Frequent Listening

On January 1, I am going to reset my iTunes song count so that in 2006 I can accurately measure how many times I've listened to a song. I probably listen to 90% of my music on my computer. The rest being records, in the car, and on my iPod. But the bulk of it is on my computer, and I don't listen to CDs on a stereo. However, thanks to AirTunes I can listen to my songs through my stereo speakers (which are new 7.1 surround sound speakers, thanks mom and dad!).

I think this'll be interesting because I'm curious what I'll listen to a lot in early 2006 and forget by the end of the year, or stuff I'll play steadily throughout the year. Obviously there are flaws, in that iTunes only counts a song you've listened to 100%, which is my last.fm may be more useful, because it counts songs that you've listened to roughly 50% of. But that's not fully accurate either. An interesting trend I noticed throughout my top 100 most played songs was that a majority of them were drawn from the first two or three songs on an album. I guess means I start listening to albums and then stop. My goal for 2006 is to listen to things more thorougly and completely. So we'll see what happens.

Currently, my iTunes only has a record of songs I listened to since the middle of June, when I had to reinstall the program. So, here's what I listened to the most in the second half of 2005. I think it's fairly accurate in relating to my top ten albums, as well as older stuff I got really into, etc.

1. Animal Collective - "Did You See The Words?
2. Joy Division - "Disorder"
3. New Order - "Age of Consent"
4. Animal Collective - "Grass"
5. Sufjan Stevens - "Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, IL"
6. Wolf Parade - "Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts"
7. T.Rex - "Mambo Sun"
8. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - "The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth"
9. Kanye West - "Heard 'Em Say"
10. Sufjan Stevens - "Come On! Feel the Illinoise!"