2 posts tagged “tv music”

Note: This is the third in a series of posts looking back at 2007, in some key areas of my life that were important to me.

I listened this year.

One of the biggest trends for me again this year was that music used in TV or Movie scenes resonates that most for me.  When I have a visual connection, it really hits me more, I guess.  I finally purchased a few tracks from old shows, like Beth Orton's She Cries Your Name because I was so sad that it wasn't on my DVD of Roswell during a key scene.   I was excited to get the songs that they play regularly on General Hospital when those were released on iTunes (Jayson Belt, Rie Sinclair, etc), because again, they have that visual for me.   One of my favorite songs at the end of the year was Lucky Man by The Verve, and I only found it because it was played on an episode of Journeyman. (The long version of the Journeyman theme song is another I purchased, continuing my long-time-love of tv themes).

I also finished purchasing tracks from some CDs that I'd only bought part previously because of iTunes promotion (Kelly Clarkson and Nickelback and Rob Thomas come to mind), and I think this actually made me more willing to buy individual tracks to try out an artist, rather than waiting to see if I wanted to commit to it.

Rhianna's Umbrella was stuck in my head for much of the summer (along with a lot of America) which is the first time in a while I've been enjoying a mainstream song at the same time as everyone else.  Since I don't listen to the radio very much, I tend to hit the trends later.  This was kinda fun.

The only album I have from this last year which I own in a physical CD is my new-at-Christmas Radio Sunnydale.  Everything else, I bought on iTunes as individual tracks or albums.  We already have shelves and shelves of CDs, and an old pile of cassette tapes, too, so we didn't need the physical clutter.  I'll still purchase the albums for the very favorite artists (like Vanessa Carlton from my wish list).

Much of the time when I'm listening to music, it's a big uber Smart Playlist made up of other smart playlists, with my Pop, Rock, Top rated Electronica and Alternative music.  I randomize that (737 songs) and it gives me a great fun listen most of the time.  When I'm feeling like I need more calm in my life, I go for my Christian top list, which is all of my Christian genre that are highly rated (117 songs).  And last years purchase of some more country has me picking that play list periodically (including Dixie Chicks and the Wreckers most prominently).  I really enjoy using iTunes for my music playing.

Along with music, I found podcasts this year for the first time.  Everything I listened to consistently were knitting-related, but it was another way for me to appreciate something in the background while I work on a project.  I listened to Stash and Burn (which I found through Harold) for most of the year, and then found Kelly Petkun's podcast from KnitPicks (a local company) part way through the year.  Just recently I added LionBrand's YarnCraft and Vickie Howell's CRL.

According to iTunes, out of the music I added this year, Nickelback's Rockstar and Jem's Come on Closer had the top tracks I listened to.  My top rated artists continue to be the same ones I've listened to for years or at least the last couple of years: Sarah McLachlan, Vanessa Carlton, Michelle Branch (and the Wreckers), Natalie Imbruglia, Dido, Garbage, Avril Lavigne, Ashlee Simpson, Barenaked Ladies, tATu.  Steven Curtis Chapman, Jennifer Knapp, and Michael W. Smith are prominent in my Christian genre. The more recent additions of Aimee Mann, Anna Nalick, Nickelback, Rob Thomas, P!nk, Jem, and Kelly Clarkson round things out nicely in my collection, along with plenty of one-hit wonders and other people I enjoy just a few tracks more than their whole collection.

I do use last.fm to track all my music tastes, sending my tracks played when sitting in front of iTunes (vs. on my iPod) to their system to add to my profile.  Although I don't use the features as much as I could, it's fun to see periodically.

My most bloggable present from Christmas was from my parents, who got me Buffy's Radio Sunnydale CD off my wishlist.

I resisted getting this soundtrack back when it first came out because I wasn't enamored by the number of songs on it.  But the more and more I watch the show again, the more I wanted to have some of these songs that were unavailable elsewhere.    Mainly the super Blue by Angie Hart (talked about getting it stuck in my head in this post).  Some of the other songs are great, too (just noticing that the beginning of Bohemian Like You is reminds me of Real Gone by Sheryl Crow from Cars, LOL!)  I already had purchased the Aimee Mann song on this album because I liked it so much, so I have two copies now!

There's also a Sarah McLachlan song on here that I couldn't easily get, The Prayer of St. Francis, and I love making my Sarah-collection more complete.  Funny thing, this made me notice that somehow when I ripped my music in, Surfacing never made it in, so Full of Grace, another song used on a Buffy ep, wasn't on my computer.  Most of the songs I liked from that CD were on Mirrorball, so I guess I hadn't noticed.  Fixed now, Surfacing is all ripped.

While listening, I start digging for other Buffy-on-episode music that I didn't yet have that was available on iTunes, and I added a nice pile to my wishlist (Tip: for a low-tech personal wishlist in iTunes, just create a new playlist and drag the 30 second clips into it) 

While Buffy Guide is the best overall site for anything related to specific episodes, I wanted to find a site that listed out the songs played in each episode rather than clicking through to each.  I found Dusk 'till Dawn, which has a really nice short overview of each song, the artist, and the brief summary of when it plays for most of them.  That works!

Oh, and I'm really excited right now about Buffy because right before Christmas, I used some Amazon gift certificates to finish up my collection when all the seasons were on sale.  That was the 3 remaining Buffy's I needed and the 3 final Angel's, too.  I'm adding them to my Vox when I finish them, and we'll be done with Season 2 of Buffy the next time we sit down to watch - I won't watch Becoming I without watching II at the same time, so it'll be a double feature :)  We watched the one before those over the weekend, Go Fish, which is fun because it has not only Shane West (of ER, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen), but Wentworth Miller (Prison Break) too :)

Pretty soon, I'm going to have to decide if I want to watch Buffy and Angel intermixed like they played on TV, or finish out Buffy and then start Angel.  I hadn't thought of that until E said something, but the more I think about it, the more that makes sense for the timeline and the things that did cross over a little.  That'd be 4 seasons worth that match up: Buffy 4/Angel1, Buffy 5/Angel 2, Buffy 6/Angel 3, Buffy 7/Angel 4.

I think I'll have to pick up Angel: Live Fast, Die Never at some point too, because even though most of it instrumental, it's got Christian Kane's LA Song too. ;)

And there's my fangirlyness that made me all happy even though I'm a bit worn out from the festivities!