I am reluctantly stuck in the early 90’s in terms of my music listening options while driving.  My 2004 Nissan Xterra  does not have an aux cable or USB port, so rather than most people who have an iPod or XM radio option, I am reduced to utilizing either terrestrial radio or CD’s.  And let’s be honest, who has time to dig through CD’s to find the perfect music for a quick drive to WaWa?  Hence I find myself listening to the radio quote often.  Luckily, Philadelphia has some pretty good stations to listen to, from the member-funded WXPN, WHYY, and WRTI; and a few commercial gems, 95.7 Ben FM and Radio 104.5.

Every once and a while I’ll come across a great song that I have to save for later consumption.  I have a tendency to then grab my phone and fire up the Shazam app, which allows you to identify the song playing just by analyzing the sound waves – pretty incredible technology.  This is accomplished, all the while, by trying to avoid veering off the side of the road or rear-ending the poor soul in front of me.  For a while now, I’ve been “tagging” the songs, and then more or less forgetting about them.  Well today I had a thought about reviewing all of them, exploring the artists further, and of course, sharing them with the world via this blog post.  So, below are my picks for the songs I’ve heard on the radio over the past year, in chronological order (most recent first). What emerges is a seriously awesome playlist.  In fact, I am thoroughly impressed by how good my taste in music really is…enjoy!

FYI – I apologize in advance if this post is slow to load due to the video content. There are 60+ tracks here totaling nearly 4 hours of music. The work is already done here, but for the next Shazam tag dump, I will use SoundCloud. That way you’ll be able to listen to the entire mix in one continuous playlist.

After the Disco – Broken Bells

Girl You Look Amazing – Nicole Atkins

Birth in Reverse – St. Vincent

Home – LCD Soundsystem

Fall in Love – Phantogram

Doses & Mimosas – Cherub

Give It To Me Baby – Rick James

Spill the Wine – Robert Burdon & War

Locked Out of Heaven – Bruno Mars

The Old and The Young – Midlake

Big Ideas – LCD Soundsystem

Avant Gardener – Courtney Barnett

Just Jammin’ – Gramatik

Heroes – David Bowie

St. Justice – Albert Hammond & Jr.

Tomorrow Is A Long Time – Bob Dylan

Shelter Song – Temples

Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood – Santa Esmeralda

Cut Across Shorty – Rod Stewart

Can’t Find My Way Home – Blind Faith

Baby You’re A Rich Man – The Beatles

Dancing On My Own – Robyn

Mind Your Manners – Pearl Jam

Endicott – Kid Creole & The Coconuts

Sweater Weather – The Neighbourhood

I’m Alive (Life Sounds Like) – Michael Franti & Spearhead

Your Woman – White Town

Living for the City – Stevie Wonder

Yellow Fever – Fela Kuti

Her Favorite Song – Mayer Hawthorne

Naima – Cedar Walton

Gold Guns Girls – Metric

Wobble – V.I.C.

Bubble Butt – Major Lazer

Bright Lights Bigger City – Cee Lo Green

Mind Your Own Business – Delta 5

The Magnificent Seven – The Clash

Keep You – Wild Belle

Orinoco Flow – Enya

Peek-A-Boo – Siouxsie and the Banshees

Get Lucky – Daft Punk (ft. Pharrell Williams & Nile Rodgers)

Harper Lee – Little Green Cars

Panic Station – Muse

The Woodpile – Frightened Rabbit

Lady Luck – Pickwick

Flawless – Shad

Two Weeks – Scott & Charlene’s Wedding

Out of My League – Fitz & The Tantrums

Wavelength – Van Morrison

Abacab – Genesis

Heart It Races – Architecture in Helsinki

Heart of the Summer – Yes

Little Bit of Feel Good – Jamie Lidell

Ain’t It Strange – Dr. Dog

Other People – Beach House

Strike It Up – Black Box

Black Star – Mos Def & Talib Kweli

Moondance – Van Morrison

Lights – Elle Goulding

A New Life – Jim James

You’ve Been Spiked – Chris Joss

West Coast – Coconut Records

Say Goodbye to the Night – Kail Baxley