Anne's Adventures (not just in New Hampshire)

For a good while today, I looked for that essay in The White Album where Joan Didion is in the recording studio with The Doors. 

I earned points for my credit card purchases and redeemed them for two €10 iTunes cards that I received this morning in the mail. I bought these songs with my iTunes credit: 

• Big Star - The Ballad of El Goodo
• The Band - The Weight
• Ike & Tina Turner - River Deep Mountain High 
• Jefferson Airplane - Somebody to Love

I really loved A Serious Man. I'm sure 

I had a big stupid smile on my face during 

the whole thing.The opening scene is bound 

to make you love that song even if you don't

particularly like psychedelic rock (and I've never

really liked it). I also don't really like Grace 

Slick's deep, booming voice. So basically, it's one

of those songs that's really catchy, but I still

find myself wondering "but why?"

• NRBQ - Ridin' In My Car

I'm pretty much always the last one to jump

on the bandwagon, any bandwagon for that 

matter. I instantly fell in love with She & Him's 

cover of this song on their new album, so I tracked 

down the original. It's pretty damn great, but I'm

very glad that for their cover, Zooey and Matt 

decided that it would work best as a duet. Matt's 

voice coming on is the most pleasantly surprising 

thing on the album, and I find myself waiting for it 

on the original. 

• Pixies - Allison
• Pixies - No. 13 Baby
• The Replacements - Unsatisfied
• Ryan Adams - Rip Off
• Stevie Nicks - Edge Of Seventeen (*)

I've listened to it so many times 

on Spotify that it was time I bought 

it. It's impossible not to sing along 

or tap your feet to this one. 

• Stevie Nicks & Tom Petty - Stop Draggin' My Heart Around (*)
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - American Girl 
• Warren Zevon - Mohammed's Radio (live) 

This pick stems from a mistake I made. I have

the attention span of a goldfish. During the 

Californication season 2 finale, I googled

the lyrics to a Warren Zevon song (Keep Me In 

Your Heart) and then I must have listened to 

Mohammed's Radio and liked it a lot because

I remembered that song to be Mohammed's Radio

for months. I listened to Mohammed's Radio on

Spotify for months, and then today watched the

first few minutes of the finale, only to realize

it was a different song. Since I liked the scene

as much as the song, it's a disappointment to find

I was mistaken all these months. I remedied it by

also purchasing "Keep Me In Your Heart", which is 

a more fitting song for the scene anyway. 

• Warren Zevon - Keep Me In Your Heart

The most poignant thing about this song is

that it was recorded as Zevon was dying from 

cancer. You get so used to songs about loss that

you tend to forget that some are actually written

about death as opposed to, more metaphorically, 

about breaking up. 

Favorite lines: 

"If I leave you it doesn't mean I love you

any less" and "you know I'm tied to you like 

the buttons on your blouse"

• Wilco - How To Fight Loneliness

This song is on the Girl, Interrupted OST, but 

I didn't remember that it was because I didn't pay 

attention to the soundtrack the many times I watched 

the movie. I have it on VHS, so it's not the most 

convenient way to watch it again to see when it's 

played. I found the soundtrack on Spotify

a few weeks ago, and was surprised that they would

put such a "new" band on the soundtrack because

the movie is set in the 70s if I remember

correctly. I find the opening verse is haunting.

"How to fight loneliness, smile all the time, 

shine your teeth to meaningless and sharpen

them with lies"

• Wilco - Sonny Feeling
• Traveling Wilburys - Handle Me With Care

• The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - This Love Is F*****g Right

Last year, before SXSW, I downloaded

NPR's preview shows and then promptly

forgot about some of the stuff I'd listened

to. A few months ago, I don't know how or 

why,I stumbled upon The Pains on the iTunes 

store and listened to the 30 second previews of 

their debut album. Then, I added the album to 

my Spotify playlists. I figured it was time 

I paid to listen to these songs. I'm not usually 

into this kind of noise pop, but I really dig 

"This Love is F*****g Right".

• The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - The Tenure Itch
• Lynyrd Skynyrd - Call Me The Breeze

Just like "Mohammed's Radio" reminds me

of Californication (see corrections above), 

Call Me The Breeze reminds me of Love is a Mixtape 

and a part I could quote if my brother had given 

me the book back. It was about there being 

nothing in the world like riding in a car with 

a Southern girl singing Call Me the Breeze at 

the top of her lungs or playing the piano solo 

to that song with the aforementioned Southern 

girl on a roadtrip. FYI, I'm serious, I want 

the book back!

(*) Damn iTunes for having higher prices for Stevie Nicks songs. 

What I didn't buy: €200 worth of music that's piling up in my iTunes wishlist.