Pandora’s Box

Charlie 

Thanks to a recommendation from my friend Joanna, I’ve been frequenting this amazing music site.  The design and aesthetics are fabulous, but the format and content are most remarkable.  You simply type in an artist, band, or song, and Pandora automatically compiles a playlist based on the characteristics of your particular request.  Better yet, Pandora provides information about each song, album, and artist so you can read up on expert reviews, artist bios, and musical histories.  The playlists are incredibly eclectic, drawing from a plethora of artists and genres.  You’ll find almost anything you desire and hear tunes from artists you’ve never encountered. 

I listen to it constantly and continually discover new artists and sounds.   Best of all, its free! 

Music and Success Bias

Sandeep
One subtle reason why new music is incredibly dynamic is because we are constantly at the cusp of success and failure. Within the incredible specialization furnished by the larger extent of the market in contemporary times is a continual process of creative destruction. This uncertainty makes me uneasy and I tend to prefer older music to new music. I find comfort in established music, the tried-and-true rock stars, the indefatigable individualism of Bob Marley.

They Made the Revolution…

 Charlie

 Continuing the reggae theme (rest assured, it will remain a continual, and fundamentally important thread), here’s an excerpt from a fascinating Wired article:

“Because American stations could be picked up by Jamaican radios, citizens of the island nation were exposed to American pop music, R&B and the sounds of the British Invasion. As a result, many of Trojan’s most enduring tracks are Western standards or classics fed through the bouncy riddim of Jamaica’s cultural filter. From BB Seaton’s stunning cover of Gershwin’s “Summertime” to The Israelites’ upgrade of The Beatles’ “Come Together,” reggae artists have interpreted mainstream music in fascinating new ways.”

Long before the digital age, reggae artists displayed a unique penchant for splicing, dicing, and remixing seemingly oppositional tunes, breeding new creative life into established forms.  Their work delivers great insight into the workings of emergent order.  Unpredictable, even oppositional ideas meld into one another, things unimagined become tangible.  Behold the dynamism of the mind.