09:25 – 10:15
Katy B – On A Mission (whole album)
How: iPod, via headphones
Where: Walk to work, office
With: just me
First play of an eagerly awaited album. I resisted the temptation to skip the tracks I already knew, in favour of hearing the whole thing in context. I had read a lot about this album, and it lived up to expectations.
13:00 – 14:00 (intermittently, with pauses)
Spotify playlist: UK Top 100 – Parade, Martin Solveig/Dragonette, Peter Kay & Susan Boyle, Diddy – Dirty Money, Katy Perry, Taio Cruz, Enrique Iglesias, Rihanna, Adele.
How: iPhone, with headphones
Where: office, walk to/from deli, office
With: just me
Ugg, this felt like homework. Even the songs I like were dragged down by their neighbours.
13:00 – 13:30
Alicia Keys – Fallin’ (plus other unidentified tracks by other artists)
How: sound system in deli, almost certainly on shuffle
Where: deli
With: me and patrons
This wasn’t the same deli as yesterday; I divide my loyalty between two establishments. This place alternates between Radio Two and some sort of hidden MP3 player on shuffle. The volume was lower than usual today, almost to the point of inaudibility, but there was no mistaking the Alicia Keys track. One of the other tracks sounded like early 90s ambient techno: Banco De Gaia, Bandulu, that sort of thing.
(At least it wasn’t Air’s Moon Safari, or Moby’s Play, or The Sodding Gotan Project, as all three remain deathless stalwarts of this city’s “continental cafe bar” scene. Perhaps it’s time for some sort of Official Product Recall.)
14:40 – 14:50
Tiesto/Diplo/Busta Rhymes – C’mon (Catch ‘Em By Surprise)
Glee Cast – Thriller/Heads Will Roll
How: iPhone YouTube, with headphones
Where: office
With: just me
Three tracks in the current Top 40 can’t be accessed via the Spotify playlist, and so my completist streak compelled me to seek them out. Birdy’s cover of Bon Iver’s “Skinny Love” can’t be played via the YouTube app, so that’s a treat in store for later.
I had to stop the Glee Cast’s Michael Jackson/Yeah Yeah Yeahs mash-up halfway through, as it was unbearable: turns out that Jessie J’s “Do It Like A Dude” isn’t the worst track in the Top 40 after all.
17:45 – 18:05
Jamie Woon – Mirrorwriting (tracks 1 to 5)
How: iPod, via headphones
Where: Office, walking home
With: just me
Another long-awaited first listen. Enjoyable, but my first thoughts were that James Blake and especially Nicolas Jaar have the edge when it comes to this sort of thing.
23:20 – 23:25
Birdy – Skinny Love
How: YouTube on laptop, via in-built speakers
Where: home
With: just me
After an evening spent writing pseudonymous romantic fiction in silence (or rather, while K watched the telly), this Bon Iver cover provided a sweet end to the day – and also to my accursed “listen to everything in the Top 40” project.
Favourite track of the day: Birdy – Skinny Love
Worst track of the day: Glee Cast – Thriller / Heads Will Roll
troubled diva 