2010 Review: Genres

Okay, so here's the breakdown of the genres in my head, all neatly encapsulated in these two fancy stacked bar graphs. The first graph shows a condensation of the top 17 genres in my head for 2009, 2010, and the totals for both years of blogging. All 17 top categories are condensed into just three über categories: the "indie/alternative" category includes genres such as punk, post-punk, new wave, etc. The "rock" category includes classic rock (which I take to mean '60s and '70s rock), standard rock ('80s and beyond), hard rock, mellow singer songwriter fare, and so on. The "pop" category encompasses commercial pop, adult contemporary, and traditional pop.


Note that I only blogged at about 49% of 2009's rate in 2010, so the numbers, on the whole, are lower for last year. Still and all, it looks like the indie and rock categories fared at much the same proportions to 2009's numbers, and the pop category took a dip. Now, math is not my strong suit, so if anyone wants to offer a deeper analysis of these numbers, be my guest.

In the next chart, I've broken down the top 17 genre categories so that you, too, can geek out on the labels I attach to the various and sundry songs in my head. Whether you can discern a "commercial pop" song from a "contemporary pop" song, or care if there's a difference between new wave and synth-pop is really between you and your god. It's helpful to note, however, that most songs are tagged with multiple genre categories, so there's a lot of overlap. In addition to that, the total numbers for the genre tags way exceed the actual number of songs I blogged about for this very same reason.

*Click chart to embiggen!*

Coming soon: the stat's on ratings, eras, and who could forget the Whatnot of 2010! Woot, I say, woot!

Related entries:
2010 Review: Artists
2009 Review

Tzena Tzena Tzena

No idea why this Israeli folk song was in my head this morning. Its melody is most familiar to me, because it was repurposed as the Camp Shalom alma mater that I sang on an almost daily basis every summer of my life from age five til my early twenties. The above version is by the Wellingtons from 1964.

The most popular version of the song was the Weavers' spin, in which the simple Hebrew lyrics (encouraging the girls to go find a good army man) were replaced by English words with an entirely different narrative (about dancing and celebrating in the city square). The web search for this song yields some surprisingly wonderful results, including an Arlo Guthrie rendition in which he riffs, in signature trickster style, on the "Gaelic" language in the song, and even a cover of the Weaver's version by trashpop icon Mink Stole and L.A. drag queen Vicky Boofont! Enjoy 'em.

Artists: The Wellingtons, 1964; The Weavers, 1950; Arlo Guthrie, c. 1978; Mink Stole/Vicky Boofont, 2005.
Written by: Issachar Miron, c. 1941; English lyrics by Gordon Jenkins
Rating: Warm

2010 Review: Artists

Hey kids! Wanna know which artists dominated my mental air waves in 2010? Here's a couple handy-dandy pie charts for ya. More statistics might follow in subsequent entries. I don't have the wherewithal to post one long detailed entry this time, but you can read the 2009 Review for shits 'n' giggles, and, you know, scientific inquiry (snicker).

A quick summary of 2010:

Number of entries: 143 (about 49% of the 292 entries from 2009). I'm averaging about 2.75 entries per week or roughly 12 per month, which is a reasonable clip, methinks.
First song blogged in 2010: Magic Dance by David Bowie
Last song blogged: Love Walks In by Van Halen
Oldest song: The Riddle Song, the origins of which go back to the 15th Century.
Newest song: Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) by Arcade Fire. Definitely an up-and-coming artist on my mental jukebox.

So here are the top artists in my head, 2010:



And here's a compiled pie chart for 2009 & 2010, together. As you can see, REM made the biggest jump in numbers last year (they went from 4 entries to 11), but our boys in Sloan, so far, are still way on top. Historically speaking, their lead can't hold more than another year or so.



Keep tunin' in for more stats on 2010's ratings spread and other ephemera that you absolutely need to know!

Yesterday Once More, Redux

I had this song in my head a year ago, almost to the day. This has happened a couple times before, as well. Not sure if it's some sort of cyclical memory, or just a coinkidink. It arrived on my mind the night before I woke with it, because of hearing a certain Belle & Sebastian song that reminded me of the melody.

Happy New Year, y'all!

xo
Sooze

Artist: The Carpenters
Year: 1973
Rating: Luke Hot

Love Walks In

Some Hagar-era Van Halen rounding out the year for ya. If I wake up with a song tomorrow, I'll blog it. Otherwise, stay tuned for the statistics from 2010, coming at some point in the near-future at The Songs In My Head. You can peruse the summary from 2009 right here.

Artist: Van Halen
Year: 1986
Rating: Lukewarm

Happy New Year, all! Thanks for singing along these last two years, and for all your support and comments. May the songs in your head this coming year be enjoyable, whether sincerely or ironically.

--Sooze

Chicken Pot Pie

Speaks for itself, doesn't it?

Artist: David Cross
Year: 1999
Rating: Hot!

Angie

You can't say we never tried.

Artist: The Rolling Stones
Year: 1973
Rating: Luke Hot

Song Against Sex

Wow. Waking up to an apocalyptic, necrophilic, suicidal, yet somehow upbeat dirge is kind of odd. And a welcome relief to all the classic rock of late.

Artist: Neutral Milk Hotel
Year: 1996
Rating: Luke Hot

Layla

The guitar riff instantly registered in my head upon waking this morning. It came soon after a dream in which I was making a martini for an old high school classmate who I really never even knew in high school. One of the most recognizable songs in the rock canon, I never bother to listen to it all the way through anymore when it turns up on the radio, since it's been so ridiculously ubiquitous my whole life. But upon listening now, I realize that the piano outro is pretty much the best part of the song.

Artist: Derek and the Dominoes
Year: 1970
Rating: Warm

Miss You

An example of a song that's been in my head probably hundreds of times during the course of my life, and yet, today is the first time it's been the *first* song in my head (since starting this blog, at least).

Artist: Rolling Stones
Year: 1978
Rating: Warm