With my brain empty of anything substantive, I thought I'd have some fun, or something. I was on my way to pick up Miriam from school, and I heard a story on NPR about the changing nature of what makes a "hit" record. I got to thinking about my own iTunes library and discovered some interesting factoids by exploring different "measures" of popularity. The most played songs on my list reflect the fact that for months I hadn't uploaded most of my CDs to my library, so they are a handful of songs that I purchased for a variety of reasons. "Find Your Way Back" by Jefferson Starship, Gary Hoey's version of "Lunatic Fringe", the live version of "These Empty Places" by Sieges Even, and "Dragonfly" by Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush - all good songs, but not on my current playlist by any means.
So, what constitutes a "favorite", considering I have two usual ways of listening. If I'm in the mood for a particular artist, I pick out an album, and listen to it. Or, I just hit "random" and let the list play through. Since I have everything from sacred and Christmas music to jazz to rock in my library, I never quite know what I'm gonna get.
Among stuff I find myself returning again and again in recent weeks are the Polish prog band Riverside; a side project of Riverside, called Lunatic Soul; a live recording of the Neville Brothers; the new single from singer-songwriter Amos Lee, entitled "Windows Are Rolled Down"; "Wind At My Back" by Spock's Beard; the title track to CSNY's Deja Vu album; "Coyote" from Joni Mitchell.
What songs are you hitting the "replay" button for?
