There is no denying that San Francisco is one of the world's heavyweight cities when it comes to the creative arts, especially music. This beautiful American metro area has produced hundreds of successful bands, and is a must-stop location for any serious artist on tour.

Although San Francisco has given birth to bands from a wide variety of genres, it's probably best known for the psychedelic movement of the 1960s that was ground zero for the hippy movement.

San Francisco is a big place, so for this playlist I wanted to narrow it down a bit. To build the list, I've selected one track from a band that was formed in the 1960s, but only those who emerged from the San Francisco Peninsula/North Bay area. You could create different lists using the East Bay or South Bay areas of the city.

Even with this limitation, this playlist still contains 22 songs by 22 different artists from the 1960s. As you would expect, it's rife with psychedelia and garage rock.

So step back in time and enjoy, no TARDIS needed.

If you've made a visit to Google in the past couple days you probably noticed the cool interactive Star Trek Google Doodle. Although I've seen Doodles that let you play little games, this is the first time I have seen one of this kind. You can click around to trigger sound effects from the original series, use the transporter, and even fight an alien.  Google has created the Doodle to recognize the 46th anniversary of the series.

I did not become a fan of Star Trek until The Next Generation, and although I would not consider myself a "Trekkie", I do really enjoy the show and its premise. There is no denying that the series has had a huge impact on popular culture. In fact, Star Trek is responsible for a whole subset of geek culture that endures to this day, and shows no sign of slowing down.

I thought I would join in the celebration with this playlist of a dozen songs inspired by Star Trek.

This playlist only scratches the surface, so tell me, what would be on your Star Trek-themed list?

No American city has been hit harder by the current economic downturn more than Detroit. But the resurgence of the American automobile industry is offering a glimpse of hope for this iconic city.

In addition to being an automobile city, Detroit is also a huge music city. From the blues, to jazz, to rock and roll, to its world famous Motown sound, the Motor City is one of the most important music cities in the world. Some of the artists who were born in, or emerged from Detroit include Aretha Franklin, Cece and BeBe Winans, Milt Jackson, Suzi Quatro, Madonna, The Four Tops, The Spinners, George Clinton, Mitch Ryder, Alice Cooper, Iggy Pop, Jack White, MC5, Bob Seger, Ted Nugent and Kid Rock. And this is just a smattering of the talent Detroit has given us.

For this playlist I have included 26 songs that pay homage to Detroit. May she rise to her former glory as soon as possible.

What would you add to your Detroit playlist?

2918901_170x170From time to time I check to see what the current most critically acclaimed albums are according to Metacritic, and I give them a listen. Metacritic is my go to review site. But they don't do their own reviews. Instead, they collect new album reviews  from across the web and average them. This way you can easily see which records have a consensus of critical acclaim.

I find Metacritic's top album list one of the best anywhere, and I can always refer to it to find something new.

For this playlist I looked at the site's top rated albums and selected a single song from the first 10 that are available for streaming on Rhapsody. This way you can check out what the critics are buzzing about for yourself.

I did not include reissues.