Shufflin' the Pod

Inspired by The Onion's Random Rules, let's shuffle the pod...

1. "Wildcat" by Ratatat

Electronica tune I just downloaded. All sorts of awesome.

2. "Pennsylvania 6-5000" by Glenn Miller

Swing, motherfucker, swing, motherfucker, swing, motherfucker, swing!

(Er, that would be a reference to The Movement's classic techno song "Jump," although my mouth really is that filthy.)

3. "Rich Girl" by Gwen Stefani

Ugh. I really need to delete this track. Like most of Love. Angel. Music. Baby., it gets old fast. I'm not allowed to skip songs to hide embarrassing tracks (according to the Onion's rules), but I certainly will skip songs once I've duly noted them.

4. "Luz Azul" by Aterciopelados

One of my favorite songs ever. It's so smooth, so rich, so tight. It doesn't even matter that the rest of the album Goza Ponderosa doesn't live up to this. It is purely fantastic. Check out the poor quality video on Aterciopelados' videos page by clicking on "Blue Light."

5. "Sha Shtil" by Charming Hostess

My wife and I were introduced to Charming Hostess by a friend of ours. For all intents and purposes (and intenstive purposes, for that matter), Charming Hostess is Jewlia Eisenberg. Reading her resume really gives you a sense of what the band is all about. Eat, which this song is from, is a terrific folk-punk hybrid. I don't want to say "folk-rock" because that brings America to my mind for some insane reason. The rock is more raw than that.

6. "B Boys Will B Boys" by Black Star

Mos Def and Talib Kweli never ever again reached the heights they hit with Black Star. Solid, intense hip hop. This song is a throwaway track, yet still better than DMX.

7. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Paul Anka

Okay, I realize this is really cheesy. But here are two things you should know:

1. Anka sings this straight. No swarm, no tongue in cheek. He's not pretending he knows what the song is about, but he's completely sincere when he sings it.

2. Thing You Should Know 1 explains why this version of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is so much better than the Tori Amos cover.

8. "Pioneers" by Bloc Party

I'm not really into Bloc Party, and this really isn't my favorite song by them either. (That would be "Helicopter," which is absolutely brilliant.) But this has a good hook, and I love the way Kele Okereke sings the word "hoping." It's partly the Anglophile in me, I guess.

9. "Subdivisions" by Rush

Guilty pleasure. Very, very guilty pleasure. As guilty as Michael Jackson pleasure. This is truly prog-rock pop perfection. That's a cheesy thing to say, but come on: it's Rush! They have a slightly computerized tenor voice speaking the word "subdivisions" in this song. So don't tell me I'm being cheesy.

10. "Don't Make My Brown Eyes Blue" by Crystal Gayle

Crystal is great and all that, but she sorta oversings this.

11. "I Wish" by Skee Low

I was going to stop at 10, but I didn't want Crystal Gayle to be my last song. Whatever happened to Skee Low, anyway? At least Young MC shows up for whatever decade VH1 is paying tribute to this week. Les Rythmes Digitales refers to this song in a major way in "(Hey You) What's That Sound?" Check out the video for it is sweetness personified. Also cheesiness personified. Sweet cheese doesn't sound appealing, but trust me: it is.