Shuffle-up five songs from your preferred music containment system. Then describe them to us, so that we may learn.

1. Elmore James - Look On Yonder Wall. All Elmore James songs sound the same. It's all "Sweet Home Chicago" with different words.
2. Nod - Love Is On Fire. A low-key mumbly thing that turns into a bit of a noisy jam.
3. Norah Jones - The Nearness Of You. Exactly what you'd expect from Norah Jones: a mellow soft-jazz ballad: piano and her soft whispery voice.
4. Esbjorn Svensson Trio - Brewery Of Beggars. Modern Swedish jazz, with a bit of a rock feel (they count Radiohead as an influence): some interesting effected guitar feedback squealing here and there. It's not as dissonant or defiantly a-melodic as a lot of modern jazz can get. Listenable.
5. Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians - Poisonous Angel. A quick-steppin, minor-key, country-flavored number. Pretty good for an unreleased track.

Now you try!

Random 6, sorted in order of preference:

1. David Bowie - Ashes To Ashes
2. Elliot Smith - L.A.
3. Them Crooked Vultures - New Fang
4. Bob Dylan - One Too Many Mornings (live(
5. Adele - One And Only
6. Joni Mitchell - Same Situation
7. Andrew Bird - Sifters

Random ten!

1. Flamin Groovies - I Can't Hide
2. Jennifer Nettles Band - Gravity Drag Me Down
3. Dead - Eyes Of The World
4. Abbey Lincoln - Caged Bird
5. Breeders - Saints
6. Sabbath - Orchid
7. Modest Mouse- Missed The Boat
8. Material Issue -Valerie Loves Me
9. Monk & Coltrane - Blue Monk
10. Ciccone Youth - Tuff Titty Rap

Your turn!

FYWP. I'll just type it again. You can't beat me!

Five. Describe.

1. Madeleine Peyroux - River Of Tears. A slow sleepy languid mellow-pop tune: Cassandra Wilson's poppier moments, everything Joss Stone has ever done. Fitting for a sleepy gray Monday AM. Would also work on a lazy afternoon at a seaside wine bar.
2. ZZ Top - La Grange. And speaking of the beach... there's a town called La Grange in central NC which we pass through every time we drive to the beach. Do you think we can get pass the "Welcome To La Grange" sign without a "uh how how how"? Of course we can't; we're only human.
3. Wilco - What Light. Meh. The verses are OK, but the chorus is "There's a light / what light", over and over and over and over and over. Sometimes he changes "what" to "white". So white.
4. Black Sabbath - Solitude. So quiet it's almost silent. There's a flute, a piano, a restrained guitar and something going backwards. Ozzy sings this so quietly (and so well, frankly) it's hard to believe it's even him. I had to look it up, to verify.
5. Adrian Belew - Of Bow And Drum (live). This is his Power Trio's version, from the "Side Four" release. Good stuff: a nice melodic song, festooned with screechy Belew solo bits. The Rockpalast video linked here is pretty sweet, too.

OK?
Your turn.

Shuffle-up five. Describe.

1. Derek & The Dominos - Key To The Highway. Nine and a half minutes of 12-bar blues, with innumerable endless solos. Gack.
2. Ali Farka Touré & Ry Cooder - Ai Du. Another long slow blus-ish jam. But this one is saved by Touré's interesting Malian guitar and lyrics.
3. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Heavy Metal. A fun snappy thing. I really like the resonating guitar that snakes around through this - it's a sound I use all the time (via my BR600). The singer does kinda wear on you, tho...
4. The Sword - Maiden, Mother & Crone. These guys do such a great job with that classic metal sound. Heavy, sludgy. This could've come from any of Sabbath's first four records.
5. Blonde Redhead - Bean. Probably my favorite B.R. song. Slinky and melancholic, with just enough Youthy noise to keep things hazy.

Make it so.

High five, shuffled-up, discuss!

1. Wilco - Black Moon. A sleepy thing from their most recent record.
2. Codeine - D. A very sleepy thing from the sleepiest band of the 90s.
3. Alison Krauss & U.S. - So Long So Wrong. There's a line "I have given up caring anymore", which I always hear as "I have given up Karen anymore". And then I feel sad for Karen.
4. De La Soul - Ghetto Thang. Groovy minimal old-school backing track, over which the guys rap about troubles in the ghetto.
5. Q-Tip - All In. Another groovy minimal backing track, but Q-Tip is much livelier than the De La guys, so it's more fun to listen to. Plus, it's not about social strife.

Do it!

Crank em up. Talk about the first random five!

1. Pentangle - I Saw An Angel. Pretty groovy, for an English prog-folk band. Bit of a harder sound than the rest of the album. Nice guitar work by John Renbourn.
2. Beastie Boys - What Comes Around. Pretty high on the snotty & bratty scale.
3. PJ Harvey - Oh My Lover. Oh how I love that old PJ Harvey sound.
4. Caribou - Sandy. A delicious blend of early Lilys shoegaze and early Floyd psychedelia.
5. Idyll Swords - Strawberry Airwaves. Some middle east-flavored acoustic picking - Istanbul meets Appalachia. Good stuff.

Can you dig it?

Straight-up ten. Let them brush your rock and roll hair.

1. David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust (acoustic)
2. Anita O'Day - Whisper Not
3. Tom Waits - Cemetery Polka
4. A Tribe Called Quest - Everything Is Fair
5. Matt Pond PA - Lily Two
6. The Cars - Good Times Roll
7. The Smiths - I Want The One I Can't Have
8. Robyn Hitchcock - Tell Me Mama
9. The Doors - The Crystal Ship (live)
10. King Crimson - Matte Kudasai

Let 'em roll.

Shuffle-up five.

1. Robert Johnson - Sweet Home Chicago
2. Led Zeppelin - Hots On For Nowhere
3. Interpol - Obstacle 2
4. ZZ Top - Have You Heard
5. Pretenders - Cuban Slide.

What you got?

Well, OK. It's Monday.
Five, describe.
Look alive.
Here we go!

1. Gastr Del Sol - Mouth Canyon. Mmmm meandering...
2. Beethoven - String Quartet #15 In A Minor. Hard to get into at this time of day.
3. Unrest - Firecracker. Two delay pedals repeating, for three minutes.
4. Jimi Hendrix - Catfish Blues. Sections of straightforward blues separated by long electric freakouts. Almost 8 minutes.
5. Q-Tip - Move. OK, finally! A tune I like, on a Monday AM.

What you got?