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It’s been a long week and there’s been a lot of music played. Some songs have been so ubiqitous that they fel like they’ve been played almost every night, but there have been plenty of songs that haven’t been played as often and it’s been great hearing songs that I haven’t heard for ages - This morning in the Baa Baas there seemed to be a Kenny Rogers medley play, but even that didn’t compare to earlier in the week when I was sat down editing photos and this came on the jukebox:

This week, for the first time several of my friends might actually approve of what I have been listening to with Nightwish and Emilie Autumn claiming the top spots and satisfying the more gothic of my friends. For the more mellow of my friends, lower down the table (but by no means worse) is an Ivor Novello winning artist, Scott Matthews.

1. (37) Nightwish - Over The Hills And Far Away
2. (24) Emilie Autumn - The Art Of Suicide
3. (23) Tilly & The Wall - The Freest Man
4. (18) Jeff Wayne - Thunderchild
5. (17) Tracey Thorn - A-Z
6. (15) Shakespear’s Sister - Stay
7. (15) Moloko - Indigo
8. (14) The Police - Roxanne
9. (14) Scott Matthews - Elusive
10. (13) Kaiser Chiefs - Every Day I Love You Less And Less

Personally though my favourite of the tracks musically this week have to be Thunderchild from the Jeff Wayne’s epic album, War of the Worlds. It truly is awesome (as is most of the rest of the album). If you haven’t heard it before go and find it and revel in the glory and rememeber, sometimes odds of a million to one aren’t long enough.

I have to make a special mention of the Kaiser Chiefs though, as I have to admit that I like many other slightly insensitive men over the past few year I have used this song to drop a not so subtle hint to a certain (special at the time) someone. Whilst I am not exactly proud of that fact, I must admit whenever I hear the track I do remember the scene and it never fails to make me smile - Does that make me a bad person?

Well here’s the second top 10 mix tape revealing just what I have been listening to this week. Being the fickle sort of person I am and the size of my music collection only one artist has managed to stay in my top 10 most listened to artists - Although if you listen closely to Noah and the Whale’s Jocasta featured on last week’s MixTape you’ll hear Laura Marling singing on the track.

1. (42) Dolly Parton - 9 to 5
2. (20) Meatloaf - I’d Do Anything For Love
3. (20) Long Blondes - Once and Never Again
4. (18) Nena - 99 Luftballoon
5. (16) Nina Simone - Work Song
6. (15) London Boys - Harlem Desire
7. (15) Morcheeba - Trigger Hippie
8. (14) Me First and the Gimme Gimmes - Hats Off To Larry
9. (14) The Who - The Real Me
10. (13) Laura Marling - New Romantic

If Dolly Parton weren’t so good I’d be embarrassed that she is my most listened to artist of the week by a long shot - I know I’ve picked 9 to 5, but this is a Monday MixTape and like Nina Simone’s Work Song it is somehow appropriate.

As to Nena’s appearance, yes I actually have a couple of her albums I didn’t just put 99 Luftballoon on repeat one afternoon. I’ve picked the German version of the song as a) you probably haven’t heard it before and b) it was the one song I wanted to sing in German at karaoke and despite attempting to sing many song I didn’t know for some reason I never got round to the one German song I do know.

I have written before about my taste in music for the amusement of you my dear readers, although Queen and Abba getting the top two artist spots in a year of music is perhaps more tragic, than comedic depending on you point of view.

However not content with only telling you what I am listening to once a year thanks to Mixwit I am going to try and tell you every week. The idea is simple every week I create a mixtape using my top ten most listened to artists of the week as compiled on LastFM from my listening habits.

So without further ado here is my my Top 10 Artist Mixtape for the week ending 31/8/08 complete with bonus track:

Track Listing

1. (23) Richard Cheese - Creep
   
2. (21) Nick Drake - Hazey Jane I
3. (18) Aimee Mann - Lost in Space
4. (16) The Beatles - Eleanor Rigby
5. (16) Kate Bush - Hounds Of Love
6. (15) Noah and the Whale - Jocasta
7. (14) Me First & The Gimme Gimmes - Country Roads
8. (13) Enya - Orinoco Flow
9. (13) Little Dragon - Twice
10. (13) Belle and Sebastian - Funny Little Frog
11. Prodigy Vs Enya - Smack Up The Orinoco Flow (Bonus Track)

I’ll be honest before today I had never heard the Prodigy Vs Enya track I have included on the mixtape and I’d be lying if I said that my life was the greater for it, but it is certainly none the lesser for it and I urge you to listen to that one track, even if you don’t listen to anything else one the mixtape.

For anyone wondering about the number in brackets that’s the total number of plays they’ve had in the past week.

Today just dragged by at work today, even more so than usual. I was so lethargic that I was almost falling asleep at my desk and whilst I joke about being able to my job in my sleep, I know the truth is somewhat different - But only because I don’t talk in my sleep.

It got to the point where I was standing up and walking around tethered by my headset to a desk, like an animal in a zoo. Whilst I might have been as bored as an animal in a cage, I wasn’t able to spend my time sleeping and frustrating people trying to take my picture.

During my breaks, as caffeine is denied me due to my dislike of coffee I was using all the tricks I knew to try and keep myself awake and energised; fresh air, sugar and music.

So firing up the music it was a case of set it up to random and skip it if it was too slow - Here’s the best of what I didn’t skip.

You can tell this photo was taken in Bristol, just look at what the stand ran out of first.

This weekend is the Bristol Harbourside Festival one of the biggest (if not the biggest) free festivals in the South West. Originally intended to celebrate Bristol’s maritime history it now encompasses a few more things that Bristol is famed for including music and circus skills.

I really wanted to pay a visit to it today and I did for all of about 5 minutes. I would have stayed longer, but if I had I probably would have punched someone out of frustration. I hate crowds and thanks to range of entertainment and glorious sunshine the city centre was packed today with people impersonating mindless sheep and milling around, blocking the progress of those people such as me who believe in walking between A and B at a reasonably swift pace.

I was actually quite excited about the weekend, I haven’t seen much live music lately for various reasons - The primary one being a lack of money. The Harbour Festival however is free and so there was no excuse not to pay it a visit and enjoy it.

The list of acts performing over the weekend is a long one, but one of the acts in particular had caught my eye Beth Rowley, a singer raised in Bristol whose album I had caught my ear earlier in the week. I tried to go and see her, but thanks to a combination of the mindless sheep milling about, the dubious sound quality from the poor vantage point I could get and a distinct lack of cider I decided to go home and listen to her album in comfort with some cider fresh from the fridge.

That said when she is back in Bristol in October I shall be making sure that I have a ticket to go and see her live, as I couldn’t get close enough to get any decent shots of her here is a YouTube video of her perfrming elsewhere just so you can see what I am raving about:

See, she’s rather good isn’t she? Why she isn’t getting as much hype as the frankly overrated Duffy I don’t know.