I tend to be an obsessive music listener. I get hooked on a couple things and I play them to death, interspersing some other things for a little variety.
Also, I don't really listen to the radio because I'm a control freak when it comes to music. I want to hear what I want when I want. But this morning, I decided to ask iTunes what I should listen to. So, I checked out some features I never use, namely iTunes DJ and Genius.
I'm not sure how DJ and Genius differ in their back-end approaches but you can see from the playlists they created from my library that they do indeed differ. I found it interesting that Genius repeated some artists while not including other artists in the library that are unrepresented.
As to which playlist I prefer, I'm torn. I sure love that the Genius included The Teardrop Explodes and The Monochrome Set -- making sure my high school playlist is represented -- but I rarely listen to Paolo Nutini and Editors.
On the other hand, the iTunes DJ selected tunes by Kelli Ali and Giorgia that I couldn't hum if you asked me to. But it does have a great live version of "Orchid Girl" by Aztec Camera.
Check out the "most played" playlist I just created and you have proof of that obsessive listening I mentioned above. The two main artists you see there are not all I've listened to, but you can't argue with the numbers. They are the two artists I've listened to more than any other this year.
Further down this playlist -- if I'd expanded it to 100 titles -- you'd find Athlete, Elvis Costello, Glasvegas, Subsonica, Bic Runga, Bob Dylan and others. I'm surprised that some tunes by the likes of Lily Allen, Placebo, Carmen Consoli and others didn't even crack the top 100.
These playlists are only drawn from my iTunes library, which currently numbers 3,171 songs for a total of eight days, 12 hours, 50 minutes and 30 seconds. It doesn't include the music on the iPod that I use as an mp3 server. That has 3,050 songs for another eight days, 8 hours, 38 minutes and 15 seconds of music.
There is a bit of overlap between the two devices, but not much. There would be considerably more variety if I could make a list that would encompass both libraries. Plus, I also play CDs on the computer and in the car, so the most played isn't an entirely accurate reflection of what I listen do over the course of a day.
iTunes DJ:
- The Pillars Of Baalbek -- Sir Richard Bishop
- Dynamite -- Son Volt
- Blue Plot -- Yuppie Flu
- 3 Minute Hero -- The Selecter
- South Borough Dub -- Blackbeard's All Stars
- Coolie Carrie Basket -- Barry Brown & Trinity
- High School -- The Watson Twins
- Come Si -- Giorgia
- E A Un Certo Punto Il Rosso Cambiò Colore -- Yo-Yo Mundi
- L'alba, la notte e l'inferno -- Moltheni
- Books From Boxes -- Maximo Park
- Tell Her Tonight -- Franz Ferdinand
- One Day At A Time -- Kelli Ali
- Lucifer -- Flick Wilson
- Orchid Girl (Live) -- Aztec Camera
- Concrete Jungle -- The Specials
- Falling and Laughing -- Orange Juice
- Lady Luck -- Stereophonics
- Seven Day Weekend (with Jimmy Cliff) -- Elvis Costello & The Attractions
- Edge Up To The Rub -- Kojak, Screechie and Liza
Genius:
- Oblivious -- Aztec Camera
- Blank Generation -- Richard Hell and the Voidoids
- The Monochrome Set -- The Monochrome Set
- What Difference Does It Make? -- The Smiths
- Too Much Too Young -- The Specials
- It's Kinda Funny -- Josef K
- Treason (It's Just A Story) -- The Teardrop Explodes
- Sorry For Laughing -- Josef K
- Our Velocity -- Maximo Park
- The Racing Rats -- Editors
- Tokyo -- Athlete
- A Day Without Me -- U2
- Sweetie -- Josh Rouse
- Shoplifters Of The World Unite -- The Smiths
- Shine On -- The Kooks
- Rewind -- Paolo Nutini
- She Is Beyond Good And Evil -- The Pop Group
- Cold Moments -- Paul Weller
- Trouble -- Voxtrot
- Adrenaline -- Emma Pollock
Most played:
- American Hearts -- AA Bondy
- There's A Reason -- AA Bondy
- Tu -- Moltheni
- L'età migliore -- Moltheni
- L'amore d'alloro -- Moltheni
- No Man Shall -- AA Bondy
- World Without End -- AA Bondy
- Black Rain, Black Rain -- AA Bondy
- Nella mia bocca -- Moltheni
- Lover's Waltz -- AA Bondy
- Eternamente, nell'illusione di te -- Moltheni
- Nel futuro potere del legno -- Moltheni
- Vice Rag -- AA Bondy
- Giorni cattivi -- Moltheni
- Minerva -- Moltheni
- L'alba, la notte e l'inferno -- Moltheni
- Montagna nera -- Moltheni
- Rapture (Sweet Rapture) -- AA Bondy
- How Will You Meet Your End? -- AA Bondy
- After We Shot The Grizzly -- The Handsome Family
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
