Pandora Adventure

I have a confession to make. Despite loving the internet and adoring music, I've never even bothered to try Pandora. Now, to make this a bit more interesting (to myself and my poor, unattended blog), I'm going to take a look at what kind of shaping Pandora does to my tastes. It might be boring, who knows.

When asked for an artist to start with, I put in Of Montreal. They're one of my favorite bands, and sufficiently indie. In response, Pandora started playing "Gronlandic Edit," a song from Hissing Fauna... that of course I've heard before. A

Next up is New Slang by The Shins. A nice, slow paced song and similar to Of Montreal, appropriately. Very easy rhythm, basic rock structure, slightly less centered on the vocals, though this might just be because it's not Kevin Barnes. With a voice like his it's easy to get distracted. B

Love Like a Sunset Part II by Phoenix. Reminds me a lot of the Dandy Warhols with the dream-like qualities of the sound. Also, I discover why Pandora is free - ads popping up all over the place, ack! Anyway, I'll give that one an A-

Ah, something I've heard a billion times before. Young Folks by Peter, Bjorn and John. Lyrics also somewhat dreamlike thanks to the reverberations. The whistling in this song infects my brain to an insane degree. I've always had an affection for this one. A

More Of Montreal, earlier era this time, Look at the Bell. Not as much a fan of this one; vaguely Beatles-esque, but not quite what I'm in the mood for when I think "indie". Thumbs down! Still not a terrible song. C

Time to Pretend by MGMT. Always loved this song; actually I enjoy pretty much everything by MGMT. Discography download anyone? A+

Thus far I'm really enjoying the intricacies that Pandora Radio keeps track of when it's tracking my likes and dislikes. I can pull up any song and ask why it was selected, specifically the different aspects of the song that I enjoy. Things like "electronica influences" and "subtle vocal harmony" unconsciously tug at my ears!

Next up is Jennifer Louise by Of Montreal. I like this one quite a bit; it really reminds me of the Hissing Fauna stuff with a little bit of an instrumental twist. Rhythm piano, woo! B

Is This It by The Strokes. Doesn't really do it for me for some reason. C

The King of Carrot Flowers Part I by Neutral Milk Hotel. I like the vocals and it's a little folk reminiscent. Nice and mellow and acoustic. A-

The progressive nature of Ratatat's Loud Pipes is going to be stuck in my head. B+

You get the idea, anyway. I probably shouldn't keep writing like this because I'm sure it's just going to bore everybody who normally reads my scrawl. Thus far, Pandora seems like a great listening-at-work option.