iTunes at Work

So it's gettin' on tax time hereabouts, and there's things gotta be done. 1099s and W2s to send out, and so forth. Exactly the sorts of things I like doing the least, but they've got to get done and I'm the guy's got to do it. Okey-doke.

Making it all survivable are the lovely random offerings served up by iTunes all morning long. For no reason except that I needed a five-minute break from it all, here's a list of the last ten numbers I've been treated to this morning:

1) "Serve Yourself," a home-recorded screed from John Lennon shortly before he died
2) "Underdog World Strike" by Gogol Bordello--the irresistible combination of punk rock and gypsy fiddle
3) "Galaxy of Emptiness," Beth Orton--too long at ten minutes-plus, but nice to zone out to while working the numbers
4) "The Good Intent," Rosanne Cash--from her devastating tribute album to both her parents and her step-mother as well
5) "Waltz in A Minor" by Chopin, played by Vladimir Ashkenazy--simply great
6) "Contemplation Rose," Van Morrison--from his ridiculously strong collection of "cast-offs" called "The Philosopher's Stone"
7) "Earth Angel," the classic recorded by The Penguins in 1954
8) "Fancy Free - Finale," by Bernstein--not my favorite of his pieces, but still pretty good
9) "Baci, soavi, e cari," a 16th-century song recorded by The Deller Consort
10) "Song Song Song," by an outfit called Final Fantasy (yes, after the videogame)--I have two tracks from this album and they're both catchy as hell

And playing right now? Well, when I started it was Wyclef Jean's "Fresh Interlude" from his first "Carnival" album, but now it's the first movement of Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante, conducted by Karl Bohm.

Quite a lot of variety. No jazz on the list, though this morning I've had some Mingus and some Ellington. But now, alack and alas, numbers beckon and I am obliged to respond.