Shuffleathon 2007

We had a week in Crete recently, arriving back 27th October - nice week if a tad rainy to begin with. When we returned there was a jiffy bag waiting for me from an address in Texas - my shuffleathon CD!! It emanated from Mike of Mad Stories, an Englishman living in the U S of A.

I've been listening to the CD driving around in my car since then to get the feel of it - I've spent some of the intervening time in London working so its taken some time to get the review together, but I reckon I'm there now - so here goes...

1) Midnight - Yazoo
Not a Yazoo track I was previously familiar with - Alison Moyet has a great strong voice and I'm into electro-pop so this is a winner as far as I'm concerned.

2) Don't walk away - Toni Childs
A new artist to me. Wikipedia tells me that she is aged 50 and hails from Orange County. Another strong female voice. Like it and its become a bit of an earworm, but I won't be rushing out to buy the album.

3) Into the great wide open - Tom Petty
More familiar territory here. A rebel without a clue. Great video with Johnny Depp playing Eddie. Oi'll give it foive.

4) Fog Town - Michelle Shocked
Its about San Francisco. We were there in the summer and it certainly is foggy. Not my sort of thing although I liked "Anchorage".

5) Lil' Devil - The Cult
Driving around Nottingham suburbia in autumnal drizzle this does absolutely nothing for me - but I can imagine driving along the freeway in the vast wastes of the USA with the sun shining down and this going down a treat. Its all about context.

6) Rainbow Child - Dan Reed Network
Ditto as above re context - soft rock, made for driving along with your sunglasses on and your elbow sticking out of the car window.

7) I'm the only one - Melissa Etheridge
Don't like her voice. She's the lady famous for her and her female partner having children fathered by David Crosby. Still don't like her voice.

8) Woman in Chains - Tears for Fears
I'd forgotten how much I liked this band. Very pleasing sound.

9) Smooth - Santana featuring Rob (not Rod) Thomas
Very familiar territory here. The track that was huge a few years ago. Rob I can take or leave, bit of a parvenu, but Carlos Santana is God. Brilliant guitar playing.

10) Be my downfall - Del Amitri
Not very memorable. Scottish.

11) Ladylike - Storm Large
Mike apologised in the letter he sent with the CD for the amount of swearing in this track. I liked it, possibly even my favourite track of the selection. Looks like the lady was on a reality TV show in the States. Well done her I say!

12) Without you - Nilsson
A classic. Very reassuring. Wave that lighter in the air.

13) Troy - Sinead O'Connor
Another strong female voice, Mike is obviously a big fan of those. I always admired Sinead as an artist even if I didn't actually like much of her music. You're still a lawyer. Is that lawyer, or liar in Oirish? Or is the point that Sinead thinks the two are synonomous? Striking is the word that springs to mind to describe this track.

14) Hijo de la luna - Mecano
"Son of the Moon" in Spanish. Lovely melody, nice light and airy song. Like it a lot.

15) Nothing else matters - Metallica
Thought I'd hate this before I listened to it - I was expecting heavy metal (not a fave genre for me) but this is almost baroque. Thanks Mike, I'm almost a convert.

So a number of hits, a couple of misses, but generally very favourable. Mike likes his strong ladies, and if I didn't know he was a British expat in the USA, I might have guessed it. Thanks very much and good night.