Jun 02 2008
Pandora
Thanks to Jake White, the happy newlywed, for directing me to Pandora, a website that allows you to build radio stations around your favorite artists, and using the Music Genome Project, it then expands your horizons into music with similar roots, styles, and connections. The music streams for free for as long as you want to listen. It’s a great way to have a constant variety of music you like playing on your computer, and to also explore new artists you may never have experienced. Like an iPod on shuffle, there is the radio-like surprise of not knowing what’s next, and you also get info on the artist as it plays. You can reject a song, too, and you’ll never hear it again. Every time you give a song a “thumbs-up,” though, you’ll be sure to hear it again, and to also further expand your playlist into similar songs. Check it out. Very cool.
R.E.M.’s new album, Accelerate, is a return to the roots of the band’s beginnings, and I’m a big fan. The Submarines, our good friends and favorite local band, have released their second album, Honeysuckle Weeks, and as hard as this is for me to admit, it’s better than their debut. I see big things in their future. Please give them a look. You won’t be disappointed.