Liner notes:

General: In the interest of not going crazy over the assignment, I brainstormed until I got to a stopping place, then forced myself to quit.  That's why the whole playlist is well short of an hour. Similarly, the song order is maybe not perfect, but satisfactory to me.

Obscurity was a factor, but more specifically I picked songs that made me say, "Why have I never heard this before?" the first time I heard them.

Track 1: If I wasn't allowed to say the words "Hong Kong cinema" to people anymore, I'd just play them the beginning of this song.  This despite the fact that the guy's from Singapore.

Track 2: One of the stinkiest (see Track 5) songs by one of the tightest bands.

Track 3: This is the only guilty pleasure I included.  In my mind the woman vocalist looks like a tall, emaciated version of the "Video Killed the Radio Star" gals (oh-wa-oh), and she's walking down a long concrete hallway with the party going on behind her.  The song goes on about 3 minutes longer than it needs to - maybe spending that time taking a drag off a clove cigarette would be appropriate.

Track 4: This song has so much sentimental value to me, it's ridiculous. It was my gateway to art movie houses, used record stores, electronic music, and minimalism.  I have no expectation that it will hit anyone else that hard, but maybe you'll like the timbres or rhythms.

Track 5: I was in a hippy world music band for a little while, and this was one of the first tracks the drummer played for me as a reference point. One of his favorite adjectives for music was "stinky" (from "stinky buds"), indicating rhythms that made booties move and metronomes cry.  Another band with high stinkiness value was the Latin Playboys.

Track 6: This is off one of the few albums that I bought after hearing a record store clerk put it on.  Swedish folk, or something.

Track 7: How can one listen to this and not smile?

Track 8: Hypnotic.  These guys supposedly listen to country music when they tour the U.S.  Huh!

Track 9: Epitomizes everything I love about soundtrack music.

Track 10: When I got home with this one, I put it on, intending to make dinner. After about 30 seconds I decided instead to kill the lights and move my head into the ideal speaker-listening position for the duration of the album.

Track 11: A genuwyne number one hit, which might disqualify it.  I think it's a good ender because the other songs take your mind somewhere else, and this one brings it home.  And hell, the man can sell a song.

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