ryansbred's Last.fm Journal

Overall the Tops

Fri, 23 Feb 2007 13:47:23 +0000

Its funny that as my tracks played approaches 10,000 my overall top artists isn't that much of a spectacle. I don't have any single or few artists with 500+ plays, instead they begin to equal out, and I believe I know why.

When I listen to an artist it is usually an album from start to finish; just find it more satisfying that way. Though, I prance through music, remembering what I liked and why, reading biographies, reviews, etc. I try to get a feel for the artist, and then I can remember them better.

The important thing is that I may play an album 5 times, and other 20, but which one will I go back to listening to, who will I go see live? The lyrics and sounds are something I take, hold onto in thought, and then mix with the others I've held onto.

I've found the world is filled with gracious amounts of appealing music. I'll keep listening, but my 'Overall Top Artists' is not a true reflection of the way I feel. I'll only be able to make this with 1. the proper application, 2. more time between when I last listened to an artist and now.

Perhaps if I listened to single tracks I would get that nice hyperbola like distribution, but for now all I have is near a line. A line to follow.

Ryan

Monday Night

Wed, 21 Feb 2007 21:19:11 +0000

Feb 19th, a Monday. Anyway, though the Deerhoof show was good fun. Fun Fun Fun! Most of the set was from Friendly Opportunity, and they stuck to the details of the tracks. So, I liked the live quality.

Alright, yea, short but I'm tired from exams the past two days.

Ryan, gosh sneezy

ex: New noteable music this week, yeay! I'll have to include about that later.

Hot Current Listening

Tue, 13 Feb 2007 16:18:47 +0000

So I did quite a bit of tagging last week, and I needed a way to group certain music moods (dark/slow/maybe moving). I hope the tags: slowcore, downtempo, darkdownwill do the job. *shruggs*

Anyway, here's my "strikes me" list:

Tones Of Town, 2007
Tones of Town sparkles, really. Pop Pop Pop! I think the easiest way to describe it is 3 parts of similarity to Of Montreal, Belle & Sebastian, and of course, The Beatles. Then, 1 part of their own flavour that comes out in the finish. Many of the songs echo some of those familiar awkward Beatles background noises, in string and brass form, but its nice. The lyrics work as well as they bend across tracks, sometimes it sounds like Queen, but who knows. Its good fun!

Menomena: Friends and Foes, 2007
Seems there is no last.fm listing for this interesting piece. Its a great listen, truly, the thing that hits me the most aside from the up-down lyrics and vocals, is the shifty background music and the note-by-note oasises (don't know if that word is right) that stumble out in the middle of a track. Its awesome! It is melodic lyrical + slight noise, a good blend to keep interest.

Versus, 2001
Versus is a remix conglomerate that spices up a previous KoC album. Its f'ing smooth. Great electronic artists did good things here, and the vocals come out so sweet. It only took the first track to get me hooked.

Midlake: Live @ Paradiso, 16th of August 2006
This show can be seen at the link above, though the site's flash interface was hassling my browser, so I had to step back a sec. Anyway, nice show from Midlake, its one of those downtempo groups I mentioned earlier. There isn't anything particularly brilliant, but its great, mellow and seems good for almost any time of day (not all music is). I'll just say it is like eggs, can have them any time of day, unless of course you want the hash browns through the to-go window at McNonanld's. If the lake ever fills up and my land lord ever goes on vacation, I'm going to float an air matress on the lake and listen to this show on repeat during the noon hours on a sunny+1cloud day in the middle of March.

Refresh,
Ryan

Female Folkish Frienzy

Mon, 29 Jan 2007 16:22:03 +0000

Lately, I've taken an audible gander at more folkish, less energetic, but powerful music, and there are have some astounding females artists that I've enjoyed. Female vocals emit interesting ranges and dynamics, and for that reason the singing often sounds ethereal, heavenly, sometimes eerie; soothing.

Sure male vocals can give these vibes, but it is more apparent in the spectrum of female artists. Evocative female vocal picks (of the late):

Nina Nastasia
Keren Ann
Marissa Nadler
Emilie Simon
Nellie McKay

G'day!

Via the Biblotecca

Tue, 19 Dec 2006 03:28:23 +0000

I love my local library. I've usually been able to find just about any kind of media there including strange, outdated, peculiar films and import items. Music!

I really never thought about it, but the lib has a nice selection of music also; I'm glad. While they did lack some of the searches I sought, they are pretty good with stocking good music. ie The Flaming Lips, Belle & Sebastian, even newer items such as Mars Volta and Blood Brothers and Morningwood. It's crazy, but since I've not really listened to the new albums I thought I'd take a listen via the library.

OCLS on the go! YSSS!

ryry

I got LOW

Mon, 27 Nov 2006 18:25:24 +0000

So wow, I've not had anything to journal about (though I have, just not necessarily music-oriented).

I like one of the latest last.fm features, music compatibility, so I decided to test it with combination of Neighbors' Neighbors.

I wondered how many profiles I would have to go though until I could find another with a 'Low' compatibility, yet the compatibility didn't seem that low, really.

First, I chose one of my neighbors in the top 6, meteorain, and from there chose other users' neighbors (didn't take very long).

meteorain (Super) -> marinerpride (Very High) -> theinfiniheart (Very High) -> supnicole (Low)

Couldn't get a Very Low or w/e, but the interesting thing was that it didn't seem like a Low. Connected artists:
The Decemberists, Air, Blonde Redhead, Neutral Milk Hotel, and Death From Above 1979.

But glancing at the profile, I think Belle & Sebastian, The Shins, and of Montreal should have been in the mix. I believe the problem may lie in the dating of the compatibility numbers, I bet in a couple weeks the compatibility will be higher.

Oh well. Something else; being on turkey vacation has definitely damped my listening rates (expected, but no problems ^^). The most exposure I had from music was one night in a casino/club called Cherry, at Red Rock Casino. Some of the progressive beats were nice, but I don't get modern rap at all (nor do I feel like dancing to it). Buh, the music will continue.

Ryan

La Blogotheque

Thu, 28 Sep 2006 15:14:51 +0000

This place has some interesting stuff La Blogotheque
And youtube vids here

Some of the ones I've enjoyed were of Spinto Band, Okkervil River, The Kooks, Islands, Jens Lekman, and other.

There some new ones, and that is good!

<3 La Blogotheque

Annie's DJ Kicks

Sat, 15 Jul 2006 12:02:41 +0000

Annie's Dj Kicks is so fun to hear. Personality really comes out here. Anyway, I'm not going to be all music oriented here; there's pro reviewers for that ordeal. But some of the stuff I've enjoyed (and worth noting)....

La Mia Vita Violenta
This album is super enjoyable!
new: Firefox AK and DeVotchKa
Really cool flavour!

Last.FM update is nice; site went square I guess. I like it. Last.FM go go!

xry

works well

Sun, 4 Jun 2006 18:52:23 +0000

So this is the last.fm journal, neato! Holy shite, I just looked outside and its raining. Well damn. Its one of those days.

I listen to a variety of things, but there are some good blogs that have nice stuff on arists and reviews. Sites like stereogum yo!