Category Archives: Pandora

It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like…

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I am pretty sure there exists somewhere a print version containing proof that I have shat upon the Music Genome Project. It angered me. How dare you set out to “capture the unique and magical musical identity of a song”? That phrase in itself should be a dichotomy – “capture” something that is “unique and magical”? Wah! Meh! Other various grumbling sounds!

I just have a tendency to fight something that I see as forced. To fight anything that doesn’t organically evolve. I’m not saying I’m right. I have my quirks.

This is my Sexy Little Netbook.

And since I never found time to fully upload any real semblance of an iTunes library on my Sexy Little Netbook, I find myself needing to obtain music from sources Other Than My Own while at work.

So I caved, and I created myself a Pandora profile.

In June I created a Wallflowers station. I liked it. It was good. In July I created a Jack’s Mannequin station. It was great. On August 30 I created a Santana station. What amazing guitar artistry was displayed on this station! That was a good day at work.

That was when I was thankful for Pandora. You know why? By September 5 I was the new owner of the album 11:11 by Rodrigo y Gabriela.

So I have to say thank you to Pandora and music genomes. Listening to Santana allowed for an electronically-induced organic discovery of this Mexican musical duo and the amazing things that can be done with a guitar.

No. There is no drummer. That is Gabriela’s percussive style of playing. In fact, it is so heavily percussive that it led to a temporary hiatus in touring recently due to a stress injury! Fortunately for their most loyal fans, the duo performed live at a pub in Dublin on 11/11 to celebrate the album on which they play tribute to 11 artists who inspired them. NPR streamed the live performance and you bet I tuned in… It was amazing. Since then, I have been playing it to lift my spirits around the house and out and about while the weather turns cold and holiday planning comes into full effect.

Track One on the album, released in September 2009, is dedicated to Carlos Santana. Click play and listen to “Hanuman”.

Click to Play Rodrigo y Gabriela – Hanuman

Other tracks on the album are dedicated to musicians from all over the world: Pakistan, Spain, India, Argentina, plus Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, and even Dimebag Darrell from Pantera! Tell me you can see yourself putting that on the ‘pod, or on your home stereo, or in your car… Move about the house readying it for company, pull out your long johns, fight mall traffic, bake holiday goodies, come on. It’s perfect mood music to substitute for all the Christmas music you’ll be hearing everywhere.

This is an amazing album. Buy it now. Take it with you. Now you’re warm.

They’ll remember me for my youth

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“I mean, where do people go to find music these days?”

The same place we go to find everything else. The interwebs. That’s why we bring you this blog. Or I suppose you could use Pandora. But don’t make me rant about Pandora again. I know, I know. Everyone thinks it’s the greatest thing since sliced almonds. Or sliced potatoes. Or whatever you all used to say. I admit I may have been a bit alarmist with these comments, but I was trying to prove a point. Can I get a hallelujah from anyone else out there who just can’t seem to get HERRRD! (That’s “Heard”, with an urban accent. Hey, just trying to help.)

Back to the topic at hand. I have your new music for you. This band has been around for a few years but until last summer has only released lil’ limited edition singles and such. Their first album, Reservoir, was recorded in the U.S. by the London-based band Fanfarlo, led by Swedish musician Simon Balthazar. The music throughout this entire album is just delightful. I mean delightful. You can clearly hear the use of mandolin, glockenspiel, and the host of other captivating instruments in the band’s repertoire. In fact, the already-created instruments just weren’t enough to round out the sounds that you hear. Musician Mark West created this tool which would create a magnetic square wave current which can be heard through the guitar when held near the guitar pickups.

He began calling it the Fanfarlophone after using it with Fanfarlo. He’s no longer with the band; however, between the saw, the 30 acoustic guitars, trumpet, accordion, saxophone, clarinet… Whew! A beautiful, beautiful sound is put forth.

One of the slower, but more beautiful tracks on this album is #8, “If It Is Growing.” Check it out below.

Download Fanfarlo – If It Is Growing

That if you built this to look just like you
Then here’s the irony
No one will know
If it’s tomorrow or today that you go

One of the fascinating things about Reservoir is how very dark the lyrics are, even though they are delivered in such an undisturbing way. You can use this music for whichever mood suits you. The other interesting aspect is the origin of the band’s name. The inspiration comes from the 19th Century poet Charles Baudelaire’s novella “La Fanfarlo”, a complex story using irony and allegory and basically, just one of the better names that stood out while Balthazar found himself reading a lot of French symbolists.

Take a listen to the opening track, “I’m A Pilot,” and if you can decipher the lyrics (Or if not, feel free to visit the lyrics page of their website), see if you can decide who Balthazar was channeling when he wrote it. You may be right.

Download Fanfarlo – If It Is Growing

Buy this album. It might be the best thing that happened to 2009. Make it be the best thing that starts off your amazing 2010.

the shiniest pretty penny

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Jessica rambles on her blog about being a mom and her views on life and popular culture. She will be writing for inALLcaps on a monthly basis and she loves to read comments, so make her feel at home!

The End’s Not Near, It’s Here.

That grabs your attention doesn’t it! The first time I heard this, I was watching an episode of The OC and I thought the song was so fitting for the episode. A year or so passed and I gave this song no more thought, until one day randomly, Pandora spouted it from my computer. I stopped in my tracks and turned up the speakers, then frantically checked out the artist and song title which propelled my search to get my hands on it and everything else this band put out.

I discovered it was “The End’s Not Near, It’s Here,” a song by The New Year which Band of Horses covered for The OC Mix 6. I found two other albums by Band of Horses, which I wasted no time in downloading and repeatedly playing. They have a somber sound to them, but in the dark time of my life when I discovered them, I was somehow comforted and soothed by their soft angsty sound. Some of the song titles are head-scratchers, but the lyrics and the music are so powerful to me.

[Download
Band of Horses – To The Barn Because I Like The]

“Go To The Barn Because I Like The” lyrics:

Well I’d like to think I’m the mess you’d wear with pride.
Like some empty dress on the bed you’ve laid out for tonight.
Outside by your doorstep
In a worn out suit and tie
I’ll wait
For you to come down
Where you’ll find me
Where we’ll shine


It’s like when you were a kid… You almost didn’t pick up that penny on the ground because it was old and dirty, but you did it anyway and found a treasure: it was the shiniest pretty penny, and you were so proud of this little fortune. That’s the picture that this song brings to mind to me, but throughout my life that penny, of course, is the metaphor for bigger things or people at one time or another.

“Monsters” lyrics:

A tree for all these problems
They can find you for the moment
Then for all past efforts
There buried deep beneath
Your heart and somewhere in your stomach

And hey, transform all others
When awful people they surround you
Well hey, they just like monsters
They come to feed on me
Giant little animals to feed

I get goose bumps when I hear this song. How long will you keep those people in your life who feed on you and drain you of all emotionality? One day will you wake up and realize that they ate everything you had to give?

The slow pace of their songs and the words that cut through me and bring such emotion to the surface also manage to comfort me like a soft warm blanket.

I think they are definitely worth a listen, so please, check it out for yourselves.