set list – well done to anyone who guessed it. Dirk you got closest on the comments – so I’ll send you an email in the next few days to get an address to send you almost a complete Bounty. On that subject – has anyone else noticed that you can no longer buy red Bounty bars, just the inferior blue ones. Probably just me.

Here are some of the other tracks from the set list that I didn’t post and as its cover version week on T(n)VV they are all cover versions. Perhaps. Oh and one I didn’t include on the set list but have included here because I happen to love it.

mp3 : alt-J – Lovely Day
mp3 : Angel Haze – Doo Wop That Thing
mp3 : Azealia Banks – Harlem Shake
mp3 : Crocodiles – Groove Is In The Heart
mp3 : Dinosaur Jr – Just Like Heaven
mp3 : I Monster – Daydream In Blue
mp3 : Levellers – The Devil Went Down To Georgia
mp3 : Major Laser (feat Elephant Man) – Halo
mp3 : Of Montreal – Fell In Love With A Girl

S-WC

JC adds…….Many thanks to S-WC for such a great set of posts and to everyone who joined in with the comments. I just couldn’t resist offering this up for those in his office who took part in the great philosophical debate last Friday:-

mp3 : Radiohead – The Headmaster Ritual

Enjoy.

SW-C has been back in touch re his i-pod Friday which takes place today. I hope none of his work colleagues read this as it will only spoil the surprise(s)

Ipod Fridays

So in the end I made a decision…I wanted to portray a message in the music that I selected. So with a selection of cover versions and some other tracks I spelt that message out.

I’m also turning my Ipod Friday into a quiz featuring a solitary question, I’m offering the prize of a Mars Bar for whoever gets closest. Here is the question: –

How many cover versions are there in my forty songs?

So here is the set list – and go on then – folks how many cover versions are there in this list (JC you are banned from entering as you know the answer), the closest guess gets a special prize which will be revealed later, I appreciate its hard without hearing all the tracks though. Oh and if anyone wants to take a guess at the message I was telling people, then please feel free to comment.

Dandy Warhols – Primary
Alabama 3 – Speed of the Sound of Loneliness
Vaccines – The Winner Takes It all
I Monster – Daydream In Blue
Dinosaur Jr – Just Like Heaven
Carter USM – Down In the Tube Station at Midnight
Azealia Banks – Harlem Shake
Major Lazer – Halo
Eels – Get Ur Freak On
Radiohead – Nobody Does It Better
Oasis – I am the Walrus
Number One Cup – Joe the Lion
Rolling Stones – Not Fade Away
Exlovers – Wicked Game
Angel Haze – Doo Wop (That Thing)
Levellers – The Devil Went Down to Georgia
Lemonheads – How Will I Know?
Yung – Imaginary Calls
Interpol – Specialist
Saint Etienne – Only Love Can Break Your Heart
Alt – J – Lovely Day
Flaming Lips – Can’t Get You Out of My Head
Ultrasound – Fame Thing
Chromatics – Ceremony
Kaiser Chiefs – Golden Skans
Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan – Black Mountain
New Fast Automatic Daffodails – Big
Girls Names – Zero Triptych
Astrid – Redground
Nai Harvest – Sick On My Heart
New Order – Blue Monday
Of Montreal – Fell In Love With A Girl
Yazoo – Situation
Idlewild – American English
New Kingdom – Mexico Or Bust
Glamorous Hooligan – Stoned Island Estate
Concretes – Miss You
Ultra Vivid Scene – Mercy Seat
Nirvana – All Apologies
Tilly and the Wall – Night of the Living Dead

As usual any comments you want to make about any of the choices are more than welcome.

mp3 : Dandy Warhols – Primary
mp3 : Vaccines – The Winner Takes It All
mp3 : Carter USM – Down In The Tube Station At Midnight
mp3 : Radiohead – Nobody Does It Better
mp3 : Interpol – Specialist
mp3 : Lemonheads – How Will I Know?
mp3 : Saint Etienne – Only Love Can Break Your Heart (A Mix of Two Halves)
mp3 : Flaming Lips – Can’t Get You Out Of My Head
mp3 : Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan – Black Mountain
mp3 : Glamorous Hooligan – Stoned Island Estate
mp3 : Concretes – Miss You

S-WC

SW-C has been in touch seeking some help in a crucially important aspect of his life from the esteemed readers of T(n)VV.

I would ask that you all back his heartfelt appeal.  I’ve kicked things off with a PS…..

Ipod Fridays

Working in an open plan office has its draw backs. The main one, other than the people, is the radio. In my office ours is stuck to Radio 2 – which was the station of choice following the dramatic vote that we had some weeks back. Classic FM was second so it’s not all bad. I usually plug into my Ipod and drown out the nonsense dribbling out of Ken Bruce’s mouth, however about six weeks ago our hipster manager had an idea. Ipod Friday.

The concept was that every Friday morning, the radio would be replaced by someone in the office’s Ipod – they would then have no more than three hours to play anything that they wanted to the rest of the office (whether they chose to listen or not). It is supposed to stimulate debate, teamwork and camaraderie. At first people were horrified, largely because they can’t live without hearing Popmaster every sodding day. But then the first Ipod Friday occurred.

It fell to David, a quiet fifty something, to produce the first playlist, and that morning we listened to three hours of top-notch Northern Soul and it was wonderful. From then on, people in the office started to look forward to Ipod Fridays, the week after David was Marie, she produced two hours of mostly decent Britpop and then ruined it by playing thirty minutes of Paloma Faith. I’ve barely spoken to her since. Next up A young guy called Matt, played three hours of electronica including Aphex Twin and Boards of Canada, which was cool. After that it tailed off, the music has got a bit ‘mumsy’ lots of George Ezra singing about ‘catching the train to Australia’ (what you on about you trumpet faced fool?) a bit of Sam Smith and Coldplay, obviously.

On May 29th its my turn. So I have roughly two weeks to produce a set list for the rest of the office and to be honest I am a bit stuck. I kind of want to do a theme but kind of want to just stick the Ipod on random for three hours and see what happens.

Some of the themes that I have looked at include: –

1. Music that has featured in a film.

There is an almost endless list of these, even if I listed my favourite forty films of the last thirty years or so I could probably produce a pretty cool set list.

mp3 : Magnet – Willow’s Song

and I imagine that for some of the males reading this song will provide you with some happy memories. I should also state that the only version I have is from a chilled out mix CD so it might end abruptly, if anyone has the full version I’d love a copy.

2.  Cover versions only

Just last week I was listening to an old Maximo Park album and this came on it – a cover version of the Julie Cruise classic that I really didn’t remember being there. I’ve said before that I love a good cover version, so could easily work my way through three hours worth.

mp3 : Maximo Park – Falling

3.  My Favourite Tracks of 2015

Miniskirt by Braids is I think the best track released this year, it is a track that I heard in a shop in Exeter about two months ago, I was waiting for a sandwich, and had to ask the guy serving what it was. I went home and downloaded it straight away. Saying that the latest single from Girls Names ‘Zero Triptych’ is just as awesome.

mp3 : Braids – Miniskirt

4.  Tracks from the Forty Albums you should hear before I am forty.

This is a list I started at my now defunct (and never to be resurrected) blog When You Can’t Remember Anything, I got to Number 32, but I did produce the full list and a Spotify Set list of it, so I could cheat and use that.

mp3 : Four Tet – She Moves She

5. A Random List of about forty tunes

Starting with this……

mp3 : Death Grips – Beware

So have readers any other ideas – any suggestions gratefully received and if anyone is interested I’ll post the full set list when I have compiled it.

Thanks for Reading

S-WC

PS from JC

Given the recent general election results down in England where a great many people voted for the Tories on the basis that they couldn’t bear to see any sort of coalition that would give power or a platform to the Scottish National Party (SNP), I’d propose a set list entitled ‘Honestly…..Scotland isn’t too bad’ and have forty tunes from singers/bands who are entirely from that little corner of planet earth. Hell, I’d even be prepared to compile something myself!!