I may have picked the wrong career. Yet another playlist has turned out to be fantastic. This is the first of two volumes of "underground gems," songs that weren't really huge hits, but are by mostly well-known artists and are just a smidge toned down from the power rock material.

Putting a good playlist together involves much more than simply putting songs in a sequence. What makes a playlist work are factors like the transition between the end of one song and the beginning of the next, the overall flow of the sequence, and the balance of rhythm, instrumentation, melody and vocals.

Here is volume 1 of "Underground Gems."

(1) "Perfect Blue Buildings" (Counting Crows, August and Everything After)
(2) "Hold On Hope" (Guided by Voices, Do the Collapse)
(3) "You Learn" (Alanis Morissette, Jagged Little Pill)
(4) "What I Am" (Edie Brickell & The New Bohemians, Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars)
(5) "Fair" (Ben Folds Five, Whatever and Ever Amen)
(6) "Here Without You" (3 Doors Down, Away from the Sun)
(7) "The Best of What's Around" (Dave Matthews Band, Under the Table and Dreaming)
(8) "Thirsty" (God Street Wine, $1.99 Romances)
(9) "Judith Dancing" (Josh Dodes Band, Get Up)

Volume 2 will be test driven in the near future.