CDs listened to today:

• Ottorino Respighi: Feste Romane
• Ludwig van Beethoven: Triple Concerto (Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting)
• Roger Sessions: Suite from the Black Maskers
• 24-7 Spyz: Harder Than You
• The Streets: Original Pirate Material
• The Zutons: Tired of Hanging Around

CDs listened to today:

• Gyorgy Ligeti: Requiem
• Fats Navarro: The Fats Navarro Story, disk 3
• Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra
• Darius Milhaud: Saudades do Brazil
• Possum Dixon: (eponymous)
• Edison Denisov: Choral Varié
• The Distillers: Coral Fang

CDs listened to today:

• Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band: Swingin' For The Fences
  
• Alan Hovhaness: Symphony No. 20
• Sofia Gubaidulina: Seven Words for Cello, Bayan, and Strings
• LL Cool J: Mama Said Knock You Out
• Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra: Consummation
• Edison Denisov: Choral Varié

CDs listened to today:

• Luciano Berio: Rendering per Orchestra
• The Cure: Disintegration
• Sam Phillips: Don't Do Anything
• Frédéric Chopin: Études

CDs listened to today:

• Henri Dutilleux: Tout Un Monde Lointain
• Garbage: Independent Access
• Girls Against Boys: Park Avenue
• Phoenix: It's Never Been Like That
• Ludwig van Beethoven: Missa Solemnis
• Louis Armstrong: Volume V: Louis in New York
• Edison Denisov: Choral Varié

CDs listened to today:

• Smashing Pumpkins: Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, disk 2
• Ludwig van Beethoven: Triple Concerto (Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting)
• Roger Sessions: Sonata for Piano
• Truman's Water: Of Thick Tum
• The Streets: Original Pirate Material
• Edison Denisov: Choral Varié
• Various Artists: Something for Everybody

CDs listened to today:

• Edgar Meyer: Quintet
• The Posies: Frosting on the Beater
• The Distillers: Coral Fang
• Ottorino Respighi: La Boutique Fantasque
• Smashing Pumpkins: Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, disk 1

CDs listened to today:

• Sofia Gubaidulina: Offertorium
• Korn: Issues
• Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra: Consummation
• Gyorgy Ligeti: Nonsense Madrigals
• Fats Navarro: The Fats Navarro Story, disk 2
• Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra

CDs listened to today:

• Alban Berg: Wozzeck
• The Cure: Bloodflowers
• Sam Phillips: Don't Do Anything
• William Childs: Concerto for Solo Percussionist
• Girls Against Boys: Freak*On*Ica
• Alan Hovhaness: Symphony No.  20

CDs listened to today:

• Henri Dutilleux: Tout Un Monde Lointain
• Deee-Lite: Groove Is In the Heart
• EMF: Unbelievable
• Phoenix: It's Never Been Like That
• Ludwig van Beethoven: Mass in C
• Louis Armstrong: Volume IV: Louis Armstrong and Earl Hines
• Luciano Berio: Rendering per Orchestra

CDs listened to today:

• Smashing Pumpkins: Siamese Dream
• Ludwig van Beethoven: Triple Concerto (Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting)
• Kazimierz Serocki: Suite for Four Trombones
• Truman's Water: Godspeed the Punchline
• The Streets: Original Pirate Material
• Various Artists: Shades of Technology: A Drum and Bass Journey

CDs listened to today:

• Fats Navarro: The Fats Navarro Storm disk 1
  
• Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra
• Olivier Messiaen: Visions de l'Amen
• The Posies: Dear 23
• The Distillers: Coral Fang
• Steve Reich: Tehillim

CDs listened to today:

• The Gin Blossoms: New Miserable Experience
  
• Alan Hovhaness: Symphony No. 20
• Sofia Gubaidulina: 'Stimmen…Verstummen'
• Konono No. 1: Congotronics
• Mel Lewis/Thad Jones Orchestra: Consummation
• Gyorgy Ligeti: Musica Ricercata (adaptation for barrel organ)

CDs listened to today:

• Louis Armstrong: Volume III: The Hot Fives and Sevens
• Luciano Berio: Rendering per Orchestra
• Alban Berg: Neun kurze Stücke für Quartett, Sextett oder Violine und Klavier
• The Cult: The Singles 1984-1995
• Sam Phillips: Don't Do Anything
• Chen Lu: Chinese Folk Dance Suite

CDs listened to today:

• Tripping Daisy: I Am an Elastic Firecracker
• The Streets: Original Pirate Material
• Various Artists: Say What?
• Henri Dutilleux: Tout Un Monde Lointain
• Consolidated: Dysfunctional
• The Cure: Never Enough
• Phoenix: It's Never Been Like That
• Ludwig van Beethoven: Incidental Music to Kotzebue's "König Stephan"
  

CDs listened to today

• Pop Will Eat Itself: Box Frenzy
• The Distillers: Coral Fang
• Steve Reich: Octet
• Slowdive: Just for a Day
• Ludwig van Beethoven: Triple Concerto (Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting)
• Humphrey Searle: Symphony No. 2
• Richard Wagner: Das Rheingold
  

CDs listened to today:

• Sofia Gubaidulina: Concerto for Bassoon and Low Strings
• KMFDM: Naïve
• Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra: Consummation
• Gyorgy Ligeti: Musica Ricercata
• Fats Navarro: The Fabulous Fats Navarro, Vol. 1
• Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra
  

CDs listened to today:

• Alban Berg: Lyric Suite for String Quartet
• Crowded House: Together Alone
• Sam Phillips: Don't Do Anything
• Jacques Castérède: Sonatine
• Debbie Gibson: Out of the Blue
• Alan Hovhaness: Symphony No. 20
  

Books that intimidate me.

OK, maybe you won't want to admit this, but I will. I have always been intimidated by a handful of well-known books. The reasons vary, of course, but hey, they're just books, it's not reasonable to be intimidated, right? So now that I've made it a crusade to read more (and to read more substantive works, too), it's probably time to take up those books and confront my fears!

So, what are these books? I don't claim this is a complete list, but here are the ones that come to mind:

• War And Peace, Leo Tolstoy. Sure, I enjoyed Anna Karenina and have plenty of experience with those pesky 19th-century Russian novels, having read Dostoevsky's The Brother's Karamazov, Crime and Punishment, and Notes from Underground. But the book is huge and it's been sitting on my shelf for some years now; somehow it doesn't ever look any smaller…
• USA Trilogy, John dos Passos. I'm proud to say I just finished this! I came to be interested in this book courtesy John Brunner's Stand on Zanzibar, which is a well-known science fiction novel that borrows from the structure of the dos Passos books. Still, a radical narrative structure, rather lengthy, I was intimidated. I can't say that I found these stories the best ever, but I'm so glad to not wonder any more!
• Ulysses, James Joyce. Hey, it's famous as a difficult read. A college friend once told me you should only read this as part of a class so you had help understanding it. I need to get over that. I'm smart enough and I have a decent liberal arts education. How hard can it be, right?
• Moby Dick, Herman Melville. I think I'm in the minority; I doubt most people are intimidated by this one. For me, I got a copy when I was twelve (from a beloved senior relative) and when you're twelve, that thing is kinda big. I'm sure you agree I need to get over it.
• Remembrance Of Things Past (aka, À la Recherche du Temps Passé), Marcel Proust. Admit it, you're intimidated, too. What is it? Six volumes? Three times as long as War and Peace? I once read an excerpt in college (in French, no less), and it wasn't so bad.

(edit: I've now finished USA and Moby Dick, too. Just the Proust and Joyce remain. Someday...)

CDs listened to today:

• Henri Dutilleux: Tout Un Monde Lointain
• Candy Flip: Strawberry Fields Forever
• Chemical Brothers: Setting Sun
• Phoenix: It's Never Been Like That
• Ludwig van Beethoven: The Diabelli Variations
• Louis Armstrong: Volume II: The Hot Fives and Hot Sevens
• Luciano Berio: Rendering per Orchestra

CDs listened to today:

• Sleater-Kinney: The Hot Rock
• Ludwig van Beethoven: Triple Concerto (Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting)
• Alexander Scriabin: The Symphonies, disk 3
• Tricky: Pre-Millenium Tension
• The Streets: Original Pirate Material
• Carl Vine: Symphony No. 3
• Various Artists: The Rough Guide to Bhangra
  

CDs listened to today:

• Gyorgy Ligeti: Lontano
• My Morning Jacket: Z
• Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra
• Olivier Messiaen: Turangalîla-Symphonie (Simon Rattle conducting)
• Poor Rich Ones: Happy Happy Happy
• The Distillers: Coral Fang
• Steve Reich: Music for 18 Musicians

CDs listened to today:

• Crowded House: Woodface
• Sam Phillips: Don't Do Anything
• Dario Castello: Sonata No. 12 for Two Violins and Trombone
• Garbage: Bleed Like Me
• Alan Hovhaness: Symphony No. 20
• Edvard Grieg: From Holberg's Time
• KLF: The White Room
• Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra: Consummation
  

CDs listened to today:

• Various Artists: R&B Life No. 15
• Henri Dutilleux: Tout Un Monde Lointain
• The Breeders: Cannonball
• C + C Music Factory: Gonna Make You Sweat
• Phoenix: It's Never Been Like That
• Ludwig van Beethoven: The Creatures of Prometheus
• Louis Armstrong: Volume I: The Hot Fives
• Luciano Berio: Rendering per Orchestra
• Alban Berg: Lulu-Suite
  

CDs listened to today:

• The Distillers: Coral Fang
• Steve Reich: The Four Sections
• Sleater-Kinney: Dig Me Out
• Ludwig van Beethoven: Triple Concerto (Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting)
• Alexander Scriabin: The Symphonies, disk 2
• A Tribe Called Quest: People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm
• The Streets: Original Pirate Material
• Heitor Villa-Lobos: String Quartet No. 6
  

I have these ancient, yet evolving habits.

Mostly, my music-listening habits… I keep something like a top 20 list on my iTunes, then mix the current hits with my favorite random tracks, then listen to them while noodling around the house, mostly. That means I don't listen to much in the way of my prized CD collection while at home–and that means I don't use my very nice home stereo much, listening to the CDs at work or on the iPod while on the go. On the weekends, it's not unusual for me to skip listening to the CDs altogether and it's just not working out. I wind up listening to each crummy pop single multiple times over the course of the week, and not enjoying my CDs as much as I'd like.

So, I'm making a change for the better, starting last weekend, and choosing more CDs and less iTunes hits. I feel enriched already!

CDs listened to today:

• Charlie Musselwhite: One Night in America
• Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra
• Olivier Messiaen: Turangalîla-Symphonie (Myung-Whun Chung conducting)
• Poe: Haunted
  

CDs listened to today:

• Sam Phillips: Don't Do Anything
• Elliott Carter: Variations for Orchestra
• Garbage: Beautiful
• Alan Hovhaness: Symphony No. 20
• Percy Grainger: The Warriors
• Kinky: (eponymous)
• Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra: Consummation
  

CDs listened to today:

• Zwan: Mary Star of the Sea
• Phoenix: It's Never Been Like That
• Ludwig van Beethoven: Concerto for Piano No. 5
• the apples in stereo: Fun Trick Noisemaker
• Luciano Berio: Rendering per Orchestra
• Alban Berg: Drei Orchesterstücke
• Marshall Crenshaw: Life's Too Short

CDs listened to today:

• Ludwig van Beethoven: Triple Concerto (Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting)
• Alexander Scriabin: The Symphonies, disk 1
• Travis: The Man Who
• The Streets: Original Pirate Material
• Sandor Veress: Hommage à Paul Klee
• Various Artists: ProjectHuman, disk 2
• Henri Dutilleux: Tout Un Monde Lointain

CDs listened to today:

• Olivier Messiaen: Trois Petites Liturgies de la Presence Divine
• The Pixies: Surfer Rosa
• The Distillers: Coral Fang
• Steve Reich: Four Organs
• Skinny Puppy: Too Dark Park

CDs listened to today:

• Percy Grainger: A Lincolnshire Posy
• The Kills: No Wow
• Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra: Consummation
• Gyorgy Ligeti: Le Grand Macabre
• Gerry Mulligan: Compact Jazz
• Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra

CDs listened to today:

• Luciano Berio: Rendering per Orchestra
• Alban Berg: Concerto for Violin
• Marshall Crenshaw: Field Day
• Sam Phillips: Don't Do Anything
• Elliott Carter: Symphony No. 1
• Garbage: Version 2.0
• Alan Hovhaness: Symphony No. 20