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June 23, 2006
No Mainstream Fridays! Vol. 9
Hello again!
We took the last week off to let the news about Backstage at Pandora sink in, but it's time for another blast of rare and revisited artists and songs from the Pandora collection! We love to hear from you, so let us know how these songs strike you, and where the stations take you as well.
Go here to see what we featured in Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3, Volume 4, Volume 5, Volume 6, and Volume 7.
This week's list:
Hyper-ballad by Bjork. A song with a chorus that's too beautiful for words, really. For those of you who don't know Bjork, she's an Icelandic art-diva with a huge, distinctive voice and a brilliant artistic vision. I wish she were President of Everything, and I bet I'm not alone in that.
Hit by Sugarcubes. This is the band from which Bjork sprang into worldwide acclaim. It's a strange but addictive 90's melange of Bjork's already-distinctive melodic sense and a slicker rock sound, punctuated by the ravings of her bandmate Einar Orn Benediktsson. This song has turntablism, icelandic chanting, and great melodies.
I Wanna Destroy You by Soft Boys. The Soft Boys were a very short lived and hugely influential band that Hitchcock co-founded. Basically, no one ever paid any attention to these guys while they were making these records. Amazing. This song is a glorious, richly harmonized triumph that sounds like Heroes by Bowie, but with Hitchcock's razor wit slicing through it all. All hail the spirit of punk crossed with the creativity of psychedelia! I believe I could not live without this song.
I Wanna Be Sedated by Ramones. One of the first gigs my hgh school band ever did was at a mental hopsital - New Year's Eve 1986, baby! We ran out of songs to play and briefly considered doing this one, but thought the better of it. Looking back, I bet they would have loved it.
Little Water Song by Ute Lemper. Oops, more grimness. It's the third day of summer and all I can post up here is a song about a woman being drowned by her lover? What can I say? I just finished watching the last episode of Six Feet Under last night. Ute Lemper is a German cabaret singer and an underground icon. Just want you all to know what the fuss is all about. Oh the pathos, drama, and such.
Sometimes a Pony Gets Depressed by Silver Jews. David Berman, luminous American poet and early mentor to Pavement's Stephen Malkmus, is also a titanic songwriter. In my opinion, no one can be so disengaged and simultaneously so compelling as Berman; and for my do-re-mi, this song demonstrates his comedic, existential-ninja style. Sometimes a pony gets depressed. I don't know how or why, but please let me know when you figure out how this works. This song makes me so very happy. Plus it's funny, which helps this list transition from the grim to the less grim. [Note: this song contains a tiny bit of profanity].
Brokedown by Slaid Cleaves. I heard earnest, folksy songwriter Slaid Cleaves play a show last week, and this song kind of crushed me. Very well written, classic country-ish singer songwriter stuff that I would think would be a great starter point for contemporary songwriter stations on Pandora. Please let me know if this makes a good station if you try it before I do!!
I'm a Yogi by Free Design. I always have to get my sunshine fix, especially now that it's summertime, and plus if I can point anyone to this absolutely astounding easy-listening/psychedelic band, I'm happy. This is also a super happy song, so this week's list is rebounding from its earlier gloomery (probably temporarily though). Dig the extremely sophisticated musicality, perfect singing, and charmingly dated yet happening sounds. We have lots of these kinds of goodies in Pandora, so try this song as your personal musical time-travel vehicle. See you yesterday!
911 is a Joke by Public Enemy. Public Enemy. What can you say? They are simply one of the greatest bands ever, on the level of the Stones, Earth Wind and Fire, Elvis Presley, etc. This is off the "Fear of a Black Planet" album, and decries the unequal response times for 911 calls made from poor parts of town. The rap is by Flava Flav, and not Chuck D, who usually leads the charge. Don't miss the music, either. Public Enemy was and still is intensely musically innovative, working in samples and sounds that surprise and deeelight.
Pyramid Song by Radiohead. I know, Pyramid Song is an obvious choice, but it's so beautiful and stunning that it's always in style. A bunch of us are going to see Radiohead tonight at Berkeley's Greek Theater. As the song says, we're "all going to heaven in a little rowboat." See you soon!
That's it for this week. Have fun!
best,
mz
Posted by Michael Zapruder at June 23, 2006 12:59 PM
Comments
Hey! Sure, I agree with you on Bjoerks Hyper-Ballad. Even though her general style needs a while to be accepted by your ears, this is definitely one of her masterpieces.
The other songs seem to be quite okay too - but I have to disagree on Radiohead. Somehow everything they make strings some sort of discord with me.
You can salt me at the forum for this.
(Un)Official Forum of Pandora Fans:
www.pandora-forum.com
Posted by: Michael at June 23, 2006 03:52 PM
interesting, Michael.
for me, it's precisely the discord that Radiohead generates as a band (and stimulates in me) that I find so beautiful and meaningful.
I'm surprised that you like Bjork but not Radiohead, too, since they somehow have a similar gestalt.
but so it goes... thanks for the comments!
Posted by: Michael Zapruder at June 24, 2006 12:58 AM
A song I found thanks to Pandora that is just lovely is 'Burn It Down' by Josh Fix. I was amazed I found it when I realized that Josh only has an EP out... And yet, there he was on my Ben Folds station!
Thanks, guys!
Posted by: Lauren at June 24, 2006 06:14 AM
that is a pretty stunning song, lauren. josh is local to the bay area and I think is working on some new recordings.
good call!
Posted by: Michael Zapruder at June 24, 2006 01:31 PM
Great choices. :-)
By the way, this is not volume 8, but volume 9, isn't it?
Posted by: Francesco at June 24, 2006 10:54 PM
Great choices... I remember the first time I heard "I Wanna Destroy You" on the Maximum Rock n Roll radio show when I was in college. I was totally blown away by the song. Fortunately it turned out one of my friends had a tape of "Underwater Moonlight" and I was able to hear more. Years later (after having seen Robyn Hitchock perform many times), I finally managed to see the Soft Boys live on a reunion gig at the Fillmore in San Francisco.
Posted by: Larry-bob at June 25, 2006 12:50 AM
Thanks, Francesco! glad you like the music. I think this would have been no. 9 if I had posted one last week, but I skipped a week so people could see the post about backstage at pandora... I'll look back and make sure though!
Larry-bob - I also remember hearing I wanna destroy you for the first time. I had been a robyn hitchock fan for years and finally picked up a copy of underwwater moonlight, not knowing quite what to expect. needless to say, I was blown away. I've seen robyn a few times, as well, including one solo show at the bottom of the hill in sf. he's one of my favorite writers for sure...
best,
mz
Posted by: Michael Zapruder at June 25, 2006 09:48 AM
You guys are so wonderful. Gods among men.
Posted by: narcoleptia at June 25, 2006 09:54 AM
I'm sure it's been said before a billion times already, but I'll add myself to the list... You folks need to start releasing compilation albums. It would be a great way to extend the Pandora brand image beyond the Internet while introducing the music "commoners" to some fantastic new sounds. It's been done with relative success through Starbucks' Hear Music, but I know you could do it much better.
Posted by: asurroca at June 25, 2006 12:09 PM
hmmmm.....I'm having more of a Kevin Ayers/Issac Hayes/Miles Davis week myself....but thats just me...thought it was interesting to get a kiss song when I typed in "Funkadelic"...this is really an awesome site, since we who work the public desks at the library in p-town need some spice and variety in our music selection when working behind the scenes....really is a good site!
Posted by: berCIRCer at June 25, 2006 02:36 PM
francesco -
I stand corrected... it is in fact volume 9. thanks for catching that!
mz
Posted by: Michael Zapruder at June 25, 2006 06:46 PM
anyone else noticed that the song called "hyper-ballad" (accent on ballad) has a chorus? hahaha
chuckles and good times,
mike
Posted by: mike at June 25, 2006 09:43 PM
ok, I discovered Pandora a week ago and I'm super addicted....I listen to it all day at work and have started putting it on at home while making supper, painting a bedroom..anything....I LOVE this!!!!!
Thanks to the Pandora crew from your biggest Nova Scotia fan! :)
Posted by: Todd in NS at June 26, 2006 08:04 AM
hi-ho - a great side! many thanks!
mix-up: the bio of grant calvin weston has the one of billy martin! just like the zorn before.
love, hoax12
Posted by: Mr. Lucky at June 26, 2006 10:54 AM
I just came here because I'm listening to yet another fabulous song on Pandora and I am filled with appreciation for what you people are doing. You guys rock.
Posted by: Ade at June 27, 2006 05:24 AM
Dear Pandora team,
Just wanted to thank you all, pandora is just a wonder of the Internet - I use it everyday - it's better than any other music source of the Internet I know.
Keep up the good work :p
A French admirer
Posted by: Charles C at June 27, 2006 09:24 AM
Hey, guys, irrelevant to your post, I know, but for some reason Pandora won't load on my new computer (the boss wants to hear it too!).
Any idea why? I get the site but not the box w/ the radio. Any reports of anti-virus software blocking the site somehow? We are running macafee but I can't figure out why it would block streaming audio.
Thanks for your help.
I need my Pandora!
Posted by: kae at June 29, 2006 05:38 AM
Hi Kae,
This can be happen when you have configured your browser to block javascript or secure content.
In Internet Explorer for Windows, select "tools"->"Internet options":
Under "security", click on "Trusted Sites" and enter "*.pandora.com" as a trusted site. Make sure to un-check the "require https" box.
If that doesn't work, try these settings too:
- Under "security" select "default level"
- Under "privacy" select "Medium"
- Under "connections" click the "LAN Settings" button. Make sure "Automatically detect settings" is selected and that "Use a proxy server for your LAN" is not selected.
- Under "advanced" click "restore defaults"
In Safari for Mac OSX, select Safari->Preferences->Security Tab. Under "Web Content" check every option except for "Bock pop ups"
If you use Firefox, make sure to disable extensions like Adblock, Flashblock, or NoScript.
If you have a personal internet firewall program (such as Zone Alarm or Norton Internet Security), it could be blocking the Flash portion of the Pandora site. Try temporarily disabling it or allowing access to pandora.com.
Another possibility is that your system time/date is incorrect, which can cause issues with Pandora's security certificates. Make sure to set your system clock to the current date and time.
On occasion we've traced this problem back to IE security settings that disalow Flash particularly. Reinstalling Flash may be required to reset these settings.
If none of that helps drop us an email at pandora-support@pandora.com and we'll figure it out.
Tom
CTO @ Pandora
Posted by: Tom Conrad at June 29, 2006 08:00 AM
I'm amazed by Pandora. Not only do you hit my fix for some of my favorite artists and my favorite genres but you turn me on to new stuff and even have live stuff to listen to. I'm so happy my wife discovered you all and turned me onto this service.
Thank you so much! I finally don't feel like a music geek anymore.
Later,
Microwaved.
Posted by: Microwaved at July 7, 2006 10:49 AM
Hey!! I stumbled upon Pandora, and it's exactly the thing I'm looking for! I have a suggestion - you know the way sappy nostalgic people like me will listen to a deep song just for the feeling a lyrics or screaming pain evokes? Well, what if Pandora somehow added that to its criteria? Like, the "subject" of the song could be added, for example "unerquited love", "despondency" you know. It would be really cool! Apart from that, it's the best idea around and I love it!!! Great job.
Posted by: Paula at July 17, 2006 08:56 PM
Still Reeling after all these weeks...Can not get over how awesome Pandora is.
My tastes in music are varied and Pandora is feeding my music taste buds to their ut-most!!!
I just can not describe the rush when Something new that you turn me onto ..or just something I have never heard, Grabs me! Love clicking the thumbs up!
Thank you again for this service.
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