I've been getting more and more enamored with Pandora of late. It's a great streaming music system that lets you set up various "radio stations" by throwing out some artists that you like and adding in other similar artists and songs. Pandora then plays music that you've chosen along with similar artists and songs. You give each a thumbs up or thumbs down (or just let 'em pass on by if you don't really like or dislike them), and your station gets closer and closer to your tastes.It's a great and FREE service, and it takes up amazingly little bandwidth.
I'm thinking that this is going to be my music for the coming school year.
In honor of my love for Pandora, I offer you a chance to check out my stations, in no particular order:
- Bluegrass - nice mix of newer bluegrass (Nickel Creek, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Yonder Mt. String Band) without much older, twangier bluegrass
- Lilith Fair Radio - it was an era and a great festival...Carrie Newcomer, Indigo Girls, Sara McLachlan, Liz Phair and a whole bunch more...occasionally Pandora sneaks a guy in...I'm trying to work on that
- Beck Radio - this one's newer, so it's still evolving...at least the Beastie Boys popped up today, though, so I'm happy
- Ryan Adams Radio - he's pretty much my favorite solo artist at the moment...another newer station that's evolving at the moment...
- Adams/Wilco/Earl Radio - Steve Earl's the last...it's a nice mix of what the best record store in Cincy simply categorizes as Americana...
- Richard Thompson Radio - I'm not so happy about this one...I don't really know what other artists are like RT, so the station's going in too many directions at once...for the same reason, I recently deleted Randy Newman Radio...
- Texas Country - one of my favorite stations...Lyle Lovett, Willie Nelson, Townes Van Zandt, and a bunch more
- Pop Punk Radio - it's not often that I listen to this, but it's good for certain moods...311, Clash, Blink-182, "Ruby Soho"...
- Peaches Radio - I was hoping for something more like Little Steven's Underground Garage, but it's not working just yet...
- Mello at Work - comes from a friend of mine...it's just what it says...good stuff for not offending...nice music...
- Eurostar (feat. Jacques Lu Cont) - another one from another friend...I haven't tried this one much, mostly because I haven't taken the time to figure out what the theme is...
- You Enjoy Myself - supposedly it's jam bands, but I just got a hit on Kiss...this isn't one I've put together...another one coming at you from the great state of Michigan...
- Franz Ferdinand Radio - throw in Postal Service, the Strokes, Hard-Fi, Death Cab, and Maximo Park, and you've got a nice mix of newer alterna-rock from the same Michigan source
- Beatles Radio - Pandora doesn't have full access (the Beatles being notoriously anti-digital for now) but this is a decent mix of British-invasion and early seventies classic rock...more toward the CCR, Hendrix, Doors side of things...
- The Little Celtic I Could Find - is what it says...Pandora's very limited in the Celtic genre, but this works decently well
- Groovin' - I'm aiming for a chill out station and have a decent start...it's not there, but it'll improve...
- Garden State - just made today by typing in the titles for every song from the Garden State soundtrack...don't know how well it'll work, but it's worth a try
- Trapped in 1984 - for a friend...centered around Peter Gabriel, Sting, and U2...
- New Folkies - folk music of the last couple of decades or so - Tracy Chapman, John Gorka, Arlo Guthrie, Gordon Lightfoot
- old Folkies - I'm having some trouble here in setting this to just go old school (Phil Ochs, Bob Dylan, Kingston Trio, Dave Van Ronk), but I'm working on it
- On the Dusty Trail - supposed to be cowboy music, but country keeps sneaking in...hopefully it'll improve with time
The one drawback is that you can't adjust any of the stations I (or anybody else) have made. You're just listening to my station, so they'll change for you as I change them on my account. I asked the Pandora folks if they could let us "clone" stations so I could take what somebody else had made and make my own adjustments to a copy of that station, but it's not an option yet at least.
So, g'head and see if you can catch the lid before Hope gets out, too...
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