Looking for New Music

~ Cheryl

One of the disadvantages of living in California is that the music radio stations appear to be a little dull. I’ve been happy to let Kevin have news radio on instead. He does after all, need to keep an ear open for traffic announcements. And even when I’m back in the UK, as now, the loss of John Peel has left a vast hole in my listening. So I’ve been very remiss in keeping up with the music scene. Jeff VanderMeer has had some intreresting recommendations on his blog, but I really need to go listen to new bands myself.

In view of this I decided to check out the finalists for the Mercury Prize. I’m afraid I don’t quite get all the fuss about the Artic Monkeys, but I was quite interested by the samples I found online for Guillemots and Zoe Rahman. I picked up the Guillemots album last week and have finally got a chance to listen to it on speakers (albeit not good ones) rather than on headphones. So far I’m quite impressed. There’s a nice mixture of infectious beat with ambitious composition. Rahman next. Suggestions appreciated.

10 thoughts on “Looking for New Music”

  1. Have you tried Pandora.com? An interesting way to get music recommendations based on your own tastes.

  2. Hmm. Very nice looking site. Of course I wasn’t going to be easy on it. Their software had never heard of Single Gun Theory or Horslips. They had heard of Wire. For some odd reason they started recommending American soft rock, but after a couple of tracks the recommendations got more punky. Still, their “more like Litte Feat” was pretty much spot on. I think I may visit there often.

  3. Quick update on Pandora.com. Having read their Terms of Service it would appear that you are only allowed to use the site if you are a resident of the USA. As I’m not I guess I shouldn’t use it.

  4. Oh dear, hadn’t seen that bit – or else forgot, since I am a resident. So though I’m pleased you liked the site, I’m terribly sorry about that caveat. Wonder why they have it? Any thoughts? Besides Amerians being so freaking litigious….

  5. I’m having a major foray into various flavours of Americana at the moment (or maybe that should be ‘flavors of Americana’) so if that sort of thing floats your musical boat, do feel free to drop me a line and I’ll happily pass on a few suggestions…

  6. Ah, I see, audio streaming regulations. Though it does say they are working on acquiring proper licenses in order to offer it outside the U.S. Hope that works out. From what I understand, they aren’t making any money on this venture yet.

  7. If that’s the case then what they actually mean is that you have to be resident in the US, not a resident of the US, which are two very different things. The BBC has similar issues with streaming of audio sports coverage, but they check the location of the browser and block users who are not in the UK. I would have thought Pandora could do the same.

    Still, I guess it means that when I get back to California I can start using the site.

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