I'm losing my wit. When I started this blog my titles had a little more umph to them, now its just like... uhh, something. I have no idea what to title this but its really because its not a normal post. It's not a ranting and raving type post, nor is it a card post, or even a thrifting post. This was one I thought of doing spur of the moment showing off yet another love I have- music. No, I'm not a musician per se, or at all really. I fizzled out of band class in fifth grade. I can play a plastic recorder, but I tried out a lot of instruments in band to a point none were the right fit. I started on clarinet, then baritone, then maybe tuba. Then I tried drums, also maybe the other percussion once sitting in playing the triangle. I didn't quite make it. I loved to sing though, and while my mom says I sing good, I beg to differ. I was in chorus a few years, but it wasn't much. About 15 years ago, maybe a little longer, I did kind of release an album. By releasing I mean, I made some crappy music and gave a copy to a friend. Even in high school I had dreams of working in music. Maybe a rock star (you know the kind that can't sing, play and instrument, or really dance.... so like Britney Spears maybe? Hmm, that explains why I liked her so much). Then I figured I can't make music, why not play it? So I thought of being a radio DJ. In fact I did tour the college radio station when I visited the college I couldn't afford to attend and didn't. Anyways, I did make an album. I even may or may not have a Last FM listing. My fictional band was called Chaotic Spring Jumpers. My music was more of re-arranging musical tracks you may or may not know and love and make you not like it. So I was kind of a front runner of the Youtube and TikTok creator There I Ruined It. It also explains why I like their content (though I don't have TikTok, so Youtube is good enough). The music I created was part mash up, part just changing the treble and all the other things that makes a song good. I really wish I could show you a track listing, but when my hard drive messed up a few years ago and all 360+ GB's of music (which if played 24/7 would take 4 1/2 months) was lost, it included my created music.
Ooh, I found my Last FM page. I wrote a biography, and here it is. I'm not sure if I only created 6 tracks for the album, which I don't have the cover listed on the page, but still have a copy of the cover somewhere (which again was a photo I found on the internet and just added words to). Here are the 6 tracks.
Hmm, Love (CSJ Mash-up)- This was a mash up of Where Is The Love by the Black Eyed Peas over the intstrumental of Crash Test Dummies' Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm. I actually played this one more than any other song I created.
Sister Golden Hair (Broken Cassette Cut)- This was the song Sister Golden Hair but I messed around with the reverb and other stuff on it. Audacity had a lot of options with messing with stuff and I just did that until it was something I like. I guess you could compare it to the VHS video camera look some people use today, this was just a song that sound like a warped cassette tape.
Shake Your Baby Fat (Race Against Time Trip Mix)- This was messing around with a song called Shake Your Baby Fat and I'm not sure who the artist was, or even how I heard about the song. Anyways I sped it up and probably messed with other stuff on it. I listened to this song quite often, and to be honest I could imagine it being played at a club.... if I went clubbing.
Friday (CSJ SuperBass Bootcut)- This was long before Nicki Minaj had the superbass. This was that lovely earworm song Friday by Rebecca Black, and somehow I made it worse! I pumped up the bass like to the max and maybe made some other changes. Honestly it was the worst track on the album, through no fault of the original song on its own. I mean all the songs I picked I did listen to enough that I wanted to mess around with them, so I liked the original.
I Write Sins Not Tragedies (CSJ Dub-Mix)- Instead of speeding this one up, I slowed this Panic At The Disco song down a lot. Remember the scene in Home Alone 2 with the Talkboy? CREDIT CARD? YOU GOT IT! Well imagine if this song sounded like that. I also might have messed around with it more. I can't remember at this point.
The Teaches of LumiDaddy (Hidden Deep In The Depths of Hell Bonus Track)- So this was another mashup and I played this one often as well. This was the song The Teaches Of Peaches over the instrumental of a Lumidee song. I forgot which one because I haven't listened to Lumidee in a long time and if you remember her, it was probably that song you're thinking of. It wasn't bad in a mashup sense, but it was a hidden track because The Teaches Of Peaches was not a song you'd play for friends. Well unless you have a friend who likes Peaches who is a strange artist. Her song was featured on the Jackass 2 soundtrack, and I just listened to her version a few days ago which prompted me telling a friend who then listened to it. The two mashups are the songs I created I miss the most.
I can say about 12 years ago (which makes this album I created probably closer to 20 years old or at least over 15) I thought of making new music. This new album was going to be actually me singing over the beat of instrumentals of rap songs. Again, they weren't going to be good, but just a project I wanted to do. I spent time searching for instrumentals, and even wrote out lyrics to a couple of the songs, and ideas for other songs. That was all along I got. Fortunately I didn't lose all that stuff, I just lost interest in it. Around covid time, I found it again and thought about reviving it, but didn't. Then about a year or two ago I thought of making another album that was somewhat similar to this first entry. Again I checked out a few things, but I think I lost interest again, and it was also when my desktop messed up, so it was tough to work on. Maybe one day I'll work on both new albums. Maybe the one I wrote lyrics to, I can just create music through AI, which would sound better than something I could create.
Having wrote all of that, I think all of that was the intro. Not really what I was going to discuss, because I think I might have talked about some of it before. My point of this point was that I've always loved music. I still listen to FM radio and I don't really care for Spotify or XM or any other type of radio. I occasionally use Tune In to find a far away FM station though. I've also found a website that tracks radio station playlists and I use that to find music I forgot about or new music. Last year I decided to make a playlist on Youtube of music I was currently enjoying. While I love 90s music, I still give current music a shot and still enjoy quite a bit. I listen to more pop music than ever, but I created a playlist that I planned to update from time to time. At the end of the year I decided to make another playlist of my favorite songs of 2024. I usually made a chart of my favorite songs, but didn't last year and just used this playlist. I did it so I could take songs off the current list and also in a way archive 2024 musically so one day I can look and see what I played throughout the year. Some were major hits, some nobody really heard of and some were older songs I first heard in the year. After I had two different playlists, I decided to make more. I get in a mood to just go on a musical journey and listen to music. The algorhithm on Youtube is weird, so sometimes I pick a song, then just play a song they suggested on the side. Other times I hear songs and it reminds me of other songs and I'll listen to that. So for the last few weeks I've randomly made playlists of songs and today I thought I'd not only link the playlists, but talk about some of the songs on them. Now we are out of the intro.
This is music usually released in the last year (I think most are the last 6 months) that I've found either through the radio or through Youtube that I enjoy. Charli XCX has really re-emerged in the last year and I really like her new stuff. I remember a few years ago posting on here about finding her album Sucker and being happy about it. The only problem is she was raised in clubs and the rave scene and her videos usually give epileptic seizures. Half joking they actually do include disclaimers at the beginning of her videos.
I won't talk about every song in detail or even artist but the playlist does include the following artists-
Jessie Murph (I really became a fan of hers' this year)
Kasey Musgraves
Rose & Bruno Mars
Beabadoobee
ANOTHR (I only heard of this through Youtube, but kind of a song that pumps you up)
Mike Posner
Gracie Abrams
Blake Shelton
Hollywood Undead
Shaboozey (a new song, not the Tipsy one)
Flo Rida
Memphis May Fire
Pop Evil
Maggie Rose
SZA
Hailey Witters
There is more, but that's an idea. I listen to country, pop, rock, heavy metal, acoustic, almost anything outside of Jazz or Classical. I even dabble in blues. This playlist may be updated shortly after I post this because Youtube releases new stuff on a playlist on Fridays and I try to check it out. If nothing else some of these artists are up for Grammys if you still watch the awards.
My next playlist is my songs of 2024 list. A lot of similar artists but here is a sampling.
Kendrick Lamar
Sabrina Carpenter
Chappell Roan
Dua Lipa
Tate McRae
Madison Beer
Billie Eilish
Tinashe
21 Savage
Doja Cat
Dasha
Jelly Roll
Vampire Weekend
XG
Halsey
Tim McGraw
Rare Americans (this was a nice find, a storytelling rock/pop song which is an anthology story, this one is part 3)
The Decemberists
Afroman
Lana Del Rey
If you told me a few years ago I'd listen or even know who most of these are I wouldn't believe you. My musical tastes have changed, but unlike most people stuck in the past I can adapt and listen to modern stuff. XG is a female K-Pop group. I can understand their lyrics (which are in English) better than most rappers. Chappell Roan and Tate McRae really broke out for me this year, and Afroman can still make music (the good part might be up for debate but he still sounds the same). Jelly Roll is growing on me as well. Some songs from the current list is on this one too, and some artists, but still its more to catalog what I listened to throughout the year more than anything.
This crappily titled playlist begins my randomness, a mix of old and new but usually starts out with a theme. On this day I kind of wanted some dance music. Artists on this list include:
Fatboy Slim
Dee-Lite
Daft Punk
Jamiriquai
Junior Senior
Calvin Harris
The Chemical Brothers
Darude
Eric Prydz
Moby
Avicii
It started to fall off at the end with other stuff, but my goal with these is an hour or two of music sometimes stuff I haven't heard in a while, sometimes stuff I have. Avicii and Mike Posner are common go to artists but a lot of this I enjoy but never listen as much as I want to.
I mentioned a website earlier that I find radio station playlists. I'm starting to make a master playlist of songs on a spreadsheet, and sometimes seeing songs I haven't heard in a while gives me motivation to seek them out and start a new Youtube playlist. My goal for the spreadsheet is just to have a huge music list, but also to rebuild my music library one day so I can not have to rely on Youtube. Also to find new music or forgotten ones.
Since this is a thin picture blog today I figure I'll throw a couple pictures up now to break up the words.
These were the 99 and 1 puzzles my friend got me for Christmas. They don't really stay together well, but they were fun to put together. I finished the cat one with help with my sister a bit, and my mom did most of the food one. They are fun concept puzzles, but I'm not sure I'd get them, they fall apart so easy. As you can tell by the outside not sticking together. In a bit I'll show a couple more recently completed puzzles.
And now more music playlists.
This was when I decided to make this a thing and put a date on them. Not to create a vibe or go back to later, but more so I can remember when I listened to music. I don't plan on doing this everyday, and I'm not going to make a playlist for everytime I listen to music on Youtube, but I don't want to do a playlist 10 days in a row. Maybe 1-2 a week. then the rest of the time I just won't make playlists. This theme started out as 90's country.
John Michael Montgomery
Ricochet
Joe Diffie
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
David Lee Murphy
Kentucky Headhunters
David Allan Coe
John Anderson
Steve Earle
Marshall Tucker Band
Then it moved into rock and other stuff like:
Seven Mary 3
Daniel Powter
Avril Lavigne
My Chemical Romance
Twenty One Pilots
Paramore
Chris Cornell
Switchfoot
This one was one that had algorithm issues and it moved away from what I wanted, then I just searched for stuff I wanted to hear. Sometimes I'll pick the official music video, but most of the time I just choose the audio or lyric videos to not only save memory, but I figure most of these are playlists you might want to hear in the background while doing something. If its something you like you can always search for the official music video. Some instances I don't have a choice or I just really like the music video. I also prefer the lyric videos because I do like singing along.
This one might have been the start of when I tried to really have around 30 or so songs. The idea at the beginning of this one was songs from movies. I had an idea of what I wanted to start with, but the algorithm wasn't cooperative so I think I basically searched for all of these.
Jimmy Buffett
Bill Paxton
Randy Newman
Paul McCartney (very rarely do I listen to any Beatles songs or from any members but he did the song for the movie Spies Like Us)
Ray Stevens
Michael Winslow
David Coverdale
Kate Nash
Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes
Stillwater
The Lone Rangers
Cab Calloway
Gary Busey
Frankie Laine
Smashing Pumpkins
David Koechner
Some were songs that played in a feature scene, others were just background songs. Stillwater was the fictional band from Almost Famous, The Lone Rangers was the fictional band from Airheads. Bill Paxton sang a song in Club Dread, Ray Stevens did the Cannonball Run song. Gary Busey was when he played Buddy Holly and David Koechner sang in the move The Comebacks. Since I picked most of these songs this might be the best curated list I made just because I had an idea of what I wanted to hear.
I mentioned The Teaches of Peaches earlier, and I listened to the song. i decided not to include that on a playlist because while not all these songs are clean, that one might have gone a bit too far if you never heard it. Oddly though I do include Insane Clown Posse so I mean its not that different. So instead of Peaches, I decided to beign with the song Peaches from The Presidents of the United States of America. I didn't really have a theme for this date, it was more of a see where it takes me. Though I noticed they changed the side panel so at times it was tougher to go with the flow. Anyways here's who's on this playlist among others:
Spiderbait
Skillet
Breaking Benjamin
Hoobastank
Default
Staind
Theory Of A Deadman
Pillar
Trapt
Insane Clown Posse (WHO'S GOING CHICKEN HUNTIN'?)
Dropkick Murphys
Dave Matthews Band
Kirk Franklin
Montell Jordan
T.I.
Outkast
At one point the suggestions weren't good so I randomly though of songs I hadn't heard in a while. Thats how I jumped from ICP and Dropkick Murphys to Gospel. T.I. is an artist I listen to quite often. Most of these playlists I go into with the idea of not playing stuff I listen to a lot, but when I get in a mood I just listen. At the end I had a bit of a theme with Outkast's Bombs Over Baghdad followed by Squad Five-O's Bombs Over Broadway, then a group called RXG with Bob Yo Head. A lot of B.O.B. but none from the artist B.O.B who had a song called Airplanes with Hayley Willams of Paramore. I decided not to list every artist on these nor most of the song titles so you could check them out if you wanted.
This playlist I planned to do and write a blog about earlier on Thursday, but I got started on other stuff and didn't make it in time. The theme was Three-peat Thursday, and the idea was three songs from 1 artist. In the end I chose 12 female artists whose songs I mostly haven't heard in a while. I am a big fan of singer songwriters and storytellers and that theme plays out with this playlist.
Kasey Chambers
Leigh Nash/Sixpence None The Richer
Joan Osbourne
Tift Merritt
The Wreckers
Kacey Musgraves
Brandi Carlile
Ingrid Michaelson
Natalie Merchant
ZZ Ward
K-Flay
Jessie Murph
The idea began when I heard Lose Yourself from Eminem on the radio. First I revisited the Youtube classic Mom's Spaghetti which someone edited Lose Yourself into a song about spaghetti. It didn't fit this theme, but late last year I found out one of my favorite Australian singer songwriters Kasey Chambers did a chilling cover of Lose Yourself. Its been a month or two since I heard it and wanted to hear it again. Now the song from Eminem is very personal. While its easy to sing along to, you can tell that it was autobiographical to him about his upbringing. Somebody who really wants to cover it has to have felt that same pain. Kasey Chambers has suffered a lot as an artist. Her first hit was a song Not Pretty Enough (which is also on this playlist), and it sets her up as someone who might lack confidence, but the truth is, she's a fighter. Dropped from labels, being labeled an outcast, a painful divorce, made her tough. The way she arranged this song is amazing. She is not only covering it... it's tough to explain, and honestly listening to it a few times makes it easier to understand. There are reaction videos on Youtube of this and most are amazed at how she covered it. She starts off slow, a bit shaky. You might think she's nervous, but her singing is also storytelling, because as the song progresses she gains that confidence. Its not that she was nervous at all, she adding a layer of storytelling on top of the actual song. "He's weak, palms are sweaty" she's acting that out in her singing. "he was playing in the beginning, the mood's all changed" you will know as you listen her mood has changed. She's a fighter she's up for the challenge. I rarely use chilling to describe a song, much less a cover, but I will say knowing her and her story, I got a legit tear in my eye listening to this song. I got one when I heard it again yesterday. It's a song you'll just have to listen to to understand.
The other artists one this list are mostly ones I really like but haven't listened to in a while. Leigh Nash is the lead singer of Sixpence None the Richer, and she has released solo stuff, but its not for everyone. Joan Osbourne's album which included One of Us was one I remember playing a lot in the 90s usually all the way through. Tift Merritt I discovered by mistake, and really liked and its been a few years since I've heard these songs. The Wreckers were a duo including Michelle Branch, they had 1 or 2 albums and then broke up. I like a few of the songs. Kacey Musgraves I listen to quite often, the songs I picked were 3 of my favorites, and a couple I haven't heard in a while. Brandi Carlile much like Kacey Musgraves I found quite earlier then their fame. The Story from Brandi is one I forget by name, but one I love hearing. Ingrid Michaelson I may have discovered through One Tree Hill, and I liked a lot of her stuff. It was nice to hear some of those again. Natalie Merchant I liked in the late 90s as my sister had her Tigerlily CD. I actually prefer her solo stuff over when she fronted 10,000 Maniacs. ZZ Ward is a singer I discovered through the radio and has a bit of a bluesy vibe to, but I really like it. Break Your Heart is one I should listen to more. K-Flay I also discovered through radio and is one I wish would be a bit more popular. She has had songs featured in movies, but I thinks shes still a bit unknown. Blood In The Cut is the one most people might be familiar with. Lastly is Jessie Murph. I mentioned her earlier, but I just heard of her last year with a song with Jelly Roll called Wild Ones. She has a unique voice, but then I checked out her other songs beyond the radio ones with artists like Teddy Sims, and she is a good storyteller. I wanted 3 solo songs from her, but did choose a duet with Koe Wetzel because I really wanted to hear that song and it was the last song on the playlist. Overall I think more thought went into this playlist then any other.
I plan to continue making these and for now I have them unlisted, but I might make them public. I hope the links will still work if I do. Unlisted just means you can't search for them. Future playlists I think I'll keep unlisted but will either link on my Twitter or maybe throw them on here when I do blogs. I just may not talk about them like I did for these.
As I said, I really like music so these playlists weren't really to make a post, but I figured I would make one in case people wanted to hear some music. If you have ideas for a playlist let me know. I usually like to have a theme when I make an actual playlist. When I just listen I go with the flow. Ideas I have for future ones include possibly arena rock ones or pump up songs (thinking of a Super Bowl playlist or something). Wrestling theme songs, baseball (for opening day), and then whatever crosses my mind. I'm not sure how long I'll keep these playlists up because I don't want like 200 playlists and I do have other playlists so I figure at the end of the year I'll delete some. I have two other accounts on Youtube and one day I'll show off other playlists. One is sports related stuff, so that could be fun. Before I wrap it up I think I'll show a couple more pictures.
The top one is the newest puzzle my mom has started, it is a melon farmer. Much like Charles Bronson was in Mr. Majestik. The next one is a recently finished one that was 400 pieces. I never got the chance to work on it, my mom finished it pretty quick.
Lastly is Bumble from Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer (and he still has his teeth). He was celebrating my mom's birthday. We had a family get together and it was pretty fun. I also got to show my nieces the movie Napoleon Dynamite. They are teenagers and I'm not sure what they would enjoy so I try to find something for them to do. if nothing else they have their phones, but I still like to make an effort. They did really enjoy looking at old photos. I still like having old photos, and I really want to finish sorting and scanning all of our family photos. One day I would really like to get digital photo frames for each of my family members and have a flash drive or memory card so they card each have the photos. They can keep whatever ones they want, but its a bit of a shame that my mom and I have all these photos just sitting in a box (or in some cases scanned) and nobody can really see them. I prefer film photos over digital ones because to me they made moments more special. Now you can take 20 photos in 10 seconds and while you have the proof of that moment, you don't really savor it. At least I figure most people don't look though their photos as much. I'm the same way. Also "back in the old days" you didn't take 20 photos of your dog or selfies. I don't mind them, but still they don't feel as special. But I'm rambling and its late so its time to go. Thanks for going on a musical journey with me.
I hope everyone has a great day and weekend. As for me, I'm hoping the weather warms up like promised and I can open the windows a bit and maybe go to storage. Then I might also do some more computer cleaning, but the hard parts mostly done, so that will just be more time consuming than hard. Anyways, hope everyone has had a great start of 2025 and if not, I hope it gets better. I'm just trying to stay positive (at least on the outside, maybe on the inside I have more anxiety about current events, but.... GOTTA STAY POSITIVE!).
OOH I FOUND MY ALBUM COVER! ENJOY!
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