Genius

September Gurls-Big Star
Caroline No-The Beach Boys
Shake Some Action-The Flamin' Groovies
Alone Again Or-Love
Waiting For My Man (Live)-The Velvet Underground
Visions of Johanna-Bob Dylan
You're Gonna Miss Me-The 13th Floor Elevators
There She Goes Again-The Velvet Underground
Modern Girl-Sleater-Kinney
Down On the Street-The Stooges
I Just Wasn't Made for These Times-The Beach Boys
Andmoreagain-Love
Octopus-Syd Barrett
All Tomorrow's Parties-The Velvet Underground
Sunday Morning-The Velvet Underground
T.V. Eye-The Stooges
So You Want to Be a Rock 'N' Roll Star-The Byrds
Surf's Up-The Beach Boys
Femme Fatale-The Velvet Underground
Mr. Spaceman-The Byrds
Care of Cell 44-The Zombies
So Sad About Us-The Who
One of Us Must Know-Bob Dylan
Dig Me Out-Sleater-Kinney
Salt of the Earth-The Rolling Stones

This is the play list I've been listening to a lot this week as I ease my way back into walking everyday. It is also my first experiment using the new iTunes software called Genius. Basically, you choose a song that you like and Genius creates a playlist from your library. Naturally, I picked the Big Star classic "September Gurls," one of my all time favorites, to experiment with this new software.

I have mixed feelings after my first experience with Genius. As an avid mix maker (see my blog about the Purple Notebook), I was excited about the possibilities of this program. I use mixes for a number of reasons. I am always looking for new ways to hear songs I am familiar with, and placing them alongside other songs within a mix helps to do this. Many times it helps me hear a song differently out of it's original context, giving it new meaning to me. I also like to use mixes to explore songs and artists that I am not as familiar with. I've become a big fan of many musicians after doing this, often digging into deeper album cuts and rarities.

Genius succeeded in doing both of these things, yet, it also exposed a couple of potential flaws in making mixes. I rarely use the same artists over when making a mix such as this, and Genius did this seven times. I also usually avoid putting back to back songs from artists, something that also occurs here. I also found the overall selection slightly puzzling. I think The Velvet Underground would fit on a mix with Big Star, but not in the manner they are represented here. I find it odd that The Stooges "T.V. Eye" makes the cut, yet not one Beatles song shows up.

But, as I said, Genius did get a couple of things right. The Who, Flamin' Groovies, Zombies, and Rolling Stones songs were all great picks. I also was not very familiar with the Love song "Andmoreagain," but I really liked the song and won't be too surprised if it shows up in future mixes. Also, despite a couple of flow issues, there were a couple of really good stretches of this mix that I really enjoyed. The "Surf's Up" to "One of Us Must Know" part of the mix was really strong in particular.

So, basically, Genius doesn't quite live up to the hype for me (in this case, super mix maker!), but I admit it is a pretty cool toy to use. I'm always looking for new ways to experience music, and I think Genius is a nice new way to accomplish this. That can't be a bad thing.