if you haven’t used pandora, give it a try …. it’s a free online radio service that builds stations based on your listening preferences - their team of “senior music analysts” wade through thousands of records each month and add selected songs to the music genome project - using over 400 criteria, each song is categorized based on a number of factors designed to get at the “musicological elements of a song” - these criteria are used to hone in on your listening preferences.  here’s how it works –>> you type in a song or artist that you enjoy and pandora builds you a playlist of artists from the database that share similar criteria … here’s the cool part - the player will always explain why a song was chosen … and you can vote a song off the island if you’re not feeling it and the station will adapt accordingly.

i was excited to discover that a handful of tracks from the lazy susan have been added to the genome.  noelsson schmoelsson was tagged as “featuring jazz influences, heavy use of vocal harmonies, acoustic sonority, intricate melodic phrasing and use of a string ensemble”.  this gave me a lot of faith in the service … these guys are really taking the time to listen.  next I created a station around “PB&J … and g” … and I think gabe would be happy to know that they played me a T-Pain song because of its “modern r&b stylings, electronica influences, a subtle use of vocal harmony, mild rhythmic syncopation and extensive vamping.”  anyways, check out pandora - type in one of your favorite artists - and see where it takes you…

in other news, learning music continues their monthly residency at tangier tomorrow night at 10pm.  they’ll be playing for the next 3 wednesdays - go see this band!!!

:: John G (jay gee AKA J GILLA) 

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