I don’t know if the rest of the iPod music community is as addicted to “shuffle” as I am, but I have to confess a deep love for the random. With my 160gig ipod in tow, I am in awe of the creative thought processes that derive from interesting musical combinations. The intersection of Billie Holiday and Trent Reznor on an overcast Thursday afternoon, or the junction of Black Metal and Doom Jazz on my daily commute can fuel my imagination for days.
In addition to the general creative stimulation of the shuffle feature, I love rediscovering a lost classic or two. Recently my iPod unearthed a relatively unknown classic circa 1988 by UK band “The Primitives”. It struck me that this band were two decades ahead of their time – essentially remaining obscure but pre-empting the current mass of indie girl-group inspired “noise pop” bands (Raveonettes, Best Coast, Vivian Girls etc.). Best of all they wrote some great songs. I urge anyone to resist the melody of “Crash” or the punk energy of “Stop Killing Me”. If you get a chance, grab their album “Lovely” – it’s been out of print on CD for years, but has recently been reintroduced digitally and can be picked up at iTunes or Amazon mp3.
While I still love the experience of a well-crafted album played front to back (preferably on vinyl in a dimly lit, acoustically balanced room), an 18,000 song library set to random shuffle is one of the great joys of living in the 21st century. Here’s to the modern age.