If you had to be really picky, which songs will you carry with you?

I recently got a new MP3 player and wanted to load it up with selections from my CD library. Making the selections was a very tough exercise. For some reason, I made it a point to be stubborn and select only tracks that I can play continuously without hitting the forward button. This meant leaving out some normally good but not great songs. For artists that I truly admire the most, it was hard not including everything, but the rule was simple. Afterwards, looking at the inventory, I was curious to find out which artists had the most tracks in the collection. Here's the top 21:

21) Ednaswap (8 tracks) - the original band that performed "Torn" (made famous by Natalie Imbruglia), Annie Preven's rough voice suits the bands riffs. My personal favorites are "Blown Away" and "The Goodnight Moon" from their 1995 Chicken EP.

20) Emily Haines and The Soft Skeleton (8 tracks) - Emily is probably more popularly known as the voice of the band Metric, but I prefer to listen to her with The Soft Skeleton. "Doctor Blind" always feels like it was based on a film story and I find myself daydreaming when I listen to it. My personal favorite is "Winning".

19) Madonna (8 tracks) - You gottta have some Madge in your list, right :). I consider it a guilty pleasure. Personal favorite: "Substitute for Love".

18) Regina Spektor (8 tracks) - For anyone who enjoys Tori or Fiona's piano, Reginka is usually not far behind. She's playful and a great side trip from Tori's clouds. "Us" was the song from her Soviet Kitsch album that made her famous, but "Ode to Divorce" is usually what I get fond listening to.....my personal favorite is from her recent album (Far), a track called "The Calculation".

17) Sarah McLachlan (8 tracks) - The Freedom Sessions album is one of those unsung heroes in ones discography, and the alternate versions there of "Good Enough" and "Hold On" are much more beautiful than their airplay counterparts. My personal favorite is "Elsewhere".

16) Cat Power (11 tracks) - Time for some Whiskey...it's time to listen to Chan Marshall (a.k.a. Cat Power). "3 Times" and "Rockets" from her 1995 debut album are my personal favorites.

15) Alanis Morissette (12 tracks) - Can't have Madge without Alanis :)....another guilty pleasure. One rare treat you will find is from a 1998 acoustic album (I think only sold in Japan?) that has a nice version of "Not the Doctor". My personal favorite is "You Learn".

14) KT Tunstall (12 tracks) - In between her breakout album and Drastic Fantastic was a side project called "Acoustic Extravaganza" and I think it had great material it could have been the next album. It contained a great track called "Ashes" (personal favorite).

13) Sia (12 tracks) - I have to admit Sia was not the first artist I discoverd from Zero 7 (that would be Tina Dico), but later on after listening to Colour The Small One and then Some People Have Problems, I just couldn't get enough of her. Personal favorites are "Numb" and "Beautiful Calm Driving".

12) Tears for Fears (13 tracks) - Songs from the Big Chair is a wonderful memory from my teenage years and it contains their biggest hits, but it's actually lesser known tracks "Broken" and "The Working Hour" that are my personal favorites. "The Working Hour" especially since it features a young unknown on sax named Will Gregory (the other half of Goldfrapp). Ultimate TFF track: "Woman in Chains". It's under my skin but out of my hands. I'd tear it apart. But I won't understand.

11) Sheryl Crow (14 Tracks) - She's got a lot of really good hit songs, but when she slows down, that's when I love her the most. Personal favorites: "Home", "We do what we can", "Perfect Lie".
10) Pearl Jam (16 Tracks) - A very short track called "Sometimes" from the No Code album is my personal favorite......if I had to choose just one.....otherwise, I have to throw in "I am mine" and "Black". If you just happen to be passing by, go listen to "Elderly woman behind the counter in a small town". If you watch the live performance of it, it's even better. Easily solidifies a crowd.
09) Lisa Loeb (16 Tracks) - In this compilation, Lisa holds the record as one of the few artists who have a complete album that I copied whole.....and that would be the 1995 Tails album. Personal favorite: "It's Over".
08) Garbage (17 Tracks) - I once watched a concert only because they were the opening act. The Version 2.0 album is i think their best. Personal favorites: "Medication", "You look so fine".

07) St. Vincent (17 Tracks) - Such a creative force. I didn't think she could get any better than her "Marry Me" album, but follow-up "Actor" blew me away. Personal favorites: "The Apocalypse Song", "We put a pearl on the ground", and "Marrow".

06) Tori Amos (33 Tracks) - granted I have not been happy since the "Scarlet's Walk" album, I still share a long past of great music from Tori. Personal favorites: "Your Cloud", "Lust", "Precious Things", and "Cloud on my Tongue".











05) Goldfrapp (30 Tracks) - Alison and Will hold the other record of having a complete album copied into the compilation (that would be the "Seventh Tree" album). Their collaboration is just magnificent. Personal favorites: "Utopia", "Pilots", "Lovely Head", "Road to Somewhere".


04) Radiohead (27 Tracks) - Depth, creativity, power....so much to discover in all their albums, I have yet to fully digest the entire catalog and I'm glad about that.....it will sustain me for some time. Personal favorites: "Creep", "No Surprises", "High and Dry", "I Might be Wrong", "There There".
03) Jonatha Brooke (21 Tracks) - She dishes out beautiful lyrics and  great melodies. At her best live. Personal favorites: "Crumbs", "The Choice", "At the Still Point".
02) Fiona Apple (21 Tracks) - she holds the third and last record in this collection for having a whole album copied (the Tidal album). I'm proud to have been there in the very beginning, watching her in San Francisco's Warfield where she performed the entire Tidal album. Personal favorites: "Never is a Promise", "The Child is Gone", "Get Gone", "I know", "Oh Well".

01) PJ Harvey (36 Tracks) - All hail to the queen :). I discovered her late, actually, with the 2000 Stories from the City Stories from the Sea album. But as I listened to previous albums, the farther I got, the more deeper appreciation I had for her work. Personal favorites: "The River", "Horses in my Dreams", "Victory", "50ft Queenie", "We Float".