A SHUFFLE THROUGH THE DECADE

For the last month or so, I’ve been building a working list of my fave tracks from the last 10 years. And because this has been the iTunes/iPod/a la carte decade in terms of both the way we listen to music and the way we organize it, I’ve decided to make this an interactive playlist.

Specifically, I chose the “year” tab as the means of sequencing these 257 tracks, so that they descend in order from 2000 through 2009. As I drag tracks into the playlist, iTunes (A) maintains the chronology while alphabetizing by (B) artist’s first name and (C) song title. With everything now in place, I just choose “shuffle,” click on the “play” arrow and let iTunes decide the order.

Because I started using the iTunes software in 2003, my ability to reference my favorite songs from each year has increased exponentially since then. That also means I had far less to work with in recalling my faves from 2000-2002; for that reason, I’m sure I’ve forgotten about some stuff that enthralled me at the time. On the other hand, I’m fully loaded with 2007 music—I chose 43 tracks, the most of any year in the decade, and I could’ve easily thrown in at least 25 more.

In terms of productivity, I’m high on Radiohead (15 tracks, seven from In Rainbows alone), Wilco (16), Beck (12), Spoon (11), Kings of Leon (10), the White Stripes/Raconteurs (eight) and Phoenix (six)—all of whom did their parts to keep the album a viable medium during a singles decade. They did it in the most surefire way—with batches of songs that fit together like peas in a pod. To my mind, Amy Winehouse (five) and Robert Plant & Alison Krauss (five) are right there with the above-mentioned acts and would likely be better represented if they’d released more material.

There are some modern-day classics in this playlist I’ve heard so many times that I’m nearly burned out on them—OutKast’s “Hey Ya!” and Gorillaz’s “Feel Good Inc,” for example. And yet there are others I’ve heard just as much that continue to hook me every time—like Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy.” And Danger Mouse produced all three. Go figure…

A word about bit rate: I’ve settled on 320 kbps—the highest rate that can be selected using the AAC encoder—as a utilitarian compromise. Tracks imported from CD at 320 sound virtually identical to the source (the oft-repeated “near CD quality”) but can still be loaded into the flash-based iPod Shuffle, which won’t take higher quality WAV or Apple lossless files. If I didn’t use the Shuffle for working out, I’d probably import tracks at one of the higher rates—especially with storage space no longer an issue now that 500-750 GB hard drives are pretty much standard for desktop PCs. As it is, I’ve spent hours reloading CDs from earlier in the decade that I’d originally imported at 128 kbps—because I didn’t know any better at the time.

I gotta tell you, having some friends over, pouring some wine and playing my soundtrack of the noughties in shuffle mode (running it through the stereo and out my mid-’80s KEF floor-standing speakers for maximum sonic oomph) makes for a can’t-miss evening. I suggest you put together a playlist of your own ’00s faves and shuffle away.


Send me your comments and suggestions at bs7777@aol.com.


2000
“Red Vines,” Aimee Mann
“Things Have Changed,” Bob Dylan
“Don’t Panic,” Coldplay
“Trouble,” Coldplay
“Yellow,” Coldplay
“Bohemian Like You,” The Dandy Warhols
“I’m Gonna Make You Love Me,” The Jayhawks
“Smile,” The Jayhawks
“In the Sun,” Joseph Arthur
“Directions,” Josh Rouse
“Everything in Its Right Place,” Radiohead
“How to Disappear Completely,” Radiohead
“Idioteque,” Radiohead
“The National Anthem,” Radiohead
“Amy,” Ryan Adams
“Thought It Would Be Easier,” Shelby Lynne
“Everything Hits at Once,” Spoon
“What a Shame,” Steely Dan
“Beautiful Day,” U2
“Walk On,” U2
“Any Major Dude Will Tell You,” Wilco

2001
“High Water,” Bob Dylan
“To Joy (Revolution of the Innocent) ,” Chris Whitley
“Why Georgia,” John Mayer
“3x5,” John Mayer
“Working Girls (Sunlight Shines) ,” Pernice Brothers
“Our Time Has Passed,” Pernice Brothers
“For Nancy,” Pete Yorn
“I Might Be Wrong,” Radiohead
“La Cienega Just Smiled,” Ryan Adams
“Caring Is Creepy,” The Shins
“New Slang,” The Shins
“Sister Surround,” The Soundtrack of Our Lives
“Last Nite,” The Strokes
“Island in the Sun,” Weezer
“Hash Pipe,” Weezer
“Fell in Love With a Girl,” The White Stripes
“We're Going to Be Friends,” The White Stripes

2002
“The Golden Age,” Beck
“Lost Cause,” Beck
“I’ll Be Your Man,” The Black Keys
“Tiny Spark,” Brendan Benson
“The Rising,” Bruce Springsteen
“The Scientist,” Coldplay
“Clocks,” Coldplay
“Daylight,” Coldplay
“Lose Yourself,” Eminem
“Do You Realize??,” The Flaming Lips
“Times Like These,” Foo Fighters
“The Seed (2.0),” The Roots
“Jonathon Fisk,” Spoon
“Small Stakes,” Spoon
“The Way We Get By,” Spoon
“Heavy Metal Drummer,” Wilco
“Jesus Etc.,” Wilco
“Kamera,” Wilco
“War on War,” Wilco

2003
“The Way You Move,” Big Boi featuring Sleepy Brown
“Quattro (World Drifts In (remix edit),” Calexico
“The Last High,” The Dandy Warhols
“Transatlanticism,” Death Cab For Cutie
“Valley Winter Song,” Fountains of Wayne
“All Kinds of Time,” Fountains of Wayne
“Are You Gonna Be My Girl,” Jet
“Molly's Chambers,” Kings of Leon
“Hey Ya!,” OutKast
“Such Great Heights,” The Postal Service
“There There,” Radiohead
“Vicious World,” Rufus Wainwright
“Things I Miss the Most,” Steely Dan
“I Can’t Remember,” The Thorns
“Seven Nation Army,” The White Stripes
“The Hardest Button to Button,” The White Stripes

2004
“Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels),” Arcade Fire
“Rebellion (Lies),” Arcade Fire
“Wake Up!,” Arcade Fire
“Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime,” Beck
“Catch My Disease,” Ben Lee
“Our Prayer / Gee,” Brian Wilson
“Surf's Up,” Brian Wilson
“When the Sun Goes Down,” Charlie Mars
“Take Me Out,” Franz Ferdinand
“American Idiot,” Green Day
“The Bucket,” Kings of Leon
“Slow Night, So Long,” Kings of Leon
“Float On,” Modest Mouse
“Manhattan Avenue,” Nellie McKay
“Musicology,” Prince
“Shelter,” Ray LaMontagne
“How Come,” Ray LaMontagne
“Whatever It Takes,” Ron Sexsmith
“Vertigo,” U2
“Muzzle of Bees,” Wilco
“Theologians,” Wilco

2005
“Cold Wind,” Arcade Fire
“E-Pro,” Beck
“Black Tambourine,” Beck
“Earthquake Weather,” Beck
“Scarecrow,” Beck
“The Greatest,” Cat Power
“Since K Got Over Me,” The Clientele
“Talk,” Coldplay
“Speed of Sound,” Coldplay
“Soul Meets Body,” Death Cab for Cutie
“I Will Follow You into the Dark,” Death Cab for Cutie
“Here Comes a City,” The Go-Betweens
“Feel Good Inc. ,” Gorillaz
“Daft Punk Is Playing at My House,” LCD Soundsystem
“It Beats 4 U,” My Morning Jacket
“Off the Record,” My Morning Jacket
“Wordless Chorus,” My Morning Jacket
“The Painter,” Neil Young
“Everything Is Everything,” Phoenix
“Rough Justice,” The Rolling Stones
“Rain Fall Down,” The Rolling Stones
“I Turn My Camera On,” Spoon
“My Mathematical Mind,” Spoon
“Chicago,” Sufjan Stevens
“My Doorbell,” The White Stripes
“Spiders (Kidsmoke) ,” Wilco (live)

2006
“Think I'm in Love,” Beck
“Cellphone’s Dead,” Beck
“Someday Baby,” Bob Dylan
“The Perfect Crime #2,” The Decemberists
“Mary Shut the Garden Door,” Donald Fagen
“Crazy,” Gnarls Barkley
“How We Operate,” Gomez
“Satellite,” Guster
“The Warning,” Hot Chip
“Black Lexus,” Joseph Arthur
“Get Innocuous!,” LCD Soundsystem
“Time to Get Away,” LCD Soundsystem
“North American Scum,” LCD Soundsystem
“Show You How,” Lindsey Buckingham
“This Is Us,” Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris
“Chinese Translation,” M. Ward
“Dance Like a Monkey,” New York Dolls
“New Shoes,” Paolo Nutini
“Young Folks,” Peter Bjorn & John
“Undercover,” Pete Yorn
“One Time Too Many,” Phoenix
“Steady, As She Goes,” The Raconteurs
“The Book I Write,” Spoon
“You Only Live Once,” The Strokes
“Black Swan,” Thom Yorke
“Harrowdown Hill,” Thom Yorke
“Saving Grace,” Tom Petty
“Square One,” Tom Petty

2007
“Rehab,” Amy Winehouse
“You Know I'm No Good,” Amy Winehouse
“Back to Black,” Amy Winehouse
“Tears Dry On Their Own,” Amy Winehouse
“Keep the Car Running,” Arcade Fire
“Timebomb,” Beck
“Girls in Their Summer Clothes,” Bruce Springsteen
“Bookshop Casanova,” The Clientele
“Nobody Wants To,” Crowded House
“Sugar,” Dan Wilson
“Fast Company,” The Eagles
“Business Time,” Flight of the Conchords
“Someone to Love,” Fountains of Wayne
“Strapped for Cash,” Fountains of Wayne
“Ah Mary,” Grace Potter & the Nocturnals
“Knocked Up,” Kings of Leon
“My Party,” Kings of Leon
“Fans,” Kings of Leon
“Arizona,” Kings of Leon
“Valerie,” Mark Ronson Feat. Amy Winehouse
“15 Step,” Radiohead
“All I Need,” Radiohead
“Bodysnatchers,” Radiohead
“Faust Arp,” Radiohead
“House of Cards,” Radiohead
“Reckoner,” Radiohead
“Weird Fishes/Arpeggi,” Radiohead
“Dreamworld,” Rilo Kiley
“Fortune Teller,” Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
“Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On),” Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
“Killing the Blues,” Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
“Please Read the Letter,” Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
“Through the Morning, Through the Night,” Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
“Winter Windows,” Sea Wolf
“Phantom Limb,” The Shins
“Sleeping Lessons,” The Shins
“Sea Legs,” The Shins
“You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb,” Spoon
“Don't You Evah,” Spoon
“The Underdog,” Spoon
“Satellite Radio,” Steve Earle
“Either Way,” Wilco
“Hate It Here,” Wilco
“Impossible Germany,” Wilco
“Side With the Seeds,” Wilco

2008
“Freeway,” Aimee Mann
“Wishing Well,” The Airborne Toxic Event
“Flume,” Bon Iver
“Strawberry Swing,” Coldplay
“I Will Possess Your Heart,” Death Cab For Cutie
“Mercy,” Duffy
“The Bones of You,” Elbow
“Grounds for Divorce,” Elbow
“Forever,” The Explorers Club
“White Winter Hymnal,” Fleet Foxes
“Ragged Wood,” Fleet Foxes
“Inner City Pressure,” Flight of the Conchords
“Ready for the Floor,” Hot Chip
“Troubled Land,” John Mellencamp
“Time to Pretend,” MGMT
“Crawl,” Kings of Leon
“Notion,” Kings of Leon
“Use Somebody,” Kings of Leon
“Scare Easy,” Mudcrutch
“The Last Ocean,” Pictures and Sound
“It's You,” Pictures and Sound
“100 Directions,” Pictures and Sound
“Old Enough,” The Raconteurs
“Salute Your Solution,” The Raconteurs
“Sarah,” Ray LaMontagne
“Yell,” Robin Danar featuring Jesca Hoop
“Halfway Home,” TV on the Radio
“A-Punk,” Vampire Weekend
“Oxford Comma,” Vampire Weekend

2009
“My Girls,” Animal Collective
“Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat,” Beck
“It's All Good,” Bob Dylan
“That Western Skyline,” Dawes
“When My Time Comes,” Dawes
“The Rake's Song,” The Decemberists
“Southern Point,” Grizzly Bear
“Two Weeks,” Grizzly Bear
“While You Wait for the Others,” Grizzly Bear featuring Michael McDonald
“Never Had Nobody Like You,” M. Ward
“Couldn’t I Just Tell You,” Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs
“Go All the Way,” Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs
“Dear God,” Monsters of Folk
“Say Please,” Monsters of Folk
“Nobody Got No Bizness,” New York Dolls
“Don't Wanna Cry,” Pete Yorn
“Lisztomania,” Phoenix
“1901,” Phoenix
“Lasso,” Phoenix
“Rome,” Phoenix
“These Are My Twisted Words,” Radiohead
“Got Nuffin,” Spoon
“All For the Best,” Thom Yorke
“Magnificent,” U2
“Moment of Surrender,” U2
“Unknown Caller,” U2
“Get On Your Boots,” U2
“Exit Music (For a Film),” Vampire Weekend
“Bull Black Nova,” Wilco
“You and I,” Wilco
“You Never Know,” Wilco