Pandora Radio

At my age, it's not easy being trendy. I've tried a number of times. On occasions I can be hip, but without the hop. Definitely, without the hop. I just don't have that cool or youthful aura or multicultural "yo no se quoi" to pull it off (Blogger's note: I combined the Spanish "yo no se," which means I don't know with the French "je ne sais quoi," which means I don't know what it is).

I even failed at the iPod. Who does that? I gave the iPod a shot once. And I enjoyed my brief run with the pack, the in-crowd. I had been seen in public with those signature ivory ear buds and matching audio cables slung down my neckline like suburban, ghetto-fabulous jewelry, giving those who had accessorized like me that cool, casual nod that only elite members of our society could do. I was, at the time, trendy. A free spirit... following the path traveled by millions before me.

The only problem was all that crap playing in my ears.

It was my own fault. I had jammed the iPod with full CDs from my collection. Sure, Groove is in the Heart was great, but did I really need to pollute my iPod with the entire Deee-Lite catalogue. And around the holidays I get weepy and reflective listening to Dan Fogelberg's Same Old Lang Syne, but how many songs about faith, love, and caring for those less fortunate can one take, while puffing away on a LifeCycle?

But the greater problem, and I'll get to the point of this blog post in a moment, the greater problem is that the iPod lacked the element of surprise. Even if playing in a random mode, all the songs not only sounded the same, but I knew them already. This is why I prefer listening to radio instead of an iPod. Radio offers a playlist that I didn't design. It offers an opportunity to learn new songs that mesh with my musical tastes. Now of course, radio has some portability limitations compared with an iPod and you need to find a radio station that isn't like so many others these days-- formulaic, predictable, and repetitive. But I think I found one.

It's called Pandora, which is the point of this blog post. I had heard of Pandora, but like the iPod, I didn't get it, until now. This web service is a product of the Music Genome Project, which claims to have analyzed tens of thousands of songs, dissecting them by musical traits ranging from melody and harmony, to orchestration and arrangement, to lyrics and more. Pandora allows you to create your own "radio station." You input a song or an artist and it responds with a quick analysis and a subsequent stream of music from the same "genetic" family.

As an example, I created a Beatles radio station. And I got a steady feed of Beatles songs, solo hits from band members, and artists from the Beatles gene pool, such as the Rolling Stones, the Who, David Bowie, and Simon and Garfunkel. Then I created a Little Drummer Boy radio station and instantly, music for my yule log. Then for kicks, I made a Deee-Lite radio station, expecting the worst, but instead was pleasantly surprised. It offered Madonna, Bjork, which I skipped, a song by the Cardigans, which I haven't heard in maybe ten years, and right now it's playing the Mary Jane Girls, who I have never listened to, but sure enough I can hear the comparisons to Deee-Lite. Oh wait, I've heard this song before. "In my house, my house..." Hmm. Wait a minute. I'm still listening to the lyrics... I get it. The Urban Dictionary has a word that describes these girls.

Anyway, Pandora is an advertising-supported, free Internet service, with subscription options. Give it a try. Right now I'm still listening to the Mary Jane Girls.

"So when you need some lovin tenderness, And it's me that you miss, Here's the key to unlock the door, To my house (to my house)..."

Yep, definitely a word found in the Urban Dictionary.