The agreed rules for this particular meme: Take out your iPod or other musical device. Put it in "random" mode. Hit "play." Write down the first ten tracks that come up--and no fair putting in ones you think will make you look cool, or omitting ones that make you look like a total dork.

Here are mine for today, with the comments back (though they'll probably be short):

1. The Garden (George Winston, Summer). I'm a big fan of George's. His stuff is great for meditating, or just for blocking out background noise with something pleasant that you can pay attention to or not, as you're able. And he's wonderful live in concert. Hope he comes back to DeKalb soon!)
2. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (attributed), Benedictus from the Requiem Mass (Daniel Barenboim / Choeurs et Orchestre de Paris). Probably one of the pieces from Mozart's last work that he didn't actually get around to writing before someone had to sing a Requiem for him.
3. Josquin des Prés, Agnus Dei from the Missa 'La sol fa re me' (The Tallis Scholars, Missa Pange Lingua). A nice piece of early Renaissance polyphony, and recorded in the chapel of Merton College, Oxford, which has lovely acoustics for unaccompanied voices.
4. The River Runs Low (Bruce Hornsby and the Range, The Way It Is). The one album of theirs that I ever really got into.
5. David Haas, At Evening (You Are Mine: The Best of David Haas, vol. 2). A nice, slow meditative hymn (perfect for an evening service, or for the liturgical hour of Compline at the end of the day) from one of America's best Catholic composers.
6. Let's Talk About Me (The Alan Parsons Project, Vulture Culture). One of my all-time favorite tracks from one of my all-time favorite APP albums. Thanks to my first boyfriend for turning me on to them, and to this album in particular.
7. Take a Chance on Me (Erasure, Erasure Pop!: The First 20 Hits). One of the relatively few Erasure tunes I'm not wild about. I think ABBA did this one better, and I think Erasure does much better with their own material.
8. God Put a Smile Upon Your Face (Coldplay, Rush of Blood to the Head). Just downloaded this one the other day, and I'm not sure what I think about it yet.
9. Life in a Dangerous Time (Cutting Crew, Broadcast). Not one of my favorites from this album: I like "All for the Mockingbird" much better.
10. George Murphy (Tom Lehrer, The Remains of Tom Lehrer). A famous bit of early political satire. The opening lines:
    

    Hollywood's often tried to mix
    Show business with politics:
    From Helen Gahagan to ...Ronald Reagan?

    The disbelieving tone in his voice as he sings "Ronald Reagan" has to be heard to be believed. I'd love to ask him what he thought when that hack wound up elected to the presidency--twice.