Rowan listens – 100 songs down, 900 to go

So in July  I drafted my life list : the ways in which I, Rowan January was going to fulfil my life’s ambitions, one step at a time. And then… Well life, namely university, started kicking my arse. I’ve been very lax in short. The one task I have made inroads is no 1: listen to 1,000 new songs. (I believe in starting at the top. Next stop New Zealand) As I said back in July:

I love music. But I tend to listen to same twenty songs over and over and over again. I need to expand my musical horizons. I’ll be starting out with the Mighty Life List song list. But I need your help. If you have any recommendations for new or obscure music (anything instrumental would be good) head over to the comments and tell me about it.

Below are the first 100 new songs.
A few caveats: by listen, I don’t mean have on in the background while I am doing something else. These are songs I’ve actually sat, listened to and formulated an opinion on. Mostly meh, but still an opinion. In the same line, although I can’t  guarantee I’ve never heard all these songs before, I’ve never registered them. Also it would be easy for me to gobble up some artists back catalogues as a quick way of populating my list. In the interest of broadening my horizons, I’ve tried to avoid this.
My comments are italicised and recommendations are starred. If you want to listen along with me, you can subscribe to my Rowan listens playlist on Spotify. (NB some of the songs listed aren’t on Spotify so I’ve linked to youtube instead.)
100 songs down, only 900 to go…

1. “Too Many Dicks on the Dancefloor” by Flight of the Conchords – *HEH, also I need to watch Flight of the Concords asap.
2. “Bubblegum” by Mr. Loco
3. “Stars” by Aspidistra Flies – * whimsical and wondrous
4. “Stars go blue” by Ryan Adams
5.  Hatikiva, the National Anthem of Israel – * Just exquisite, soul lifting music. But so, so sad
6. “Country” by Empire of the Sun
7. “Everything is Alright” by Motion City Soundtrack
8. “Dirty Sunshine” by Lillix 
9. “I Can’t Stay Away” by The Veronicas
10. “Push” by Matchbox 20 – *Love it, so I listened to a lot of Matchbox 20
11. “Easier To Run” by Linkin Park
12. “Stay” by Safety Suit
13. “Bruised” by Jack’s Mannequin
14. “The Only One” by Yellowcard
15. “Leaving California” by John Parish and Polly Jean Harvey
16. “Asle Bjørn” BY Fyresvatn
17. “All the Umbrella’s in London” by The Magnetic Fields
18. “Sea of Love by Cat Power” – * aah I love this tune
19. “Mun Ja Mun” Adjagas – *Shamanic yoik music from Norway, I like a lot
20. “Ozan” by Adjagas
21. Sargasso Sea by Suzanne Ciani
22. “The very thought of you” by Billy Holiday
23. “Lovesong” (A Cure cover) by Tori Amos
24. “Lovesong” by the Cure
25. “Goodnight Lovers” by Depeche Mode
26. “Strangelove” by Depeche Mode
27. “I’ll Be Your Mirror” by The Velvet Underground.
28. “This Will Be Our Year” by The Zombies – *on repeat, repeat, repeat
29. “With a Little Help From My Friends” by James Taylor (The Beatles cover)
30. “Alone Again Or” by Arthur Lee
31. “I Was Made to Love Her” by Stevie Wonder
32. “Divine Romance” by Phil Wickham
33. “I Love you for Sentimental Reasons” by Nat King Cole – * what a voice
34.  “The Winner Is” by Devotchka – * love the movie, love the soundtrack
35. “Crazy Love” by Van Morrison
36. “Sleepyhead” by Chris Pickering
37.  “I’ve got you and you’ve got me” by New Buffalo – HATE
38. “Safe and Sound” by Hawksley Workman
39. “You are the best thing” by Ray Lamontagne
40. “Winter Waltz” by Serena Ryder – *beautiful voice
41.  “Just Like Heaven” by The Cure
42. “In the Summertime” by The Rural Alberta Advantage
43. “Crazy Love” by Van Morrison
44. “Love you till the end” by The Pogues
45. “Dream Girl” by Dave Matthews Band
46. “Heavenly Day” by Patty Griffin – too warbly and full of vocal gymnastics for me
47. “Space They Cannot Touch” by Kate Miller-Heidke
48.  “Hold You In My Arms” by Ray LaMontagne
49. “Heart It Races” by Architecture in Helsinki
50.  “Say Hey (I Love You)” by Michael Franti & Spearhead
51.  “No Ones Gonna Love You (More Than I Do)” by Band Of Horses – lovely
52. “Christmas wish” by She and Him
53. “Tuesday”  by Paper Aeroplanes
54. “Dance Me to the End of Love” by Leonard Cohen – I’m a big fan of Leonard but I’d never heard this before. FAIL.
55. “Stick By You” by Brick
56. “I Can Hear Music” by the Beach Boys
57. “Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing” by Sufjan Stevens
58. Homesick for the Moon by The Dirty Urchins.
59. “All My Days” by Alexi Murdoch
60. “Gracie” by Ben Folds
61. “The River” by Anathallo
62. “White Blank Page” by Mumford & Sons
63. “The Wolves (Act I & 2)” by Bon Iver
64. “The Chain” by Ingrid Michaelson
65. “Saviour King” by Sweet Little Band
66. “Awake My Soul” by Mumford & Sons
67. “Ára Bátur” by Sigur Rós
68. “Wide Eyes” by Local Natives
69. “Colorado” by Paper Bird
70. Northern Lights by Bowerbirds
71. “Vesuvius” by Sufjan Stevens
72. “Can You Tell” by Ra Ra Riot
73. “Moonage Daydream” by David Bowie
74.  “Innocence” by Airborne Toxic Event
75. “My Best Friend” by Weezer
76. “We Are Man And Wife” by Michelle Featherstone
77. “These arms of mine” by Otis Redding
78. “Halloween” by Misfits 
79. “Essence” by Lucinda Williams
80.  “Comptine D’un Autre Été, L’après-Midi” by Yann Tiersen
81. “La Valse D’Amélie (Version Piano)” by Yann Tiersen
82. “You Send Me,” Sam Cooke
83. “We Rule The School” by Belle & Sebastian
84. “I’m in Love With a Girl” by Big Star
85. “God Blessed Our Love” Al Green
86. “Sir Duke” by Stevie Wonder
87. Generous Palmstroke by Björk
88.  Zueignung by Richard Strauss
89. “Ombra Mai fu” by Handel
90. “Vampire’s Kiss” by John Gold
91. “Heartlight” by Neil Diamond
92. “Fever” by The Cramps
93. “Un homme et une femme” by Patricia Kaas
94. “ bowling with margo” by David Torn
95.  “in the forest” by David Torn
96. “Postal Service” by Such Great Heights
97. “The Way I Feel Inside” by The Zombies
98. “Downtown Train” by Tom Waits
99. “Be My Baby” by DM Stith
100. “It’s all so bright” by Gilbert

I am pretty familiar with the genre of white-boy rock and angsty female singer songwriters. Classical, reggae, folk, funk, techno, pretty much every other genre not so much. Hit the comments and tell me what I’m missing.