Pandora’s Music Box
Published: October 12, 2009
I’ve been introduced to a lot of great websites in my time (present company excluded), but probably none as great as Pandora.com. I’d love to say that someone was paying me to advertise for them, but alas, this is just me pathetically shilling for ‘em on my own free will. Because they get me through the workday. And because they sure are good at introducing me to random music I would never have heard otherwise.
For those who’ve never heard of it, it’s a website that allows you to input the name of a band or song, and then it creates a radio station for you based on the information you’ve input. For those who have heard of it, isn’t it great? My favorite stations of my creation are “Nirvana,” “Weezer,” and “The Eels,” but I’ve many, many more to go…
Below, three of my favorite Pandora “discoveries”:
No Sissies by Hawksley Workman
You’re the One by The Black Keys
The Seed 2.0 is one of my all-time favorite songs. Every single time I listen to it, I have to dance, even if I’m in my cubicle.
I push my seed somewhere deep in her chest
I push it naked cause I’ve taken my test
Deliverin’ Mary it don’t matter the sex
I’m gonna name it rock and roll
Sa-woooooon!
Oh DahlE…I just tried this and it even plays all the songs on the internet of my nephew’s alt band. Keep your fucking Spotify Scotland; this is the shit. It grabbed my nephew’s band and then segued into Modest Mouse….perfect.
I love Pandora. It’s my best friend. Oh, and add Sufjan Stevens to your stations.
I’ve never heard of this! I just made my own radio station based on Boston!
I tired it once a long time ago, but never really followed up on its recommendations — I will have to revisit it now.
hmmmm, i loved pandora when it first launched, but i have to admit i’m over it. somehow it manages to play many of the same songs on what should be very different stations. i’m not sure how james taylor can be on my kings of leon, indigo girls and north mississippi all-stars stations but he manages to creep in! also, when you listen to it long enough, you’ll realize all it’s doing is looping the same 20/25 songs over and over – with a sprinkling of newish songs/artists i might like – which often times i don’t. and i can only skip like five songs every hour, in addition to the stupid ads i have to listen to… one of my students just hipped me to grooveshark.com. it also recommends songs, but i can listen to them or not.
also dahl, if you liked the seed 2.0, you should give cody chestnutt a try. he did the original seed (the roots remade it, hence the 2.0). he’s crazy nice on top of being super talented, i used to see him all the time around little five points in atlanta…
OMG, LOL! It’s now playing Journey, “Separate Ways,” and I can only think of the literal video! “Hoodless unibomber. . . !”
@Miss P: I was utterly shocked the first time I heard the lyrics, but obviously, they’ve grown on me…
@Bell: So exciting–he’s a celebrity!
@BJ: Um, I thought I was your best friend. This is awkward. But sure, I’ll give Mr. Stevens a try. He comes up on one of my stations occasionally.
@Mama P, Nef: Enjoy!
@Tig: I felt the same way, so I stopped listening for a while, and then when I went back, they were putting completely different songs on my Eels station. It was so bizarre. But I make a lot of use of the up and down thumbs and I find that helps with getting some variety as well as they songs I’d like on repeat. And thanks for the tip–I’ll definitely give him a listen!
I like Pandora but we are currently fighting about I think should be linked to what song.
I feel I should mention two more faves, FWIW: Dressy Bessy’s “I Saw Cinnamon” (for which I couldn’t find a video) and The Killers’ “Read My Mind” which I forgot about but just came on my Weezer channel.
The spa radio channel is pretty good for falling asleep to. Yes, I sleep with my iPod on. I live on a noisy street.
Ohhh…I recognize that Roots song. I heard it a lot a few years ago, sort of in the background in bars mostly, and never knew who did it or what it was called. Good song!
Great post, Dahl. I love how Audiosmoker is evolving, and I may just have to mirror your post here and put up my pandora discoveries.
Also – big ups on The Eels. I’m a big fan of beard rock.
@Panda: Thanks! Looking forward to your version! But I’m embarrassed to say that I just now realized that I left off my favorite Pandora discovery of all time, so I guess I’ll just have to put it in a separate post.