I got stuck taking the train today. Bummer for me, but a train ride is always a chance to catch up on music listening. I've been forcing myself to listen only "new" music lately. My iPods are only loaded with music that I've added in the last two years. This keeps me from a great deal of my "collection," but forces me to discover what I've only been skimming over in the last two years.

I've moved a couple of times since the end of 2006/beginning of 2007 (my iPods cut-off date), so I've fallen back on the "classics;" Elvis Costello, Bruce Springsteen, Nick Lowe. I realized that after this last move that I really should expand my boundaries a little more, and not just listen to a lot of stuff once. New records by old favorites, Bruce, Elvis, Gary Louris, Tift Merritt, have all gotten some play, but exploring really challenging stuff has been my favorite part of this experience. Secondman's Middle Stand by Mike Watt now gets more play, Tutu by Miles Davis is now in the mix, and I'm finally getting around to listening to Nuggets. This morning I decided that Morrisey's Vauxhall and I is a great record I missed the first time around.