The fact that my iPod has mostly songs that I’ve played the most in 2007 is just pure coincidence. Wink wink, nudge nudge.

The blog post for bprlive won’t be out for another month or two, but here’s an unabridged version of what I wrote for the post:

1. Tracey Thorn – It’s All True [video]

   I’m a huge fan of Everything But The Girl, thanks to a little Todd Terry remix of “Missing” that I listened to over and over again in college. This is my favorite track from her solo album – her sultry and sad vocals complement the driving electronic beat nicely. This is my pinnacle “dance in the kitchen while you’re washing dishes” song.

2. Inara George – Fools Work [video]

   Doing some YouTube searches on Bird and the Bee I came across this simple but beautiful music video by it’s lead singer, Inara George. The video was enough for me to run on iTunes and buy the entire album on the spot. The song is both memorizing and heartbreaking.

3. Federico Aubele – Postales [video]

   I’m a big fan of Thievery Corporation, and I’m a big fan of Gotan Project. So when someone in Brazil that I met off a social network recommended recommended this Argentine down-tempo artist to me, well, there’s no real way I’m going to NOT like the album. I listen to this track in bed before I drift off to sleep – the accordion and classical guitar is perfect to chill out to.

4. The Cat Empire – In My Pocket [no good video on youtube]

   I can’t find a good video for this song on YouTube. This is a damn shame, because this is an incredibly fun song by an incredibly fun Australian fusion band – you know, those rock, rap, ska fusion bands that have a brass section that play songs that frat boys smoke weed to. Should you get a chance to listen to this song, wait until the “na na na na” part, and I guarantee that you’ll have the tune in your head for the rest of the week.

   Coincidentally, this is the only song in this shuffle mix where it’s a guy singing vocals. Draw your own conclusions.

5. Tokyo Jihen – 遭難 (sounan) [video]

   I picked up both of Tokyo Jihen’s albums when I went on vacation to Tokyo this year. I won’t lie – because this song is in Japanese I have no idea what lead singer Shina Ringo is singing about. I don’t care. This song rocks.

6. Catherine McPhee – Over It [video]

   Up to now, if you didn’t know any better you would think I’m only into indie, or at the very least, non-mainstream music. This is an outright lie, as I’m actually one of the biggest whores of pop music you’ll ever meet. Case in point, Catherine McPhee, runner-up to Taylor Whatshisface in American Idol. Pop music – especially cheesy ballads – is awesome because they capture one emotion amazingly well: the feeling of getting your heart ripped out from your chest and being stomped into a million pieces. Or convincing yourself that you will get over said heart-ripping, when everyone knows you’re really just fooling yourself.

   I had a couple of heart-stomped-on moments last year, and Ms. McPhee has done wonders for my sanity. For which, I am truly grateful.

7. Priscilla Ahn – Dream [video]

   Asian American artist alert! I first heard about Priscilla Ahn on MP3 blog aurgasm.us, where the following comment was posted on the blog: “A songbird voice, if ever I’ve heard one. She makes me relax and feel like I am sitting right in the middle of nature. To be able to sing a song and bring a near 60 year old woman back to feeling like she’s 12 again is an amazing feat.” Yeah, that pretty much describes it nicely. Dream kinda makes me want to cry.

So I gave up and let a computer choose for me.

Let me explain. This year, I did something a little different and used a service called Last.fm. They offer a plug-in for iTunes and Yahoo! Music Jukebox which keeps track of every single song I ever played at work or home. A couple of months ago, they started offering dynamic charts; a rolling list of every song you’ve listened in a set period of time. Which means I have a chart of the songs I’ve heard in the past year! Perfect.

Obviously, the chart isn’t perfect, because I listen to a lot of music in the car, but it’s good enough for me. And now, the list:

1. Restless – Alison Krauss [video]
   Surprising music fact: I kinda like bluegrass. I don’t know a LOT about bluegrass, and let’s casually ignore the fact that I heard this song for the first time on the Grammies when it was winning an award. Oh well.
2. In The Rough – Anna Nalick [video]
   Surprising music fact #2: If you knew that this is my most played music track, you would think I am a broken-hearted 20 year old sorority girl. Eh, why fight it? This is track is especially good when you’re in the car on the way home from work, stuck in traffic. The best is when you sing the line “I got your love letters, and I threw them all away… I hear you think that I’m crazy” at the top of your lungs, and when you get to the word crazy, contort your face like Jack Nicholson in The Shining, and turn your neck to stare at the mother of three in the car next to you. Makes for great entertainment.
3. Soul Meets Body – Death Cab For Cutie [video]
   I’m such a conformist non-conformist. At least I can admit that to myself.
4. Crazy – Gnarls Barkley [video]
   Remember when this song wasn’t payed to death? No? Me neither. I wasn’t going to put it in the playlist, but I realized it was #3 on the my “most played of the year” chart, so it’s here more for self-reference. They also had a fantastic performance at Coachella.
5. U + Ur Hand – Pink [video]
   Hands down, this year’s “Since U Been Gone.” SO catchy, and it’s blasphemous that this song isn’t more popular. I’ll have you know though, that I’m NOT impressed by the video that came out for this song. It’s Pink! She’s angry! The video shouldn’t be sultry, it should be her beating a pretty male model with a baseball bat.
6. Let Go – Frou Frou [video]
   God, I love Imogen Heap. I especially like this song from the Garden State soundtrack. You know that scene in the movie where Zach Braff, fully-clothed and shellshocked from depression is sitting on the living room couch while there’s an orgy happening around him? Replace the horny co-eds with bears, and that’s what it was like spending the summer living in San Francisco.
7. Over My Head (Cable Car) – The Fray [video]
   Okay, so I watch a lot of VH-1. It’s a good song, and I’m a sucker for good piano. What.
8. Kirakuni – Crystal Kay [video]
   Crystal Kay is a half-Black, half-Korean teenager living in Japan. She usually sings Japanese R&B, but this track produced by Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis totally deserved to be on American radio. But it’s not, because American radio, for the most part, sucks.
9. Steppin’ Out – Kaskade [video]
   I’ve been having less electronica music over the years, but San Francisco DJ Producer Kaskade makes the list for a lot of reasons: I LOVE San Francisco house music, he did a set at Coachella, and listening to this track reminds me of all the times I did go out dancing this year.
10. Sola Bossa (Vissionary 2005 Remix) – Sol Azul
    Admission time: I first heard this song on the cheesy all-music stations you get when you pay too much for extended cable. I heard this track, hunted for a piece of paper to write the song down, and then did a search on the Internet to download the song. My hunt proved successful, obviously.
11. Map Of The Problematique – Muse [video]
    I love Muse. Their songs have awesome riffs, their vocals are over-dramatic, every song on their album makes you feel like it’s for a movie soundtrack, if the movie had you on a cliff-top, staring off in the distance while nuclear bombs fell around you.
12. No More – Roni Size [video]
    “Brown Paper Bag” used to be one of my favorite songs, and takes me back to the old raver days. So I don’t really go to raves anymore, but I can appreciate a good beat with solid R&B vocals. And the song is about urban violence? Perfect, I lived in Oakland!
13. The Mating Game – Bitter:Sweet [video]
    If I had to give an award to the coolest Yahoo! co-worker who I’ve only met in person once, that would be Mick Orlosky. Mick is the former Chill-out DJ for Launchcast who I met while I was doing development work for Yahoo! 360. Mick would blog about great music artists, and being the music fiend I am, listened to everything he blogged about. He because his music tastes are awesome, has yet to do me wrong.
14. Tears Dry On Their Own – Amy Winehouse [video]
    I’ve written about my complete adoration of Amy Winehouse on my more work-focused Yahoo! 360 blog; this track in particular I played over and over again because of the throwback to 60’s Soul Music.
15. Wouldn’t It Be Good (Acoustic version) – Nik Kershaw
    My friend Steven has a great taste in music, and was playing the original 80’s version of this song in his iPod one day. Then he turned me on to the modern acoustic version of the song, and hey, it was pretty good. And that’s why it’s on the list.
16. Move Along – The All-American Rejects [video]
    “When all you gotta keep is strong, move along, move along like I know you do. And even when your hope is gone, move along, move along just to make it through.” I’ve listened to this song more than I would like to admit this year.

So a couple of months late, but what better way for her to receive the playlist by broadcasting it over the Internet for everyone to read, right? As a bonus, if you’re one of the seven people out there using Yahoo! Music Unlimited with Yahoo! Music Jukebox, I linked the songs that are available.

Yahoo! Music Playlist: Jen’s 30th Birfday

1. SUMMER GODDESS – Soil and Pimp Sessions
2. This Time (I’m Gonna Try It My Way) – DJ Shadow
3. I Don’t Know Why (I Love You) – Brand New Heavies
4. Crazy – Ray Lamontagne
5. Sow Into You (Gilles Peterson Live) – Roisin Murphy
6. New Years – Asobi Seksu
7. Ta Douleur – Camille
8. Mushaboom – Feist
9. I’d Rather Dance With You – Kings of Convenience
10. Speeding Cars – Imogen Heap
11. Wouldn’t It Be Good (Acoustic Version) – Nik Kershaw
12. I Apologize – Krezip
13. LDN – Lily Allen
14. Behind These Hazel Eyes (VH1 Acoustic Version) – Kelly Clarkson
15. Move Along – All-American Rejects

And some thoughts…

• Once upon a time, I had a DJ boyfriend that would hook me up with new music. I obviously don’t have that anymore, so I’ve been relying on music blogs: Arjan Writes, Aurgasm, Hype Machine. That’s how I found a lot of remixes and covers.
• I like Gilles Peterson more than I admit; Track #1 is a Japanese jazz band that played on his BBC Radio Show. Track #5 actually comes from one of his CD’s. I have this thing for classic sounding R&B/Soul music, vocals, overall general smoothness. Considering I listened to jungle music and rave music six years ago… well, music tastes change over time, I suppose. At least I’m not listening to Dave Koz. Yet.
• The one major exception to this is Asobi Seksu, which I found while going to my friends MySpace page and having the MP3 play automatically. I HATE the fact that MySpace has music set to automatically play. Except in the cases where the music rocks.
• Don’t hate on the Kelly Clarkson. The acoustic version of Behind These Hazel Eyes is really good.
• To get the links to the songs on Yahoo! Music Unlimited, I use SongBlogger, which is a JavaScript based web-plugin for Yahoo! Music Jukebox that I wrote. This will amaze some people, who might not be 100% convinced that I actually am a programmer by trade, but just say I am so I can make fun of nerds during my off-hours. (That being said, I’m also open to suggestions, as I’ve been noticing some people actually use the plug-in, to my shock and horror.)