Paléo and Playlists

The 42nd Paléo is rapidly approaching

Paléo, our local six day music festival is rapidly approaching. 230,000 people are expected and it’s just up the road (the train line actually). Daily reports will be available on Living In Nyon.

My music listening habits have changed over the years – I collected lots of vinyl as a student, then collected lots of CDs as technology changed, buying up a collection I could not afford when younger. Now it’s even easier to buy, but I struggle to know what to buy. I don’t drive much so don’t listen to music radio and hear new music.

Thats why festivals are so enjoyable. I don’t really know who is playing at Paléo, I will just turn up and wander over to the various stages and listen in. I always end up buying a few CDs or downloading the albums of artists I have heard.

The problem is that I hardly ever listen to them. They hardly ever end up on my “favourites”.

I’m not the first to point out that in the vinyl days you could expect one or two duff tracks out of seven or eight. These days it’s the other way around. And I can’t be bothered to make compilation playlists of the best songs – I just keep telling myself that I need to listen to the whole album a few more times and I will find some more gems. But I don’t.

Playlists and Background Music

The other thing is that music has become a background noise in our multi-tasking world. It’s easy to select a few albums, hit shuffle and voilà.

The thing is that kills the genius of the carefully crafted album. This hit home a few years ago when I went to an Alan Parsons Concert, and the Turn of a Friendly Card “suite” was played. I realized that I had not really given my full attention to listening to it for years (maybe decades). Gone are the days when I would put on an album, sit down with a glass in hand and listen to the music.

A few years ago a friend asked me for my top 5 songs so she could put a playlist together for my daughter.  Here they are, to be played in this order:

Deacon Blue   Dignity
Coldplay   Politik
Stevie Ray Vaughan   Wham
Sergio Mendes (& the Black Eyed Peas)   Mas Que Nada
George Benson   Beyond the Sea

Though if I had to do it again I would be tempted to put in Lamento Boliviano by Los Enanitos Verdes.

The sharp eyed amongst you will note that all these are all of a certain age. Yup. For the reasons above.

Choosing five is a pretty impossible task. I pretty much ended up listening to my record collection again, and somewhat cheated by making a whole series of “top 5s”, which one day will make a cracking playlist for when no-one else is around…. they are:

Top 5 Stevie Ray Vaughan
The House is Rockin’
Travis Walk
Say What!
Lookin’ Out The Window
Wham

Top 5 Alan Parsons Project
Limelight
Inside Looking Out
Cask of Amontillado
Nothing Left to Lose
Stereotomy

Top 5 Coldplay
Politik
Fix You
Speed of Sound
Vida la Vida
A Rush of Blood to the Head

Top 5 Classical
Dvorak Symphony No 9 1.Adagio
Mendelssohn Symphony No 3 3.Adagio
Rimsky Korsakov Hymn to the Sun
Rossini Semiramide
Schubert Symphony No 8 1.Allegro moderato

Top 5 Latin
Fito Paez   El Amor Despues Del Amor
Sergio Mendes (with Black Eyed Peas)   Mas Que Nada
Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto   The Girl from Ipanema
Jarabe de Palo   Depende
Gloria Estefan   Oye Mi Canto

Top 5 with “Time” in the title
John Miles   Time
Pink Floyd   Time
Alan Parsons Project   Time
Paul Weller   Time Passes
Sergio Mendes & Black Eyed Peas   Mas Que Nada (from the album Timeless) – OK thats a bit of a cheat!

Top 5 Rock
Climax Blues Band   Horizontalized
Fito Paez   A Rodar Mi Vida
Pink Floyd   Run Like Hell
Simple Minds   Sanctify Yourself
Ian Dury   Reasons to be Cheerful

Top 5 Nearly Made It
Dire Straights   Sultans of Swing (there are two versions – I want the version where Mark Knopfler sings “Thank you. Goodnight” in the last verse)
Jamiroquai   Canned Heat
John Miles   Music
Steely Dan   My Old School
Annie Lennox   Walking on Broken Glass

Top 5 Slower/Ballads
Deacon Blue   Dignity
Paul Weller   Wings of Speed
Del Amitri   Nothing Ever Happens
David Bowie   Life on Mars
George Benson   Beyond the Sea

Top 5 Instrumental
Alan Parsons Project   Sirius
Stevie Ray Vaughan   Wham
Alan Parsons Project   Paseo de Gracia
Gotan Project   La Gloria
Parov Stellar   Catgroove

Top 5 Tunes Inspired by Someone
Alan Parsons Project   Inside looking Out (Antoni Gaudi)
Alan Parsons Project   (The System of) Dr Tarr and Professor Feather (Edgar Alan Poe)
Johnny Clegg & Savuka   Asimbonanga (Nelson Mandela)
Jamiroquai   Little L (Denise van Outen)
Kate Bush   Wuthering Heights (Catherine & Heathcliff)

As I compose this I tried to figure out an album equivalent. Here it is:

My Top 5 albums
Coldplay  A Rush of Blood to the Head
Paul Weller  Stanley Road
10cc  The Original Soundtrack
Stevie Ray Vaughan  The Sky Is Crying
Electric Light Orchestra  Out of the Blue

5 That Nearly Made It
Jarabe de Palo  Depende
Fito Paez  El Amor Despues Del Amor
Climax Blues Band  Flying the Flag
John Miles  More Miles Per Hour
Daniel Melingo  Santa Milonga

5 Greatest Hits Albums
The Best of David Bowie 1969-1974
Hatful of Rain The Best of Del Amitri
10cc the Very Best of 10cc
Our Town Greatest Hits Deacon Blue
Reasons to be Cheerful Ian Dury and the Blockheads

5 albums to pull up a chair and pour a drink to
Alan Parsons Project Gaudi (Ok pretty much all of the APP albums)
10cc The Original Soundtrack
ELO Out of the Blue
Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon
Dire Straights Love Over Gold

And just for the record, here are:

5 Recent Additions to the Collection
Camel Breathless (OK it’s an oldie as well, but I didn’t buy it at the time…)
Imperial Tabasco  Funk is Back (the Valais’ finest!)
Michael Kiwanuka  Love & Hate
Heifervescent  Billy Comes Home EP (becoming a favorite…)
Pumarosa  The Witch

So let’s hope that Paléo inspires.