1000 Minutes Vol. 2

Time to knock another installment off my 1000 minutes. If you're lost, start here.

3. Portishead - Glory Box (5:06) [Time Remaining: 990.41]
It was difficult for me to resist tossing on Dummy in it's entirety. After all, it seems impossible for a girl to outgrow such heavy-hitters as "It Could Be Sweet," "Sour Times," and "It's a Fire." You see, Dummy effectively tamed my inner tomboy. In an age of grunge, flannel shirts, and all-around poor hygiene, Portishead brought the glory back to femininity. If I were brave enough to use the term "sexuality," this album made me own it. I treasure "Glory Box" because it's the ultimate female inner-monologue. We may be notorious for over thinking, but this track simplifies our most basic desires, and poetically. I'm so tired of playing / playing with this bow and arrow / I'm gonna give my heart away / leave it to the other girls to play / for I've been a temptress too long / give me a reason to love you / give me a reason to be a woman / i just wanna be a woman.

4. The Clash - Lost in the Supermarket (3:50) [Time Remaining: 986.91]
We all know The Clash is my favorite band of all time. I've driven that point into the ground. So I'll just tell you why this London Calling track gets me every time. It was love at first verse. I wasn't born so much as I fell out... "Lost in the Supermarket" may be another cautionary tale of crushing commercialism, but observations by a disenchanted narrator set it apart. Nay, above. We all strive to dig out our place in society. A desire to belong means we take instructions on our work, love, and consumption. Joe Strummer is so brilliant he can make me laugh at this very sad fact: Everything we do to belong has actually made us more lonely. I'm all lost in the supermarket / I can no longer shop happily / I came in for that special offer / A guaranteed personality.

Portishead - Glory Box [mp3]
The Clash - Lost in the Supermarket [mp3]

1000 Minutes Vol. 1

So I completely stole this idea from Totally Twitterpad, who borrowed it from the creators at Tympanogram. The Project: If you were stuck on a desert island and could bring with you precisely 1000 minutes of music on your mp3 player, what songs would you fill it with? We listen to so much music on a daily basis that sometimes appreciation and meaning are lost in translation. But what if you had only a limited, select amount of songs to love for the rest of your life? What would bring you the most joy, the most comfort, the best variety through your numbered days? Chicago Public Radio's Sound Opinions also has a similar running segment, where Jim and Greg trade off throwing tracks into their "Desert Island Jukebox".

So begins my 1000 minutes. I've decided to take it slow, and only knock songs off one or two at a time. It's easy to feel rushed or make selections based on emotional mood, so I'd rather my choices reflect true contemplation, in the spirit of the project's origins.

1. Otis Redding - That's How Strong My Love Is (2:27) [Time Remaining: 997.73]
I know I've raved about this one before, going so far as to call it perfect - possibly the greatest single recording I've ever owned. Otis was unbelievably talented, his career tragically short. I could listen to this one for hours on end because with each new listen he is more convincing, his emotion more palpable. I'm able to feel the physical weight of loving someone so much it hurts. This is a song for anyone who loves with every fiber of their being. It touches on our most basic human desire to be loved, yearned for, needed to the point of agony.

2. James Brown - Try Me [Live at the Apollo, 1962] (2:26) [Time Remaining: 995.47]
Although James Brown recorded four different Live @ The Apollo albums, the '62 recording with Brown's backing band, The Famous Flames was by far his best. Despite the simplistic lyricism of "Try Me," or perhaps because of it, I love this track in particular. What could have been a concise appeal from man to woman is transformed into this incredibly emotional lover's plea. Brown's charismatic stage presence and commitment to the material only make for an improvement of the track live. Sidenote: Brown financed the recording of this album completely on his own, without any inclination that the album would become a bestseller.

Thanks to Andy and Dave, as well as Jim and Greg for coming up with this great idea.

Otis Redding - That's How Strong My Love Is [mp3]