Music Diary Project, Day Three

Just before 7 AM
Paul Westerberg - "Mr. Rabbit" (In a Payless Shoes commercial of all things)

Absolutely the last Paul Westerberg song I'd expect to hear in a national ad. Actually, I never thought I'd hear any Paul Westerberg song in an ad. I'm not an indie purist, and I've never believed in the theory that music is art and art alone, and should never be used to shill antacids or bargain-priced sneakers, but in the "never sell out" indie-rock world of 80s and 90s, this would have been anathema. Gen-X is aging. And it has families to feed and mortgages to pay.

3 PM-ish
Patrick Wolf - "The City" (via youtube)



This video is adorable -- a big ol' ball of cheesy fun. I like Patrick, but sometimes he comes dangerously close to appropriating the pop music from my childhood. I haven't decided wether this is a good thing or not.

Jasmin Levy - "Porque"
Rufus Wainwright - "April Fools"
Beth Ditto - "I Wrote the Book"
The Mountain Goats - "There Will Be No Divorce"

One thing I've noticed myself doing since I started this project is consciously varying what I listen to. Usually I get stuck on one album, or even one song, for a few days and play the hell out of it until I get bored and move on to something else. I haven't been doing that this week. Probably an easier, more authentic, way of keeping a music journal would be to just pick any random week, and do the write up later. I mean, by going back through my iPod or my last.fm playlists. There would be lots of repeat plays, sure, but that is how I listen to music.

Rufus Wainwright - "Dinner At Eight"
Jasmin Levy - "Hallelujah"
Grandpaboy - "2 Days 'Til Tomorrow"
Tift Merritt - "Shadow in the Way"
John Lennon - "Working Class Hero"

"Working Class Hero" is one of the few songs that always takes me back to the first time I heard it. Ten or eleven-years-old, it was the first "adult" song I ever loved and instantly understood. (Plus it was the first time I'd ever heard someone drop the "F-bomb" in a song uncensored.)