The April March

Was it T.S. Eliot who called April the cruelest month? The warm weather came, and just as suddenly faded. As I write, the snow is pouring down.

I once ran into the engineer for Harry Shearer’s brilliant Le Show, who told me that the between-sketch song playlist was a pretty reliable barometer of how the host was feeling that week.

I also have a good friend (who just started his own blog, incidentally) who used to do a “CD divination” back in the high-tech days of the five-CD changer: You’d pick five CDs you liked from his collection, then the random playlist would “say” something about you. All I remember about the one I did was the Sinead O’Connor’s “Jump in the River” came up. Thanks a lot, man.

Since it’s almost invariably stuck on “Shuffle,” I’ve done my share of iPod “divinations” to start my day. This morning the little fella seemed to be in a country/gospel mood. To wit:

“Kikuchiyo To Mohshimasu” — From the latest Pink Martini record, this seemed like an exotic start to the day. But then…

“Sister Jack” — I can’t quite figure out Spoon’s appeal, but I just go with it.

“If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out” — Cat Stevens.

“A Minha Menina” — The Bees. Doesn’t McCartney have something to do with these blokes?

“Strawberry Jam” — Michelle Shocked, with Doc Watson.

“Sulky Girl” — Elvis Costello.

“Raising Arizona” — Carter Burwell’s irresistible opening theme, with the yodels and the banjo riffing on “Petrouchka” and Beethoven’s Ninth.

“Big River” — OK, now the iPod is settling into a groove with this rendition of Johnny Cash’s classic, performed by Lyle Lovett, Kris Kristofferson, and Willie Nelson on Letterman.

“Will the Circle Be Unbroken” — The Carter Family classic. The iPod is kindly trying to purge the memory of Ring of Fire from my brainpan.

“In My Room” — The Langley Schools Music Project version.

“Glitter Gulch” — Elvis Costello, with some of the other Elvis’s band.

“Les Enfants Qui S’aiment” — Juliette Greco, for a slight departure.

“In the Mornin’ ” — The Charles Ives spiritual, sung by Jan DeGaetani (I think).

The commute from Greenpoint is a bit longer than from Cobble Hill, but with a crypto-deejay like this, how can I complain?