Click "shuffle," press "play....

The question has been raised by Jason....what's on my mind? Heck if I know.

But I can one-up that: what's on my iPod? The next ten songs are generated at random off my server....And as an added bonus, I'm embedding video clips of the songs or something quite similar....Play along at home!

1. Neil Young, "Let's Impeach the President"--No kidding, this was the first song that came up. Hmmm: I'll give you one guess who I didn't vote for in '04. This was the "single" off of LIVING WITH WAR....I haven't heard the new/old live disc that came out this summer. I grew up w/ Neil Young records from as young as I could grasp my dad's vinyl copy of FOUR WAY STREET.



2. Sara Tavares, "Balancê"--This is a track I came across when I was DJing world music at a community radio station in Bloomington, IN. Tavares is of Cape Verdean descent, but born and based out of Portugal. Gorgeous voice--gorgeous melody.



3. Madeline Peyroux, "Was I?"--My wife is a huge fan of Peyroux, and I'm a convert....We missed her live twice in the last year, and we won't make the same mistake three times in a row. Peyroux does a killer Patsy Cline cover on this disc (DREAMLAND).



4. Lô Borges, "Equitorial"--This is a track from one of the first world music collections I ever had, the David Byrne-compiled BELEZA TROPICAL: BRAZIL CLASSICS 1.



5. Andrius Mamontovas, "Pauksčiai"--What do you know...this is the guy whose videos I have YouTubed on the bottom of my blog....I got a chance to interview him a few times for my various projects, and also saw him live several times off of this 2000 album whose title translates as EVERY WINDOW LOOKS TO THE SKY. Here's another track from that album, recorded live @ Lithuanian TV:



6. Mahala Raï Banda, "Iest Sexy"--Brilliant track that arrived on the sampler with the British world music magazine SONGLINES a few years back. Roma brass with a Justin Timberlake-esque swagger. Infectuous. The clip I found seems to be staring down Borat without blinking...



7. REM, "Electrolite"--REM and U2 were the bands I grew up with through high school, college, and beyond....Saw them on the DOCUMENT tour in 1987 or 1988, which was--wait for it--my freshman year at Gustavus. Yep. Do the math. I was previously unaware they had redone "Shiny Happy People" w/ the Muppets. Who knew?



8. Maria Bethânia, "Sonho Meu"--What's this?! Yet another track off of BELEZA TROPICAL?! Do you ever wonder if your electronics are trying to tell you something? Here's something a little more contemporary from Brazil:



9. Lush, "Scarlet"--Back when you all were pondering the pros and cons of kindergarden (!), we were agog over a four-piece out of England who sounded dreamy and loud as all get out. Search for "shoegazing" on Wikipedia for kicks. How did they come up with those harmonies? This is a track from one of their early EPs....Sadly, the band went defunct when the drummer killed himself. Here's another single from this period called "Sweetness and Light."



10. Os Mutantes, "Bat Macumba"--OK, three Brazilian songs from 10 at random?! I think not. This is from the import compilation TROPICALIA--A BRAZILIAN REVOLUTION IN SOUND. Os Mutantes translates as "The Mutants," if I remember right, and you can hear how they're messing about in the studio big time. Late 60s / early 70s? But the clip is from a more recent tour...



So that's newest latest here at the Ingvoldstad household. Hope there's something there you like!