Here's what I loaded onto the iPod today:

• "Shape of a Tear", the excellent new CD by the great Lynn Morris and her band.
• The reissue of Uncle Tupelo's "No Depression"
• "From Memphis to Manchester," an excellent comp (including some classic soul, garage rock, punk rock, and miscellaneous great '90s/'00s music) that was given away as a pledge drive freebie for listeners to the radio show of the same name. A good friend of mine hosts the show, and he was nice enough to give us a copy of the comp. You have to love a comp that includes the likes of Don Covay and Arthur Alexander alongside the Remains, the Jam, and Sam Phillips--now that's eclectic.

Among the songs the iPod served up on my (unusually long; I had to run a couple of errands) drive home today:

1. "Safe European Home" by the Clash was first up. (It's on the comp mentioned above.) I could write a whole blog about nothing but the Clash, I suspect, and soon I'll write something more substantial about them. But not tonight. Anyway, it was a great way to start the trip home.
2. Somewhat jarringly, the next song was "I Wonder What's Keeping My True Love Tonight," from Solas's glorious first record. I've had the record on there for a couple of weeks now, and this is the only song from it that's come up. I think I've heard it three times. Does the thing play the song I most want to hear, "The Newry Highwayman"? No, of course not. It's stuck on "I Wonder What's Keeping My True Love Tonight." A fine song, to be sure, but... (Before I go any further, I should note that yes, I am aware that I can create playlists so that I can hear any songs I want, and I can turn off the shuffle feature so that I won't be a slave to the whims of the iPod. And at some point, I'll do both those things. But right now, I'm enjoying the daily mysteries that leaving it on shuffle creates.
3. The next song was "Godspeed (Sweet Dreams)," the lovely Radney Foster song from the Dixie Chicks' latest (and greatest), "Home." If anyone's inclined to give me a hard time for liking the Dixie Chicks, don't bother; I make no apologies for thinking they're a great band, and "Home" is an utterly wonderful disc. I'm not sure there was a better song recorded last year than the Chicks' version of Patty Griffin's "Truth No. 2." "Godspeed" is a beautiful song; Bill said recently, "I don't like kid songs," meaning songs about people's kids, and I know what he means, but I take them on a case-by-case basis. This one works. (So does "For Jack Tymon," the last song on Scott Miller's new CD...but more about that, and him, later. My iPod hardly ever plays him, though, and that makes me mad.)

The iPod obviously couldn't decide whether it wanted to rock or twang or, er, Celt this afternoon; after the Chicks, I got some very loud rock, followed by a Niamh Parsons instrumental from her most recent record--and can I just say that the idea of a Niamh Parsons instrumental is pretty weird, given that she doesn't play an instrument and therefore doesn't perform on this song that's on an album released under her name? I can? Oh, good. Thank you. There was also a song from Karan Casey's new record, which is excellent--better than the last one, though John Doyle isn't on the new one, and his absence is noticeable. The iPod loves Karan Casey; I've heard at least one song of hers (usually solo, occasionally with Solas) every day for weeks now. I love Karan Casey too, which is why she's all over my iPod, but I did recently decide, after having suspected for a while that she might turn out to be my favorite female singer ever, that as wonderful as she is, she's still not a patch on Sandy Denny. The same can be said for Niamh Parsons, whom I love just as much as Karan Casey. They're both incredible singers, but some recent listening has convinced me all over again that Sandy Denny is the greatest female singer ever; there's just no one who can touch her, really.

The Celtic thing is something that most of my friends don't get, but the way I've programmed the iPod makes it clearer than ever to me that it's undeniably an essential component of my taste in music. My preferences in Irish/Celtic music are so picky-and-choosy that I'm not always comfortable just saying "I like Celtic music" or "I like traditional Irish music," because that encompasses a whole lot more than I actually like. There's a fair amount that I dislike--the New Age-y, harp-laden, "Riverdance"-inspired crap--and considerably more that I'm indifferent to, like the Oyster Band and Patrick Street and Cherish the Ladies. And a bunch of old stuff (De Dannan and some Clannad and Planxty and so on) that I like well enough but don't own. Mostly, I love Solas (and even more, the post-Solas solo work of both Karan Casey and John Doyle) and Altan and Niamh Parsons. And some Dolores Keene, and June Tabor when she's not being too postmodern. And then the whole Fairport/Sandy Denny/Richard Thompson axis, which isn't Celtic or even really all that traditional. But that's a story for another day.

The iPod also played another Dixie Chicks song this evening, "Wide Open Spaces." It's the only song from the album of the same name that the iPod has ever played, even though I have the whole album on there. The iPod is weird.