Discovering Last.fm
Because the Tinnitus is Still Tolerable.
by Meredith Pinault
When I first heard Twisted Sister way back in Second Grade, I vowed to devote my life to rocking and rolling. Hell, I knew that I wasn't going to "take it." And up until my college graduation, I held true to the objective. But here I am, 30 years old, married, and too busy to keep up with new music. I'm undeniably "taking it."
Last week, genuine panic struck when I scanned the live music listings in one of Boston's free weeklies. I didn't recognize a single band playing at the local music venues for the next month. There wasn't even some legendary act on a nostaliga tour. It's like I stopped paying attention to the popular music scene for five years, and everything changed!
Either I could obstinately huddle in my hovel and groove on the glory days with Jane's Addiction, NOFX, and Aphex Twin ("Kids, don't you know that music will never be better than the music of the 1990s?") or I could make myself vulnerable by attempting to condition these old ears to appreciate new music.
Last week I joined Last.fm. These days, it's not as difficult to keep up with what the kids are listening to as it is to keep up with how they are listening to it. Last.fm bills itself as a "social music platform... Show off your taste, see what your friends are listening to, hear new music, get personal radio, recommendations..." The Last.fm website is slick and vast, with bios, pics, videos and samples of thousands of artists.
After I created an account and downloaded the Last.fm "scrobbling" radio widget, I felt poised for musical discovery. Last.fm's recommendations are based on the songs that you listen to and proclaim "love" for, so I eagerly searched for and played my beloved oldie music like Nirvana, Sonic Youth, and Fugazi. To my chagrain, Last.fm spat out recommendations for artists like Foo Fighters, Superchunk, and Minor Threat. I guess there's no algorithm that can compute the modern-day equivalent of the Lunachicks.
On Last.fm's Groups page, I found a Group called "New Music for Old People." Ah, here are my people. They have grappled with my dilemma and discovered musicians under the age of 20 who do not bother and alienate them. Unfortunately, the Group's culmative Playlist is topped by Joy Division, the Clash and Radiohead, indicating that it's impossible for even well-intentioned old people to dig new music.
Obviously, there was no quick and dirty way to discover new music except to actually listen to it. After more than a few hours of listening to Last.fm radio and resisting the temptation to scrobble comforting bands like the Misfits and Babes in Toyland, I've discovered a Canadian electronic musician named Caribou who, while not exactly new, is still recording, touring, and appealing to college kids. In fact, Caribou is playing at the Paradise next month, and I've bought tickets. Now I just need to update my wardrobe.
--January 2008