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Go surf to hear what the cool people are listening to
By Paul Connolly, London Lite 22.01.07
Net gains: rediscover the joys of Olivia Newton-John on channels set up on the web
Look here too
I've had a few emails recently from readers keen to find new music. They feel abandoned by mainstream television and radio. Music on television has plumbed new depths of banality and homogeneity and we all know there's bugger all on the radio, unless you're prepared to sift through the detritus of the late-night schedules.
So, if you love music and you have too much of a life to wait for that perfect programme buried deep in the night on BBC radio, where can you unearth new bands and acts that you might like?
It's actually easier than you might think. You could, of course, take the time-honoured path of experimentation and rely on instinct - listen to recommendations from friends, go to gigs, read music mags and pages like this and pick up suggestions along the way. That's probably the best way, although it's unquestionably the most time-consuming and not for those who like to have a social life that doesn't involve communicating by yelling into the ear of a friend at a gig by a band you really wish you hadn't bothered to see.
There is another route. And of course, it involves the internet. There are websites that monitor what music you play on your computer and suggest alternatives that you might also like.
Last.fm, which has branded itself the "social music revolution", is the best known. It also gives you "neighbours": other users who have similar tastes to you. You can listen in to its personalised radio stations. As I write this I'm listening to the radio station of Metal Pingu, an 18-year-old from the UK. He's just played an old Jam classic, Smithers-Jones, and now we're on to M Ward, an American singersongwriter I've been meaning to check out for some time now. But I'm finding him a little dreary so I've switched over to one of Metal Pingu's friends, Effacer (24, female from Berlin) who's playing Kate Bush followed by Talking Heads. Hmm. I have lots of CDs by both of these artists. But then, what's this? Sounds like Johnny Cash being covered by The Smiths. It's the Silver Jews, again a band I'd heard of but never actually heard. And, hang on: Effacer has just messaged me for a chat...
Last.fm is good but it's probably a little too cosy and self-satisfied for me. Everyone just seems so cool. Now, Pandora I like. Pandora internet radio lets you set up channels. I've set up channels for bands that are like Abba, Pixies, Gregory Isaacs and TLC. The Abba channel reminds me that the much-derided Cranberries were not all bad (Just My Imagination was fab) and alerts me to an old Olivia Newton-John album that sounds great (seriously).
The Pixies channel, points me towards the rather brilliant Blackouts of whom I'd never heard. It offers me a link to buy their album. And off I go again...
What's your fave music internet site? Email me on soundingoff@thelondonlite.co.uk
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