Random Rules is a feature at the A.V. Club which you can check out here.
One feature of the blog is to try and cover different stuff. Some of it I really really like and some of it I just recommend - in the context of exploring and understanding the overall scene.
But.
I had my MP3 player out in front of DJ B.O. the other week and it occurred to me to do a random rules for fun. To my surprise, it didn't invite complete ridicule and a promise never to trust my opinion on bands ever again. Ha.
Here are the rules: You set your MP3 player's entire content to shuffle then list off the first few tracks. In the A.V. Club feature they do 10-13 ish and talk about them. I'm just going to do a list for fun. The point is it's RANDOM and you have to stand by it, no track-skipping no matter what - that includes multiple tracks by one band or filler/remixes or whatever.
So, without further ado, let the trust-in-authors-taste destroying begin:
[hits shuffle ... grimaces]
1 "Single Beat" Snapline (Party is Over Pornostar)
2 "Zaoyu" 8eyespy (How Damn Far to Yinma Lane)
3 "Tonight, Tonight" Smashing Pumpkins (Greatest Hits)
4 "Piece of my Heart" Janis Joplin (Greatest Hits)
5 "Broken Face" The Pixies (Wave of Mutilation)
6 "Ultraviolence" New Order (Power, Corruption and ...)
7 "Midnight" Rancid (Let's Go)
8 "Flight of Icarus" Iron Maiden (Piece of Mind)
9 "Your Silent Face" New Order (Power, Corruption and ...)
10 "Swallow Everything" The Mr. T Experience (KZSU Sessions)
11 "Four Women" Top Floor Circus (0093 Revisited)
12 "Smiling" Operation Ivy (Energy)
Well, I have to say, when you're a modern person with a decent MP3 player and at least a couple of thousand songs in there, twelve at random seems brutal. But there you have it. If you have a blog stick yours up.