CD Shuffleathon

One of the Blogs I regularly read, SwissToni's Place, has run a "CD Shuffleathon." Essentially, anyone interested would burn a disc of 12 songs, draw another person on the list, and send it to them. Me being the music fanatic that I am, jumped at the chance. Thirty people signed up, who live basically all over the world.

My hopes were that I would draw someone from England, or pretty much anywhere far away. I wanted to get exposure to something new and differant than the music that I am used to hearing. I did get that lucky, as yesterday I received an envelope brought via Royal mail from England, courtesy of Bedshaped at Some Guy On A Journey.

Now, my final task of the exchange, listen to and post a review. So here it is, my review of the CD.

1. Leave (Life Less Ordinary Remix) by REM - Amazing. Whoever remixed this needs to be bowed to. The backing music does an amazing job of finding a balance of keeping the song moving, but keeping the focus on Michael Stipes vocals.
2. The Red by Chevelle - This is one of Chevelle's better songs, but I've never been able to get into them. Like many bands, I was introduced to with a song that sounded too much like someone else I have listened to. In the case of Chevelle, it was one of my favorite bands all time, Tool. Good song, but hampered by my music snobbery/bias... not sure exactly what to call it.
3. Useless (Remix) by Depeche Mode - Good song, but the remix seemed a bit dragged out. Could have been timing though, as in listening to it while I'm halfway through with my morning coffee (wired on caffeine) instead of tired after a long day and settleing down with a drink.
4. Dry the Rain by The Beta Band - Really like this one. Totally "British" as I can hear a bit of the accent poke through on the vocals. Fit my mood well at the time I was listening to it. It started out bleak and slowly built and added layers to the sound of the song.
5. Orange Crush covered by The Editors - I'm a cover fanatic. From the outragious humorous one to the serious one. This is a good cover of the REM classic. Its true to the original, but the band lets its own voice and style be heard throughout the song.
   
6. Centrefolds by Placebo - Love the lyrics. This one makes me think of a few songs that were just a bit too personal for me to include on my disc (I'm secretive, what can I say?). I know this is the type of song that will grow even further on me with more listens. Definately a keeper.
7. Crazy Baby by Joan Osborne - I couldn't get into this one. I'm known for being extremely picky when it comes to female vocalists, as a good 90% of my music collection has male vocals.
8. Give It by X-press 2 - I'd describe this one as poetry over music. Like the lyrics and most of the backing music but... the bass drum thump was a turn off for me. I'm more of a rock/metal fanatic, and the bass drum conjured up memories of being dragged to bad bars with night at the roxbury style music blaring.
9. Charlie Big Potato by Skunk Anansie - mmm... dirty guitar. Then, really clean female vocals over said dirty guitar. This song was an instant draw for me, as it was a bit more in my regular music listening. Plus I really like her voice. This one is definately getting put on the iPod.
10. Juneau by Funeral for a Friend - overall, this is a good song -but- this one calls out my musical snobbery just like chevelle. The song made me instantly think of another band, Incubus, who were once one of my favorite bands till I got bored with the sound. I literally liked them so much I outplayed them.
    
11. Hundred Mile High City by Ocean Color Scene - This is a good jam. Really enjoyed listening to it. The band sounds like they're pretty tight. I can imagine them putting on an amazing live show.
12. Wake Up by The Walkmen - this one just isn't me. I couldn't get into it. That's the nature of music though. It reaches all of us differently.
    

And that concludes my review. I really enjoyed listening to this disc. There are several bands/groups on here that I am going to have to investigate further. I'd like to thank Bedshaped, SwissToni, and Yoko (who originally came up with the CD Shuffleathon idea).