Spotify

Ever since Last.fm decided to join the dark side, I’ve been on the lookout for another music-streaming service. Enter Spotify:

Spotify

Register (free), download/install some software, and you’re good to go. Search for artists, by genre or decade and you’ll get instant results paired with related music. Click a track and it will start playing — instantly.

Not accessible outside Sweden, Norway, Finland, the UK, France and Spain for now, but some smart people figured out a way around that. No Frank Zappa to be found, though I did stumble upon an entire Ensemble Modern (Plays Frank Zappa) album, as well as the complete Classic Interviews.

Awesomeness all around! So much so that, having only played around with it for half an hour, I’m starting to wonder where the catch is…

KUR’s Year In Review

Just kidding. You didn’t really think I was going to do a “year in review”, did you? Some interesting data from my last.fm account however that I thought I’d share.

Top Artists in the last 12 months:

  1. Frank Zappa: 619 plays
  2. Neil Young: 468 plays
  3. Bob Dylan: 350 plays
  4. Elliott Smith: 325 plays
  5. Ween: 281 plays
  6. Rufus Wainwright: 277 plays
  7. The Beatles: 257 plays
  8. Nick Drake: 200 plays
  9. David Bowie: 176 plays
  10. Flip Kowlier: 166 plays

Well… no real surprises there.

Nay, the revelation lies in the Top Tracks for the last 12 months:

  1. Bob Dylan – Like a Rolling Stone: 15 plays
  2. Bob Dylan – Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues: 14 plays
  3. Bob Dylan – Ballad of a Thin Man: 14 plays
  4. Bob Dylan – It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry: 13 plays
  5. Rufus Wainwright – I Dont Know What It Is: 13 plays
  6. Bob Dylan – Desolation Row: 12 plays
  7. Nick Drake – Pink Moon: 12 plays
  8. Rufus Wainwright – Oh What a World: 12 plays
  9. David Bowie – Life On Mars: 12 plays
  10. Rufus Wainwright – Vicious World: 11 plays

I have officially become a Bob Dylan junkie!

Of course, this list says more about the limited amount of Bobness I have in my possession than it does about my overall listening patterns — the chances of Peaches En Regalia playing 15 times on shuffle are slim, seeing as how I own pretty much the entire FZ catalogue — but still: this year’s revelation, for me, appears to have been Mr Zimmerman.

Take in account also that Sharleena’s iTunes is playing around here half the time, something which would certainly distort the above results (Eels! Flaming Lips! Ween! Sufjan Stevens! Barenaked Ladies! Spinvis!).

Yourself? Any personal listening trends you wish to share?

(Oh, and hey: have a Happy New Year!)

Satisfaction Injection – Solaris (outtake)

I recently came across this new band, Satisfaction Injection, while trolling around Last.fm looking for new music. They consist of Matthijs Tuijn (guitar/tenor saxophone), Bas Warner (guitar), Kim Bots (alto saxophone/clarinet), Jonathan Roorda (bass guitar/piano) and Laurens Roorda (drums/soprano saxophone). They first began as a jamming formation that has grown to a band with own material and an extensive cover repetoire. Jazz forms the basis of their music which experiments with funk, fusion and post-rock. Jazz like John Coltrane, and progressive rock bands like The Brecker Brothers, Caravan, and Frank Zappa are also inspirations and influence. To hear more, check out their page at Last.fm.

Musicovery

Do not be fooled by its candy store look — be sure to check out Musicovery.

Sharl came across this and made me have a look. So I gave it a spin, hitting the Latino button, as I’ve been in a Tropicalia mood as of late. Musicovery delivered, and then some. You’d think the “Mood” tab would be a useless gizmo. I sure did. But somehow, it really, actually works close to perfection. One caveat: the site doesn’t sync with last.fm, which is a shame. Nevermind though, give Musicovery a whirl.

… and no, I am not getting paid for, and am in no way affiliated with musicovery.

Last.fm Wallpaper

What a cool little toy, this: feed it with your Last.fm username, and it will generate a wallpaper image based on what you’ve been listening to recently.

Here’s mine:

ugly radio's last.fm wallpaper
(Really Big Version)

Sharleena’s:

sharleena's last.fm wallpaper
(Really Big Version)

I was expecting Sharl’s to be an exclusive Eels affair, but strangely, it turned out otherwise! * ducks *

(via)