Happy Accidents, Volume 2 (The 8-Hour Work Day Edition)

[Happy Accidents is a recurring feature dedicated to the fascinating phenomenom that is an iPod on shuffle.]

When I got to work today, I decided I was going to hit shuffle on my iPod and not skip one song. I find that when you do skip a song, it sucks battery energy like you had actually played the tune; if you skip 20 songs in a row, a big chunk of your power disappears. I wanted to see if my iPod was in it for the long haul, and I wanted to hear some songs I don't usually listen to. Here's the mammoth list...It's amazing how much music you can listen to in one work day (That would be 97 songs).

Spoon: “Back To The Life”
Method Man: “Bring The Pain”
Beastie Boys: “Putting Shame In Your Game”
Arctic Monkeys: “From The Ritz To The Rubble”
A Tribe Called Quest: “Keep It Rollin’” (feat. Large Professor)
Jose Gonzalez: “Crosses”
Fugazi: “Margin Walker”

For a long time, I skipped Fugazi tracks on my iPod because they were mixed so quietly. But I used the iTunes function where you can raise the natural volume of a track. Fugazi sounds vicious through the earbuds now.

Dinosaur Jr: “Freak Scene”
Lady Sovereign: “Random”
…Trail Of Dead: “Totally Natural”
Rocket From The Crypt: “Out Of Control”
The Walkmen: “Emma, Get Me A Lemon”
Blur: “End Of A Century”
Queens Of The Stone Age: “I Wanna Make It Wit Chu” (live)
Dizzee Rascal: “Learn”
Buzzcocks: “Autonomy”
D’Angelo: “Brown Sugar”
The Clash: “The Guns Of Brixton”
Radiohead: “Sulk”
Boogie Down Productions: “Poetry”
The (English) Beat: “Mirror In The Bathroom”
The Police: “A Sermon”
Grizzly Bear: “Knife”

I don't really know what the lyrics to this song are, but it feels very romantic to me, like it'll be played at indie-weddings for years to come.

Ryan Adams: “Is This It”
The Afghan Whigs: “66”
The Raconteurs: “Level”
Queens of the Stone Age: “Ode To Clarissa”
Arctic Monkeys: “Fake Tales of San Francisco”
The Jimi Hendrix Experience: “Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland)?”
Elvis Costello & The Attractions: “Radio, Radio”
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists: “C.I.A.”
Souls Of Mischief: “93 ‘Til Infinity”
King Khan & The Shrines: “Welfare Bread”
Jimmy Cliff: “Many Rivers To Cross”
Foo Fighters: “Good Grief”
Mos Def: “Do It Now” (feat. Busta Rhymes)
Radiohead: “Karma Police”
Kings Of Leon: “Camaro”
Rage Against The Machine: “Maria”

I place my vote for this as Rage's best song

The Cure: “Let’s Go The Bed”
David Bowie: “Diamond Dogs”
Ghostface Killah: “Last Night”

It's sad I don't really have any friends I can bond with over the glorious hilarity of Ghostface. I have Joel on a program though; he's on the come up.

Radiohead: “Climbing Up The Walls”
At The Drive-In: “Sleepwalk Capsules”
Sublime: “DJ’s”
The Futureheads: “Back To The Sea”
Queens of the Stone Age: “Auto Pilot”
Deftones: “Cherry Waves”
The Cure: “Prayer For Rain”
Interpol: “Roland”
Manu Chao: “Merry Blues”
Ryan Adams: “Shakedown On 9th Street”
Nas: “Thief’s Theme”

This song is so sick, it's no wonder Scorsese used it in The Departed.

Foo Fighters: “Learn To Fly”
The Band: “The Weight”
Cannibal Ox: “Pigeon”

It was weird - the second this song started, I looked out my office window and saw a pigeon flying away.

Foo Fighters: “Exhausted”
Maceo & The Macks: “Cross The Tracks (We Better Go Back)”
Prince & The New Power Generation: “Thieves In The Temple”

It's very hard to talk to a young college-age guy about his debauched vacation in the Caribbean while the New Power Generation is cooing in your ear. And all I could think of was Prince's giant hair, and him riding through foggy alleyways on his motorcycle.

The Clash: “Garageland”
Led Zeppelin: “Bring It On Home” (live)
Kings Of Leon: “Fans”
Deltron 3030: “Things We Can Do”

Does anyone else think that Ludacris sounds just like Del, just with a Southern drawl?

Wu-Tang Clan: “Clan In Da Front”
De La Soul: “Eye Know”
…Trail Of Dead: “Mistakes & Regrets”
Dirty Pretty Things: “You Fucking Love It”
T. Rex: “Bang A Gong (Get It On)”
Beck: “Jack-Ass”
Jeff Buckley: “Vancouver”

This song sounds like old pre-breakthrough R.E.M. played backwards.

Spoon: “Waiting For The Kid To Come Out”
R.E.M.: “Radio Free Europe”
Rocket From The Crypt: “Venom Venom”
LCD Soundsystem: “North American Scum”
Guided By Voices: “I Am Scientist”

In keeping with the title of this feature, and the serendipity it implies, this song offered a bit of cosmic alignment today. I just got it; all these years reading about the ramshackle grandeur of Bee Thousand. And today, this song revealed its true self to me, like rays of sunlight through the clouds.

Guillemots: “Trains To Brazil”
David Bowie: “Look Back In Anger”
The Kinks: “Tired Of Waiting For You”
The Shins: “New Slang”
Hot Snakes: “XOX”
Bob Dylan: “Visions Of Johanna”
The Verve: “Catching The Butterfly”
Tangiers: “Here Come The Pieces”
Justin Timberlake: “My Love” (DFA Mix)
The Rolling Stones: “I Got The Blues”
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists: “The One Who Got Us Out”
Cassie: “Me & U”

What?? I like it. I don't care what you think. The track is sublime; it sounds like it was based on sounds from PBS' Nova.

The Black Crowes: “Jealous Again”
Mos Def: “Beef”
The Exploding Hearts: “Rumours In Town”
Queens Of The Stone Age: “Supa Scoopa & Mighty Scoop” (live)
The Kinks: “Starstruck”
Chavez: “Our Boys Will Shine Tonight”
My Bloody Valentine: “Come In Alone”
Josh Homme, Nick Oliveri & Brad Wilk: “All The Same”

No one knows this song. It's from the soundtrack to The Dangerous Life of Altar Boys. It's one of Josh Homme's most melodic, mainstream-sounding rock songs. A nice big anthem. Definitely seek it out.

Outkast: “So Fresh, So Clean”
Jay-Z: “Dirt Off Your Shoulder”
The Damned: “Fan Club”
The Black Keys: “Your Touch”
The White Stripes: “Rag & Bone”

Meg is so cute.