The Rough Guide book of playlists

The 500 "Rough Guide Book of Playlists" are recommendations of ten songs (sometimes a couple more, sometimes a couple less), covering artists (Rufus Wainwright to Thelonius Monk, Al Green to Manu Chao, Glenn Gould to Julie Andrews), genres (Bebop Classics to Reggae Toasters to Punk Originals to Hot Club jazz), songs (10 best Dylan covers; 8 classic versions of "Summertime"; 10 love songs that don't cloy), quirks and silliness (Songs about Chickens and Insects; "Who let the frogs out?"; Big Pizza Pie crooners; "Take this Job and Shove it!").

There's even a literary edge with playlists like '10 songs raved about in Murakami novels'.

Each of the Playlists has a nugget about the song (why you want it on your iPod), and a listings of where it's from (remember CDs?).