I need to postpone my thoughts on last week's discussion about good music for a girl who is just maybe starting to feel angsty. (Even though I see Tori Amos has new expanded reissues coming out for her Earthquakes and Pink. (Missing the Carl Craig remixes of "God" there, grumble grumble.))

Tomorrow is EAR's birthday and it's now tradition or something that I make her a mix CD. This might be number 15. I've tapped most of what I think she'd like, or what I want to share. I don't not want to make her a CD, I just don't have any strong-enough ideas for it right now. As I write this, I've got like 36 hours tops, and that involves sleeping and working and putting kids to bed and so I don't have time to talk about that other stuff. Next week?

Here's a discussion seed if we need it:
Worst open of an otherwise good album?

I'll start with a thought that I'm not sure counts (as it's more of a gimmick):
Any CD that had blank tracks to start. I'm thinking of Koяn's Follow the Leader, though I'm sure someone else had that bonehead idea first. (Though this would have actually worked for Ariel Pink.)

Did anyone have any idea of best three-track sequence on an album? I didn't, but maybe I will. Sean Paul still has my official entry, but I reserve the right to fix that. Otherwise, it's time for your random ten.

I added a half-dozen albums I read about on best-of-2014 lists last night.
Let's see if any show up on my Random 10.

I also removed my Christmas music. 'Bout time.

No Christmas music. No reading or thinking about year-end lists. Just whatever I actually want to listen to. Maybe the same is true for you.

A short anecdote about one of the entries on my year-end album list, Untold's Black Light Spiral. I added that to my iPod the same day I added all of the tracks I added for the WGOM summer mix, and when I add new tracks, I often make a new Mix to shuffle through the various recent additions. Well, I'd forgotten about the Untold album and thought it was just the Summer Mix nominations, so when I shuffled the "New 2014 06 10"*, I thought that this song was someone's summer mix nomination:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhnajCTEMVQ
So I imagined that the beginning of this amazing noisy thing, an echo chamber without release, was the intro to someone's warped, poppy, summer song. I kept listening without prejudice and without looking until after about 2 minutes I really couldn't figure out what it was. But I was already hooked.

*(or whatever date it was, I delete them when they're no longer new)

Now, share your regular time lists.

Got any good box sets or other good music collections?
P.S. Remember, next week's FMD is reserved for best of 2014 lists.
I'll allow complaints today about how some publication or other put Beyoncé's late 2013 s/t album on their list.

Anyone want to talk about Christmas music? I've barely listened to any this year, but maybe you're different.
Otherwise, randoms and whatevs are good. Save any year-best-ing for January 2, 2015.

So while sitting at home barely working remotely and just whiling away my time til I shake la grippe, I've been scanning some music publications' "Best of 2014" lists. (Scheduling note: have yours prepared for the WGOM on Friday January 2, 2015.) In the middle of that, I've been sidetracked by Stereogum's "20th anniversary" series (...of albums that came out when I was in high school). Essays about Green Day and Beck and Soundgarden and Pearl Jam and Nine Inch Nails and the Offspring. It's weird, man. What am I doing? Why am I letting this give me insomnia after I've been aching to go to bed all day? Is there an essay for Alice In Chains' Dirt? Yes! (The Singles Soundtrack, too!) Ministry's Psalm 69? No. And Filth Pig sure doesn't deserve one. But Oh man, there are essays for Tool and Judgement Night and Sepultura and Björk and...

Wait! I should print these...

Since last Saturday's show, I've pretty much been listening to Lydia Loveless and The Girls! (which is Lydia's littler big* sister's band, who opened). It almost sounds like Lydia singing a different style of music, but the vox are quite similar, and I could even imagine these as ghost-written by Lydia. Talented family. I wonder if their dad ever was the Girls!' drummer.

*if I heard right.