Exploring Launchcast

[vaneramos]

Snow on the car revisited, Wednesday 12:27 pm, coming out of the gym

~~~~~~~~~~

Marian introduced my to Launchcast on the weekend. Seems I must have tried it a while ago, because I had already rated a few artists, but so had she. I guess she must have used my Yahoo! login a few times before she figured it out for herself. So it took me a while to weed all the Korn and Limp Biskit out of my station.

My musical tastes are pretty eclectic, but my knowledge of music is not. I was raised on a steady selection of Tchaikovsky, Beethoven and Brahms. Mom and Dad took me to concerts, too—the Windsor Symphony, the Windsor Light Opera, the Canadian National Ballet when it came to town—so I developed a deep appreciation of those genres. I did some exploring of my own and found other composers I liked: Sibelius, Vaughan Williams, Poulenc. The only popular albums I owned in 1982 were Diana Ross: Mahogany, and Judy Collins: Judith.

In grade 12 I had crush on my friend Don, who was an urban cowboy. He introduced me to country music, so for a couple years that was my rage. Then I left home for university and started to come out of my cultural shell. I went to dances. Nowadays if I hear a retro tune and know the name of the band and the lyrics of the song, it's a sure guess it was top 40s in 1983: Men Without Hats, Human League, Stevie Nicks, Sting, Toto, Duran Duran.

In August of 1983 I had a born again experience. Returning to second year university in September I joined an evangelical church that preached against Rock Music. In short order I threw out all my popular albums including, by extension, Kenny Rodgers and the Statler Brothers. Classical music escaped my pogrom. Soon my collection became augmented by the likes of Amy Grant and Keith Green. For the next 13 years, that was all I listened to. The only popular artist I tuned into during that period was Buffy Sainte-Marie, after hearing her perform in a community centre gymnasium at a powwow in Port Elgin, Ontario.

Jump to January 1996 and a married man coming out of the closet, hitting the dance floor at last. But I didn't have the time or resources to build a new CD collection, so while my tastes have expanded, I rarely know what I'm listening to. I picked up on Enya and Loreena McKennitt in a big way. I also love World music.

So this week I've been picking through the offerings on Launchcast and discovering a few bands that caught my fancy over the years, but I never got to know, like kd lang and Rufus Wainwright. My station needs a lot more refinement, but an eclectic mix is emerging.

So this is it. Warning: contains pop divas.

Comments

[daisydumont.livejournal.com]

i'm listening to amazon's samples of the latest bruce cockburn. :i love that man:

>a powwow in Port Elgin, Ontario.

oh, lucky you!

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I had no idea who this woman was, then she sang Skywalker to an audience of five or six hundred, all Natives except for one Caucasian newspaper reporter, and my blood caught on fire.

[stephe.livejournal.com]

Is there any way on the site to view your whole album list? Every time I click on the links in the "ratings" box I get sent to an advertising page that asks me to hand over a credit card number to go further.

[grandiva1968.livejournal.com]

I'm such a goober.  Eclecticism has sucked me all the way into iTunes.

It may turn into a bad habit.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I'm just beginning to find my way around. As far as I can tell, you have to subscribe in order to view anyone else's rated songs etc. Just for fun, here are the songs I've heard so far this afternoon:

10cc: I'm not in love
Aretha Franklin: Oh baby
Madonna: Take a bow
The Carpenters: I won't last a day without you
Berlin Philharmonic: Sibelius Symphony No. 2, Finale
The Sundays: Summertime
Leonard Cohen: Tower of song
Enya: Cursum perficio
Tori Amos: Sleeps with butterflies
Neil Diamond: Sweet Caroline
Men at Work: No restrictions
ABC: Be near me
Loreena McKennitt: Marrakesh night market
Sviataslov Richter: Liszt Piano Concert No. 2, Adagio sostenuto assai/Allegro agitato assai

I'm having trouble getting it to play all the genres I'm interested in, like dance, and world music. I'll try listening to some different stations so I can rate more of the artists.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

How does iTunes compare with Launchcast?

[grandiva1968.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure, because I haven't really looked at Launchcast seriously.  I've used iTunes to buy and download music or rip my own CDs to disk, or listen to Internet webcasts (like the StaticBeats channel).  I think I probably don't have as much control over what gets played as far as the webcast channels, but I also don't mind, because I only listen to specific channels.

[grandiva1968.livejournal.com]

I have funky playlists too!

We've Got Time	Melissa Manchester
Forgiveness & Love	Meshell Ndegeocello
Jane Says	Jane's Addiction
Debussy: Nocturnes - I - Nuages	New Philharmonia Orchestra/Pierre Boulez
Stevie's Wonder	Melissa Manchester
Debussy: La Mer - III - Dialogue de vent et de la mer	New Philharmonia Orchestra/Pierre Boulez
It's Too Late	Carole King
Debussy: Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un faune	New Philharmonia Orchestra/Pierre Boulez
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face	Roberta Flack
Debussy: Danses sacrée et profane	Cleveland Orchestra/Pierre Boulez/Alice Chalifoux, harp
Killing Me Softly With His Song	Roberta Flack
Debussy: Nocturnes - II - Fetes	New Philharmonia Orchestra/Pierre Boulez
Instant Club Hit	The Dead Milkmen
So Far Away	Carole King
Gone Daddy Gone	Violent Femmes
32 Flavors	Alana Davis
She Blinded Me With Science	Thomas Dolby
Can't Find My Way Home	Swans
I Feel the Earth Move	Carole King
Little Fluffy Clouds	The Orb
Is That All There Is?	Peggy Lee

Call me a retro-head, I guess.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Thanks. If I decide to pay a subscription fee, I should compare all the options. The streaming audio from Launchcast doesn't seem to be taxing my dial-up connection too much. I would love to download, but I would probably need a faster connection. For now I'm having a lot of fun and getting a VERY eclectic mix from Launchcast. The ads are only minimally annoying.