Shuffling

I had to make a journey out to the parental domain and back this weekend. Instead of listening to an audiobook or a podcast on the iPod, I tried setting it to shuffle, seeing what it would come up with.

As you'll see, it seemed to like classical (or Spanish classical) guitar pieces quite a bit. And Tomita. It played two Talking Heads pieces back-to-back and did segue from Peter Gabriel singing in Genesis to Peter Gabriel soloing at one point. Otherwise, a fairly mixed bag. Despite having about six days worth of music on the iPod, it played "Web" from Brian Eno's Nerve Net twice.

I figured, as I was driving with others in the car, that the shuffle method was the most "democratic" approach. (Of course, my musical tastes intervened in picking out the tracks on the iPod to begin with, but I had loaded a fair amount of stuff that I thought others would like.)

I did skip past a Radio Lab podcast and a chapter from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Children of Hurin. I skipped past the podcast as I was driving a rather busy section of Route 80 and could not concentrate on something like that at the time. I skipped past The Children of Hurin as it doesn't make sense to listen to a audiobook on shuffle! The only piece that was too "low" to be workable in the car was a section from Ralph Vaughan Williams A Sea Symphony (No. 1).

Brian Eno: Here Come the Warm Jets: "Baby's on Fire" and Nerve Net: "Web" (twice, for some reason)

Brian Eno and Roger Eno: Apollo--Atmospheres and Soundtracks: "Under Stars II".

Brian Eno and David Byrne: My Life in the Bush of Ghosts: "The Carrier".

Enya: Watermark: "Miss Clare Remembers".

Richard Feynman: The Feynman Tapes, Volume One: "Textbooks, 3" and "Drumming Finale" and Safecracker Suite: "Interactions by the Three Quarks: Bongo Bash" and "Cycles of Superstition: Tic-a-Tac".

Peter Gabriel: Us: "Steam" and "Secret World".

Genesis: The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway: "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" (followed by "Steam", above).

Philip Glass: Philip on Film (Filmworks by Philip Glass; CD02): "Powaqqatsi--Train to Sao Paulo" and Philip on Film (Filmworks by Philip Glass; CD03): "Dracula: Horrible Tragedy".

Elliot Goldenthal and Others: Heat: "Gloradin" (Lisa Gerrard).

Joe Hisaishi: Spirited Away: "The Bottomless Pit", "Kaonashi (No Face)" and "The Sixth Station".

Michael Hoenig: Departure from the Northern Wasteland: "Voices of Where".

James Horner: A Beautiful Mind: "Playing a Game of 'Go'" and "The Prize of One's Life...The Prize of One's Mind" and Sneakers: "The Escape/Whistler's Rescue".

Jade Warrior: Elements (CD02): "Way of the Sun--Sun Child".

Jean Michel Jarre: Chronologie: "Chronologie (Part 4)".

King Crimson: THRAK: "Radio II" and VROOM: "VROOM".

Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris: All the Roadrunning: "This Is Us".

The Patti Smith Group: Horses: "Kimberly".

Paul McCartney & Wings: Band on the Run: "Band on the Run".

A Produce: Land of a Thousand Trances: "Heart of the Dunes" and "The Wall of Bali".

R.E.M.: Green: "Stand".

Steve Roach: Light Fantastic: "The Reflecting Chamber".

Todd Rundgren: Faithful: "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago" and "Good Vibrations" and "Strawberry Fields Forever". Something/Anything?: "It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference" and "Cold Morning Light".

Andres Segovia: The Segovia Collection: "Concierto del Sur (Ponce)--Allegro moderato e festivo", "Piezas caracteristicas (Torroba)--Preambulo (Lento)", "Suite Compostelana (Mompoul)--Cancion (Festival)", "Sonata "Omaggion a Boccherini" (Castelnuovo-Tedesco)--Andantino, quasi canzone", "Antano (Espla)", "Suite esparnola (Sanz)--No. 2 Galarda y Villano", "Eight Lessons for the Guitar (Aguado)--No. 4 in A major", "Eight Lessons for the Guitar (Aguado)--No. 8 in E minor", "Etude No. 20 (No. 9) in A minor (Sor)", "Allemande from Suite for Lute in E minor (J.S. Bach)".

Paul Simon: Surprise: "I Don't Believe" and "Another Galaxy" You're the One: "Quiet".

Mark Snow: The Truth and the Light (Music from the X-Files): "Introitus: Praeceps Transito Spatium" and "Otium".

Software: Past Present Future, Part 1: "Frontiers of Chaos" and "Taste of Future".

Fernando Sor: Guitar Duets (Complete, Volume 1): "Six Valses, Op. 39, #6" and Guitar Duets (Complete, Volume 2): "Le premier pas vers moi, Op. 53--Valse". Guitar Music of Sor: "Fantaisie pour Guitare Seule, Op. 58--Andante" and "Fantaisie Elegiaque, Op. 59--Marche Funebre: Andante moderato" and "25 Progressive Studies, Op. 60, No. 2" and "25 Progressive Studies, Op. 60, No. 5" and "25 Progressive Studies, Op. 60, No. 22" and "25 Progressive Studies, Op. 60, No. 24".

Sting: The Dream of the Blue Turtles: "The Dream of the Blue Turtles".

David Sylvian: Everything and Nothing: "Blackwater" and "Bamboo Houses". Gone to Earth: "Home".

Talking Heads: Little Creatures: "And She Was" and "The Lady Don't Mind" (back-to-back). Remain In Light: "Houses in Motion". True Stories: "Dream Operator".

Tangerine Dream: Hyperborea: "Cinnamon Road". Legend: "Blue Room". Lily on the Beach: "Desert Drive" and "Crystal Curfew". Livemiles: "The Albuquerque Concert, Part 2". Risky Business: "Guido the Killer Pimp". Rockoon: "Body Corporate". Tangram: "Tangram, Set 1". Tyger: "London". Underwater Sunlight: "Underwater Twilight".

Tomita: Snowflakes are Dancing: "Passepied", "The Girl with the Flaxen Hair", "Golliwog's Cakewalk", "Footprints in the Snow" and "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun".

U2: Joshua Tree: "Red Hill Mining Town".

Various: The Music of Carl Sagan's Cosmos: "Russian Easter Festival Overture" (Rimsky-Korsakov) and "Pulstar" (Vangelis) and "The Planets--Mars" (Holst) and "Prayer of St. Gregory" (Hovhaness)

Various: Guitar Concertos: "'Sones en la Giralda', Fantasia sevillana--Allegro vivace (Tempo di sevillana) (Joaquin Rodrigo)" and "Concerto for Guitar and Small Orchestra--Allegretto non troppo (Heitor Villa-Lobos)"

Various: Musical Evenings with the Captain, Volume 1: "Sonata in G Major, Op. 5, No. 1 for 2 Violins & Basso Continuo (P.A. Locatelli): Largo Andante". Musical Evenings with the Captain, Volume 2: "Oboe Quartet in F Major, K. 370 (368B) (Mozart): Rondeau: Allegro".

Various: O Brother, Where Art Thou: "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues (Chris Thomas King)".

Various: Universe Sampler '92: "And Evening Falls (Tim Story)".

Ralph Vaughan Williams: A Sea Symphony (No. 1): "IV. The Explorers: Grave e molto adagio: O my brave Soul!"

Heitor Villa-Lobos: Complete Music for Solo Guitar: "Etudes--No. 3 Allegro moderato" and "Preludes--No. 1 in E minor".

Mason Williams & Mannheim Steamroller: Classical Gas: "Samba Beach".

George Winston: Plains: "No Ke Ano Ahihi", "Graduation", "Teach Me Tonight", "Rainsong (Fortune's Lullaby)" and "The Swan".

Yes: Magnification: "In The Presence Of - I) Deeper, II) Death Of Ego, III) True Beginner, Iv) Turn Around And Remember". Tales from Topographic Oceans: "The Ancient (Giants Under the Sun)" and "The Remembering High the Memory".

Hans Zimmer and Others: Blackhawk Down: "Bakara" and "Minstrel Boy" ((film version) (Performed by Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros)".