nuzzaci - an online journal

About 14 years ago I got a stereo from my uncle in Italy. It was a top-of-the-line stereo, and one, at the time, quite unusual feature it had was a wake up function.

So from then on (for a few years) I always woke up to the the Forrest Gump Suite by Alan Silvestri from the Forrest Gump soundtrack. It’s a very soft and pleasant wake up. Then when I did my military service the song changed, and for an unknown reason, it ended up being Rattlesnake by Live from Secret Samadhi. Rattlesnake is a very bad song to wake up to. So not by any means a recommendation. Just a fact.

After my military service ended, the habit of waking up to music ceased and got replaced by the mobile-phone alarm clock. Very romantic.

It isn’t until earlier this year, when Willow and I bought an alarm clock with an iPod dock, that I again began each day to the sound of music.

Unlike before, this time I have a playlist and not just one song to wake up to. Every morning that “alarm” picks up where the previous morning ended. We didn’t strategically choose what songs to go in the playlist. We just quickly browsed through our iTunes and picked a few that passed our mouse pointer.

So that’s why I’m writing this post, really. I’m so surprised that the playlist we literally just threw together is an extremely good wake up playlist. So good that I like to share it with you.

In alphabetic order (by track name), Volume 1 of the 2007 wake up playlist:

1. Be Good or Be Gone by Fionn Regan, from The End of History
2. Carolina by Ben Gibbard, from Home: Volume V
3. Comfort of Strangers by Beth Orton, from Comfort of Strangers
4. Fly by Nick Drake, from Bryter Layter
5. Half Acre by Hem, from Rabbit Songs
6. Hand in My Pocket by Alanis Morissette, from Jagged Little Pill Acoustic
7. I Was Just Thinking by Teitur, from Poetry & Aeroplanes
8. My Tiger My Heart by The Boy Least Likely To, from The Best Party Ever
9. Naked As We Came by Iron and Wine, from Our Endless Numbered Days
10. Twilight by Elliott Smith, from From A Basement On The Hill
11. You and I Both by Jason Mraz, from an unknown live album

More than a handful of new (some new to the world, some new to me) music albums have found their way past me the last couple of weeks. Normally I stumble upon new stuff every other week, so this is a much higher rotation than normal. I haven’t given all of them justice yet, some of the albums have just gone through the wires of my headphones once, but I have gotten a good enough idea to share my highs and lows.

This is the line-up:

1. Favourite Worst Nightmare by Artic Monkeys
2. Volta by Bjork
3. Radiodread by Easy Star All Stars
4. New Moon by Elliott Smith
5. Giant by Herman Düne
6. Ego by Kristoffer Jonazon
7. Latest Version of the Truth by Mustasch
8. Year Zero by Nine Inch Nails
9. Pieces of the People We Love by The Rapture
10. Release the Stars by Rufus Wainwright
11. What if Leaving is a Loving Thing by Sahara Hotnights
12. Our Ill Wills by Shout Out Louds
13. World of it’s Own by Tingsek
14. Sky Blue Sky by Wilco

So, the majority of the albums are OK. Some are more promising (Easy Star All Stars, Wilco, Rufus Wainwright) than others (Sahara Hotnights, Bjork, Kristoffer Jonzon), but none of them are a waste of time.

The biggest disappointment comes naturally from the one with the highest expectations - Year Zero by Nine Inch Nails. Many people hated their previous album — With Teeth, which I had absolutely nothing against what-so-ever. But this one just doesn’t cut it. Trent Reznor is a genius. He has shown that album after album. This is not a work of a genius.

The actual campaign for the album has received quite a lot of press, offline as well as online. I prefer a good album above a good campaign.

But, as I said: the expectations on the album were high. Even if it was a huge disappointment, it still is one of the better albums so far this year. It’s just that the below image, is nothing I associate with a Nine Inch Nails’ album.

The play count clearly shows that the idea of listening to the album is greater then actually listening to the album. Many starts, few finishes.

It’s been almost 4 years since Elliott Smith took his life. So this is not a new album with new material, this is a new album with old unreleased material. Like many other people who have followed Elliott since his early days, I find the old Elliott Smith material is better than the new, and this album is a better last album from a genius as Elliott Smith than From a Basement on the Hill. New Moon is a must buy for everyone.

Joakim Jansson introduced me to Herman Düne a few month ago with a link to the music video ‘I Wish That I Could See You Soon‘. (I actually prefer the unfinished version full of green people before the finished version). It’s a lovely video to a lovely song on a lovely album. I can’t remember the last time an album made me as happy as Giant by Herman Düne.