I've been keeping a spreadsheet total of every song played on my iPod (or iTunes) since I first purchased an iPod in March of 2004. And since 99% of the music I've listened to since I bought my iPod has been on my iPod(s) or iTunes, it's a pretty accurate representation of the bands that I've spent the most time listening to in the past 5 years. This may be interesting to no one but me, but hey, it's my blog. Maybe someone out there will like to see this. Without further ado, here is the list of every single artist played on my iPod since March 2004, in order.
1. Bright Eyes 4,569 plays
2. Mogwai 3,763
3. Sunset Rubdown 3,702
4. Okkervil River 3,608
5. Sufjan Stevens 2,941
Bright Eyes still holds a huge 800+ play lead based on the strength of 1000+ plays in each of 2004 through 2006 (1st, 1st, and 3rd in each year). Mogwai peaked with the most ever in one year, 1725 plays in 2006, but they haven't done much this year and are about to get caught by two bands that didn't even appear in 2004. Okkervil River first appeared on my iPod with 268 plays at the end of 2005, and have stormed up the charts ever since (they've had 1000+ in each of the past three years). Sunset Rubdown didn't appear until 2006! (with 654 plays) but they had the most in 2007 and are already at 1105 in 2009, definitely on pace to break Mogwai's single year peak and very much on pace to be the 2nd most played of any band by the end of this year. Sufjan had 1000+ years in 2005 and 2006, but hasn't done much since (he also hasn't released an album since -- what is he waiting for?)
7. Grandaddy 2,232
8. Pavement 2,135
9. Wolf Parade 2,118
10. Explosions in the Sky 1,865
Modest Mouse have had between 200 and 700 plays each year since 2004, which is impressive for a band whose best album work was done before 2004. But of course, the need to get an advance copy of "Float On" in February of 2004 sparked my initial download of iTunes which led to my purchase of my first iPod a month later and the rest, as they say, is history. Pavement are perhaps even more impressive, having been broken up as a band since 1999, but they have had some wonderful "Deluxe & Re-duxe" versions of their classic albums that have filled up my playlists over the past five years, so it's not a big surprise. And Sunset Rubdown's lead singer Spencer Krug's "other" band Wolf Parade is my 9th most played over the past five years, which I think helps explain this blog's obsession fascination with all things Spencer over the past couple years (we'll see his "third" band later in the list).
- Download Modest Mouse - "Space Travel is Boring".mp3
- Download Grandaddy - "Fare Thee Not Well Mutineer".mp3
- Download Pavement - "Rooftop Gambler".mp3
- Download Wolf Parade - "Bones Song (live unreleased)".mp3
- Download Explosions in the Sky - "The Birth and Death of the Day (Jesu Mix)".mp3
11. Belle and Sebastien 1,811
12. Sigur Ros 1,777
13. The Mountain Goats 1,663
14. The Decemberists 1,608
15. Superchunk 1,578
16. Mono 1,519
17. The Arcade Fire 1,438
18. Morrissey 1,418
19. The National 1,403
20. Death Cab for Cutie 1,403
The Mountain Goats were the biggest surprise when I compiled this list. I hadn't considered John Darnielle's "band" as one of my favorite artists, but there they are, ahead of such highly touted indie rock legends as The Decemberists and The Arcade Fire and The National. Among them, only The Decemberists appeared in 2004, so for the life of my interest in the band, I've listened to more Mountain Goats songs than Arcade Fire and The National and I never would have ranked them in that order without this list. I don't know what it means, other than I need to appreciate Darnielle more (and Arcade Fire needs to step up their release schedule). Special notice to longtime favorite band Superchunk, the only one in the top 20 other than Pavement who I'd heard of before 2000 and a band that hasn't released a new full-length album since 2001. Somehow they still made #15 in the iPod era for me, and are one of only 4 bands in the entire list to have 100+ plays in each of the past six years (including this year to date). The others are Bright Eyes, Modest Mouse, and The Smiths.
21. Pedro the Lion 1,362
22. The Smiths 1,338
23. Portastatic 1,275
24. Swan Lake 1,228
25. Yo La Tengo 1,075
26. Destroyer 1,048
27. The Microphones 1,048
28. The Album Leaf 1,007
29. Neutral Milk Hotel 970
30. Saxon Shore 882
In this next ten we find four artists that appear elsewhere on this list. Spencer Krug's Swan Lake is his third appearance, at #24, giving him a grand total of 7,048 plays since Wolf Parade first appeared in late 2005 (about 1,880 a year, an average of 5+ songs played by me for a Spencer Krug band EVERY SINGLE DAY for the past four years). Yeah. I am obsessed. But Spencer isn't alone with multiple bands in the top 25. Mac McCaughan of Superchunk also places his "side project" Portastatic in at #23, which gives him a total of 2,800+ plays over five years. The legendary Morrissey appears with both his original band, The Smiths, and as a solo artist still churning out records at age 50, with 2,756 plays. And of course, Dan Bejar, of both Destroyer and Swan Lake (and The New Pornographers, who are on the next list) is the fourth singer in multiple places in the top 30. I guess you could say that I know what I like.
31. This Will Destroy You 857
32. Do Make Say Think 822
33. Guided by Voices 815
34. Final Fantasy 797
35. The Rural Alberta Advantage 787
36. Radiohead 775
37. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! 772
38. Stars 697
39. The New Pornographers 688
40. Casiotone for the Painfully Alone 670
41. Fleet Foxes 670
42. M83 640
43. Beirut 637
44. Low 616
45. Bonnie "Prince" Billy 615
46. Joanna Newsom 580
47. The Replacements 572
48. Built to Spill 571
49. Xiu Xiu 566
50. M. Ward 562
This Will Destroy You and Do Make Say Think make it 8 "post-rock" bands in my top 32, which is probably the biggest change in my iPod years. Other than Godspeed! You Black Emperor, I don't think there was a single post-rock artist that I ever listened to with any regularity back in early 2004. But they've been fully a quarter of my favorite listens since I bought my iPod. The Rural Alberta Advantage are the "newest" high entry, having just officially released their very first album this month on Saddle Creek. They'd self-released the same album last fall, but they remain less than a year old as far as I'm concerned. Very impressive start. And I'm going to finish the list with the final bands that have over 400 plays since 2004, including some big names that I haven't listened to nearly as much as I expected...
51. Interpol 539
52. Broken Social Scene 525
53. Animal Collective 502
54. My Morning Jacket 484
55. Plants and Animals 475
56. Magnolia Electric Co. 467
57. Arab Strap 465
58. Pixies 455
59. New Order 451
60. The Notwist 401
I'm not sure your list is accurate. I see no Bon Jovi or any other 80's hair band.
Posted by: 80's hair band | July 14, 2009 at 01:11 PM
I think this is very interesting. I keep a lot of spreadsheets myself (like how many contests I've entered online this year) and I love looking at numbers like this. Thanks! Maybe I'll have to do start one of my own.
Posted by: Nick | July 14, 2009 at 06:36 PM