pandora & a rain of frogs

went to an event at 111 minna last night for pandora, the online radio of the music genome project, and saw local trio michael zapruder's rain of frogs perform. the music genome project, for those of you unacquainted, maps various characteristics of songs, both singular and by genre, in order to help people discover new music similar to what they already like & listen to. at the event last night, one of the pandora analysts demonstrated on stage, by breaking down "shepherd's purse" by zapruder et al, just how this process works, and it can be summed up thusly: these folks interrogate the hell out of a song. over the course of hundreds of questions - e.g. acoustic guitar or electric? steel strings or nylon? finger picked or strummed? and so forth for every conceivable instrument and aspect - a sum is reduced to its disparate parts. the radio service then makes recommendations based on which other songs share said parts, in either in total or to a degree. and the results can be all of impressive, exciting and somewhat predictable. (the obvious problem is that, in general, our listening habits and tastes do not breakdown as neatly as these songs.) if you're not familiar with pandora already, definitely do give it a shot; it's easy and free and the scope of the project is stunning. they've already created pop and jazz and classical genomes and a world genome is on the way.

before you head over there, though, have a listen to last night's test case, "shepherd's purse," from the 2006 album new ways of letting go, and see if you can tell, for instance, what kind of electric piano they're playing:

michael zapruder's rain of frogs - shepherd's purse


and while we're on the topic, here's my favorite track by m.z.r.o.f., also from new ways of letting go:

michael zapruder's rain of frogs - butterfield's and baker's