And now a few more doodles...

Here are a few recent doodles from the sketchbook....

MP3 Shuffle-a-gogo - now with Retsyn!

Simple rules: Set your MP3 delivery device of choice on shuffle, write down the first 10 songs. No skipping. Let's shuffle!

1. TALK TALK - Living in Another World (the Colour of Spring 1986) A luxuriously rich song from the third Talk Talk album (the one with the hit "Life's What You Make It"). I'm a big fan of Mark Hollis' voice, which sounds extra fab on this captivating mini epic of a song.
2. HUSKER DU - Something I Learned Today (Zen Arcade 1984) The lead off cut to the band's second studio album. Remember when Bob used to scream with wild abandon? I loved that.
3. DAVE ALVIN and the GUILTY WOMEN - Boss of the Blues (Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women 2009) A jazzy walking blues tune about Big Joe Turner with some nifty guitar from the former Blaster. I wasn't blown away by this album when it came out, but I love every song off it when they come up on a shuffle.
4. MANASSAS - Down the Road (Down the Road 1973) Off the second album from Stephen Stills short lived twangy side band. The record is erratic, but this song is pretty likeable even though it sounds sort of like it could have come off of a Dr Hook album.
5. the SUBURBS - Black Leather Stick (Ladies and Gentlemen, the Suburbs Have Left the Building compilation) Quirky Minneapolis new wave - this one was originally on the band's 1980 debut. I sometimes forget how weird their early stuff really was.
6. X - White Girl (Wild Gift 1981) I had a song off of this album on last week's shuffle, which is OK with me. You can never have too much X.
7. the dBs - Nothing Is Wrong (Ride the Wild Tom Tom 1993) My shuffle seems to love this and the other non essential dB's album (Paris Avenue). There are 5 stellar dB's releases, but my shuffle loves those 2 weird collections.
8. BIG BLACK - the Model (Songs About Fucking 1987) Big Black absolutely kill on this cover of the Kraftwerk song. And the cover of the 7" single is one of my favorite album parodies ever.
9. XTC - The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul (Skylarking 1986) The CD player just turned 30 years old last week and there was some talk around the web about "what was your first CD?". Mine was Skylarking, which I bought almost a year before I got my first CD player just so XTC could be my first CD purchase. As a bonus, I think a Mummer import ended up being the first used CD I ever bought.
10. MANASSAS - Rollin' My Stone (Down the Road 1973) This isn't bad, but it's sort of generic. Two Manassas songs on one shuffle?