The Perfect Playlist: part I

These days my life revolves around music and apple is my music source. I have songs on my main music pod which is a large iPod - this holds most of my music though it is bursting from the capacity. I also have the iPad and iPhone which of course I have to have some of my new or necessity music on it. And then my running small iPod has about 60 songs and 1gb to keep me motivated while I sweat and dread every step I take.
With the numerous devices comes the magical "playlist" - one of the greatest inventions and successes that apple has marketed. I grew up with vinyl barely remembering the 8-track (I am not that old), but with vinyl came the ultimate cassette playlist - how many hours after school did I work on my tape that I would bring out on a Friday or Saturday so that I could get airtime and proudly boast any new albums I bought that week etc...and similar to the cassette playlist, the mp3 playlist is a lot more easy to manage. I think I have about 30 on my main iPod, everything from songs to sleep, lounge or dinner music, classic 2am piss up songs, new albums that have a similar sort of jangly pop middle class groove to them to listen to during my working days...as well as my must have life changing songs from when music stole my life. The beauty of the electronic playlist is that you are not restricted to 45min per side or 90min total. Again, some die hard vinyl junkies will contest that with the restrictions and limitations, one made stricter judgements on what would be added...I could also romance this assessment.
I do feel that with the iPod playlist, I am more brutal with what I want to hear, my attention span is shorter and I can spend more time pressing the arrow rather than listening to a song in its entirety? Maybe I am on the cusp of the ADD(attention deficit disorder) generation?
So yes, I love having all my music in one box, happily going from Nico to Bombay Bicycle Club and all the inbetweens...but some how the romance of sitting still purposely waiting for the next crisp sound of vinyl starting the next song that I purposefully chose to follow has been forever retired in my music museum...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:London,United Kingdom

A Mode of Living - History part I

Word of the day - "Pensive": I was born in new orleans and moved to london when i was 22 years old (more on that later). I think that travel has always been a substitute for my formal education and I have always had a mad desire to see how this world ticks. Saying that, music has always been my staff to guide me. It is my lifeline and through music it has opened my eyes to love, art, film, photography, fashion and style. I remember a quote saying without art we merely exists? One could question is it love or art that makes us live? I am too naive to answer that, but i try to incorporate both into my daily existence.

Growing up in a city like New Orleans (at it's lowest about 400k and it's best 700k). It is a "big" small city. It is international but very much a southern US city. I think the international charm and french and spanish influence sets it apart from the likes of Mobile and Gulfport. It might be the equivalent to Monaco but on the "redneck riviera".

I think that life, art and travel tend to mould people into who they are and what they become and my work experience has guided my style decisions. For those not priveledged to grow up with servants or a Mayfair/Park Place/Bel Air post code then fine style comes through experience and trial and error...i have worked in high end restaurants, learned to make fancy cocktails and pair wines with certain dishes. I appreciate special 1er wines from certain regions and how many buttons to button on my suit jackets. As one gets older, i think you can bend these basic rules and forge them into your own style and chararcter...

For instance: i prefer red wine with most meals unless i am in the middle of summer and have a very good Montrachet slightly chilled. I eat fish and shell fish with red wine and do not feel guilty. I prefer brown shoes with my suits, rather than black, which i feel is severe and should be kept for weddings and funerals. Maybe that is an italian philosophy? In the UK and the Nordic countries, I have noticed that more men wear black shoes with their business attire...? I know the old rule: "black in the city and brown in the country", but i feel that black shoes leave no imagination, even if they are finely crafted, as they're are some lovely black shoes available today, but for me it feels more like a chore or uniform. Maybe i feel it lacks individuality and expression? When i was in my 20's, i would almost always wear black shoes with EVERYTHING. How one changes...? Again, those who only drink white wine with fish and wear black shoes with business suits are not wrong, but maybe slightly confined to "the rules".

From Millwall with luv.