The Crane Wife's Short Summer Spectacular

1. iTunes Genius.

What?! iTunes uses Genius to track my musical preferences to use for marketing purposes?! I don't give a good gosh darn. Ain't no such think as free lunch people, and if the price of a feature that introduces me to music I didn't know I had and reintroduces me to old favorites is that Steve Jobs knows I like fey British pop music, than so be it. (And I know I've written about it before, but Genius continues to rock me.)

2. Kids music.

And by this I mean music that makes my kid dance. Topping the list this summer are Basta's "Gimme Hope Joachim," Morrissey's "Irish Blood, English Heart;" and the always classic (and classy) "Get It On" by Turbonegro. Suck it Raffi.

3. The Harder They Come soundtrack.

A classic for this summer and every summer for ever and ever. Because, you know, nothing says sunshine and relaxation like the lyric "But I'd rather be a free man in my grave/than living as a puppet or a slave."

4. Road Trip Mixes.

Friends of ours are on a cross-country road trip. Before they left, they asked all of their friends to make a mix or two for their journey. What a fantastic way to expose yourself to new music and to force your friends to ask themselves the question, "What would one want to listen to whilst driving through Minnesota in July?" To which I answered, "The Gin Blossoms. Obviously."

5. Kids Music.

And by this I mean PS22 Chorus. AIW first introduced me to their Lisztomania performance. I love everything, from their kooky, impressively coiffed director to the little dances the kids do during songs, and I won't stop believin'. Public school for the win!

Brasilliant's Summer Short List

I have admittedly been in a bit of a music rut lately -- kind of like the summer when I used my hot pink boom box to play this rockin' Cabbage Patch Kids cassette over and over again (the tape mysteriously disappeared for a stretch of six months). Luckily, Awmercy is a bit more forgiving than my parents, and hasn't forcefully revoked my playlist privileges. So here goes. My way overplayed hits of the summer, plus a bright spot on the horizon:

1. Blind Pilot - 3 Rounds and a Sound (2008). I fell in love with this band the first time I heard their debut album. It's been a constant on my iPod and is making the way up the charts on my play count. Blind Pilot is my new The Weepies.





2. Paula Sinclair - Steady Girl (2009). I think one of the reasons that my music selection has gotten stale is that my favorite alt. country singers have not put out any killer material lately (ahem Laura Cantrell, Lucinda Williams). Paula Sinclair is a welcome addition as one of my favorite women artists.



3. Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You (2009). This one was a grower. It wasn't as immediately catchy as her first album, so I initially dismissed the whole thing. I'll admit that was a mistake and I have quite enjoyed it over the past few weeks. A review to follow shortly, I promise.





4. Dolorean - You Can't Win (2007). I rediscovered Dolorean when Awmercy put it on a recent "mixtape" playlist. I'm sad that I missed them recently when they played live a Laurelthirst. However, since they're Portlanders, I'm sure they'll be back!





5. iTunes Genius: It's the bright spot on my music horizon. Ancient Indian Wizard and the lovely Crane Wife introduced it to me a month ago, raving about the awesome playlist-making magic that it performs. Choose your favorite song and iTunes compiles from your library a killer playlist. Since our household music cup runneth over with approximately 67,750 songs, I have the world at my fingertips. This gizmo rocks my tired music socks off and has introduced me to artists that have gotten buried in the mix.