So here it is. I’m only 5 months late here….
Back in March my friend – Woodstock Jimi – sent me an email suggesting I look into Pandora Radio, and sharing one of his playlists. I took a look, was mildly interested, but was not wanting to get involved with another complicated web something or other that was going to take my time and effort to deal with.
For the uninitiated, Pandora Radio is a free online radio service. You log in, you create a station by entering a band you really like, and then have the option of adding more favorite bands. The station then plays music by these bands, as well as music of similar style sound or band. It is what is called the Music Genome Project:
http://www.pandora.com/mgp.shtml
Why did it take me so long?
Well, life happened. Now it is summer, things are slower. I love my Ipod, but my 3G is crapping out, which means I only have my nano which is awesome but only has a couple of playlists. I’m tired of the same music.
Enter Pandora.
I’m looking for new music. This gives me a free service where I can name my music but at the same time I get introduced to new stuff that, so far, has hit about a 90% success rate for me actually liking them. Here is how I started, what I’ve heard and what I think.
I started with:
Coldplay, Pearl Jam, Alanis Morrisette, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac, Ting Tings, Tegan and Sara, the Smiths, Ray LaMontagne, Pixies, Modest Mouse, Live and a few others. A basic smattering of old and new, mostly easy listening for work.
It starts out playing pretty much what you dictate. Eventually I got to some Jack Johnson – yeah I like that – thumbs up. I’d heard of him, heard a song or two, liked what I heard but never actually got any of his music. I’ve noted “Flake” for a download.
Lily Allen comes on with “Smile” – hey! I didn’t know that was even her singing that. I’d seen Lily perform on the Graham Norton show recently and was planning on getting a few of her songs anyway. Aded this song to the list.
This morning I hear that song from the commercial. I can’t remember what it is selling, but “Do Your Realize?” from the Flaming Lips came on and I thought, I LOVE this song – I never would have looked it up on my own.
A friend introduced me to a song by Band of Horses recently so I add this to my list of bands. I also add My Morning Jacket because a) they opened for Pearl Jam last time I saw them live and b) they were described as sounding like Band of Horses. I have to disagree with this assessment just based on the few songs I’ve heard from both bands. Band of Horses has me completely captivated right now with a singular ethereal sad haunting but beautiful sound. I can see the comparison on voices of the lead singers but the sound of the collective are different – MMJ being more of a soft folksy sound.
There again – I have a limited exposure. I may change my mind.
Last night talking to my neighbor, I mentioned hearing celtic music a few days ago which he thought might have been the Pogues. Ah! There’s a band I’ve heard of, but never made the effort to look into. Add them to Pandora and up comes “Turkish song of the damned” – wasn’t that fond of it. When his wife said Pogues was like celtic sea shanty music she was right. I’m curious to hear more and see if there’s anything slightly less salty. The cool thing though, was Pandora played a band called the Tossers – song called Siobban – that I sort of did like. Celtic rock, along the lines of the
Dropkick Murphys.
So new bands, new music. But – also familiar bands new music. I’ve heard Pixies’ “Winterlong”, White Stripes “Doorbell”, Elliot Smith is familiar, but not what I’ve heard here…
This is living entertainment – constantly changing based on how you rate the music they play – an aural adventure for those seeking something new, while continuing to enjoy what you always like to hear.
It turns out it was _exactly_ what I was looking for.
