NEWS

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Cracking the musical wha?

So, I'm playing with this new music service, Pandora. It's back end is powered by the "Music Genome" project which has "cracked the code" of music. They claim that if you feed them some bands you like, they'll feed you new bands to discover.

So I fed them the Birthday Party.

They fed me Iggy Pop, the Minutemen, an early Cure song. Naked Raygun. Then it started going to Perl Jam and "Smells like Teen Spirit." Them's some deep cuts.

I tried the Cramps.

They returned Iggy Pop, Richard Hell, Jim Carroll. Which is funny, because the Pandora FAQ page says:

It's not about what a band looks like, or what genre they supposedly belong to, or about who buys their records - it's about what each individual song sounds like.

And I'd say rather than a particular sound, really lanky strung-out frontmen who lived in NYC in the late 70s are what tie those acts together. Then Pandora played me Nirvana. A decent garage band called Hookers. Then some more solo Iggy. 8 Eyed Spy next- that version of "Run Through the Jungle". But I've already heard enough lo-fi Lydia Lunch outtakes for this lifetime. Dinosaur Jr., Pixies, Interpol.

The Cramps aren't too far off from the Birthday Party, so I tried Ladytron.

They fed me the Fall, Ryan Adams. Hunh? Then Ladytron's "Oops, Oh My" cover. That's pretty cool, but not really a stretch. Then...Interpol.

They need computers with vast statistical and audio analysis capabilities to do this? I'm pretty sure I could make a flow chart for them.

Now the player is telling me that their license doesn't allow me to skip more than a certain number of songs per hour.

posted by bendy @ 8/30/2005 12:21:00 PM [permanent link]

to top everything off, there's the 16 year old descriptions of the music. i tried flipper and was told that i'd be hearing music with "punk roots, mild rhythmic syncopation, vocal-centric style, and extensive vamping." and then it played, um, flipper. thanks, guys! i hope the "music genome project" came direct from DARPA. it's a great use of funds.

i think the absolute worst, after enduring g.g. allin (imaginative!) was that they *misidentified* the author of "don't stand in line," a song by that crappy ian mackaye wax trax band, pailhead. they said it was by ministry. what the fuck's the point?

said dick umbrage, at 8/31/2005  

I read that Pandora works better if you feed it individual songs. So I fed it "Some Velvet Morning." Pandora didn't know about the orginal version. So I went with Ladytron's cover.

This got really amusing.

There were a few more electro bands. Then it kept alternating Ladytron and Atom and His Package.

Well, come to think of it. Atom and Ladytron both have synths and guitars. I love 'em both. But they're about as closely related in feel and mood as Isabella Rosallini and Ricky Gervais are as actors.

Then they found me another band with tinny synths and crunchy guitars: Loverboy.

said bendy, at 8/31/2005  

I hate Interpol. You'd do just as well looking at "related artists" on Amazon or All Music. Of course, that's not the point.

said tanya, at 9/09/2005  

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