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The Best Playlist Ever

Jun 23rd 2009
Nicole JordanMy Life As A Plebe & Nicole Jordan

musicnote It’s nearing decision time at Chez Jordan. I’ve asked my dh for an upgrade in music entertainment for my next birthday (which isn’t for a while yet, but I’m planning ahead!) And I know you goddesses can help advise me on the best music, systems, and download access.

Right now in our great room, we have a fairly decent sound system with a radio receiver, 100 CD-changer, duel cassette players, and pretty good speakers. But I’ve been eying various MP3 players for some time now to bring us into the 21st century. The issues I still need to figure out: portmp3

– Should I get a whole new sound system such as an iPod with its own dock and speakers (don’t care for ear plugs so I gotta have speakers.)

– Or should I just plan using my current system and download songs to my computer and burn CD’s? (My new computer that should be arriving any day now has a nifty burner stero-sys for CD’s and DVD’s, but can you burn CD’s legally nowadays? I told you I’m still in the last century!)

– Where’s the best place to download songs? (It would be great if I could listen to a verse or two first if it’s a song I don’t know it well.)

– What should I have on my Playlist? (Years ago I made up 4 cassette tapes with some of my fave songs, and I would love to do something similar for all the great songs that have come out since then.)

If you want to know my tastes in music, I like most pop rock. Also some R&B, easy listening, jazz, country, folk. Not wild about hip-hop or really hard rock or horns or piercing voices. New Age tends to put me to sleep if it’s too mellow, but some of it is cool.

So help me, goddeses, to figure out a great playlist! ipodspk1

What’s your all-time fave song(s) that I should check out? What’s your most recent fave artist and song(s)? Any advice on sound systems or places to download songs?

44 Comments »

44 Responses to “The Best Playlist Ever”

Bronte on 24 Jun 2009 at 1:04 am #

Not very technological so I’m definitely the last person to ever give any tips on sounds system but I do like music. I like Daughtry and pink also. Some of my favourite artists are Snow Patrol, Linkin Park, Moby, Matchbox twenty, Live and Tonic (although they haven’t released an album for a while). Probably my all time favourite songs are “lightning crashes” by Live, Run by Snow patrol, and “If you could only see” by Tonic
nancyg on 24 Jun 2009 at 1:15 am #

Nicole:

iPod is definitely the way to go! We have docking stations in almost every room in the house, plus car adapters. As an added bonus, if you have problems with it, you can make an appointment online to the local “genius bar” and they will fix it for you.

I have several playlists – I’ve mostly downloaded my songs off iTunes because I have an Iphone & you can make ringtones out of songs downloaded off iTunes, but I also did some of the recently deceased Russian websites at a lower cost (shame on me, I know)…

I’m trying to think of new bands I’ve discovered that you’d like…I lean more to the hard rock stuff, so I’ll get back to you on that… but my favorite classical artist is Joshua Bell (violin) and you can’t go wrong with Michael Buble singing the standards…
evlqn on 24 Jun 2009 at 1:35 am #

Nicole, we are still mourning our Sony 60 CD player. After nearly 10 years it has finally decided it doesn’t want to function properly. We started downloading all of our CD’s to our computer and then crank up the Windows Media player. The g-sons have MP3 players with videos. They use MP3 Rocket to download their music. I usually go to the site of whom ever I want and download directly from there.

We like most music but I prefer show tunes, ethnic and alternative music. Favorite singers are Brian Stokes Mitchell, Josh Groban, Sting, Andrea Bottcelli, Enya, Celtic Thunder, Celtic Woman, Trace Atkins. Barbra Streisand, Neal Boyd, and my friend Preston Marshall. And Aaron Neville.

Favorite song, Wind Beneath My Wings. Current favorite Caledonia on the Homecoming Scotland website. After that Caledonia by Celtic Thunder.
Archer on 24 Jun 2009 at 2:51 am #

Nicole,

You can listen to songs on youtube. I use the ilike application on facebook. ilike.com for those who dont have fb. You can sample and buy music from there.
My friends mostly use ipod and itunes, but I’m not an apple fan. Don’t like that it doesn’t have radio so I can’t hear new music.
You can also buy mp3s on amazon.

I don’t have 1 all time favorite song, but some of my faves are: Sting – Shape of My Heart, Loreena McKennitt – The Mystic’s Dream, Sunrise Avenue – Fairytale Gone Bad, Hoobastank – Reason, Metallica – One, Reamonn – Supergirl, Phantom of the Opera Techno remix… its my ring tone… I’m weird i guess

Haven’t been listening to a lot of new artists, but I like Kate Perry, Evanescence, and The Fallout Boys.

I’m listening to a lot of Celtic musics lately. Love Celtic Women – Granuailes Dance
People look at me funny sometimes because I blast it in my car.
LoriHandeland on 24 Jun 2009 at 5:44 am #

My favorite song is “Sweet Child of Mine” by Guns and Roses.
I don’t listen to anything but my old stuff so don’t have a new fave unless it’s Susan Boyle. Wow, what a voice!

I’m an apple/ipod girl all the way. Love being able to have my playlist on all my computers, and in the car, and pretty much anywhere since the ipod’s portable. And you can pretty much do anything with them with all the choices in docks and speakers etc.

I agree with Archer on the radio thing though. It would be nice to be able to get radio access on an ipod if only to hear the baseball game!
Sabrina Jeffries on 24 Jun 2009 at 6:42 am #

Very important question here–how important is the quality of the sound to you? I listen to music on my ipod and dock all the time, but I will admit that the sound quality isn’t the best if you crank it up really loud. MP3’s are still compressed format. My dh won’t listen to MP3s at all–he has to have CDs mastered within an inch of their little lives. But he’s not like other people, and I accept this. I listen to Itunes all day and it doesn’t really bother me. So you need to figure out how important that is to you first. Have you ever listened to MP3s?
TrishD on 24 Jun 2009 at 7:19 am #

I’m not going to be much help with this. I like music but I’m not into electronics and all the techno do-dads that go with it. I’m pretty basic, the factory radio in my car and in the house it’s just the surround sound hooked up to the TV. We do have digital cable and have all music channels to fit any taste. Classic rock is what is usually on in my car and at home I turn on the ’80’s music channel. I’m not very with it when it comes to music. The only “current” I really like is Matchbox 20… are they still current??

My suggestions: Sting is always good; Toby Keith, Tim McGaw, Trace Adkins and Kenny Chesney are my country favs; The Police, Journey, Corey Hart, Depeche Mode, Duran Duran and Loverboy are my “teenage year” favs.

It probably sounds geeky, but try movie/broadway play soundtracks. I love the play Evita and received a CD of the soundtrack back in the mid-90’s. I used to crank the volume and sign along… that got me weird looks.

Good luck!
Jamie on 24 Jun 2009 at 7:20 am #

My absolute favorites are 80s and hard rock. My personal top three (if I had to pick from all the music out there) would be “Bizarre Love Triangle” by New Order, “New Year’s Day” By U2 and “Interstate Love Song” by Stone Temple Pilots. Which aren’t really in the genre you asked about. I do like the “screaming” lyrics – believe it or not, that helps me relax more. Yes, some thing that is odd.

I think your current set up is wonderful. If it still works, use it until it breaks completely. If you want a personal player, an I-pod is wonderful. Make sure you get a battery back up for it when you go on long trips. I got one and that is as valuable as the player itself. If you are getting a new one for the house. Go for all the nine yards. Hey, if you have the money and you will use it, go for it. (I don’t have the money and I get it, maybe that is why I am always in debt.)

Because of spyware and all I ONLY get my downloaded music from I-tunes or other major places. You can get your music from anywhere, but I never trust them. For radio, I like your plain ordinary and not satelite. I like listening to the local DJs, sometimes they are better than the music. LOL!
Jamie on 24 Jun 2009 at 7:23 am #

I really wish we had an “edit” button on this. I put some “thing” instead of some “think”. ::DOH!::
Cail on 24 Jun 2009 at 7:23 am #

nicole, most sound systems have an input option for ipods, if you get one of those cables you can easily hook up a new ipod to an old sound system. this way you can have both options.

You can slowly burn your old cds, or download new ones onto your computer and then onto your ipod. itunes has a very good legal store, and amazon has the option to download cds. my dad used to go to the library and borrow cds and put them on his computer, but the DRM situation has sort of stopped that option.

i’m mostly an irish folk, celtic music kind of girl. capercaillie, karan casey, ashley macissac, clannad, altan, etc are on my main playlist.
Gale on 24 Jun 2009 at 7:34 am #

I’ll leave commenting on the technical stuff to others. But my all-time favorite, that’s easy: “In My Life” by the Beatles. My current favorite is “In My Arms” by Plumb. Have fun.
amy1242 on 24 Jun 2009 at 7:41 am #

There’s lots of good advice here today. I love my ipod and some of the docking stations in the house have radios in them (the one in the kitchen and bedroom). But my good one is a Bose ipod station, mostly used in the living room, but travels to the cabin with us and out in the backyard for when we grill out (it came with a really nice case for traveling). I use itunes for my downloads, but also use my fave cd’s that I put into the computer. I also like to use playlist.com when I’m on my computer. You don’t download that to an ipod, you just listen to it while you’re on your computer, and it’s free. I’m all over the board on music likes, so suggesting something wouldn’t help you.
Kat on 24 Jun 2009 at 7:58 am #

WOw — age old question.
I use an iphone with a cord attachment to my dvd player to blast through the house. ( I got the cord with my idog, but he doesn’t play nice with the iphone.) Iphone has Pandora to listen to new music. You can also use Pandora.com to get new radio stations. I use it at work all the time. You can also download music through itunes or microsoft’s zune network (not sure where that one is since I don’t use it.)

Good luck!
Freshechelle on 24 Jun 2009 at 7:59 am #

Get an iPod with a big memory and get a Bose Sound Dock (with the outdoor option if you think that’s your speed). Its compact, you can fill the iPod with your most of your music library, buy songs you like from iTunes and subscribe podcasts that interest you.

You get the great sounding Bose Sound Dock which is available refurbished at their outlets if you’re looking to save a little. It will be easier, more portable and take up considerably less space than an old fashioned stereo with separate speakers. I just forced this set up on my technophobe sister and she thanks me weekly for it.

Plus you can subscribe to podcasts if you want to listen to something other than music while doing stuff around the house. I like NPR’s Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me or a slew of BBC Radio programmes (nice touch there, with the UK spellling, eh?)

As for burning CDs, just don’t sell them and you should be able to avoid arrest.

Happy Listening.
JudyPatooty on 24 Jun 2009 at 8:04 am #

Rhapsody.com is a good place to check out new music. I found a band from the 90s (which I don’t think is together anymore) called Vertical Horizon. I really like their music a lot!

Bose is the way to go for a really good sound system. I bought a Bose Wave Radio with CD player a few months ago and totally LOVE it! The sound is absolutely spectacular. Then, last month I bought an iPod dock to attach to it (not the separate Bose iPod system) and it’s been a wonderful addition.

My iPod is just full of all the oldies but goodies from the 70s and 80s that I listened to in high school and college. I even bought Bose earbuds for my iPod and the difference in the sound just blows me away.

The Bose Corporation ought to give me a commission.
Freshechelle on 24 Jun 2009 at 8:10 am #

oh and music suggestions, my new favs in heavy rotation are “Try” by Sharon Little and some stuff from Sara Watkins’ solo album (from Nickel Creek).
Karen Rose on 24 Jun 2009 at 8:40 am #

I second the Rhapsody to Go reco, Nicole.

Sorry Ipoddies, but it absolutely chafes me to have to pay for each download when I can have unlimited access to music at Rhapsody for 15 bucks a month. That’s only 15 individually bought songs and I have thousands on my play list.

It lets me stay legal, yet freely uncommitted Up to three computers in the house can use the Rhapsody acct (not at the same time) and I can download to my MP3 (NOT an iPod).

My new car said the radio was only compatible with iPod, but I got one of those nifty cords and it plugs right in to the sound system.

I think it’s what you prefer, Nicole – have fun making your choice!
Nicole Jordan on 24 Jun 2009 at 8:41 am #

Great, great suggestions, ladies! I’ll be printing all these out at the end of the day.

Some of these artists I’ve heard and loved… and some I’ve never heard of so will definitely give them a try. I’ve never heard Celtic music that I know of, although I do have Enya and Lorena Mck.

The beauty about y’all advising me is that you’ll expand my music world!

Bronte, I love Matchbox 20/Rob Thomas. He’s one of my very faves.

And Trish, I love Evita too. Have a vinal album of that from way back and put a couple of the songs on my fave tapes.
Sabrina Jeffries on 24 Jun 2009 at 8:48 am #

You really should try Evanescence, Nicole. I listened to their first album just this morning. Her voice is gorgeous.
Nicole Jordan on 24 Jun 2009 at 8:48 am #

The download info is so great too! I’m pretty ignorant when it comes to what’s offered on-line these days. I’ve always just gone to a store (B&N usually), listened on their earphones, and then bought a CD.

As for sound systems, Sabrina, I don’t have to have fabulous, but I want it to be pretty good.

Amy, Freshe, and JudyP, a friend has a Bose dock and she loves it. I haven’t heard it yet, but I will now. And there’s a Bose outlet store not too far from where we live.
Nicole Jordan on 24 Jun 2009 at 8:53 am #

>>>You really should try Evanescence

I will, thanks, Sabrina! I loved her hit song a few years ago.

,,,,

My big question about all these music access sights is, if you download to your computer, can you then burn to a CD?

KarenR, about Rhapsody, do you get to keep the songs you download?

See, I told you I’m ignorant!
Nicole Jordan on 24 Jun 2009 at 8:55 am #

For all you iPoddies, what happens if you want to upgrade your iPod to a new model? Or if your current one conks out.

Can you transfer songs from one to another? Or do you just have to do all the downloading and paying again?
Kathleen O on 24 Jun 2009 at 8:56 am #

I have downloaded most of my CD’s to my PC and I am like you, have not got an attachement to download them to a portable player system..
I am leaning toward IPod as this seems to be the most popular. I would get a speaker system to go with it too, as I am not a fan of ear phones..
Karen Rose on 24 Jun 2009 at 9:00 am #

Nicole – it’s like you rent them. If you quit your subscription, the songs are gone. So if you’re into lyrical commitment, you might want to buy.

Me, my taste changes so often that renting is the best way to go for me.
Nicole Jordan on 24 Jun 2009 at 9:03 am #

>>>>nicole, most sound systems have an input option for ipods, if you get one of those cables you can easily hook up a new ipod to an old sound system. this way you can have both options.

Cail, I agree, this would be a great compromise. Then we wouldn’t have to buy new speakers or try to find a place for them… There really is no good place to put a separate iPod speaker system in our great room unless it’s on the hearth or the floor, and that might look a little tacky.

But we looked and didn’t see any port on the back of our receiver to plug in any kind of mp3 player. Maybe because it’s too old?

Wonder if we should go to Best Buys or some place like that to find out what’s new on the market so we could play an ipod and our cd-changer both.

Oh, and we also have a lot of vinal albums (I know some of you don’t even know what those are, lol) and a record player that we have plugged into our receiver too. And I would hate to lose that option altogether since dh likes to listen to oldies sometime and turn the sound way up to blasting (mostly when I’m not around).
Freshechelle on 24 Jun 2009 at 10:29 am #

yes Nicole you can burn what you down load from iTunes. Yes, you can transfer the contents from an old iPod to a new one because you routinely sync your iPod to your iTunes library which sits in your computer. So it’s your computer (iTunes library) that loads a replacement iPod, not an iPod to iPod transfer. iTunes is can be a combo of cds you’ve loaded onto your computer and songs you buy. Rhapsody is probably the same, don’t know.
nancyg on 24 Jun 2009 at 11:55 am #

yup, Nicole – our family is a 5 iPod, 3 iPhone family & all the music we download off iTunes is accessible to everyone. I can burn CDs from my playlists. For your CDs that you love, you can upload the CDs from the drive right into your iTunes library.

For new music releases, I get on a wait list at the library, then download the songs I want. My kids are more pick one here & there off albums, so they usually download the latest & greatest from the iTunes store. I have my account set up so it comes right out of my PayPal money.

New artists? Love Nickelback, the new Keith Urban is good, so is the new Black Eyed Peas. My girls adore Katy Perry, I love the new one, “Waking Up in Vegas” – the lyrics crack me up. Also Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, & the original American Idol, Kelly Clarkson – the new song “I Don’t Hook Up” is good. Although I have eclectic tastes, my “go to” music is a bit harder rock; Foo Fighters, Stone Temple Pilots, Theory of a Deadman, Bush.

I’ve got an 80 GB iPod, have movies, TV shows, music, music videos, audio books (get the CDs from the library too, download & then listen to them in the car), etc. and I’m not even 1/2 through the memory in 2-3 yrs
evlqn on 24 Jun 2009 at 1:44 pm #

I love Evita too, I got to sit in the 7th row at the Shubert Theater in LA when we saw it. I saw Douglas Fairbanks Jr as Henry Higgins in Reno too. I am such a fan of live theater and then I have to have the soundtracks.
Native American music is good too. Robbie Robertson, Douglas Spotted Eagle, R. Carlos Nakai are some of my favorites.
Have you tried Fado music? Mariza is good, her voice is so pure it just chills.
Pesky on 24 Jun 2009 at 2:40 pm #

1. Ipod, Definitely Ipod. I have 120 GB Classic and I’m carrying about 5500 songs and 4 videos and still have 82 gb free for use if that helps you figure out size.

2. I used Itunes though my nephew says there are better programs. I like it because of ease of use and it lets me just drag and drop for my playlists. Itunes works by you loading all your cd’s into your system. I purchase a FAST external drive to use specifically for my itunes. Remember if you are filling a 32 GB ipod, you need at least 32GB of free space on your computer for your itunes as well. I opted to splurge for expensive speakers for my computer and I play the music this way.
3. Where to get music: Itunes, cd’s, amazon (make sure you look at the free section there too, I get great samplers of albums from them), barnes & nobles…just google it.

Favorite songs:
To Dream By: Claire de Lune
To Sway To: Arms of a Woman by Amos Lee
To Dance Down and Dirty: Deeper and Deeper by Dave Gahan
To Flirt To: All The Same To Me by Anya Marina
To Bop To: Marsupial by Project Jenny Project Jan/Accessory Jordyn Taylor
Southern Heat: Y’all Think She’d Be Good To Me C.C. Adcock
Mari on 24 Jun 2009 at 2:42 pm #

In The Still of The Night by the 5 Satins is my all time favorite song. It is so romantic.
Pesky on 24 Jun 2009 at 3:08 pm #

More Favorites (contd):

To Wallow: My Skin by Natalie Merchant/ Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow Roberta Flack
To Rejoice: Hello Hello by Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit/If I Ever Leave This World Alive by Flogging Molly
To Dance Around The Kitchen: Hush Now (Stella’s Tarantella) by Over The Rhine
Blues Baby: Hound Dog by Big Mama Thornton/La Grange by ZZ Top/Sinnerman by Nina Simone
To View A Sunrise: Ungar & Mason Ashokan Farewell
Blast From The Past: Powerful Stuff by The Fabulous Thunderbirds
New Favorite Musician: CC Adcock Lafayette Marquis (album) Southern Rock At its Down and Dirtiest

Advice: Prior to getting your ipod, you can download itunes onto your computer, load your cd’s, set up some playlists (remember have fun with this, I have workout lists, songs to mull things over, belly dancing, blues, swing, jazz, and a list called Random I like em

Have Fun!
Nicole Jordan on 24 Jun 2009 at 3:43 pm #

Thank you, thank you, y’all! This is great advice about iTunes and iPods.

And I’m definitely gonna check out all these artists and songs!!!
Nicole Jordan on 24 Jun 2009 at 3:46 pm #

NancyG, I love Nickeback too! Also recently….Five for Fighting, One Republic and some others.

Pesky, I figured you would have a great playlist! I’m printing all these out.

Ev, I’ll bet that was so cool seeing Evita in LA. I’m a big musical fan, too.

Mari, if that’s the same In the Still of the Night from the 50’s or 60’s that I’m thinking of, I love that too!
TinaLouiseF on 24 Jun 2009 at 5:11 pm #

I’m not very up to date as I have neither mp3 nor ipod.

I let the Satellite Radio expire since there were only 4 channels I liked and I still spent more time listening to CD or tapes. I have approx 20 cds and 40 tapes.

I mostly listen to country, but I have a Def Lepard, Paula Abdul, and Madonna’s first 2 tapes.

I didn’t miss music the month my Explorer was broke down and I had to drive the Bronco with the bad wiring that wouldn’t operate the radio/tape player.
TinaLouiseF on 24 Jun 2009 at 5:14 pm #

I did spend $30 last year to hear the Sawyer Brown concert at the fair. It was fabulous.
Karen Rose on 24 Jun 2009 at 7:13 pm #

Sawyer Brown, TL? I saw them in concert years ago and they were wonderful! They opened for JMMontgomery and I have to say they were better than he was. Glad to hear they’re still touring. I’ll have to see if they’re coming near me.
OSassyOne on 24 Jun 2009 at 10:40 pm #

I checkout CD’s at the library and download them onto my itunes.
Nicole Jordan on 24 Jun 2009 at 10:51 pm #

Thanks so much for the great tips, everyone! These are wonderful suggestions and I absolutely plan to make good use of them.
TinaLouiseF on 24 Jun 2009 at 11:21 pm #

Both John Michael Montgomery and Terri Clark will be at the fair this year (if I remember correctly), but I do not know enough of their songs to pay $30 for either of them.

Last year Sawyer Brown went up into Canada after leaving Montana.

I just picked up Wed Him from Wal-mart 45 minutes ago. I’ve read 24 pages while waiting for my laptop to clean disk and defrag. Usually those two steps speed up my computer, but not tonight.
Nicole Jordan on 25 Jun 2009 at 1:15 pm #

I love JMM, Tina. And I sure hope your puter shapes up! My internet connection was giving me fits a few days ago for 3 days in a row. Sure makes you appreciate it when everything works right.
Nicole Jordan on 25 Jun 2009 at 4:29 pm #

Oh, I just saw the news that Michael Jackson has died. How sad. I have both his Thriller and Bad albums, and whatever you think of his music, he changed the music industry forever.
ladydawgfan on 25 Jun 2009 at 6:19 pm #

Nicole,

For your Jazz listening pleasure, try Anat Cohen, particularly her album, Poetica. Nice, smoooooooth jazz that is not harsh on the ears, but is just nice to listen to. I saw her in concert a few weeks ago and thoroughly enjoyed her concert, so much in fact, that I immediately bought two of her albums (also Notes From The Village, which is also excellent).
Nicole Jordan on 25 Jun 2009 at 10:05 pm #

Thanks, ldf! My dh likes jazz even more than I do — and I love the mellow stuff.
Cindi on 28 Jun 2009 at 11:07 am #

Nicole, since your stereo system is older, you might double-check that it will play burned cd’s. I found this out the hard way when I tried to play a downloaded album I purchased on line and the high-end CD player wouldn’t play it. I am like you, I keep my older (but very good) equipment setup because I like being able to plug in and play my vinyl every once in a while. Did you know that record players are making a come-back? My ex just spent an exorbitant amount on a new one that makes his audio sound like the old stuff (yes, I know).

My favs are also 80’s-90’s hair bands and/or metal. Give me The Cult’s “Sanctuary” and “Sweet Soul Sister” and I’m happy. Its neat these days to hear how so many of my fav “old” bands are sounding today!