The other day I was half-watching, half not-watching the television when a commercial for Citibank company came on with a song by the Sea and Cake called “Jacking the Ball” as the backing track. I immediately perked up – not because I’m a big Sea and Cake fan, but because that tune made a regular appearance on my Pandora feed. Much to Pandora’s credit, I had never heard of the band until it started popping up on one of my channels (same goes for the High Back Chairs, another nifty before-Pandora-unknown-to-me act). Now, the addition of commercials to Pandora last year caused a smattering of upsetfulness among listeners, but it seems that Pandora has value to advertisers beyond providing a place to expend ad budget.

What I mean is this: could it be that Pandora is a tool that ad agencies use to search for music that fits the mood they want to set in their ads? It would make sense to me. “We want to have something here that sounds like the Kinks, but is a little wistful, like maybe Miracle Legion, and is all acoustic. Let’s put together a station and let it run for a while until we find what we need and/or what might fit our budget.”
That would sure beat having someone at the agency scout down songs and put together mix tapes of various artists for a committee to debate. I’m just wondering if anyone’s using it for such purposes yet.
Speaking of Pandora, my station is weird. The artists I cited are the Zombies, Hoodoo Gurus, Yo La Tengo, the Kinks, ELO, the Minus Five (only because Pandora doesn’t have the Young Fresh Fellows among its artists), X and Nick Lowe. I think Yo La Tengo’s the great equalizer, since I don’t think they can be classified all that easily and thus I get everything from classic rock to trippy instrumentals. I do enjoy the weird coincidences, like Johnny Thunders’ “Let Go” was followed by the Replacements’ “Johnny’s Gonna Die,” or an unintentional double shot when “Heart of the City” was backed up with “Teacher Teacher” from Rockpile. If one was a DJ with some latitude, Pandora could help point out some interesting back-to-back combinations.
See – another use besides just enjoying music! Huzzah for technology!

My wife hates my musical tastes. She refers to it as “angry white boy music,” which is really beneath retort – I have eclectic tastes and I could dish it out the same way she does, but that would simply be mean and non-productive. So instead I just blog about it and hope she never reads it. (Honey – if you’re reading this, it’s all for comic effect. Really. Now put down the rolling pin.)

Anyway, my niece Taylor is my biggest ally in the constant music debate here at our house. She was raised in Egypt, where her dad was a diplomat with USAID. She’s been here at our house for the last month American-izing before heading off to college, and she’s the first to reply when my wife decides to deride my music.

She’s also raiding my CD collection (which is a lot less painful in the iPod era), and the stuff she’s pulling out is blowing my mind. Remember – this is an 18-year-old who’s been educated by Nile FM and what’s passed around among her circle of friends. So, what’s on her iPod now?

The Go-Betweens – Liberty Belle & the Black Diamond Express, Tallulah, 16 Lovers Lane
One of my favorite bands, and one she pulled out without any prompting. These were the real high-water mark for the band, starting with “Spring Rain” and wrapping up with “Love Goes On” and “Streets of Your Town.” Tallulah was one of the formative albums of my college years, and is chock-full of great songs. I think it marks where Messers. Forester and McClennan started feeling as much as they were thinking. Awesome choices.

The Hoodoo Gurus, Blow Your Cool

The Australian run continues with this, an album that’s only disappointing after the remarkable run of Stoneage Romeos and Mars Needs Guitars. This has some terrific songs (“What’s My Scene,” “Good Times”) and marks the point where Dave Faulkner started to effectively balance kitsch and actual heartfelt lyrics and themes.

Guster, Keep it Together

Leaving the 1980s, here’s a band that apparently had airplay in Egypt. I think it was Taylor’s gateway drug to my CD collection. A really nifty if unspectacular band that churns our great melodies and hooks, they’ve been at it for a long time and I hope they stay at it for a long time to come. “Amsterdam” is a memorable little tune that sneaks up on you – it’s a lot more powerful than you might initially think.

Various artists, Sound of the Suburbs

This one’s a weird choice. It’s a U.K. release that’s primarily British post-punk, including the title track from the Members, and also an assortment of other stuff: the Only Ones’ “Another Girl Another Planet,” Adam and the Ants’ “Ant Music,” Teenage Kicks” by the Undertones, “Oliver’s Army” by Elvis Costello, “1-2-3-4 Motorway” by Tom Robinson, “Happy Birthday” by Altered Images, “Do Anything You Want to Do” by Eddie and the Hot Rods, “Echo Beach” by Martha and the Muffins, “Ever Fallen in Love?” by the Buzzcocks… pretty good, actually. British Music History 1982 – maybe she can get college credit for having this on her iPod.

Dogs Die in Hot Cars, Please Introduce Yourself

I snuck “Celebrity Sanctum” onto my wife’s iPod in a covert attempt to convert her attitude. It didn’t work on her, but Taylor liked it – which could lead her to a rewarding career as an XTC fan. Actually, this is a fine record on its own.

That’s five great choices… I’ll try to see what else she’s picked out when I get home. She leaves for Colorado State tomorrow – I hope for that institution’s sake that she volunteers for the campus radio station…