January playlists

January 2004
1. Last Goodbye - Jeff Buckley
2. I've Got You Under My Skin - Frank Sinatra
3. Wednesday Morning 3 a.m. - Simon & Garfunkel
4. Because - The Beatles
5. These Days - Nico
6. Saturday Sun - Nick Drake
7. Don't Leave Me Baby - Astrud Gilberto
8. Pale Blue Eyes - Velvet Underground
9. The Girl From The North Country - Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan
10. Tiny Dancer - Elton John
11. Don't Worry Baby - Beach Boys
12. Losing My Religion (unplugged) - REM
13. Ain't Never Loved A Man - Aretha Franklin
14. I Only Have Eyes For You - Flamingos
15. Ooh La La - The Faces
16. Homeward Bound - Simon & Garfunkel
17. To The End - Blur

This playlist not only persuaded me to go for a job (unpaid work on a film, where the Production Designer for whom I'd be working had listed at least three of the same tracks as his favourites) but gained me a new friend... or two (that Production Designer turned out to be none other than the fabulous Jimmy, who is still a buddy - and through him I met James D. and, of course, Leet & Tilda)

It also includes two of my favourite all time songs, Girl From The North Country & I Only Have Eyes For You, linked for your aural pleasure.


January 2005
Too much of January Oh-Five was spent worrying about my sister's seizures - a new occurence - and rushing up to Nottingham when it happened again to make playlists.


January 2006
1. Beating Hearts Baby - Head Automatica
2. Can't Lose - We Are Scientists
3. Neighborhood 1 (Tunnels) - Arcade Fire
4. Better Do Better - Hard Fi
5. This Modern Love - Bloc Party
6. Apply Some Pressure - Maximo Park
7. Fuck Ups - The Holloways
8. 50 To A Pound - The Paddingtons
9. Where Damage Isn't Already Done - The Radio Dept.
10. Transition - The Longcut
11. Bukowski - Modest Mouse
12. Nowhere Man - The Beatles
13. Drugs - Giant Drag
14. Misery Is A Butterfly - Blonde Redhead
15. Needle In The Hay - Elliott Smith
16. The Way I Feel Inside - The Zombies
17. The Rapid - The Oohlas

Last January was probably almost one of the worst on record. I made a playlist to try and perk myself up - evident in the first few tracks... it does kind of descend into melancholy though. Bad effort on my part. My two main memories: listening to The Rapid on repeat, and just walking and walking, right down Manhattan, and not even stopping once I reached the river, just getting on the Staten Island Ferry and staring blindly at an amazing sunset.

January 2007
Turn away now if you're one of the people who might be expecting one of these in the mail (along with the December playlist and/or a stack of 1960s birthday cards, a belated birthday present, or a general pick-me-up)

1. Soluble In Air - Mystery Jets
2. Street Spirit - Radiohead
3. Teignmouth - Patrick Wolf
4. Imagine - John Lennon
5. Come See Me Tonight - Daniel Johnston
6. These Boots Are Made For Walking - Nancy Sinatra
7. Like A Prayer - Madonna
8. Small Parts - The Oohlas
9. Laid - James
10. Kooks - David Bowie
11. Shiny Happy People - REM
12. Cold Things Start To Burn - The Exploding Boy
13. Happy Kid - Nada Surf
14. I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honeybunch) - Four Tops
15. Everybody's Talking - Nilsson
16. Daydreamin' - Lupe Fiasco f. Jill Scott
17. This Will Be Our Year - The Zombies
18. Gypsy Death & You - The Kills

We have yet to see what this year will do.

Man In Black

So I'm relatively certain I've written before about my love of Johnny Cash.

About my rad JC tee, as illustrated above, with the just-as-rad tee belonging to the one and only Chris Hall. About the bad January week a few years back in which I didn't open my curtains once, barely left my room, and listened to Johnny Cash on repeat [this was before anyone uttered the words "antidepressants"]. About the first time I worked on a film set - a couple weeks' working with the Production Designer - and got paid expenses - and a burned copy of the Johnny Cash Unearthed boxset. About how 'Girl From The North Country' with Bob Dylan is one of my top five all time favourite songs. About the amazing BBC docs and old Jools Holland footage they aired after Cash's death. About how when we got robbed a couple of years ago, two Johnny Cash LPs I'd ordered had turned up and when I walked in the house and discovered we'd been burgled [and once over the horror of having had my laptop nicked] I wondered aloud at the fact that these two amazing LPs had been left sitting on the table and that the burglars hadn't wanted them. About how recently Johnny Cash is pretty much all I've been listening to, on repeat...

A friend was telling me how someone she knew had seen that Walk The Line film and gotten into Cash as a result - but said she only wanted to buy the film soundtrack, as she didn't know if she'd actually like the original material. *Retarded*. It was a pretty good film, but face it, there ain't nothing like the original.

While I'm here, I should also say, y'all should check out the Million Dollar Sessions - Cash, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis; all in the studios at Sun Records, jamming, and Sam Phillips just left the tapes running...


Oh and also, on a totally different note, I know I wrote about how the Cobra Starship song was on repeat a couple weeks ago. My love has grown greater since I read the hilarious bio on their site - CobraStarship.com - and the fact that my lovely friend Alex Suarez of Ivy League is playing bass on tour with them. Godspeed, Cobra Starship.