Waldo Jaquith

My year in music.

For much of the year my listening habits have been automagically reported to Last.fm by iTunes. (In fact, I used to list my most recently played tracks on the sidebar of this blog.) Here are, according to Last.fm, my ten top listened-to artists in 2006:

  1. Bishop Allen
  2. Dave Matthews Band
  3. Mike Doughty
  4. They Might Be Giants
  5. Lyle Lovett
  6. Aimee Mann
  7. Elvis Costello
  8. Raphael Saadiq
  9. Richard Hawley
  10. Iron & Wine

Dave Matthews Band ranks highly, I suspect, because I have so many DMB tracks in iTunes (169 in total) that, when I listen in shuffle, their songs appear really often.

And my top songs:

  1. Iron & Wine – The Trapeze Swinger
  2. Aimee Mann – Save Me
  3. Asheru – For Old Time’s Sake
  4. Bishop Allen – Butterfly Nets
  5. Aimee Mann – Wise Up
  6. Emiliana Torrini – Sunny Road
  7. Aimee Mann – One
  8. Jose Gonzalez – Heartbeats
  9. Modest Mouse – Float On
  10. Jamie Lidell – Multiply

It’s odd how this compares to what I think I listen to the most. Todd Snider, The Postal Service, Liz Phair, Madeline Peyroux, King Wilkie, Johnny Cash, The Band…I’d have guessed that most of these would have made the list, but clearly not.

(Via Kottke)


8 Comments

“It’s odd how this compares to what I think I listen to the most.”

Just because something is playing, dosn’t mean you are really listening to it. My guess would be that some of those artists that didn’t make the list are the ones that you actually take time to soak in.

Kinda surprised by the overall lack of Eels. Rare are we in a car together where you are not talking about them. Then again, it’s pretty rare that we are in a car together.

Posted by Cory Capron on 30 December 2006 @ 4pm

Iron and Wine just happen to be one of those bands that you can accidentally listen to about 13 times on a lazy weekend.

Nice list…I somehow have had you pegged for a They Might Be Giants fan. This past week I’ve had Hotel Detective stuck in my head.

Posted by Sean Holihan on 31 December 2006 @ 12am

My top-played tracks in iTunes (i.e., over 20 plays, in a list of songs that’s 60 days long, since i got this computer a year ago):

1. Koji Kondo – theme from “Super Mario Bros. 2″ (1988)
2. James Brown – “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” (1965)
3. James Brown – “Get Up, Get Into it, and Get Involved” (1970)
4. James Brown and the Famous Flames – “Just You and Me” (1960)
5. Prince – “When You Were Mine” (1980)
6. Stereolab – “Super Electric” (1991)
7. the Jarmels – “A Little Bit of Soap” (1963)
8. Soul Vibrations – “the Dump” (1973)
9. Stereolab – “Brittle” (1991)
10. Shonen Knife – “Cycling is Fun” (1984)
11. Phyllis Dillon – “Make Me Yours” (1967)
12. Brian Eno – “Burning Airlines Give You So Much More” (1974)

Posted by james on 31 December 2006 @ 8pm

“Burning Airlines Give You So Much More” is such a great song. As is everything else on Taking Tiger Mountain.

Posted by Cory Capron on 2 January 2007 @ 12am

Yeah, once I got over the fact that it wasn’t as unbelievably perfect as “Here Come the Warm Jets,” I realized it was still a totally amazing record. My Favorites are definitely “Burning Airlines” and “Back in Judy’s Jungle,” although “Mother Whale Eyeless” and “Put a Straw Under Baby” are tied for a distant third.

“Another Green World” has some great moments too, but you probably already knew that.

Posted by james on 2 January 2007 @ 2am

‘Another Green World’ = definitive Eno album. IMHO. Because it encapsulates both the ambient and the pop phases of Eno.

Posted by Jack on 2 January 2007 @ 9am

I don’t trust any “indie” pop artist that hasn’t listened to the first three solo Eno albums. I don’t put my foot down much when it comes to music, but that is one of the few stands I’m willing to go out on a limb and stand by. They are just too important in how they laid out the tracks. Right up their with Television and VU.

Posted by Cory Capron on 2 January 2007 @ 3pm

Jack: I totally agree.

Posted by Cory Capron on 2 January 2007 @ 3pm