Friday, January 15, 2010

A Retrospective on FIve Years of Last.fm

1st track: Unknown - Unknown * ---
1000th track: Unknown - Unknown * ---
2000th track: Unknown - Unknown * ---
3000th track: SPARTA LOCALS - ƒ[ƒ‹ƒh 10 May 2005
4000th track: The Bruce Lee Band - 04 31 May 2005
5000th track: SPARTA LOCALS - Party 26 Jul 2005
6000th track: Crimpshrine - Summertime 31 Aug 2005
7000th track: Les Savy Fav - Hello Halo, Goodbye Glands 21 Sep 2005
8000th track: Dinosaur Jr. - The Post 13 Oct 2005
9000th track: N.W.A - Quiet on tha Set 25 Oct 2005
10000th track: Q and Not U - District Night Prayer 08 Nov 2005
11000th track: Operation Ivy - Bad Town 30 Nov 2005
12000th track: Blockhead - Cash 13 Dec 2005
13000th track: Breakfast - Vertigo 02 Jan 2006
14000th track: Stevie Wonder - Part-Time Lover 02 Mar 2006
15000th track: Sonic Youth - Teen Age Riot 23 Apr 2006
16000th track: Scared of Chaka - Time's Up 07 May 2006
17000th track: Earth, Wind & Fire - September 07 Jun 2006
18000th track: Shinobu - boourns 22 Jun 2006
19000th track: Operation Ivy - Smiling 02 Sep 2006
20000th track: The Weakerthans - Illustrated Bible Stories for Children 16 Sep 2006
21000th track: 銀杏BOYZ - No Future No Cry 04 Oct 2006
22000th track: Miles Davis - Moon Dreams 31 Oct 2006
23000th track: Common Rider - Toss Around 14 Nov 2006
24000th track: Slow Gherkin - Shed Some Skin 29 Nov 2006
25000th track: I Need Sleep - Parasite 11 Dec 2006
26000th track: Yuri Misumi - The Wonderful Star's Walk Is Wonderful 22 Dec 2006
27000th track: Zazen Boys - No Time 10 Jan 2007
28000th track: Modest Mouse - Doin' the Cockroach 27 Jan 2007
29000th track: Slow Gherkin - Baby Snake 10 Feb 2007
30000th track: Jawbreaker - Boxcar 08 Mar 2007
31000th track: Skankin' Pickle - The Dub 27 Mar 2007
32000th track: 曽我部恵一 - 3つの部屋 13 Apr 2007
33000th track: Beastie Boys - Time to Get Ill (Instrumental) 25 Apr 2007
34000th track: Daft Punk - Aerodynamic 07 May 2007
35000th track: Leatherface - Baked Potato 22 May 2007
36000th track: Jawbreaker - Pack it Up 12 Jun 2007
37000th track: Hüsker Dü - Beyond the Threshold 06 Jul 2007
38000th track: Dinosaur Jr. - Almost Ready 25 Jul 2007
39000th track: Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - Da Introduction 01 Oct 2007
40000th track: 東京事変 - Metro 17 Oct 2007
41000th track: Fruity - Love Your Tummy (Live) 31 Oct 2007
42000th track: Dinosaur Jr. - No Bones 21 Nov 2007
43000th track: Bad Manners - Mafia 05 Dec 2007
44000th track: Billy Bragg - The Busy Girl Buys Beauty 22 Dec 2007
45000th track: 2Pac - Keep Ya Head Up 11 Jan 2008
46000th track: Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Barstool Blues 01 Feb 2008
47000th track: A Tribe Called Quest - Electric Relaxation 21 Feb 2008
48000th track: Beastie Boys - Something's Got To Give 11 Mar 2008
49000th track: The Constantines - Goodbye Baby & Amen 29 Mar 2008
50000th track: Public Enemy - Welcome To The Terrordome (1990) 18 Apr 2008
51000th track: The Cherry Tempo - A Conjoining Sense of Togetherness 10 May 2008
52000th track: MASS OF THE FERMENTING DREGS - ???? 05 Jun 2008
53000th track: Guided by Voices - Hot Freaks 24 Jun 2008
54000th track: Flower Travellin' Band - Satori Part 4 08 Apr 2009
55000th track: Violent Children - Live free or die 19 Apr 2009
56000th track: Dr. Dre - LOLO (INTRO) Featuring Xzibit 28 Apr 2009
57000th track: Buffalo Daughter - Counter Parrot 17 May 2009
58000th track: 2Pac - California Love feat. Dr. Dre 16 Jun 2009
59000th track: four tomorrow - About my unclearly far fuckin' tomorrow song 30 Jun 2009
60000th track: Perfume - love the world 24 Jul 2009
61000th track: 矢野顕子 - Denwasen 24 Aug 2009
62000th track: Gucci Crew II - Sally (That Girl) 17 Sep 2009
63000th track: Thao with The Get Down Stay Down - Bag of Hammers 19 Oct 2009
64000th track: Still Flyin' - Dead Memory Man 07 Nov 2009
65000th track: 7Seconds - Out Of Touch (Live) 19 Nov 2009
66000th track: 細野晴臣 - 北京ダック 30 Nov 2009
67000th track: Yellow Magic Orchestra - Rydeen 19 Dec 2009

Friday, January 08, 2010

It's Not a Day Wasted



Seeing the Slow Gherkin reunion last week had me thinking all sorts of stupid tripe that I wasn't sure should really be put out in to the ether, but here I find myself on the toilet pooping and typing away while the Wire plays in the next room.

Slow Gherkin played such a big part in my development as a person, insomuch as that music has played a huge role in my life, and Slow Gherkin is one of the few lasting musical influences in my life that has withstood the transition from teenager with poor taste to balding young adult with slightly less questionable taste. I was never under the illusion that Slow Gherkin were superstars of any sort, but always thought of them as a band that had made it. A touring band, with records on Asian Man Records, playing all across the country and around the world. I was just happy that I could see them locally a million times a year if I so chose, because other people around the country wouldn't have had the same chance.

Now that I have many of the same achievements under my belt as they did (Asian Man, tours, blah blah blah, poorly attended local shows) I can't help but feel really strange about how I admired them so much. Make no mistake, I still admire the hell out of them, but it's strange feeling extremely ordinary as I do knowing that they are ordinary just like me. There's probably some kids out there who thought the world of Shinobu, not fully grasping how ordinary we really were (and are).

However, I still feel like Slow Gherkin's existence was so much more significant than Shinobu's, by far! But, I found it a bit heartening to think that maybe someone might feel the same way about me and my friends as I did about my teenage heroes. I'm still considering my options as far as continuing to pursue the rock & roll lifestyle, but I'm extremely happy to see these people that I so admire living their lives and being real people. I don't feel so bad about, nor fear, facing my life and living it.