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Off the record: My pop odyssey
20.03.09
On the trail: Last.fm suggests that fans of New York psychedelic trio Animal Collecive might also like El Guincho and Gang Gang Dance
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I am a drowning man. I sit in front of my computer, cast adrift in an ocean of music.
I have instant access to Amazon for CDs, the iTunes store for downloads and now the incredible free streaming service Spotify, more tunes than I could have dreamed of 10 years ago — and yet the choice is crippling. I'm almost grateful to The Beatles for staying away from the internet and giving me one less band to think about.
Fortunately, help is at hand, in the shape of recommendation websites all claiming to refresh your musical palate. Tell them who you like and they'll tell you who else to try.
Well, I do know what I like, at least — since the start of the year I've been spending a lot of time with Merriweather Post Pavilion by Animal Collective, a New York-based trio who deal in Beach Boys harmonies, woozy electronica and airy psychedelic experimentalism. I thought I might make them the subject of a little experiment of my own. What else can the music sommeliers suggest for a man of my taste?
Last.fm (www.last.fm) is the best known service. Once I sign up to the London-based website, it eavesdrops on the music I play on my computer, then uses a painful-sounding system called “scrobbling” to analyse my choices and make recommendations. For a quick fix, though, I type the band name into the search bar and in moments I'm listening to “Animal Collective radio”, streaming full songs by acts I've never heard of, including El Guincho, Gang Gang Dance and High Places. The names may be unknown but the feel is undeniably similar to my starting point. It's a success.
Apple's iTunes (www.apple.com/itunes ) has its own version, immodestly named Genius. It wants me to spend money, so only offers 30-second clips of the songs it says I'll like and a “buy” link. But it seems it only becomes more accurate the more you use it, downloading songs and giving them ratings to enable it to get to know you, and I don't have the time. Recommendations of last year's hit US indie acts Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver are a bit too obvious, and it also suggests Antony and the Johnsons, an odd choice considering he doesn't sound like anyone else on earth.
The Filter (www.thefilter.com), part-funded by Peter Gabriel, uses “Bayesian mathematics” to arrive at its suggestions — but it's simpler to use. Typing the name of a band (or movie) results in five instant suggestions with 30-
second clips and options for more. It's the first service that looks back in time for its tips, though I don't immediately see what Animal Collective have to do with Leonard Cohen, Nick Drake or Portishead and it doesn't explain.
Another site, iLike (www.ilike.com), produces a long playlist of full songs very quickly but feels the most scattergun of all. I need someone to tell me why I'd like these bands.
In desperation, I detach myself from the PC and head, blinking in the sunlight, to HMV. These days CDs are in short supply among the DVDs and video games, so I'm hardly surprised when I can't find the Animal Collective album under “A”.
However, once a staff member is commandeered, I discover that it's extensively supplied in the “store picks” section. She's familiar with the band, and though she doesn't give me two dozen tips like the websites, she's infectiously enthusiastic about one spot-on group, Passion Pit, digging out their new EP and offering to play it for me on the shop speakers.
Being scrobbled with Bayesian mathematics is all very clever, but my personal enthusiasm is still most fired by a real person thrusting a CD into my hand and telling me why I'd like it. In the end, I'll take the human touch and a much smaller music collection.
NEW ON THE NET
*The next psychedelic indie hipsters due a breakthrough are probably New York's Grizzly Bear, gearing up for the May release of their next album by giving away a beautifully understated new song at www.grizzly-bear.net
*You won't find much Prince material on the internet without the Purple One's say-so. He's cleared the way for his own subscription service, offering unspecified videos and music for an annual fee of $77 at www.lotusflow3r.com. The site goes fully live on Tuesday.
*Digital albums are getting nearly as cheap as the illegal ones. Amazon's mp3 store is flogging the brand new Prodigy album for just £3, as well as Razorlight's recent Slipway Fires, which admittedly is bargain-basement stuff. The 7digital store, meanwhile, has every Pet Shop Boys and Depeche Mode album for the same price.
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