Tuesday, May 15, 2007

How to Find the Best Music

So I've got an embarrassing confession: I was a patron of Lite Music for years. I told friends that my parents made me listen to it instead of the Eagle 106, the Philadelphia rock station. But actually I loved Star 104.5, and would swoon to all its schlocky songs.

When I think back on that time, I am filled with shame. How, oh how, could I ever fall for Boyz II Men or Lionel Richie or Eric Clapton the way I did? Now I listen to the radio and wonder how it is that people can listen to songs that ALL SOUND ALIKE! We haven't heard a new hook on FM for years!

I can claim this kind of snobbery because I find new hooks all the time, and I do it through a few select blogs (whose taste I like) and through a great tool called Page Playlist that I use with the web browser Firefox.

I have to give credit to Blurbomat for explaining how Page Playlist works. Thanks to him, I discovered an entire world of music without having to wait for Songbird to load (if you're feeling adventurous, it's a fun program to explore, though).

Now I can go to my favorite music blogs and Page Playlist aggregates all the MP3s on the page into a little player in the upper left-hand corner. I double click, I play, I listen, I enjoy! My music taste has gone from blah to bangin' in just weeks. You too can enjoy this musical makeover! If you don't already have music blogs you like, try some of these favs of mine:
  • fluxblog - mixed taste with 80s vibe
  • 3hive - tags let you easily find the genres you enjoy
  • getecho - generally mellow and European
There are fresh sounds out there! Now you have no excuse for the stuff you listen to.