Pandora

Pandora internet radio is an excellent invention. It is powered by the Music Genome Project, an organizational music structure identifier using 400 attributes to a song. All you have to do to create a new station is type in a song or artist, then Pandora will find similar songs and artists and play it like a personalized radio station. After you request a song or artist, you can "add variety" to your station to expand the variety of songs and bands that will emerge from your station. What I have done is picked a staple band from every genre of music I enjoy, then added other songs and bands from the same genre to the station. My stations are "Asheru"-hip hop- "The Bakerton Group"-jam rock- "The Decemberists"-indie folk rock- "Duke Ellington"-jazz- "Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad"-dub reggae- "Hootie & the Blowfish"-90's alternative- "Kasabian"-electronic indie- "Mad Season"-grunge rock- "Passafire"-reggae/rock- "Pink Floyd"-classic psyc rock- "Smashing Pumpkins"-90's rock- "Taking Back Sunday"-punk- "Umphree's McGee"-alternative jam band. The "Decemberists" station is probably the best, because I have discovered more bands that have found their way into my iTunes library from the related artists that Pandora has picked for that station. Once Pandora has picked up on your musical interests are for a certain station, it becomes one of the best inventions in the universe.

"Video" Saturday

Well, like the title explains, on this Saturday I am posting several videos of songs I have "favorited" on YouTube that I just can't stop listening to. They're songs from all genres, hope you enjoy them.

Ted and Will of Passafire playing a cover of Bon Iver's "Skinny Love"


Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek of Reflection Eternal ft. Mos Def, Jay Electronica and J. Cole - Just Begun


Dave Matthews Band - "Lie in Our Graves" - Live in Chicago (1998) pt.1


pt.2

Arctic Moneys

British indie rock band Arctic Monkeys have been around for almost nine years, but have only just recently been inducted into my iTunes library. The album I was drawn to is titled Favourite Worst Nightmare. I have a Pandora internet radio account, and one of the artists I picked to base Pandora to pick play songs based on is the Decemberists. On that station, Pandora played the song "505" by Arctic Monkeys. Immediately after the song finished I checked all the information Pandora offered about the song and artist-I couldn't do it during the song, because I was too engulfed in the listening. I downloaded(Legally or illegally? you'll never know) the whole album and listened to in in its entirety straight through. There are many different aspects and characteristics of indie rock that are displayed on the album, and "505" is a musical masterpiece. The transitions, tempos, instrumentals and vocals, in the whole record but in "505" especially, create an awesome listening experience and really live up to the indie rock genre brand name. I found myself very, very upset when I realized I missed their set at ACL last year, but hopefully I will get the chance to see them again. Attached is a live version of "505" from Glastonbury 2007. Do yourself a favor and listen to it entirely, especially the climax around 3:20. enjoy!

Austin City Limits 2010

Well 3-day passes for this year's ACL have come and gone, within two hours of release! With the release of the Lollapalooza lineup, I can only assume that ACL 2010 will look very similar. I am a little indifferent about some of the bands that I think will play, but I will probably make the investment and attend ACL for my third year in a row. Better news is that the actual lineup and release of single day tickets are released to the public on my birthday, May 18th. I haven't decided if I'm gonna try and go for a 3-day pass off eBay or craigslist, or buy three individual day passes, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. One huge deciding factor is who will be headlining the festival. Last year, Pearl Jam put on the best live set I have ever seen, and will be hard to beat. It has been rumored that Neil Young will be coming to Austin, and Soundgarden is reuniting at Lollapalooza, so there is a possibility that they will be coming to ACL as well. Either of those acts would definitely seal the deal and push me to fork up the dinero. Until then, all I can do is wait. posted is a video of Kings of Leon performing on Friday night of ACL 2009, with very special guest Eddie Vedder of Peal Jam! enjoy

Lollapalooza 2010

Another summer music festival lineup has been released. Lollapalooza, held at Grant Park in Chicago, IL, has been exposed with some stellar bands filling the slots. The most notable band playing is Soundgarden, who will be reuniting for the headlining spot. Soundgarden was one of the first bands to enter the grunge scene in the late 80's and early 90's, and to see them would be awesome. Some bands that I have not seen before but would like to are Arcade Fire, The Strokes, The Black Keys, Grizzly Bear, Wolfmother, Deer Tick, Blitzen Trapper, Minus the Bear, Rogue Wave and Mimicking Birds. Bands that I have already seen but would like to see again are Phoenix, Slightly Stoopid, MuteMath, The Dodos and Rebelution. I will definitely be steering clear of Green Day's and Lady Gaga's performance though. Most of the bands I have never heard of, which is not a bad thing because I could do some research and maybe find some music gold. The lineup is decent, but nothing special which is a little scary because a lot of these same bands will probably end up playing at ACL 2010. Still wating until May 18th, which is my birthday, release of single day tickets for ACL and ACL lineup release!

Chilifest 2010

While there may be other aspects of this festival that draw college students to attend, I must say the live music was a big one for me, so my expectations were high. I am happy to say that for the majority, I was very pleased with the performances I saw on Saturday. Cory Morrow started the day off with a very lively and awesome set. He played a lot of his old material, which was very cool because I actually knew most of the songs, which was something I wasn't expecting. I would say Morrow put on the best show of the entire festival. Roger Creager played right after, and also played a great set. I was most surprised that he played a cover of the Beatles' "With A Little Help From My Friends," and did it pretty well; that was one of a few songs I could sing along to that Creager played. Eli Young Band played next, who I really don't care for, so I wasn't in the audience for their set. Aaron Watson played after them, and had a very fun set that everyone was dancing and singing to. Somewhere in either Eli Young or Watson's set was a cover of Billy Joel's "Piano Man," which was really cool but a little out of the element of the festival. Dwight Yoakam was the headliner and played last, but I didn't stay to see his full set or even go in the audience at all during his stage time. Overall I think the Chilifest 2010 Entertainment was very good, and am very eager as to who will play next year.

Baseball is Back!

So this post may be a little off the typical music topic that this blog is centered around, but this is probably my most excited post. The 2010 Major League Baseball Season kicked off Sunday night with a couple of games, one of which was the heated Red Sox/Yankees rivalry. While I enjoyed the game play immensely, I couldn't help but love when Neil Diamond came out after the seventh inning to sing his Fenway-favorite "Sweet Caoline." Another time when the music of the game caught my eye was when Boston's relief pitcher, Jonathan Papelbon, came from the bullpen to close the game. The speakers were blasting "I'm Shipping Up To Boston" by the Dropkick Murphys. Today, the Texas Rangers took on the Toronto Blue Jays, and were victorious 5-4 with some ninth inning heroics. Michael Young is my absolute favorite player, but not just because of his skills and demeanor off the field; the man has great taste in music. Every time he comes up to bat, the sound man plays either "Sure Shot" or "Sabotage," two awesome songs by the Beastie Boys. This baseball season has kicked off to a great start, combining both of my passions; baseball and music.