Mood Music

[M C Hamster]

Okay, this is one of the absolute coolest web sites I have seen in
ages.

http://www.musicovery.com/

You select the general mood of the music you want to listen to, along
two dimensions: Dark vs. Positive, and Energetic vs. Calm. It then
queues up a presumably near-infinite set of pieces. You can restrict
the genres of music as well. And eras, too, I think.

This is EXACTLY the way I think about and use music in my daily life.
So why doesn't iTunes do the same thing, and let me scan my entire 35
GBs of music to create random playlists according to desired mood? (Or
does it?)

It looks also to be a fabulous way to discover new music, to suit my
tastes. And to boot, I love the screen display.

Just a splendid, splendid bit of work. It almost justifies the
existence of the internet.

BTW, I heard about this from another of my very favorite web sites,
www.veryshortlist.com . It recommends one web site each day, and
about half of their recommendations are quite good, I'd say -- which
for me is an excellent track record.

[Greg Goss]

Post by M C Hamster
Okay, this is one of the absolute coolest web sites I have seen in
ages.
http://www.musicovery.com/
You select the general mood of the music you want to listen to, along
two dimensions: Dark vs. Positive, and Energetic vs. Calm. It then
queues up a presumably near-infinite set of pieces. You can restrict
the genres of music as well. And eras, too, I think.
This is EXACTLY the way I think about and use music in my daily life.
So why doesn't iTunes do the same thing, and let me scan my entire 35
GBs of music to create random playlists according to desired mood? (Or
does it?)
It looks also to be a fabulous way to discover new music, to suit my
tastes. And to boot, I love the screen display.
Just a splendid, splendid bit of work. It almost justifies the
existence of the internet.

Have you played with Pandora.com?

[M C Hamster]

Post by Greg Goss

Post by M C Hamster
Okay, this is one of the absolute coolest web sites I have seen in
ages.
http://www.musicovery.com/
You select the general mood of the music you want to listen to, along
two dimensions: Dark vs. Positive, and Energetic vs. Calm. It then
queues up a presumably near-infinite set of pieces. You can restrict
the genres of music as well. And eras, too, I think.
This is EXACTLY the way I think about and use music in my daily life.
So why doesn't iTunes do the same thing, and let me scan my entire 35
GBs of music to create random playlists according to desired mood? (Or
does it?)
It looks also to be a fabulous way to discover new music, to suit my
tastes. And to boot, I love the screen display.
Just a splendid, splendid bit of work. It almost justifies the
existence of the internet.

Have you played with Pandora.com?

No, but I did figure there may be a lot more sites like this one.

OK, that's kind of interesting. I put in Phish as my favorite artist,
and it's playing a Phish song. But Phish has a very broad range of
songs, so I'm wondering where it will go from here. Since I can't
seem to stop this first song until it's done, I guess it will take
awhile. Thanks for the link, Greg... I'll play around with it.

[John Hatpin]

Post by M C Hamster

Post by Greg Goss
Have you played with Pandora.com?

No, but I did figure there may be a lot more sites like this one.
OK, that's kind of interesting. I put in Phish as my favorite artist,
and it's playing a Phish song. But Phish has a very broad range of
songs, so I'm wondering where it will go from here. Since I can't
seem to stop this first song until it's done, I guess it will take
awhile. Thanks for the link, Greg... I'll play around with it.

You can skip the current track - the button's on the right of the bar
above the album cover. I think you're limited to the number of times
you can skip in one session.

Typically, I find it'll play something from your fave popstar, then
start spidering through a "people who like X also like Y" database;
your second track will probably not be Phish, and nor will most
further matches. Then again, it's a while since I played with
Pandora; things might have changed.

Oh, and remember that they're probably going out of business sometime
soon because of a change in the way royalties are calculated for
streaming music. Their business model simply won't work any more, as
the click-throughs won't come close to paying those royalties.

Way to go, RIAA, you bunch of greedy fuckers. First up against the
wall come the revolution, and I'll be pulling the trigger.

[Lesmond]

Post by M C Hamster

Post by Greg Goss

Post by M C Hamster
It looks also to be a fabulous way to discover new music, to suit my
tastes. And to boot, I love the screen display.
Just a splendid, splendid bit of work. It almost justifies the
existence of the internet.

Have you played with Pandora.com?

No, but I did figure there may be a lot more sites like this one.

I have a couple of Pandora "stations", but I seem to like this one more.
Thank you, Hamster Guy.

Post by M C Hamster
OK, that's kind of interesting. I put in Phish as my favorite artist,
and it's playing a Phish song. But Phish has a very broad range of
songs, so I'm wondering where it will go from here. Since I can't
seem to stop this first song until it's done, I guess it will take
awhile. Thanks for the link, Greg... I'll play around with it.

It is fun, but there is a limit to songs you can skip. I like clicking all
around to see what's there. Wow. I love this.

[M C Hamster]

Post by Lesmond

Post by M C Hamster

Post by Greg Goss

Post by M C Hamster
It looks also to be a fabulous way to discover new music, to suit my
tastes. And to boot, I love the screen display.
Just a splendid, splendid bit of work. It almost justifies the
existence of the internet.

Have you played with Pandora.com?

No, but I did figure there may be a lot more sites like this one.

I have a couple of Pandora "stations", but I seem to like this one more.
Thank you, Hamster Guy.

Post by M C Hamster
OK, that's kind of interesting. I put in Phish as my favorite artist,
and it's playing a Phish song. But Phish has a very broad range of
songs, so I'm wondering where it will go from here. Since I can't
seem to stop this first song until it's done, I guess it will take
awhile. Thanks for the link, Greg... I'll play around with it.

It is fun, but there is a limit to songs you can skip. I like clicking all
around to see what's there. Wow. I love this.

I'm going to enjoy this immersed in a lovely vicodin haze, I can tell.
I did figure out how to skip songs, and rate songs, and the like in
Pandora. I'm sorry to hear it is going to go out of business. I
wonder if musicovery.com is fated similarly.

[Lesmond]

Post by M C Hamster

Post by Lesmond
It is fun, but there is a limit to songs you can skip. I like clicking all
around to see what's there. Wow. I love this.

I'm going to enjoy this immersed in a lovely vicodin haze, I can tell.
I did figure out how to skip songs, and rate songs, and the like in
Pandora. I'm sorry to hear it is going to go out of business. I
wonder if musicovery.com is fated similarly.

Pandora is going away? Why?

Musicovery is really amazing. I've been picking genres and years and heading
toward positive/energetic most of the time, but checking the whole scale. I
really like that you can click on the song title to bring up something new in
the same spot. I love the trees, although some of the connections seem odd,
to say the least.

Shit, I'll be playing with this all night.

[Greg Goss]

Post by Lesmond

Post by M C Hamster

Post by Lesmond
It is fun, but there is a limit to songs you can skip. I like clicking all
around to see what's there. Wow. I love this.

I'm going to enjoy this immersed in a lovely vicodin haze, I can tell.
I did figure out how to skip songs, and rate songs, and the like in
Pandora. I'm sorry to hear it is going to go out of business. I
wonder if musicovery.com is fated similarly.

Pandora is going away? Why?

Fees for internet "broadcast" are apparently much higher than fees for
radio broadcast. The rules changed after Pandora was established.
I've received a few emails asking me to lobby to have the rule change
blocked, or Pandora will go under.

[Greg Goss]

Post by Greg Goss

Post by M C Hamster
Okay, this is one of the absolute coolest web sites I have seen in
ages.
http://www.musicovery.com/
You select the general mood of the music you want to listen to, along
two dimensions: Dark vs. Positive, and Energetic vs. Calm. It then
queues up a presumably near-infinite set of pieces. You can restrict
the genres of music as well. And eras, too, I think.
This is EXACTLY the way I think about and use music in my daily life.
So why doesn't iTunes do the same thing, and let me scan my entire 35
GBs of music to create random playlists according to desired mood? (Or
does it?)
It looks also to be a fabulous way to discover new music, to suit my
tastes. And to boot, I love the screen display.
Just a splendid, splendid bit of work. It almost justifies the
existence of the internet.

Have you played with Pandora.com?

The cans are arranged by the seller (us) on 24-can flats. In such an
array, the skinny mouth is obvious to them. The lack of french is how
they convince us that the can is bad. So it's instant to see the bad
mouth.

Dunno about bottles. BC has an aluminum industry. I don't know if
that's the reason, but canned beer and pop is cheaper than bottles in
BC and more expensive than bottles in Alberta and Toronto. So I don't
know how they tell foreign bottles.

[John Hatpin]

Post by M C Hamster
Okay, this is one of the absolute coolest web sites I have seen in
ages.
http://www.musicovery.com/
You select the general mood of the music you want to listen to, along
two dimensions: Dark vs. Positive, and Energetic vs. Calm. It then
queues up a presumably near-infinite set of pieces. You can restrict
the genres of music as well. And eras, too, I think.

Thanks, MC. Time to start playing with that. Nice.

[M C Hamster]

On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 04:53:06 +0100, John Hatpin

Post by John Hatpin

Post by M C Hamster
Okay, this is one of the absolute coolest web sites I have seen in
ages.
http://www.musicovery.com/
You select the general mood of the music you want to listen to, along
two dimensions: Dark vs. Positive, and Energetic vs. Calm. It then
queues up a presumably near-infinite set of pieces. You can restrict
the genres of music as well. And eras, too, I think.

Thanks, MC. Time to start playing with that. Nice.

Not play... WORK. This is serious stuff here.

How is their selection of jazz, I wonder? I'm a bit suspicious that
they have a rather limited repertoire, based on my early experiences
with this site (of all music, not just jazz).

[John Hatpin]

Post by M C Hamster
On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 04:53:06 +0100, John Hatpin

Post by John Hatpin

Post by M C Hamster
Okay, this is one of the absolute coolest web sites I have seen in
ages.
http://www.musicovery.com/
You select the general mood of the music you want to listen to, along
two dimensions: Dark vs. Positive, and Energetic vs. Calm. It then
queues up a presumably near-infinite set of pieces. You can restrict
the genres of music as well. And eras, too, I think.

Thanks, MC. Time to start playing with that. Nice.

Not play... WORK. This is serious stuff here.

When do I get paid?

Post by M C Hamster
How is their selection of jazz, I wonder? I'm a bit suspicious that
they have a rather limited repertoire, based on my early experiences
with this site (of all music, not just jazz).

Good question. The jazz coverage isn't as good, and tends to be of
the "greatest hits" variety. This is common with jazz, as it is with
classical, when it comes to compilations - there's not much rare or
unusual stuff. It's a "don't scare the horses" approach.

Jazz is one area where Pandora does surprisingly well, although still
not as well as more popular forms of music.

[Opus the Penguin]

Post by John Hatpin

Post by M C Hamster
On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 04:53:06 +0100, John Hatpin

Post by John Hatpin

Post by M C Hamster
Okay, this is one of the absolute coolest web sites I have seen
in ages.
http://www.musicovery.com/
You select the general mood of the music you want to listen to,
along two dimensions: Dark vs. Positive, and Energetic vs.
Calm. It then queues up a presumably near-infinite set of
pieces. You can restrict the genres of music as well. And
eras, too, I think.

Thanks, MC. Time to start playing with that. Nice.

Not play... WORK. This is serious stuff here.

When do I get paid?

You have to go on strike, like I did. My pay has quadrupled since my
return.

[Richard R. Hershberger]

On Aug 16, 1:30 pm, John Hatpin

Post by John Hatpin

Post by M C Hamster
On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 04:53:06 +0100, John Hatpin

Post by John Hatpin

Post by M C Hamster
Okay, this is one of the absolute coolest web sites I have seen in
ages.
http://www.musicovery.com/
You select the general mood of the music you want to listen to, along
two dimensions: Dark vs. Positive, and Energetic vs. Calm. It then
queues up a presumably near-infinite set of pieces. You can restrict
the genres of music as well. And eras, too, I think.

Thanks, MC. Time to start playing with that. Nice.

Not play... WORK. This is serious stuff here.

When do I get paid?

Post by M C Hamster
How is their selection of jazz, I wonder? I'm a bit suspicious that
they have a rather limited repertoire, based on my early experiences
with this site (of all music, not just jazz).

Good question. The jazz coverage isn't as good, and tends to be of
the "greatest hits" variety. This is common with jazz, as it is with
classical, when it comes to compilations - there's not much rare or
unusual stuff. It's a "don't scare the horses" approach.
Jazz is one area where Pandora does surprisingly well, although still
not as well as more popular forms of music.

I just tried it with classical. It isn't quite as "greatest hits" as
I had expected, but I'm not seeing the "mood" format as particularly
useful. I tend to like a format where I can choose to listen to
something along the lines of "Italian baroque, that isn't "The Four
Seasons". I have no idea what that means in terms of dark/positive
and energetic/calm. The energetic/calm bit particularly mystifies
me. An awful lot of classical has an energetic first movement and a
calm second movement. My guess is that a system like this treats them
as seperate pieces, which rather misses the point. I suppose that a
system like this would work if you want white background noise. But
in my experience nothing has yet surpassed a good radio station with a
good program director who isn't afraid of playing stuff like Italian
baroque that isn't The Four Seasons.

Richard R. Hershberger

[M C Hamster]

On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 11:43:54 -0700, "Richard R. Hershberger"

Post by Richard R. Hershberger
I just tried it with classical. It isn't quite as "greatest hits" as
I had expected, but I'm not seeing the "mood" format as particularly
useful. I tend to like a format where I can choose to listen to
something along the lines of "Italian baroque, that isn't "The Four
Seasons". I have no idea what that means in terms of dark/positive
and energetic/calm. The energetic/calm bit particularly mystifies
me. An awful lot of classical has an energetic first movement and a
calm second movement. My guess is that a system like this treats them
as seperate pieces, which rather misses the point. I suppose that a
system like this would work if you want white background noise. But
in my experience nothing has yet surpassed a good radio station with a
good program director who isn't afraid of playing stuff like Italian
baroque that isn't The Four Seasons.

I'd totally agree that for larger classical works, the mood feature is
pretty useless. The thing I don't like about the "shuffle" feature
on my iPod is having it pull up classical music randomly with my
popular music choices. They occupy very different worlds, I have
discovered.

[Richard R. Hershberger]

Post by M C Hamster
On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 11:43:54 -0700, "Richard R. Hershberger"

Post by Richard R. Hershberger
I just tried it with classical. It isn't quite as "greatest hits" as
I had expected, but I'm not seeing the "mood" format as particularly
useful. I tend to like a format where I can choose to listen to
something along the lines of "Italian baroque, that isn't "The Four
Seasons". I have no idea what that means in terms of dark/positive
and energetic/calm. The energetic/calm bit particularly mystifies
me. An awful lot of classical has an energetic first movement and a
calm second movement. My guess is that a system like this treats them
as seperate pieces, which rather misses the point. I suppose that a
system like this would work if you want white background noise. But
in my experience nothing has yet surpassed a good radio station with a
good program director who isn't afraid of playing stuff like Italian
baroque that isn't The Four Seasons.

I'd totally agree that for larger classical works, the mood feature is
pretty useless. The thing I don't like about the "shuffle" feature
on my iPod is having it pull up classical music randomly with my
popular music choices. They occupy very different worlds, I have
discovered.

I have generally found that shuffle features or websites like this one
aren't very satisfying with classical, though they often work quite
well with popular genres. The tendency to treat each movement as a
seperate track is part of the problem, but I think also there is the
tendency to treat "classical" as a genre in the same way one might
treat "classic rock" as a genre. "Classical" is a centuries-long
range of genres. If it were split up into coherent pieces to choose
from it might work better.

When I was playing around with this site, one track I got was from an
album of four Finnish cellists playing Metallica. It was kind of
interesting for a couple of minutes, but a bit disappointing in that I
was looking for Italian baroque.

For what it is worth, classical musicians playing rock rarely works
beyond the "kind of interesting for a couple of minutes" level. The
exception is the Kronos Quartet version of Purple Haze.

Richard R. Hershberger

[groo]

Post by Richard R. Hershberger
For what it is worth, classical musicians playing rock rarely works
beyond the "kind of interesting for a couple of minutes" level. The
exception is the Kronos Quartet version of Purple Haze.

I'm fond of parts of the London Symphony Orchestra's rendition of "Tommy".
I'd probably like more of it, but some of the star vocalists sucked. The
Overture and Underture are quite nice.

[Bill Kinkaid]

Post by groo

Post by Richard R. Hershberger
For what it is worth, classical musicians playing rock rarely works
beyond the "kind of interesting for a couple of minutes" level. The
exception is the Kronos Quartet version of Purple Haze.

I'm fond of parts of the London Symphony Orchestra's rendition of "Tommy".
I'd probably like more of it, but some of the star vocalists sucked. The
Overture and Underture are quite nice.

The one where Ringo Starr is Uncle Ernie, Richie Havens sings Eyesight
to the Blind and Rod Stewart sings Pinball Wizard (just before he
started to sell out)? That one completely blew away the movie version
that followed. Jack Nicholson - what WERE they thinking?

[groo]

Post by Bill Kinkaid

Post by groo

Post by Richard R. Hershberger
For what it is worth, classical musicians playing rock rarely works
beyond the "kind of interesting for a couple of minutes" level. The
exception is the Kronos Quartet version of Purple Haze.

I'm fond of parts of the London Symphony Orchestra's rendition of
"Tommy". I'd probably like more of it, but some of the star vocalists
sucked. The Overture and Underture are quite nice.

The one where Ringo Starr is Uncle Ernie, Richie Havens sings Eyesight
to the Blind and Rod Stewart sings Pinball Wizard (just before he
started to sell out)? That one completely blew away the movie version
that followed. Jack Nicholson - what WERE they thinking?

Yeah, that one. Some of the singers were great, some sucked. I finally
chased down a copy on CD a few months ago.

And I (and pretty much every other sentient being on the planet) agree
that the movie blew great big chunks.

[h***@gmail.com]

Post by John Hatpin

Post by M C Hamster
How is their selection of jazz, I wonder? I'm a bit suspicious that
they have a rather limited repertoire, based on my early experiences
with this site (of all music, not just jazz).

Good question. The jazz coverage isn't as good, and tends to be of
the "greatest hits" variety. This is common with jazz, as it is with
classical, when it comes to compilations - there's not much rare or
unusual stuff. It's a "don't scare the horses" approach.

doo doodoo doodoo doo doodoo doo - so what?

[John Hatpin]

Post by h***@gmail.com

Post by John Hatpin

Post by M C Hamster
How is their selection of jazz, I wonder? I'm a bit suspicious that
they have a rather limited repertoire, based on my early experiences
with this site (of all music, not just jazz).

Good question. The jazz coverage isn't as good, and tends to be of
the "greatest hits" variety. This is common with jazz, as it is with
classical, when it comes to compilations - there's not much rare or
unusual stuff. It's a "don't scare the horses" approach.

doo doodoo doodoo doo doodoo doo - so what?

Ah, the advertising industry's favourite classic jazz track, used to
sell everything from male deodorant to budget sports cars.

Bill Evans would have been so proud that his years of toil and
suffering finally paid dividends.

[M C Hamster]

On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 21:21:09 +0100, John Hatpin

Post by John Hatpin

Post by h***@gmail.com

Post by John Hatpin

Post by M C Hamster
How is their selection of jazz, I wonder? I'm a bit suspicious that
they have a rather limited repertoire, based on my early experiences
with this site (of all music, not just jazz).

Good question. The jazz coverage isn't as good, and tends to be of
the "greatest hits" variety. This is common with jazz, as it is with
classical, when it comes to compilations - there's not much rare or
unusual stuff. It's a "don't scare the horses" approach.

doo doodoo doodoo doo doodoo doo - so what?

Ah, the advertising industry's favourite classic jazz track, used to
sell everything from male deodorant to budget sports cars.
Bill Evans would have been so proud that his years of toil and
suffering finally paid dividends.

Hmmm, I thought that was "Take Five".

[Hactar]

Post by M C Hamster
On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 21:21:09 +0100, John Hatpin

Post by John Hatpin

Post by h***@gmail.com

Post by John Hatpin

Post by M C Hamster
How is their selection of jazz, I wonder? I'm a bit suspicious that
they have a rather limited repertoire, based on my early experiences
with this site (of all music, not just jazz).

Good question. The jazz coverage isn't as good, and tends to be of
the "greatest hits" variety. This is common with jazz, as it is with
classical, when it comes to compilations - there's not much rare or
unusual stuff. It's a "don't scare the horses" approach.

doo doodoo doodoo doo doodoo doo - so what?

Ah, the advertising industry's favourite classic jazz track, used to
sell everything from male deodorant to budget sports cars.
Bill Evans would have been so proud that his years of toil and
suffering finally paid dividends.

Hmmm, I thought that was "Take Five".

As the theme to "Secret Life of Machines" they committed the abomination
of arranging "Take Five" in 4, stretching each measure of 5 beats into
two measures of 4. *shudder*

[John Hatpin]

Post by Hactar

Post by M C Hamster
On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 21:21:09 +0100, John Hatpin

Post by John Hatpin

Post by h***@gmail.com

Post by John Hatpin

Post by M C Hamster
How is their selection of jazz, I wonder? I'm a bit suspicious that
they have a rather limited repertoire, based on my early experiences
with this site (of all music, not just jazz).

Good question. The jazz coverage isn't as good, and tends to be of
the "greatest hits" variety. This is common with jazz, as it is with
classical, when it comes to compilations - there's not much rare or
unusual stuff. It's a "don't scare the horses" approach.

doo doodoo doodoo doo doodoo doo - so what?

Ah, the advertising industry's favourite classic jazz track, used to
sell everything from male deodorant to budget sports cars.
Bill Evans would have been so proud that his years of toil and
suffering finally paid dividends.

Hmmm, I thought that was "Take Five".

I'm assuming Huey was trying to convey "So What", which seemed to take
over from "Take Five" as the Familiar Cool Jazz Track used in ads, at
least hear. "Take Five" is so 1980s, dahling.

Post by Hactar
As the theme to "Secret Life of Machines" they committed the abomination
of arranging "Take Five" in 4, stretching each measure of 5 beats into
two measures of 4. *shudder*

UGH! Next they'll be doing "Blue Rondo A La Turk" as 4/4. Actually,
they wouldn't be the first.

Also, a nod to the Brits (and others?) familiar with the theme from
the TV series "The Bill", and how they totally fucked that one up too.

[Hactar]

Post by John Hatpin

Post by Hactar
As the theme to "Secret Life of Machines" they committed the abomination
of arranging "Take Five" in 4, stretching each measure of 5 beats into
two measures of 4. *shudder*

UGH! Next they'll be doing "Blue Rondo A La Turk" as 4/4. Actually,
they wouldn't be the first.

I guess it became "Take Eight".

[M C Hamster]

On Fri, 17 Aug 2007 19:17:04 +0100, John Hatpin

Post by John Hatpin

Post by M C Hamster
On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 21:21:09 +0100, John Hatpin

Post by John Hatpin

Post by h***@gmail.com

Post by John Hatpin

Post by M C Hamster
How is their selection of jazz, I wonder? I'm a bit suspicious that
they have a rather limited repertoire, based on my early experiences
with this site (of all music, not just jazz).

Good question. The jazz coverage isn't as good, and tends to be of
the "greatest hits" variety. This is common with jazz, as it is with
classical, when it comes to compilations - there's not much rare or
unusual stuff. It's a "don't scare the horses" approach.

doo doodoo doodoo doo doodoo doo - so what?

Ah, the advertising industry's favourite classic jazz track, used to
sell everything from male deodorant to budget sports cars.
Bill Evans would have been so proud that his years of toil and
suffering finally paid dividends.

Hmmm, I thought that was "Take Five".

I'm assuming Huey was trying to convey "So What", which seemed to take
over from "Take Five" as the Familiar Cool Jazz Track used in ads, at
least hear. "Take Five" is so 1980s, dahling.

Hmmm, I'm playing "So What" (on "Kind of Blue") as I type this, and I
can't find the doo doodoo doodoo doo doodoo doo part.

On a different jazz note, yesterday's VSL recommendation was for this
YouTube clip of Dinah Washington singing "All of Me". VSL says this:

"It features an ebullient and zaftig Dinah Washington and her band,
which includes the legendary Max Roach (who passed away yesterday), at
the 1958 Newport jazz Festival performing a spectacular rendition of
the standard 'All of Me'. It's more than simply a straight-up
concert: Washington flirts with vibraphonist Terry Gibbs and plays
along with him, and there's something moving about seeing audience
members of all ages and from all different walks of life sharing a
special moment of bliss and levity in the summer heat."

I'm not that much of a jazz fan, but it sounds like these guys really
liked this little 4-minute clip.

It's sobering knowing that all of these young people dancing are even
older than I am. If they're even still here.

[h***@gmail.com]

Post by M C Hamster

Post by John Hatpin

Post by M C Hamster

Post by John Hatpin

Post by h***@gmail.com

Post by John Hatpin

Post by M C Hamster
How is their selection of jazz, I wonder? I'm a bit
suspicious that they have a rather limited repertoire, based
on my early experiences with this site (of all music, not
just jazz).

Good question. The jazz coverage isn't as good, and tends to
be of the "greatest hits" variety. This is common with jazz,
as it is with classical, when it comes to compilations -
there's not much rare or unusual stuff. It's a "don't scare
the horses" approach.

doo doodoo doodoo doo doodoo doo - so what?

Ah, the advertising industry's favourite classic jazz track, used
to sell everything from male deodorant to budget sports cars.
Bill Evans would have been so proud that his years of toil and
suffering finally paid dividends.

Hmmm, I thought that was "Take Five".

I'm assuming Huey was trying to convey "So What", which seemed to
take over from "Take Five" as the Familiar Cool Jazz Track used in
ads, at least hear. "Take Five" is so 1980s, dahling.

Hmmm, I'm playing "So What" (on "Kind of Blue") as I type this, and I
can't find the doo doodoo doodoo doo doodoo doo part.

It's the chorus. "So What" is one of the most lyrical of instrumentals,
because it's so easy to hear. If you were going to sing it, the lyrics
would be:

doo doodoo doodoo doo doodoo doo - so what?
doo doodoo doodoo doo doodoo doo - so what?
doo doodoo doodoo doo doodoo doo - so what?
...etc.

[M C Hamster]

Post by h***@gmail.com

Post by M C Hamster

Post by John Hatpin

Post by M C Hamster

Post by John Hatpin

Post by h***@gmail.com

Post by John Hatpin

Post by M C Hamster
How is their selection of jazz, I wonder? I'm a bit
suspicious that they have a rather limited repertoire, based
on my early experiences with this site (of all music, not
just jazz).

Good question. The jazz coverage isn't as good, and tends to
be of the "greatest hits" variety. This is common with jazz,
as it is with classical, when it comes to compilations -
there's not much rare or unusual stuff. It's a "don't scare
the horses" approach.

doo doodoo doodoo doo doodoo doo - so what?

Ah, the advertising industry's favourite classic jazz track, used
to sell everything from male deodorant to budget sports cars.
Bill Evans would have been so proud that his years of toil and
suffering finally paid dividends.

Hmmm, I thought that was "Take Five".

I'm assuming Huey was trying to convey "So What", which seemed to
take over from "Take Five" as the Familiar Cool Jazz Track used in
ads, at least hear. "Take Five" is so 1980s, dahling.

Hmmm, I'm playing "So What" (on "Kind of Blue") as I type this, and I
can't find the doo doodoo doodoo doo doodoo doo part.

It's the chorus. "So What" is one of the most lyrical of instrumentals,
because it's so easy to hear. If you were going to sing it, the lyrics
doo doodoo doodoo doo doodoo doo - so what?
doo doodoo doodoo doo doodoo doo - so what?
doo doodoo doodoo doo doodoo doo - so what?
...etc.

Well, I hear the "so what"s fine part of course, but it's the
"doo-doos" that are still eluding me, as anything I'm hearing that is
lyrical. My brain is missing the part that understands jazz, alas.

I'm hearing "doodoo doo doodoo doo doo - so what?", like quietly on
the bass line at the start playing the doodoos, if that's it. Seems
like you maybe have an extra doodoo in there somewhere, maybe.

[John Hatpin]

Post by M C Hamster
Well, I hear the "so what"s fine part of course, but it's the
"doo-doos" that are still eluding me, as anything I'm hearing that is
lyrical. My brain is missing the part that understands jazz, alas.
I'm hearing "doodoo doo doodoo doo doo - so what?", like quietly on
the bass line at the start playing the doodoos, if that's it. Seems
like you maybe have an extra doodoo in there somewhere, maybe.

Well, to be fair, Huey's version doesn't work for me either, and also
the "doodoo"s should be more like "de-doo"s. They're not even pairs
of quarter notes.

[h***@gmail.com]

Post by John Hatpin

Post by M C Hamster
Well, I hear the "so what"s fine part of course, but it's the
"doo-doos" that are still eluding me, as anything I'm hearing that
is lyrical. My brain is missing the part that understands jazz,
alas.
I'm hearing "doodoo doo doodoo doo doo - so what?", like quietly on
the bass line at the start playing the doodoos, if that's it. Seems
like you maybe have an extra doodoo in there somewhere, maybe.

I have no extra doodoo!

Post by John Hatpin
Well, to be fair, Huey's version doesn't work for me either, and also
the "doodoo"s should be more like "de-doo"s. They're not even pairs
of quarter notes.

My doodoo does not stink!

[Bill Turlock]

Post by M C Hamster
On Fri, 17 Aug 2007 19:17:04 +0100, John Hatpin

Post by John Hatpin

Post by M C Hamster
On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 21:21:09 +0100, John Hatpin

Post by John Hatpin

Post by h***@gmail.com

Post by John Hatpin

Post by M C Hamster
How is their selection of jazz, I wonder? I'm a bit suspicious that
they have a rather limited repertoire, based on my early experiences
with this site (of all music, not just jazz).

Good question. The jazz coverage isn't as good, and tends to be of
the "greatest hits" variety. This is common with jazz, as it is with
classical, when it comes to compilations - there's not much rare or
unusual stuff. It's a "don't scare the horses" approach.

doo doodoo doodoo doo doodoo doo - so what?

Ah, the advertising industry's favourite classic jazz track, used to
sell everything from male deodorant to budget sports cars.
Bill Evans would have been so proud that his years of toil and
suffering finally paid dividends.

Hmmm, I thought that was "Take Five".

I'm assuming Huey was trying to convey "So What", which seemed to take
over from "Take Five" as the Familiar Cool Jazz Track used in ads, at
least hear. "Take Five" is so 1980s, dahling.

Hmmm, I'm playing "So What" (on "Kind of Blue") as I type this, and I
can't find the doo doodoo doodoo doo doodoo doo part.
On a different jazz note, yesterday's VSL recommendation was for this
"It features an ebullient and zaftig Dinah Washington and her band,
which includes the legendary Max Roach (who passed away yesterday), at
the 1958 Newport jazz Festival performing a spectacular rendition of
the standard 'All of Me'. It's more than simply a straight-up
concert: Washington flirts with vibraphonist Terry Gibbs and plays
along with him, and there's something moving about seeing audience
members of all ages and from all different walks of life sharing a
special moment of bliss and levity in the summer heat."
I'm not that much of a jazz fan, but it sounds like these guys really
liked this little 4-minute clip.
http://youtu.be/BkKo4s8TxTM
It's sobering knowing that all of these young people dancing are even
older than I am. If they're even still here.

1958!
Shirts & ties, and pearls, oh my!

[M C Hamster]

On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 18:30:58 +0100, John Hatpin

Post by John Hatpin

Post by M C Hamster
On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 04:53:06 +0100, John Hatpin

Post by John Hatpin

Post by M C Hamster
Okay, this is one of the absolute coolest web sites I have seen in
ages.
http://www.musicovery.com/
You select the general mood of the music you want to listen to, along
two dimensions: Dark vs. Positive, and Energetic vs. Calm. It then
queues up a presumably near-infinite set of pieces. You can restrict
the genres of music as well. And eras, too, I think.

Thanks, MC. Time to start playing with that. Nice.

Not play... WORK. This is serious stuff here.

When do I get paid?

Post by M C Hamster
How is their selection of jazz, I wonder? I'm a bit suspicious that
they have a rather limited repertoire, based on my early experiences
with this site (of all music, not just jazz).

Good question. The jazz coverage isn't as good, and tends to be of
the "greatest hits" variety. This is common with jazz, as it is with
classical, when it comes to compilations - there's not much rare or
unusual stuff. It's a "don't scare the horses" approach.
Jazz is one area where Pandora does surprisingly well, although still
not as well as more popular forms of music.

Did you try clicking the "Discovery" checkbox up near the top? I
think that might pull up more interesting stuff.

[Jeannie]

If I ever win the lottery, remember to remind me that it was you who
told us about this site....

Jeannie
love it, love it

[M C Hamster]

Post by Jeannie
If I ever win the lottery, remember to remind me that it was you who
told us about this site....
Jeannie
love it, love it

Oooh thanks! I'm much drawn to the lower left hand corner, not
because I'm in a funk or anything but I like having slow and quiet
music on in the background while I'm working.

I do wonder how this site can possibly pay for itself. In order to
get "HiFi" sound, you pay a fee which looked to be quite modest. The
screen is devoid of ads, except for Google ads. (The beautiful screen
with all that white space and no ads is another of the attractions.)
I have a vain hope that the recording industry might be supporting
this, because it helps expose us to new artists and music and might
get some of us to purchase albums we otherwise wouldn't have, but I'm
sure that's false.

Glad you liked it, Jeannie.

[Hactar]

Post by M C Hamster
I have a vain hope that the recording industry might be supporting
this, because it helps expose us to new artists and music and might
get some of us to purchase albums we otherwise wouldn't have, but I'm
sure that's false.

Yeah, that doesn't sound enough like foot-shooting to be the RIAA.

[Opus the Penguin]

Post by Hactar

Post by M C Hamster
I have a vain hope that the recording industry might be
supporting this, because it helps expose us to new artists and
music and might get some of us to purchase albums we otherwise
wouldn't have, but I'm sure that's false.

Yeah, that doesn't sound enough like foot-shooting to be the RIAA.

Indeed. If the RIAA had set up that site, it would be for the purpose
of prosecuting everyone who used it. If you actually purchased any
music based on finds there, the RIAA would confiscate your purchases as
fruit of the poisoned tree.

[Jeannie]

Post by M C Hamster

Post by Jeannie
If I ever win the lottery, remember to remind me that it was you who
told us about this site....
Jeannie
love it, love it

Oooh thanks! I'm much drawn to the lower left hand corner, not
because I'm in a funk or anything but I like having slow and quiet
music on in the background while I'm working.

I'm very happy with 4:00 on the second bubble from the top, but have
been roaming around trying different moods. Has anyone found any Mark
O'Connor yet? I seem to be in a Brubek/Marley/Dire Straits
roundabout.

Kinda wish you could plug in a few band names, like on Pandora, but
maybe that's coming with the next version....

Jeannie

[Bill Turlock]

Post by Jeannie

Post by M C Hamster

Post by Jeannie
If I ever win the lottery, remember to remind me that it was you who
told us about this site....
Jeannie
love it, love it

Oooh thanks! I'm much drawn to the lower left hand corner, not
because I'm in a funk or anything but I like having slow and quiet
music on in the background while I'm working.

I'm very happy with 4:00 on the second bubble from the top, but have
been roaming around trying different moods. Has anyone found any Mark
O'Connor yet? I seem to be in a Brubek/Marley/Dire Straits
roundabout.
Kinda wish you could plug in a few band names, like on Pandora, but
maybe that's coming with the next version....
Jeannie

Playlist is rigid and short.

[Hactar]

Post by Bill Turlock

Post by Jeannie

Post by M C Hamster

Post by Jeannie
If I ever win the lottery, remember to remind me that it was you who
told us about this site....

Oooh thanks! I'm much drawn to the lower left hand corner, not
because I'm in a funk or anything but I like having slow and quiet
music on in the background while I'm working.

I'm very happy with 4:00 on the second bubble from the top, but have
been roaming around trying different moods. Has anyone found any Mark
O'Connor yet? I seem to be in a Brubek/Marley/Dire Straits
roundabout.
Kinda wish you could plug in a few band names, like on Pandora, but
maybe that's coming with the next version....

Playlist is rigid and short.

Is that what you call it... honestly, I'd think twice about that
description.

[M C Hamster]

Post by Jeannie

Post by M C Hamster

Post by Jeannie
If I ever win the lottery, remember to remind me that it was you who
told us about this site....
Jeannie
love it, love it

Oooh thanks! I'm much drawn to the lower left hand corner, not
because I'm in a funk or anything but I like having slow and quiet
music on in the background while I'm working.

I'm very happy with 4:00 on the second bubble from the top, but have
been roaming around trying different moods. Has anyone found any Mark
O'Connor yet? I seem to be in a Brubek/Marley/Dire Straits
roundabout.
Kinda wish you could plug in a few band names, like on Pandora, but
maybe that's coming with the next version....

I've only just done a little on Pandora, but it seems restrictive
too... but maybe I need to spend more time on it? Having, for
instance, started a Phish channel, it seems like it just pulls up
Phish and a couple of jam bands. But I want something that is much
more eclectic, though of course still including stuff I like and
excluding stuff I don't.

I tried a "Sarah McLachlan" channel, and all it pulled up were female
vocalists of her genre. How can I get it to play Sarah McLachlan and
follow it up with, say, a bit of Phish? If Pandora let me create
combo channels, with ten or twenty or more artists, that sounds maybe
like what I need.

I'll take a look at Mike Williams' Launchcast to see if it provides
what I want. Thanks for that suggestion, Mike.

[Bob Ward]

On 17 Aug 2007 10:50:02 -0500, M C Hamster

Post by M C Hamster
I tried a "Sarah McLachlan" channel, and all it pulled up were female
vocalists of her genre. How can I get it to play Sarah McLachlan and
follow it up with, say, a bit of Phish? If Pandora let me create
combo channels, with ten or twenty or more artists, that sounds maybe
like what I need.

That's exactly what I did - the first time I used it. Just kept
adding artists until it sounded like the local FM station.

[John Hatpin]

Post by Bob Ward
On 17 Aug 2007 10:50:02 -0500, M C Hamster

Post by M C Hamster
I tried a "Sarah McLachlan" channel, and all it pulled up were female
vocalists of her genre. How can I get it to play Sarah McLachlan and
follow it up with, say, a bit of Phish? If Pandora let me create
combo channels, with ten or twenty or more artists, that sounds maybe
like what I need.

That's exactly what I did - the first time I used it. Just kept
adding artists until it sounded like the local FM station.

Are you two using the "thumbs-up"/"thumbs-down" feature of Pandora to
fine-tune your stations?

If not, try it - it makes a big difference. Float your mouse over the
wee album art and vote. It greatly affects subsequent suggestions.

[M C Hamster]

On Fri, 17 Aug 2007 19:22:36 +0100, John Hatpin

Post by John Hatpin

Post by Bob Ward
On 17 Aug 2007 10:50:02 -0500, M C Hamster

Post by M C Hamster
I tried a "Sarah McLachlan" channel, and all it pulled up were female
vocalists of her genre. How can I get it to play Sarah McLachlan and
follow it up with, say, a bit of Phish? If Pandora let me create
combo channels, with ten or twenty or more artists, that sounds maybe
like what I need.

That's exactly what I did - the first time I used it. Just kept
adding artists until it sounded like the local FM station.

Are you two using the "thumbs-up"/"thumbs-down" feature of Pandora to
fine-tune your stations?
If not, try it - it makes a big difference. Float your mouse over the
wee album art and vote. It greatly affects subsequent suggestions.

Yep, I've been rating the songs. But when my Sarah McLachlan channel
just keeps pulling up more and more female singers, giving them
positive ratings doesn't seem to be increasing the likelihood I'll
suddenly get Phish as a recommendation. Or will it start introducing
discordant artists?

Since it doesn't let me skip more than about six artists without
giving me an error message, this means I have to devote hours and
hours of listening to this enterprise of just trying to train the
system?

I remember the original Pandora, years ago, let me spend a lot of time
just rating various artists and albums, and that would give me the
broad-based kind of channel I want. It's this restriction of only
allowing me to rate five artists / songs before shutting me down that
is screwing this up.

I must be missing something.

[Mike Williams]

Post by M C Hamster
Since it doesn't let me skip more than about six artists without
giving me an error message, this means I have to devote hours and
hours of listening to this enterprise of just trying to train the
system?

One of the advantages of Yahoo Launchcast is that you can also search
for your favourite artists set your artist preference, and then click on
the "Albums" link at the side to set your preferences for each album,
and click on an album to set your preferences for individual tracks.

When you've set your preferences for one artist, you can click on the
"Similar Artists" link at the side.

That way you can set up lots of preferences in a short while, without
waiting for the tracks to be played.

[Bob Ward]

On Fri, 17 Aug 2007 19:22:36 +0100, John Hatpin

Post by John Hatpin

Post by Bob Ward
On 17 Aug 2007 10:50:02 -0500, M C Hamster

Post by M C Hamster
I tried a "Sarah McLachlan" channel, and all it pulled up were female
vocalists of her genre. How can I get it to play Sarah McLachlan and
follow it up with, say, a bit of Phish? If Pandora let me create
combo channels, with ten or twenty or more artists, that sounds maybe
like what I need.

That's exactly what I did - the first time I used it. Just kept
adding artists until it sounded like the local FM station.

Are you two using the "thumbs-up"/"thumbs-down" feature of Pandora to
fine-tune your stations?
If not, try it - it makes a big difference. Float your mouse over the
wee album art and vote. It greatly affects subsequent suggestions.

I did a bit of that as well, but I actually added a number of artists
by name to expand the playlist.

[John Hatpin]

Post by M C Hamster
On Fri, 17 Aug 2007 19:22:36 +0100, John Hatpin

Post by John Hatpin
Are you two using the "thumbs-up"/"thumbs-down" feature of Pandora to
fine-tune your stations?
If not, try it - it makes a big difference. Float your mouse over the
wee album art and vote. It greatly affects subsequent suggestions.

I did a bit of that as well, but I actually added a number of artists
by name to expand the playlist.

Yeah, that too, of course, but it's a more brutal approach, with
broader strokes.

The best way is to think of as many artists as you can that define
your station, set it up, then winnow the suggestions by fine-tuning
with your thumbs.

[h***@gmail.com]

Post by M C Hamster
I'll take a look at Mike Williams' Launchcast to see if it provides
what I want. Thanks for that suggestion, Mike.

Radio Free Huey
http://music.yahoo.com/launchcast/station.asp?u=1210572518

And, as they used to say on Radio Free Hawaii: "It don't mean that we're
givin' away radios for free, it mean that, if'n you gots a radio, you
can listen to it, and it don't cost nothin'."

[groo]

Post by h***@gmail.com

Post by M C Hamster
I'll take a look at Mike Williams' Launchcast to see if it provides
what I want. Thanks for that suggestion, Mike.

Radio Free Huey
http://music.yahoo.com/launchcast/station.asp?u=1210572518
And, as they used to say on Radio Free Hawaii: "It don't mean that
we're givin' away radios for free, it mean that, if'n you gots a
radio, you can listen to it, and it don't cost nothin'."

"Sorry, we do not support the Firefox browser at this time."


Assholes.

[Jerry Bauer]

Post by groo

Post by h***@gmail.com

Post by M C Hamster
I'll take a look at Mike Williams' Launchcast to see if it provides
what I want. Thanks for that suggestion, Mike.

Radio Free Huey
http://music.yahoo.com/launchcast/station.asp?u=1210572518
And, as they used to say on Radio Free Hawaii: "It don't mean that
we're givin' away radios for free, it mean that, if'n you gots a
radio, you can listen to it, and it don't cost nothin'."

"Sorry, we do not support the Firefox browser at this time."

Odd, it opened fine for me in Firefox on my Mac.

But the player says:

Error 5
Sorry, OS 8.5 or higher (not OS X), Netscape 4.5 (not 6.0+), and
Windows Media Player 7.0+ required

Idiots.

[M C Hamster]

Post by h***@gmail.com

Post by M C Hamster
I'll take a look at Mike Williams' Launchcast to see if it provides
what I want. Thanks for that suggestion, Mike.

Radio Free Huey
http://music.yahoo.com/launchcast/station.asp?u=1210572518
And, as they used to say on Radio Free Hawaii: "It don't mean that we're
givin' away radios for free, it mean that, if'n you gots a radio, you
can listen to it, and it don't cost nothin'."

Hmmm, if I find out I like this, that might worry me.

But Zappa is first up, so this looks promising....

[h***@gmail.com]

Post by M C Hamster

Post by h***@gmail.com

Post by M C Hamster
I'll take a look at Mike Williams' Launchcast to see if it provides
what I want. Thanks for that suggestion, Mike.

Radio Free Huey
http://music.yahoo.com/launchcast/station.asp?u=1210572518
And, as they used to say on Radio Free Hawaii: "It don't mean that
we're givin' away radios for free, it mean that, if'n you gots a
radio, you can listen to it, and it don't cost nothin'."

Hmmm, if I find out I like this, that might worry me.
But Zappa is first up, so this looks promising....

It is a pretty antisocial radio station, considering. If you were a fan
of WXRT circa twenty years ago, or Radio Free Hawaii around twelve years
ago, you might not mind it, but both of those examples were, by any
sensible definition, utter commercial failures.

One of the things that I've noticed about LaunchCast is that music comes
and goes, and since it's been a couple years since I was actively rating
songs, the overwhelming majority of music that I've rated is no longer
in their rotation, so my format is narrowing. Also, since they've also
added quite a bunch of stuff, it'll 'suggest' things that I find
completely annoying, so if I'm not logged in and actively rating those
things "fuck off and never play this again", it'll put stuff on my
station that has no earthly business being there.

Lastly, although they may have fixed this since I've stopped goofing
with it too much, one of the really annoying quirks of the UI is that
you get three ratings for every song: the artist, the album, and the
song. And you can rate each of those three on a scale from X ("fuck off
and never play this again") to 100, but those ratings are entirely
separate and applied at the least constrictive - meaning that if you
rate an artist at 30 but an album at "fuck off and never play this
again", it'll ignore the fuck off and play songs from that album anyway,
since you rated the artist at 30. This means that it's effectively
impossible to only listen to SOME of a particular artist's music.

[Lisa Ann]

Post by M C Hamster

Post by Jeannie

Post by M C Hamster

Post by Jeannie
If I ever win the lottery, remember to remind me that it was you who
told us about this site....
Jeannie
love it, love it

Oooh thanks! I'm much drawn to the lower left hand corner, not
because I'm in a funk or anything but I like having slow and quiet
music on in the background while I'm working.

I'm very happy with 4:00 on the second bubble from the top, but have
been roaming around trying different moods. Has anyone found any Mark
O'Connor yet? I seem to be in a Brubek/Marley/Dire Straits
roundabout.
Kinda wish you could plug in a few band names, like on Pandora, but
maybe that's coming with the next version....

I've only just done a little on Pandora, but it seems restrictive
too... but maybe I need to spend more time on it? Having, for
instance, started a Phish channel, it seems like it just pulls up
Phish and a couple of jam bands. But I want something that is much
more eclectic, though of course still including stuff I like and
excluding stuff I don't.

I spent the afternoon fiddling with Pandora...I've "seeded" my channel with
Lucinda Williams, Shawn Colvin, Townes Van Zandt, John Prine, Steve Goodman
and Mary Chapin Carpenter. I told it firmly that I didn't want the Judds,
Martina McBride, Trisha Yearwood, Shania (gag), Faith Hill, Hank Sr., Hank
Jr....it seems to be settling down, and then reminded me of k.d. lang and
Tracy Chapman. Cool!

Whoever first suggested Pandora, thanks!

Lisa Ann

[M C Hamster]

On Fri, 17 Aug 2007 21:49:08 -0400, "Lisa Ann"

Post by Lisa Ann

Post by M C Hamster

Post by Jeannie

Post by M C Hamster

Post by Jeannie
If I ever win the lottery, remember to remind me that it was you who
told us about this site....
Jeannie
love it, love it

Oooh thanks! I'm much drawn to the lower left hand corner, not
because I'm in a funk or anything but I like having slow and quiet
music on in the background while I'm working.

I'm very happy with 4:00 on the second bubble from the top, but have
been roaming around trying different moods. Has anyone found any Mark
O'Connor yet? I seem to be in a Brubek/Marley/Dire Straits
roundabout.
Kinda wish you could plug in a few band names, like on Pandora, but
maybe that's coming with the next version....

I've only just done a little on Pandora, but it seems restrictive
too... but maybe I need to spend more time on it? Having, for
instance, started a Phish channel, it seems like it just pulls up
Phish and a couple of jam bands. But I want something that is much
more eclectic, though of course still including stuff I like and
excluding stuff I don't.

I spent the afternoon fiddling with Pandora...I've "seeded" my channel with
Lucinda Williams, Shawn Colvin, Townes Van Zandt, John Prine, Steve Goodman
and Mary Chapin Carpenter. I told it firmly that I didn't want the Judds,
Martina McBride, Trisha Yearwood, Shania (gag), Faith Hill, Hank Sr., Hank
Jr....it seems to be settling down, and then reminded me of k.d. lang and
Tracy Chapman. Cool!

Ummmmmmmm.... how do you "seed" the channel with more than just the
starting artist? By ratings of subsequent recommendations? It won't
let me rate more than five or six albums, before it shuts me down. A
message pops up saying: "Unfortunately, our music licenses force us
to limit the number of songs you may skip each hour. If you want to
hear something else, try creating another station starting with a
different artist or song."

So I have to listen through every song start to finish, before I can
rate it? I'm too attention-deficient to do that, I think.

Or is there some other way to "seed" the channel with a range of
preferred artists that I'm not seeing?

[Lisa Ann]

Post by M C Hamster
On Fri, 17 Aug 2007 21:49:08 -0400, "Lisa Ann"

Post by Lisa Ann

Post by M C Hamster

Post by Jeannie

Post by M C Hamster

Post by Jeannie
If I ever win the lottery, remember to remind me that it was you who
told us about this site....
Jeannie
love it, love it

Oooh thanks! I'm much drawn to the lower left hand corner, not
because I'm in a funk or anything but I like having slow and quiet
music on in the background while I'm working.

I'm very happy with 4:00 on the second bubble from the top, but have
been roaming around trying different moods. Has anyone found any Mark
O'Connor yet? I seem to be in a Brubek/Marley/Dire Straits
roundabout.
Kinda wish you could plug in a few band names, like on Pandora, but
maybe that's coming with the next version....

I've only just done a little on Pandora, but it seems restrictive
too... but maybe I need to spend more time on it? Having, for
instance, started a Phish channel, it seems like it just pulls up
Phish and a couple of jam bands. But I want something that is much
more eclectic, though of course still including stuff I like and
excluding stuff I don't.

I spent the afternoon fiddling with Pandora...I've "seeded" my channel with
Lucinda Williams, Shawn Colvin, Townes Van Zandt, John Prine, Steve Goodman
and Mary Chapin Carpenter. I told it firmly that I didn't want the Judds,
Martina McBride, Trisha Yearwood, Shania (gag), Faith Hill, Hank Sr., Hank
Jr....it seems to be settling down, and then reminded me of k.d. lang and
Tracy Chapman. Cool!

Ummmmmmmm.... how do you "seed" the channel with more than just the
starting artist? By ratings of subsequent recommendations? It won't
let me rate more than five or six albums, before it shuts me down. A
message pops up saying: "Unfortunately, our music licenses force us
to limit the number of songs you may skip each hour. If you want to
hear something else, try creating another station starting with a
different artist or song."

Well, on the left side it shows my "station" name (in my case it's called
Lucinda Williams). There's a down-arrow to the right of the station name. I
click that, and one of the options is "Add More music to this station" So I
started plugging in the other artists I wanted to add...seems to be working,
even if it did react to the addition of John Prine and Steve Earle by trying
to give me Hank Sr. and Johnny Cash. But it also gave me some songs/artists
I'd never heard of before and really liked.

It's definitely a work in progress type thing.

Lisa Ann

[John Hatpin]

Post by Lisa Ann

Post by M C Hamster
Ummmmmmmm.... how do you "seed" the channel with more than just the
starting artist? By ratings of subsequent recommendations? It won't
let me rate more than five or six albums, before it shuts me down. A
message pops up saying: "Unfortunately, our music licenses force us
to limit the number of songs you may skip each hour. If you want to
hear something else, try creating another station starting with a
different artist or song."

Well, on the left side it shows my "station" name (in my case it's called
Lucinda Williams). There's a down-arrow to the right of the station name. I
click that, and one of the options is "Add More music to this station" So I
started plugging in the other artists I wanted to add...seems to be working,
even if it did react to the addition of John Prine and Steve Earle by trying
to give me Hank Sr. and Johnny Cash. But it also gave me some songs/artists
I'd never heard of before and really liked.

It's amazing how quickly it learns from ratings. I'm currently trying
get a channel set up for the kind of jazz/soul flavour of reggae that
Third World popularised so much, and my goodness, it's working. My
other reggae channel, which is more for the Bob Marley kind of stuff,
sounds very different after only a few votes.

[M C Hamster]

On Sat, 18 Aug 2007 14:00:07 -0400, "Lisa Ann"

Post by Lisa Ann

Post by M C Hamster
On Fri, 17 Aug 2007 21:49:08 -0400, "Lisa Ann"

Post by Lisa Ann

Post by M C Hamster

Post by Jeannie

Post by M C Hamster

Post by Jeannie
If I ever win the lottery, remember to remind me that it was you who
told us about this site....
Jeannie
love it, love it

Oooh thanks! I'm much drawn to the lower left hand corner, not
because I'm in a funk or anything but I like having slow and quiet
music on in the background while I'm working.

I'm very happy with 4:00 on the second bubble from the top, but have
been roaming around trying different moods. Has anyone found any Mark
O'Connor yet? I seem to be in a Brubek/Marley/Dire Straits
roundabout.
Kinda wish you could plug in a few band names, like on Pandora, but
maybe that's coming with the next version....

I've only just done a little on Pandora, but it seems restrictive
too... but maybe I need to spend more time on it? Having, for
instance, started a Phish channel, it seems like it just pulls up
Phish and a couple of jam bands. But I want something that is much
more eclectic, though of course still including stuff I like and
excluding stuff I don't.

I spent the afternoon fiddling with Pandora...I've "seeded" my channel with
Lucinda Williams, Shawn Colvin, Townes Van Zandt, John Prine, Steve Goodman
and Mary Chapin Carpenter. I told it firmly that I didn't want the Judds,
Martina McBride, Trisha Yearwood, Shania (gag), Faith Hill, Hank Sr., Hank
Jr....it seems to be settling down, and then reminded me of k.d. lang and
Tracy Chapman. Cool!

Ummmmmmmm.... how do you "seed" the channel with more than just the
starting artist? By ratings of subsequent recommendations? It won't
let me rate more than five or six albums, before it shuts me down. A
message pops up saying: "Unfortunately, our music licenses force us
to limit the number of songs you may skip each hour. If you want to
hear something else, try creating another station starting with a
different artist or song."

Well, on the left side it shows my "station" name (in my case it's called
Lucinda Williams). There's a down-arrow to the right of the station name. I
click that, and one of the options is "Add More music to this station" So I
started plugging in the other artists I wanted to add...seems to be working,
even if it did react to the addition of John Prine and Steve Earle by trying
to give me Hank Sr. and Johnny Cash. But it also gave me some songs/artists
I'd never heard of before and really liked.
It's definitely a work in progress type thing.

Ahh, perfect, that's what I was missing. Thanks! I'll work on this
and see what develops.

[Beaver Fever]

Post by Lisa Ann

Post by M C Hamster

Post by Jeannie

Post by Jeannie
If I ever win the lottery, remember to remind me that it was you who
told us about this site....
Jeannie
love it, love it

Oooh thanks! I'm much drawn to the lower left hand corner, not
because I'm in a funk or anything but I like having slow and quiet
music on in the background while I'm working.

I'm very happy with 4:00 on the second bubble from the top, but have
been roaming around trying different moods. Has anyone found any Mark
O'Connor yet? I seem to be in a Brubek/Marley/Dire Straits
roundabout.
Kinda wish you could plug in a few band names, like on Pandora, but
maybe that's coming with the next version....

I've only just done a little on Pandora, but it seems restrictive
too... but maybe I need to spend more time on it? Having, for
instance, started a Phish channel, it seems like it just pulls up
Phish and a couple of jam bands. But I want something that is much
more eclectic, though of course still including stuff I like and
excluding stuff I don't.

I spent the afternoon fiddling with Pandora...I've "seeded" my channel with
Lucinda Williams, Shawn Colvin, Townes Van Zandt, John Prine, Steve Goodman
and Mary Chapin Carpenter. I told it firmly that I didn't want the Judds,
Martina McBride, Trisha Yearwood, Shania (gag), Faith Hill, Hank Sr., Hank
Jr....it seems to be settling down, and then reminded me of k.d. lang and
Tracy Chapman. Cool!
Whoever first suggested Pandora, thanks!
Lisa Ann

I just finished Lucinda Williams book and when she wasn't on the road she was living a lot of the 2000's at the Safari Inn when I lived 2 blocks from her. Never saw her though I remember at a show she kinda bumped into me and gently touched my shoulder as it was too loud to say "excuse me." I could feel the warmth even in that brief encounter.

[groo]

Post by M C Hamster
Okay, this is one of the absolute coolest web sites I have seen in
ages.
http://www.musicovery.com/
You select the general mood of the music you want to listen to, along
two dimensions: Dark vs. Positive, and Energetic vs. Calm. It then
queues up a presumably near-infinite set of pieces. You can restrict
the genres of music as well. And eras, too, I think.

It's a nifty site, but in just playing with it for half an hour I've
stumbled across two different songs with errors in the labels. It listed
the Garbage song as "Supervixens", but the real name is "Supervixen"
(singular). And it listed the artist for "Se a cabo" as Carlos Santana.
The artist was actually the group Santana. (Both are great songs, BTW.)

[darkon]

Post by groo

Post by M C Hamster
Okay, this is one of the absolute coolest web sites I have seen
in ages.
http://www.musicovery.com/
You select the general mood of the music you want to listen to,
along two dimensions: Dark vs. Positive, and Energetic vs.
Calm. It then queues up a presumably near-infinite set of
pieces. You can restrict the genres of music as well. And
eras, too, I think.

It's a nifty site, but in just playing with it for half an hour
I've stumbled across two different songs with errors in the
labels. It listed the Garbage song as "Supervixens", but the
real name is "Supervixen" (singular). And it listed the artist
for "Se a cabo" as Carlos Santana. The artist was actually the
group Santana. (Both are great songs, BTW.)

It also says "Ode to Billy Joe" was by "Bobie Gentry".

[M C Hamster]

Post by darkon

Post by groo

Post by M C Hamster
Okay, this is one of the absolute coolest web sites I have seen
in ages.
http://www.musicovery.com/
You select the general mood of the music you want to listen to,
along two dimensions: Dark vs. Positive, and Energetic vs.
Calm. It then queues up a presumably near-infinite set of
pieces. You can restrict the genres of music as well. And
eras, too, I think.

It's a nifty site, but in just playing with it for half an hour
I've stumbled across two different songs with errors in the
labels. It listed the Garbage song as "Supervixens", but the
real name is "Supervixen" (singular). And it listed the artist
for "Se a cabo" as Carlos Santana. The artist was actually the
group Santana. (Both are great songs, BTW.)

It also says "Ode to Billy Joe" was by "Bobie Gentry".

She DID have big jugs.

[M C Hamster]

Post by darkon

Post by groo

Post by M C Hamster
Okay, this is one of the absolute coolest web sites I have seen
in ages.
http://www.musicovery.com/
You select the general mood of the music you want to listen to,
along two dimensions: Dark vs. Positive, and Energetic vs.
Calm. It then queues up a presumably near-infinite set of
pieces. You can restrict the genres of music as well. And
eras, too, I think.

It's a nifty site, but in just playing with it for half an hour
I've stumbled across two different songs with errors in the
labels. It listed the Garbage song as "Supervixens", but the
real name is "Supervixen" (singular). And it listed the artist
for "Se a cabo" as Carlos Santana. The artist was actually the
group Santana. (Both are great songs, BTW.)

It also says "Ode to Billy Joe" was by "Bobie Gentry".

When I looked at the subscription page for this site, the price is
quoted in Euros. So is this site actually some front for a Russian or
Nigerian spamhouse, maybe?

[Mike Williams]

Post by M C Hamster
Okay, this is one of the absolute coolest web sites I have seen in
ages.
http://www.musicovery.com/
You select the general mood of the music you want to listen to, along
two dimensions: Dark vs. Positive, and Energetic vs. Calm. It then
queues up a presumably near-infinite set of pieces. You can restrict
the genres of music as well. And eras, too, I think.

Whatever settings I use on that site, it always seems to end up with
"easy listening" music. At least music that's a long way towards "easy
listening" from what I like.

I'm going to stick with my old Launchcast Radio.
http://music.yahoo.com/launchcast
It's taken me ages to train it to know what I like (but it still
occasionally goes off into a long series of tracks from groups I've
never heard of at the edges of genres that I've given one star) and the
ads can be a bit annoying.