Creating A Perfect Playlist

Gina and I are having guests to the house tonight for our family game night. It's a once a month thing we do so that we have time with folks without kids or other guests around.

So while Gina gets the snacks prepared I assemble the music selection for the evening. I use the Rhapsody Service now that Yahoo has shut down, and I have this nify Linksys Media Player that connects to my stereo which picks up the Rhapsody stream on my wireless network. This means I can set up playlists pulled from the full library and listen on demand.

I have been hard at work assembling a perfect playlist for the evening. It's difficult as the musical tastes of my family are sort of varied. I also need to have it be interesting and compelling without it being overwhelming. I try to mix in a wide assortment of stuff. I add some things that are familiar but also take advantage of the opportunity to perhaps turn them on to something new.

Playlists for me are a living breathing entity. They evolve and change over time. Songs are added and removed as I seek that perfect balance, all the while knowing that it will never be done.

So here is the playlist I have created for this evening. I'm really quite pleased with it.

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Deep playlist, especially with Hiatt and Tim Easton! And I know what you mean with a playlist evolving!

Hey, the new Susan Tedeschi release is quite good...and Derek is on it, of course!

#1 nat (Homepage) on 2008-11-16 18:22 (Reply)

It's already changed a bit. It seemed to be a hit last night, I think it was Adam Hood that got the most interest.

I've been meaning to give Susan's new one a listen, I heard some things pre-release that were really great. Would love to see one of their Soul Stew Revival shows.

SB

#1.1 Scott (Homepage) on 2008-11-16 19:47 (Reply)

That game night is going into the next day with that playlist Scott! Don't know all your picks but it looks great. Tempts me to sign up for Rhapsody. E.

#2 Eclecticity (Homepage) on 2008-11-18 06:06 (Reply)

The beauty of the shuffle is that if you make the playlist long enough you can use it a couple of times without it sounding stale.

I'm not really a fan of the Rhapsody software but the service is good for my purposes and the fact that it works with my media player makes it a good choice.

I really liked the radio functionality of the Yahoo Launch service which was nicely integrated into their Unlimited plan but they killed that off a few months back.

You're obviously a music fan, I would give Rhapsody a shot.

SB

#2.1 Scott (Homepage) on 2008-11-24 13:38 (Reply)

OK, fine...so it took me a week to get over here and leave a comment. But I knew I had to say something when I saw the second last song on the playlist! Bravo!! I could listen to "Up All Night" over and over...and over. (and I have.) Good choice.

And I see you've got a bit more Crows slipped into the middle. Far be it for me to say ANYthing bad about Counting Crows...but I just don't get into "A Long December" anymore. They play it at every show I go to. And I so wish they wouldn't.

A couple tracks on your list that intrigue me are "No Woman No Cry" by Blues Traveler (I'll have to find that; I bet John Popper does it pretty well), and I think Edie Brickell's got piles of style. I don't know Adam Hood, but you've got me curious.

Fun list, Scott!

#3 Gregg (Homepage) on 2008-11-23 23:36 (Reply)

It's ok - they don't expire, you can come on over and comment any time.

It was a post (or comment) of yours that redirected me to Up All Night. A Long December is a good one but I can see where overexposure can kill a good thing. I've only seen them the one time.

The Blues Traveler is from the On The Rocks release and features Ziggy Marley - fantastic stuff. I say that magic always happens at Red Rocks and this is proof.

Adam Hood is a singer / songwriter I found via the old Launch radio service - his 4 song ep is just great.

SB

#3.1 Scott (Homepage) on 2008-11-24 13:45 (Reply)

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