This Week in Playlisting

In playlisting news this week, the San Luis Obispo Times selected the “greatest songs ever inspired by a rumbling stomach”. Tegan Quin, half of the Canadian indie outfit Tegan and Sara, talks about tracks that are loaded onto her iPod over at the Onion A.V. Club. Eric Berlin of Blogcritics.org selects his 5 favorite bands of all time. Andrew Careaga continues with his podcast of the “100 Albums That Changed His Life” over at Bloggedy Blog. The New York Times’ new playlist includes Mars Volta, Mammatus, Bibio, Nick Cave, Moondog and Feathers. Johnny Knoxville creates a “Big Gay Playlist” to coincide with his appearance on the cover of Out magazine. And last, but not least, the Yahoo Music Unlimited playlist community turns up some great lists: Fullmanator crafts a Break Up/Move On compilation for the broken-hearted. Circular Reasoning puts together 20 Forgotten (Alt Rock) Hits of the 90s, The Rugs Don’t Work publishes Volume 4 of their mix tape series Over In About An Hour, YMU Playa creates (on purpose) “An absolutely horrific playlist, bookended by 2 Technotronic tracks, featuring some of the cheesiest (or darn catchiest) pop-techno hits to come out of the early ’90s”, and Jay Frank creates a playlist of number one songs from 12 prominent radio formats over at the YMUplaylisters group.

In this latest edition of our ongoing playlist-centric series, I want to talk about the “inspired by” playlist. Where a themed playlist is made up of songs about one specific topic (clowns, fire, mice, rivers, McDonald‘s, etc), an “inspired by” playlist contains compositions that may, on the surface, sound like they’re about different things, but are in fact, inspired by the same thing. The inspiration can be a person, like an actor, a murderer or politician. A geographic location, like a country, city or natural wonder. A work of art, like a painting, a song or a book. Or it can be an idea or concept, like communism, childhood or resurrection. The possibilities are endless and the hardest part is discovering what the true inspiration was for the songwriter. Luckily, there are gazillions of songs where the original inspiration is self-evident, besides these, a little digging into published interviews on the web can reveal a wealth of information in regards to what inspired an artist to write a song.

Below are some examples:

Rush Songs Inspired By Literature

Play It! “Neil Peart is considered the best rock drummer in the world and I won’t argue the point. Neil is also a writer, of sorts, and the lyricist for the band. I feel comfortable in saying that his lyrics are over-the-top, but at least he’s well read. This playlist features Rush songs inspired by literature.”

Songs Inspired By Pachelbel’s Canon In D Major

Play It! “Pachelbel’s Canon In D Major is one of the most heard songs at weddings across the nation, second only to the Wedding March. There is no denying that the composition is beautiful and bursting with emotion. This playlist starts with Pachelbel’s Canon and is followed by 9 songs which are inspired by the Canon or sample it. Artists include Blues Traveler, Coolio, Oasis, The Farm, Green Day, Vitamin C, Brian Eno and more.”

Songs Inspired By Actors

Play It! “Many songs have been inspired by the lives and work of actors and actresses, as well as by the personal relationships they have had with musicians. This playlist contains 22 tracks that have been inspired by actors or actresses. You can read the story behind many of these at songfacts.com.”

Until next time, won’t you try your hand at an “inspired by” playlist and share it with the world?

Here are a few more playlist ideas from the Radish for you to mull over.

Songs For A Divorce Party

I would not wish a divorce on my worst enemy, but if you become an unfortunate statistic on the battlefield of love then I may have the soundtrack for you. This playlist contains a perfect collection of songs for your next divorce or breakup party. There are literally thousands of separation songs sung from a “woe-is-me” perspective. If this is what you’re looking for, this is not the playlist for you. The majority of the songs found here are empowering and spiteful. When you’re going through a divorce you don’t need melancholy music to drive you further to depression. What you need are songs that tell it like it is, and lay the blame squarely on your ex, truth be damned. Snide remarks and an independent spirit hit the spot at a time like this and these songs may be just what the doctor ordered. So get some good friends together, put this list on, then lift a glass and a middle finger. You have my word, it will get better.

NPR’s All Songs Considered: June Through August 2006

All Songs Considered is a weekly music program started in January of 2000 by NPR’s All Things Considered director Bob Boilen. At first, the show featured information and streaming audio about the songs used as bumper music on All Things Considered. The program has turned into a source of discovery for new music of all genres. The program has featured such diverse artists as Ella Fitzgerald, Nick Drake, and Bright Eyes. One is as likely to hear electronica from the Congo, the latest indie buzz band, rock classics or world music.

In 2005, All Songs Considered began live concerts from Washington, D.C.’s 9:30 Club, and has featured acts such as Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Decemberists, Interpol, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Calexico with Iron & Wine, Lucinda Williams, Sigur Rós, Death Cab for Cutie, and many others. This playlist fetaures 30 artists that the show has featured between June 1st and August 10th, 2006.

Artists Killed in Automobile Accidents

Play The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that an average of 114 people die in car crashes each day in the United States. Most of these fatalities are caused by drunken driving, speeding or a general disregard for safety. However, the victims also include those who are simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Although we don’t like to think about it, every time you get into a car you put your life at risk. Traffic deaths can affect every level of society, and that includes musicians, both famous and not. In fact, musicians are at greater risk because they must travel much of the time to make their living. Long days and nights on the road can be monotonous for the tour bus driver. Combine this with the pressure of making it to the next stop on time and the musician’s reputation for hard partying and you have a recipe for disaster. This playlist includes songs by artists who have lost their lives in automobile accidents.

Robert Burke
Yahoo Radish