My favorite music application: The Filter

[Frank The Bunny]

I have over 100,000 songs in my iTunes library.
Making playlists is a pain in the ass sometimes

Enter The Filter
http://www.thefilter.com

You highlight one or two songs from your library, and the beast goes to work, creating playlists I'd never conceive of.

I highlighted Bootsy Collins - Shock It To Me and Men At Work - Who Can it Be Now
THe resulting playlist included Prince, The Dandy Warhols, Blondie, Starsailor, Rick James, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Jimi Hendrix, Rocket From The Crypt, Depeche Mode, Radiohead, KC & The Sunshine Band (a few examples)

The results are sometimes bizarre, but always interesting.

My next playlist is building right now, based upon my selection of Filter and Nina Simone.

Can't wait to hear what happens

Oh... just about forgot to mention.
IT'S FREEWARE!!!

A best practice if you have a large library like mine:
Set Party Shuffle for like 5 songs. Highlight two. Create Playlist. Repeat.

[moondance]

Good tip. Thanks Frank!

[Frank The Bunny]

Set it for 99-song playlists
10 playlists fit on my 8gb iPhone:

Bauhaus vs. The Who
Bob Dylan vs. Soundgarden
Bootsy Collins vs. Men @ Work
Charlie Parker vs. Echo & The Bunnymen
Electrafixion vs. The Pretenders
Filter vs. Nina Simone
Miles Davis vs. Matisyahu
Run-DMC vs. Paul Weller
Stiff Little Fingers vs. Duran Duran
U2 vs. Nine Inch Nails

It's like Musical Deathmatch

I'm wondering now if this is the place for this topic, or if Gods Will Be Gods is the more appropriate venue

[JackT]

You like Charlie Parker? I have really tried to get into his stuff, but every recording I have ever gotten just sounds so OLD and sh**ty. What would you say is a good record to get?

[Frank The Bunny]

You like Charlie Parker? I have really tried to get into his stuff, but every recording I have ever gotten just sounds so OLD and sh**ty. What would you say is a good record to get?

A good sampler to get would be Verve Jazz Masters Vol 15: Charlie Parker
http://www.amazon.com/Verve-Jazz-Master ... B0000046RL

Then, if you like that, move on to The Complete Verve Master Takes
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Verve-Ma ... B0000ARNDA

Unfortunately, there are a lot of crap recordings - from radio, transferred from vinyl, bad live recordings (sound familiar?)

He did a lot of great work on Verve, and they're still around, so their releases tend to be the cleanest

[JackT]

You like Charlie Parker? I have really tried to get into his stuff, but every recording I have ever gotten just sounds so OLD and sh**ty. What would you say is a good record to get?

A good sampler to get would be Verve Jazz Masters Vol 15: Charlie Parker
Then, if you like that, move on to The Complete Verve Master Takes

Unfortunately, there are a lot of crap recordings - from radio, transferred from vinyl, bad live recordings (sound familiar?)

He did a lot of great work on Verve, and they're still around, so their releases tend to be the cleanest

I will definitely look into that. (First I will make sure I don't have any of those.)

The one hard thing about getting into CP is that, although he was perhaps the most influential and innovative jazz artist ever (you could argue maybe Armstrong & Ellington), the bebop influence was so quickly and completely absorbed that Parker's stuff just sounds like old jazz. You listen and think "What's the big deal?" The bad recordings certainly don't help things.

[Frank The Bunny]

The one hard thing about getting into CP is that, although he was perhaps the most influential and innovative jazz artist ever (you could argue maybe Armstrong & Ellington), the bebop influence was so quickly and completely absorbed that Parker's stuff just sounds like old jazz. You listen and think "What's the big deal?" The bad recordings certainly don't help things.

I like the tracks where he's backed by a solid orchestra, rather than with a small combo - the track overall is more melodic and listenable and energetic. His sax takes the "vocal" part of the song, yet you still get him going all over the scale like Christina Aguilera - and he fingers the sax like I'd finger... well, again, Christina Aguilera.

A good example would be "What Is This Thing Called Love?" from the Verve Master Takes

I'm not as big a fan of his "sparring matches" with Miles Davis on songs like Koko, where the two go for a sort of "dueling banjos" thing. It's a bit mastubatory

(I asked Brian to move this thread, because I think it's going to be more about music than software)

[withahip]

You like Charlie Parker? I have really tried to get into his stuff, but every recording I have ever gotten just sounds so OLD and sh**ty. What would you say is a good record to get?

See, I am that way with Love Supreme. If I have to have another misanthrope who likes nothing but that which is inaccesible tells me how great that or Captain Beefheart is I'm gonna puke.

[JackT]

You like Charlie Parker? I have really tried to get into his stuff, but every recording I have ever gotten just sounds so OLD and sh**ty. What would you say is a good record to get?

See, I am that way with Love Supreme. If I have to have another misanthrope who likes nothing but that which is inaccesible tells me how great that or Captain Beefheart is I'm gonna puke.

Love Supreme is a spectacular recording, actually. I think it's very accessible, too. You also get some of the best drumming ever from Elvin Jones.

Now I have to go home and get my Coltrane discs.